Sir Richard de Exeter (died 1327) was an Anglo-Norman
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
and
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
who served as a judge in Ireland.Ball p.23
Biography
The son of Richard de Exeter (his father married three times, and his mother's identity is uncertain), Sir Richard held 'in capite' in
Meath
County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
the lands of Straghcallan, Carrig, Listathell, Bryangston, Crowenbeg, Rathslyberaght. He had messuages, lands and rents in Rathbranna, Donneynin, Imelaghbegan and Le Newenhagard near
Trim
Trim or TRIM may refer to:
Cutting
* Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them
** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process
** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees
Decoration
* Trim (sewing), or ...
; the manors of Derver and Corbally; and an estate around
Athleague
Athleague () is a village and a parish in the Diocese of Elphin on the River Suck in the west of Ireland in County Roscommon, near the town of Roscommon. The village is in a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. ...
in
County Roscommon
County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
.
He seems to have held the manors of Barronnyston and Phelipyston de Nuget in right of his wife, Elizabeth.
During his career, he served as High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1292 and 1302, and keeper of Roscommon and Rindown castles in 1302 and 1304. He was summoned several times by Edward I of England to serve in the
First Scottish War of Independence
The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between England and Scotland. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until the ''de jure'' restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edin ...
. He served as
Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas
The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...
during the latter part of his life, being appointed to the office late in 1302 on the death of Simon de Ludgate.Ball p.23 There survives a report of at least one judgment he gave in the
Easter term
Easter term is the summer term at the University of Cambridge, University of Wales, Lampeter, University of Durham, and formerly University of Newcastle upon Tyne (before 2004 assault on the four sons of Sir Nicholas de Netterville (coincidentally a colleague of de Exeter in the Common Pleas), and were ordered to pay heavy
damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...
.
In 1304 King
Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
asked him to re-examine a decision of the Common Pleas, delivered during the Chief Justiceship of Simon de Ludgate. The King asked for further information to be given to the
Justiciar of Ireland
The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monar ...
regarding a decision of the Court to dispossess
Joan de Munchensi
Joan Munchensy (about 1230 - 1307), Countess of Pembroke, was an English noblewoman. The grand-daughter and eventual co-heiress of the celebrated William Marshal, she married William de Valence, half-brother of King Henry III.
Origins
Born ab ...
, widow of
William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke
{{Infobox noble,
name=William de Valence
, christening_date=
, noble family=
, house-type=
, father= Hugh X of Lusignan
, mother= Isabella of Angoulême
, birth_name=
, birth_date={{c. 1227
, birth_place=
, christening_place=
, styles=
, death_da ...
, of her liberty of
County Wexford
County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
, which had come to her as one of the Marshal co-heiresses.Close Roll 32 Edward I
In '"The Impact of the Bruce Invasion of Ireland" (A New History of Ireland, volume nine, pages 295–96) James Lydon notes that ''"During the war a petition asked for the removal of Richard d'Exeter, Chief Justice of the Common Bench, who was suspect because of his association with the rebel, Walter de Lacy, who had married his daughter, and with many other who were hostile to the king"''.
This Walter de Lacy was a prominent tenant of the English Crown in
County Meath
County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
.Otway-Ruthven pp.232-3 He later fled to
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
to join
Edward Bruce
Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick (Norman French: ; ; Modern Scottish Gaelic: or ; 1280 – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish cro ...
and suffered forfeiture of his estates.Otway-Ruthven pp.232-3 No action was taken against de Exeter as a result, nor against his fellow judge Hugh Canoun, whose loyalty was also suspect,Otway-Ruthven p.233 (Canon, however, was murdered by the de Bermingham family of
Athenry
Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th-century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...
shortly afterwards).''Annales Hiberniae''
De Exeter died in 1327. A son, Simon de Exeter, also served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1335, while another son, Richard de Exeter, is recorded as owning the manor of Derver, Meath, in 1347. Of his daughters, one married Walter de Lacy,Otway-Ruthven p.233 and another in 1312 married Milo de Verdun, brother and co-heir of
Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Baron Verdun
Theobald de Verdun (1278–1316) was the second and eldest surviving son of Theobald de Verdun, 1st Baron Verdun, of Alton, Staffordshire, and his wife Margery de Bohun. The elder Theobald was the son of John de Verdon, otherwise Le Botiller, o ...
. He may have had a brother, Father Nicholas de Exeter, to whom he made a transfer of land in 1305.
References
*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926
*''Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls 1305-7''
*Grace, James ''Annales Hiberniae'' Edited by Richard Butler 1842
*Hart, John ''Irish Pedigrees'' 5th Edition Dublin 1892 Vol.2
*Knox, Hubert Thomas. ''The History of the County of Mayo to the Close of the Sixteenth Century. With illustrations and three maps.'' Originally published 1908, Hogges Figgis and Co. Dublin. Reprinted by De Burca rare books, 1982. .
*Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''A History of Medieval Ireland'' Barnes and Noble reissue New York 1993
*''Red Book of the Exchequer at Dublin'' Published in "The Transactions of the Chronological Institute of London 1852"