Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex

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Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex, (Piers de Lutegareshale), (b. ca. 1162), d. 1213), was a prominent member of the government of England during the reigns of Richard I and John. The patronymic is sometimes rendered Fitz Piers.

He was from a modest landowning family that had a tradition of service in mid-ranking posts under Henry II. Geoffrey's elder brother Simon was at various times sheriff of Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, and Bedfordshire. Geoffrey, too, got his start in this way, as sheriff of Northamptonshire for the last five years of Henry II's reign.

Around this time Geoffrey married Beatrice de Say, daughter and eventual co-heiress of William de Say II. He was the son of William de Say I, and Beatrice, sister of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex. This connection with the Mandeville family was later to prove unexpectedly important. In 1184 Geoffrey's father-in-law died, and he received a share of the de Say inheritance by right of his wife, co-heiress to her father.

When Richard I left on crusade, he appointed Geoffrey one of the five judges of the king's court, and thus a principal advisor to Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham, who, as Chief Justiciar, was one of the regents during the king's absence. Late in 1189, Geoffrey's wife's cousin William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex died, leaving no direct heirs. His wife's inheritance was disputed between Geoffrey and his in-laws, but Geoffrey used his political influence to eventually obtain the Mandeville lands (but not the earldom, which was left open) for himself.

On July 11, 1198, King Richard appointed Geoffrey Chief Justiciar, which at that time effectively made him the king's principal minister. He continued in this capacity after the accession of king John. On his coronation day the new king also recognized Geoffrey as Earl of Essex.

1 Marriage and issue

[edit] Marriage and issue

[edit] Spouses

m1. Beatrice de Say.
m2. Aveline, daughter of Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford.

[edit] Children of Beatrice

Note that his sons by this marriage took the de Mandeville surname.

Geoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex.
William FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex.
Henry, Dean of Wolverhampton.
Maud Fitzgeoffrey, who married Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford.

[edit] Children of Aveline

John Fitzgeoffrey, Lord of Shere and Justiciar of Ireland.
Cecily Fitzgeoffrey.
Hawise Fitzgeoffrey.

Geoffrey's first two sons died without issue. Apparently the earldom was associated with their mother's Mandeville heritage, for the earldom was inherited by the husband of their sister Maud, instead of their half-brother John.