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DE SEGRAVE John
Birth: ABT 1256 of Segrave, Leicestershire, England
Death: BEF 4 Oct 1325
Burial: Chacombe Priory, Chacombe, Northamptonshire, England
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Segrave,_2nd_Baron_Segrave
John Segrave, 2nd Baron Segrave (1256–1325) was an English commander in the First
War of Scottish Independence.
Segrave commanded the English in Battle of Roslin, and the Battle of Happrew. He
also was involved with the execution of William Wallace, and was the one who carried
his quarters to their destinations in Scotland. He died a wealthy man.
Early life[edit]
Born about 1256, he was the eldest son and heir of Nicholas de Segrave, 1st Baron
Segrave, and his wife Matilda, daughter of Sir Thomas de Lucy of Copeland. In 1270
he married Christiana, the daughter of Sir Hugh de Plessetis and his wife Margaret,
from whom he received in frank marriage the manor of Stottesdon. At the same time
his sister Annabel was married to Hugh's son John. After his father-in-law's death John
de Segrave had custody of his lands during the minority of his heir.[1]
Under Edward I[edit]
In 1277 and 1282 Segrave served in the two major campaigns against Llywelyn ap
Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. In October 1287 he went to Ireland, nominating proctors to
represent him for one year. On 6 August 1291 he received at Berwick letters of
protection for one year on staying in Scotland on the king's service. He was then for a
time constantly employed in the wars against the Scots.[1]
On the death of his father in 1295 Segrave, then 39, entered as heir into the
possession of his property. He was first summoned to the Bury parliament of November
1296, and was then regularly summoned until his death. On 14 January 1297 Segrave
was one of the magnates attending the Hilarytide parliament at York, with the intention
of proceeding against the Scots, but the expedition was postponed.[1]
Opposition leader and Scottish campaigns[edit]
Segrave attached himself to one of the leaders of the growing baronial opposition to
the king, in 1297 making an indenture with Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, by which
he covenanted to serve the earl, with five other knights. In return he obtained a grant
of the earl's manor of Lodene in Norfolk.[1]
During the crisis of 1297 Segrave was summoned on 1 July to appear in London to
attend the king beyond sea, but he appeared as proxy for the Earl Marshal Bigod, who
pleaded sickness.[1]
Segrave, however, on 28 December 1297 received letters of protection for himself and
his followers, on their proceeding to Scotland on the king's service, and he
subsequently fought in the Falkirk campaign. In 1299 he was again summoned to fight
against the Scots. In 1300 he was once more in Scotland, taking a conspicuous part
at the siege of Carlaverock, representing Bigod in this campaign also. In 1301
Segrave attended the parliament at Lincoln, and was one of the signatories of the
letter of the barons to the pope, dated 12 February. On 5 August 1302 he was
appointed to the custody of Berwick Castle of Berwick-on-Tweed. On 29 September
he was ordered to make a foray into Scotland as far as Stirling and Kirkintilloch. After
November the truce with the Scots ended, and Segrave was entrusted with the
custody of Scotland.[1]
On the first Sunday in Lent 1303 Segrave, with his followers dispersed, was suddenly
attacked when near Edinburgh by some Scots in ambush, severely wounded, and
taken prisoner with twenty other knights. He was, however, subsequently recaptured
by the other portions of his army who had escaped the earlier surprise. Segrave
continued in Scotland after Edward I arrived to prosecute the war in person. He was
present at the Siege of Stirling Castle, which surrendered on 24 July 1304, and, on the
departure of Edward, was appointed justice and captain in Scotland south of the River
Forth.[1]
Serious resistance to Edward now seemed over, and Segrave's main business was to
administer the conquered districts, and to track down William Wallace, who still held
out. In March 1304 Segrave defeated Wallace in one of his last attempts at
resistance. Next summer Wallace was handed over to Segrave, who personally
escorted his prisoner to London, reaching the city on 22 August 1305. Before this
Edward had on 18 Aug. put Segrave at the head of the special commission appointed
to try Wallace. He remained responsible for Wallace's custody during his imprisonment
in London, and on 23 August pronounced the sentence of treason against him. After
Wallace's death Segrave took his remains back to Scotland,. On 25 October 1305 he
received his salary, this perhaps being the date of his ceasing to act as warden of
Scotland. In 1306 he was again summoned to Carlisle to share in Edward I's
expedition against the Scots.[1]
Under Edward II[edit]
Under Edward II Segrave received numerous offices. In the early months of the new
reign he became justice of the forests beyond the River Trent, and constable of
Nottingham Castle. On 10 March 1309 he was appointed warden of Scotland, with a
following of sixty men at arms, and on 10 April 1310 the appointment was renewed..
Scotland was now rapidly falling into the hands of Robert Bruce, Segrave's work was
mostly preserve the English frontier: he is in fact described by a border chronicler as
warden of the marches on the side of Berwick. But a continued truce from November
1309 to the summer of 1310 restricted Segrave's efforts.[1]
Segrave adhered to the barons during the struggle against Piers Gaveston, and as a
result his offices of constable of Nottingham and justice of the forests beyond Trent
were on 1 October 1310 transferred by the king to Gaveston himself. Both grants were
renewed to Gaveston two months before his execution. On 4 September 1312, soon
after Gaveston's death, Segrave received the office of keeper of the forests on this
side Trent. In 1314 he took part in the great expedition against Scotland, and on 24
June fought at the battle of Bannockburn. After the English defeat he fled towards
Carlisle, and took refuge with others in Bothwell Castle; but the sheriff, who held the
castle, changed sides, and handed over the fugitives as prisoners.[1]
Segrave was kept in Scotland until the end of 1314, when he was released in
exchange for some Scottish prisoners and on payment of a large ransom; his son
Stephen arranged the conditions of the exchange. He still held his keepership and the
custody of Nottingham Castle, to which Derby Castle was now added. On 14 July 1316
he received a grant of £1,000 in aid of his ransom from the Scots and for other losses
in the king's service, sums due to the crown being deducted from the gross sum. He
was one of the continual council, appointed at the reconciliation between Edward II
and Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster in 1318, to be perpetually about the king. On 30
November 1321 he was one of those ordered to raise the local levies on the king's
behalf in Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire.[1]
Death[edit]
On 16 July 1324 Segrave was appointed, with Fulk FitzWarin, captain of the troops
going to Gascony, serving under Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent. Next year he
died in Aquitaine, aged nearly 70 years old. The extent of the Segrave territories and
influence had been much widened during his lifetime. His father's estates were nearly
confined to the central midland counties, but he also acquired territory in Norfolk,
Oxfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and other shires. In 1301 he had licence to crenellate
his house at Bretby, Derbyshire, and in 1306 to fortify his manor-house at Caludon,
Warwickshire, with a moat and embattelled wall.[1]
Family[edit]
Segrave's eldest son, Stephen de Segrave, died shortly after him in 1325.[2] His
second son, John, described by 1312 as John de Segrave the younger, married
Juliana, daughter and heiress of John de Sandwich, lord of Folkestone, and died in
1349, leaving an infant daughter and heiress named Mary.[1]
John Segrave, 4th Baron Segrave, son of Stephen, succeeded to the title and
estates. He served in Edward III's French wars, and married Margaret, daughter and
heiress of Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk. This John was the last of the
Segraves summoned to parliament.[1]
Coat of Arms[edit]
His coat of arms - sable a lion rampant argent crowned or - (inherited from his father)
appears on the following rolls of arms which verify his presence on the Scottish
campaigns mentioned above: The Falkirk Roll (together with his brother Nicholas, who
bore the same arms differenced by: overall a label of three pendants gules); The
Caerlaverock Poem (again with Nicholas); and The Stirling Roll (with brothers Henry,
Nicholas and Simon and son Stephen). Of course, his brothers and son all have
differenced arms.[3]
Parents
DE SEGRAVE Nicholas (1238 - BEF 12 Nov 1295)
DE LUCY Maud (Matilda) (ABT 1239 - )
Siblings
DE SEGRAVE John (ABT 1256 - BEF 4 Oct 1325)
DE SEGRAVE Eleanor (ABT 1270 - 1314)
Marriage To DU PLESSIS Christiana (ABT 1263 - AFT 8 May 1331)
m.
Notes
Parents
DU PLESSIS Hugh ()
----- Margaret ()
Children by DU PLESSIS Christiana ABT 1263 - AFT 8 May 1331
DE SEAGRAVE Ellen (Margaret) (1282 - 1318)
DE SEAGRAVE Stephen John (ABT 1285 - 1325)
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