Earl Geoffrey De Mandeville ESSEX, IV

   Another name for Geoffrey was ESSEX Earl.

   General Notes:

Earl of ESSEX.

BOOKS
A History of the Plantagenets, Vol I, The Conquering Family, Thomas B Costain, 1949, Doubleday & Co, p249:
"...Robert Fitz-Walter had a daughter named Matilda, but she was married when quite young to Geoffrey de Mandeville, the son of the head Justiciar. The young husband got into trouble with the law over an accidental killing. When he was cited to appear on a charge of murder, his father-in-law declared that `he who dares to hang my daughter's man will see two thousand laced helmets before his door!' The son-in-law was not hanged, but Robert Fitz-Walter drew on himself for his bold defiance an order of banishment. Later Maud the Fair died and John married off the widower to his own discarded wife, Avisa, and charged the bridgegroom a fee of eighteen thousand marks for his services!"
p251: "As [King John] drew near the appointed place [at Runnymede], the sound of cheering reached their ears, mingled with the neighing of horses and the loud, clear blast of trumpets. Coming into sight of the shore opposite the island, they saw it was filled with armed horsemen, the sun shining on helmets and breastplates and on lances held erect to display the proudest pennons in England: the colors of Bigod, of Bohun, of Percy, of Lacey, and Mowbray, and De Vere. The reined in suddenly, his face red with mortification. Here for the first time he saw with his own eyes the tangible evedince of the unanimity of the barons in opposition to him. They had refused to follow him on his continental forays. It had taken hatred of him to bringthem out thus in full force!
"Robert Fitz-Walter had ridden down close to the water's edge. Beside him was Eustace de Vescy with the cross argent on his shield and Saire de Quincey, whose arms showed eight points azure. The latter was theshrewdest member of the combination and is supposed to have been responsible for the final draft of the Charter. The three leaders watched the small party across the river with anxious eyes, wondering in what mood they would find the savage and unpredictable King.
"...Geoffrey de Mandeville was the wealthiest man there because of the land and riches brought him by Avisa."

A History of The PLantagenets, Vol II, The Magnificent Century, Thomas B Costain, 1951, Doubleday & Co, p55:
"...[John] put pressure on the high churchmen of the kingdom and secured a divorce on the grounds of consanguinity...It is perhaps needless to state that that King John kept a large part of the Gloucester estates for himself. With what was left, however, Avisa made her second husband, Geoffrey de Mandeville, the richest peer in England; a match which John arranged himself and for which he collected from the bridegroom a fee of eighteen thousand marks. Avisa was a widow again when Hubert de Burgh's wife Beatrice died..."

The Political History of England 1216-1377, Vol III, T F Tout, 1905, AMS Press, p2: "...Though Isabella, Countess of Gloucester, John's repudiated wife, was as zealous as her new husband the Earl ofEssex, against John's son, Falkes kept a tight hand over Glamorgan, on which the military power of the house of Gloucester largely depended..."
p13: "...The reconciliation of parties was further shown in the marriage of Hubert de Burgh to John's divorced wife, Isabella of Gloucester, a widow by the death of the Earl of Essex, and still the foremost English heiress..."

   Marriage Information:

Geoffrey married Matilda FITZ WALTER, daughter of Robert FITZ WALTER.

   Marriage Information:

Geoffrey also married Countess Isabel Mortain GLOUCESTER, daughter of Earl William Fitz Robert GLOUCESTER and Countess Hawise De Beaumont GLOUCESTER, about Jan 1213-1214 in , Gloucestershire, England. (Countess Isabel Mortain GLOUCESTER was born about 1167-1170 in , Gloucestershire, England, died on 14 Oct 1217 in , Kent, England and was buried in Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, England.)