Pain Fitzjohn

Pain fitzJohn
Modern ruins of Ludlow Castle
Sheriff of Herefordshire
In office between 1123 and 1127 – after 1136
Preceded by	Adam de Port
Succeeded by	Humphrey
Sheriff of Shropshire
In office after 1126 – after 1135
Preceded by	Richard de Baumais
Succeeded by	William fitzAlan
Personal details
Died	10 July 1137
Resting place	Gloucester Abbey
Nationality	Anglo-Norman
Spouse(s)	Sybil
Relations	Eustace (brother) William (brother) Alice (sister) Agnes (sister) John fitzRichard (father)
Children	Cecily Agnes

Pain fitzJohn (before 1100–10 July 1137) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "new men", who owed their positions and wealth to the king.

Pain's family originated in Normandy, but there is little to suggest that he had many ties there, and he appears to have spent most of his career in England and the Welsh Marches. A son of a minor nobleman, he rose through ability to become an important royal official during Henry's reign. In 1115, he was rewarded with marriage to an heiress, thereby gaining control of the town of Ludlow and its castle, which he augmented with further acquisitions.

Although later medieval traditions described Pain as a chamberlain to King Henry, that position is not securely confirmed in contemporary records. He did hold other offices, however, including that of sheriff in two counties near the border between England and Wales. In his capacity as a royal justice, Pain also heard legal cases for the king throughout much of western England.

After King Henry's death in 1135, Pain supported Henry's nephew, King Stephen, and was with the new king throughout 1136. In July 1137, Pain was ambushed by the Welsh and killed while leading a relief expedition to the garrison at Carmarthen. His heirs were his daughters, Cecily and Agnes. Cecily married the son of one of Pain's close associates, Miles of Gloucester. Pain was generous in his gifts of land to a number of monastic houses.

Pain was a son, probably the eldest, of John fitzRichard, a tenant-in-chief listed in Domesday Book. John may have had two wives, therefore the identity of Pain's mother is uncertain. On the basis of landholding, it has been speculated that Pain's mother was a daughter of Ralph Mortimer, who held Wigmore in Domesday Book. As well as being a moneyer, Pain's paternal grandfather, who came from near Avranches in Normandy, owned a mill. Pain's brother, Eustace fitzJohn, became a royal official who owned lands in the north of England. His other siblings included William, Alice and Agnes. William was probably the same William who later held Harptree in Somerset, and in 1130 was a royal justice in western England. Alice was the abbess of Barking Abbey and Agnes became the wife of Roger de Valognes.