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Thomas Corbet: The Raven Baron of Caus
Norman Welsh Ties in the Old Welsh Marches.
Born around 1182, Thomas Corbet rose to become a fiercely loyal supporter of King Henry III. Remarkably, he lived to a venerable age during the savage thirteenth century – an era defined by castration, torture, religious zealotry, and burning people alive.
This Royalist Baron served as a military commander in the Welsh Wars of the 1250s. The Corbets sometimes lived as vassals for the Mortimers holding adjacent lands in Shropshire. Thomas, like Roger de Mortimer also descended from Norman blood; a lineage that had been intermarrying with Welsh and English noble families almost since their families arrival around tbe conquest. Unlike in mainland England, where nobility rarely took English brides, the Welsh Borderlands operated by different rules.
Hugh le Corbeau was the first Corbet to set foot in England, likely fighting at the Battle of Hastings. His sons, Roger and Robert FitzCorbet, appear in the Domesday Book of 1086 as vassals under the Marcher Lord Montgomery.
Rise to Power
After Earl Montgomery's failed rebellion in 1102, Henry I seized Pembroke Castle and entrusted the Corbet family with additional borderland territory. The family flourished.
The name Corbet means 'Corvid' or 'Raven' in Old French, reflected in Thomas Corbet's family heraldry. Thomas became Sheriff of Shropshire in 1249, his lands stretching as far as Devon.
In the Welsh Marches, he weathered attacks from Llewelyn the Last and Simon de Montfort during the rebellion against King Henry III. Thomas faced violence from both sides yet remained loyal – even as he experienced some of his retainers and Robert Corbet betray him.
The Man Behind the Title
What manner of man was Thomas Corbet? I imagine him as a chain-mailed warrior of considerable age—yet exceptionally bright. In his day, diplomacy required multilingualism, with numerous languages throughout England.
Along the Welsh borderlands, soldiers brought various French dialects. Flemish gained prominence too. Anglo-Saxon persisted alongside Latin, while our modern English was merely teething then, born from the displacement of Anglo-Saxons in 1066. We should also acknowledge Welsh, likely spoken by the Corbets themselves.
Life followed a relentless cycle of fighting, forging alliances, and quelling rebellions—endless tensions between Welsh and English and among rival Marcher Lords.
A Glimpse Through Time: My Ancestral Connection
Robert Page, my ancestor, was a free man, aging and weary in Drengeton (modern-day Drointon). He expected Baron Corbet to arrive seeking soldiers from local lords.
Several years later, in 1256, Shropshire, his son's wife Amice Page recorded:
The Testimony of Amice Page
Our Liege Lord Sir Roger de Eston went blind and suffered a slow death, creating uncomfortable circumstances. My husband William and I maintained our fiefdom maintaining some security for our boys, Henry and Stephen.
We were lucky, Margery de Eston, Roger's widow, was preparing to sue all the tenants on her late husband's land, demanding her dowry. Complaints circulated until our Lord Corbet intervened. Richard Pas maintained thirteen acres, while Jorvard held only four—smaller than our half-virgate.
Fortunately, William and I were excused from the land grab; The Lord of the Manor, Roger de Aston, granted Will his fiefdom before marrying Lady Margery. Lord Corbet declared other tenants would be safe if they provided proper charters. Everyone found a nrw respect for Lord Corbet, our Raven Baron for stepping up for us.
Personal Feuds and Vindictiveness
In 1256, Thomas Corbet entered a dispute with Fulk FitzWarin IV over Alberbury—a substantial 120 acres. At the assizes, they exchanged insults, with Thomas unnecessarily insulting FitzWarin's deceased father. Despite losing, Thomas refused to accept defeat, revealing his battleaxe nature in his twilight years.
The Voice of William, Husband of Amice Page
By 1263, Caus Castle was being upgraded with towers as dangers increased. Thomas wrote directly to the King Henry III, mentioning myself, all the Corbet brothers, Sheriff Bagot, Master Burnell and even Richard Pas in his letter. I felt honoured.
The following years of castle seizing and violence across the Marches halted for a while, after Roger de Mortimer took De Montfort's head at the Battle of Evesham.
Thomas Corbet died in 1274, a truly sorrowful time. His son Robert succeeded him.
Time Moves On
The Corbet family continued to play a significant role for centuries in Shropshire but to a lesser degree. William Page survived the wars, and his grandson Richard received land in Eaton, who later passed it on to his son, John of Oxenbold, who repeated thevtradition with his son, William—my direct ancestral line.
Llewelyn II, or Llewelyn the last, ultimately faced the conquest of the ruthless King Edward I. Marcher Lords struck the Welsh Prince down at the battle of Orewin Bridge in 1282. Neither the Welsh prince nor Roger de Mortimer survived the conflict.
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