Eustace de Vesci - Lord of Alnwick Castle

Eustace de Vesci was an English lord and one of the twenty-five men representing the barons at the signing of the Magna Carta. He was lord of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and held lands in Sprouston, Scotland, as brother-in-law to King Alexander II of Scotland.

 

Eustace was born around 1169 at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. He was the son of William de Vesci and Burga de Stuteville, daughter of Robert III de Stuteville, Baron of Cottingham. William de Vesci died in 1186 when Eustace was still a minor. In 1190, Eustace paid his relief on coming of age.

In 1193, he married Margaret of Scotland, the illegitimate daughter of William the Lion and half-sister of Alexander II of Scotland. Eustace and Margaret had one son, William de Vesci, in 1205.

On August 13th, 1199, Eustace appeared as a guarantor of the treaty between King John of England and Renaud I, Count of Dammartin. That same year, he was sent to William the Lion of Scotland to promise him his rights in England, and he witnessed his homage on November 22nd, 1200. On April 10th, 1209, he was sent to meet William the Lion again during his visit to England.

In 1212, he was accused of conspiring against King John and fled to Scotland. Vesci's lands were seized, but John was forced to invite him back on May 27th, 1213, after John's submission to the Pope. The very same day, orders were sent to Philip of Oldcoates to cripple Vesci by destroying Alnwick Castle. Those orders were never carried out. On July 18th, 1213, Vesci was one of the recipients of King John's pledge to abide by the decision of Pope Innocent III regarding things about which he was excommunicated. On November 5th, 1214, Vesci was warned not to trouble the King by the Pope.

In 1215, he marched south with Robert FitzWalter, 1st Baron FitzWalter, and was one of the twenty-five appointed Magna Carta surety who witnessed the document's signing.

In 1216, he was excommunicated by name along with other barons. In the revolt against John, Vesci supported putting Prince Louis of France on the English throne in John's place. In 1216, Eustace de Vesci accompanied Alexander II of Scotland to France when they laid siege to Barnard Castle in County Durham, England, on their way south. Barnard Castle belonged to Hugh de Balliol, Lord of Bywell, who supported King John. Eustace de Vesci died on June 12th, 1216, when he was shot through the head by an arrow during the siege when he approached too close to Barnard Castle.

After his death, his lands were confiscated and given to William de Harcourt, Simon de Champ Rémy, and Philip de Ulecot.

Eustace de Vesci was buried at Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland, England.