Richard, Earl of Cornwall, Count of Poitou, King of the Romans, King of Germany

1209 - 1272

Richard is a famous, well documented historical figure ⁽¹⁾ so I am not going into great detail about him here. A great deal more information on him is readily available. This is simply a brief outline of some of the main events in his life.

He was born on 5th January 1209 in Winchester, the second son of King John and Isabella his wife ⁽²⁾. His father died in 1216 ⁽³⁾, and his mother returned to France soon afterwards ⁽⁴⁾, leaving Richard to be raised by by Peter de Maulay, at Corfe Castle ⁽¹⁾. At the age of 16 his elder brother, Henry III, granted him the County of Cornwall ⁽⁵⁾. He was variously referred to as Count of Poitou or Earl of Cornwall from this time.

Cornwall provided Richard with great riches, and he became known as one of the wealthiest men in Europe, even though he was still a teenager. He had a political reputation to match, often being seen to get the better of his brother the king, and widely respected across Europe. He also had a reputation as a great womaniser. ⁽¹⁾

On 30th March 1231, at Fawley, near Marlow in Buckinghamshire, he married Isabella, the widow of Gilbert de Clare, the late Earl of Gloucester ⁽¹⁾⁽⁶⁾, and their first son, John, was born the following January ⁽¹⁾⁽⁷⁾, but died later the same year ⁽¹⁾⁽⁸⁾. A daughter Isabel was born in 1233 ⁽¹⁾⁽⁹⁾, but she too died young the following year ^(1)(10). Their next son, Henry, was born in 1235 ^(1)(11). Another son, Richard, followed, but he also died young ⁽¹⁾. In January 1240, Isabella died during the birth of their last son, Nicholas, who also died within a few hours (or was stillborn, according to different sources) ^(1)(12). Isabella apparently made a dying wish to be buried alongside her first husband at Tewksbury, but Richard had her buried at Beaulieu Abbey. He did however have her heart removed and buried at Tewksbury! ⁽¹⁾

He married for a second time in November 1243. This time to Sanchia of Provence, the sister of his brother Henry's wife Eleanor ⁽¹⁾. The children of his second marriage, are not so well documented. He had a son (possibly called Richard) in the summer of 1246, but he only lived a few weeks ⁽¹⁾. He had another son Edmund in 1250 ⁽¹⁾, who was to be his eldest, and thus heir, at the time of his death ⁽²⁶⁾. The likelihood is obviously that he would have had other children with Sanchia, but they may all have died young.

Richard was crowned King of Germany in May 1257 ^(1)(13).

Sanchia died in 1261 ^(1)(14). Richard married yet again in 1269, to Beatrice de Fauquemont, who was more than 40 years his junior ⁽¹⁾. Unsuprisingly they didn't have any children before his death on 2nd April 1272 ^(1)(15). He was buried at Hailes Abbey ^(1)(15), which he had founded ^(1)(16).

Richard is said to have had a number of illegitimate children, including Richard ⁽¹⁷⁾. Joan de Valletort often claimed to be the mother of at least two of them. However the timing of their births is unclear ⁽¹⁾.

• John was born in 1232, but died later the same year.
• Isabel was born in 1233, but died the following year.
• Henry was born in 1235. He was knighted the same day, in 1257, that his father was crowned King of Germany. He became known as Henry of Almain, following his father's German title. He was murdered in 1271, in Italy on his way home from crusade, by the sons of Simon de Montfort, in retalliation for their father's death at Evesham 6 years before. His body was brought home and buried in Hailes Abbey.
• Richard was born sometime in the latter 1230s. He also died young.
• Nicholas was either stillborn, or died at only a few hours old, in 1240.
• Edmund was born in 1250. He married Margaret, daughter of the earl of Gloucester, but had no children. Following the death of his older brother Henry in 1271, he became the heir to his father, and so following his death the next year, Edmund became Earl of Cornwall. He died in 1300.
• Richard has his own page.

1. Richard is a well document historical character. Numerous books have been published just about him. Basic biographical details also occur in numerous works such as "Complete Peerage" ⁽¹⁸⁾, "Knights of Edward I" ⁽¹⁹⁾, "Burke's Peerage" ⁽²⁰⁾ and The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography etc.
2. Richard is widely said to have been born on 5 Jan 1209 at Winchester, in numerous later works ⁽¹⁾. However I have been unable to establish a primary source for such a specific claim. In the contemporay chronicles of Ralph of Coggeshall ("Radulphi de Coggeshall Chronicon Anglicanum", page 163 in 1875 Stevenson edition), he simply wrote:
   "Anno MCCIX, Ricardus, secondus filius regis, nascitur".
3. See his father's page.
4. See his mothers's page.
5. Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the Reign of Henry III 1224-1234, ed. P. Dryburgh and B. Hartland, technical ed. A. Ciula and J.M. Vieira (Woodbridge, 2008) ref 9/80 states:
   [1225] 13 Feb. Westminster. Concerning the county of Cornwall, committed to Richard, brother of the king , and the stannaries of Cornwall. The king has committed the county of Cornwall to Richard, his brother , with all things that pertain to the king in the same county, in order to sustain him in the king’s service for as long as it pleases the king, saving to the king his homages and the debts that are owed to him in the same county and the farms of the king in the same county, until the Thursday next after Ash Wednesday in the ninth year. Order to the sheriff of Cornwall to cause him to have full seisin, as aforesaid.
6. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 78 states:
   MCCXXXI. Ysabel comitissa Gloucestrie nupsit, iii kal. Aprilis, Ricardo comiti Cornubię, fratri Henrici regis Anglię ... apud Falle juxta Merlawe.
7. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 81 states:
   [MCCXXXI.] Nascitur Ricardo comiti Cornubię filius nomine Johnannes, ii kal Februarii.
8. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 89 states:
   [MCCXXXI.] Obiit filius Ricardi comiti Cornwallię apud Merlawe, x kal Octobris, et sepultus est apud Radinges.
9. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 92 states:
   [MCCXXXIII.] Nascitur filia Ricardo comiti Cornubię nomine Isabel, circa Nativitatem beatę Virginis.
10. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 93 states:
    [MCCXXXIV.] Isabel filia Ricardi comitis Cornubię obiit circa festum Sanctę Fidis, et sepulta juxta fratrem suum apud Radinges.
11. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 98 states:
    [MCCXXXV.] Nascitur filius Ricardo comiti Cornubię nomine Henricus, v non Novembris, et baptizatur apud Haylege.
12. "Annales Theokesberia" [The annals of Tewksbury Abbey 1066-1263], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 1, (1864), page 113 states:
    [MCCXXXIX.] xvi kal Februarii obiit Isabella comitissa Gloucestrię et Hertfordię, Cornubię et Pictavię, apud Berkhamstude. ...
13. No primary source for the date of this has so far come to light, but 17 May 1257 is usually quoted, and he is referred to as King of Almain in the vast majority of documents after this date.
14. "Annales de Osenia" [The annals of Osney Abbey], published as part of "Annales Monastici", Vol 4, (1864), page 128 states:
    [MCCLXI.] Eodem anno die Mercurii proximo ante festum beati Martini apud Berchamstede obiit Schenchia regina Alemannie, soror Elianorę reginę Anglię...
15. "Florentii Wigorniensis Monachi Chronicon, Tomus II" , published by English Historial Society, 1848, page 207 states:
    [1272] Ricardus, Alemannię rex, iv non Aprilis [2 Apr] apud Berhamstede diem clausit extremum, sepultusque est apud monasterium de Hayles.
16. "Monasticon Anglicum, Volume V", Dugdale, 1825, pages 686-689, gives the history of Hayles Abbey, stating:
    "Hayles Abbey, called also Tray, was founded by Richard, earl of Cornwall, second son to King John, afterwards king of the Romans and emperor of Germany. He began the buildings here in 1246; and in 1251, when he had expended ten thousand marks in finishing the monastery..."
17. The evidence for Richard having an illegitimate son called Richard is far from definitive, although it is widely accepted ^(1)(22). The son in question, known as Richard de Cornwall (or Cornubia), was the progenitor of the Cornwall faimily which claimed arms in the Visitation of Shropshire in 1623 ⁽²¹⁾. That he was Richard's son can be seen from indirect references to the relationship (such as charters of 1286 and 1294 naming him as brother of Edmund, earl of Cornwall, Richard (king of Almain)'s eldest son and heir ⁽²³⁾), but his illegitimacy is more open to the possibiity of doubt as no contemporary documents mention it. For example in his "Antiquiteis of Shropshire" Eyton mentions that when Thomas Milles mentioned it in his "Catalogue of Honour" in 1610 he invoked the wrath of Sir Thomas Cornwall, a descendant, who claimed that Richard was a legitimate son. Sir Thomas's letter of complaint is reproduced in "The House of Cornwall", by Liverpool & Reade 1908, but it is a confused and rambling document, which basically claims that Richard and his sons would not have been named as brothers and cousins of Richard (King of Almain)'s legitimate family if he had been illegitimate.
    The clinching argument must be the fact that Edmund, Earl of Cornwall's heir was the king, indicates that his father Richard King of Almain, had no other survivng legitimate sons, or male descent from them. Hence Richard would seem to have had to have been illegitimate.
18. "Complete Peerage", G.E.C., 1910, Volume 3, pages 430, 431, 432 & 433, sub CORNWALL gives the following information:
        1. RICHARD,^(d) 2nd son of KING JOHN, by Isabel, daughter and heir of Aymar TAILLEFER, COUNT OF ANGOULEME, was born 5 Jan 1209; was Constable of Wallingford Castle, 1216; knighted 2 Feb. 1224/5 by his brother Henry III, who, a few days afterwards, 13 Feb 1224/5, granted him, as Richard the King's brother, the county of Cornwall during pleasure.^(e) This grant, which resembles that to Henry FitzCount above, can hardly be held to have conferred the Earldom; nevertheless, not long after, viz 21 Aug 1227, he is officially styled EARL OF CORNWALL,^(f) and must be assumed to have been invested with the Earldom in or shortly before that year. He was Count of Poitou before 18 Aug 1225.^(g) Lieutenant of Guinne, 1226-27; Chief Commissioner for making a truce with France, 1230; Keeper of the Honour of Wallingford, 1230-31; of the Honour of Knaresborough, 1235; took the Cross, 1236; was on an Embassy to the Emporor Friedrich, 1237; Lord of the forest of Dartmoor, 1239; Comander in Chief of the Crusades, 1240-41, when he entered into a truce with the Soldan of Babylon. Joint Plenipotentiary to France, and Ambassador to Pope Innocent IV, 1250; P.C., 1253; Joint Guardian of England, 1253-54; He acquired vast estates and great wealth by farming the Mint, the Jews, &c, and doubtless in consequence^(*a) thereof, was elected, at Frankfort, 13 Jan 1256/7, by the Princes of the Empire, King of the Romans, being crowned 17 May 1257, at Aachen.^(*b) In Oct 1259 he was Ambassador to Pope Alexander IV. He was a faithful adherent of the King, his brother, against the rebelious Barons, and both were taken prisoners at the battle of Lewes, 14 May 1264. He married, firstly, 30 Mar 1231 at Fawley, near Marlow, Bucks,^(*c) Isabel^(*d) widow of Gilbert (de CLARE), EARL OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD, daughter of William (MARSHALL), EARL OF PEMBROKE, by Isabel daughter and heir of Richard (DE CLARE), also EARL OF PEMBROKE. She died 17 Jan 1239/40, in childbed, at Berkhampstead, of jaundice, and was buried at Beaulieu, Hants, her heart being sent to Tewksbury Abbey.^(*c) He married, secondly, 22 Nov 1243,^(*c) at Westminster Abbey, Sancha, 3rd daughter and coheir of Raymond BERENGAR, COUNT OF PROVENCE, by Beatrice, daughter of Tomaso, COUNT OF SAVOY. She, who was crowned Queen^(*e) (with her husband) 1257, died 9 Nov 1261, and was buried at Hailes Abbey, co. Gloucester, which her husband had, in 1251, founded. He married thirdly, 16 June 1269, Beatrice, daughter of Walram de FAUQUEMONT, SEIGNEUR DE MONTJOYE, by Jutta, daughter of Otto, COUNT OF RAVENSBERG in Westphalia.^(*f) He died at Berkhampstead Castle, Herts, having been bled for ague, 2 Apr 1272, and was buried in Hailes Abbey aforesaid, aged 63, his heart being sent to Rewley Abbey, Oxon, of which, also, he was the founder.^(*g) His widow dsp, on the Vigil of St Luke, 17 Oct 1277, and was buried at the Friars Minors, Oxford.
        JOHN, first son and heir apparent by 1st wife, born 31 jan 1231/2, died 22 Sep 1232, at Marlow, and was buried (near Henry I), in Reading Abbey, Berks.
        HENRY, 2nd but 1st survivng son and heir apparent, by 1st wife, born 2 Nov 1235, and baptised at Hailes Abbey, was knighted on the day of his father 's Coronation, 17 May 1257, and was with him taken prisoner at the battle of Lewes, where he commanded the left wing of the King's army, 12 May 1264. He married, 15 May 1269, at Windsor, Constance, widow of the Infant Alfonso (son and heir of Jayme I, KING OF ARRAGON), who dsp and vp, 1st daughter and coheir of Gaston DE MONCADA, VICOMTE DE BEARN, by his 1st wife, Marthe, daughter of Boson DE MASTAS, Seigneur DE COGNAC. On his return from the Crusade he dsp and vp aged 35, being murdered 13 Mar 1270/1, while at mass, in a chapel, or as some say in the Cathedral of San Nicolo, at Viterbo, Italy, by Simon and Guy, sons of Simon de Montfort, in revenge for the indignities offered to their father's dead body, after his defeat at Evesham in 1265. Henry's heart was encased in a gold vase, his body being buried in Hailes Abbey, under the Cotswolds, which his father had founded.
        2. EDMUND styled "OF ALMAINE", EARL OF CORNWALL, 5th but 1st surviving son and heir, being 1st by second wife, born 5 Dec 1250; was invested with his father's Earldom, and knighted by the King at Westminster, 13 Oct 1272; Joint Guardian of the realm, Nov 1272 to Jan 1273, and Apr 1279 to 1280. Sheriff of Cornwall, 1278-1300; Sole Guardian of the Realm, June 1286 to Aug 1289. Sheriff of Co. Rutland, 1288-1300; Councillor to the Prince of Wales, 1297 to 1298. He married 6 Oct 1272, in the chapel at Ruislip, Middlesex, Margaret daughter of Richard (DE CLARE), EARL OF GLOUCESTER AND HERTFORD, by Maud, daughter of John (DE LACY), EARL OF LINCOLN. She was divorced, or legally seperated, Feb 1293/4 and condemned "vitam vivere cęlibem". She, whowas born 1250, dsp, in 1312, before 16 Sep. He dsp shortly before 26 Sep 1300, at the Abbey of Ashridge, Bucks (which he had founded in 1283), and was buried near his father in the Abbey of Hailes aforesaid, 23 Mar, 1300/1, aged 49, when the Earldom of Cornwall became extinct, and, all legitimate issue of his father having failed, the King was found his cousin and next heir.. His Inq. P. M. 28 Edw. I
    (^d) It is much to be wished that the surname 'Plantaganet', which, since the time of Charles II, has been freely given to all the descendants of Geoffrey of Anjou, had some historical basis which would justify its use, for it forms a most convenient method of referring to the Edwardian Kings and their numerous descenants. The fact is, however, as has been pointed out by Sir James Ramsay and other writers of our day, that the name, although a personal emblem of the aforesaid Geoffrey, was never borne by any of his descendants before Richard Plantaganet, Duke of York (father of Edward IV), who assumed it, apparently about 1448.
    (^e) The Comitatus of Cornwall was given by charter, 10 Aug 1231, "habendum at tenendum de nobis et heredibus nostris ipsi Comiti et heredibus suis".
    (^f) Close Roll of that date, and Charter Roll, 20 Oct. 1227. No precise date can be given when he became Earl
    (^g) Close Roll.
    (^*a) "Nummus ait pro me; nubit Cornubia Romę"
    (^*b) He was, however, "soon dispossessed, forsaken, and forced to return into England a poorer King than he went out an Earl." See Sandford. In Bryc's Holy Roman Empire (p. 212), it is said that "Three of the Electors finding his bribe to them was lower than to the others, seceded in disgust and chose Alfonso X of Castile."
    (^*c) Annales de Theokesberia
    (^*d) In July 1235 the Pope sent him a monition to remain in matrimony with the Countess of Gloucester though he has lately been told that her former husband was connected with him in the 4th degree.
    (^*e) "One of those 4 daughters of an Earl that by marriage came to be exalted to the thrones of so many Kings, an example not to be paralleled in any history." (Sanford). The other three Queens were (1) Margaret, wife of Louis IX of France, (2) Eleanor, wife of Henry III of England, and (3) Beatrice, wife of Charles I of Naples.
    (^*f) ex inform. G. W. Watson, who adds: "The parentage of the third wife of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, has been variously stated. According to Butkens, she was daughter of Lothar, Count of Hostade and Dalhem; it is this hypothesis alone which would make her niece of Conrad, Archbishop of Cologne. Gebauer, in his Life of Richard (1744), endeavours to prove she was daughter of Phillip von Falkenstein, Archchamberlain of the Empire. But she was really daughter of Walram de Fauquemont (Valkenberg, near Maastricht) - "Si [Richart] prist a femme la fille monseignour Walerant de Faukemont" (Chron. Balduini Avennsis, in Mon. Germ. Hist., Script vol.xxv, p.462) - and consequently niece, not of Conrad, but of his successor, Engelbert de Fauquemont."
    (^*g) A noble "pyramis" was erected over him, at Hailes, by his widow, but has naturally long perished; tiles, however, bearing the eagle of his arms, and others bearing the "paly" coat of his 2nd wife, have been found in the Abbey. (ex inform. J. H. Round). Richard of Cornwall, one of his illegitimate sons, was ancestor of the family of Cornwall seated at Burford (hence styled "Barons of Burford"), Salop, and at Berington, co. Hereford.
    
19. "Knights of Edward I", Volume 1, Harleian Soc, 1929, page 238, gives the following information:
    CORNWALL, Sir Richard, Earl of. King of the Romans and Almaine. Arg A lion rampant crowned and double queued gu. A bordure sa. bezanty (M. Paris I) Arg. A lionrampant gu. A bordure sa. bezanty (M. Paris III). Sealed, 1227: A lion rampant crowned. A bordure bezanty (Birch). Born 5 Jan 1209, younger son of King John. Made Earl of Cornwall and Count of Poitou 1225. He refused the Empire 1250, and teh Crowns of Apulia, Sicily, and Calabria, but became King of the Romans and of Almaine 1256, and died 2 Apr 1272. By his first wife Isabel, daughter of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, and widow of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester, he had son Henry, slain at Viterbo, and alluded to by Dante (Inferno, xii, 115). By his second wife Sanchia, daughter and coheir of Raymond Berengar, Count of Provence, and sister of the Queens of England and France, he had Edmund and others. His third wife Beatrice, niece of Conrad, Archbishop of Cologne, survived him. "A man of much more enterprise and energy than his brother", and accounted in his time teh peace-maker of Europe, Richard was one of the most interesting personages noted in the pages of English history. He held great possessions in England, and was buried in Hayles, with the record on his monument that he had been propria contentus sorte.
20. "Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition Vol II", 2003, page 1670, sub Grey, provides the following pedigree :
    Lineage (of Corn[e]wall):
    KING JOHN: married 2nd 24 Aug 1200 Isabella, only daughter and sole heiress of Dolomar Taillefer, Count of Angoulźme, by Alice, daughter of Pierre de Courtenay (youngest son of LOIUS VI OF FRANCE; see also DEVON, E), and by her had a 2nd son:
    RICHARD, COUNT OF POITOU by Aug 1225 (renounced circa Dec 1243), 1st EARL OF CORNWALL, so styled from 21 Aug 1227 and KING OF THE ROMANS (i.e. heir presumptive to the Holy Roman Empire), so elected at Frankfurt 13 Jan 1256/7 and crowned at Aachen 17 May 1257 but soon ejected and returned to England, three of the Electors apparently having thrown him over because his monetary inducements to them were too small, Privy Coucil [1253]; born 5 Jan 1209; Constable Wallingford Castle 1216; knighted Feb 1224/5 and granted by his brother HENRY III 13 Feb 1224/5 the County of Cornwall during the King's pleasure, following which he was presumably invested as Earl of that county; Lt of Guienne 1226-27; Ambassador in HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR FREDERICK II 1237 and POPEs INNOCENT IV and ALEXANDER IV 1250 and 1259 respectively; went on Crusade 1240-41; Co- or sole Regent during his brother HENRY III's campaigns in Gascony 1253/54, fought with his brother HENRY III against Simon de Montfort's barons Battle of Lewes 1264, where captued; married 1st 30 March 1230/1 Isabel, 3rd daughter of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and widow of Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford and (2nd Earl of) Gloucester, and had three sons (all died young or sp); married 2nd 22 Nov 1243, Sancha, sister of his brother HENRY III's wife ELEANOR and 3rd daughter and coheir of Raymond Berengar V, Count of Provence, and by her had two or three further sons (also died young or sp, including the 2nd and last EARL OF CORNWALL); married 3rd 16 June 1269 Beatrice, 2nd daughter of Waldram de Fauquemont (or Valkenberg, Nr Maastricht), Seigneur de Montjoie and brother of Engelbert Archbishop of Cologne, and died 2 April 1272, leaving by Jeanne de Valletort an illegitimate son:
    RICHARD de CORNWALL: granted 1283 by his half brother 2nd EARL OF CORNWALL the Manor of Thunnock, Lincs; killed Siege of Berwick 1296, leaving, with an elder son (Sir Edmund):
    Sir GEOFFREY CORNWALL: 1st feudal Baron of Burford, Salop; married by 1309 as her 1st husband, Margaret (born 14 Sept 1295; married 2nd William de Evereys and died circa Dec 1345), younger daughter and coheir of Hugh de Mortimer, 1st and last Lord (Baron) Mortimer of the Feb 1298/9 creation (see ZOUCH, B), and died by June 1335 leaving, with other issue, including an eldest son (Geoffrey):
    Sir RICHARD CORNWALL: 2nd feudal Baron of Burford; born 1313; married Joan - and died 1343 leaving:
        1a GEOFFREY (Sir)
        2a A son
        3a John (Sir): married -, niece of the Duke of Brittany ...
    The eldest son,
    Sir GEOFFREY CORNWALL: born 1335; 3rd feudal Baron of Burford; married Cecilia Seymour and died 1365, leaving, with other issue, including an elder son (Bryan(Sir), born 1355, 4th Feudal Baron of Burford, Sheriff Salop 1378-80 and Staffs 1378, married Matilda - and dsp 1400):
    RICHARD CORNWALL: born 1360; 4th feudal Baron of Burford; married Cecilia, daughter of Sir John Merbury, and died 1443, having had an elder son:
    EDMUND CORNWALL: married 1st -; married 2nd Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas de la Barre, and dvp Cologne 1435, leaving an eldest son:
    THOMAS CORNWALL: married Elizabeth Lenthall and had issue.
21. Pedigree of the Cornwall family of Burford in "The Visitation of Shropshire taken in the year 1623" (published by The Harleian Society 1889), page 146, shows Sir Geoffrey Cornwall's eldest son Sir Bryan, Baron of Burford, dying without children 7 January 1 Henry IV [1400], and being succeeded as Baron of Burford by his next younger brother Sir Richard.
22. "Knights of Edward I", Volume 1, Harleian Soc, 1929, page 239, gives the following information:
    CORNWALL, Sir Richard de, Kt. (Cornewayle). Arg. On a fesse sa. 3 bezants. Base son of Richard, King of the Romans. A Knight serving for Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, 1 Jan 1277 (P.W.) Witness chartes of Said Edmund 10 Aug 1278 and to 1295 (Cart.R.). Notice that he has lost his seal through cutting of his purse, and therefore came to Chancery desiring that his loss should be known, 25 Nov 1286 (C.R.) Dead 3 Dec 1300, leaving widow Joan, son and heir Edmund, and younger son Geoffrey (Inq). His will proved at Lincoln 1300 (Gibbons' Early Lincoln Wills).
23. "Calendar of the Charter Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol II, 1257-1300", 1906, pages 331-2, lists a charter of 1286 from Edmund, earl of Cornwall which has "Sir Richard de Cornubia, brother of the earl" amongst the witnesses. Another charter from 1294 (page 443) describes him the same way.
24. "Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol I", entry no. 808, states:
    RICHARD KING OF ALMAIN
    Mandate from the king's escheator to the subescheator in cos Oxford and Berks.
    BERKS. Extent, Friday before Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III
          Walingford borough, with the advowsons of the churches of All Saints, St Peter and St Michael, held of the king of England in chief, service unspecified.
    BERKS. Extent, Tuesday before Palm Sunday, 56 Henry III
    Arewelle manor with the advowson (extent given), held of the bishop of Winchester in chief by 1 knight's fee, rendering nothing except scutage when it runs, and then to the bishop.
    OXFORD. Extent, Friday before Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III
          Bensindon manor, with 4½ hundreds and the advowson of the church of Henele which pertian to the said manor, held in chief of the gift of the king of England.
          Walingford castle with the honour, with 2 mills, held of the king of England by ervice of 3 knights, and 120½ knights' fees pertian to the said castle and honour
    OXFORD. Extent, Tuesday before Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III
    Erdington manor (extent given), held of the bishop of Lincoln in chief by service of 2 knights, but he owed nothing to him but scutage when it runs.
          Esthalle hamlet (estate given), held of the king of England by service of ½ knight's fee; and Estallingeleye, a hamlet of Estahelle, was held by the abbot of Butlisden of the said king of Almain for ½ knight's fee.
    OXFORD. Extent, The eve of Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III
          Watlington manor (extent given), held of the king of England in chief by service of 1 knight and scutage when it runs.
          Witham, Croultone, and Losmere were held of the said king of Almain by service of 2 knights.
    OXFORD. Extent, Monday, the morrow of Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III.
          Henele manor with the advowson of the church *extent given), held of the king of England in chief by free marriage.
          Endorsed. This is the inquisition made of the honour of Walery and of teh borough of Walingforth, and of the 4½ hundreds of Bunsinton and Henele.
    OXFORD. Extent, Wednesday before Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III.
          Beckele manor with the advowson (extent given), held, with Ambredone, Blakethurne alias Blakehurne, and Willarston, by barony of the honour of St Valery.
          Orton (extent given).       Ambredone manor and Blakehurne, with the advowson of Ambredone church (extent given).
          Willarston manor, with the advowson of Mixebury church (extent given).
          Combe. 1 knight's fee, held by Simon de Sancto Licio.
          Norton. 7 knigts' fees, held by William le Brun and Robert de Freteville.
          Horspahe, held by the Templars at fee farm, rendering £9 yearly.
          Norhoseneye manor, of the honour of St Valery, 59s 4d rent of assize.
    BUCKINGHAM. Inq and Extent, Thursday before Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III.
          Rissenberg manor with the park (extent given), held of the king in chief by service of 1 knight's fee.
    BUCKINGHAM. Inq and Extent Friday before Palm Sunday, 56 Hen III.
          Scipinham alias Scpinpinham manor with the park and the advowson of the chapel (extent given), held of the abbot of Westminster and others.
    ESSEX. Extent and Inq, Friday before St Mark, 56 Hen III.
          Neuport manor (extent given), including 2 watermills and a fishpond, held of the king in chief, service unknown. The dean of St Martin le Grand, London, has always the church to his own uses, but the advowson pertains to the king.
    HERTFROD. Inq and Extent, 56 Hen III.
          Bercamsted borough (extent given), held, with Hemelhamsted, of the king in chief by knight's service; and 6½ knights' fees are held in the county of the honour of Bercamsted.
          Hemelhamsted with the advowson (extent given).
                                                                                                    C. Hen. III. File 42 (1)
25. "Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol II", entry no. 203, states:
    RICHARD sometime KING OF ALMAIN
    Writ of extent and appraisement to the sheriff of Gloucester, to be made in teh presence of Edmund de Alemania, earl of Cornwall, and of Beatrice late the wife of the said king, 24 Nov, 4 Edw I.
    CLOUCESTER. Extent, Friday before St Thomas the Apostle, 4 Edw I.
          Lechlade. The manor and borough (ectent given). And because those acting on behalf of the said Edmund were content with no article of this extent, seisin remained to be done to the said queen, whose party gainsaid nothing but the appraisement of the meadow.
    GLOUCESTER. Extent (undated).
          Langhebrge. The manor and town (extent given), including 4 virgates land in villenage and herbage in Frogghemor, 3s 4d rent of assize in Wynchecumbe, and sale of pasture in Saltemor, Merwelle, Sappewelle, Whatewell, Aswelle, Colemede, the garden, Buribrugge, Medenhulle and Watergall, worth 34s yearly; all which the said Edmund holds.
    Similar writ to the sheriff of Essex, 24 Nov, 4 Edw I.
    ESSEX. Extent, Friday after the Circumcision, 4 Edw I.
          Neuport. The manor (extent given), including a pasture called Nortonmade, meadow at Aylmar' mill, and pasture at the lord's grange.
    NORTHAMPTON. Extent (undated).
          Welledon. The manor (extent given).
    Memorandum (undated) of a mandate to divers sheriffs, by the assent of the attorneys of the queen of Almain and the earl of Cornwall in the king's presence, to give seisin to the queen in part of 500 marks land which the said earl granted to the said queen in dower for her life, viz -
    GLOUCESTER. Lechelade. The manor, extended at £98.
    ESSEX. Neuport. The manor, extended at £48 12d.
    NORTHAMPTON. Weledon. The manor, extended at £26 9s 11d.
    LONDON. Queenhithe. £50 of farm which the sheriffs owe to the earl yearly.
    WILTS. Wyntreslawe. £20 which Richard son of John owes from the manor.
          Malmesbiri. £20 of farm which the abbot of Malmesbiri owes.
    SALOP. Holegod. 50 marks of farm of the castle which the master of the Knights of the Temple owes.
    GLOUCESTER. Langeberg. the manor to be extended without delay according to the form of the writ made in the Bench, and in the meantime, by the assent of the said attorneys, the said villeins' works &c, saving to the earl his reasonable claims if contention shall arise about the extent.
                                                                                                    C. Edw. I. File 15 (10)
26. "Knights of Edward I", Volume 1, Harleian Soc, 1929, pages 238/9, gives the following information:
    CORNWALL, Sir Edmund, Earl of. Argent ung lion de goulz coronne or, ung borde de sable besante d'or (Glover). Arg A lion rampant gu. crowned or. A bordure sa. bezanty (Walford, Charles, St George, Guillim, Segar, Camden, Parl, Cott, 1, 2, 3 Nob.). Born 1250, son and heir of Richard, King of the Romans (Inq). To cede Corfe Castle 24 Apr 1272. Livery of his father's lands and custody of Wallingforn, Oakham, Mere, and Berkhampstead Castle, 1 May 1272. Queen Eleanor grants to him for 3,500 m. Barony and manor of Leicester to farm for 4 years. 28 Jan 1272. He has Dartmoor Chace and many lands in Cornwall (P.R.). In Council re Llewellyn 12 Nov 1276 (P.W.). Summoned to serve against Waelsh, and acknowledges 15 Knights Fees, to be served by himself and 14 knights, 1 Jan 1277. Summoned again 1282 and 1294, and to Council at Gloucester 15 Jan 1287. Seals Letter to Pope 1290. Summoned to Parliament 1 Aug 1295 to 1300 (P.W.). Conservator of Peace in London and 16 Counties 30 Ap 1282 (P.W.). Having remained in England at his own charges by King's order, to preserve peace, has his scutage in 32 counties 1 Jan 1285 (S.R.). Writ for his Inq 26 Sep 1300. He left King Edward his cousin and next heir (Inq). His wife Margaret daughter of Richard, Earl of Gloucester, brought him no issue, and he was buried near his father at Hayles.