ARDERNE, Ralph (c.1374-1420), of Parkhall in Castle Bromwich, Warws. and Upper Wick, Worcs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b.c. 1374, s. and h. of Sir Henry Arderne† of Parkhall by his w. Ellen, prob. da. and h. of Sir John Sapy† of Upper Wick. m. bef. Aug. 1400, Isabel or Sibyl (d. 8 Apr. 1435), Is. Robert†. Kntd. between 1417 and d.

Offices Held

Dep. sheriff, Worcs. (by appointment of Richard, earl of Warwick) 4 Nov. 1404-27 Nov. 1405.1

Receiver, earl of Warwick’s estates in France by 1420.

Biography

Arderne came from ‘a most ancient and worthy family’ (Dugdale) which originated in Warwickshire in the 11th century and subsequently accumulated substantial estates there and elsewhere. From his parents he inherited the manors of Parkhall, Barcheston, ‘Pedemore’ in Sutton Coldfield and Curdworth (Warwickshire), Upper Wick (Worcestershire), Acton and property in Nantwich (Cheshire), and Wappenham and Sulgrave (Northamptonshire). Not all of these were always in his possession, however, for his mother retained an interest until her death in 1408, and for several years the Northamptonshire manors were held by his two younger brothers. During his lifetime Arderne added to these holdings the Worcestershire manor of Little Inkberrow. Contemporary evidence for the value of the Arderne estates is contradictory or inadequate, but in 1436, when Ralph’s son was assessed for taxation, the Warwickshire lands alone were estimated to be worth £113 a year.2

Arderne’s father, Sir Henry, who had represented Warwickshire in 1377 and 1380 and Worcestershire in 1381, had been a trusted retainer and councillor of Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, and for his good service had been granted by him for life two Worcestershire manors. It seems likely that on Sir Henry’s death in 1382 the young Ralph became the earl’s ward; certainly, by 1395, after he had come of age, he was in receipt of an annunity of £8 from Earl Thomas as one of his esquires. Meanwhile, on 16 May 1392, he had contracted to join the company of the King’s lieutenant in Ireland, Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, for a year’s service, receiving as payment £24, but in the event the proposed expedition never sailed. In June 1398, after his lord the earl of Warwick had suffered imprisonment and forfeiture by judgement of Parliament and Gloucester had been murdered at Calais, Arderne took the precaution of obtaining a royal pardon specifically relating to the support he had given to the Lords Appellant. He did not hesitate to rejoin Earl Thomas’s affinity after his release in 1399, thereafter remaining in the service of Warwick and his successor for the rest of his life.3

Arderne probably obtained Little Inkberrow from Earl Thomas after it had been recovered from forfeiture. The manor was in his possession by 1403, and in the following year he had formal discussions with the receiver of the estates of the widowed Countess Margaret as to the extent of her dower portion in the property. Meanwhile, the young Earl Richard had enlisted for military service against the Welsh rebels, and Arderne had followed suit, taking his own contingent of six archers to join Henry of Monmouth in the siege of Harlech castle; and, being in the prince’s pay in June 1403, he probably saw action at the battle of Shrewsbury in the following month. Warwick appointed him as deputy sheriff of Worcestershire in 1404, but this did not end his involvement in the fighting in Wales, for during his term of office he sustained heavy costs in leading troops from the county into north Wales without wages or reward, thus incurring a considerable drain on his personal resources. Accordingly, but not until February 1406, he was made an allowance of 40 marks owing on his account for the shrievalty at the Exchequer. He was then knight-elect for Worcestershire to the Parliament which was to meet a month later. Seven years afterwards, in 1413, Arderne attended both the Worcestershire and the Warwickshire elections to the first Parliament of Henry V’s reign, being at Worcester on 19 Apr. and at Warwick (there acting as surety for William Birmingham*) on the 24th. In February 1415 he procured a papal licence to have a portable altar, possibly with a view to joining the earl of Warwick’s contingent in the King’s forthcoming expedition to France. Two years later, in the summer of 1417, he again embarked for Normandy in the earl’s train, there, in the course of the next three years, to be knighted and to serve as receiver of the extensive estates in France granted to the earl by the King.4

Arderne died, probably overseas, on 30 Aug. 1420. His young son Robert, a ward of Earl Richard’s, lived for a short while in the household of the Countess Elizabeth, until his wardship was granted by the Crown to Warwick’s aunt Joan, Lady Abergavenny, who paid £100 for his marriage. Robert was to represent Warwickshire in the Parliament of 1449 (Nov.), and to be executed for his support for the duke of York three years later. Ralph Arderne’s widow survived him by 15 years.5

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

  • 1. Erroneously called Richard in the PRO List ‘Escheators’, 157.
  • 2. VCH Warws. iv. 45, 62; v. 5; VCH Worcs. iii. 317, 423; Vis. Warws. (Harl. Soc. xii), 180-1; Warws. Feet of Fines (Dugdale Soc. xviii), no. 2482; DKR, xxxvi. 6-7; J. Bridges, Northants. i. 128, 210; CP25 (1)/260/26/18; E179/192/59.
  • 3. CCR, 1402-5, p. 73; 1405-9, p. 182; G.A. Holmes, Estates of Higher Nobility, 77; W. Dugdale, Warws. ii. 925-8; CIPM, xv. 455-6; SC6/1123/5; Egerton roll 8769; C67/31 m. 12; Add. 40859A; E101/74/1 no. 31.
  • 4. E101/51/2, 404/24, f. 12; E404/21/56; Egerton roll 8771; CPL, vi. 360; C219/11/2; Longleat House, Bath mss, 6414.
  • 5. C138/50/85; DKR, xxxvii (pt. 2), 1, 9-10; Trans. Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. lxx. 94; CPR, 1416-22, p. 306; CCR, 1419-22, p. 102.