Humphrey I de Bohun

Humphrey I de Bohun (died c.1123), jure uxoris feudal baron of Trowbridge in Wiltshire,^[1] was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. By his lucrative marriage he became "the founder of the fortunes of his family",^[2] later prominent in England as Earls of Hereford and Earls of Essex, and for this reason is usually enumerated "Humphrey I" even though following his father he was the second "Humphrey de Bohun" in England.^[3] He has even been called Humphrey the Great.^[4]

He was the youngest son of Humphrey with the Beard, lord of the manor of Bohun in Normandy, who had taken part in the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He married Maud of Salisbury, a daughter of Edward of Salisbury (d.1130),^[5] feudal baron of Trowbridge^[6] and of Chitterne,^[7] both in Wiltshire. Maud brought as her dowry the feudal barony of Trowbridge, whilst Chitterne was inherited by her brother Walter of Salisbury (d.1147). By his wife he had progeny including:

• Humphrey II de Bohun (d.1165), eldest son and heir, feudal baron of Trowbridge. With his mother he founded the CluniacMonkton Farleigh Priory to fulfill his deceased father's wishes.
• Margaret de Bohun, wife of Walter Fitz Robert, died without progeny.

Sources

• Graeme White, "Bohun, Humphrey (III) de (b. before 1144, d. 1181)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 20 December 2009.

References