Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent ( , ; – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England (1215–1232) and Justiciar of Ireland (1232) during the reigns of King John and his son and successor King Henry III and, as Regent of England (1219–1227) during Henry's minority, was one of the most influential and powerful men in English politics in the thirteenth century.

Origins

Hubert de Burgh was born of unknown parents of Burgh-next-Aylsham, Norfolk. His elder brother was William de Burgh (d. 1206), founder of the de Burgh/Burke/Bourke dynasty in Ireland, and his younger brothers were Geoffrey (Archdeacon of Norwich and later Bishop of Ely), and Thomas (castellan of Norwich).|416x416px]]

In 1202, de Burgh was sent to France by King John, to assist in the defense of Poitou against King Philip II of France. He was appointed castellan of the great castle of Chinon in Touraine. During this time, he served as guard of the captured Arthur I, Duke of Brittany. After almost all of Poitou had fallen to the French king, de Burgh held the castle for an entire year, until he was captured during the ultimately successful storming of the castle in 1205.

During the First Barons' War (1215–17), Hubert de Burgh served John as sheriff of Kent (1216–25) and Surrey (1215–16), as well as castellan of Canterbury and Dover. He successfully defended Dover Castle during a siege that lasted until John died (in October 1216), and the young King Henry III was crowned. He denied Louis VIII of France possession of the castle later in 1216. On 24 August 1217, a French fleet arrived off the coast of Sandwich in Kent, in order to provide Prince (later King) Louis of France, then ravaging England, with soldiers, siege engines and fresh supplies. Claiming command of the English fleet raised in response, Hubert intercepted the French fleet at the Battle of Sandwich, where he scattered the French and captured their flagship The Great Ship of Bayonne under Eustace the Monk, who was promptly executed.

However, in 1232, his enemies' plots finally succeeded and he was removed from office and was soon imprisoned at Devizes Castle. When Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke rebelled against the king in 1233, the men holding Hubert de Burgh captive released him and he subsequently joined the rebellion.

Trouble with the king

The marriage of Hubert de Burgh's daughter, Margaret (or Megotta as she was also known), to the young Richard of Clare, Earl of Gloucester, brought de Burgh into some trouble in 1236, for the earl was still a minor and in the king's wardship, and the marriage had been celebrated without the royal licence. Hubert, however, protested that the match was not of his making, and promised to pay the king some money, so the matter passed by for the time. Eventually the marriage came to an end, by way of her death.

Lands acquired

thumb|275x275px|The remains of de Burgh's [[Hadleigh Castle near Southend in Essex]]

In 1206, he purchased the manor of Tunstall in Kent (from Robert de Arsic) which was later inherited by his eldest son, John de Burgh.

Hubert was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and was also given charge of Falaise, in Normandy.

Sometime after 1215, De Burgh started building a castle in Hadleigh having been awarded the lands by King John. A licence to crenellate was retrospectively given in 1230, at which point that original castle had been completed. Isabella, Countess of Gloucester (daughter and heiress of William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester).

  • Thirdly, Princess Margaret (sister of King Alexander II of Scotland) with whom he had a daughter, Margaret, who married Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester.

Death

Hubert de Burgh died in Banstead, Surrey, in 1243,

Fictional portrayals

Hubert is a character in Shakespeare's play King John. On screen, he has been portrayed by Franklyn McLeay in the silent short King John (1899), which recreates John's death scene; by Jonathan Adams in the BBC TV drama series The Devil's Crown (1978); and by John Thaw in the BBC Shakespeare version of The Life and Death of King John (1984). The story of his daughter's marriage is told in Edith Pargeter's novel The Marriage of Meggotta (1979). de Burgh appears as a recurrent character in The Ela of Salisbury Medieval Mystery Series by J.G. Lewis, suspected by Ela, another historical figure, of poisoning her late husband.

Arms

See also

  • House of Burgh – an Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman dynasty founded in 1193

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • .

Further reading

  • Harwood, Brian, "Fixer & Fighter The Life of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, 1170–1243". Pen & Sword (2016)
  • West, F. J. The Justiciarship in England 1066–1232 (Cambridge, 1966)