Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford

Earldom

His paternal grandmother was Margaret of Hereford, a daughter of Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Brecknock (died 1143), Sheriff of Gloucester and Constable of England. After the male line of Miles of Gloucester failed, in 1200 King John created Henry de Bohun Earl of Hereford and Constable of England. His lands lay chiefly on the Welsh Marches, and from this date the Bohuns took a foremost place among the Marcher barons.

In 1212, Henry was in a legal dispute with William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, over Trowbridge. With the dispute having dragged on, Henry attempted to cite illness as a justification for missing the hearing in June 1213. In response, Trowbridge was relinquished to the Crown. Henry was one of the twenty-five barons elected by their peers to enforce the terms of Magna Carta in 1215, and was subsequently excommunicated by the Pope.

In September 1215, Henry went with Saer de Quincy, Earl of Winchester and Robert Fitzwalter to France. In a meeting with Prince Louis, Henry, Saer, and Robert swore fealty to Louis and offered him the crown on the condition that he conquer England. In the civil war that followed Magna Carta, he was a supporter of King Louis VIII of France and was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1217.

Marriage and issue

Henry married Maud de Mandeville, daughter and heiress of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex, of Pleshey Castle in Essex, by whom he had issue including:

• Humphrey IV de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, 1st Earl of Essex (1204–1275), eldest son and heir, created Earl of Essex in 1239, who married Maud de Lusignan, by whom he had at least three children.
• Henry de Bohun, who died young.
• Ralph de Bohun.

Death

Henry died in June 1220 while on crusade to the Holy Land.