The History of the foundation of Walden abbey names “Matilidis filia sua, Humfredus filius suus primogenitus, Henricus et Radulfus fratres eius” as children of “Humfridum de Bohun filium domini Henrici de Bohun comitis Herefordiæ” and his wife “Matildi”. A manuscript which narrates the descents of the founders of Lanthony Abbey names “Humfredus quintus de Bohun comes Hereford et Essex et constabularius Angliæ et dominus Henricus de Bohun” as sons of “Henricus de Bohun” and his wife “Matildem filiam et hæredem domini Galfridi filii Petri comitis Essexiæ”.
He succeeded his father in 1220 as Earl of Hereford, hereditary Constable of England. He had livery of his mother's lands 9 Sep 1236, thereby succeeding as Earl of Essex. He supported Henry III King of England against the barons in 1263/64. 1
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HUMPHREY DE BOHUN (or BOUN), Knt., 6th Earl of Hereford, 7th Earl of Essex, hereditary Constable of England, Constable of the Exchequer, 1228, Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of Cinque Ports, 1239-41, Sheriff of Kent, 1239-41, Warden of the Marches of Wales, 1245, Privy Councillor, 1258, Justice of Assize at Cardiff, 1261, Chief Captain of the Army in Wales, 1263, Constable of Haye, Huntingdon, and Tregruk Castles, son and heir, born about 1200 (of age in 1221)....
After Humphrey's father's death in 1220, William Briwere had custody of Caldicot, Monmouthshire and Walton, Surrey. The following year, Humphrey had livery of Caldicot Castle and all lands held in chief, the king having taken his homage. In Easter term 1226 he sued his mother and stepfather, Maud and Roger de Dauntsey, regarding the manor of Heddington, Wiltshire. The same term he also sued Ela, Countess of Salisbury, regarding lands in Bishopstrow, East Coulston, Manningford Bruce (in Wilsford), Newton Tony, Staverton (in Trowbridge), and Wilsford, Wiltshire. He joined Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in his quarrel with the king in 1227. He 1228/9 he had aquittance for 15-1/5 fees of the moiety of the fees of Trowbridge, Wiltshire. He fought in France in 1230, in Gascony in 1242 and 1253, and in Wales in 1257. In 1234 the king thanked him and Richard de Argentein for the diligence which they applied in seizing into the king's hands the castle of Pevensey, Sussex. At the coronation of Queen Eleanor in 1236, he was Marshal of the Household. He succeeded his mother as 7th Earl of Essex in 1236. In 1237 he went on a pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain. He presented to the churches of Thoreby, Lincolnshire, 1237, and Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, 1242, and to the chapel of Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, 1239. He stood sponsor at the baptism of Edward I in 1239....
In 1242 he was in the expedition to France, but returned because of the king's foreign favorites. In 1242 Ralph de Mortimer and his wife, Gwladus, sued him in a plea of land and dower. He granted the tithes of Wilsford, Wiltshire to Farleigh Priory about 1243. In 1244 the cause of the Welsh rebellion is assigned to his having kept in his hand the inheritance of the wife of David ap Llywelyn, Prince of North Wales. In 1246 in joined in the letter of remonstrance from the English peers to Pope Innocent IV. He was present at the Great Council of 1248. In 1249 he was summoned to answer Lettice de Keynes on a plea demanding what right he demands common of pasture in her land of Somerford, Wiltshire. In the same year Gwladus of Wales, widow of Reynold de Breuse, complained that Earl Humphrey had withheld her dower lands in the burgage of Hay, Breconshire, a mill in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, the borough of Brecknock, Brecknockshire, and a fishery in a lake in Blaenllyfni (in Cathedine), Breconshire. In 1250 he took the cross and went to the Holy Land as a crusader. In 1252 he spoke in defense of Simon de Montfort. The next year he was present at the renewal of the charters and the solemn excommunication of the transgressors. In 1253 he and his eldest son, Humphrey, had licence to hunt hare, fox, cat and other wild beasts in the forests of Bradon and Savernake, Wiltshire. In 1258 he was one of the 24 councillors to draw up the Provisions of Oxford, being chosen one of the original commissioners, and subsequently one of the council of fifteen. The same year he was appointed chief Ambassador to Scotland. In 1259 he was the king's representative for the preservation of peace between France and England. In 1260 he served as a justice itinerant for the counties of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford. Sometime after 1260, he reached settlement of a dispute with Malmesbury Abbey regarding common rights in Flisteridge Wood, Wiltshire. Sometime after 1260, he also gave to Malmesbury Abbey his tenement and lands south of a brook called Ikemere in the fields of Crudwell, Wiltshire, in return for the keeping of an obit for himself and his second wife, Maud. In the struggle of 1263-4 he took the side of the king. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Lewes 14 May 1264. His 2nd wife, Maud, died at Sorges in Gascony 8 Oct. 1273, where she was buried. In 1275 he obtained a dispensation from the Bishop of Worcester to eat meat on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, during Lent.... 2
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Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and (from 27 August 1236) of Essex, Constable of England.
After his father's death William Brewer had custody of Caldicot [Monmouth] and of Walton in Surrey, but Humphrey had livery of Caldicot Castle and all lands held in chief the next year, the King having taken his homage.
He joined the Earl of Cornwall in his quarrel with the King in 1227.
In 1228/9 he had an acquittance for 15 1/5 fees of the moiety of the fees of Trowbridge.
At the coronation of Queen Eleanor in 1236 he was Marshal of the Household. He had livery of his mother's lands 9 September 1236.
In 1237 he went on a pilgrimage to Santiago. He was appointed constable of Dover Castle 27 February 1238/9, which he surrendered 4 November 1241, and during these years was sheriff of Kent.
He stood sponsor at the baptism of Edward I in 1239.
In 1242 he was in the expedition to France, but returned because of the King's foreign favourites.
In 1244 the cause of the Welsh rising is assigned to his having kept in his hand the inheritance of the wife of David, son of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales.
He joined in the remonstrance to the Pope in 1246, and was present at the Great Council of 1248. In 1250 he was among those who took the Cross.
On 13 September 1251 he had licence to make his will.
He was present at the sentence of excommunication against the transgressors of the charters (1253). He had a protection 15 November 1253 for as long as the King remained in Gascony, and was with him there in 1254, but withdrew (having the King's permission) after failing to obtain satisfaction in a matter concerning his jurisdiction as constable.
On 18 December 1253 he and his eldest son Humphrey had licence to hunt hare, fox, cat and other wild beasts in the forests of Bradon and Savernake, Wilts.
In 1257 he was appointed to keep the marches between Montgomery and the land of the Earl of Gloucester, and had a protection 22 October on staying in Wales in the service of Prince Edward.
In 1258 he was one of the 24 councillors to draw up the Provisions of Oxford, being chosen among the Barons' twelve, and was thereafter one of the fifteen chosen to advise the King on all points; he was also one of the twelve elected by the Barons to represent the community in three annual parliaments, and was one of the 24 who were concerned in treating of aids.
In 1259 he was the King's representative (with the Count of Aumâle) for the preservation of peace between France and England; was concerned with Llywellyn ap Gruffydd in the matter of the truce; and was one of the commissioners who ratified the treaty between France and England in July. On 10 August 1260 he was sent to treat for peace with Llywellyn, and on 25 August 1262. was one of the commissioners to meet Llywellyn's commissioners at the Ford of Montgomery.
He had a grant of the custody of the lands of the late Earl of Gloucester 18 July 1262. In the struggle of 1263/4 he took the side of the King (n); was one of the keepers of the City of London, 9 October 1265, and one of the plenipotentiaries for the Dictum of Kenilworth. 3
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Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and possessing that honour of Essex through his mother, was created Earl of that county by King Henry III, at whose marriage his lordship performed the office of marshal in the king's house, and in three years afterwards, anno 1239, was one of the godfathers at the font for Edward, eldest son of the king, there being no less than nine sponsors on the occasion, viz., five temporal and four spiritual lords. He was Lord High Constable of England. In 1250, he took up the cross and proceeded to the Holy Land. In three years afterwards, his lordship was present with other peers when that formal curse was denounced in Westminster Hall with bell, book, and candle, against the violators of Magna Carta; in which year he founded the church of the Friars Augustines, in Broad-street, within the city of London. In the great contest between the king and his barons, this nobleman fought for the latter at Evesham, where he was taken prisoner, but he did not long continue in bondage for we find him soon after again in favour and receiving new grants from the crown. His lordship died in 1275, and was succeeded by his grandson, Humphrey de Bohun. 4
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12 Nov 1265, Westminster
Grant to Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, and his heirs, of the manors of Sudham and Withurst and 100s. of land in Haresfeud, co. Gloucester, the manor of Kanelauton, co. Huntingdon, and the manors of Waleden and Depeden, co. Essex, which the earl, by fine made in the king's court, had granted to Humphrey de Bohun his first born son, to hold after his death, to him and his heirs by Joan daughter of Robert de Quency his wife, and which belong to the king by reason of the trespass and forfeiture which the said Humphrey made against the king and his son Edward in adhering to Simon de Monte Forti, sometime earl of Leicester, and his partisans, the king's enemies.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. III, vol. 5, p. 504
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Inquisition Post Mortem
100. Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex 5
Writ, 27 Sept. 3 Edw. I [1275]
Gloucester. Inq. (undated)
Whitenhurst. The manor held of the king in chief, service unknown.
Suham. Two parts of the manor held of the bishop of Worcester by service of one attendance at his court of Clyve and by service of 1½ knight's fee, together with Colesburn and Cundicote.
Humphrey, son of Humphrey de Bohun the younger, aged 24 and more, is his next heir.
Huntingdon. Inq. Monday the morrow of St. Michael, 3 Edw. I.
Kenebauton. The manor, including the castle and park, with a wood called La Haye, held of the king in chief by knight's service.
Humphrey, son of Humphrey his son, aged 24, is his next heir.
Essex. Inq. Saturday after St. Michael, 3 Edw. I.
Plecys. The manor held of the king in chief, service unspecified.
Watham. The manor similarly held.
Heghestre. The manor similarly held.
Heir as above.
C. Edw. I. File 8. (9.)
131. Humphrey de Boun, Earl of Hereford and Essex. 5
[Monmouth.] Extent, The day of St. Leonard, 3 Edw. I.
Caldecote alias Kaldecote. The manor, held of the king in chief by service of being constable in England.
Humphrey son of Humphrey the younger, aged 26 and more, is his next heir.
Wilts. Extent, Friday after St. Faith, 3 Edw. I.
Wockes[eie.] The manor, held of the king in chief by service of being constable.
Humphrey de Bohun, aged 24 and more, is his next heir.
C. Edw. I. File 10. (9.)
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