Jenico d'Artois

Sir Jenico d'Artois, Dartas or Dartass (c.1370-1426) was a Gascony-born soldier and statesman, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He enjoyed the trust and confidence of three successive English monarchs, and became a wealthy Irish landowner.[1]

Early career

Although the best-known version of his surname suggests that Artois was his birthplace, historians are unanimous that he was a native of Gascony which, having been part of the dowry of Eleanor of Acquitaine on her marriage to Henry II of England, was in the fourteenth century an English possession.

He entered the service of the English Crown: by 1394 he is known to have been high in the favour of King Richard II of England.[2] He accompanied the King on his military expedition to Ireland in that year and distinguished himself as a soldier, fighting against the Irish clans in Counties Carlow and Kilkenny. He received a substantial grant of land in Ireland, "for his good service against the Irish of Leinster and for his constant loyalty". In 1398 after Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was killed in a skirmish with the O'Brien clan at Kells, County Meath, d'Artois was in charge of taking reprisals against the O'Briens and "slew, captured or brought into submission many of the Irish".

King Richard returned to Ireland in 1399, a step which proved to be his downfall: during his absence from England his cousin, the future King Henry IV, whom he had exiled and disinherited, seized the throne. Richard returned to England, but found himself with no choice but to surrender to Henry, on condition that his life would be spared. He was forced to abdicate, and was placed in solitary confinement at Pontefract Castle, where he died in mysterious circumstances, almost certainly murdered, soon afterwards.[3]

His service with the House of Lancaster

Given Jenico's record of loyalty to Richard II, the new regime might have been expected to deprive him of his liberty, or even his life, as was the fate of several of Richard's closest advisers: but the new King Henry IV seems to have valued him for his military skills, and his loyalty to the former regime was not held against him.[4] He was pardoned, and accompanied the King on an expedition against the Scots. As early as 1401 he was made Constable of Dublin Castle, and subsequently became High Sheriff of Meath, Seneschal of Ulster, and Admiral of Ireland. He was given custody of Trim Castle, and acquired substantial lands in Counties Meath, Louth, and Down; his principal seat was at Ardglass.[5]

Henry V shared his two predecessors' trust in Jenico; in 1413 he was appointed joint military governor of Ireland in the absence of the Lord Lieutenant,[6] and he served with the King in France in 1418. He died in November 1426.[7]

Marriages and descendants

He married firstly, in about 1405, Joan Taaffe, daughter of Sir Nicholas Taaffe of Liscarton Castle, near Navan, and widow of Peter Rowe, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. His second wife Elizabeth outlived him, and was one of the executors of his will.[8] He had two children by his first marriage:

The younger Jenico married Maud Plunkett, daughter of the first Baron Killeen. They had one daughter and heiress Margaret, who married firstly Sir John Dowdall of Newtown, and secondly Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester.[10] Through Rowland's daughter Alison most of the d'Artois inheritance passed by descent to the Earl of Kildare.

Sampson d'Artois, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland 1424-1431, [11] was a close relative, probably a brother, of Jenico. He was co-executor with Jenico's widow of his will.[12]

D'Artois' first name was preserved in the Preston family; many of the Preston boys were named Jenico.

Personality

He has been described as one of the most flamboyant characters in the Europe of his era, a military adventurer who undoubtedly "feathered his own nest" during his years in Ireland, and yet gave good and loyal service to three monarchs and earned their trust.[13] Curtis remarks that if there had been more men of his calibre in fifteenth-century Ireland, the Crown's hold on the country would have been far more secure.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Gilbert, John Thomas "Roland FitzEustace" Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900 Vol. 18 p.53
  2. ↑ Butler, Richard Some Notices of the Castle and of the Abbeys and other religious houses at Trim, County Meath Henry Griffith Trim 1835 pp.48-9
  3. ↑ Saul, Nigel Richard II Yale University Press pp.417ff.
  4. ↑ Butler pp.48-9
  5. ↑ Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society 1902 Reprinted 2013 pp.355-6
  6. ↑ Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Barnes and Noble reissue 1993 p.348
  7. ↑ Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society
  8. ↑ Patent Roll 5 Henry VI
  9. ↑ Journal of the Co. Kildare Archeological Society
  10. ↑ Gilbert p.53
  11. ↑ Hadyn, Joseph The Book of Dignities Reprinted W.H. Allen London 1890 p. 450
  12. ↑ Patent Roll 5 Henry VI
  13. ↑ Curtis, Edmund History of Medieval Ireland Reprinted Routledge Revivals 2013 p.283
  14. ↑ Curtis p.283