On 25 May 1317, Edward II arranged the future marriage of his great-niece Joan Gaveston, then aged five and the only legitimate child and heir of the late Piers Gaveston, to John Multon, son and heir of Lord Multon of Egremont. See here for my previous post about the betrothal, and here's a short post about John Multon.
John's parents Thomas Multon and Eleanor de Burgh married in Ipswich at the beginning of January 1297, days before Edward I's youngest daughter Elizabeth of Rhuddlan married Count John I of Holland also in Ipswich. Thomas Multon was born on 21 February 1276 to an Irish mother called Edmunda la Botilere and her husband, inevitably also called Thomas Multon, so was not quite twenty-one when he married. [CCR 1288-96, p. 480; Complete Peerage, vol. 9, p. 403] As I pointed out recently, there were two branches of the Multon family of Cumberland in the north-west of England, and Thomas was Lord Multon of Egremont; the other Thomas Multon was lord of Gilsland. Thomas Multon of Egremont made an excellent marriage, as his wife Eleanor de Burgh was one of the many daughters of the Anglo-Irish magnate Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster. His other daughters included Elizabeth, wife of Robert Bruce and queen of Scotland; Maud, who married Edward II's nephew the earl of Gloucester in 1308; and the countesses of Kildare, Desmond and Louth. Eleanor's eldest brother John de Burgh, their father's heir, married Edward II's niece Elizabeth de Clare in 1308. Eleanor's date of birth is not known, but her parents married in the early 1280s and she was one of their eldest children.
John Multon was the only son of Thomas Multon and Eleanor de Burgh, and had three sisters, at least one of whom was older than he. He was born either on 18 October 1307 ("aged 14 on the feast of St Luke last" in March 1322) or on 21 October 1308 ("aged 13 on the day of the 11,000 Virgins last" in March 1322). [CIPM 1317-27, no. 331] He was thus some years older than his fiancée Joan Gaveston, who was almost certainly the child born to Margaret de Clare and Piers Gaveston in York in January 1312. When they were betrothed in May 1317, Joan was five and John was eight or nine. As the grandson of the earl of Ulster - the eldest grandson, in fact - John Multon was born into a powerful family network which made him nephew of the king of Scotland, three Irish earls and the late earl of Gloucester (who was also Joan Gaveston's uncle, her mother Margaret's brother), and he was a first cousin of Edward II's great-nephew William de Burgh (b. 1312), heir to the earldom of Ulster. Another of his first cousins, John FitzGerald, heir to the earldom of Kildare, was betrothed to Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare's second daughter Joan Despenser in 1323, but died soon afterwards at the age of nine.
Joan Gaveston died on 13 January 1325 probably just after her thirteenth birthday, before she and the teenaged John Multon could marry. John had already lost his father Thomas in February 1322 and most probably his mother Eleanor de Burgh in 1324, and his paternal grandfather the earl of Ulster died in July 1326. John was one of the men Edward II planned to take to France with him in September 1325, before the king changed his mind and sent his son Edward of Windsor instead. [CPR 1324-7, p. 169] Otherwise, John doesn't appear very often on record and it's difficult to say much about his life.
On 10 January 1327, when Edward II was still officially king of England but was in custody at Kenilworth Castle, John Multon's marriage was granted (by Queen Isabella, one assumes) to William la Zouche, presumably the man of this name who was lord of Ashby in Leicestershire and who at that time was leading the siege of the teenaged Hugh 'Huchon' Despenser inside Caerphilly Castle. [CPR 1324-7, p. 347] John Multon married a woman called Alice; I'm not sure of her identity. He died in November 1334, aged either twenty-six or twenty-seven. His widow Alice was pregnant when John's IPM was taken in January 1335, but she must have miscarried, or the child was stillborn or died young. [CIPM 1327-36, no. 628] As well as extensive lands in Cumberland, John owned lands in Lincolnshire and Suffolk, and as he left no surviving children, his heirs were his three sisters Joan, Elizabeth and Margaret. In December 1335, Joan was thirty, and was the widow of Robert FitzWalter; Elizabeth was twenty-seven and the widow of Robert Harrington; and Margaret was twenty-four and the wife of Thomas Lucy. By 1338 Elizabeth had married her second husband Walter de Bermingham. [CIPM 1327-36, no. 628; CCR 1337-9, pp. 468-96]
John's parents Thomas Multon and Eleanor de Burgh married in Ipswich at the beginning of January 1297, days before Edward I's youngest daughter Elizabeth of Rhuddlan married Count John I of Holland also in Ipswich. Thomas Multon was born on 21 February 1276 to an Irish mother called Edmunda la Botilere and her husband, inevitably also called Thomas Multon, so was not quite twenty-one when he married. [CCR 1288-96, p. 480; Complete Peerage, vol. 9, p. 403] As I pointed out recently, there were two branches of the Multon family of Cumberland in the north-west of England, and Thomas was Lord Multon of Egremont; the other Thomas Multon was lord of Gilsland. Thomas Multon of Egremont made an excellent marriage, as his wife Eleanor de Burgh was one of the many daughters of the Anglo-Irish magnate Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster. His other daughters included Elizabeth, wife of Robert Bruce and queen of Scotland; Maud, who married Edward II's nephew the earl of Gloucester in 1308; and the countesses of Kildare, Desmond and Louth. Eleanor's eldest brother John de Burgh, their father's heir, married Edward II's niece Elizabeth de Clare in 1308. Eleanor's date of birth is not known, but her parents married in the early 1280s and she was one of their eldest children.
John Multon was the only son of Thomas Multon and Eleanor de Burgh, and had three sisters, at least one of whom was older than he. He was born either on 18 October 1307 ("aged 14 on the feast of St Luke last" in March 1322) or on 21 October 1308 ("aged 13 on the day of the 11,000 Virgins last" in March 1322). [CIPM 1317-27, no. 331] He was thus some years older than his fiancée Joan Gaveston, who was almost certainly the child born to Margaret de Clare and Piers Gaveston in York in January 1312. When they were betrothed in May 1317, Joan was five and John was eight or nine. As the grandson of the earl of Ulster - the eldest grandson, in fact - John Multon was born into a powerful family network which made him nephew of the king of Scotland, three Irish earls and the late earl of Gloucester (who was also Joan Gaveston's uncle, her mother Margaret's brother), and he was a first cousin of Edward II's great-nephew William de Burgh (b. 1312), heir to the earldom of Ulster. Another of his first cousins, John FitzGerald, heir to the earldom of Kildare, was betrothed to Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare's second daughter Joan Despenser in 1323, but died soon afterwards at the age of nine.
Joan Gaveston died on 13 January 1325 probably just after her thirteenth birthday, before she and the teenaged John Multon could marry. John had already lost his father Thomas in February 1322 and most probably his mother Eleanor de Burgh in 1324, and his paternal grandfather the earl of Ulster died in July 1326. John was one of the men Edward II planned to take to France with him in September 1325, before the king changed his mind and sent his son Edward of Windsor instead. [CPR 1324-7, p. 169] Otherwise, John doesn't appear very often on record and it's difficult to say much about his life.
On 10 January 1327, when Edward II was still officially king of England but was in custody at Kenilworth Castle, John Multon's marriage was granted (by Queen Isabella, one assumes) to William la Zouche, presumably the man of this name who was lord of Ashby in Leicestershire and who at that time was leading the siege of the teenaged Hugh 'Huchon' Despenser inside Caerphilly Castle. [CPR 1324-7, p. 347] John Multon married a woman called Alice; I'm not sure of her identity. He died in November 1334, aged either twenty-six or twenty-seven. His widow Alice was pregnant when John's IPM was taken in January 1335, but she must have miscarried, or the child was stillborn or died young. [CIPM 1327-36, no. 628] As well as extensive lands in Cumberland, John owned lands in Lincolnshire and Suffolk, and as he left no surviving children, his heirs were his three sisters Joan, Elizabeth and Margaret. In December 1335, Joan was thirty, and was the widow of Robert FitzWalter; Elizabeth was twenty-seven and the widow of Robert Harrington; and Margaret was twenty-four and the wife of Thomas Lucy. By 1338 Elizabeth had married her second husband Walter de Bermingham. [CIPM 1327-36, no. 628; CCR 1337-9, pp. 468-96]
2 comments:
If Joan had lived, I wonder what type of marriage they would have had, and how would they have fared under Edward III.
Thomas Lucy, who married Margaret, was the only son of Anthony Lucy, the knight who organised the arrest of Andrew Harclay in 1323. Thomas's son, another Anthony, was killed on crusade in Lithuania in 1368. One of his companions who was killed at the same time was John Moulton (Multon?) of Frampton, so the link between the Lucy and Moulton families appears to have lasted some time. Anthony Lucy's body was brought back to Egremont and buried in St Bees priory, wrapped in lead and in beeswax cloth. When it was rediscovered during excavations some years ago it was found to be in a remarkably good state of preservation.
The Lucy family also had links to Egremont, and the younger Anthony appears to have been lord of that castle at the time of his death. His estate passed to his three sisters, one of who married Gilbert d'Umfraiville, and after Gilbert's death then married Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland. In this way Egremont passed into the hands of the Percy family, and one of the leading Lancastrian commanders in the early part of the wars of the Roses was Lord Egremont, second son of the earl of that time.
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