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 {ZA27} Sir James De Audley K.G.

{ZA27} Sir James de  Audley ( c1322 - 1369) was the hero of the Battle of Poitiers (19th September 1356) and a founder Knight of the Garter. Early published documents confuse him with {ZA13} Lord James Audley the 2nd Baron Audley (1212 -1385) The aim of this webpage is to demonstrate that they are two different people.  They were related in that they shared a common great grandfather. Their relationship is shown in the following family tree

simplifiedtree

 The first person to conclude that {ZA27} Sir James Audley and {ZA13} Baron James Audley were two separate people was was Beltz who in 1841 published his ' Memorials of the order of the Garter'.   There is a fixed number of Members of the Order of the Garter and the individuals are only replaced when they died.  Beltz realised that the stall (seat) held by {Z27} Sir James Audley had been reallocated to Sir Thomas Granson by 1375; and as {ZA13} Baron James Audley did not die until 1383 he concluded that {ZA13} Baron James Audley could not be  the founder knight of the garter or the hero of the Battle of Poitiers.

       Memorials of the Order of the Garter

The most informative document giving the family trees of both these people was published in 1906 by Josiah Wedgwood MP (The great-great grandson of the founder of the Wedgwood pottery company) The article titled 'The parentage of James De Audley K.G.' was published in Historical Collection of  Staffordshire (Staff Cols) Vol IX New series pages  245- 68.

       The Parentage of James de Audley K.G.

 The two images below are of the seals used by both {ZA27} Sir James Audley (left) and {ZA13} Baron James Audley (right).  The most important  point shown by these seals is how {ZA27} Sir James Audley differentiated his Coat of Arms  from that of the Baron by the addition of a label of 3 vertical bars and one horizontal bar; again demonstrating two different people
SealofSirJamesAudley2 seal7026

The seal of {ZA27} Sir James Audley. This seal is attached to a Manuscript in the National Library of France dated 1360 which records that he received money from the French, for the English forces to leave the Fortress of 'La Ferté Sous Jauarre'

The Seal of {ZA13} Baron James Audley This  seal is the British Library as seal 7026 (ref Harley C54 E38) and dated temp Edw III (1312-1377) and is attributed to James de Audeleye "Seigneur de Rouge Chastell et de Heleye, Shropshire.

The exploits of {ZA27} Sir James Audley and his brother {ZA28} Peter Audley in the 'One Hundred Years War' is covered in Jonathan Sumption's Book published in 3 volumes and titled 'The  hundred years war'.  Extracts from that  book age given in the link below

      The Hundred Years War by Jonathan Sumption

Further information about the Manuscript and seal in the National Library of France and a more detailed explanation can be found in the link below.

       Further information

DLU 20200610  

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