Lord of Rayleigh and Haughley Henry de Essex

1121 - 1170  (49 years)

• Name	Henry de Essex  [1, 2]
  Title	Lord of Rayleigh and Haughley
  Birth	1121	Rayleigh, Essex, England   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	Royal constable during the reigns of Kings Stephen and Henry II. As royal constable, his office required that he hold the standard to indicate the king's position during any military engagement. Dropping the standard seemed to signal the king's death.
  Religion	As he was a convicted traitor, his estates and offices were forfeit, and his family was disgraced. Henry was allowed to remain as a monk at Reading Abbey, where he remained for the rest of his life.
  		Church - Abbey Reading Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors." In its heyday the abbey was one…
  Death	1170	Reading, Berkshire, England   [1, 2]
  	Reading Abbey
  Burial	Reading, Berkshire, England   [1]
  	Reading Abbey
  Person ID	I20007	A Tree Called Smith
  Last Modified	21 Jul 2025

  
  

  Father	Lord Of Essex, Baron of Raleigh Sir Robert FitzSwein,   b. 1080, Rochford, Essex, England d. 1133, Suffolk, England (Age 53 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Lady Gunnor le Bigod,   b. 1094, Norfolk, England d. 1150, Rayleigh, Essex, England (Age 56 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1110	Rayleigh, Essex, England
  Family ID	F631	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Alice de Montfort
  Children	1. Countess of Oxford Agnes of Essex,   b. Abt 1140, Rayleigh, Essex, England d. Abt 1200, Oxfordshire, England (Age 60 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F7639	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Jul 2025

  
  

  Family 2	Cicely de essex,   b. 1121
  Family ID	F7640	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Jul 2025

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1121 - Rayleigh, Essex, England Death - 1170 - Reading, Berkshire, England Burial - - Reading, Berkshire, England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Places

  Church - Abbey Reading Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors." In its heyday the abbey was one…

  
  

• Sources

  [S6040] FindAGrave Old World, Henry de Essex 1150-1154. Lord High Constable of England (1150–1154) Henry was the son and heir of Robert fitz Swein of Essex. He was a grandson of Swein, son of Robert FitzWimarc. After inheriting Rayleigh, he received a royal grant of Haughley Castle from King Stephen. Henry is mentioned in several chronicles, including that of Jocelin of Brakelond. His influence at the royal court was greatest during the reign of Stephen, but it continued into the early years of Henry II's. He served Henry as Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire from 1156 to 1159 and as a justiciar, as well as being his constable. Henry participated in the king's Toulouse campaign in the spring and summer of 1159. After he dropped the royal standard in a Welsh ambush during Henry II's campaign into Wales of 1157, however, his political importance waned. as royal constable, his office required that he hold the standard to indicate the king's position during any military engagement. Dropping the standard seemed to signal the king's death. At the royal court held at Easter, 1163, Henry was accused of treason for that act by a claimant to the Montfort estate. The two men fought a judicial duel a few months later. Jocelin details Henry's judicial dual with Robert de Montfort (a rival for Henry's wife's inheritance) on Fry's Island in the River Thames at Reading. Henry's body was carried senseless from the site of the duel by monks of the nearby Reading Abbey, but he survived and took the Benedictine cowl. As a convicted traitor, however, his estates and offices were forfeit, and his family was disgraced. He was allowed to remain as a monk at Reading Abbey, where he remained for the rest of his life Henry married firstly a woman named Cecily, by whom he seems to have had two sons, Henry and Hugh. Henry's second wife was Alice de Montfort (possible daughter of Hugh de Montfort of Haughley Castle), by whom he had at least one daughter, Agnes, who married Aubrey de Vere, first Earl of Oxford. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148705489/henry-de_essex [S984] Heritage Consulting, Millennium File, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT ; Date: 2003;).