John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux

[2][a] Rising debt related to the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth led Baron William Devereux to financial arrangements permitting the alienation of Lyonshall Castle, the caput of the Barony.

His grandson, Stephen Devereux of Bodenham and Burghope[1] seized the castle by force in 1305 and brought suit for its return, but his plea was denied, as his grandfather was still alive.

[12] A renowned soldier, he began his campaigns when he joined the expedition of Bertrand du Guesclin to assist Don Enrique of Trastamara against Pedro the Cruel, King of Castile.

Prince Edward returned to Aquitaine, where he made himself unpopular with the nobility by levying taxes to pay for his Spanish expedition.

John Devereux was fighting again beside him in Gascony (1368) when the province rose in revolt against the Prince, and was present in September 1370 when Edward besieged the city of Limoges and massacred 3,000 inhabitants at its fall.

[13] Devereux campaigned in France during 1372,[14] and was taken prisoner when the English were defeated by Bertrand du Guesclin at the Battle of Chizé on 21 March 1373 in Poitou.

John Devereux served again under the Duke of Lancaster as Lieutenant/Sub-captain to Sir Aubrey de Vere in a naval expedition in 1378.

[17] Edward, the Black Prince died on 8 June 1376, probably from an illness contracted in Spain, and was buried in great splendour in Canterbury Cathedral.

Based on instructions provided by the Black Prince on his deathbed, on 20 May 1377 John Devereux was granted 200 marks a year for life for his services in Spain and Guyenne.

From 12 March 1387/8 to 1392 he was Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and from February 1387/8 until his death Steward of the King’s Household.

[27] In November 1385 he purchased Kilpeck Castle for the life of Elizabeth (part of her dower lands), wife of Robert, Earl of Hereford.

Shortly after regaining Lyonshall, John Devereux contracted on 18 February 1391 with a mason from Hereford to repair and improve it.

He had directed that 40 marks be paid "pur mon sepulture" and was recorded as having one of the most stately funerals with provisions for tapers and torchbearers.

[29] His will directed that "6 tapers, in the form of a cross be placed on his hearse, and that 6 men, clothed in white, bear 6 torches, and that each of the men should receive eleven pence for his pains; that every poor man at his burial to have one penny to pray for his soul, and for all Christian souls; to the Grey Friars, for his burial there, XI marks.