Feudal barony of Eaton Bray

Moated site of Eaton Castle, drawn in 1911. Situated about 800 metres west of the village of Eaton Bray, now open to the public for fishing, operated by "Park Farm Fisheries"[1]
Map of Normandy showing possible locations of origin for the English de Cantilupe family, feudal barons of Eaton Bray and Barons Cantilupe (1299)
Château de Chanteloup, Bréhal, Manche, stated in several sources[2] to be the most likely origin of the English de Cantilupe family, largely due to the existence of a castle of which no trace exists at the other two similarly named locations in Normandy
Left: Arms of William I de Cantilupe (d.1239), 1st feudal baron: Gules, three fleurs-de-lys or ("Cantilupe ancient"), as seen on his seal (right);[3] in later generations the arms changed to three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys

The feudal barony of Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire was an English feudal barony founded in 1205 when the manor of Eaton (from 16th-century "Eaton Bray") was granted by King John to his household steward William I de Cantilupe (d.1239),[4][5] together with many others, including Aston (later Aston Cantlow) in Warwickshire. In 1221[6] Cantilupe built a castle at Eaton, which became the caput of his feudal barony and was described by the monks of nearby Dunstable Priory in the Annals of Dunstable as being "a serious danger to Dunstable and the neighbourhood".[7] The grant was for knight-service of one knight and was in exchange for the manor of Great Coxwell, Berkshire, which had been granted to him previously[8] but the grant was deemed compromised.[9] Eaton had been held at the time of William the Conqueror by the latter's uterine half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, but later escheated to the crown.

The de Cantilupe family which came to England at some time after the Norman Conquest of 1066 originated at one of three similarly named manors in Normandy, from which they took their name: Canteloup in Calvados, east of Caen;[10] Canteloup in Manche east of Cherbourg on the eastern tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula (Cotentin); or Chanteloup in Bréhal,[11] Manche, on the south-west side of the Cherbourg Peninsula, favoured by most sources as an ancient castle survives there. The place-name, common throughout France, signifies "wolf-song" which at such places was commonly heard.

  1. ^ "Coarse Fishing at Park Farm, Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire". Archived from the original on 2020-05-03. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
  2. ^ e.g. Gurney, p.145
  3. ^ Original full legend probably: SIGILLUM WILLELMI DE CANTILUPO (Seal of William de Cantilupe). His seal was on occasion used to authenticate the letters of the young King Henry III. John Nichols in his "History & Antiquities of the County of Leicestershire" (4 vols.), 1800, notes the existence of the seal of william de Cantilupe in connection with a deed dated 1215 relating to his manor of Brentingby: "3 fleurs-de-lys circumscribed"
  4. ^ Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford. pp. 39–40.
  5. ^ Charter Rolls, vol.1, p.147; Annales Monastici, vol.3, p. 66, as quoted by Sanders p. 39
  6. ^ Page, William, ed. (1912). "Parishes: Eaton Bray". A History of the County of Bedford. Vol. 3. London. pp. 369–375.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ Page, VCH, History of the County of Bedford
  8. ^ Sanders, p. 39, note 9
  9. ^ Page, William; Ditchfield, P H, eds. (1924). "Parishes: Great Coxwell". A History of the County of Berkshire. Vol. 4. London. pp. 487–489.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) note 9, quoting "Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199–1216 [Rec. Com.], i, 147"
  10. ^ Vincent, Nicholas. "Sir George de Cantilupe (d.1273)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. p. 953.
  11. ^ Cokayne, G. E. The Complete Peerage. Vol. 3. p. 111. note c