Jenico d'Artois

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Sir Jenico d'Artois, Dartas, Dartass or Dartasso (c.1350 – November 1426) was a Gascony-born soldier and statesman, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. He enjoyed the trust and confidence of three successive English monarchs, and became a wealthy landowner in Ireland.[1]

Early career[]

Although the best-known version of his surname suggests Artois as his birthplace, historians agree that he was a native of Gascony. This province in France, which had been part of the dowry of Eleanor of Aquitaine on her marriage in 1152 to Henry II of England, was in the fourteenth century an English possession. Little seems to be known about his parents. He had at least one brother, Sampson, to whom he remained close throughout his life. It has been suggested that he was a "rootless" individual, who ultimately settled in Ireland because he had no strong ties anywhere else.

D'Artois served in the garrison of Cherbourg in 1367 and 1368, during the time when the town was a possession of Charles II of Navarre. In January 1379, he was involved in the capture and ransom of Olivier de Geusclin, a brother of Bertrand du Guesclin, the Constable of France. By that time, the garrison at Cherbourg was being shared with English soldiers. D'Artois switched his allegiance from Navarre to England, and by December 1380 had moved to the garrison at Guînes, within the Pale of Calais. He had acquired the patronage of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, by 1384, and subsequently entered the service of the earl's son, Henry "Hotspur" Percy. D'Artois commanded one of Hotspur's ships on his 1387 expedition to relieve Brest, and the following year was captured alongside him at the Battle of Otterburn.[2]

Servant of the English Crown[]

In 1390, d'Artois joined the Barbary Crusade led by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. He subsequently joined Henry of Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV of England) in Lithuania, fighting with the Teutonic Knights. His exploits there brought him to the attention of John Waltham (the Lord High Treasurer under Richard II), who recruited him as a household esquire. In September 1392, d'Artois entered the employ of Richard II,[2] and by 1394 he is known to have been high in the King's favour.[3]

He accompanied the King on his military expedition to Ireland in that year and distinguished himself as a soldier, fighting against the Gaelic clans in Counties Carlow and Kilkenny. He received a substantial grant of land in south County Dublin "for his good service against the Irish of Leinster and for his constant loyalty".[4] D'Artois was not especially grateful for this reward, and made the celebrated complaint about his new estate that: "it would be worth more than a thousand marks a year if it were near London, but I have such trouble keeping it that I would not wish to live here for long, for a quarter of the whole land of Ireland".[5] He also complained of his difficulty in gaining possession of the lands granted to him. He laid claim the manor of Huntspill Marreys in Somerset, but the King upheld the rival claim of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond.[5] In 1397 the King ordered a payment to him, jointly with Robert de Faryngton (shortly afterwards to be Lord Treasurer of Ireland), in respect of the marriages of the three daughters of Robert Ufford - Ela, Sybilla and Joan - by his wife Eleanor Felton, daughter of Sir Thomas Felton, who were royal wards. Sybilla became a nun; her sisters married into the Bowett family.[6]

King Richard II of England, whom Jenico d"Artois served loyally until his deposition and death.

In 1398, when Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was killed in a skirmish with the O'Brien clan at Kells, County Meath, d'Artois was put in charge of taking reprisals against the O'Briens. It was reported that he "slew, captured or brought into submission many of the Irish".

His service with the House of Lancaster[]

He accompanied Richard II on his ill-fated return to England in 1399, and as Richard's enemies moved to depose him, Jenico, who was known to be one of the King's staunchest supporters, was arrested at Chester.[5] After Richard's forced abdication, and his death early in 1400, given Jenico's record of loyalty to the late King the new regime might have been expected to result in his executed out of hand, which was the fate of several of Richard's closest advisers. D'Artois did not help his case by stubbornly continuing to wear Richard's livery. However, he had several influential friends in the new regime who pleaded for clemency on his behalf.[5] The new King Henry IV clearly valued Jenico for his military ability (they had of course served together with the Teutonic Knights in Lithuania). His loyalty to Richard was not held against him, and he received a royal pardon.[3]

He served in the large English army which invaded Scotland in August 1400. This army was led by the King in person: Henry IV hoped to take advantage of the serious political divisions in Scotland to persuade the aged and infirm King Robert III of Scotland to acknowledge the King of England as his feudal overlord, a claim which the English Crown had revived periodically over the centuries, but which the Scots had always rejected.[7] It is unlikely that Jenico's military skills were needed during the campaign, as the Scots army prudently refused to give battle, and Henry, who was anxious to maintain the image of a benevolent overlord, gave strict orders that there should be no looting or pillaging.[7] After a fortnight the English army withdrew from Scotland, having accomplished nothing.[7]

King Robert III of Scotland – d'Artois served in the English army which invaded his kingdom in 1400.

Jenico was made Constable of Dublin Castle in about 1401, and he subsequently became High Sheriff of Meath, Seneschal of Ulster, and Admiral of Ireland. He did not as might have been expected (as he was by then probably the senior military commander in Ireland) play any role in the Battle of Bloody Bank in July 1402, in which the people of Dublin scored a decisive victory over the O'Byrne clan of County Wicklow. Leadership of the Dublin men was entrusted to the Mayor of Dublin, John Drake, who became a popular hero as a result. Jenico himself is said to have been fighting in defence of his wife's lands in County Meath at the time.[8]

He was appointed a member of the council which advised the King's son, Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, who was Chief Governor of Ireland from 1401 to 1413.[5] He was given charge of Trim Castle, and acquired substantial lands in Counties Meath, Louth, and Down; his principal seat was at Ardglass in County Down.[9] His marriage in about 1401 to the County Meath heiress Joan Taaffe, widow of Chief Justice Rowe, made him a prominent member of the Anglo-Irish gentry of the Pale as well as bringing him further lands in County Meath. The Earl of Ormonde, who had once quarrelled with him over the right to hold lands in Somerset, was now anxious to be his friend, and made over to him the rents of another Ormonde property in Buckinghamshire.[5]

Henry V shared his two predecessors' trust in Jenico : in 1413 he was appointed joint Governor of Ireland in the absence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,[10] and he served with the King in France in 1415 and 1418. He died in November 1426.[9]

Marriages and descendants[]

He married firstly, before 1402, Joan or Joanne Taaffe, daughter of Sir Nicholas Taaffe of Liscarton Castle, near Navan, and widow of Peter Rowe, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.[5] His second wife Elizabeth outlived him, and was one of the executors of his will.[11] He had two children by his first marriage

  • Sir Jenico d'Artois the younger (living 1459);
  • Jane, who married firstly Christopher Preston, 3rd Baron Gormanston, by whom she had issue, including Robert and Elizabeth, and secondly Giles Thorndon, former Lord Treasurer of Ireland.[9]

The younger Jenico married Jane Serjeant, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Serjeant of Castleknock. Sir Robert's death led to a bitter dispute over the Serjeant inheritance between Jenico and Sir Nicholas Barnewall, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who had married Jane's sister and co-heiress Ismay. Jenico the younger held the office, presumably a sinecure, of Chirographer (engrosser of fines) to the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland).[12]

Young Jenico and Jane had an only daughter and heiress Margaret, who married firstly Sir John Dowdall of Newtown, and secondly Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester.[1] Since their daughter Katherine was later legitimated by Act of Parliament, it seems that Margaret and Rowland were cohabiting before their marriage. [13] Through Rowland's daughter Alison, Countess of Kildare (died 1495), most of the d'Artois inheritance passed by descent to the Earl of Kildare. Margaret, who was Rowland's third wife, was probably Alison's mother, although there is some doubt about which of Rowland's children was born to which mother.[1]

Sampson d'Artois, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland 1424–1431,[14] was a close relative, probably a brother, of Jenico. He was co-executor with Jenico's widow of his will.[11] D'Artois' unusual first name was preserved by the Preston family, descendants of his daughter Jane; many of the Preston boys down the generations were named Jenico. His granddaughter Lady Portlester was usually referred to as Margaret Jenico.[15]A possible descendant is Irish politician John Dardis (born 1945).

Personality[]

Jenico has been described as one of the most flamboyant characters in the Europe of his era. He was a military adventurer who undoubtedly "feathered his own nest" during his years in Ireland, and yet he gave good and loyal service to three English monarchs and earned the trust of all of them.[16] Curtis remarks that if there had been more men of his calibre in fifteenth-century Ireland, the English Crown's hold on the country would have been far more secure.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1889). "Eustace, Roland Fitz" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 18. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 53.
  2. ^ a b "Dartasso, Janico". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/71411. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b Butler, Richard Some Notices of the Castle and of the Abbeys and other religious houses at Trim, County Meath Henry Griffith Trim 1835 pp.48–9
  4. ^ Crooks, Peter Factionalism and Noble Power in English Ireland c.1361–1423 Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD. University of Dublin 2007 p.261
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Crooks p.262
  6. ^ Calendar of Patent Rolls of Richard II Vol.6 p.279
  7. ^ a b c Boardman, Stephen The Early Stuart Kings- Robert II and Robert III 1371–1406 Tuckwell Press East Linton 1996 pp.227–232
  8. ^ Jones, Randolph "Dublin's Great Civic Sword, Mayor John Drake and his victory near Bray in 1402" (2007) Dublin Historical Record Vol.60 pp. 44-53
  9. ^ a b c Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society 1902 Reprinted 2013 pp.355–6
  10. ^ Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Barnes and Noble reissue 1993 p.348
  11. ^ a b Patent Roll 5 Henry VI
  12. ^ Statute 37 Henry VI (1459) c.25
  13. ^ 14 and 15 Edward IV c.58
  14. ^ Hadyn, Joseph The Book of Dignities Reprinted W.H. Allen London 1890 p. 450
  15. ^ As in the statute,14 and 15 Edward IV c.58, which legitimated her daughter Katherine
  16. ^ a b Curtis, Edmund History of Medieval Ireland Reprinted Routledge Revivals 2013 p.283
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