WURTS’ MAGNA CHARTA provided a brief accounting of the feudal headquarters of some
of the Magna Charta Barons. Some of the castles have been badly damaged. Some have
disappeared entirely. Often we can learn of them through Medieval and Renaissance
accounts, and some of them require the discerning eye of the archeologist. Others await
the evidence brought out with a shovel and pick, by the trained archeological historian.
A portion of the information concerning Surety Baron HENRY de BOHUN is as follows:
HENRY de BOHUN, the Surety, was born before 1177. He became the first Earl of Hereford
of this family, for he was so created by the Charter of King John, dated 28 April 1199.
Even though he took the Barons' side against the King, on becoming Earl of Hereford he had
promised that he would never make any claim against John or his heirs, on the basis of a
Charter given to his great uncle Roger by Henry II. The office of Lord High Constable of
England he inherited from his father, but he seems to have played no other active part in
John's government. As he took a prominent part with the Barons against King John, his
lands were confiscated, but he received them again at the granting of Magna Charta. Having
been excommunicated along with the other Barons, he did not return to his allegiance on
the decease of King John, but became one of the commanders in the Army of Louis the
Dauphin, at the Battle of Lincoln, and was taken prisoner by William Marshall. After this
defeat he joined Saire de Quincey and other Magna Charta Barons in a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land in 1220, and died on the passage 1 June 1220. His body was brought home and
buried in the chapter-house of Llanthony Abbey in Gloucestershire.
His wife, Maud FitzGeoffrey, was the daughter of Geoffrey FitzPiers, Baron de
Mandeville, and his first wife, Beatrix Saye.
The name of Bohun suggests Hereford. Unfortunately, Hereford Castle no longer exists.
It was built in 1048, and apparently consisted of a moat and bailey. The mound has been
leveled to the ground, but the bailey is outlined by high banks. One report has it that
all that remains is a platform and a piece of a ditch.
The Castle was once situated near the present Bishop's Palace. It was seriously
battered in an attack in 1055, but it was restored, and was again in use in 1067. The site
which it now occupies is a public garden, gay with shrubbery and flowers. An ornamental
lake indicates where once was the moat, but the outlines of the walls are shown only by
grass covered ridges.
Appreciation is expressed to Reed M. W. Wurts, one of the Heralds of the Society for
furnishing the Baron’s Shield on this page.