Philip (Aubigny) d'Aubigny (abt. 1170 - 1236)

Died 1236 at about age 66 in Jerusalem, Palestine

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Illustrious Men Philip d'Aubigny was one of 16 Illustrious Men, counselors to King John, who were listed in the preamble to Magna Carta. Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Note: Philip d'Aubigny was featured in the May 2019 Magna Carta Project Newsletter.

Biography

Philip was the son of Elias D'Aubigny and Hawise. His birth date is uncertain, but he was in the service of Robert de Breteuil, Earl of Leicester, by the late 1190s (in 1200 Robert de Breteuil helped facilitate his marriage)^[1] and this may point to a birth date in the 1170s or slightly earlier.

Robert de Breteuil granted him the manor of Walton on the Wolds, Leicestershire.^[1] Early in the 1200s he granted the manor to the Abbey of Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire.^[2]

In 1200/1201 he married Joan de Pantulf, who was the widow of William de Bouquetot. She brought him lands at St Wandrille in Normandy, and also in Kent.^[1]

Philip stayed loyal to King John after the loss of Normandy. In 1207 he was Constable of Ludlow Castle. From 1207 to 1219 (when the office passed to a nephew) he was Keeper of the Channel Islands. In 1213 he was a Marshal for a proposed military expedition to France.^[1]

By 1215 he held some lands which his father had held in Lincolnshire.^[3]

His adherence to King John continued during baronial wars. He was one of the king's witnesses to the Magna Carta of 1215, and was given the office of Constable of Bristol that year.^[1] He was also rewarded with lands at Chewton, Somerset and lands held by a rebel baron, Maurice de Gant.^[4]

Two years later, at the start of the reign of Henry III, he was a royalist commander against rebel barons. He was made Keeper of the Honour of Leicester and Constable of Devizes. He was also appointed tutor to the young king, and was given grants of further estates over the following years.^[1] In 1219 he became Keeper of the Forests of Chippenham and Melksham.^[5]

In 1221 he briefly joined the final stages of the Fifth Crusade, returning to England the following year. During the years that followed he went on various embassies to France and Brittany, and also took part in some military operations in France.^[1] After his return he was granted South Petherton, Somerset.^[6] In 1224 he was given custody of the English lands of his nephew Philip d'Aubigny of Brittany.^[7] In 1227 he was made Sheriff of Berkshire and Constable of the Honour of Wallingford.^[8]

His crusading ambitions were not over. In 1235, having pledged some of his lands to his nephew Ralph d’Aubigny^[9], he went to the Holy Land, where he died in 1236.^[1] He was buried at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.^[10][11] He left no legitimate heirs, and most of his estates passed to his nephew Ralph.^[1]

Research Notes

Nephew William

On 30 September 1233 his nephew William de Albiniaco was presented to the church of Gaiton, Lincolnshire.^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Philip d’Aubigny, Oxford University Press, 2004, revised online 2006, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ 'House of Premonstratensian canons: The abbey of Croxton Kerrial', in A History of the County of Leicestershire (Victoria County History), Volume 2, ed. W G Hoskins and R A McKinley (London, 1954), pp. 28-31. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/leics/vol2/pp28-31, accessed 15 April 2019
3. ↑ Patent Rolls, 17 John, membrane 11, 29 December 1215
4. ↑ Close Rolls, 17 John, membrane 16, 21 November 1215, and membrane 23, 17 August 1215; Patent Rolls, 17 John, membrane 11, 2 January 1216
5. ↑ Close Rolls, 1 Henry III, membrane 15, 29 June 1217, and 2 Henry III, membrane 4, 27 January 1218
6. ↑ Close Rolls, 7 Henry III, membrane 7, 11 July 1223
7. ↑ Close Rolls, 9 Henry III, membrane 17, 20 December 1224
8. ↑ Close Rolls, 11 Henry III, membrane 4, 27 August 1227
9. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, AD 1232-1247, HMSO, 1906, membrane 14, 15 February 1235, Internet Archive
10. ↑ Jaroslav Folda. Crusader Art in the Holy Land, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p.162, Google Books
11. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #142379726
12. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, AD 1232-1247, HMSO, 1906, membrane 2, 30 September 1233, Internet Archive

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Philip d’Aubigny, Oxford University Press, 2004, revised online 2006, available online via some libraries
• Wikipedia: Philip d’Aubigny
• Folda, Jaroslav. Crusader Art in the Holy Land, Cambridge University Press, 2005