Sir John Devereux Baron Devereux

  General Notes:

Devereux, John, Baron Devereux (d. 1393), soldier and royal councillor, of Dinton, Buckinghamshire, was reputedly a younger son of William Devereux of Bodenham, Herefordshire, but his background remains obscure. The foundations of his reputation for military prowess were already laid before 1366 (by when he was certainly a knight), the year he was recruited by the great Breton commander Bertrand du Guesclin to fight on behalf of Enrique da Trastamara in his bid for the throne of Castile. Devereux and his fellow countrymen were, however, ordered to change sides by Edward, the Black Prince, who backed his kinsman by marriage, King Pedro the Cruel. The latter's supporters won a notable victory at Nájera in 1367, when Devereux rode in the van of the English contingent. 'Then, of a surety', wrote the Chandos herald, 'was no heart in the world so bold as not to be amazed at the mighty blows they dealt with the great axes they bore, and the swords and daggers' (Life of the Black Prince, ll. 3286-91). A period of energetic campaigning, during which he served as seneschal of the Limousin (1369-71) and of Rochelle (1372), and was present when Limoges fell to Prince Edward, ended abruptly with his capture by du Guesclin at Chize in 1373. He had been ransomed by 1375, and two years later the prince recompensed him with an annual pension of 200 marks payable for life in recognition of his services overseas.

The accession of Prince Edward's son, Richard II, allowed Devereux to assume a more political role as a member of the royal council and intimate of the young king's surviving uncles. He became constable of Leeds Castle, Kent, in March 1378, and-of far greater strategic importance-captain of Calais (1380), with additional responsibility for the defences of Calais pale and Guînes (1381). These appointments brought with them onerous diplomatic duties, involving seven separate missions to treat with the French and the Flemings between then and 1390. There were many rewards, too. The duke of Brittany, under whom he had fought in Poitou, gave him 100 marks a year for life (although payment often fell into arrears), and he was well placed to secure the lease of valuable property confiscated by the government in wartime. Most of the rent of £246 a year which he contracted to pay was remitted after his summons to parliament as Lord Devereux, in September 1384, and his creation as a banneret by Richard.

Evidence of Devereux's dramatic rise up the social ladder may be found in his marriage, by 1379, to Margaret (d. 1398), daughter of John de Vere, earl of Oxford (d. 1360), and Maud, daughter of Bartholomew, Lord Badlesmere (d. 1322). A rich widow to boot, she had previously been married to Henry, Lord Beaumont (d. 1369), and Sir Nicholas Loveyn (d. 1375), who left her in possession of the manor of Penshurst, Kent. Devereux was, moreover, able to purchase outright, in 1385, the castle and lordship of Kilpeck in Herefordshire. Further preferment followed, with his promotion to the stewardship of the royal household, which he held from February 1388 until his death, his appointment as constable of Dover Castle and warden of the Cinque Ports one year later, and his elevation as a knight of the Garter by April 1389. The fall of Sir Simon Burley and other unpopular royal favourites in 1388 not only strengthened his own position, but also brought him Lyonshall in Herefordshire as a share of the spoils.

Devereux died suddenly at his London inn, Le Coldeherberwe (Coldharbour), on 22 February 1393, while preparing to leave England on another diplomatic mission. He was buried, according to his wishes, at the church of the London Greyfriars. In his will of 1385 he had left large quantities of plate and 2000 marks to find a bride for his son, John, but by 1390 the boy had already married Philippa, granddaughter and coheir of Guy, Lord Brian (d. 1390). He died childless in 1396, and was succeeded in his estates by his sister, Joan (1379-1409), wife of Walter Fitzwalter, Lord Fitzwalter (d. 1406) and then of Hugh, Lord Burnell (d. 1420). ⁶⁷

  Noted events in his life were:

• Address: Kilpeck, Herefordshire.

• Address: Lyonshall, Herefordshire.

John married Margaret de Vere, daughter of John de Vere 7th Earl Oxford and Maud de Badlesmere Countess of Oxford. (Margaret de Vere died on 15 Jun 1398.)