Feudal barony of Plympton

Plympton Castle, the motte with parts of ruined walls of the keep on top

The feudal barony of Plympton (or Honour of Plympton) was a large feudal barony in the county of Devon, England, whose caput was Plympton Castle and manor,^[1] Plympton. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the medieval era.^[2] It included the so-called Honour of Christchurch in Hampshire (now in Dorset), which was not however technically a barony.^[3] The de Redvers family, first holders of the barony, were also Lords of the Isle of Wight, which lordship was not inherited by the Courtenays, as was the barony of Plympton, as it had been sold to the king by the last in the line Isabel de Redvers, 8th Countess of Devon (1237–1293).

History

Domesday Book origins

Many of the lands which later formed the feudal barony of Plympton were formerly held by two Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror (1066-1087):

• Robert d'Aumale (fl. 1086) (Latinised to de Albemarle), who lands are listed in 17 entries in the Domesday Book of 1086.^[4] who was lord of Aumale in Normandy, now in the département of Seine-Maritime, France.^[5]
• William de Poilley.^[6]

Descent

The descent of the feudal barony of Plympton was as follows:

de Redvers

The arms of de Redvers, adopted at the start of the age of heraldry (c. 1200-1215), probably by William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon(died 1217), : Or, a lion rampant azure

• Richard de Redvers (d.1107), was granted the barony by King Henry I (1100-1135), of which king he was a most trusted supporter. The lands comprising the barony were before this time part of the royal demesne of King William the Conqueror, as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.^[7]
• Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1155), son and heir, created first Earl of Devon by the Empress Matilda during The Anarchy.
• Richard de Redvers, 2nd Earl of Devon (d.1162), son.
• Baldwin de Redvers, 3rd Earl of Devon (died 1188), son, died without progeny.
• Richard de Redvers, 4th Earl of Devon (died c. 1193), brother, died without progeny.
• William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (died 1217), uncle
• Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245), grandson. He was a minor at the death of his grandfather and thus became a ward of the king, who in 1218 granted possession of the barony to:
  • Falkes de Breauté (died 1226), who married Margaret, mother of his ward the 6th Earl. His estates were confiscated in 1224 and remained in the king's hands until Baldwin attained his majority in 1238.
• Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon (1236–1262), son, died without progeny.
• Isabel de Redvers, 8th Countess of Devon (1237–1293), sister. She was married at a young age to William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle (d.1260). She was predeceased by all six of her children by William de Forz. After her death in 1293 aged 56 the feudal barony of Plympton^[8] and eventually the earldom of Devon passed to her 17-year-old second cousin once removed^[9] Hugh II de Courtenay (1276-1340),^[10] feudal baron of Okehampton, Devon, who in 1335 was declared Earl of Devon.^[11][12] He was the great-grandson of Mary de Vernon (daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (died 1217)) and her husband Robert de Courtenay (d.1242), feudal baron of Okehampton.^[13] In 1314/15 he petitioned parliament, unsuccessfully, claiming his right to the lordship of the Isle of Wight and to the adjacent manor of Christchurch,^[14] Hampshire, as heir of Isabella.^[15]

Courtenay

Arms of Courtenay, from about 1200: Or, three torteaux

• Robert de Courtenay (d.1242), feudal baron of Okehampton, son of Reginald II de Courtenay (d.1194) by his wife Hawise de Curcy (d.1219), heiress of Okehampton. He married Mary de Vernon, daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (d.1217), feudal baron of Plympton. From this marriage the Courtenays later inherited the barony of Plympton in 1293 and in 1335 were declared Earls of Devon.^[16]
• John de Courtenay (d.1274),^[17] (son) who married Isabel de Vere, daughter of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford (c.1210-1263)
• Sir Hugh I de Courtenay (d.1292),^[18] (son) who married Eleanor le Despenser (d.1328), daughter of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester (1261–1326).
• Hugh II Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (1276-1340),^[19] (son). In 1293 on the death of his cousin Isabella de Forz, Countess of Devon (1237-1293) (eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217-1245), feudal baron of Plympton in Devon^[20]) he became heir to the feudal barony of Plympton,^[21] and in 1335 was declared Earl of Devon. The descent of the feudal barony of Okehampton thenceforth follows the descent of the earldom of Devon.^[22] In 1539 King Henry VIII seized the lands of the barony and had Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter(d.1539) executed for treason.^[23] The Earldom of Devon became forfeit, and the Courtenay lands in Cornwall escheated (i.e. reverted) to the crown to be held by the Duchy of Cornwall.

List of constituent manors

The barony comprised originally the following manors held in-chief per baroniam:

Sources

• Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, pp. 137–8, Barony of Plympton
• Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp. 6–11, Plimton
• Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, chapter 1,17

References

1. Thorn & Thorn, part 2, chapter 1,17
2. Sanders, Contents, pp. ix-xi; the others being Bampton, Bradninch, Great Torrington, Barnstaple, Berry Pomeroy, Totnes, Okehampton
3. Sanders, p.112
4. Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2, Chapter 28
5. Thorne & Thorne, part 2 (notes), chapter 28
6. Thorn, part 2, Chapter 21
7. Sanders, p.137
8. Sanders, p.138
9. Both shared common ancestry from William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (d.1217), Isabel's great-grandfather and Courtenay's great-great-grandfather
10. Sanders, p.138
11. Sanders, p.70
12. Cokayne 1916, pp. 323–4
13. GEC The Complete Peerage, vol.IV, p.317, pedigree chart "The Heirs of Richard FitzBaldwin"
14. Sanders, p.112: The manor of Christchurch, sometimes called a barony, was part of the barony of Plympton, granted by King Henry I to Richard de Redvers (d.1107), but was sold together with the Isle of Wight to the crown by Isabella
15. Charter XXII, published in Appendix to Worsley, Sir Richard, History of the Isle of Wight, London, 1781
16. Sanders, pp.70,138
17. Sanders, p.70
18. Sanders, p.70
19. Sanders, p.70
20. Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.138, Plympton
21. Sanders, p.138
22. Pole, p.5
23. Pastscape – Detailed Result: OKEHAMPTON CASTLE. Pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk. Retrieved on 2011-03-05.