Walter Devereux (1387-1420)
| Walter Devereux of Bodenham | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Maud Bromwich |
| Issue | |
| Father | Walter Devereux of Bodenham and Weobley |
| Mother | Agnes Crophull |
| Born | Christmas 1387 |
| Died | 1419 |
Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham was a prominent knight of Herefordshire during the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V. He is the ancestor of the Devereux Earls of Essex and Viscounts of Hereford.
Walter Devereux was born on Christmas Day 1387, and was 15 years old at the death of his father, Walter Devereux of Weobley. He inherited only part of the lands of his father, and his mother, Agnes Crophull, held the majority of his estates in dower during his lifetime.
His arms were: Argent a fesse gules, in chief three torteaux.
Walter Devereux assumed a position in the retinue of Henry IV following the death of his father on 25 July 1402 at the Battle of Pilleth. On 13 December 1402 Sir Edmund Mortimer declared his rebellion against Henry IV, but Devereux stayed loyal to the king. He was probably present at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403, and subsequently was knighted. Sir Walter Devereux was placed on a Commission of array for Herefordshire on 8 September 1403 to raise troops for the defense against the king’s enemies who have lately invaded the realm. It is probable that Devereux was present when Henry IV faced off with a combined Welsh and French force in South Wales during the summer of 1405, but no major battle occurred and the English force had dispersed by October of that year. Devereux remained an important supporter of the efforts to suppress the rebellion in Wales as Prince Henry assumed responsibility for the fight. Walter Devereux would be among 14 men below the rank of baron who would be retained for life by Prince Henry (the future Henry V).
In 1406 Welsh raiders damaged Lyonshall Castle in the heart of Devereux territory. Walter Devereux shared a claim on the castle with the family of his distant cousin John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux. These claims could only be inherited through the male line, and would result in the castle finally passing to his son in the 1430s. When the daughter of John Devereux, Joan 3rd Baroness Devereux and Baroness Fitzwalter, died on 11 May 1409 she still possessed Lyonshall. On 24 May 1409 an order was issued to the escheator and sheriff of Herefordshire to take the castle into the king’s hands, and arrest ‘certain of the king’s lieges’ who had entered and held it with a strong hand to the contempt of the king. This is probably a reference to Walter Devereux trying to assert his claim.
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