James de Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele

James Fiennes, 1st Lord Saye and Sele was born circa 1395.1 He was the son of Sir William Fiennes and Elizabeth Batesford.2 He married Emiline Cromer.1 He died on 4 July 1450, he was beheaded by a lynch mob led by Jack Cade.1

    James Fiennes, 1st Lord Saye and Sele fought in the Hundred Years War, in France, where he granted lordship of Court-le-Comte by King Henry V.1 He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Kent in 1433.1 He held the office of Captain of Arques.1 He was Captain-General of the towns along the Seine.1 He was he built Knole, Kent, with spoils from the Hundred Years War in 1436.1 He held the office of Sheriff of Kent in 1436.1 He was Esquire of the Body to King Henry VI before 28 August 1437.1 He held the office of Sheriff of Surrey in 1438.1 He held the office of Sheriff of Sussex in 1438.1 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kent from 1439 to 1440.1 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kent in 1442.1 He held the office of Constable of Rochester Castle from March 1442 to February 1442/43.1 He held the office of King's Serjeant before 24 April 1443.1 He was Knight of the Body to King Henry VI before 9 October 1444.1 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kent from 1445 to 1446.1 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kent in 1447.1 He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1447.1 He held the office of Constable of Dover Castle from February 1446/47 to 1450.1 He held the office of Warden of the Cinque Ports from February 1446/47 to 1450.1 He was created 1st Lord Saye and Sele [England by writ] circa 24 February 1446/47, with a writ of summons on 3 March 1446/7.1 He held the office of King's Chamberlain in April 1447.1 He held the office of Constable of the Tower in August 1447.1 He held the office of Treasurer of England from 1449 to 1450.1 In 1450 he was removed as Treasurer by King Henry VI, when accussed by the House of Commons of treason, as scapegoat for the loss of the French possessions.1 He was imprisoned in the Tower by King Henry VI, again as scapegoat, on the rising of Jack Cade.1

James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lord Saye and Sele brought before Jack Cade 4th July 1450, 19th-century painting by Charles Lucy

James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele (c. 1395 – 4 July 1450) was an English soldier and politician, son of Sir William Fiennes (Herstmonceux, Sussex, 1 August 1357 – 18 January 1401/1402) and wife Elizabeth Batisford (- bef. 1407).

Fiennes fought in the Hundred Years' War and served as High Sheriff of Kent in 1436 and High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex in 1438.[1] He was Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports from 1447 to 1450, and Lord High Treasurer of England from 1449 to 1450.

He was summoned to Parliament from 1446 to 1449 and is said to have been created Baron Saye and Sele by letters patent in 1447. Saye and Sele was a supporter of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, the principal power behind the throne of Henry VI.

After Suffolk's deposition and murder in 1450 he was imprisoned in the Tower with his son-in-law William Cromer, deputy-sheriff of Kent.[2] Having been released from the tower and handed over to the rebels as a placatory gesture Baron Saye was brought to Guildhall for a sham trial. Upon being found guilty of treason, he was paraded through part of London and beheaded by a mob of the rebels in London under Jack Cade at the Standard in Cheapside on 4 July 1450.[3] His son-in-law was also executed by the rebels outside the city walls on the same day. The heads of the two men were put on pikes and unceremoniously paraded through the streets of London while their bearers pushed them together so that they appeared to kiss.[4] He was succeeded in the barony by his son William.

Fiennes married twice. [5]

He firstly married Joan __?. Their children were:

   Elizabeth de Fiennes (c.1427 – 1471), married first her stepmother's brother Sir William Cromer (c.1422 – 1450), Lord of Turnstall, murdered by Jack Cade's rebels, and then Alexander Iden, Lord of Westwell, Jack Cade's capturer. Both husbands had attained the position of High Sheriff of Kent. She lastly married Sir Lawrence Raynsford, High Sheriff of Essex and High Sheriff of Wiltshire.

   William de Fiennes, 2nd Baron Saye and Sele (born circa 1428 at Broughton Castle, Broughton, Bloxham Hundred, Oxfordshire and killed in 1471 during the Battle of Barnet, Barnet, then in Hertfordshire).

He secondly married before 1441 Emmeline Crowmer (1398 – 5 January 1452), daughter of William Cromer, twice Lord Mayor of London.[6] They had two daughters.

James appears as a named character in the historical play Henry VI, Part 2, written by the famed English bard, William Shakespeare. His son William was an actual participant in the War of the Roses, and in the decisive Battle of Barnet referenced in the final part of Shakespeare's trilogy, Henry VI, Part 3.

"Kent County History". The High Sheriffs Association of England and Wales. Retrieved 10 April 2011. "Wars of the Roses". Michael D. Miller. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Harvey, I. M. W. (1991) Jack Cade's Rebellion of 1450. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 93. Griffiths, Ralph A. (1981). The Reign of King Henry VI: The Exercise of Royal Authority, 1422–1461. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 618. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 2nd Edition. p. 599. History of Parliament: William Cromer, Lord Mayor of London, accessed 10 July 2017

References

• Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition ... page 431 < GoogleBooks >