Sir Humphrey de Bohun, the 4th Earl of Hereford is said to have been a well-educated man, who collected books, and loved his wife. Tragically, his wife Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, the daughter of King Edward I of England, died in 1316 in child birth, and Humphrey became gloomy and introspective in the years following her death. Though once a close friend and jousting comrade to his brother-in-law Prince Edward II, the son of Edward I, Humphrey ardently supported the Magna Carta, which guaranteed the freedoms of the nobility. This brought him into conflict with the younger Edward after the latter in 1307 succeeded to his father's throne and began to defy the Magna Carta protections. When civil war broke out between Edward and some of his barons, Humphrey took up arms against the king. He was killed fighting Edward's forces in 1322 while crossing a wooden bridge in a battle at Boroughbridge, Yorkshire. Historian Ian Mortimer in "The Greatest Traitor" (2003, p. 124) writes that, "[Sir Humphrey of] Hereford led the fight on the bridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de Harclay's pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust [his pike] upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic."
The monument to Sir Humphrey at Hereford Cathedral is actually a cenotaph, and his true place of burial is at Blackfriers Abbey in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire.
The monument to Sir Humphrey at Hereford Cathedral is actually a cenotaph, and his true place of burial is at Blackfriers Abbey in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire.
Sir Humphrey de Bohun, the 4th Earl of Hereford is said to have been a well-educated man, who collected books, and loved his wife. Tragically, his wife Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, the daughter of King Edward I of England, died in 1316 in child birth, and Humphrey became gloomy and introspective in the years following her death. Though once a close friend and jousting comrade to his brother-in-law Prince Edward II, the son of Edward I, Humphrey ardently supported the Magna Carta, which guaranteed the freedoms of the nobility. This brought him into conflict with the younger Edward after the latter in 1307 succeeded to his father's throne and began to defy the Magna Carta protections. When civil war broke out between Edward and some of his barons, Humphrey took up arms against the king. He was killed fighting Edward's forces in 1322 while crossing a wooden bridge in a battle at Boroughbridge, Yorkshire. Historian Ian Mortimer in "The Greatest Traitor" (2003, p. 124) writes that, "[Sir Humphrey of] Hereford led the fight on the bridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de Harclay's pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust [his pike] upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic."
The monument to Sir Humphrey at Hereford Cathedral is actually a cenotaph, and his true place of burial is at Blackfriers Abbey in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire.
The monument to Sir Humphrey at Hereford Cathedral is actually a cenotaph, and his true place of burial is at Blackfriers Abbey in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire.
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