Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford

Arms of Bohun, adopted at start of age of heraldry, c.1200: Azure, a bend argent cotised or between six lions rampant or

Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (1176 – 1 June 1220) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman.

He was Earl of Hereford and Hereditary Constable of England from 1199 to 1220.

Lineage

He was the son of Humphrey III de Bohun and Margaret of Huntingdon, daughter of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, a son of David I of Scotland. His paternal grandmother was Margaret of Hereford, eldest daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford and Constable of England. Bohun's half-sister was Constance, Duchess of Brittany.

Earldom

The male line of Miles of Gloucester having failed, on the accession of King John of England, Bohun was created Earl of Hereford and Constable of England (1199). The lands of the family lay chiefly on the Welsh Marches, and from this date the Bohuns took a foremost place among the Marcher barons.[1]

Henry de Bohun figured with the earls of Clare and Gloucester among the twenty-five barons who were elected by their fellows to enforce the terms of the Magna Carta in 1215, and was subsequently excommunicated by the Pope.

Marriage & children

He married Maud de Mandeville, daughter of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex. Their children were:

  1. Humphrey IV de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, married Maud de Lusignan, by whom he had issue.
  2. Maud de Bohun, married Henry d'Oilly of Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, by whom she had issue, including:
    1. Margery, married Waleran, Earl of Warwick.
  3. Ralph de Bohun of Hereford, was father to Sir Franco de Bohun of Midhurst who married Sybil de Ferrers, daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby.

Later career

In the civil war that followed the Magna Carta, he was also a supporter of King Louis VIII of France and was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1217.[1] He died while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.[2]

Preceded by
Humphrey III de Bohun		 Lord High Constable
1199–1220 		Succeeded by
The Earl of Hereford
Preceded by
New Creation		 Earl of Hereford
1199–1220 		Succeeded by
Humphrey de Bohun

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Davis, Henry (1911). "Bohun". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 137.
  2. ↑ BOMC: Profiles of Magna Charta Sureties and Other Supporters