Arms of Talbot: Gules, a lion rampant within a bordure engrailed or.[1] These were the paternal arms of Gwenllian, the daughter and heiress of Rhys Mechyll (d. 1244) (Prince of the Welsh House of Dinefwr, grandson of Rhys ap Gruffydd), and wife of Gilbert Talbot (d. 1274), grandfather of Gilbert Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot (d. 1345/6)[2][unreliable source] assumed by Talbot as arms of alliance of a great heiress, superseding his own former paternal arms of Bendy of 10 pieces argent and gules.[3] The assumption about Gwenllian however was unfounded as Rhys Mechyll also had male heirs[4] who acceded to the arms of the House of DeheubarthArms of Talbot (ancient): Bendy of ten argent and gules
Baron Talbot is a title that has been created twice. The title was created first in the Peerage of England. On 5 June 1331, Sir Gilbert Talbot was summoned to Parliament, by which he was held to have become Baron Talbot.
Gilbert Talbot (1276–1346), Lord Chamberlain of the Household to King Edward III, was summoned to Parliament as Lord Talbot in 1331, which is accepted as evidence of his baronial status at that date.
Ancestry
He was descended from Richard Talbot, a tenant in 1086 of Walter Giffard at Woburn and Battledsen in Bedfordshire. The Talbot family were vassals of the Giffards in Normandy.[5] Hugh Talbot, probably his son, made a grant to Beaubec Abbey, confirmed by his son Richard Talbot in 1153. This Richard (died 1175) is listed in 1166 as holding three fees of the Honour of Giffard in Buckinghamshire. He also held a fee at Linton in Herefordshire, for which his son Gilbert Talbot (died 1231) obtained a fresh charter in 1190.[6] Gilbert's grandson Gilbert (died 1274) married Gwenlynn Mechyll, daughter and sole heiress of the Welsh Prince Rhys Mechyll, whose armorials the Talbots thenceforth assumed in lieu of their own former arms. Their son Sir Richard Talbot, who signed and sealed[7] the Barons' Letter, 1301 held the manor of Eccleswall in Herefordshire in right of his wife Sarah, sister of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. In 1331 Richard's son Gilbert Talbot (1276–1346) was summoned to Parliament, which is considered evidence of his baronial status.[8]
Succession
The first baron's grandson, the 3rd Baron Talbot, died in Spain supporting John of Gaunt's claim to the throne of Castile. Richard, the fourth Baron, married Ankaret, 7th Baroness Strange of Blackmere, daughter and heiress of John le Strange, 4th Baron Strange of Blackmere. In 1387, during his father's lifetime, Richard 4th Baron was summoned to Parliament as Ricardo Talbot de Blackmere in right of his wife. His son [Gilbert], the fifth Baron, also succeeded his mother as eighth Baron Strange of Blackmere.
On the early death of the 5th Baron, the titles passed to his daughter, Ankaret, the sixth and ninth holder of the titles. However, she died a minor and was succeeded by her uncle, John seventh Baron Talbot. John married Maud Nevill, 6th Baroness Furnivall, and, in 1409, he was summoned to Parliament in right of his wife as Johann Talbot de Furnyvall. In 1442 John was created Earl of Shrewsbury in the Peerage of England and in 1446 Earl of Waterford in the Peerage of Ireland.
^Richard Talbot, Lord of Eccleswall (1250–1306). Blazon: Or, five bendlets Gules.
Talbot, Richard- (H. III. Roll) bore, or five bendlet gules. (F.) St. George Roll and Harley MS 6137, ff. 83 & 89 – Bendy (10) argent and gules (F.) is the paternal coat of arms of TALBOT, as attributed by the later Heralds. As Lord of ECKLESWELL, he sealed the Barons' letter to the Pope 1301, with the arms of RHESE AP GRIFFITH, Prince of South Wales, viz.: a lyon rampant within a bordure engrailed. Some Feudal Coats of Arms from Heraldic Rolls 1298–1418. By Joseph Foster. Published by J. Parker & Company, 1902 – Heraldry – 268 pages.
Glover Roll: British Library, Add MS 29796. Painted, with blazons, containing 218 coats. Dated soon after 1258. Walford Roll: British Library, Harley MS 6589, f. 12 & 12b. Blazons, containing 185 coats. Dated c1275. Source: H S London, Rolls of Arms of Henry III, Aspilogia II, Society of Antiquaries, London, 1957.
St George Roll: College of Arms, London, MS Vincent 164 ff 1-21b. Dated c1285. Painted, containing 677 shields. Source: Gerard J Brault, Rolls of Arms of Edward I, Boydell & Brewer, 1997.
^G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959), volume XII/1, p. 610.
