Vol 1: The Bluets - Lackham Countryside Centre

The Bluets 75
surprising as William, and his younger brother Ralph (V), had been in
wardship to Simon 318 . The battle of Evesham, at which de Montfort was
killed, was fought on August 4 th 1265, and Ralph Bluet also perished
there along with more than thirty other of de Montfort‘s knights 319 .
Others events that might support a 1241- 1243 death date for Ralph IV
come from Wiltshire. In 1241 a charter of Lacock Abbey refers to
disputes between Abbess Ela and the parson of Lacock, i.e. of St
Cyriac‘s church, one Roger Bluet 320 . He only appears in one other
record and his origin is unknown. He may have been from a co-lateral line
or related but this is unknown. In 1241 Roger Bluet was in dispute
concerning a Mill with it's pond and a bridge built by the
abbess... and a way on the south side of the monastery
there…..
It would seem that not only was the Mill causing problems but also the
Abbey graveyard was blocking Robert‘s access to his lands south of the
Abbey where he carried on agricultural activities:
If the abbess cannot warrant the way across the
graveyard of Lak[cock] for the business of Roger she shall
find him a suitable way to the south of it, for coming and
going to the fields and pastures with carts and ploughs for
the convenient carrying on of his affairs
It is not unlikely that there was some tension between the centuries-old
St Cyriac‘s and the newly built Abbey. There was some overlap in the
Royalist forces led by Prince Edward (later Edward I) of England.
318
Crouch, D (2005) The Birth of Nobility: Constructing Aristocracy in England
and France, 900-1300 p287 (from PRO KB26/131 membrane 8d)
319
Morris, M (2008) A Great and Terrible King ; Edward I and the Forging of
Britain Hutchinson, London, p68 Evesham was a very bloody battle – Morris says
that “Even before the first blow was struck Edward had let it be known that on
this occasion the normal rules of chivalric warfare were to be suspended. No
quarter was to be given, no surrender accepted….At least thirty of [de Monforts
knights] were killed.. in an orgy of blood-letting not seen for centuries” . Morris
provides a very clear and readable account of this turbulent period, highly
recommended.
320
Rogers, KH (ed) (1978) Lacock Abbey Charters WRS 15 p 46 no 168
dated very specifically to 11 Aug 1241