John III Dinham (1359-1428)

Effigy of Sir John III Dinham (1359-1428), St Mary's Church, Kingskerswell. The arms of Dinham are visible sculpted in low-relief on the chest of his surcoat: four fusils in fess
Arms of Dinham: Gules, four fusils in fess ermine
Seal of Sir John III Dinham (1359-1428) appendant to an indenture dated 9 Richard II (1385), showing the arms of Dynham: four fusils in fess with inscription: Sigillum Johannis Dynham militis ("seal of John Dynham, knight")
Effigy of Sir John III Dinham (1359-1428), St Mary's Church, Kingskerswell, north aisle.[1] Two female effigies also survive separately, believed to represent two of his three wives. Rogers (1890) suggests one of the ladies to be his 2nd wife Maud Maltravers from the heraldic evidence on Dinham's chest tomb, the arms of her father Sir John Maltravers of Hook, Dorset, being Sable, a fret or. Under the effigy the Dinham arms impale the arms fretty[2]

Sir John III Dinham (1359–1428) was a knight from Devonshire, England. His principal seats were at Hartland in North Devon, Kingskerswell and Nutwell in South Devon, Buckland Dinham in Somerset and Cardinham in Cornwall.[3]

Origins

He was the son and heir of Sir John II Dinham (1318-1383) by his wife Muriel Courtenay, elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas Courtenay (1312-1362) of Wootton Courtenay in Somerset (4th son of Hugh de Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (1276–1340)) of Woodhuish, Dunterton and Wooton Courtenay in Devon, by his wife Muriel de Moels (d. pre 1369), elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir John de Moels (d.1337), feudal baron of North Cadbury[4] in Somerset.[5] On his mother's death and following her burial in Hartland Abbey Bishop of Exeter Thomas Brantingham granted an indulgence for 40 days to any of his parishioners who should say for the soul of Lady Muriell Dynham and for the souls of all the faithful departed, with pious mind a prayer Oracio Dominica with a Salutacio Angelica.[6] The Dynhams took their name from their ancient manor of Dinan in Brittany,[7] and had been at Nutwell since about 1122 and were one of the leading gentry families in Devon. They founded Hartland Abbey in 1168/9 on their manor of Hartland.[8]

Inheritance

His father John II was murdered by robbers on 7 January 1382/3,[9] when John III was aged 24. He inherited his father's estates including Hartland and Nutwell in Devon, Buckland Dinham in Somerset and Cardinham in Cornwall. He also inherited from his mother 3 1/2 knight's fees, including the former de Moels estate of Kingskerswell in Devon, which he made his seat, close to Nutwell, and also Woodhuish, Dunterton in Devon and Cricket Malherbe and Northome in Somerset and Over Worton with a moiety of North Stoke in Oxfordshire and Over Wallop in Hampshire together with 4 advowsons.[10]

Career

Avenges father's murder

John III Dinham was a violent man. The two notorious thieves Robert Tuwyng and John Broun, who had murdered John II Dynham on 7 January 1382/3 were convicted of robbery and murder and incarcerated in Ilchester prison. After apparently having escaped, John Broun was tracked down by John III Dinham and fled for sanctuary into Exeter Cathedral. On 18 February 1382/3 Dinham broke down the door and killed him after a fierce struggle, thus avenging his father's murder. On 16 March 1382/3 he received the king's pardon for his action,[11] but was ordered by the Bishop of Exeter Thomas de Brantingham to perform penance for having violated the right of sanctuary. The penance mandated by the bishop on 21 March 1382/3 was as follows:[12]

"that on a Sunday before this Pentecost he should stand at the small altar between the choir and the high altar on the south side, with head uncovered with a lit candle of 2 lbs weight in his hand from the start of the high mass, that is to say the Confession (Confiteor) until the end of the same mass and then if he should so wish to make gift at the offertory of the same candle into the hand of the celebrant at the high mass".

Other violent acts

In August 1397 he was accused by the Abbot of Hartland of "breaking into his houses, assaulting him and chasing him to his chamber and ill-treating his servants"[13] There had been a long history of quarrelling between the abbots and the Dinham family, founders of the abbey, mainly concerning patronage and occupation of the abbey during a vacancy.[14] Abbot Philip Tone claimed as abbot lordship of the manor of Stoke St Nectan, near the parish church of St Nectan, Hartland, and claimed thereby view of frankpledge from the residents of that manor. John III Dinham with his armed supporters appeared at the abbey, "and so ill-used him that his life was despaired of, took timber and goods to the value of £20, killed 22 sheep, carried off 2 cows, depastured corn and grass, imprisoned his servant, assaulted and ill-used his men, servants and bondsmen".[15] This action prevented the abbot from cultivating his land for a long period and frightened away his tenants and the lucrative flow of visitors come either to pray at the holy sites or to buy the tithes.[16] On 27 February 1397/8 he was bound over for 1,000 marks to keep the peace[17] levied on his lands and chattels in England, with mainpernors each standing as surety for £200 of Sir John de la Pomeray, Sir John Prideaux, Giles Aysse and John Stantorre.[18] He was also later found guilty of committing assaults on others in January 1401/2 and in December 1404.[19] In September 1402 he was amongst those accused by the Abbot of Torre Abbey of digging up a road at Kingkerswell and assaulting the abbot's men. He committed acts of violence also at Nutwell and at Littleham.[20] On 28 April 1407, having paid 700 of his 1,000 marks surety he and his mainpernors were pardoned.[21]

Marriages & progeny

He married thrice:

She was granted licence by Thomas de Brantingham, Bishop of Exeter in the 13th year of his reign (1382) to hold divine service during one year in her chapel situated within her manor of Kytone.[24] John and his wife Elianora were also granted by Bishop Brantingham on 3 January 1383/4 licence to celebrate divine mass in their chapel within their manor of Kingskerswell.[25] Eleanor is identified in Complete Peerage as 'Ellen', with the note that she was alive on 22 Sept 1387.[26] She is named 'Elena' and 'Elenore' in licenses granted by the Bishop of Exeter from Feb 1379/80 to 1382.[27] Her connection to the Montagu family was first noted by John P. Ravilious in the household accounts of the Dinham family: one record is an account roll noting a payment of 40d. "to Richard Batyn at the lord's instruction" at Hartland, and other "Expenses of John de Dynham de Hertilond going to Warblington to fetch his wife (ad quer' uxorem &c.).".[28] This record can be dated 1381x1386, as Richard Batyn was a valet to Sir John de Dinham during this period.[29] Warblington was a manor of the Monthermer family held during this period by Margaret de Monthermer, Baroness Monthermer and wife of John de Montagu.[30] There are itineraries of Dinham officials visiting Warblington as well as Dinham manors in the spring of 1381, spring of 1383, the winter of 1383/84, between June 1384 and June 1385, and August 1394.[31] These visits to Warblington occurred only during the period of John Dinham's marriage to Eleanor, and ceased following her death in 1393/4 [Cf. Kleineke, ibid., p. 34]. Eleanor de Montagu is named in the will of her father dated 20 March 1387/88, in which he devised 'to Alianore, my daughter, the crown which my wife had in her custody'.[32] This crown or coronet is represented on her effigy at Kingskerswell, Devon, described as "The figure in the easternmost window [of the three is that of a female] wearing a coronet,..".[33] There is heraldic evidence of the marriage of Sir John de Dinham and a daughter of John de Montagu. Richard Symonds made a record of the arms displayed in the windows of Exeter Cathedral in 1644: two which he matched in one window were "Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable" and "Gules, three fusils conjoined in fess ermine [DINHAM].".[34] The arms in the adjacent windows are of the 14th and 15th century: the only arms identifiable as "Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable" are those of Sir John de Montagu (d. 1378), the husband of Margaret de Monthermer.

Death & succession

John III Dinham died 25 December 1428 at the age of about 69. He left a widow and his heir was his 22-year-old son Sir John IV Dinham (1406-1458) . His chest tomb with his effigy and the effigies of two of his wives survive in St Mary's Church, Kingskerswell, to the immediate west of which are situated the ruins of the Dinham manor house and seat.

Monuments

The effigies of Dinham and two of his wives survive in St Mary's Church, Kingskerswell.[37] All have been moved from their original unknown positions to occupy each one a separate window ledge in the north aisle. The effigy of Dinham himself retains one front of its chest-tomb base, decorated with angels holding heraldic escutcheons. He displays on the chest of his surcoat, sculpted in low-relief, the arms of Dinham, still visible as four fusils in fess.

Sources

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Rogers, W.H. Hamilton, The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West, Exeter, 1890, p.140, footnote
  2. ↑ Rogers, W.H. Hamilton, The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West, Exeter, 1890, p.140, footnote
  3. ↑ GEC Complete Peerage, Vol.IV, p.377
  4. ↑ Sanders, I.J. English Baronies, A Study of their Origin & Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.68, "North Cadbury"
  5. ↑ GEC IV, p.374
  6. ↑ Register of Bishop Brantingham, p.344 Item, ibidem, et eodem die, Dominus concessit Indulgenciam quadraginta dierum omnibus parochianis suis, et aliis quorum Diocesani, etc., qui pro anima Domine Murielle Dynham, cujus corpus in Monasterio de Hertyloude requiescit humatum, ac pro animabus omnium Fidelium defunc- torum, Oracionem Dominicam cum Salutacione Angelica dixerint mente pia
  7. ↑ GEC IV, p.369, note c, which quotes the earliest known member of the family as Geoffrey, Sire de Dinan in Brittany"
  8. ↑ Chope, p.55
  9. ↑ GEC IV, p.374
  10. ↑ GEC IV, p.375, note a
  11. ↑ GEC IV, p.375, note b, quoting Patent Roll, 6 Richard II, p.2, membrane 1
  12. ↑ GEC IV, p.375, translated from Latin recorded in the register of Bishop Brantyngham, pp.158, 490; See also pp.158-9, commission 132 ordered by the bishop: "To the Prior of Plympton and Masters Roger Payn, President of the Consistory Court, and John Lugans, R. of Petrockstowe: It had been reported to the Bishop that Sir John Dynham, Knt., had forcibly abstracted and carried off from the Cathedral Church, on Wednesday in the second week of the holy Season of Lent, a man who had fled thither for sanctuary, having demolished the door of the place where he had taken refuge. There was a fierce struggle and blood was shed. The offenders were liable to Excommunication; and the Bishop commanded the above-named commissaries to investigate the case, taking the evidence of all who were cognisant of the facts and were not suspected of complicity (an incomplete Entry, without date)"
  13. ↑ GEC IV, p.375
  14. ↑ Chope, p.78
  15. ↑ Chope, p.79
  16. ↑ Chope, p.79
  17. ↑ GEC IV, p.375
  18. ↑ Chope, p.79
  19. ↑ GEC IV, p.375
  20. ↑ Chope, p.80, quoting Calendar of Patent Rolls
  21. ↑ Chope, p.80; GEC IV, p.375
  22. ↑ GEC IV, pp.375-6
  23. ↑ J. Ravilious, CP Addition: Eleanor (Elena) de Montagu, wife of Sir John de Dinham, soc.genealogy.medieval, 27 Mar 2004. See also Douglas Richardson, D. Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families (Salt Lake City, 2011), I:660-1
  24. ↑ Bishop Brantingham's register, p. 472 : Item, apud Chuddeleghe, xiij die Julii, Dominus concessit Licenciam Domine Elenore, uxori Domini Johannis Dynham, Militis, junioris, quod possit facere Divina celebrari, in presencia sua, etc, in Capela sive Oratorio honesto infra Manerium de Kytone situato per unum annum duraturam ("Likewise, (given at) Chudleigh the 13th day of July ...., the lord (Bishop) grants to Lady Elenore, wife of Sir John Dinham, knight, junior, that she may hold divine service in her presence in her chapel, or worthy oratory, situated within her manor of Kytone for the duration of one year")
  25. ↑ Bishop Brantingham's Register, p.504 : Item, apud Clyst, tercio die mensis Januarii [A.D. 1383-4], Dominus Johannes de Dynham, Miles, et Elianora uxor sua, habuerunt Licenciam de celebrari faciendo Divina, etc., in sua vel ipsorum alterius presencia in Capella sive Oratorio, aut alio loco honesto, infra Manerium suum de Carsvrelle Regis ; quamdiu, etc. ("Likewise, (given at) Clyst, on the 3rd day of the month of January 1383/4, that Sir John De Dynham, knight, and Elianora his wife should have licence to celebrate the holding of Divine...etc. in her presence, or in the presence of one or other of them, in the chapel or oratory or in another worthy place, within their manor of Kerswell of the King")
  26. ↑ CP IV:375-6, and notes (g) on p. 375, (a) on p. 376
  27. ↑ Reg. Thomas de Brantyngham, Bishop of Exeter A.D. 1370-1394, Exeter Episcopal Registers 6:418, 472, 481
  28. ↑ Cornwall Record Office: Arundell of Lanherne and Trerice, Reference: AR/37/56/1, courtesy Access to Archives
  29. ↑ Hannes Kleineke, The Dinham Family in the Later Middle Ages (Ph.D., Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, 1998), p. 139
  30. ↑ IPM 18 Ric. II, No. 31, as cited in VCH Hampshire 3:134-139
  31. ↑ A2A, Cornwall RO, ibid., AR/37/39; AR/37/44; AR/37/45; "8 Ric II", date assigned to AR/37/46. See also Kleineke, ibid., pp. 155-6, 160
  32. ↑ Nicolas, Testamenta Vetusta (London: Nichols & Son, 1826), I:124
  33. ↑ John Stabb, Some Old Devon Churches (London: Simpkin, Marshall et al., 1911), II:140
  34. ↑ C. E. Long, ed., Richard Symond's Diary of the Marches of the Royal Army (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), p. 85
  35. ↑ Lee, Sidney, (ed.), Maltravers, John, Dictionary of National Biography, vol 36, London, 1893
  36. ↑ GEC IV, pp.376-7
  37. ↑ As identified by Chope, R. Pearse, The Book of Hartland, Torquay, 1940, p.30
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