George Thomas Orlando Bridgeman

“ It is probable that he was a benefactor to the University of Oxford, for the executors of John Pontysera, bishop of Winchester, gave to that University the sum of two hundred marks for the use of the Masters and Scholars, on the following conditions, namely, that on the eve of St. Nicholas annually, the said bishop should be commemorated in a mass for the dead, with special remembrance made of John Maunsell and John, nephew of the bishop, and that every year the priest making circuit of the schools with the bedel should recite the names of the aforesaid persons ”

“ On the 13th September of the same year, the barons, knights, and others, of the counties of York, Lancaster, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland, were commanded to place themselves under the orders of John Maunsell in the event of Alexander, King of Scotland, needing any assistance against his rebellious subjects; and Maunsell is ordered to go to the parts of Scotland to treat, on Henry's behalf, between him and the Scottish King, on the one side, and the rebels of the Scottish King on the other. ”

“ A few days later, on the 20th of May, 1259, the King of England gives plenary power to Margaret, Queen of France, Richard, Earl of Gloucester, Peter de Savoy, and John Maunsell, or any of them who shall be present at the time, to treat for the proposed marriage between John, son of John, Duke of Brittany, and his daughter Beatrice. ”

“ Having accompanied the King to France, he was with him in his French wars; and in the battle, fought at Xantoigne, in 1242, where many were taken prisoners on both sides, among those captured by the English was one Peter Orige, high steward to the Count de Boulogne, who was personally taken by John Maunsell. On this occasion he is described by Matthew Paris as "a clerk and special councillor of the English King who was reckoned not the least among brave men." ”

“ Matthew Paris informs us that "as the King was hastening thither with his attendants, John Maunsell, his special councillor, was taken seriously ill at Maidstone, being, as was stated, infected by poison, from the effects of which he suffered for two days, and was with difficulty snatched from the gates of death by the diligent care of the physicians." A few months later, namely, on the Feast of St. Perpetua and St Felicitas (7th March, 1250) , he received the Cross, together with the King and many of the nobles, at the hands of Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury. ”

“ After his departure, the King wrote him a long and interesting letter, dated from Oxford on the 30th of January, in which he addresses him as Provost of Beverley, and informs him that he had sent messengers to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to ask his advice concerning the embassy to Castile, who advises liberal promises on behalf of the Gascon barons. As to the marriage of the King's daughter he advises that the King of Castile should be asked what provision he will make for his brother. ”

“ Being a member of the King's council, sworn at Oxford on the 22nd of June, he was one of the two chosen by the barons to elect the council of twelve who should treat with the King's council on behalf of the commons at the three parliaments appointed to be held in each year. ”

“ This, and the great activity which they had shewn in the King's behalf, brought down upon them the fury of the barons, who plundered their lands, carried off all their moveable goods wherever they could lay hands on them, and sought to put them to death. ”

“ As to the African affair he advises that Henry should express his willingness to go there for a crusade instead of to the Holy Land, under certain conditions. In this matter the King gives full discretion to Maunsell, inasmuch as he is better acquainted with the business, and has bestowed more labour upon it than any man living. [36]
In June of that year he went into Germany with the Earl of Gloucester, having full powers to treat with the electors on behalf of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, concerning his election as King of the Romans. ”

“ By this treaty it was provided that three persons should be chosen on either side to arbitrate between them, of whom John Maunsell was one of those named on the King's side. If they could not agree, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, was to be added as a seventh arbitrator; if they still disagreed the King of France was to be added as an eighth; [66] and to him the matter seems to have been eventually referred.
On the 1st of January, 1262, letters patent were issued by the council charging John Maunsell with stirring up strife between the King and his nobles. ”

“ A chest should be provided for the money so bequeathed, and needy scholars of all faculties should be allowed to borrow from the chest as follows: "A regent Master may borrow forty shillings, a non-regent two marks and a half, a bachelor two marks, a sophist one mark, and every scholar thus borrowing shall be bound to say for the souls of the aforesaid persons the Lord's prayer and the Ave Maria each five times." ”

“ But when the same man was preparing to demolish the rest of his body with stones, his friends, who were most sincerely attached to him, covered him with their own bodies, and with large shields called targets, and thus with much difficulty rescued him from the peril of death. ”

“ In that year (1247) he was sent with the Abbot of Westminster to Germany to arrange preliminaries with the Duke of Brabant for contracting a marriage between Prince Edward, afterwards King Edward I., and the daughter of the said Duke, but the embassy proved a failure, and the ambassadors "returned in sorrow, with empty saddle-bags, and each of them grieved that he had wasted his trouble and expences to no purpose." [21] At the close of that year, viz., on 13th December, 1247, Maunsell was elected Dean of Wimborne. ”

“ The envoys were speedily followed by the King himself, who exerted his influence to constrain the Prior and Convent of St. Swithin at Winchester to comply with his demand. Under this pressure Aylmer was accordingly elected, though he was totally unfitted for the office both by his age and order ”

“ In fact, they had already been seized by his enemies as soon as he had left the country, and by letters patent, issued in the King's name, in July or August, 1263, all the hereditaments in England which belonged to John Maunsell were given to Simon de Montfort, junior, son and heir of Simon, Earl of Leicester. [82] Almaric de Montford, another of the Earl of Leicester's sons, succeeded to Maunsell's office of Treasurer of York, to which he was appointed on 7th February, 1265, after the said Maunsell's death ”

“ This dispute was at length referred to the arbitrament of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, afterwards King of Germany, and John Maunsell, by whom matters were amicably arranged. In this year he himself had a controversy with the Abbot and Convent of Tewkesbury concerning the tithes of their manor of Kingston, which Maunsell claimed as belonging to his church of Ferring. By the award of the Bishop of Chichester a compromise was made, under which the tithes, both great and small, of Kingston were given up to the monks of Tewkesbury, subject to an annual payment of l00s. ”

“ John Maunsell or Mansel, to whom the town of Wigan is indebted for its first charter of freedom. This remarkable man was distinguished rather as a soldier, diplomatist, financier, and statesman than as an ecclesiastic ”

“ Rotheland (Rhuddlan) Dissard (or Disserth) and Gannoc, with all the other lands of Pernechelac, the town and castle of Bristol, the castles of Montgomery, Carmarthen and Cardigan, with their appurtenances, the castle of Buelt (Builth) , Peake Castle (in Derbyshire) , Stamford, and Grantham, with the honor, Jersey, Guernsey, and the other isles of the sea, and the manor of "Frigido Mansello,"—Rym. Fœd., vol. i. p. 297. ↑ Annales de Burton. ↑ Annales de Dunstaplia; Rym. Fœd., vol. i. p. 925. ↑ Rymer's Fœdera, vol. i. p. 335. ↑ Royal Letters, temp. Hen. III. p. 111. ”