Richard Fitz-Simon Explained

Sir Richard Fitz-Simon KG, of Pensthorpe, Bawsey, and Glosthorpe (in Bawsey), Norfolk, Letheringham, Suffolk, etc. was a founder member and 15th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1348.

Career

Richard Fitz-Simon is recorded as having taken part in a tournament at Dunstable in 1334. He later served in Flanders. In 1344, he was part of a diplomatic mission to Castile and in 1345-6 he served with Henry of Grosmont in Aquitaine. In 1346, he served as the standard bearer of Edward, the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy. In 1348, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter.^{[1] [2]}

Marriage

He married before Hilary term 1345 (date of lawsuit) Ada Botetourt, widow of Sir John de Saint Philibert.^[3] They had no issue. Richard's wife Ada Botetourt was the daughter of Sir John Botetourt, 1st Lord Botetourt, by his wife, Maud, daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz Otes and great-granddaughter of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury the son of Henry II of England^[4]

Death

Sir Richard Fitz Simon died in 1348 or 1349, but the actual date is unknown.^[5]

Further reading

• Elias Ashmole

Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. 1672.

Notes and References

1. • Barber, Richard W. Edward III and the Triumph of England: The Battle of Crécy and the Company of the Garter. London: Allen Lane, 2013. p.513
2. Book: Shaw . Wm. A. . The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors . 1971 . Genealogical Publishing Company . Baltimore . 1. 247620448.
3. Year Books of Edward III: Years XVIII–XIX 12 (Rolls Ser. 31b) (1905): 438–443; Court of Common Pleas, CP40/341, image 157d (http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/E3/CP40no341/bCP40no341dorses/IMG_0157.htm)
4. Complete Peerage (1st Edition).
5. Book: Shaw . Wm. A. . The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors . 1971 . Genealogical Publishing Company . Baltimore . 1. 247620448.