Sir Guy Spyne of Coughton, Warwickshire 1
- Marriage (1): Katherine before 1370 1
- Died: After 1426
Other names for Guy were Guy de la Spine, Guy de Spineto and Guy Spine.
General Notes:
Family and Education
s. of William Spyne of Coughton by his w. Alice. m. by 1370, Katherine (d. aft. 1438), 1s. d.v.p. 2da.
Offices Held
Commr. of inquiry, Herefs., Warws., Worcs. July, Dec. 1390 (goods forfeited by Sir John Beauchamp† of Holt), Warws. Dec. 1398 (royal grant of property to Coventry); array Mar. 1392, Dec. 1399, Sept. 1403; weirs June 1398.
Receiver-general of the estates forfeited by Thomas, earl of Warwick c. July 1397-9.
Escheator, Warws. and Leics. 4 Mar. 1398-29 Oct. 1399.
Biography
The Spyne family had settled at Coughton by the mid 13th century and, over the years had acquired substantial holdings there, including the manor itself. In 1370 these were settled in reversion on Guy and his wife, they to inherit after the deaths of his parents. Subsequently, he also held lands in Kinwarton and, over the border with Staffordshire, at Ashwood in Kinver forest. Together with his wife he joined the guild of the Holy Trinity at Coventry.1
Among Spyne's closest associates were members of the Lowe family of Staffordshire, to whom he may have been related; and in 1379 he and Sir Humphrey Stafford I* were sued in the court of common pleas by John, Lord Botetourt, over the wardship of the heir to the Lowe lands. It was no doubt Spyne's tenure of Coughton from Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, which first drew him into the earl's circle. In 1382 he was associated with Warwick's most trusted councillor, Sir Nicholas Lilling*, when they both stood surety at the Exchequer for John Daniel, the earl's chamberlain; and in the following year he was actually described as 'esquire of the earl of Warwick'. His return to five consecutive Parliaments between 1388 and 1391 was no doubt influenced by his connexion with Earl Thomas, who would have especially welcomed the presence of supporters in the Commons in the first of these, the Merciless Parliament, in which he, as one of the Lords Appellant, sought to press through a stringent proscription of the King's favourites. Spyne's fellow Member on each occasion was Sir William Bagot, who owed his initial rise to the same patron, and in February 1390, during his third Parliament, he provided securities for Bagot at the Exchequer. He had retained contact with the Staffords and that same month he stood bail for the release from the Tower of Sir Humphrey's brother, Ralph Stafford* of Grafton. Spyne's earliest royal commissions (in 1390) were indirectly concerned with the welfare of Warwick's ward, John Beauchamp* of Holt, whose father had been executed by order of the Merciless Parliament. He became closely involved in the activities of other members of the Warwick circle, such as his neighbour, William Spernore*, and in 1393 he was drawn into Sir Nicholas Lilling's dispute with the Blount brothers, which had apparently arisen from a quarrel between Earl Thomas and John of Gaunt. His exclusion from royal commissions between 1392 and 1398 may perhaps be attributed to the same connexion.2
Although, by Michaelmas 1396, Spyne was in receipt of an annuity of £10 charged on the Beauchamp manor of Haselor, unlike most of Warwick's retainers he was not singled out for punishment when the King took his revenge. On the contrary, following his lord's arrest for treason in July 1397 he was appointed receiver-general of the forfeited estates of the earldom, which had been granted by Richard II to his nephew, Thomas Holand, soon to be created duke of Surrey. He may have owed this promotion to his continued association with Bagot, by then one of the most influential members of the King's Council, with whom he evidently remained on friendly terms. Certainly, in November he acted on Bagot's behalf against the interests of John Catesby*, another Warwick retainer, in the dispute over the Beauchamp manor of Ladbroke, later going so far as to threaten the tenants when they spoke up for the Catesby claim. Sir William's hand may also be seen in Spyne's appointment as escheator, and his continuance in that office until Richard's deposition.3
Spyne was to be appointed to commissions of array by Henry IV. Presumably, Earl Thomas forgave him his disloyalty, for he permitted his erstwhile retainer to keep the rent of £10 p.a. from Haselor, and it was not until 1404, three years after the earl's death, that Spyne made a quitclaim of his rights to the same to St. Mary's college, Warwick. At that time he was experiencing other financial set-backs resulting in a suit in the court of common pleas for a debt of £40. Following the loss of his only son, Thomas, Spyne may have hoped that by agreeing to the marriage in 1409 of one of his daughters and coheirs (Eleanor) to John*, son of Thomas Throckmorton*, he might be restored to his place in the Beauchamp circle, in the favour of Earl Richard, for Thomas Throckmorton was then constable of Warwick's castle of Elmley, and his son was destined to become one of the earl's most trusted advisors. In 1412 a moiety of Coughton was entailed on the couple, the other part being settled on Eleanor's sister, Alice, and her husband, William Tracy of Toddington, Gloucestershire. Little is heard of Spyne thereafter, although he was still living as late as 1426.4
Ref Volumes: 1386-1421
Author: L. S. Woodger
Notes
Variants: Spine, Spineto, Spynny.
1.VCH Warws. iii. 80-81; Reg. Holy Trinity Guild Coventry (Dugdale Soc. xiii), 8; W. Dugdale, Warws. 748-50; Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xiii. 186.
2.Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xiii. 154, 164; CFR, ix. 285; x. 313; Med. Legal Recs. ed. Hunnisett and Post, 313, 318-19; CCR, 1389-92, pp. 124, 146; 1392-6, pp. 113, 154; DKR, xxxvi. 17.
3.Egerton roll 8769; Med. Legal Recs. 294, 320, 322, 325, 338.
4.Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xv. 112; Coventry Statute Merchant Roll (Dugdale Soc. xvii), 45; Warws. Feet of Fines (ibid. xviii), nos. 2454-5; E164/22, f. 154d; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 5), vi. 232-5, 241.
[History of Parliament]
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...Sir Guy de la Spine or Spineto, of Coughton Court, Warwickshire (which estate she brought into the Throckmorton family). He was Knight of the Shire for Warwick in the parliaments of King Richard II, escheator of that county and of Leicestershire...
[Historical Account of the Throckmorton Family, p46]
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...Guy de la Spine, who being a knight, in XI R. 2, served as one of the knights of the shire for County Warwick in several Parliaments of that King, viz.: that of XI R. 2, held at Westminster in 12th at Cambridge, in 14th and 15th at Westminster. In the 15 R. 2 he was constituted one of the commissioners in Warwickshire for arraying men; in 21 R. 2 he was escheator for Warwick and Leicestershire, being at that time of the Earl of Warwick's retinue, and in 22 R. 2 he was receiver general unto Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey (who at that time was Earl of Warwick). In 1 Hen. 4 upon that great change which followed his coronation, notwithstanding the relation he had to the Duke of Surrey, he was made escheator for Warwick and Leicestershire. Commissioner for arraying men in the County of Warwick, 1 and 4, Hen. 4.
He left issue, two daughters, his heirs, viz.: 1. Alice, who married William Tracy of Todington in Gloucestershire, Esq., and 2. Alianore, married John Throckmorton, son of Thomas Throckmorton, of Throckmorton in Worcestershire. Coughton passed by partition to the Throckmorton family.
[Historical Account of the Throckmorton Family, pp65-66]
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Served as knight of the Shire for county Warwick in 11 Rich. II., 12, 14 and 15 Rich. II. One of the commissioners for arraying men in 15 Rich. II. Escheator for Warwickshire and Leicestershire 21 Rich. II., being at that time of the Earl of Warwick's retinue, receiver general unto Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey, escheator for Warwick and Leicestershire 1 Hen. IV. In 9 Rich. II. quitclaimed to William Durvassal his right in the manor of Spernore. (Dugdale and Coughton Records.)
[Historical Account of the Throckmorton Family, pp68-69 (tree)] 2
Events
• Manorial Estate: Coughton Manor, Coughton, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49, GB. 3 ...Simon and Constance had other daughters. One, whose name was Joan, is said to have been twice married: first to Hugh de Burleye, with whom she joined in 1257 in enfeoffing William de Spineto of a half virgate in Coughton, and subsequently to Hugh de Norfolk, who joined with her in 1274 in a further grant to William de Spyney (this time with Joan his wife) of land in Samborne and Coughton, together with the reversion of the third part thereof held by Constance widow of Simon de Cocton in dower.
Very shortly after this a dispute between William de Spineto and Joan and the Prior of Studley concerning tithes and some matter of violence was settled before the Bishop of Worcester in 1275 and some unspecified sentence upon them was released. Whether from the same sentence or not, the archdeacon was ordered to pronounce the absolution of William in 1279, and again in 1284, when the sheriff was told to release him from prison. This later trouble may have had a financial basis, as Roger the clerk, William's son, gave bond for repayment of a debt due to the executors of the late Archbishop of York, the bishop's brother. Probably in fulfilment of this bond Roger gave to the Bishop of Worcester 1 messuage and 3 carucates of land in Coughton. The bishop surrendered it to the king, who returned it to him, to hold of the chief lords of the see, and in October 1293 the bishop granted to William son of William de Spineto the manor of Coughton near Spernall. Subsequently, the Bruly manor of Coughton was acquired by William de Spineto in September 1298,* and in March 1299 he settled on himself and Margery his wife the manor of Coughton, with all its rights and property there and in Wike 'as well within the liberties of the Templars as without'.* In 1300 William 'of Spinney' was said to hold that part of the vill of Coughton with its wood and plain which was 'on the side of the river Arrow towards the west', and in 1315 he was holding Coughton as ½ knight's fee of Guy, Earl of Warwick. He died before the end of 1316, having enfeoffed William de Sutton of Warwick of the manor.* In 1318 the manor was settled on William Sutton and his wife Margery for their lives, with remainders to William son of William 'del Espine' and his issue, or Joan his sister, Alice her sister, or his right heirs, and William de Sutton is referred to as lord of Coughton in 1320. It is possible that William de Sutton had married the widowed Margery de Spineto and obtained the guardianship of her son and his estate. He heads the list for the Lay Subsidy in 1332 and was still lord of Coughton in September 1338,* though in June of that year William 'del Espinee', who had married one Alice at least twelve years before, was already called lord and in 1341 was holding his court there.* He must at one time have settled away the manor, as on 1 March 1354 Thomas Paynel of Berkshire released to Sir Thomas de Grendone his co-parcener, all his rights in the manor, with plough-land, tenants free and neif, rents, mills, dove-cotes, waters, fisheries, &c.* Sixteen years later Thomas de la Louwe, Ralph Biron, chaplain, and Richard de Aston conveyed the manor to William de Spineto and Alice his wife for life, all except the two mills which, with the reversion of the manor and a yearly rent of 13 marks till that should fall in, went to Guy their son and Katherine his wife.* In June 1398 Sir Guy Spyne was lord of Coughton,* but in 1411 he and Katherine made two enfeoffments to Edmund and Roger Lowe, in each case of half the manor. The couple had no son; their two daughters had married, Alice, William Tracy, and Eleanor, John son of Thomas Throckmorton of Fladbury, Worcs. Next year, in June 1412, Edmund and Roger settled the whole manor on Guy and Katherine for life, with remainder as to one moiety to John Throckmorton and Eleanor and their issue (reserving to Roger the ancient services due from the property called Verdounes), the other moiety to William Tracy and Alice and their issue.* In March 1430 the Prior of Studley leased to John and Eleanor extensive lands in Coughton, including Canneclose,* now Cane Close; most of this was quit claimed to them by the next prior three years later.* On 1 April 1438 John and Eleanor were admitted into the fellowship of the Abbey of Evesham. In May 1449 Eleanor, now a widow, and Thomas her son granted some of their property in Worcestershire to John Tracy, son of Alice, on condition that he left Thomas in undisturbed possession of both moieties of Coughton.* John Tracy enfeoffed Thomas Throckmorton in the Tracy half of the manor so that when Thomas died in July 1472 he held the whole manor of Coughton...
Guy married Katherine before 1370.1 (Katherine died after 1438.)
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