The Skaggs-Files

Earl of Warren and Surrey

John de Warenne (1231?- September 27, 1304), 7th Earl of Surrey or Warenne, was prominent during the reigns of Henry III and Edward I. During his long life he fought in the Barons' War and in Edward I's wars in Scotland.

He was the son of William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey or Warenne, and Maud (or Matilda) Marshal. His mother was the daughter of William Marshal and widow of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk. Thus Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk, was his elder half-brother.

Warenne was a boy when his father died, and for the rest of his minority Peter of Savoy was the guardian of his estates. In 1247 he married Henry III's half-sister Alice of Lusignan. This marriage was to create resentment amongst the English nobility, who did not like seeing a wealthy English nobleman marrying a penniless outsider.

During the following years Warenne was closely associated with the court faction centering on his in-laws.

In 1254 he accompanied the king's son Edward (the future Edward I) on Edward's journey to Spain to marry Eleanor of Castile.

During the conflicts between Henry III and his barons Warenne started as a strong supporter of the king, switched to support for Simon de Montfort, and then returned to the royalist party. He opposed the initial baronial reform plan of May 1258, but along with other opponents capitulated and took the oath of the Provisions of Oxford.

By 1260 Warenne had joined the party of Simon de Montfort, but switched back to the king's side in 1263. After the Battle of Lewes, which was fought near his castle at Lewes, he fled to the Continent, where he remained for about a year. He returned to fight in the campaign which culminated in the Battle of Evesham and the siege of Kenilworth Castle.

Warenne served in Edward I's Welsh campaigns in 1277, 1282, and 1283. In 1282 he received the lordships of Bromfield and Yale in Wales. A good part of the following years were spent in Scotland. He was one of the negotiators for the 1289 treaty of Salisbury and for the 1290 treaty of Brigham, and accompanied the king on Edward's great 1296 invasion of Scotland.

On August 22, 1296 the king appointed him "warden of the kingdom and land of Scotland". However he returned to England a few months later claiming that the Scottish climate was bad for his health. The following spring saw the rebellion of William Wallace, and after much delay Warenne led an army northward, where they were defeated at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

Nevertheless the king appointed Warenne captain of the next campaign against the Scots in early 1298. He raised the siege of Roxburgh and re-took the castle at Berwick. The king himself took the field later that year, and Warenne was one of the commanders at the Battle of Falkirk.

Warenne and Alice of Lusignan had three children:
Alice, who married Henry Percy and was the mother of Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick;
Isabella, who married John Balliol and was the mother of Edward Balliol;
William, who married Joanna, daughter of Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, and was accidentally killed at a tournament in December 1286; his son John (see below) succeeded his grandfather as earl of Surrey.

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John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (1231 – c. 29 September 1304) was a prominent English nobleman and military commander during the reigns of Henry III of England and Edward I of England. During the Second Barons' War he switched sides twice, ending up in support of the king, for whose capture he was present at Lewes in 1264. Warenne was later appointed a Guardian of Scotland and featured prominently in Edward I's wars in Scotland.
Warenne was the son and heir of William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, and Maud Marshal. His mother was the daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and widow of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, making Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk his elder half-brother.
A boy when his father died, Warenne became a royal ward. Peter of Savoy was appointed guardian of his holdings and Warenne was raised at the royal court. In 1247, he married Henry III's half-sister Alice le Brun de Lusignan, a marriage that created resentment amongst the English nobility, who did not like seeing a wealthy English nobleman marrying a penniless foreigner.
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Warenne died on 29 September 1304 in Kennington, Kent. He was interred in Lewes Priory at a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was succeeded by his grandson, also called John.
Issue
Warenne and Alice de Lusignan had three children:
1. Eleanor, who married Henry Percy and was the mother of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick (see Percy Family)
2. Isabella, who married John Balliol (briefly the King of Scots), and was the mother of Edward Balliol;
3. William, who married Joan, daughter of Robert de Vere, 5th Earl of Oxford, and was accidentally killed at a tournament on 15 December 1286. Their son John succeeded his grandfather as earl of Surrey; their daughter Alice de Warenne married Edmund Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_de_Warenne,_6th_Earl_of_Surrey

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“Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
“JOHN DE WARENNE, Knt., 7th Earl of Surrey, of Lewes, Sussex, Reigate, Surrey, Grantham and Stamford, Lincolnshire, Conisbrough, Yorkshire, etc., Constable of Bamburgh, Hope, and Pevensey Castles, Warden of the Maritime Parts, cos. Surrey and Sussex, 1295, Joint Warden north of Trent, 1295, justice itinerant, son and heir by his father's 2nd marriage, born in or after August 1231. He married in August 1247 ALICE (or ALIX) DE LUSIGNAN, daughter of Hugues [X] le Brun (or de Lusignan), Count of La Marche and Angoulême, seigneur of Lusignan, Château-Larcher, Montreuil-Bonnin, and la Mothe-Saint-Heray de Lusignan, by Isabel, widow of John, King of England [see ENGLAND 5], and daughter and heiress of Ademar Ill Taillefer, Count of Angoulême [see ENGLAND 5 for her ancestry]. Alice was the uterine half-sister of King Henry III of England [see ENGLAND 6]. They had one son, William, Knt., and two daughters, Eleanor and Isabel. By an unknown noblewoman, he had also two illegitimate sons, [Master] John [Vicar of Dewsbury, York, Rector of Dorking, Surrey and Fishlake, Yorkshire, Prebendary of Thockrington, living 1330] and [Master] William (Rector of Hatfield, Yorkshire, living 1314). He was with Edward, Prince of Wales, in Gascony in 1254, and knighted with him in Spain. In 1255 he joined the other nobles in their resistance to the influx of foreigners into England. In Sept. 1255 he was instructed to escort the King of Scotland to the King. His wife, Alice, died 9 Feb. 1255/6. In 1257 he accompanied Richard, Earl of Cornwall, King elect of the Romans, to Almain. In 1260 he went overseas in the service of Prince Edward. He joined Simon de Montfort and Prince Edward with many of the magnates in 1263. He was in the prince's army at the Battle of Lewes 14 May 1264, whence he and the king's brothers fled to Pevensey, subsequently crossing to France. In 1265 he fought at the Battle of Evesham under Prince Edward. He was in joint command of the royalist forces at Chesterfield in 1266. In 1266 he quitclaimed to the Prior and Convent of Lewes his right to the advowson of the church of Dewsbury, Yorkshire. In 1267 he received a pardon for excesses committed in the recent time of disturbance. He took the cross 24 June 1268, though it does not appear that he went on crusade. In May 1270 the king granted him a writ to recover certain parcels of land which belonged to David de Ashby in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, together with the wardship of Isabel, daughter of Stephen, son and heir of the said David de Ashby, against Alan la Zouche, Knt. and Ellen his wife, who the earl said unlawfully occupied the land. In July 1270 he quarreled in Westminster Hall with Alan la Zouche, Knt. and attacked him so violently that he died on 10 August following, his son escaping with difficulty. The earl fled to his castle at Reigate, Surrey, pursued by Prince Edward, and begged for mercy. On 4 August 1270 he was pardoned upon his agreeing to pay a substantial sum to the king. On 20 Nov. 1272, four days after the king's death, he swore allegiance to Prince Edward, then on his way home from a crusade. The Earl was one of the guardians of the realm until his return. In 1274-5 John d'Eiville arraigned an assize of mort d'ancestor against him touching the manor of Greetwell, Lincolnshire. In the same period, John son of Gilbert de Cokerington arraigned an assize of mort d'ancestor against him touching possessions in North Kynton and Covenham, Lincolnshire. In the same period, Simon le Franceis and others arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against him and others touching a tenement in Helpringham, Lincolnshire. In 1277-8 William Foliot and Isabel his wife arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against Ellen widow of Alan la Zouche and John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, touching a tenement in Ashby, Northamptonshire. He was summoned to serve against the Welsh in 1277 and 1294, and against the Scots, 1291, 1297, and 1300. He was heir c.1282 to his sister, Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Arundel, by which he inherited the patronage of Marham Abbey, Norfolk, which abbey was founded by his sister in 1251. In 1282 the king granted him the land of Bromfield and Yale, together with the Castle of Dinas Bran in Denbighshire. In 1290 he was going as the king's envoy to Scotland. In 1291 he was appointed Keeper of Scotland. He defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar 27 April 1296. On 3 Sept. 1296 he was appointed Keeper of the realm of Scotland. In August 1297 the Scots attacked his advance guard, under Henry de Percy, but were repelled; but on 10 Sept. the Earl was defeated with great slaughter at Stirling, and fled to Berwick, which he abandoned and lost. In Dec. 1297 he was appointed Captain of the army to oppose the invading Scots; in Jan. and Feb. 1297/8 he marched into Scotland. He commanded the rear-guard at the Battle of Falkirk 22 July 1298. In 1300 he commanded the second division at the Siege of Caerlaverock. He signed the Barons' letter to Pope Boniface VIII in 1301 as Comes Warenne. SIR JOHN DE WARENNE, 7th Earl of Surrey, died testate at Kennington, near London, about 29 Sept. 1304. He and his wife, Alice, were buried before the high altar at Lewes Priory, Sussex.

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Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
JOHN de Warenne (1231 or after-Kennington [Nov] 1304, bur Lewes Priory). The Chronicle of Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, names (in order) ”Johannes de Garren comes de Garren et Isabella de Aubeni soror eius et comitissa de Arundel” as the children of “Johanni de Garrene comiti de Surrey” and his wife Matilda Marshal of the Earls of Pembroke[1256]. He succeeded his father in 1240 as Earl of Surrey. Henry III King of England agreed that “unam filiarum filiæ...comitis [Sabaudiæ]” would marry “vel Johanni de Warenna qui si vixerit comes erit Warennæ, vel Edmundo de Lacy qui si vixerit comes erit Lincolniæ” by charter dated 1246[1257]. He was one of the guardians of the realm on the death of King Henry III, until the return of Edward I from crusade. He was appointed keeper of the realm of Scotland 3 Sep 1296, but never assumed the post as he was defeated by the Scots at the battle of Stirling[1258]. The Annales Londonienses record the death "circiter festum Exaltationis Sanctæ Crucis…apud Newentone" in 1304 of "comes Warenniæ" and his burial "in ecclesia Sancti Pancratii Lewensi"[1259].