Stephen de Segrave

Stephen de Segrave (or Stephen Sedgrave or Stephen Segrave) (c. 1171 – 9 November 1241) was a medieval Chief Justiciar of England.

Stephen de Segrave
Inverted shield with the arms of Stephan de Segrave
Chief Justiciar of England
In office
1232–1234
MonarchHenry III
Preceded byHubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
Succeeded byvacant until 1258
Hugh Bigod
Personal details
Bornc. 1171
Died9 November 1241
Spouse(s)Rohese le Despenser
Relationsparent: Gilbert de Segrave

Life

He was born the son of a certain Gilbert de Segrave of Segrave in Leicestershire, who had been High Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire in 1193.

Stephen became a knight and was made constable of the Tower of London in 1220. He obtained lands and held various positions under Henry III. From 1221 to 1223 he served as High Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Essex, from 1222 to 1224 as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, from 1228 to 1234 as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire and from 1229 to 1234 as High Sheriff of Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.[1] In 1236, he became castellan of Beeston Castle and Chester Castle, jointly with Hugh de Spencer and Henry de Aldithley.[2]

He was given the manor where Caludon Castle was built, at Wyken near Coventry in 1232[3] or earlier,[4] by Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester. Ranulph also granted him Bretby in 1209.[5]

In 1232, he succeeded Hubert de Burgh as chief justiciar of England.[6] He officiated at the trial of de Burgh, in November 1232, which has been called the "first state trial" in England.[7] As an active coadjutor of Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, Segrave incurred some share of the opprobrium which was lavished on the Poitevin royal favourites of Henry III of England. In 1234, he was deprived of his office as Justiciar.[6] Soon, however, he was again occupying an influential position at Henry's court, and he retained this until his death.

However, uncertain about his personal safety, he became a canon at Leicester Abbey, where he died on 9 November 1241, and was buried.

Family

He married twice; firstly to Rohese le Despencer, daughter of Thomas Despenser, who bore him a son, Sir Gilbert de Segrave in 1202, and secondly to Ida de Hastings, daughter of William de Hastings and Margery Bigod of Norfolk.[8][9] Gilbert died at Pons in the Prerogative County of Poitiers (Comte apanage de Poitiers (de Poitou)), in the province of Saintonge, in a region controlled by the Kingdom of France, on 8 October 1254, following his capture during a campaign in Gascony.

His grandson, Nicholas, was 1st Baron, Segrave which is now Mowbray.[10]

Notes
  1. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Segrave, Stephen de (d.1241)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 51. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. The Saint-Amand Connection Lines. Retrieved 7 September 2007
  3. Caludon castle. Retrieved 7 September 2007
  4. British History Online: Caludon. Retrieved 7 September 2007
  5. PDF South Derbyshire site – Grant of Bretby Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, p.1. Retrieved 7 September 2007
  6. Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 70
  7. Nicholas Vincent, Peter Des Roches (1996), p. 317.
  8. Geneajourney: le Despenser. Retrieved 7 September 2007
  9. Cawley, Charles, English Nobility Medieval: English Earls Created 1066–1122, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,
  10. Stourton, A.J. (1876) 5 papers relating to ... Mowbray and Segrave Oxford University pg 17 (via Google)

References
Political offices
Preceded by
Hubert de Burgh		 Chief Justiciar
1232–1234		 Succeeded by
office vacant until 1258
(Hugh Bigod)
Preceded by
Walter of Pattishall		 High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire
1228–1234		 Succeeded by
Ralph Fitz Reginald
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