William de Grenlay

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Sir William de Grenlay
Lord of Bordeshale
Coat of arms of Sir William de Grenlay[a][1]
Bornc. 1350s
Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England
Died1415 (1416) (aged ~65)
Harfleur, Normandy, France
Cause of deathSlain in battle
Familyde Grenlay (Grindlay)
OccupationSoldier
Military career
Allegiance Kingdom of England
Service/branchEnglish Army
Years of servicec. 1372 - 1415
RankKnight; Man-at-Arms
Battles/warsHundred Years' War
Relations
  • John de Grenlay
  • Thomas de Grenlay[b]
  • William de Grenlay

Sir William de Grenlay (also Greneleye or Greenlee) (c.1350s – September 1415) of Edgbaston, Warwickshire, was a late medieval English knight and landowner who fought in several military campaigns during the Hundred Years' War.[1][2][3]

Origins[edit]

Early history[edit]

William (or Guillaume) was born into the English branch of the minor noble Anglo-Scottish family of de Grenlay (or Grindlay family).[4][5] Reputedly descended from Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon thegns who were granted estates in Warwickshire by King Alfred the Great,[1][6][7] by the 13th century, the family had established themselves as landowners, soldiers and administrators across the North Midlands, with branches in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire.[8][9][10][11]

During this period, the lands held by William and his line of the family, which centred around the Manor of Bordeshale (see Bordesley Hall), now Balsall Health, in Warwickshire,[1][12][13] made them vassals of both the Barons of Dudley (descendants of the de Somery family) and the Earls of Warwick.[1][5][14][15]

Lords of Bordeshale[edit]

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066 the family became vassals of Ansculf de Picquigny,[16] who was granted numerous manors across the wider English Midlands by William the Conqueror, the caput of which was Dudley Castle.[17][18] Although some of the lands awarded to de Picquigny included areas of Warwickshire and Staffordshire held by the de Grenlay family prior to the conquest, principally the Manor of Bordeshale, they were allowed to maintain de facto control of their ancestral estates, holding them in fief (or knight's fee) in return for homage and fealty to de Picquigny as tenant-in-chief.[19]

Over the next century the barony lands held by de Picquigny across the West Midlands became dispersed among the Paganell, de Birmingham, and de Somery families due to a lack of direct male heirs, in contrast to the de Grenlay family who continued as manorial lords of their various estates.[20][21][22] This arrangement is evident in the 1198 to 1292 Liber Feodorum (or Book of Fees) where Robertum de Grend' or Grendley (c.1235), an ancestor of William, is recorded paying the treasury collectors scutage for his "old feffment" held on behalf of Roger de Somery, the feudal baron of Dudley.[19][23]

Military service[edit]

Brittany expedition[edit]

On the 23 June 1372, William signed Letters of Protection and Attorney for service with John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville,[c] a practise used by higher ranking men-at-arms (predominately knights and esquires),[24] to safeguard his property and financial interests while fighting abroad.[25]

The following month in July 1372, William sailed for Brittany with Neville, now the Steward of the Royal Household, who had been appointed as one of the ambassadors to negotiate an alliance between King Edward III and John IV, Duke of Brittany.[26] William formed part of Neville's military affinity, guarding him and the other ambassadors on their journey through northern France.[26]

The expedition returned safely to England later that year, with William leaving Neville's service prior to the beginning of his campaign in the Scottish Marches.[26][27]

John of Gaunt's Great Chevauchée[edit]

A year later, on the 16 May 1373, William signed another set of Letters of Protection and Attorney ahead of serving with Thomas Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick in France.[28] He accompanied Beauchamp on various military campaigns during 1373, most notably as part of the mounted army of John of Gaunt's Great Chevauchée from Calais to Bordeaux. William survived the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Aquitaine and the ensuing 900-kilometre raid from northeast to southwest France, returning home in 1374.[29]

As part of the Beauchamp's personal retinue, William is one of only a small number of peers, knights and esquires identifiable by name in the army of 1373.[30]

Siege of Harfleur[edit]

The 'Siege of Harfleur' by Thomas Grieve, 1859, depicting the storming of the breach in which William was slain.

In the summer of 1415, William returned to the battlefield during the escalation in hostilities that marked the beginning of the Lancastrian phase of the war, following intermittent treaties, truces, and peace negotiations that began with the Treaty of Bruges in 1375.[1] Now around 65 years of age, a veteran campaigner, and a "Knight of the Royal Guard" or royal bodyguard (a precursor of the Yeoman of the Guard), William and his contingent of men-at-arms, sailed with King Henry V and his army across the English Channel to Chef-en-Caux near the mouth of the river Seine.[4][31]

He was joined on the campaign by other members of the family. William's cousin, John de Grenlay fought at the siege under the command of Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter and was garrisoned at Harfleur thereafter,[32] and a second William de Grenlay (also Gyrdeley, Gridley or Grindlay), a member of the Sussex cadet branch of the family, fought at both Harfleur and the Battle of Agincourt as part of the personal retinue of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, the then Earl of Huntingdon.[33][34][35]

During the final stages of the siege, William and his soldiers joined Holland and his retinue (which included his kinsman William de Grenlay) in the battle to take control of Harfleur's gate fortifications.[1][36][37] In the push to take the town by force, William stormed a breach in the bastion walls alongside Holland and John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope, but was mortally wounded in the melee to seize the Leure fortress gateway.[1][38] His body and standard were recovered by his men after the outer walls were captured.[5]

Death and burial[edit]

After the siege William was buried on the fortress glacis where he was slain, and a sapling oak tree was planted upon his grave. He was posthumously commended by King Henry V, and as a reward for his valiance, was granted an augmentation of honour which entitled him to have his armorial bearings "topped by a green mound and plant of oak".[1][31] This oak features in both his coat of arms and as an additional crest latterly borne by some of his wider family.[d][39][40][41][42]

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

^a An illustration of the 19th century blazon attributed to William de Grenlay, based on the arms described by chroniclers in manuscripts deposited in the archives of Aston Hall, Birmingham.[1][39]
^b Thomas de Grenlay or Greynley, a later relation of William's, was a mounted man-at-arms in the early to mid 15th century. He fought with the English army in eastern Normandy, defending the region south of Rouen from the attacks of Étienne de Vignolles, known as La Hire, and his army of routiers and écorcheurs. He also fought at the Siege of Louviers alongside Sir William Fulthorpe in 1431.[43]
^c The date William signed his Letters of Protection and Attorney in 1372 aligns closely with the Battle of La Rochelle on 22 and 23 June 1372. He may have seen action at the battle, but this overlap is likely to be a coincidence given the scale of the naval defeat (i.e. the numbers of English soldiers slain or captured, and that all ships were reported sunk or captured) and his sailing to Brittany only a month later.[25][44]
^d The "green mound with plant of oak" awarded to William in 1415, was incorporated into the arms adopted by Dr. Robert Greenlees of Scotland in 1750.[45]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Greenlee, Ralph Stebbins (1908). Genealogy of the Greenlee Families in America, Scotland, Ireland and England. Privately Printed.
  2. ^ Hanks, Patrick (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192527479.
  3. ^ "The 1000 Year History of The 'de Greneleye' Family".
  4. ^ a b Burchinal, Beryl Modest (1990). The Ganss-Gans Genealogy, 1518-1990: Ancestors in Germany and Descendants in Pennsylvania of George Baltzer Gans, 1684-1760, Germany-Pennsylvania, the Immigrant Ancestor. Suburban Print. & Publishing Company and Penn State Book Binding Company.
  5. ^ a b c Greenlee, Robert Lemuel (1908). Genealogy of the Greenlee families: with ancestors of Elizabeth Brooks Greenlee and Emily Brooks Greenlee, also genealogical data on the McDowells of Virginia and Kentucky.
  6. ^ Mawer, Allen (1920). The Place-Names of Northumberland and Durham (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 96. Greenlee or Greenleye
  7. ^ Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III: Volume 7, 1343-1346. His Majesty's Stationery Office (BHO: British History Online). 1901. Greenlee, Greneleye in Tynedale [in Simondburn, co. Northumberland], 487.
  8. ^ Salt, T (1887). Collections for a history of Staffordshire. Harrison and Sons. Willielmus (William) Grenleye one of a small group of 'militibus' to witness the signing of local legal documents (plea rolls).
  9. ^ Pym Yeatman Esq., John. Extracts (with notes) from The Pipe Rolls for the Counties of Nottingham and Derby from the earliest period to the end of the reign of King Edward I. (PDF). London: Parker & Co. p. 141. Simon de Greneley
  10. ^ Chadwick, Howard (1924). "History of Dunham-on-Trent, with Ragnall, Darlton, Wimpton, Kingshaugh, etc: Wimpton". www.nottshistory.org.uk. Witnesses to grants of lands in Nottinghamshire. 1) Hugh de Grenlay (Grinnelay) and William(s) de Grenley. (28 May 1307); 2) William Grinlay de Burton [upon Trent, Staffordshire], exchanging lands in the village of Wimpton, Nottinghamshire.
  11. ^ Pixton, Paul B. Wrenbury Wills and Inventories 1542-1661. The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. Multiple references throughout, including 1. Grindley (Gryndley, Grinley, Grendeley, Grindleye). 2. Grindeleyes Feeld (Newhall) and Grindleys Green. 3. Richard de Grendeley and Richard de Grindley in inquisitio post mortem of Sir John Lovell (1408) and Court Rolls of Newhall Manor (1542-1660).
  12. ^ Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward I: Volume 4, 1301-1307. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London (BHO: British History Online). 1898.
  13. ^ Calendar of Fine Rolls, Edward II: Volume 3, 1319 - 1327 (PDF). Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. 1912.
  14. ^ "Family Card - Person Sheet: Roger de Somery Baron of Dudley". Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Roger and Agnes had Margaret de Someri who m. John de Sutton I, Lord of Dudley Castle in 1326 (son of Sir Richard de Sutton).
  15. ^ Calendar of Patent Rolls: Edward I. 1292 (PDF). Vol. 2. The University of Iowa. p. 465. Roger de Sumery, tenant in chief...in the manor of Bordeshale
  16. ^ London; Being an Accurate History and Description of the British Metropolis ... - David Hughson - Internet Archive. W. Stratford. 1809. p. 500. Retrieved 6 March 2014. fitz ausculph.
  17. ^ "Dudley Castle History". Sedgleymanor.com. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  18. ^ [1] Archived August 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ a b Liber feodorum. The book of fees, commonly called Testa de Nevill, reformed from the earliest MSS. London: H.M. Stationery Office. 1920. pp. 415–416.
  20. ^ "William Camden | Worcestershire and Staffordshire". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  21. ^ Lodge, John (1789). "The Peerage of Ireland: Or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility ... - John Lodge, Mervyn Archdall - Google Books". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  22. ^ "Parishes: Dudley | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  23. ^ Powicke, review of The Book of Fees […] Part II, p. 495.
  24. ^ "The Medieval Soldier Project". University of Southampton and University of Reading. Letters of Protection and Attorney were legal instruments which contain the names of men who were planning to enlist for military service abroad, to protect their interests while they were away from home...mainly soldiers of a higher rank which took out Protections...men-at-arms (either Esquire or Knight).
  25. ^ a b "The Medieval Soldier Project". University of Southampton and University of Reading. 1. William de Grenlay (Captain: John Neville). Letters of Protection 23061372
  26. ^ a b c Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. 2. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 244–246.
  27. ^ Cokayne, George Edward (1936). The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A Doubleday and Lord Howard de Walden. IX. London: St. Catherine Press.
  28. ^ "The Medieval Soldier Project". University of Southampton and University of Reading. William Greneleye (Captain: Thomas Beauchamp, 1339-1401, Earl of Warwick)
  29. ^ Sumption, Jonathan (2011). Hundred Years War Vol 3: Divided Houses. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571266562.
  30. ^ Philip Warner, Michael (2014). A Prosopographical Study into John of Gaunt's Armies of 1373 and 1378 (PDF). University of Southampton. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  31. ^ a b Fiennes, Sir Ranulph (2014). Agincourt: My Family, the Battle and the Fight for France. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 9781444792102.
  32. ^ "The Medieval Soldier Project". University of Southampton and University of Reading. 1. John Grenlay (Captain: Thomas Beaufort, 1377-1426, Earl of Dorset, Duke of Exeter); 2. John Greneley / John Grenley (Captain: William Minors)
  33. ^ Harris Nicholas Esq., Nicholas (1827). The History of the Battle of Agincourt: And of the Expedition of Henry the Fifth in France: To which us added, The Roll of the Men at Arms in the English Army. London: Johnson: Harvard College Library. p. 498. ISBN 9780389040354.
  34. ^ "The Medieval Soldier Project". University of Southampton and University of Reading. William Gyrdeley, Man-at-Arms (Captain: John Holland,1395-1447, Earl of Huntingdon, Duke of Exeter; Commander: Henry V, 1386-1442, King of England)
  35. ^ Wriothesley, Sir Thomas. A collection of arms, some coloured, pedigrees and other heraldic material. Early 16th century, with later 16th century additions.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  36. ^ Spencer, Daniel. "14-20 September 1415 – English assaults on Harfleur". www.agincourt600.com.
  37. ^ E Baumgaertner, William (2009). Squires, Knights, Barons, Kings: War and Politics in Fifteenth Century England. Trafford. ISBN 9781426907692.
  38. ^ Hawley Jarman, Rosemary (1979). Crispin's Day: The Glory of Agincourt. Collins. p. 105. ISBN 9780002161237.
  39. ^ a b John Burke Esq. &, Sir John Bernard Burke (1844). Encyclopædia of Heraldry, Or General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland: Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms. H. G. Bohn.
  40. ^ Elven, John Peter (1882). The book of family crests : comprising nearly every family bearing, properly blazoned and explained ... with the surnames of the bearers, alphabetically arranged, a dictionary of mottos, an essay on the origin of arms, crests, etc., and a glossary of terms. Harold B. Lee Library. London : Reeves and Turner.
  41. ^ Robson, Thomas (1830). The British Herald or Cabinet of Armorial Bearings of the Nobility and Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. Turner & Marwood.
  42. ^ Washbourne, Henry (1861). The Book of mottos, borne by nobility and gentry, public companies, cities, etc. Fraser and Crawford.
  43. ^ "The Medieval Soldier Project". University of Southampton and University of Reading. Thomas Grenlay / Greynley, Man-at-Arms (Captain: Sir William Fulthorp)
  44. ^ Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1894). La marina de Castilla desde su origen y pugna con la de Inglaterra hasta la refundición en la Armada española. Madrid: El. Progreso editoriral.
  45. ^ Burke, Sir Bernard (1884). The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Comprising a Registry of Amorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time. London: Harrison & Sons.
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