Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cantelupe, William de (d.1251)
CANTELUPE, WILLIAM de, second Baron Cantelupe (d. 1251), is mentioned by Wendover, with his father, Cantelupe, William de (d.1239), the first baron [q. v.], as one of John's evil counsellors. He was also with him at the relief of Lincoln, and took the same line in his siding with Ranulf Blundevil and his subsequent submission. In 1238, after the dismissal of Ralph Neville, he was one of those to whom the great seal was entrusted (Tewkesbury Annals, p. 110). Though this was only a temporary appointment, he evidently continued high in the king's favour, as after his father's death he was appointed guardian of the kingdom during the king's absence in 1242, and in 1244 was one of the messengers chosen by the king to induce the prelates to submit to his demands for a subsidy. In 1245 he was sent to Lyons to complain of the Roman exactions, and in company with his colleagues refused the papal demands of the best prebend from every cathedral church, and a church worth forty marks from every abbey and priory (Dunstable Annals, p. 167). Like his father he held the office of seneschal, and Paris speaks especially of the king's affection for him. He died on 22 Feb. 1251.
His widow, Millicent, had the charge of Margaret, queen of Scotland, on her marriage (Matt. Paris, v. 272). She died in 1260 (Oseney Annals, 127).
[Annales Monast. i. 110, 143, iii. 159, 167, 181; Matt. Paris, ii. 533, iii. 18, 83, iv. 365, 420, v. 224, 225; Dugdale's Baronage.]