Richard Argentein
Richard de Argentein, Male 1175 - 1246
Born, Great Wymondley, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
Married to Emma Broy. Married to Cassandra Insula. Father of Margery Argentein and Giles Argentein. Son of Reginald Argentein and Rose Halesworth.
Sheriff of Cambridge, Huntingdon, Hertford & Essex.
ghter of Robert de Broy of Bletsoe. We know that they were married by 120
0, when the couple were involved in a dispute over a mill at Sharnbrook wh
ich Robert had given Emma as a marriage gift. By 1203, Emma seems to ha
ve died, leaving Richard with an infant daughter Margaret, who became t
he object of a dispute between her father and grandfather. Robert kept pos
session of Margaret, arguing that she was his only heir, that she had be
en born in his chamber, and that he had raised her. The following year, Ro
bert failed to produce the child as he had been ordered to, claiming th
at she was too weak. However, the dispute was eventually settled by agreem
ent, Robert promising to restore the child to her father, and Richard agre
eing not to marry her without consulting Robert (Curia Regis Rolls). Wh
en she did marry, Margaret carried her grandfather's estate at Bletsoe in
to the Patteshull family, by her marriage to Walter de Patteshull.
or de Lisle), does not appear to have been an heiress. However, at their m
arriage her father made a generous settlement, consisting of the land in N
ewmarket and Exning, to be held from the de Insula family. The marriage se
ems to have taken place in 1203 or 1204 - in the former year land at Exni
ng appears under the name of Robert de Insula, and in the latter, under th
at of Richard 'de Argentoem'. Cassandra was clearly the mother of Richard
's heir Giles, who at his death in 1282, held Ixninge and Newmarket in fr
ee socage of Robert de Insula.
ow of Roger de Lenham, and Richard was made guardian of Roger's son and he
ir, John. The couple were involved in several legal disputes concerning Jo
an's dower estates in Norfolk, Suffolk and Buckinghamshire between 1228 a
nd 1231. By 1241, Richard's son Giles was jointly guardian of Nichol
as de Lenham, Roger's heir (John having presumably died). Some of Joan's d
ower property was in Redenhall, in Norfolk, and curiously, Giles in 1280 h
eld land in Redenhall and Thirning. It looks as if either Richard or Gil
es may have profited by their guardianship of the Lenham estates, to ga
in possession of part of the property (Curia Regis Rolls).
spital, and the builder of a chapel at Melbourn, and as a Crusader who see
ms to have twice fought against the Muslims.
wed it with property in the Wymondleys and elsewhere, including the chur
ch of Little Wymondley.
de of Baldock Street in Royston.
rn and to keep a chaplain there; the chapel was finished by 1229 (Palme
r, pp.27,72, citing MS M, Bishop's muniment room at Ely).
pturing the port of Damietta, in Egypt. A letter written by Richard to h
is kinsman, the abbot of Bury St Edmunds the following year gives us a str
iking glimpse of medieval religious attitudes. It seems that after its cap
ture, the Crusaders were quick to convert the town's mosques into churche
s. Richard founded a handsomely adorned church, dedicated to St Edmund, wh
om he calls his patron saint ('advocatus meus'), and established there thr
ee chaplains, with clerks. He had a painted statue of the saint erected th
ere, which attracted the hostile attention of a Flemish servant who visit
ed the church. But as he left the church after hurling abuse at the martyr
ed saint, a beam of wood miraculously fell on his head and hurt him badl
y, as Richard triumphantly relates to the abbot.
ridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, and also of Hertfordshire and Essex (Calen
dar of Patent Rolls). At the same time he was made constable of Hertford C
astle, an office he held until August 1228 (Calendar of Patent Rolls
). He was in military action again at the siege of Bedford Castle in the S
ummer of 1224, in support of Henry III against the rebellious Falkes de Br
eaute (Ralph of Coggeshall). The siege lasted for eight weeks, and those o
utside the castle suffered heavy casualties. Richard himself was severe
ly wounded 'in the stomach below the navel', despite being in armour.
r. In February 1225 he was among the witnesses of Henry III's Great Chart
er (Burton Annals). He witnessed another royal charter at Windsor in Ju
ne 1226. Then, between January and November 1227, he witnessed a stri
ng of charters as one of the two royal stewards.
er his protection because he has gone overseas in the king's service, acco
mpanied by Giles de Wachesham, whose family were tenants of the Argentei
ns in Huntingdonshire. In September of the same year, (Richard's son) Gil
es de Argentein was also overseas in the king's service (Close Roll). T
he Argenteins' journeys were presumably connected with the military expedi
tion which Henry undertook that Summer, in an attempt to regain Normandy f
rom France.
ed by the Welsh in an expedition against Prince Llewellyn, but Richard him
self is not mentioned in the accounts of the action.
ew years. Indeed, Richard suffered in the factional struggles in Henry's c
ourt in the early 1230s. It seems that he was one of a number of courtie
rs who lost favour after the fall of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, who w
as supplanted in July 1232 by his rival, Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winch
ester (Carpenter, Maddicott). In December 1232, Peter des Rivaux, the bish
op's nephew, was ordered to hand over the Hertfordshire manors of Lilley a
nd Willian to Pain de Chaworth - the king had previously given these manor
s, near Great Wymondley, to Richard de Argentein after they had been forfe
ited by Pain (Close Roll).
hard had his revenge. Peter des Roches in his turn fell from favour in M
ay 1234. In the following month king demanded the return of a number of ca
stles held by his nephew, Peter des Rivaux, and Richard de Argentein was c
hosen as the messenger to convey the king's letters to him. Peter refus
ed to reply, and judgment was passed against him by 25 magnates, includi
ng Richard de Argentein. The constable of Pevensey Castle, one of those he
ld by Peter, was ordered to deliver it to the Earl of Hereford and to Rich
ard de Argentein, and on the 5 July they were thanked and permitted to ret
urn home (Curia Regis Roll).
stminster to explain his conduct. Over the next few months, Richard, resto
red to royal favour, seems to have travelled with the king, attesting a nu
mber of royal charters. His final appearance is at a Council which took pl
ace in October (Curia Regis Roll).
in de Chaworth over Lilley and Willian continues to be mentioned between 1
234 and 1236 (Giles being made Richard's attorney in April 1235) (Curia Re
gis Rolls), and in May 1235 certain Jews to whom Richard owed money were o
rdered to appear at Westminster and give evidence about the debts (Close R
oll). Beyond this, we have only the formal records of Richard's land holdi
ngs in the feudal returns of 1235-6 and 1242-3 (Book of Fees).
out this time. Giles appears to have held the estate at Melbourn in both r
eturns (VCH Cambridgeshire). He also appears, as the king's attorne
y, in a renewed attempt to recover the manors of Lilley and Willian in 12
41 (Curia Regis Rolls). In the same year, Giles is mentioned, together wi
th the master of the Hospital of St Thomas of Acon of London, as having cu
stody of (his step-brother) Nicholas, son and heir of Roger de Lenham.
he English parties which departed in the Summer of 1240. According to t
he Dunstable Chronicle, when the Turks entered Jerusalem (in July 1244), o
nly Richard de Argentein with 20 knights in the Tower of David (the citade
l) held out. Eventually (in late August) the defenders were allowed to lea
ve the city under a flag of truce.
246 Matthew Paris records his death among those of 'certain nobles in Engl
and', describing him as a 'an energetic knight who in the Holy Land had fo
ught faithfully for God for a long time'.
Sources
- Alder, Kay A..ged - provided by LifeTimes Research
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