According to The Complete Peerage, the parentage of John Botetourt is unknown. His parentage was studied by F. N. Craig, who sets out evidence which indicates that he was the son of Guy Botetourt of Ellingham, Norfolk, his predecessor in the manors of Ellingham, Uphall and Upton. [Many modern secondary sources indicate that John was an illegitimate son of Edward I King of England, based on a Hailes abbey chronicle which names him as such. Michael Prestwich comments that "in general terms, the Hailes chronicle is a reliable source", but highlights that Botetourt’s name is "in a genealogical table" in the chronicle and "appears to be written over an erasure". He concludes that "there is nothing in Botecourt’s career to suggest that he was an illegitimate son of the king" and that "in the absence of any corroborative evidence, it is difficult to credit the evidence of the genealogical table". Nevertheless, if the parentage as stated in the Hailes chronicle is incorrect, there must be some explanation for John Botetourt’s name being included, which is not obvious.]
Governor of St Briavel's Castle, Gloucestershire 1291. The Annales Londonienses name "domini Johannes Buttetort" among the judges sitting in London in 1302. He took a leading part in the Scottish wars of King Edward I. He was summoned to parliament in 1305, whereby he is held to have become Lord Botetourt. Lord of Mendlesham, Suffolk, in right of his wife. He joined the rebellion of Thomas Earl of Lancaster, and fought at the battle of Boroughbridge 16 Mar 1321/2. 1
-----------------------------------
He began his household career as a falconer in the 1270s. He first campaigned in Wales in 1282 as a squire in the household.... In 1286 he claimed view of frankpledge and free warren in Hamerton, Huntingdonshire.... In 1294 when the king faced the threat of French galleys raiding the south coast of England, he appointed two household knights, William de Leybourne and John Botetourt as captain and sub-captain of the fleet. In the following year they were described as admirals—the first use of the term in England. In 1296 he commanded 94 ships taken from the ports between Harwich and King's Lynn, the great majority from Yarmouth. In 1298 and 1299 he served on four commissions of oyer and terminer. In 1298 he had letters of protection for one year, he then going to Scotland. He was accompanied in that campaign by his younger brother, Guy Botetourt, and his valet, William Botetourt. In 1300 he complained William de Wolcherchechaw, taverner, beat one of his carters and did "other enormities," the defendant came into court and pledged a cask of wine to him. He was present at the siege of Caerlaverock in 1300; the metrical chronicler of that siege described him as "light of heart and doing good to all." The same year he was appointed one of three commissioners to inquire into cases of exportation of sterling money, gold and silver, plate, wool, etc., and the exchange of the same for base coin which was imported into England and unlawfully changed. He signed the Barons' letter to Pope Boniface VIII in 1301. In 1304 he held a raid into Nithsdale with 130 cavalry and 1,770 infantry. The same year the king ordered him to assist Robert de Brus, then on the English side, in transporting one great engine in preparation of the siege train for the siege of Sterling in Scotland. He was summoned to Parliament from 13 July 1305 to 13 Sept. 1324, by writs directed Johanni Botetourt, whereby he may be held to have become Lord Botetourt. In 1305 he was appointed one of the justices of trailbaston. The same year he was sent to treat with the Scots on the affairs of that kingdom. In 1306 he enrolled himself as performing the service of one knight in Scotland, but in fact he had a contingent of three knights and eleven squires with him. In 1307 he again commanded a raid against the Scots. Sometime before 1309-10, he and his wife, Maud, conveyed land in Linslade, Buckinghamshire, to William Rous. In 1309-10 William Fitz Walter conveyed the manor of Great Bradley, Suffolk, to him and his wife, Maud. In 1310 he obtained a licence to alienate lands and rents in Mendlesham, Suffolk in mortmain to the value of 100s. for a chaplain to celebrate in Mendlesham church. In 1311 he and his wife, Maud, were granted the reversion of the manors of Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire and Great Carbrooke, Norfolk by Baldwin de Manners, Knt., who died childless in 1320. John sold the former manor to William la Zouche Mortimer, Knt., Lord Zouche, and Alice his wife in 1323; the latter manor was held in 1327 by John Botetourt's son-in-law William le Latimer. In 1312 John Botetourt and several others were granted letters of safe-conduct by the king to confer in London with Arnold, Cardinal of St. Prisca, and Louis, Count of Évreux, who were sent to help effect a reconciliation between King Edward II and the disaffected earls. In 1314 he commanded the fleet employed in the expedition against Scotland. The same year Peter de Burgate, Knt., released all his right in the manor of Mendlesham, Suffolk to him and his wife, Maud. In 1315 he complained that those recruited for his company were "feeble chaps, not strong enough, not properly dressed, and lacking bows and arrows." In 1316 he presented his brother, Master Roger Botetourt, as rector of Great Bradley, Suffolk. In 1318 he again presented to the church of Great Bradley, Suffolk. The same year he and his wife, Maud, complained that Richard, Abbot of St. Edmunds, William de Cleye, and many others came to Tivetshall, Norfolk, where Maud and some of the servants of the said John were lodged, maliciously raised a hue and cry against them, expelled the said Maud and the servants from the inn, carried away the goods of the said John, and assaulted the said servants.... In 1319 he and his wife, Maud, sold the manor of Woodmancote, Gloucestershire to Robert de Swynburn. In 1320 he obtained a licence to alienate one acre of land in Fishley, Norfolk, together with the advowson of a moiety of the church of Fishley, Norfolk, to the Prior and Convent of St. Mary's, Weybridge, and for them to appropriate the said moiety, to find a chaplain to celebrate divine services for the soul of the said John and the souls of his ancestors. In 1321 he and his wife, Maud, sold the manor of Shelsley Beauchamp, Worcestershire to John de Wysham, Knt. and his wife, Hawise de Poynings; in 1322-3 he conveyed the manor and advowson of the church of Little Ellingham, Norfolk to the same couple. John joined the rebellion of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and fought at the Battle of Boroughbridge 16 March 1321/2. He was subsequently fined £1000, and received a pardon 8 Oct. 1322. In 1323 he and his wife, Maud, conveyed the manor of Ishampstead (in Chesham), Buckinghamshire, to Hugh le Despenser the younger, but, on Hugh's execution and attainder in 1326, the manor escheated to the crown and custody was re-granted to Maud Botetourt. In 1323-4 they made a settlement of the manor of Great Carbrooke, Norfolk, evidently in connection with the marriage of their daughter, Elizabeth, to William le Latimer, as William was lord of this manor in 1327. In 1324 John paid the Italian bankers, the Peruzzi, 100 marks, evidently in payment of a debt he owed to Hugh le Despenser the younger.... 2
-----------------------------------
24 Oct 1322, York
Licence for John Botetourt and Maud his wife to grant the manor of Chigenhale Trenchefoill, co. Essex, held in chief, to John de Sancto Philiberto and Ada his wife, to hold to them and the heirs of the said John de Sancto Philiberto.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edw. II, vol. 4, p. 210
-----------------------------------
Inquisition Post Mortem
587. JOHN BOTETOURT. 3
Writ, 30 November, 18 Edward II. [1324]
BEDFORD. Inq. 10 December, 18 Edward II.
Dilewik. The manor.
Wuttone. A third and a ninth part of the manor.
Ronhal. A moiety of the manor.
Kerdyngton. A third part of the manor with a mill at Bromham, 4 virgates of land in Bromham, and 30a. land held by Isabel de Bray for life.
All held as of the inheritance of Maud his wife of the king in chief as a third part of the barony of Bedford by service of a knight’s fee.
John, son of Thomas son of the aforesaid John, aged 7, is his next heir.
Writ, 30 November, 18 Edward II.
SUFFOLK. Inq. 21 December, 18 Edward II.
Mendlesham. The manor held jointly with Maud his wife, who survives, for their lives, by the gift of Hugh Pirpount [alias Perpound] by fine levied in the king’s court, of Thomas de Leukenore by service of 1d. yearly.
John, son of Thomas Botetourt, aged 7, is his next heir.
NORFOLK. Inq. 25 December, 18 Edward II.
Great Kerbrok. The manor held jointly for life as above, by the gift of the aforesaid Hugh, of the heirs of Aymer de Valencia, earl of Pembroke, as of the manor of Hokham, by service of 1/4 knight’s fee.
He died on 25 November last. Heir as above.
HUNTINGDON. Inq. 29 December, 18 Edward II.
Hamerton. The manor (extent given), held jointly for life as above, by the gift of the aforesaid Hugh, of Robert son of Walter, the elder, as in right of ——— sometime his wife who was one of the heirs of John de Burgo, by service of a pair of white gloves.
Heir as above.
ESSEX. Inq. 20 December, 18 Edward II.
Belcham Otes. The manor held jointly for life as above, by the gift of the aforesaid Hugh, of the king in chief as of the honour of Boulogne by service of a knight’s fee.
Belcham Sancti Ethelberti. 100a. land, 4a. meadow, and 4s. rent, similarly held of the king in chief as of the honour of Boulogne by service of 1/8 knight’s fee.
Belcham William. The manor, similarly held of Robert de Veer, earl of Oxford, by knight’s service.
Gestingthorp. The manor, similarly held of Elizabeth de Burgh by knight’s service.
Gosfeld. The manor, similarly held of the said Elizabeth by knight’s service.
Oviton. The manor, similarly held of the earl Marshal by knight’s service.
Date of death and heir, as above.
C. Edw. II. File 89. (16.)
Research Notes: