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William II de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby(c. 1168 – c. 1247), was afavouriteofKing John of England.He succeeded to the estate (but not the title) upon the death of his father,William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby,at theSiege of Acrein 1190.[1]He was head of a family which controlled a large part ofDerbyshirewhich included an area known asDuffield Frith.
Life
editHe adopted his father's allegiance toKing Richardas the reigning king. On Richard's return from theThird Crusade,in the company ofDavid Ceannmhorand theEarl of Chesterhe played a leading role in besiegingNottingham Castle,on 28 March 1194, which was being held by supporters of Prince John. For seven weeks after this, he held the position of Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.[2]
On the accession of John after the death of his brother, in 1199, William gave him his allegiance, and became a great favourite.[1]He restored to the de Ferrars' family the title ofEarl of Derby,along with the right to the "third penny", and soon afterwards bestowed upon him the manors ofAshbourneandWirksworth,with the whole of thatwapentake,subject to a fee farm rent of £70 per annum.[3]
When, in 1213, John surrendered his kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, William was one of the witnesses to the "Bulla Aurea." In the following year, William gave surety on behalf of the king for the payment of a yearly tribute of 1,000 marks.
In the same year, 1214, the King granted the Earl the royal castle of Harestan (Horsley Castle). William was a patron of at least 2 abbeys and 4 priories. In 1216, John made him bailiff of the Peak Forest and warden of thePeak Castle.
In that year, John was succeeded by the nine-year-oldHenry III.Because of continuing discontent about John's violations of theMagna Carta,some of the barons approached Prince Louis of France who invaded in that year.William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembrokeacting on behalf of the young King sought to repel the invaders and pacify the barons. His forces, with the assistance of de Ferrers, the Earl of Chester and others, defeated the rebels at thesiege of Lincoln.
De Ferrers was allowed to retain the royal castles ofBolsover,PeakandHorston (Horsley)until the King's 14th birthday. The latter had been given to him in 1215 as a residence for his wife, during his planned absence with the King on Crusade.[4]and the Earl was among those who made representation to the King, which would in 1258 lead to theProvisions of Oxford.
Henry reached his fourteenth birthday in 1222 and his administration sought to recover the three royal castles, to de Ferrers' indignation. In 1254 they would pass toEdward I,Henry's son, exacerbatingRobert's,the sixth earl, resentment against the prince.[5]
William was one of those nobles who were jealous of the rising power of the king's favourites. In 1227 he was one of the earls who rose against the king on behalf of his brother Richard and made him restore the forest charters, and in 1237 he was one of the three counsellors forced on the king by the barons. His influence had by this time been further increased by the death, in 1232, of the earl of Chester, whose sister, his wife, inherited a vast estate between theRibbleand theMersey.[1]
William was married to Alice of Chester,[6]sister ofRanulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester,for 55 years. As the Earl advanced in years he became a martyr to severe attacks of thegout,a disease which terminated his life in the year 1247. He was succeeded by his elder son, also William, theFifth Earl of Derby.
William de Ferrers School
editWilliam de Ferrers School and Sixth form is a "foundation comprehensive" (state-funded, non-selective, with some control over how to spend its allotted money) school in the rural town ofSouth Woodham Ferrers,Essex. The school is named after William Ferrers a descendant of Henry de Ferrers who was given the area as a gift from William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest.
William De Ferrers Football Club
editHenry Ferrers' descendant gave his name to the local Essex (UK) football team of the same name, often abbreviated to Willy De or known simply as The Baby blues. The club was founded in 1983 and currently has 3 senior men’s teams.[citation needed]
Family and children
editWilliam and Alice had:
- William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby
- Sir Thomas de Ferrers, of Chartley Ferrers.
- Sir Hugh de Ferrers, of Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, died shortly before 10 August 1257. He married a sister of Roger de Mohaut, Steward of Chester. They had one daughter, Cecily de Ferrers, wife of John de Oddingseles and Godfrey de Beaumont, Knt., of Drayton and Scarning, Norfolk, Grimston, Suffolk, etc. See Willis, Estate Book of Henry de Bray (c.1289–1340) (Camden 3rd Ser. 27) (1916): 19–20.
- Robert de Ferrers.
- Ranulph de Ferrers, parson of St. Michael’s on the Wyre, Lancashire.
- Bertha de Ferrers, married (1st) Thomas de Furnival, of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and Sheffield, Yorkshire; (2nd) Ralph le Bigod, Knt., of Settrington, Yorkshire.
- Agnes de Ferrers, married Richard de Montfitchet.
- Sybil de Ferrers, married Sir John de Vipont, of Appleby and Brough under Stainmoor, Westmorland.
References
edit- ^abcOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Ferrers".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 286.
- ^SeeHigh Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests.
- ^Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
- ^Turbutt, G., (1999)A History of Derbyshire. Volume 2: Medieval Derbyshire,Cardiff: Merton Priory Press
- ^J. R. Maddicott, 'Ferrers, Robert de, sixth earl of Derby (c. 1239–1279)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [ accessed 28 Oct 2007]
- ^Gee 2002,p. 171.
Sources
edit- Gee, Loveday Lewes (2002).Women, Art and Patronage from Henry III to Edward III: 1216-1377.Boydell Press.