William I of Cantelupe

     William I of Cantelupe was born in 1159 at Buckinghamshire, England.¹ He died on 7 April 1239.¹ He was buried at Studley Priory, Warwickshire, England.¹
     In 1198 he was Steward to John, Count of Mortain, the future King John (1199–1216), in which year his uncle Fulk de Cantilupe was also a member ofSheriff of the Count's household. From 1200 to 1204 he served as Worcestershire and in 1204 as Under-Sheriff of Herefordshire. In 1205 he took part in the ineffectual expedition to Poitou. In 1207 he was Sheriff of Worcestershire, serving until the end of the reign of King John in 1216. In 1209, following his appointment as Sheriff of Warwickshire and Sheriff of Leicestershire, his main residence became Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.
Following the death of King John in 1216, many of his appointees to governorships of royal castles were reluctant to hand over their castles to the regency council which governed during the minority of his son, the future King Henry III(1216–1272). They believed themselves obliged to hold their castles until Henry should have achieved 14 years of age,[8] when he would be able to follow his own policy.[9] These many refusals met with a forceful response from the council. In 1217, under the regency council, during which year he was a Baron of the Exchequer, Cantilupe was at the siege of Mountsorrel Castle, Leicestershire, which was razed to the ground, and was also at the Second Battle of Lincoln. He served the council at the siege of Bedford in 1224. He later served in Wales (1228 and 1231) and Brittany (1230).¹