Biography of Edward Bohun 1310-1334

On 14th November 1302 [his father] Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 26) and [his mother] Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland (age 20) were married. She by marriage Countess Essex, Countess Hereford. Westminster Abbey [Map]. She the daughter of [his grandfather] King Edward I of England (age 63) and [his grandmother] Eleanor of Castile Queen Consort England. He the son of [his grandfather] Humphrey Bohun 3rd Earl Hereford 2nd Earl Essex and [his grandmother] Maud Fiennes Countess Essex and Hereford. They were third cousins.

In 1310 Edward Bohun was born to Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 34) and Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland (age 27) at Caldicot Castle [Map]. He a grandson of King Edward I of England.

On 5th May 1316 [his sister] Isabel Bohun was born to [his father] Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex (age 40) and [his mother] Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland (age 33). His mother Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland died in childbirth. She was buried at Waldon Priory and Abbey [Map]. She a granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

Patent Rolls. 20th January 1330. The like to Edward de Bohun (age 20), the king's kinsman, and others for the Westminster, death of Hugh de Turpliton, knight, and Richard de Monemuth accidentally killed by them while arresting Roger de Mortuo Mari, earl of March, in Nottingham Castle pursuant to the king's orders. By K. & C.

On 27th January 1332 Edward Bohun (age 22) and Margaret Ros (age 9) were married. He the son of Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex and Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland. They were fourth cousin once removed. He a grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

Around 11th November 1334 Edward Bohun (age 24) drowned; see Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. In this year [1334], around the feast of Saint Martin [11th November], Lord Edward le Bohun (age 24),¹ a nobleman of high character, was drowned in the Scottish March. He saw his young squire in danger, attempting to drive a herd of livestock across a river. To aid him, he directed his warhorse into the riverbed. But because of the slipperiness of large, round stones over which the water flowed, the horse, unable to keep its footing, fell along with his armoured master. Before anyone could come to his aid, he was submerged in the depths and drowned.

Hoc anno, circa festum sancti Martini, dominus Edwardus le Bohun, nobilis indolis, fuit in marchia Scocie submersus. Domicellum nempe suum volentem predam pecudum trans flumen fugare percepit periclitantem, in cuius adiutorium dextrarium suum in alveum direxit, ubi, pre limpitudine lapidum grossorum et spericorum super quos aqua decurrebat, dextrarius impotens stabilire pedem cecidit cum domino suo armato, antequam aliquis poterat iuvare, submerso in profundum.

Note 1. Brother of John, earl of Hereford, and son of Humphrey, earl of Hereford, who was slain at Boroughbridge.

In 1341 [his former wife] Margaret Ros (age 18) died in Musgrave.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke [-1360]. They consulted Robert de Holland, who had long served as watchman in the castle and knew all the most secret passageways. He showed them how, by night, the king and his friends might reach the queen's chamber in the castle's outer precincts without the gatekeepers knowing. Guided by torches, the watchman led the king through a certain underground passage that began in a remote area outside the castle and ended in the middle of the kitchen or great hall of the main tower, where the queen was lodged. From the depths of this tunnel, the king's friends emerged armed, with drawn swords, and made their way to the queen's chamber, which by God's grace they found open. The king himself, also armed, waited outside the door so that his mother would not see him. Inside, they encountered Sir Hugh de Turpington,¹ who tried to resist them but was killed, the blow struck by Lord John de Neville of Hornby. Then they found the queen nearly ready to retire to bed, and with her was the Earl of March, whom they had come to arrest. They seized him and led him out into the great hall, while the queen cried aloud: 'Fair son, fair son, have pity on gentle Mortimer!' suspecting her son's presence, though she did not see him with her own eyes. They quickly sent for the keys of the castle and took control of all the strongholds into the king's hands, all done so secretly that no one outside the castle was aware, except the king's closest friends.

Consulunt sibi adiuratum Robertum de Heland, qui speculator extitit in castro per multos annos et cui omnia diverticula castri secretissima nota fuerunt, quomodo de nocte ad cameram regine de territorio extra castrum, sine scitu ianitorum, rex et sui amici aditum haberent. Speculator predictus torticibus accensis duxit dominum suum regem per quoddam iter secretum subterraneum, quod incipit a remotis extra castrum et terminatur ad medium coquine vel aule turris principalis, ubi fuit ospitata regina. De medio igitur fundo et tramite subterraneo prosilientes, regis amici ad cameram regine, quam per Dei graciam invenerunt apertam, armati strictis ensibus proficissebantur, rege eciam armato extra hostium camere, ne a matre sua videretur, expectante. Ingressi occiderunt Hugonem de Turpintone militem, resistenciam eiis inferre conantem, domino Iohanne de Neville de Horneby ictum dirigente. Deinde invenerunt reginam matrem quasi paratam ad lecti soporem, et comitem Marchie quem volebant; et captum secum abducebant in aulam, clamante regina: 'Beal fitz, beal fitz, ejez pitie de gentil Mortymer'. Suspectam enim habuit filii presenciam, quam oculo non percepit. Mittunt celeriter pro clavibus castri, omnem firmaturam loci in manus regias capientes, set ita secrete quod hoc nulli patuit extra castrum, nisi regis amicis.

Note 1. A pardon was issued to Edward Bohun and others for the slaying of Hugh de Turpington and Richard de Monmouth; Calendar Patent Rolls, (4 Edward III), 108.