Arms of Cantilupe of Greasley Castle, Nottinghamshire: Gules, a fess vair between three fleurs-de-lys or (this image as visible on the 1355 Cantilupe Chantry, Lincoln Cathedral), often stated to be three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys;[1] the fess being a difference of the arms of the senior line, feudal barons of Eaton BraySeal of William de Cantilupe, 1st Baron Cantilupe (1262-1308),[2] of Greasley, used to seal the Barons' Letter of 1301 to the pope[3]
Recumbent effigy and chest tomb of Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe (d.1266), father of William de Cantilupe, 1st Baron Cantilupe; St Mary's Church, Ilkeston, Derbyshire
He was born in 1262 at Lenton Priory[5] in Nottinghamshire (to which his maternal ancestors the de Greasley family had been benefactors), the son and heir of Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe (d.1266) of Withcall (an ancient Cantilupe possession[6]) in Lincolnshire, Greasley in Nottinghamshire and Ilkeston in Derbyshire, by his wife Eustachia FitzHugh, daughter and heiress of Ralph FitzHugh of Greasley[7] (whose mother was Agnes de Greasley, heiress of Greasley and Ilkeston) and of Middle Claydon in Buckinghamshire. William's father died when he was aged four and was buried in St Mary's Church, Ilkeston where survives his recumbent effigy and chest tomb, showing him as a "lively" cross-legged warrior, often said to be a depiction reserved for crusaders.[8] He displays the arms of Cantilupe of Greasley sculpted on his shield. Within two years his mother remarried,[9] to William de Ros (1254-1310) of Ingmanthorpe in Yorkshire[10] (uncle of William Ros, 1st Baron Ros (d.1316) who married the heiress of Belvoir Castle[11]) by whom she had further issue.[12]
Modern transcript of the blazon in Norman-French of the arms of William de Cantilupe, 1st Baron Cantilupe (1262-1308), Caerlaverock Roll, 1300, with reconstructed image of the arms so described, with three leopard's faces jessant-de-lysThe 1st Baron's arms as blazoned in the Caerlaverock Roll (1300): Gules, three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or
He was present at the Siege of Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland in 1300, when his armorials, a version of the arms of the senior line differenced by a fess vair (as seen on his surviving 1301 seal), were blazoned in Norman-French verse in the Caerlaverock Roll as follows:
E Guillemes de Cantelo,
Ke je par ceste raison lo,
Ke en honneur a tous tens vescu
Fesse vaire ot el rouge escu
De trois flours de lis de or espars
Naissans de testes de lupars.
Translated by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas as: "And William de Cantilupe, whom I for this reason praise, that he has at all times lived in honour. He had on a red shield a fess vair, with three fleurs-de-lys of bright gold issuing from leopard's heads".[16]
Marriages and children
He married twice:
Firstly at some time before 1285 he married Maud d'Arches, daughter and heiress of Osbert d'Arches of Aston and Kereby, Yorkshire, and of Somerby in Lincolnshire and of Normanton in Nottinghamshire. Died childless.
Secondly in 1292 he married Eve de Boltby, daughter and co-heiress of Adam de Boltby of Boltby and Ravensthorpe in Yorkshire and of Langley in Northumberland, and widow successively of Alan de Walkingham (d.1283) of Cowthorpe, Yorkshire (by whom she had male issue William Walkingham of Boltby and Ravensthorpe, who died childless, when Nicholas de Cantilupe, 3rd Baron Cantilupe (c.1301-1355) obtained possession of those manors[17]) and secondly of Richard Knout/Knut (d.1291). Eve de Boltby is believed to be represented by the recumbent stone female effigy in Felixkirk Church, near Ravensthorpe.[18] By Eve he had issue:
William de Cantilupe, 2nd Baron Cantilupe (1293-c.1321), eldest son and heir who died unmarried, having at the age of 20 refused an arranged match claiming he was too young and that he "desires no woman for his wife". He played a role in the 1312 murder of Piers Gaveston, the favourite of King Edward II. In 1313 he begged that king on his knees for forgiveness and in 1321 he relinquished all his estates in favour of his younger brother.
He died in 1308. It has been suggested[19] that the (heavily restored) recumbent stone effigy of a knight in Felixkirk Church, near Ravensthorpe, is his monument, although others believe it to represent John de Walkyngham (d.1284)[20]
Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327, Oxford, 1960, pp. 39–40
References
^G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, n.s., vol.3, p.111, note c), of the leopard's faces little physical evidence exists apart from the verse blazon in the Caerlaverock Roll (1300). The seal of the 1st Baron (d.1308) appended to the Barons' Letter, 1301, shows no leopard's faces nor does the sculpted shield of the 3rd Baron (d.1355) on the Cantilupe Chantry by Lincoln Cathedral, which does show an over-sized boss on the fleurs-de-lys, on which possibly any relief detail has worn away
^The name has numerous variations in spelling (Canteloupe, Cauntiloue, Cauntelou, Cantiloue, Cauntilieu, Cantelo, Canteloo, Cantelowe, Cantlow, etc.) with a Latinized form de Cantilupo. The oft-quoted translation of the Latinized form as "from the song of the wolf" would be de cantu lupi and "from the singing wolf" would be de cantanti lupo, of which de canti lupo might be an abbreviation. However it appears from the early pre-heraldic seals of the family that some play was made on the Latin noun Lupus, "wolf" (see M Julian-Jones, Thesis on de Cantilupe and Corbet families, 2015, Online Research @Cardiff (ORCA), Cardiff University [1]) The standard spelling used by modern historians is "Cantilupe".
^His place of birth is recorded as a result of a proof of age inquiry made on the attainment of his majority (21) as King Edward I, who held his wardship, disputed that he was entitled to exit wardship
^Held by William I de Cantilupe (d.1239) and then by his son William II, father of Nicholas of Greasley (see: Henrietta Kaye, Serving the man that ruled: aspects of the domestic arrangements of the household of King John, 1199-1216, p.98, (A thesis submitted in September 2013 to the School of History at the University of East Anglia in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy)
[2]
^Re: Ilkeston, in Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, 'Parishes: Ilkeston - Lullington', in Magna Britannia: Volume 5, Derbyshire (London, 1817), pp. 192-202 [3]
^Eustachia remarried at some time before 1268 and without royal licence
^Her son was Sir William de Ros, none of her de Ros descendants were ever summoned to Parliament (i.e. were not created peers) (G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, n.s., XI, p.119
^Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, pp.39-40
^Finucane, R.C., biography of Thomas de Cantilupe published in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]
M Julian-Jones, Thesis on de Cantilupe and Corbet families, 2015, Online Research @Cardiff (ORCA), Cardiff University [4]
Frederik Pedersen (Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen), 2012 YouTube video discussing the termination of the Cantilupe family and the family in general [5]
