Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere
My 21st Great Grandfather
Born: 1275
Died: 14 April 1322, Canterbury
Father: Gunselm de Badlesmere
Mother: Joan FitzBernard
Wife:
Margaret de Clare
Children: Margery de Badlesmere; Maud de Badlesmere; Elizabeth de Badlesmere; Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere; Margaret de Badlesmere
On 1 November 1317, King Edward II appointed Bartholomew as custodian of Leeds Castle in Kent.
At this time, England was divided between the king’s supporters, an opposition led by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and a middle party which Bartholomew belonged to. Bartholomew helped to make peace between the king and the earl in 1318, but later the king’s conduct drew Bartholomew to the side of Lancaster.
In October 1321, Bartholomew’s wife, Margaret de Clare, refused to admit Queen Isabella to her husband’s castle at Leeds. The king made an assault on the castle; eventually capturing it.
After the castle was captured, Kind Edward II seized and imprisoned Margaret and their five children, and then civil war broke out. Bartholomew (who was not at the castle when it fell) fled warrants for his arrest, and eventually joined the Lancaster forces.
On 16 March 1322, the Earl of Lancaster and his allies were defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge, and Bartholomew was arrested. He was tried and sentenced to high treason, the punishment for which was a gruesome death: to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Following his punishment, Bartholomew’s head was displayed on Burgh Gate at Canterbury.