Roger Corbet (died 1430)

[4] She quotes extensive complaints to the 1415 parliament,[5] in the original Anglo-Norman language, in which numerous misdeeds are listed, but insists that they refer to Robert's younger son of the same name, who was probably unborn, at most an infant, at that time.

[10] by Richard II but transferred under Henry IV to John Burley, a retainer of Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel.

[2] Both Robert and Roger were to develop an increasingly close relationship with Arundel, whose family were key supporters of the House of Lancaster.

Roger and Robert Corbet together enlisted in Arundel's affinity around 1405,[2] coming to be known as esquiers de count d'Arundell.

However, Roger was at this stage still on good terms with John Talbot, Lord Furnival, the future Earl of Shrewsbury, with whom the Corbet brothers had family connections through their paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, daughter of Fulk, 1st Baron Strange of Blackmere.

The accession of a new monarch, Henry V, released a chorus of complaints against Arundel's high-handedness, orchestrated by Talbot, who saw an opportunity to widen his own influence in the region.

In 1414 numerous petitions to the Fire and Faggot Parliament, which was held in Leicester in April, raised grave concerns about lawlessness in Shropshire and the Marches.

He was also accused of raiding the home of the rector of Edgmond, Shropshire in 1412 with an armed force, stripping the house of his property and driving off his livestock.

– the single English phrase standing out starkly in an otherwise Anglo-Norman document and signifying the sense of impunity that had hitherto accompanied the rule of the Arundel affinity.

Despite Leyney's attempts to come to an accommodation, Roger had set about him, Corbet had beaten and wounded the man, hacking at his legs and causing horrible sufferings, maiming him seriously.

The Corbet brothers followed Arundel to Normandy in August 1415 as part of the king's pursuit of his claim to the French throne.

However, the earl contracted dysentery at the Siege of Harfleur only a month after the start of the campaign and was invalided home to Sussex, followed by Robert Corbet.

Since its incorporation by king John in 1199, the town had been ruled by a duumvirate, elected annually and subsequently called bailiffs, assisted by a common council.

[12] The constitution of the town had been reformed in the 1380s under the auspices of the 11th Earl of Arundel, who claimed to be its "hereditary protector," and the council fixed at 12 members.

[1] He was made a commissioner at the inquiry in Shrewsbury into the estates of the Barons FitzWarin of Whittington Castle, long troubled by short-lived heirs and a tortuous succession.

Through inheritance from his relatives, Sir William acquired a considerable amount of property in Staffordshire, including land at Freeford[15] and the estate of Abnalls, near Burntwood.

This led to further problems, as the Crown and its agents looked again into the Ferrers claims, and in a subsequent contest there was armed conflict between Stafford's heir, Margaret Vere, and the Cornwall family.

[21] G C Baugh, C R Elrington (Editors), D C Cox, J R Edwards, R C Hill, Ann J Kettle, R Perren, Trevor Rowley, P A Stamper, A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 4: Agriculture, Institute of Historical Research, 1989, accessed 28 November 2013.

Greenslade (editor), A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14 – Lichfield, Institute of Historical Research, 1990, accessed 13 December 2013.