Nicholas de Moels

He married a wealthy heiress from North Cadbury in Somerset which transformed him into a major landholder and feudal baron.

[2] His surname appears to derive from the Norman manor of Meulles in Calvados, south-west of Orbec, in the Diocese of Lisieux.

[2] Devonshire historian Tristram Risdon (d. 1640) stated that he "descended of an ancient lineage in this shire" but provided no further detail.

[10] The contemporary Benedictine monk Matthew Paris wrote as follows concerning events in 1243: Which may be translated as follows: In September 1243, Henry III left Gascony to return to England, having on 17 June 1243 appointed Nicholas de Moels as Seneschal of Gascony, as related by Matthew Paris in his Chronica Majora,[c] with a marginal illustration of the King and Queen on board a ship with a man in a small boat alongside, apparently de Moels seeing him off.

[d] The Latin text following the illustration is as follows: Translated as: In 1244, de Moels inflicted a defeat on Theobald I, King of Navarre, capturing him in person on a battlefield in Gascony, according to the Devonshire historian Tristram Risdon (d.

He was made Constable of Dover Castle in 1246, Sheriff of Kent in 1247 and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1258.

Nicholas de Moels, Seneschal of Gascony, in a small boat bidding farewell to King Henry III as he sails back to England in 1243. Detail of illumination by Matthew Paris . [ 1 ]
Canting arms of Nicol' de Moels, from the Glover Roll : "d'argent od deux barres de gules ovec trois moeles de gules en le chief" ( Argent, two bars gules in chief three torteaux ).
De reditu regis in Angliam a Wasconia ("Concerning the return of the king to England from Gascony") King Henry III and Queen Eleanor returning by sea from Gascony in 1243, with Nicholas de Moels, Seneschal of Gascony, in a small boat alongside bidding him farewell. [ 1 ] Illumination by Matthew Paris (1200–1259) in Chronica Majora (Royal 14 C VII f. 134v)