Oswald Barron

“ In 1298 he was summoned as a baron; and in 1301, as Simon lord of Montagu, he sealed the famous letter of the barons to the pope with his seal of the arms of Montagu, the counterseal showing a griffon. One of the earliest examples of quartered arms seen in England was afforded when Simon’s banner displayed at Falkirk in 1298 quartered this griffon, gold on a blue field, with the Montagu’s indented fesse of three fusils. ”

“ Upon the hill of Lutgaresburg, in Bishopston, Robert built the castle which he called Montaigu—but there is no reason for believing that Dru’s surname was derived from the castle, he being probably a Norman born—from Montaigu or Montaigu-les-bois, both in the neighbourhood of Mortain. ”

“ The day before Mortimer had denounced Montagu as a traitor, but Montagu struck at once and his success was rewarded by grants from the forfeited lands of March. In 1337 he was created earl of Salisbury, and on the death of Thomas of Brotherton in 1338 he was made marshal of England. His king employed him in missions to France, Scotland, Germany and Castile, but war was, as with most of the men of his house, the chief business of his short life. ”