Walter Devereux was an Anglo-Norman nobleman living during the reign of king Henry II of England and Richard I of England. The Devereux, along with the Baskervilles and Pichards, were prominent knightly families along the Welsh marches during the twelfth century, and linked to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and the Braose and Lacy lordships of the region. William Devereux's descendants would later give rise to the Devereux Viscounts of Hereford and Earls of Essex.
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Ancestry
Walter Devereux is descended from William Devereux who held land in Hereford and Gloucester at Domesday in 1086.
William's son, Walter Devereux of Lyonshall, gained control of Lyonshall Castle as the caput of the Devereux marcher lordship. With the exile of Roger de Lacy in 1085, Walter of Lyonshall joined the retinue of Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon.
On the death of Bernard about 1125; another Walter Devereux, son of Walter of Lyonshall, joined the retinue of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford. Taking advantage of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, this Walter Devereux increased his autonomy. Walter probably was present at the Battle of Lincoln, and the Rout of Winchester with the Earl of Hereford. A supporter of the Empress Maud, he was rewarded when her son, Henry II, finally took the throne. With the end of the earldom of Hereford in 1155 and the death of the last of Miles de Gloucester's sons in 1165; Walter Devereux and his son, John, joined the retinue of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber.
When William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, died; John Devereux joined the retinue of his son, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. John Devereux would campaign in Wales, France, and Ireland under the younger de Braose.
As one of the prominent knightly families of the Welsh Marches, the Devereux became closely entwined with the de Braose, de Lacy, de Longchamp, and Marshal families. Through these connections, and following the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1071, the Devereux family established holdings in Ireland over the next three generations.
Biography
Walter Devereux was born in 1173, the son of John Devereux and a woman named Constance. His father died in 1187 possibly from involvement in the de Braose campaigns in Wales and France. The Pipe Rolls of 1190 show 8 pounds and 13 pence of oblations due the king's court were pardoned for the lands of John Devereux in Herefordshire. As Walter was under-age his lands and 2 castles (including Lyonshall) were taken into the hands of the king and placed in the possession of the sheriff of Hereford, William de Braose. Devereux participated in the expansion of the Norman holdings in Ireland, and in 1210 Walter Devereux was listed as having been responsible to John (fitzJohn) Marshal for 20 shillings of fees for the maintenance of soldiers ‘beyond the water that is called Stiuthe,' and 2 marks for those at Carrickfergus in Ireland
Walter Devereux came of age in 1194. His father had granted a church on his lands in Oxenhall, Gloucester, to the Knights Hospitaller in 1186, and on 27 October 1194 Walter Devereux filed an Assize of mort d'ancestor against the Order over 2 marks rent in Oxenhall.
About 1186 Walter had witnessed with his father the land grant of Maud de Hagarnel to the priory of Brecon. About 1190 Devereux granted 12 acres of land near Berrington (Worcestershire) to the same priory ‘for the love he bore his lord, William de Braose the younger.’ This identifies Walter Devereux as a member of the military retinue of the Braose family. Devereux also witnessed the grant of land by William de Bradfelde of lands in Bradfield, Petercroft, Laneglege, lands near Mara, Estlege, and in Weteroft near the chapel to the priory of Brecon. In 1211, Walter Devereux was listed as having held 1/2 knight's fee of the honor of Brecon.
Marriage
Walter Devereux married Cecilia de Longchamp, daughter of Hugh de Longchamp.
They had children:
Stephen Devereux, his heir and a retainer of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
John Devereux, Knight of Bodenham and Decies (Ireland). He was enfeoffed by Thomas fitzAnthony, the loyal retainer of William Marshal.
Nicholas Devereux, Lord of Chanston (Hereford), and Steward of Meath (Ireland) for Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath
Death
Walter Devereux died about 1197, and as a member of the retinue of William de Braose this probably occurred in May 1197. At this time Braose was accompanying Richard I as England resumed its wars in France to recapture lands lost during his captivity. Many knights from the Welsh border were injured in the assault on the castle at Milly-sur-Therain where William Marshall himself led many into the fray.
Landholdings
After Walter's death, his sons were fostered for training as knights: Stephen Devereux with William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke; Nicholas Devereux with Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath; and John Devereux with William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. These sons would sire the three Devereux families that would play an integral role in controlling the Welsh marches during the thirteenth century. Also following the death of her husband, Cecilia began a series of legal fights to establish her dower rights which when added to the holdings of her eldest son, Stephen Devereux, provides an indication of the extent and influence of the Devereux holdings at the time.
Walter's ancestor, William Devereux, held Eastleach, Gloucester at Domesday in 1086. He had made grants in Leach and Hatherop in 1096 to the Church of St Peter in Gloucester. On 30 November 1215, the charters for the monastery of Saint Peter from 23 July 1100 were reviewed and confirmed. Among the grants were the lands in Eastleach comprising the greater part of the tithes of Lady Sibillae de Evereus (Cecilia Devereux). Cecilia was granted in May 1198 a hearing of a plea against Robert de Lechelad (Leachland) to be held on 20 October 1198 involving a half hide and 6 acres (36 acres) of land near Leach in Gloucester. Robert de Lechelad probably died later that year as in mid-May 1199 Master Ralph de Lechelad put Hugh de Welles in his place for the ongoing land plea against Cecilia, and a new date was set for 25 November 1199. William de Lechelad, Master Ralph's brother, was also granted a hearing at the same court if his health permitted. On 8 July 1199 Hugh de Welles, acting in place of Ralph de Lechelad, was granted a petition for the case to go forward as Ralph had recovered from his illness. As the matter progressed through the courts, on 8 November 1199 Cecilia Devereux put William Prudhome in her place in the matter of her plea against the brothers, Master Ralph and William de Lechelad. On 23 April 1200 it was postponed yet again until the king and court returned from Normandy. On 29 May 1200 Master Ralph and William de Lechelad put Hugh fitzWilliam in their place regarding the ongoing court case involving the 36 acres of land contested by Cecilia Devereux. The suit was adjourned without receiving a new date in January 1201 as the Lord of Norwich (John de Gray, Bishop of Norwich) was overseas on the king's service, and Master Ralph de Lichelade was in his service.
The court case between Devereux and Lechelad would not resume again for 10 years. On 14 October 1211 William de Lechelad testified under his sworn oath that by inheritance he had greater right to Leach, Gloucester, which Cecilia held in demesne. Cecelia presented her claim to Leach as her right because her grandfather, William Devereux held the land in the time of Henry, the king's father. William de Lechelad claimed the greater right to the holding based on his descent from William Devereux, and the passing of the land from William Devereux to Lechelad's mother, Orenge Devereux. Further, Lechelade stated that Cecilia's right only was through marriage. The case was granted a new date on 19 November 1211. On 19 November 1211 Cecilia put in her place Thomas fitzWilliam in the ongoing land dispute which had been delayed again. In January 1212 the assize was put in respite again due to a lack of jurors, and a new date given on 9 April 1212. On 21 May 1212, the hearing was delayed yet again due to lack of jurors, and a claim by Peter de Barton that William de Lechelade had not recovered from his previous illness. The court did not require Cecilia Devereux to accept this excuse as 4 knights had not yet confirmed his illness, and a new date was set. On 24 June 1212 the final hearing took place, and the jury found in favor of William de Lechelad and his heirs. Cecilia Devereux could make no further claims on these 33 acres. The Pipe Roll for Michaelmas 1212 records the payment by Cecilia Devereux of 2 marks for making a false claim.