Sir John De Montagu

   Cause of his death was Executed by beheading.

  General Notes:

He was summoned to parliament in 1391 as Baron Montagu. Montagu was a favorite of the King during the early years of the reign of Richard II. He accompanied the King during his expeditions to Ireland in 1394 and 1395, and as a privy councillor was one of the principal advocates of the King's marriage to Isabella of Valois. During the trips to France associated with the marriage, he met and encouraged Christine de Pisan, whose son was educated in the Montacute household. Montacute was a prominent Lollard, and was remonstrated by the King for this.

With the death of his mother around this time, John inherited the barony of Monthermer and its estates. In 1397, he became Earl of Salisbury on the death of his uncle and inherited Bisham Manor and other estates. He continued as one of the major aristocratic allies of King Richard II, helping to secure the fall of the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Warwick. He persuaded the king to spare the life of Warwick. He received a portion of the forfeited Warwick estates, and in 1399 was made a Knight of the Garter.

Early in 1399, he went to on a successful mission to France to prevent the proposed marriage of Henry Bolingbroke and a daughter of the Duke of Berry. In May, he again accompanied Richard II on an expedition to Ireland. When news reached them of that Bolingbroke had returned to England, Montacute was sent to Wales to raise opposing forces. When these deserted, Montacute advised King Richard to flee to Bordeaux. Instead Richard was imprisoned, Henry took the throne and, in the October, Montacute was arrested along with many of Richard's former councillors, and held in the Tower of London.

Montacute had to answer charges related to the arrest and subsequent death of the Duke of Gloucester in 1397. Eventually he was released, due to the intercession of King Henry's sister Elizabeth, Countess of Huntingdon. Not long after his release, Montacute joined with the Earl of Huntingdon and a group of other barons in the Epiphany Rising, a plot to kill King Henry IV and restore Richard II. After the plot failed, mob violence ensued, and he was caught by a mob of townspeople at Cirencester, held without trial, and executed by beheading on 7 January 1400.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Marriage: to Matilda Fraunceys, May 1383, Stokenham, Devon.

John married Matilda Fraunceys in May 1383 in Stokenham, Devon. (Matilda Fraunceys was born in 1360 in Edmonton, Middlesex and died in August 1424 in London, Middlesex.)