[4][5] A writ issued on 13 April 1301, presumably soon after the death of Jocelin, Sir Gunselm de Badlesmere, initiated inquests into the identity of the next heir of lands that he held direct from the King.

This led to a hearing on 30 April of that year in relation to property in Kent at Badlesmere and Donewelleshethe, where it was confirmed that the heir was his son Bartholomew, then aged 26.

[6] Bartholomew de Badlesmere and Fulk Payfrer were the knights who represented the county of Kent at the Parliament that sat at Carlisle from January 1306/7 until 27 March 1307.

[12] On 28 April 1316, Bartholomew was one of four men who were authorised to grant safe conducts in the King's name to Robert Bruce and other Scots so that they could come to England to negotiate a truce.

[17] Bartholomew and his associates formed a loose grouping which has been referred to by modern historians as the "Middle Party", who detested alike Edward's minions, such as the Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester, and his violent enemies such as Lancaster.

[21] In June of the following year, he hosted a splendid reception at Chilham Castle for Edward II and his entourage when they were travelling to Dover en route for France.

[24] By the summer of 1321, Bartholomew defied the King by associating with their mutual enemy the Earl of Lancaster and his allies in their active opposition to Edward's "evil councillors" such as the Despensers.

When returning to London from a pilgrimage to Canterbury, the Queen did not take the most direct route but detoured to Leeds Castle, where she and her armed retinue demanded access, precipitating the siege and its aftermath that is described in detail in the article about Bartholomew's wife.

Although Bartholomew assembled an armed force and marched from Witney towards Kent, by the time he reached Kingston upon Thames it was clear that he would not receive help from Lancaster and his followers and so he was not able to take effective action to relieve the siege.

[30] On 11 March the sheriff of Nottingham and Derby was ordered to arrest the same group, who had taken Burton upon Trent but they departed from that town when the royal army approached.

[32] Bartholomew fled south from Boroughbridge and, according to the "Livere de Reis", was captured in a small wood near Brickden and taken by the Earl of Mar to Canterbury.

[33] Alternative details appear in John Leland's "Collectanea", which states that "Syr Barptolemew Badelesmere was taken at Stow Parke yn the Manoyr of the Bishop of Lincoln that was his nephew.

[36] In a book that was first published in 1631, the antiquary John Weever stated that Bartholomew was buried at White Friars, Canterbury;[37] this was a community of the Order of St Augustine.

During the first four years of reign of Edward III, a series of inquisitions post mortem established the properties to which Margaret was entitled and also those of which her son Giles would be the right heir.