Robert Cary (died c. 1431)

Arms of Cary: Argent, on a bend sable three roses of the field.[1] Said by Prince (died 1723) to be the arms of the Aragonois knight errant vanquished by Sir Robert Cary in combat at Smithfield circa 1413[2]

Sir Robert Cary (died c. 1431) of Cockington, Devon, was 12 times Member of Parliament for Devon, in 1407, 1410, 1411, May 1413, April 1414, Mar. 1416, 1417, 1419, May 1421, 1422, 1425 and 1426. Much of his later life was devoted to regaining the many estates and other landholdings forfeited to the crown following his father's attainder in 1388. He was an esquire in the households of King Richard II (1377–1399) and of the latter's half-brother John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (c. 1352 – 1400).[3]

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of Sir John Cary (died 1395), Chief Baron of the Exchequer and twice Member of Parliament for Devon[4] by his wife Margaret Holleway, daughter and heiress of Robert Holleway,[5] of Holleway in the parish of North Lew, Devon.[6] Due to his support for King Richard II against Henry Bolingbroke, in 1388 Sir John Cary was attainted by the Merciless Parliament, which resulted in his banishment to Ireland and the confiscation of his lands.

Career

Supporter of King Richard II

Like his father he was a supporter of King Richard II (1377–1399), during the period of that king's reign when he was challenged by Henry Bolingbroke (later King Henry IV (1399–1413)). In 1391 he became an esquire in the household of King Richard II and in 1392 was also an esquire in the household of Richard's half-brother John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, 1st Earl of Huntingdon (c. 1352 – 1400). These connections helped to mitigate the effects of his father's attainder, and he received several grants of land from about 1392. The Parliament of 1398 annulled the Acts of the Merciless Parliament of 1388, and thus Robert Cary recovered some of his father's forfeited estates.

Career under King Henry IV

Following the deposing of King Richard by Bolingbroke in 1399, ruling as King Henry IV, the first Parliament of the new king reversed the Act of 1398 and reaffirmed the 1388 Act of the Merciless Parliament. Thus Cary's chances of recovering his paternal estates looked less favourable. Indeed, in 1399 his father's former estates were granted by Henry IV to Sir Robert Chalons, MP, a member of the royal household. Cary however resorted to physical violence against Chalons in an attempt to deny him possession of these estates, and in 1400 gave his support to the Epiphany Rising being planned by his patron John Holland, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, (now stripped of his dukedom) intended to effect the assassinate King Henry and his sons, and to return Richard, then in prison, to the throne. The revolt failed and in 1400 Holland was executed and Richard died in Pontefract Castle. Cary was declared by juries in Devon to have been guilty of participating in the plot, but managed to escape punishment. Indeed, in 1402 he recommenced his campaign for the recovery of his paternal lands. It appears that his return to royal favour was due to his first marriage in about 1402 and the influence of his brother-in-law Richard Courtenay (died 1415), Bishop of Norwich, a close friend and ally of the new king's son Henry of Monmouth, later King Henry V (1413–1422).

Career under King Henry V

On the accession of King Henry V in 1413, Cary returned fully to royal favour, it is said by tradition not only due to the influence of Richard Courtenay, but also due to his triumph in a feat of arms against a knight errant of Aragon which much impressed the new king.

Combat with Aragonois

According to Prince, relying on Richard Izacke (died 1698),[7] at the beginning of the reign of King Henry V (1413–1422):

A certain knight-errand of Arragon, having passed thro' divers countries, and performed many feats of arms, to his high commendation, arrived here in England, where he challenged any man of his rank and quality to make tryal of his valor and skill in arms. This challenge Sir Robert Cary accepted; between whom a cruel encounter and a long and doubtful combat was waged, in Smithfield, London. But at length this noble champion vanquished the presumptious Arragonoise, for which King Henry V restored unto him good part of his father's lands, which for his loyalty to King Richard II he had been deprived of by King Henry IV, and authoriz'd him to bear the arms of the knight of Arragon, viz: in a field silver, on a bend sable three white roses, which the noble posterity of this gentleman continue to wear unto this day, for according to the laws of heraldry whosoever fairly in the field conquers his adversary may justify the bearing of his arms.

Later career

In 1413 he was appointed Escheator of Devon and Cornwall, which office he retained until 1415. In 1415 he loaned 100 marks to the crown to help the financing of the expedition to Normandy, and received as security (from his brother-in-law Bishop Courtenay, Keeper of the King's Jewels) the Duke of Bergundy's great tabernacle. In December 1415 Richard Courtenay, who by then had inherited Powderham and other estates following the death of his father, died at the Siege of Harfleur, leaving his 11-year-old nephew Philip II Courtenay (1404–1463) as his heir. Cary was granted by the king the farm of the lucrative wardship of 16 of the bishop's manors in Devon and Somerset until the heir should attain his majority of 21.

Military career

During the reign of King Henry V (1413–1422) Cary served on Commissions of Array to raise royal troops in Devon, and on commissions to take the musters of the army of the Seneschal of Aquitaine.

Marriages and progeny

He married twice:

Arms of Courtenay of Powderham: Or, three torteaux a label azure
Arms of Hankford: Sable, a chevron barry nebuly argent and gules

Death

The date of his death is unknown, but probably occurred in 1431, after which there is no mention of his name in surviving records. Furthermore, it is likely he died before his son was elected MP for Devon in 1433.[17]

Landholdings

Robert Cary's landholdings included the following manors:

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Vivian, p.150
  2. ↑ Prince, p.178
  3. ↑ History of Parliament biography of Cary, Robert (d.c.1431), of Cockington, Devon
  4. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.150, pedigree of Cary
  5. ↑ Vivian, p.150
  6. ↑ Prince, p.178
  7. ↑ Prince, p.178, margin note t
  8. ↑ HoP biography of Robert Cary
  9. ↑ Vivian, pp.244,246, pedigree of Courtenay; p.150, pedigree of Cary, in which wife given incorrectly as Elizabeth Courtenay (footnote 6)
  10. ↑ Roskell History of Parliament; Vivian, apparently incorrectly, gives him as the son of his father's 2nd wife Jane Hankford
  11. ↑ Vivian, p.150
  12. ↑ Vivian, p.150
  13. ↑ History of Parliament
  14. ↑ History of Parliament biography of John Wadham
  15. ↑ Roskell History of Parliament; Vivian apparently incorrectly gives his son Philip Cary as son of Jane Hankford
  16. ↑ Vivian, p.150; p.22, pedigree of Ayshford of Ayshford
  17. ↑ Roskell History of Parliament
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