Eustace (Vesci) de Vescy (1169 - 1216)

Born 1169 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Scotland) of Scotland — married about 1193 in Roxburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland

Descendants

Died 1216 at about age 47 in Barnard Castle, Durham, England

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Magna Carta Surety Baron Eustace de Vescy was one of the twenty-five medieval barons who were surety for Magna Carta in 1215. Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Biography

Birth and Parentage

Eustace de Vescy (or Vesci) was the son of William de Vescy and Burga de Stuteville.^[1][2][3] He was probably born about 1169-70: he was 14 in 1185^[2] and came of age in 1190.^[1][2]

Inheritance

Eustace inherited the barony of Alnwick, Northumberland, coming into possession when he was of age in 1190 in return for a fine of 1300 marks. With the barony came lands in Northumberland and Yorkshire,^[1][4]

Life

In 1194 Eustace attended the second coronation of Richard I.^[1][2] In December that year he is recorded as being with Richard I at Chinon, France.^[1][2] In 1199 he was one of the guarantors of a treaty between King John of England and the Count of Boulogne.^[1][2]

In 1200 he was one of those present when William the Lion, King of Scotland paid homage to King John at England for his English lands.^[1][2] In 1209 he was one of the barons who escorted William the Lion to a meeting with John.^[1][2]

The following year he served in King John's expedition to Ireland; but two years later, in 1212, he was accused of plotting against John, fled to Scotland, was outlawed, and had his lands seized by the Crown.^[1][2] His lands were given back after John submitted to the Pope and undertook to return property confiscated during the papal interdict of England.^[1][2]

In 1213 he refused to join in John's expedition to Poitou, and the next year withheld scutage in 1214 for the campaign there.^[1][2]

Despite a papal admonition to stay loyal to John, Eustace aligned himself with the Barons who compelled John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, of which he was one of the Sureties.^[1][2] He was among the rebel Barons excommunicated later that year.^[1][2]

Marriage and Children

In 1193 Eustace married Margaret, illegitimate daughter of William the Lion, at Roxburgh, Scotland.^[3] She brought him lands in Roxburghshire.^[2] They had three sons:

• William who was his main heir^[2][3] and came of age in 1226^[1]
• William^[2] who witnessed a gift to Melrose Abbey by his brother William^[3]
• Richard, who became a canon of Beverley^[2]

Last Year

In early May 1216 Eustace attempted reconciliation with John^[1], but, after Louis of France invaded England, he set out with his half-brother Alexander II of Scotland to pay Louis homage.^[1] On the way, he was killed during a siege of Barnard Castle, County Durham.^[1][2][3]

Research Notes

Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Biography

For the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015, Professor Nigel Saul wrote a set of biographies of the Surety Barons. He and the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Committee generously gave permission for them to be reproduced on WikiTree. They can be viewed here.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Vescy [Vesci], Eustace de', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013, Vol. IV, pp. 589-90 SCOTLAND 4.vi.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Charles Cawley. "Medieval Lands, entry for Eustace de Vescy
4. ↑ I J Sanders. English Baronies, A Study of their Origin and Descent 1066-1327, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 103

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Vescy [Vesci], Eustace de', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 58, entry for 'Vescy, Eustace de', Wikisource
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013 (Volume IV, pp. 589-90 SCOTLAND 4.vi.). See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.
• Cawley, Charles. "Medieval Lands": A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands
  • Entry for Eustace de Vescy (accessed 11 April 2019)
• Wikipedia: Eustace de Vesci

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

As a surety baron, Eustace de Vescy is managed by the Magna Carta Project, even though he is one of the eight barons with no traced ongoing line of descendants. ~ Noland-165 00:47, 27 January 2018 (EST)

This profile was revised for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley in January 2020.