Richard Siward

Richard Siward (died 1248) was a distinguished 13th-century soldier, adventurer and banneret. He rose from obscurity to become a member of King Henry III's Royal Council and husband of Philippa Basset, the widowed countess of Warwick. Origins Little certain is known about Siward's family pedigree. He has been identified with a Richard son of Siward of Farnham in Lower Nithsdale in Yorkshire who around 1215 was pardoned a homicide on his release into the service of a magnate during the war of the barons against King John. The reason for this is because a Richard son of Siward can be found in the service of William de Forz count of Aumale, a leading Yorkshire baron, in King John's reign. He was the same Richard as the subject of this article and went on to serve the counts of Aumale till 1221 and the earls of Pembroke till 1231 as a leading household knight. His obscure origins have attracted legends amongst later genealogists. One suggests that he was descended from Syward, the Saxon Earl of Northumberland. The 16th-century Glamorganshire antiquary, Rice Merrick, theorised Richard was one of the legendary Twelve Knights whom Robert fitz Hamo settled in Glamorgan after its Conquest, though since that happened before 1100 it is not a serious possibility. Household Knight In 1216 Richard Siward appears amongst the leading knights of the younger William Marshal. His move from the Aumale household to William's retinue during the warfare of John's reign is not too difficult to explain. Marshal had spent a large part of his youth fostered in the household of Count Baldwin of Aumale, the stepfather of William de Forz. In the course of the Barons Wars and the Regency that followed Siward acquired some celebrity, being one of the commanders of the English fleet which defeated the French in the sea battle off Sandwich in August 1217. He retained his links with the Aumale household however. In 1220 he supported William de Forz's hopeless rebellion against King Henry III. An account of his activities during this period cited how he led campaigns against the lands of the king's counsellors.