William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury
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William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 3rd Baron Montacute (1301-1344) was an English nobleman.
He was the eldest son of William Montacute, 2nd Baron Montacute, and succeeded his father as baron in 1319.
Montacute accompanied Edward III in repelling the Scottish invasion of 1327. The next year he served the king on diplomatic missions to the king of France and to the Pope.
In 1330, at the behest of the king, Montacute and some of his men arrested Roger Mortimer, and after Mortimer's execution Montacute received a good part of the forfeited estates.
Montacute took part in the Scottish campaigns of the following years, notably at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333.
Also in 1333 the king gave Montacute the English claim to the Isle of Man.
He was created earl of Salisbury on March 16, 1337.
In 1338 the new earl went an a lengthy diplomatic mission, first to France to declare king Edward claims to the French crown, and then to visit many of the German princes who might ally against France. Later that year he was made Marshall of England.
During the next two years he was one of the commanders of the English forces in Flanders, until he was captured by the French near Lille. He was released later in 1340 as part of a prisoner exchange, on the condition that he never again fight against the French.
It was probably sometime after his return to England that he conquered the Isle of Man, which had been held by the Scots.
He married Catherine Grandison, daughter of William Grandison, 1st Baron Grandison. Legend holds that Edward III was in love with her, and that it was her dropped garter from which the Order of the Garter derives its name. The matter is disputed, but the garter at least is more likely to have belonged to Joan of Kent, who was engaged to her son. There is also a story that the king raped the countess, but this is probably a fruit of French propaganda.
Montacute was succeeded by his eldest son, William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. One of his daughters, Philippa, married Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March.
References
Antonia Gransden, "The alleged rape by Edward III of the countess of Salisbury", English Historical Review 87 (1972)