text: humphrey de bohun , 3rd earl of hereford humphrey ( v ) de bohun ( c . 1249 – 31 december 1298 ) , 3rd earl of hereford and 2nd earl of essex , was an english nobleman known primarily for his opposition to king edward i over the confirmatio cartarum . he was also an active participant in the welsh wars and maintained for several years a private feud with the earl of gloucester . his father , humphrey ( v ) de bohun , fought on the side of the rebellious barons in the barons ' war . when humphrey ( v ) predeceased his father , humphrey ( vi ) became heir to his grandfather , humphrey ( iv ) . at humphrey ( iv ) ' s death in 1275 , humphrey ( vi ) inherited the earldoms of hereford and essex . he also inherited major possessions in the welsh marches from his mother , eleanor de braose . bohun 's spent most of his early career reconquering marcher lands captured by llywelyn ap gruffudd during the welsh war in england . this was finally accomplished through edward i 's war in wales in 1277 . hereford also fought in wales in 1282 – 83 and 1294 – 95 . at the same time he also had private feuds with other marcher lords , and his conflict with gilbert de clare , earl of gloucester , eventually ended with the personal intervention of king edward himself . hereford 's final years were marked by the opposition he and roger bigod , earl of norfolk , mounted against the military and fiscal policy of edward i. the conflict escalated to a point where civil war threatened , but was resolved when the war effort turned towards scotland . the king signed the confirmatio cartarum – a confirmation of magna carta – and bohun and bigod agreed to serve on the falkirk campaign . bohun died in 1298 , and was succeeded by his son , humphrey de bohun , 4th earl of hereford . family background and inheritance humphrey ( vi ) de bohun was part of a line of anglo - norman aristocrats going back to the norman conquest , most of whom carried the same name . his grandfather was humphrey ( iv ) de bohun , who had been part of the baronial opposition of simon de montfort , but later gone over to the royal side . he was taken prisoner at the battle of lewes in may 1264 , but was restored to favour after the royalist victory at the battle of evesham the next year . humphrey ( iv ) ' s son , humphrey ( v ) de bohun , remained loyal to the baronial side throughout the barons ' war , and was captured at evesham on 4 august 1265 . in october that year humphrey ( v ) died in captivity at beeston castle in cheshire from injuries he had sustained in the battle . humphrey ( v ) had been excluded from succession as a result of his rebellion , but when humphrey ( iv ) died in 1275 , humphrey ( vi ) inherited the earldoms of hereford and essex . humphrey ( vi ) had already served as deputy constable of england under humphrey ( iv ) . humphrey ( iv ) had reserved the honour of pleshey for his younger son henry , but the remainder of his lands went to humphrey ( vi ) . the inheritance humphrey ( vi ) received – in addition to land in essex and wiltshire from humphrey ( iv ) – also consisted of significant holdings in the welsh marches from his mother . his mother eleanor was a daughter and coheir of william de braose and his wife eva marshal , who in turn was the daughter and coheir of william marshal , regent to henry iii . since humphrey ( vi ) was only sixteen years old at the time of his father 's death , the braose lands were taken into the king 's custody until 1270 . part of this inheritance , the marcher lordship of brecon , was in the meanwhile given to the custody of gilbert de clare , earl of hertford . humphrey technically regained his lordship from clare in 1270 , but by this time these lands had effectively been taken over by the welsh prince llywelyn ap gruffudd , who had taken advantage of the previous decade 's political chaos in england to extend his territory into the marches . he granted his brother gilbert de bohun all of their mother 's lands in ireland and some land in england and wales . welsh wars over the next years , much of hereford 's focus was on reconquering his lost lands in the marches , primarily through private warfare against llywelyn . henry iii died in 1272 , while his son – now edward i – was crusading ; edward did not return until 1274 . llywelyn refused to pay homage to the new king , partly because of the military actions of bohun and other marcher lords , which llywelyn saw as violations of the treaty of montgomery . on 12 november 1276 , hereford was present at a royal assembly where judgment was passed on llewelyn , and in 1277 , edward i declared war on the welsh prince . rebellion in his own brecon lands delayed hereford 's participation in the early days of the welsh war . he managed , however , to both suppress the rebellion , and conquer lands further west . he then joined up with the royal army and served for a while in anglesey , before returning to brecon , where he received the surrender of certain welsh lords . after the campaign was over , on 2 january 1278 , he received protection from king edward to go on pilgrimage to santiago de compostela in spain . in 1282 , war with wales broke out again ; this time it would not be simply a punitive campaign , but a full - scale war of conquest . initially , the king wanted to fight the war with paid forces , but the nobility insisted on the use of the feudal summons . to men like hereford , this was preferable , because as part of a feudal army the participants would have both a stake in the war and a justifiable claim on conquered land . in the end , although the earls won , none of them were paid for the war effort . hereford jealously guarded his authority as hereditary constable of england , and protested vigorously when the gilbert de clare , earl of gloucester was appointed commander of the forces in south wales . in the post war settlement , however , neither hereford nor gloucester received any significant rewards of land , the way several other magnates did . hereford fought again in wales , in the suppression of the rebellion of 1294 – 95 , when he again had to pacify the territory of brecon before joining the king in the north . private war in the marches parallel with the welsh wars , hereford was also struggling to assert his claims to lands in the marches against other marcher lords . in 1284 edward i granted the hundred of in carmarthenshire to john giffard . hereford believed the land belonged to him by right of conquest , and started a campaign to win the lands back , but the king took giffard 's side . problems also arose with the earl of gloucester . as gloucester 's former ward , hereford had to buy back his own right of marriage , but gloucester claimed he had not received the full sum . there was also remaining resentment on hereford 's part for his subordination to gloucester in the 1282 – 83 campaign . the conflict came to a head when gloucester 's started construction of a castle at , which hereford claimed was his land . in 1286 , the crown ordered gloucester to cease , but to no avail . it had long been established marcher custom to solve conflicts through private warfare . hereford 's problem , however , was his relative weakness in the marches , and now he was facing open conflict with two different enemies . he therefore decided to take the issue to the king instead , in a break with tradition . king edward again ordered gloucester to stop , but the earl ignored the order and initiated raids on hereford 's lands . hostilities continued and hereford responded , until both earls were arrested and brought before the king . the real offense was not the private warfare in itself , but the fact that the earls had not respected the king 's injunction to cease . in the parliament of january 1292 , gloucester was fined 10 , 000 marks and hereford 1 , 000 . gloucester 's liberty of glamorgan was declared forfeit , and confiscated by the crown , as was hereford 's of brecon . in the end the fines were never paid , and the lands were soon restored . edward had nevertheless demonstrated an important point . after the conquest of wales , the strategic position of the marcher lordships was less vital to the english crown , and the liberty awarded to the marcher lords could be curtailed . for edward this was therefore a good opportunity to assert the royal prerogative , and to demonstrate that it extended also into the marches of wales . opposition to edward i in 1294 the french king declared the english duchy of aquitaine forfeit , and war broke out between the two countries . edward i embarked on a wide - scale and costly project of building alliances with other princes on the continent , and preparing an invasion . when the king , at the parliament of march 1297 in salisbury , demanded military service from his earls , roger bigod , earl of norfolk , refused in his capacity of marshal of england . the argument was that the king 's subjects were not obliged to serve abroad if not in the company of the king , but edward insisted on taking his army to flanders while sending his earls to gascony . at the time of the salisbury parliament , hereford was accompanying two of the king 's daughters to brabant , and could not be present . on his return , however , as constable of england , he joined bigod in july in refusing to perform feudal service . the two earls were joined in their opposition by the earls of arundel and warwick . the main reasons for the magnates ' defiance was the heavy burden of taxation caused by edward 's continuous warfare in wales , france and scotland . in this they were also joined by robert winchelsey , the archbishop of canterbury , who was in the midst of an ongoing dispute with the king over clerical taxation . at one point bohun and bigod turned up in person at the exchequer to protest a tax they claimed did not have the consent of the community of the realm . for hereford there was also a personal element in the opposition to the king , after the humiliation and the affront to his liberties he had suffered over the dispute in the marches . at a meeting just outside london , bohun gave an impassioned speech objecting to the king 's abuse of power and demanding the restoration of ancient liberties . the grievances were summarised in a document known as the remonstrances . neither party showed any inclination to back down , and the nation seemed on the brink of another civil war . just as the conflict was coming to a head , however , external events intervened to settle it . in september 1297 , the english suffered a heavy defeat to the scots at the battle of stirling bridge . the scottish victory exposed the north of england to scottish raids led by william wallace . the war with scotland received wider support from the english magnates , now that their own homeland was threatened , than did the war in france to protect the king 's continental possessions . edward abandoned his campaign in france and negotiated a truce with the french king . he agreed to confirm magna carta in the so - called confirmatio cartarum ( confirmation of the charters ) . the earls consequently consented to serve with the king in scotland , and hereford was in the army that won a decisive victory over the scots in the battle of falkirk in 1298 . hereford , not satisfied that the king had upheld the charter , withdrew after the battle , forcing edward to abandon the campaign . death and family in 1275 bohun married maud de fiennes , daughter of enguerrand de fiennes , chevalier , seigneur of fiennes , by his 2nd wife , isabel ( kinswoman of queen eleanor of provence ) . she predeceased him , and was buried at walden priory in essex . hereford himself died at pleshey castle on 31 december 1298 , and was buried at walden alongside his wife . they had one son humphrey de bohun , 4th earl of hereford , born around 1276 . the son was given possession of his father 's lands and titles on 16 february 1299 . the young humphrey also inherited his father 's title of constable of england . a common theme in humphrey de bohun 's actions was his fierce protection of what he regarded as his feudal privileges . his career was marked by turbulence and political strife , particularly in the marches of wales , but eventually he left a legacy of consolidated possessions there . in 1297 , at the height of the conflict between edward i and rebellious barons , the king had actively tried to undermine hereford 's authority in the marches , but failed due to the good relations the earl enjoyed with the local men .