Generation 8 · plantagenet · 9 of 60 · Holds the 1313 writ

James Audley

2nd Baron Audley, KG

Son · husband · father of this house

James Audley, full figure, Royal / court, front

Garter, not a ducal coronet

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Chronicle of this board

Hero of Poitiers, 1356

James, 2nd Baron, fought at Poitiers in 1356 under the Black Prince and was made a Knight of the Garter. Froissart places him among the principal English captains. This is the apex of Audley arms in the field.

The 1327 and 1332 Lay Subsidy rolls for Staffordshire list Jacobus de Audeleye as the principal assessed head, with Richard del Delves (squire, 'dweller by the quarries') and William de Thicknes already in the social matrix. Thicknesse will return as a surname of the barony four centuries later.

The Sneyd cadet, a minor Audley branch, later charged a fleur-de-lys as a battle honour for an ancestor who fought at Poitiers beside this baron. Heraldry as proxy for presence.

Wardrobe

Gilt-edged plate over mail, ruby jupon with gold fret, white ostrich plume, Garter below the left knee. The most decorated military image in the entire bloodline.

Weapons · animals · lands

War sword, dagger, heater shield gules fretty or, lance. The Black Prince's battlefield.

Destrier; the Garter stall in St George's Chapel is the animal of prestige — a stallion of chivalry.

  • Heighley
  • Marcher rights
  • Poitiers ransom share