About Sir John Cheney
The family of Cheney can be traced back to Ralph de Caineto
who died in 1086. Ralph came over with William the conqueror.
The family name came from either de Caineto and possibly through
du Chene (of the oak) the spellings change through generations
and branches of the family to finally settle on the spelling
we are familiar with. Whether the name is de Caineto, du Chene,
Chene, Cheyne, Cheney or Cheyney, the family descent is the
same.
In the intervening generations
the Cheney family served as sheriffs and other offices. The
family had a tradition of service as royal retainers, so it
was only to be expected that the eldest son of this generation
would continue in royal service
Through patronage and marriage
the Cheney family grew in prominence and their subsequent positions
within the great houses gained influence and connections.
(Roger du Cheyne was a squire
in the household of John, duke of Lancaster, eventually making
knight.) John’s father, also called John Cheney was noted
as being in the retinue of Henry VI as knight of the body in
1460.
John was the eldest son of
John Cheney and Eleanor Shottesbroke. He was born at the family
manor of Shurland, Eastchurch, Kent.
John Cheney was born about
1447 in the reign of Henry VI at Shurland in Kent
23 May 1465 John was one
of the men created knight of the bath in honour of Elizabeth
Woodville’s coronation.
In 1465 he was sent with
Dr Goldwell, dean of Salisbury to the King of Denmark. Here,
apparently, he got his nickname of ‘strenuus miles’
In 1467 his father died
1471 finds John in the royal
household as an esquire of the body to Edward IV. He also is
Master of the Henchmen and Master of Horse for Edward IV. These
offices were consistently held by the king’s closest servants.
Edward’s interest in the hunt meant that John was frequently
with the king.
1475, John, with a retinue
of six men at arms, is with Edward and the army in France, in
the campaign to secure English territory in France. Louis XI,
brokers a deal with Edward, to leave France in exchange for
a payment and further payments yearly in exchange for a nine
year truce, known as the Treaty of Picquigny. To ensure that
Edward complied with the terms of the treaty, John Cheney, master
of the horse and Lord Howard were left with Louis XI as hostages.
Both were treated well and received gifts of pensions from Louis
when Edward and his army had left France. The general soldiers
were not happy with this arrangement as part of the spoils of
war was plunder, and to be denied this personal fundraising
spread discontent.
1478-9 John was master of
the bodyguard for Edward IV
1479 John married the widow
of Baron Stourton, who was the heiress of the title. On his
marriage John became Lord Stourton of Stourton in right of his
wife. Margaret Chidiock was 53 at the time she married John,
who was 32. The concept of marrying an heiress was a popular
way of increasing lands and prestige, and younger men marrying
older heiresses or widows was fairly commonplace. One marriage
which did raise eyebrows for the age differential was the marriage,
in 1465/6 of John Woodville to Katherine Neville, dowager duchess
of Norfolk. He was aged 20 and the dowager duchess was 65 to
66 years old.
After the death of Edward
IV, John was officiating at the funeral on 16 April 1483. At
the coronation of Richard III, the majority of Edward’s
knights, one of whom was John Cheney, now made knight of the
body, attended the celebrations, and led the courser of state,
trapped in cloth of gold and arms, and John received a gift
of cloth of silver.
With the sons of Edward IV,
in the Tower, and effectively out of the succession, after Richard’s
usurpation, John Cheney was involved in a plot to release the
princes in late July. The plot involved John Cheney and Margaret
Beaufort at its head. Their plans to fire parts of London, as
a distraction, storm the tower and rescue the princes; and thereby
restore Edward V to the throne supported by an invasion by Jasper
and Henry Tudor from France, failed. Over 50 conspirators were
arrested and included men who had worked under Cheney in the
royal household. It was about this time that John Cheney fell
from grace with Richard, not unsurprisingly, and left Richard’s
Household.
In Buckingham’s rebellion
of 1483, one of the centres of revolt was Salisbury, and John
Cheney was one of the leaders in the Salisbury rising. This
was a huge rising that began shortly after the failure of the
rescue plan. The culmination in October 1483 in the risings
in Kent, Central South and the West, with the Duke of Buckingham
at its head, presented a challenge to Richard III’s reign.
Richard was aware of the rising by 11 October and managed through
the mistiming of groups of the plotters to quell the rising.
Richard had the duke of Buckingham, who was his, (the king’s)
cousin, executed on the 2nd of November 1483 at Salisbury.
John Cheney, with others
had sensibly fled before Richard arrived in Salisbury, making
their way across the channel to Brittany to join Henry Tudor
in exile. In January 1484, John Cheney is named on the four-part
attainder issued by Richard’s parliament.
In Brittany, John was with
Henry Tudor, this is particularly interesting in view of his
connection with Margaret Beaufort. Jones & Underwood (authors
of The King’s Mother) gently infers that there was kinship
between the Cheney and Beaufort families.
On arrival at Milford Haven,
with Henry Tudor’s invasion force, 7 Aug 1485, John is
one of the group of companions who are knighted. Henry Tudor’s
growing forces cross Wales heading for England. Richard was
aware of the invasion force and the two armies arrived near
Bosworth on 21 August 1485. The next morning in the battle John
is one of Henry Tudor’s bodyguards. During the battle Richard
III sees the opportunity to eliminate his rival, charging towards
Henry’s and killing William Brandon, Henry’s standard
bearer, and unhorsing John Cheney with a blow to the head from
his broken lance, Richard is soon fighting bravely but is cut
down, the last English King to die on the field of battle on
English soil.
On November 7 1485 the attainders
on the rebels were reversed. The rewards for support came quickly
from Henry VII: John was made a knight of the body. On the field
at Stoke, before the battle John was created a knight-banneret.
John Cheney with three others were ennobled after the battle
of Stoke 1487, becoming Lord Cheney of Falstone Cheney, and
also became a knight of the Garter in 1486, (number 229 in succession).
John also held the post of royal standard bearer to Henry VII
John’s military campaigns
won high praise, he was sent to Brittany with Willoughby as
the Franco-Breton crisis escalated.
In his parliamentary capacity
he sat for his county, summoned to parliament in 1487 and continued
to be called until 14 October 1495 and also was speaker of the
House of Commons.
John died in 1499 as is quoted
on the plaque on his effigy in Salisbury Cathedral. However
it is possible that he died in 1496 when several sources quote
inheritance of his estates in that year.
He was interred in the beautiful
chantry of his friend Bishop Richard Beauchamp, which was situated
on the north side of the Lady Chapel. The Chantry was demolished
by Wyatt in the 18th century and the effigies moved to the central
aisle. The base that John’s effigy now rests was made up
of pieces of the Beauchamp chapel.
The effigy itself is of marble,
now heavily scored by graffiti dating back centuries. The head
of the heraldic beast at the effigies feet no longer has its
head, but is possibly a lion, or dragon as it has a three-pronged
tail overlying its body. On the soles of the feet are two differing
carvings, which do not appear to make sense; are they also of
heraldic meaning? – Hamilton Rogers claims an oak leaf
and a scroll
The effigy is wearing German
Gothic style plate, double layer breast and possibly back-plate
(hidden by the cloak), mail collar and the fixings for a bevoir
on the breastplate. The breastplate is waisted and has sets
of 3 buckled lames and tassets, two front, two sides and a mail
skirt under. The leg armour is also German Gothic style with
a knee cop with spade poleyns. There are three lames either
side of the knee cop, the lowest of the three pointed and scalloped
over the grieve. He is wearing sabatons and appears to have
a size five or six shoe size.
It is difficult to describe
the arm armour, apart from the large shaped couters and plain
vambrace, as the effigy is wearing a cloak with Garter insignia
on the left Shoulder. It is cord tied, the tassels of which
fall onto the tassets. A garter is shown below the left knee
cop, which also supplements the insignia. Under the cloak, but
over the breastplate the effigy wears a Lancaster ‘SS’
chain with the Beaufort portcullis and Tudor Rose pendant. Encompassing
the tassets is the leather sword belt showing a widening vee,
frog style sword housing, holding the bare sword to his left
side. The sword has been broken so only part of the hilt and
blade now remains. On his right side about waist height is a
dagger, but this looks added in, or replaced in restoration.
The hands are bare in prayer although there are many rings showing,
not always worn at the base of the fingers. The figure also
has flowing hair of a wavy nature and is supported by a pillow
and two angels or family members with wings.
The accompanying inscription
provided for tourists in the cathedral states:
John Lord Cheney
Bailiff to Bishops Beauchamp
and Woodville
He fought alongside Henry Tudor against King Richard III
at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 and rescued Henry’s standard
when its bearer was killed. He was later appointed
Master of the Horse, Knight of the Garter and
Privy Councilor. He died in 1499
John Cheney’s heraldry
has several references –
“among the “knightes
made at the landinge of Kinge Henry the Seventh at Mylforde
Haven,” fourth on the list occurs Sir John Cheney. His
arms are thus given – Quarterly 1 and 4 Azure, six lioncels
rampant argent, a canton ermine; 2 and 3, ermine, a chief per
pale indented or and gules, in the dexter side a rose of the
last (Shottesbroke) Crest, two bulls horns argent, separated
from the scalp roots or “fixed to the mantle without toree”
(Metcalfe’s Book of Knights) (Strife of the Roses)
John Cheney of Shurland
The arms of Cheney (of Shurland)
are recorded as Argent, on a bend sable, three martlets or,
quartering, azure, five lioncels argent, a canton ermine –
or according to another authority azure, six lioncels three,
two, one argent (Shurland) (no arms are visible at Salisbury)”
Bibliography
Richard III and Buckingham’s Rebellion – Louise Gill
Strife of the Roses and the Days of the Tudors in the West –
W.H. Hamilton Rogers
Henry VII – S.B. Chrimes
Edward IV – Charles Ross
The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of
Richmond and Derby M.K. Jones & M.G. Underwood
The Making of the Tudor Dynasty – R.A. Griffiths &
R.S Thomas
WWW.Tudorplace.com
WWW.sheppey.free-online.co.uk/history/cheyne/
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/henry7.html
|
