Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bohun, William de
BOHUN, WILLIAM de, Earl of Northampton (d. 1360), was the fifth son of Humphrey de Bohun VIII [q. v.], fourth earl of Hereford, and Elizabeth Plantagenet, daughter of King Edward I, and was a distinguished soldier. He was probably born about 1310. He is said to have takenpart with the young king, Edward III, in 1330, in the suppression of Mortimer. In 1337 upon the advancement of Edward, prince of Waless, to the duchy of Cornwall, William de Bohun was created earl of Northampton on 16 March, and received grants of the castle and manor of Stamford and lordship of Grantham, Lincolnshire, and the castles and manors of Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, and Okeham, Rutlandshire, in male tail. In the same year he was appointed one of the commissioners to treat with Philip of France on Edward's claim to the French crown, and subsequently a commissioner to treat with David Bruce. He took part in Edward's expedition which sailed for Antwerp in July 1388, and in 1340 was present at the naval victory of Sluys on 24 June. In 1342 he was appointed the king's lieutenant and captain-general in Brittany, and defeated the French at Morlaix and took La Roche Darrien by assault, On the conclusion of a truce for three years he returned to England, and next year accompanied Henry, earl of Lancaster, into Scotland, marching to the relief of Loughmaben Castle, in Dumfriesshire, of which he was governor. He was again in Brittany at the close of the year, and again in 1345 and 1346 ; and took part in Edward's campaign the latter year, distinguishing himself in a skirmish on the Seine, and being present at the battle of Cressy on 26 August. During the next two years he continued to serve in France, and in 1349 was a commissioner for concluding a truce. In 1350 William de Bohun was appointed warden of the marches towards Scotland, and the next year was appointed to negotiate a peace with that kingdom. In 1352 he was commissioner of the array of troops in Essex and Hertford to oppose the landing of the French. He was again in the north in 1353 and following years, and in 1355 served in the French campaign In 1356 he was commissioned to treat for the ransom of David Bruce, and in 1357-9 was abroad in Gascony. He died 16 Sept. 1360, and was buried at Walden in Essex.
William de Bohun married Elizabeth, daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, and widow of Edmund Mortimer. Hisson, Humphrey, succeeded him, and in 1361, as heir to his uncle Humphrey, earl of Hereford and Essex, united in his person the three earldoms of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton.
[Chronicles of Walt, de Hemingburph and Thos. Walsingham ; Dugdale's Baronage, i. 185.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.30
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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