thumb|200px|Arms of Montagu (modern): Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules

William Montagu, alias de Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 3rd Baron Montagu, King of Man (1301 – 30 January 1344) was an English nobleman and loyal servant of King Edward III.

He was the first king of an independent Manx Kingdom.

The son of William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu, he entered the royal household at an early age and became a close companion of the young Prince Edward. The relationship continued after Edward was crowned king following the deposition of Edward II in 1327. In 1330, Montagu was one of Edward's main accomplices in the coup against Roger Mortimer, who until then had been acting as the king's protector.

In the following years, Montagu served the king in various capacities, primarily in the Scottish Wars. He was richly rewarded, and among other things received the lordship of the Isle of Man. In 1337, he was created Earl of Salisbury, and given an annual income of 1,000 marks to go with the title. He served on the Continent in the early years of the Hundred Years' War, but in 1340 he was captured by the French, and in return for his freedom had to promise never to fight in France again. Salisbury died of wounds suffered at a tournament early in 1344.

Legend has it that Montagu's wife Catherine was raped by Edward III, but this story is almost certainly French propaganda. William and Catherine had six children, most of whom married into the nobility. Modern historians have called William Montague Edward's "most intimate personal friend" and "the chief influence behind the throne from Mortimer's downfall in 1330 until his own death in 1344."

Family background

William Montagu, born at Cassington, Oxfordshire in 1301, was the second but eldest surviving son of William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu, and Elizabeth de Montfort, daughter of Sir Peter Montfort of Beaudesert, Warwickshire, by Matilda/Maud de la Mare, daughter and heiress of Henry de la Mare of Ashtead, Surrey, Royal Justice, Seneschal of William Longspree II, Earl of Salisbury.

The Montagu family, a West Country family with roots going back to the Conquest, held extensive lands in Somerset, Dorset and Devon.

The father, William Montagu, distinguished himself in the Scottish Wars during the reign of Edward I, and served as steward of Edward II's household. Some members of the nobility, including Thomas of Lancaster, viewed Montagu with suspicion, as a member of a court party with undue influence on the king. For this reason, he was sent to Aquitaine, to serve as seneschal. Here he died on 18 October 1319.

Early service

The younger William was still a minor at the time of his father's death, and entered the royal household as a ward of the king in 1320. On 21 February 1323 he was granted his father's lands and title. Montagu explained the king's situation, and Pope John XXII asked for a special signal that assure him that he was dealing with the king in person. After Montagu's return, Richard Bury, Keeper of the Privy Seal, wrote to inform the pope that only letters containing the words pater sancte (holy father), in Edward's own handwriting, were indeed from the king. Only Edward, Bury and Montagu were party to the scheme.

Coup against Mortimer

When Mortimer discovered the conspiracy against him, Montagu was brought in for interrogation—along with the king—but gave nothing away. Along with William de Bohun, Robert Ufford, and John Neville and others, he entered the castle, where he met up with the king. Edward did not obey his mother's wishes, and a few weeks later Mortimer was executed for treason in London. As a reward for his part in the coup, Montagu was given lands worth £1,000, including the Welsh lordship of Denbigh that had belonged to Mortimer. His family also benefited; his brother Simon Montacute became Bishop of Worcester and later of Ely. Another brother, Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu, married Alice of Norfolk, a co-heir of Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk.

Service under Edward III

thumb|upright|left|[[Edward III of England|Edward III founded the Order of the Garter in 1348, and included Salisbury's son among the founding members.]] In the years to come, Montagu acted as Edward's closest companion. At this point, however, the fortunes were turning for the English in Scotland. Montagu campaigned in the north again in 1337, but the Siege of Dunbar in 1338 against Agnes, Countess of Dunbar and Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie met with failure. Following the abortive attempt in Scotland, Edward III turned his attention to the continent.

The Hundred Years' War

Montagu was created Earl of Salisbury on 16 March 1337. This was one of six comital promotions Edward III made that day, in preparation for what was to become the Hundred Years' War. To allow Montagu to support his new status, the king granted him land and rent of a value of 1,000 marks a year. The money was provided from the royal stannaries of Cornwall. A contemporary poem tells of a vow made by the earl on the eve of the wars—he would not open one of his eyes while fighting in France. The story is probably a satire; the truth was that Montagu had already lost the use of one of his eyes in a tournament.

In April 1337, Montagu was appointed to a diplomatic commission to Valenciennes, to establish alliances with Flanders and the German princes. In July 1338, he accompanied the king on another mission to the continent, again providing the greatest number of soldiers, with 123 men-at-arms and 50 archers. Edward's policy of building alliances put him in great debt, and when he left the Low Countries to return to England late in 1338, Salisbury had to stay behind as surety to the king's debtors, along with the king's family and the Earl of Derby. The earl had earlier voiced concerns about the costly alliances, but he nevertheless remained loyal to the king's strategy.

While Edward was away, Salisbury was captured by the French at Lille in April 1340, and imprisoned in Paris. Though released on parole in September, it was not until May 1342 that he reached a final settlement with the French. Salisbury was freed in a prisoner exchange, but only on the condition that he never fight in France again. On his return, however, he played little part in the conflict of 1341 between King Edward and Chancellor John Stratford. In May of that year, he was appointed to a committee to hear the king's charges against Stratford, but little came from this. In 1342–43 he fought with Robert of Artois in the Breton War of Succession, and in 1343 helped negotiate the Truce of Malestroit. King Edward's financial obligations were never paid in full during the earl's lifetime, and at Salisbury's death, the king owed him £11,720. Of this, some £6,374 were written off by his executors in 1346.

Family

In or before 1327 Salisbury married Catherine, daughter of William de Grandison, 1st Baron Grandison. Two anecdotal stories revolve around Catherine Montagu; in one she is identified as the "Countess of Salisbury" from whose dropped garter Edward III named the Order of the Garter.

William and Catherine had six children, most of whom made highly fortunate matches with other members of the nobility. Salisbury's oldest son William succeeded his father in July 1349, while still a minor, as William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. The younger William was one of the founding members of the Order of the Garter, but he never enjoyed the same favour with the king as his father had.

  • Elizabeth Montagu, died 1359, married first, Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere, second, Hugh le Despencer, Baron le Despencer (1338) before 27 April 1341, and third, Guy de Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan, after 1349.
  • William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, born 1328, died 1397, succeeded his father on 11 June 1349.
  • Sibyl Montagu, married Sir Edmund FitzAlan, Knt., eldest son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel.
  • John de Montacute, 1st Baron Montacute, born 1330, died 1390, father of John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury.
  • Philippa Montagu, born 1332, died 1381, married Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March.
  • Agnes Montagu, contracted to marry John, eldest son of Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn.

In fiction

Salisbury is a character in Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings), a series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon. He was portrayed by in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series.

References

  • Inquisition Post Mortem #532, dated 1344.
  • 'Elizabeth De Montacute née Montfort', History of Henley Series . Retrieved 22 October 2013

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