See also
| Husband: | Henry + of ESSEX (1098-1170) | |
| Wife: | Cecely + (1101- ) | |
| Children: | Agnes + of ESSEX (1151-1212) | |
| Name: | Henry + of ESSEX | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | Robert of ESSEX (1078- ) | |
| Mother: | Gunnora BIGOD (1080- ) | |
| Birth | 1098 | Essex, England |
| Death | 1170 (age 71-72) | |
| Name: | Cecely + | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | - | |
| Mother: | - | |
| Birth | 1101 | Essex, England |
| Name: | Agnes + of ESSEX | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Aubrey III + of VERE (1120-1194) | |
| Birth | 1151 | Essex, England |
| Occupation | Countess of Oxford | |
| Title | Countess of Oxford | |
| Death | 1212 (age 60-61) | |
| Burial | Colne Priory, Essex, England | |
Henry of Essex or Henry d'Essex (died c. 1170) was a Norman noble who held the honours of Rayleigh, Essex, Haughley (by right of his 2nd wife Alice de Montfort), and the office of Constable of England during the reigns of Kings Stephen and Henry II. That office included the duty of holding the royal standard to indicate the location of the king.
Henry was the son and heir of Robert fitz Swein of Essex, who was favoured by King Edward the Confessor and who built Rayleigh Castle after 1066, and grandson of Swein, son of Robert FitzWimarc.
Henry is mentioned in several chronicles, including the Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond. His influence at court was greatest during the reign of King Stephen, but continued into the first years of Henry II's reign. He served King Henry as a sheriff and a justiciar as well as constable.[1] Henry participated in the king's Toulouse campaign in the spring and summer of 1159.[2]
After he dropped the royal standard in a Welsh ambush during Henry II's 1157 campaign into Wales, however, his political importance waned. At the Easter court of 1163, Henry was accused of treason for that act by a claimant to the Montfort estate. The two men fought a judicial duel a few months later. Jocelin details Henry's trial by battle with Robert de Montfort on Fry's Island in the River Thames at Reading. Henry's body was carried senseless from the site of the duel by monks of nearby Reading Abbey, but he revived and there took the Benedictine cowl. As a convicted traitor, however, his estates and offices were forfeit and his family disgraced.[3]
Henry of Essex is thought to have died the same year as Becket, in 1170, at Reading Abbey.
Henry of Essex or Henry d'Essex (died c. 1170) was a Norman noble who held the honours of Rayleigh, Essex, Haughley (by right of his 2nd wife Alice de Montfort), and the office of Constable of England during the reigns of Kings Stephen and Henry II. That office included the duty of holding the royal standard to indicate the location of the king.
Henry was the son and heir of Robert fitz Swein of Essex, who was favoured by King Edward the Confessor and who built Rayleigh Castle after 1066, and grandson of Swein, son of Robert FitzWimarc.
Henry is mentioned in several chronicles, including the Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond. His influence at court was greatest during the reign of King Stephen, but continued into the first years of Henry II's reign. He served King Henry as a sheriff and a justiciar as well as constable.[1] Henry participated in the king's Toulouse campaign in the spring and summer of 1159.[2]
After he dropped the royal standard in a Welsh ambush during Henry II's 1157 campaign into Wales, however, his political importance waned. At the Easter court of 1163, Henry was accused of treason for that act by a claimant to the Montfort estate. The two men fought a judicial duel a few months later. Jocelin details Henry's trial by battle with Robert de Montfort on Fry's Island in the River Thames at Reading. Henry's body was carried senseless from the site of the duel by monks of nearby Reading Abbey, but he revived and there took the Benedictine cowl. As a convicted traitor, however, his estates and offices were forfeit and his family disgraced.[3]
Henry of Essex is thought to have died the same year as Becket, in 1170, at Reading Abbey.