de Bohun

de Bohun
Sodacan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	de Bohun
Region	England, Normandy
Founded	11th century
Founder	Humphrey de Bohun (fl. 11th century)

de Bohun

The de Bohun family were a medieval Anglo-Norman aristocratic lineage prominent in England and Normandy from the 11th to the 14th centuries. They produced magnates who held earldoms, served as royal constables and justiciars, and intermarried with houses such as Plantagenet, Beauchamp, FitzAlan, Mortimer, and Clare. Their influence touched major events and institutions including the Anarchy, the Barons' Wars, the Hundred Years' War, and the governance of castles and counties such as Hereford, Hampshire, Berkshire, and Hertfordshire.

Origins and Name

The surname derives from the Norman seigneurie of Bohun (modern Bohon/Bohun in Manche), introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of England of 1066. Early figures such as Humphrey de Bohun are associated with grants recorded in the Domesday Book and with ties to magnates like William the Conqueror, Robert Curthose, and Henry I. The lineage branched through feudal tenure and mesne lordships in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and the Welsh Marches, connecting them to marcher families like FitzWalter and de Clare. Over generations the name became linked to offices such as Lord High Steward and Constable of England.

Notable Members

Prominent individuals include Humphrey de Bohun (early tenant-in-chief), Humphrey de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (created in the 12th century), Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and 3rd Earl of Essex (a leader of the baronial opposition in the early 14th century), and Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (involved in the reign of Edward III). The family produced royal justiciars and sheriffs who interacted with monarchs such as Henry II, Richard I, John, Henry III, and Edward I. Marriages allied the de Bohuns with Eleanor de Clare, Joan de Bohun, and heiresses connected to houses like Marshal and Bigod. Members played roles alongside magnates such as Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March.

Titles and Lands

The de Bohun earldoms and baronies encompassed titles including Earl of Hereford, Earl of Essex, and baronial holdings recorded in feudal surveys and pipe rolls. Principal seats included castles and manors at Hampton Court, Herefordshire, Pleshey Castle, Hungerford, Bramshill, and estates in Hertfordshire and Somerset. Their landholdings were documented alongside peers such as Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford and in the custodianship of royal fortresses like Glastonbury and frontier strongholds on the Welsh Marches such as Chepstow Castle and Abergavenny Castle. Succession disputes and inheritances linked de Bohun estates to families who later held the earldoms of Hereford and Essex and to the property transfers following treaties and royal grants under King John and Henry III.

Military and Political Roles

De Bohun scions served as commanders and royal officers in campaigns and rebellions from the Angevin conflicts to the wars of Edward I and Edward III. They fought at engagements and sieges tied to the First Barons' War, the Welsh wars of Edward I, and early clashes of the Hundred Years' War. As Constable of England and as county sheriffs, members enforced royal writs, raised retinues for lords such as Simon de Montfort, and acted as royal councillors to sovereigns including Henry II and Edward II. In the politics of the 13th and 14th centuries, de Bohuns were central to baronial coalitions, petitions such as the Provisions of Oxford context, and to the resistance against perceived royal misgovernment that produced charters and reform movements involving figures like Earl of Gloucester and William de Braose. Their military responsibilities extended to castle garrisoning, escorting royal convoys, and leading contingents alongside magnates such as Thomas of Lancaster.

Heraldry and Arms

The heraldic devices of the de Bohun family became well known in armorial rolls and seals. Their arms—displayed in manuscripts, on tomb effigies, and at battles—were quartered and impaled in marital alliances with houses including FitzAlan, Mortimer, and Plantagenet. De Bohun badges, crests, and supporters featured in collegiate foundations, chantries, and collegiate churches patronized by nobles such as Eleanor of Provence and institutions like Westminster Abbey and St Albans Abbey. Heralds recorded their coats in rolls contemporaneous with the careers of peers such as John of Gaunt and Edward the Black Prince, making de Bohun arms part of the visual language of chivalry alongside shields of Beauchamp and FitzGerald.

Category:Anglo-Norman families Category:Medieval English nobility