Sir Walter de Beauchamp

Walter de Beauchamp (died 1303/06), (Latinised to de Bello Campo) of Beauchamp's Court, Alcester in Warwickshire and of Beauchamp Court, Powick in Worcestershire, was Steward of the Household to King Edward I from 1289 to 1303. He was the younger brother of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick (c.1238-1298), the first of his family to hold that title (inherited from their mother) and was the founder of the junior line of the Beauchamp family known as "Beauchamp of Powick". Origins He was a younger son of William III de Beauchamp (c.1215-1269) of Elmley Castle in Worcestershire, hereditary Sheriff of Worcestershire, by his wife Isabel de Mauduit, daughter of William de Mauduit of Hanslope in Buckinghamshire and Hartley Mauditt, Hampshire (by his wife Alice de Beaumont (d. pre- 1263), half-sister of Henry de Beaumont, 5th Earl of Warwick (c.1192-1229)) and sister and heiress of William Mauduit, 8th Earl of Warwick). His eldest brother was William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick (c.1238-1298). Career By 1268 he had been "signed with the cross" for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in which year his father signed his will mentioning Walter as being a crusader to whom he bequeaths 200 marks "for his better performance of that voyage". He was at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 and at the Siege of Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland in 1300, with the king. He signed and sealed the Barons' Letter of 1301 to the pope as Walt(er)us de Bello Campo, D(omi)n(u)s de Alcestre ("Walter de Beauchamp, Lord of Alcester"). Another of the signatories was his nephew Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (c.1272-1315). Caerlaverock Roll At the Siege of Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland in 1300 the heralds blazoned the arms of all the English knights present in Norman-French verse, known as the Caerlaverock Roll. The part regarding "Wautier de Beauchamp" is as follows: Puis i out Wautier de Beauchamp Sis merlos de or el rouge champ O une fesse en lieu de dance Chevalier selon ma cuidance Un des mellours fut entre touz Se il ne fuit trop fiers et estouz Mes vous ne orrez parler james De senescal ke ne ait une mes. Which may be translated as: "Then there was Walter de Beauchamp, having six martlets of gold with a red field with a fess instead of dancetée (standard blazon: Gules, a fess between six martlets or). He was in my opinion one of the best knights of the whole if he had not been too proud and violent, but you won't hear anyone talk of the steward without a 'but'".