Moated site of Eaton Castle, drawn in 1911. Situated about 800 metres west of the village of Eaton Bray, now open to the public for fishing, operated by "Park Farm Fisheries"[1]Map of
Normandy showing possible locations of origin for the English de Cantilupe family, feudal barons of Eaton Bray and
Barons Cantilupe (1299)Château de Chanteloup,
Bréhal,
Manche, stated in several sources[2] to be the most likely origin of the English de Cantilupe family, largely due to the existence of a castle of which no trace exists at the other two similarly named locations in Normandy
Left: Arms of William I de Cantilupe (d.1239), 1st feudal baron: Gules, three fleurs-de-lys or ("Cantilupe
ancient"), as seen on his seal (right);[3] in later generations the arms changed to three leopard's faces
jessant-de-lys
The feudal barony of Eaton Bray in
Bedfordshire was an
English feudal barony founded in 1205 when the
manor of Eaton (from 16th-century "
Eaton Bray") was granted by King John to his household steward
William I de Cantilupe (d.1239),[4][5] together with many others, including
Aston (later Aston Cantlow) in Warwickshire.
In 1221[6] Cantilupe built a castle at Eaton, which became the caput of his feudal barony and was described by the monks of nearby
Dunstable Priory in the Annals of Dunstable as being "a serious danger to Dunstable and the neighbourhood".[7] The grant was for
knight-service of one knight and was in exchange for the manor of
Great Coxwell, Berkshire, which had been granted to him previously[8] but the grant was deemed compromised.[9] Eaton had been held at the time of
William the Conqueror by the latter's
uterine half-brother
Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, but later escheated to the crown.
The de Cantilupe family which came to England at some time after the
Norman Conquest of 1066 originated at one of three similarly named manors in
Normandy, from which they took their name:
Canteloup in
Calvados, east of
Caen;[10]Canteloup in
Manche east of
Cherbourg on the eastern tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula (
Cotentin); or
Chanteloup in
Bréhal,[11]Manche, on the south-west side of the Cherbourg Peninsula, favoured by most sources as an ancient castle survives there. The place-name, common throughout France, signifies "wolf-song" which at such places was commonly heard.
Descent
Arms of Thomas de Cantilupe (d.1282), Bishop of Hereford: Gules, three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys reversed or (adopted as the arms of the
See of Hereford)Arms of Cantilupe of Hempston Cantelow: Azure, three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or, today quartered by
Earls De La WarrArms of Cantilupe of Ravensthorpe and Greasley: Gules, a fess vair between three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or
The descent of the feudal barony of Eaton was as follows:
William I de Cantilupe (d.1239), 1st feudal baron, who married Mazilia (or Marcelin) Braci. His younger sons were
Walter de Cantilupe (died 1266),
Bishop of Worcester and Sir John I de Cantilupe[12] (fl.1251) of
Hempston Cauntelow near
Totnes in Devon, who married Margaret Cumin, heiress of
Snitterfield[13] in Warwickshire. John's granddaughter and eventual sole heiress was Eleanor de Cantilupe, who married Sir Thomas West[14] (1251-1344), whose descendants survive today as
Earls De La Warr and quarter the arms of Cantilupe of Hempston as Azure, three leopard's heads reversed jessant-de-lys or.[15]
William II de Cantilupe (d.1251), eldest son and heir, 2nd feudal baron. He married
Millicent de Gournay (or Maud), the daughter of Hugh de Gournai. His younger sons (who all adopted
differences of their paternal arms) were:
Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe (d.1266), 5th son, who married Eustachia FitzHugh, heiress of
Greasley Castle in Nottinghamshire, which he made his seat. His son and heir was
William de Cantilupe, 1st Baron Cantilupe (1262-1308) of Ravensthorpe Castle in the parish of
Boltby, North Yorkshire, who was created a
baron by writ on his summons to Parliament in 1299.[16] He married Eva de Boltby, heiress of Ravensthorpe and Boltby. He signed and sealed the
Barons' Letter of 1301 as Will(ielm)us de Cantilopo, D(omi)n(u)s de Ravensthorp and was present at the Siege of
Caerlaverock Castle in 1300, during which his arms were recorded in verse on the
Roll of Caerlaverock,
blazoned in standard form as: Gules, a fess vair between three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or, still visible sculpted on the
chest tomb supporting the effigy of the 3rd Baron (younger son of the 1st Baron) in
Lincoln Cathedral.[17] The male line died out on the death of the latter's son the 4th Baron in 1375.
Sir
George de Cantilupe (1251-1273), only son and heir who inherited aged 3, 4th feudal baron of Eaton, Lord of Abergavenny. The custody of his lands was held by the king during his minority (until the age of 21), thus for most of his short life, and the crown bailiffs are described in the Annals of Dunstable as being "very wicked and cruel. They vexed the Abbots of St. Albans and of Woburn very much, and especially us, who were unjustly amerced at 6 marks". He married Margaret de Lacy, and having inherited his vast estates died childless aged only 22. His 1274
inquisition post mortem describes the lay-out of the buildings of Eaton Castle in considerable detail.[19] His co-heiresses were his two sisters:
^Original full legend probably: SIGILLUM WILLELMI DE CANTILUPO (Seal of William de Cantilupe). His seal was on occasion used to authenticate the letters of the young King Henry III. John Nichols in his "History & Antiquities of the County of Leicestershire" (4 vols.), 1800, notes the existence of the seal of william de Cantilupe in connection with a deed dated 1215 relating to his manor of
Brentingby: "3 fleurs-de-lys circumscribed"
^Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford. pp. 39–40.
^Charter Rolls, vol.1, p.147; Annales Monastici, vol.3, p. 66, as quoted by Sanders p. 39
^Page, William, ed. (1912). "Parishes: Eaton Bray". A History of the County of Bedford. Vol. 3. London. pp.
369–375.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
^Page, William; Ditchfield, P H, eds. (1924). "Parishes: Great Coxwell". A History of the County of Berkshire. Vol. 4. London. pp.
487–489.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link) note 9, quoting "Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199–1216 [Rec. Com.], i, 147"
^Vincent, Nicholas. "Sir George de Cantilupe (d.1273)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. p. 953.
^John I de Cantilupe, husband of Margaret Cumin of Snitterfield, is identified by
William Dugdale as a son of William I de Cantilupe (d.1239), see Dugdale, William (1605-1686), Antiquities of Warwickshire, 1656, p.614 " he (William I de Cantilupe) departed a this life 7 Id. Apr. 23 H.3 (i.e. 1238/9). being then very aged; leaving issue several sons, viz. William his son and heir, Walter a Priest and imployed by King H. 3. as his Agent to the Court of Rome, afterwards elected Bishop of Worcester ... John Lord of Snitfield in this Countie; and Nicholas, of whom I find no more than the bare mention."
[1][2]
^'Harringworth', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 6, Architectural Monuments in North Northamptonshire (London, 1984), pp. 80-89
[3]