"William de Cantelupe son of Walter de Cantelupe" donated rent received "annually from Samson his free man of Leg" to Montacute priory by undated charter, witnessed by "William de Cantelupe my son and heir…Gilbert de Sai…". The Testa de Nevill lists knights who held land in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, dated to [1208/10]: "Willelmus de Cantilupo" held "Eiton". The Red Book of the Exchequer records "Thomas Mauduit et Willelmus de Kantilupo" holding five knights’ fees in Shropshire, and one "in Eytone" in Bedfordshire, in [1210/12]. Matthew Paris names “...Willelmus de Cantelu et Willelmus filius eius, Fulco de Canteleu...” among the "consiliarios iniquissimos” of King John. Henry III King of England ordered "Willelmus de Cantilupo senior…" to enquire into the state of the forests "de comitatu Herefordie" dated [Jul] 1219.
Matthew Paris records the death "VII Id Apr” 1239 of “Willelmus de Cantelupo pater...episcopi Wigorniæ”. 1
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William de Cauntelo the elder, steward of the household to King John. 2
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...[R]ecorded in 1166 as a minor landowner in Essex and Lincolnshire, who was a younger brother of Fulk de Cantilupe (died 1217/18), Sheriff of Berkshire in 1200/1.
In 1198 he was Steward to John, Count of Mortain, the future King John(1199-1216), in which year his uncle Fulk de Cantilupe was also a member of the Count's household. From 1200 to 1204 he served as Sheriff of Worcestershire and in 1204 as Under-Sheriff of Herefordshire. In 1205 he took part in the ineffectual expedition to Poitou. In 1207, he was Sheriff of Worcestershire, serving until the end of the reign of King John in 1216. In 1209, following his appointment as Sheriff of Warwickshire and Sheriff of Leicestershire, his main residence became Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.
Cantilupe was granted several manors formerly held by rebel barons during 1215-16, at the time of the signing of Magna Carta (1215). He was commissioned by King John to negotiate the return of such rebels to peaceable relations. He served as gaoler of baronial hostages, which action probably gained him the description by the contemporary chronicler Roger of Wendover (died 1236) as one of John's "evil counsellors".
In 1204, he was granted the Warwickshire manor of Aston, to which as was usual, was appended his family name. The location now has a modern cartographical spelling as "Cantlow", one of the many ancient variants of the family name. This manor had previously been held by William the Chamberlain de Tankerville before it escheated to the crown.
In 1205, he was granted the manor of Eaton, Bedfordshire, (from 16th-century "Eaton Bray") which became the caput of the Cantilupe feudal barony. The grant, for knight-service of one knight, was in exchange for the manor of Coxwell, Berkshire, which had been previously granted to him. Eaton had been held at the time of William the Conqueror by the latter's brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, but later escheated to the crown. At Eaton, Cantilupe built a castle.
Following the death of King John in 1216, many of his appointees to governorships of royal castles were reluctant to hand over their castles to the regency council which governed during the minority of his son, the future King Henry III(1216-1272). They believed themselves obliged to hold their castles until Henry should have achieved 14 years of age, when he would be able to follow his own policy. These many refusals met with a forceful response from the council.
In 1217, under the regency council, during which year he was a Baron of the Exchequer, Cantilupe was at the siege of Mountsorrel Castle, Leicestershire, which was razed to the ground, and was also at the Second Battle of Lincoln. He served the council at the siege of Bedford in 1224. He later served in Wales (1228 and 1231) and Brittany (1230). 3
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28 Nov 1228
The king has pardoned to William de Cantilupe senior the 40 m. which are exacted from him by summons of the Exchequer for the divers amercements in which he was amerced in the eyre of the king’s justices. The king has also granted to William that, of the 100 m. which are exacted from him for the prest made to him in the time of King John, father of the king, when he set out towards Germany on an embassy of the king’s father, he may render 10 m. per annum, namely 5 m. at Easter and 5 m. at Michaelmas, and 10 m. thus from year to year at the aforesaid terms until the aforesaid 100 m. are paid to the king....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, 13 Hen. III, 52
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12 Jan 1233, Woodstock
The king has granted to William de Cantilupe senior, who, by his grant, renders 15 m. each year at the Exchequer for the debts he owes the king, as is contained in the rolls of the Exchequer, that, of both the 15 m. exacted from him by summons of the Exchequer for a prest made to him in the king’s wardrobe and for other debts that he owes him, he may render those 15 m. as he is accustomed to render them at the Exchequer.
26 Nov 1233
Order to the sheriff of Warwickshire to permit William de Cantilupe senior to have peace from the demand of 20 m. that he makes by summons of the Exchequer for the prest of Brittany, until upon the view of his account after Easter in the eighteenth year .
Calendar of Fine Rolls, 17 Hen. III, 88, 18 Hen. III, 81
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5 Dec 1235, Westminster
To the barons of the Exchequer. The king has granted to his beloved and faithful William de Cantilupe senior that he may render the 5 m. which he owes him for a prest made to him at Bedford , the 20 m. which he owes him for a prest made to him in Brittany , which they exact from him by summons of the Exchequer, among the other debts of which he paid 15 m. per annum at the Exchequer, so that he is henceforth to render 15 m. each year at the same terms at which he previously paid them until he has paid the aforesaid 25 m. and other debts to the king.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, 20 Hen. III, 47
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23 Oct 1236
The king has granted to William de Cantilupe senior that he may render the 32 m. which are exacted from him by summons of the Exchequer , namely 30 m. for the prest of Hereford and 2 m. for the debts of Robert Barat, his brother , in the fine that he made with the king by rendering 5 m. annually at the Exchequer for other debts that he owes the king at the Exchequer....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, 20 Hen. III, 565
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22 May 1239, Reading
Order to the sheriff of Wiltshire to cause Walter de Burgh, keeper of the king’s demesne lands , to have seisin of the manor of Calne , which William de Cantilupe, who is dead, held in his lifetime by bail of the king, so that he answers for it at the Exchequer.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, 23 Hen. III, 184
Orthographic variations: DE CANTELOU, DE CANTILUPE