Philip De Carteret, Seigneur of St Ouen, (1450–1500), son of Philip.
Philip married Margaret Harliston at St Ouens Church in 1470. Margaret was daughter of the Yorkist Governor Sir Richard Harliston*, a Yorkist ally of his grandfather Philip De Carteret, 5th of St Ouen. Margaret was to play a crucial part in the escapade that followed...
[NOTE*: Shaw's "Knight's of England" - a comprehensive and most-reliable reference book in the Jersey Central Library's reference dept., - has no entry for Richard Harliston as "Knight". Nor is there any listing from any other reputable academic source that Harliston was ever "knighted"! Harliston, loyal to the Plantagenets who had appointed him, attempted to hold Gorey Castle for a new Yorkist Claimant to the Crown should one arise, following King Richard's death in battle on 22nd August, 1485 ; "forted-up" and held out under a relatively quiet siege for 6 months, and then surrendered peacefully in late-March or early April, 1486, - and was allowed to "depart into exile with his folk". He was eventually made welcome at the Flanders Court of Princess Margaret of York, Ruling Duchess of Burgundy, and sister to the late King Edward IV. Harliston was "attainted for Treason" by King Henry VII; - and the Tudor Bill of Attainder names him only as "Richard Harliston, Esquire", while others of noble status within those Attainders are given their Ranks - should they have had them].
After the Yorkist Harliston's departure, - in 1486, new joint-Governors were appointed; - Davy Phillip and Matthew Baker, both long-time Lancastrian Liegemen, and "Esquires of The Body" to Henry VII. In 1488, Davy Phillip was re-assigned to be Governor of Guernsey, leaving Baker in sole, civil, financial, & military Command in Jersey, as is made plain by the terms of his Warrant in the "Close Rolls". Matthew Baker's rule is said to have been one long injustice and tyranny, and Philip de Carteret* was strongly opposed thereto. [NOTE*: - Philip De Carteret had sworn a new Oath of Allegiance to the new Tudor King,- as had all the other Seigneurs and Crown-Office Holders of Jersey, - and De Carteret was by no means a sole critic of the Royal demands being imposed by the Tudor Governor Baker, - not the least of which was that the Exchequer had not received any Taxes or Customs Dues from Jersey since 1483; - and the King was demanding the back-taxes, - which Baker was commanded to spend within the island, on wages for officials, officers, and soldiery , and on improving the defences against a possible French invasion. To judge from his surviving messages to his Royal Master, Baker appears to have viewed this lack of seigneurial co-operation over an 8-year period from 1485 to 1494, as a form of "passive Treason".]
One day,[Note: probably in late-May or early-June, 1494, the surviving records are not specific, nor is the Yorkist-biased "anonymous Chronicler"] when Philip de Carteret was riding with his followers to attend the Cohue Royale, (the Norman name for the Royal Court House), he passed Matthew Baker and his servant and satellite Roger Le Boutillier. The latter called out that de Carteret had dropped a paper, and when a servant was sent to collect it, Matthew Baker, to whom it had been handed, said it contained a serious matter and de Carteret would hear more about it.
Philip de Carteret arrived at the Court, and had taken his accustomed seat when Matthew Baker entered and accused the Seigneur of St. Ouen of high* treason. [NOTE* - "High treason" was then and still is a plot against the life of the King or the Heir to the Throne. The lesser charge is "Treason" - acts against the lawful Government of the Country - which at this time meant "the King-in-Council, with the Assent of Parliament". Philip De Carteret was charged with Treason, not High Treason.]
Le Boutillier, who was a man whom de Carteret had saved from the gallows, threw down his gage against Philip, "who is guilty of the act of which he is accused."
The Seigneur of St. Ouen denied the accusation, and further objected that Le Boutillier was a man of low degree and a criminal from whom he could not accept battle. The Bailiff was placed in a quandary, yet, not daring to oppose the Governor by whom he was appointed to the post he held, he ordered both the combatants to Mont Orgueil to await the trial by battle, which was accordingly arranged.
All this we glean from the anonymous Chronicler, who states that Le Boutillier was well fed and looked after, while de Carteret was badly used and half starved.
Meanwhile Margaret, his wife, Harliston's daughter, hearing of the plight of her husband and guessing Baker's evil and obvious intent to ruin and slay him, acted like a true heroine in this old romance. She arose, leaving her baby of a few days old*,-- [NOTE* ? - this is questionable, in view of what followed, because traditionally, women did not "rise from childbed and enter the world again" until a month after the actual birth;] -- ordered a boat, and set sail for Guernsey. Here she called upon a Jurat of Guernsey named Guillaume Beauvoir [related to the De Carterets] and asked him to get her a boat, although Baker had [reputedly] left orders with his Garrison that no boat should leave for England; and who already gone on to England to put his version of the case at Court — had asked the Guernsey Captain & Governor to forbid also that any boat should leave Guernsey for England.
Nevertheless a boat was procured, and Guillaume, like a brave knight to a lady in distress, accompanied the Dame de St. Ouen on her perilous undertaking. When they arrived at Poole they saw, to their dismay, that Baker was on the shore keeping a watchful eye on the incoming boats. But, says the Chronicler, God willed that a heavy hailstorm should come on at that moment, and Baker and his companions took shelter in a house, giving time for the lady and her cavalier to land.
A friend of Beauvoir's called Havilland provided horses, and at dawn the next day they started for London, - [NOTE: - no, not London - the (now-vanished) Palace of Sheen where Henry VII was then in Residence, near Richmond, a 200 mile ride at least by the most-usual route in that direction from Poole;] - the lady riding hard and fast*- [NOTE*?? - just "a few days after rising from childbed"?? This is physically improbable directly following the birth of a baby, given the 200mile ride in both directions, from Poole to the Court and back to Southampton, because most medieval women rode astride at this time, - (the side-saddle is thought to be a rather-later innovation in England) to the Palace of Sheen that she is known to have undertaken - see following - ] )) - for Salisbury(??) [NOTE ?? - according to Warrants issued during those 2 months, listed in the "Close Rolls", Henry VII was at Sheen not Salisbury, in July/August of 1494, and so was the Court], - where she sought out her friend the Bishop of Winchester*, - [NOTE* - No, - Richard Foxe didn't become "Bishop of Winchester" until 1501. In July, 1494, Foxe had just been translated to the See of Durham, from the See of Bath & Wells. His location at this date is by no means clear, though he is known to have taken up residence in his See at Northam Castle at around this time] - was a member of the Privy Council, who procured for the distraught lady an audience of the King (Henry VII). She pleaded her case so eloquently and successfully that she obtained an order for the deliverance of her husband under the Great Seal of England. So great had been the speed with which she had accomplished her journey* - [NOTE* - given that Margaret had just "risen from childbed", and would not have had the right to use the chain of Post Stations kept for Royal Messengers, thus not being easily able to replace the exhausted horses with fresh mounts, - this ride to the Palace of Sheen would probably have taken at least 4 days, more likely 6 days, according to modern experts in Equestrian Cross-Country Competitions.] - that she was coming away from the Court as the astonished Matthew Baker reached it — and all he got was grave censure from King and Council for his conduct in the affair.
The Lady of St. Ouen sped back to the port of Southampton and found a boat bound for Jersey, where she arrived only on the eve of the day [August 11th] fixed for the combat. She went before the Court of Justice and presented the King's command to set her lord free immediately, which was done to her own joy and the satisfaction of everyone. It was found that the scene of battle had been so arranged with hidden pits and traps that the Seigneur of St. Ouen had no hope of success — and his downfall would have meant a confiscation of his property and ruin of his family.
Margaret's act had the further benefit of drawing attention to the existing arbitrary* powers enjoyed by the Governors and ultimately causing them to be curtailed. [NOTE* - "arbitrary" those powers may have been in the view of later commentators. But at the time they had been carefully listed four times in recent memory - in the two Warrants appointing Richard Harliston under Edward I<script type="text/javascript" src="http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Gadget-revisionjumper.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript"></script>V and Richard III, and in Henry VII's authorising Warrants to Davy Philipe & Matthewe Baker. The exact and very-detailed wording can be found in the "Close Rolls", and in "Materials for a History of the Reign of King Henry VII"]
Matthew Baker was later removed* from office, sometime between 1494/7 -
['NOTE*: - the official Record - the "Close Rolls" which quote the exact wording of the Warrants for all official appointments 'in the King's Gift', - indicates Baker was recalled (not removed) to be appointed sequentially to a number of responsible Court Offices, and became a roving Ambassador for his King - heading Embassies to the Kings Charles VIII and Louis XII of France on at least 3 occasions - King Louis gave Baker a "gold chain worth 90 Livres" or GB£48,200 at 2008 values, (probably the Order of St. Michael?) - according to the memoirs of Cardinal d'Amboise, Prime Minister & Minister of State to Louis XII; - with at least one further Embassy to the Kingdom of Sicily and another to the Papal Court. Baker was also assigned a "pleasaunt howse" within the Palace of Westminster where he was tasked with welcoming and entertaining Foreign Ambassadors, and conducting them to meetings with his King. All of these appointments do not show Baker as "a man disgraced", -' ];
- and under Thomas Auvray, one of the best Governors the island ever had, there was peace for a short time and an end to party quarrels.
Philip and Margaret survived to have some 21 children.
Original reference
* Blanche B. Elliott (1923). Jersey: An Isle of Romance.
Additional Reference Sources: -
William A. Shaw, "Knights of England", pub. 1971.
Exchequer Rolls, Close Rolls,Parliament Rolls, - for Edward IV, Richard III, and Henry VII, - National Archives, Kew.
"Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII", Ed: J. Campbell, 2 Vols., Rolls Series,; Pub: 1873 onwards, by the Treasury for the Master of the Rolls.
"Les Memoires de Georges d'Amboise, Cardinal et Ministre d'Etat"; Colonel Etienne Thierry, Pub: Paris, 1853. Monograph.
Richard Foxe in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958
"Henry VII", S.B.Chrimes, First Pub: Eyre Methuen Ltd., 1972; new Edn. Yale University Press, 1999.