View source for Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland

{{short description|12th-century Anglo-Norman nobleman in Ireland}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Theobald Walter
| image              = File:WalterArms.png
| image_size         = 200px
| caption            = Arms of Walter, adopted at the start of the [[Heraldry|age of heraldry]]: ''Or, a chief indented azure''. These arms are borne in the first [[Quartering (heraldry)|quarter]] of the arms of the Butler family, [[Marquess of Ormonde]] (the arms of Butler are born in the 2nd) reflecting that family's descent in the male line from Theobald Walter<ref>Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.864</ref>
| birth_date         = 1165
| birth_place        = [[Norfolk, England|Norfolk]], England
| death_date         = 4 February 1206
| death_place        = [[Wicklow]], Ireland
| occupation         = Sheriff of Lancaster<br />Chief Butler of England and Ireland
| spouse             = [[Maud le Vavasour]]
| parents            = Hervey Walter<br>Maud de Valoignes
| children           = [[Theobald le Botiller]]<br />Maud le Botiller<br />Beatrice le Botiller
}}
'''Theobald Walter''' (sometimes '''Theobald FitzWalter''',<ref>Montague-Smith, Patrick ''Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage and companionage'' Kingston upon Thames: Kelley's Directories 1968 p. 865</ref> '''Theobald Butler''', or '''Theobald Walter le Boteler''') was the first Chief Butler of Ireland. He also held the office of [[Chief Butler of England]] and was the [[High Sheriff of Lancashire]] for 1194.<ref>Flanagan, M. T. "Butler, Theobald (died 1205)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'' 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4207, accessed 7 Nov 2007]</ref> Theobald was the first to use the surname Butler of the [[Butler dynasty|Butler family]] of Ireland. He was involved in the Irish campaigns of King [[Henry II of England]] and [[John of England]]. His eldest brother [[Hubert Walter]] became the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] and [[justiciar]] and [[Lord Chancellor]] of England.
==Family==
Theobald was the son of Hervey Walter and his wife, Matilda de Valoignes, who was one of the daughters of Theobald de Valoignes.<ref name=CPII447>Cokayne, George Edward ''The Complete Peerage: Volume Two Bass to Canning'' Vicary Gibbs & H. A. Doubleday eds. Microprint reprint edition Stroud:Sutton Publishing 2000 {{ISBN|0-904387-82-8}} pp. 447–448</ref>
Their children were
Theobald, [[Hubert Walter|Hubert]]—future Chief Justiciar and Archbishop of Canterbury—Bartholomew, Roger, and Hamon. Theobald Walter and his brother Hubert were brought up by their uncle [[Ranulf de Glanvill]], the great justiciar of [[Henry II of England]] who had married his mother's sister Bertha.<ref name=Lodge3>Lodge, John ''The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of That Kingdom'' 1789, Vol IV, p. 3</ref>
==Career==
On 25 April 1185, [[John I of England|Prince John]], in his new capacity as "Lord of Ireland" landed at Waterford and around this time granted the hereditary office of [[butler]] of Ireland to Theobald, whereby he and his successors were to attend the Kings of England at their coronation, and on that day present them with the first cup of wine.<ref name=Otway67>Otway-Ruthven, A. J. ''A History of Medieval Ireland'' New York: Barnes & Noble 1993 {{ISBN|1-56619-216-1}} p. 67</ref> Theobald's father had been the hereditary holder of the office of butler of England.<ref name=Poole313>Poole, A. L. ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087–1216'' Second Edition Oxford:Clarendon Press reprint 1986 {{ISBN|0-19-821707-2}} p. 313</ref> Some time after, King Henry II of England granted him the prisage of wines, to enable him, and his heirs, the better to support the dignity of that office. By this grant, he had two tuns (barrels) of wine out of every ship, which broke bulk in any trading port of Ireland, and was loaded with 20 tons of that commodity, and one ton from 9 to 20.<ref name=Lodge3/> Theobald accompanied John on his progress through Munster and Leinster. At this time he was also granted a large section of the north-eastern part of the [[Thomond|Kingdom of Limerick]].<ref name=Otway67/> The grant of five and a half cantreds was bounded by: <blockquote>"...the borough of [[Killaloe, County Clare|Killaloe]] and the half cantred of Trucheked Maleth in which it lay, and the cantreds of Elykarval, Elyochgardi, Euermond, Aros and Wedene, and Woedeneoccadelon and Wodeneoidernan."</blockquote>
These are the modern [[Barony (Ireland)|baronies]] of [[Tulla|Tullough]] (in [[County Clare]]), [[Clonlisk]] and [[Ballybritt]] (in [[County Offaly]]), [[Eliogarty]], [[Ormond Upper]], [[Ormond Lower]], [[Owney and Arra]] (in [[County Tipperary]]), Owneybeg, [[Clanwilliam (County Limerick)|Clanwilliam]] and [[Coonagh, Limerick City|Coonagh]] (in [[County Limerick]]).<ref>''D. Gleeson'', "A History of the Diocese of Killaloe", pp. 176–7</ref>
Theobald was active in the war that took place when [[Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair|Rory O'Connor]] attempted to regain his throne after retiring to the monastery of [[Cong, County Mayo|Cong]], as Theobald's men were involved in the death of Donal Mor McCarthy during a parley in 1185 near [[Cork (city)|Cork]].<ref name=Otway69>Otway-Ruthven, A. J. ''A History of Medieval Ireland'' New York: Barnes & Noble 1993 {{ISBN|1-56619-216-1}} p. 69</ref> In 1194 Theobald supported his brother during Hubert's actions against Prince John, with Theobald receiving the surrender of John's supporters in [[Lancashire|Lancaster]]. Theobald was rewarded with the office of sheriff of Lancaster, which he held until Christmas of 1198. He was again sheriff after John took the throne in 1199.<ref name=Joliffe66>Joliffe, J. E. A. ''Angevin Kingship'' London:Adam and Charles Black 1955 p. 66</ref>
In early 1200, however, John deprived Theobald of all his offices and lands because of his irregularities as sheriff. His lands were not restored until January 1202.<ref name=Joliffe67>Joliffe, J. E. A. ''Angevin Kingship'' London:Adam and Charles Black 1955 pp. 67–68</ref> A manuscript in the [[National Library of Ireland]] points to [[William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber]] as the agent of his restoration:<blockquote>"Grant by William de Braosa, (senior) to Theobald Walter (le Botiller) the burgh of Kildelon ([[Killaloe, County Clare|Killaloe]]) ... the cantred of Elykaruel (the baronies of [[Clonlisk]] and [[Ballybritt|Ballybrit]], County Offaly), Eliogarty, Ormond, Ara and Oioney, etc. 1201."<ref>[http://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_013180 National Library of Ireland, Dublin] D. 27</ref></blockquote>"Elykaruel" refers to the Gaelic [[tuath]] of "Ely O'Carroll", which straddled the southern part of [[County Offaly]] and the northern part of Tipperary (at [[Ikerrin]]). The other [[cantred]]s named are probably the modern [[Barony (Ireland)|baronies]] of [[Eliogarty]], [[Ormond Upper]], [[Ormond Lower]] and [[Owney and Arra]] in [[County Tipperary]].
Theobald founded the [[Abbey of Woney]],<ref name=Otway73/> in the [[townland]] of Abington ({{langx|ga|Mainistir Uaithne}}, meaning "the monastery of Uaithne"), of which nothing now remains,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abingdon|url=http://www.logainm.ie/Viewer.aspx?text=Abington |work=Placenames Database of Ireland |publisher= The Placenames Branch |accessdate=9 May 2011}}</ref> near the modern village of [[Murroe]] in [[County Limerick]] Ireland around 1200.<ref name=Otway73>Otway-Ruthven, A. J. ''A History of Medieval Ireland'' New York: Barnes & Noble 1993 {{ISBN|1-56619-216-1}} p. 73</ref> He also founded the [[Cockersand Abbey]] in Lancaster, [[Nenagh|Abbey of Nenagh]] in [[County Tipperary]], and a monastic house at [[Arklow]] in [[County Wicklow]].<ref name=CPII447/>
==Marriage and children==
Theobald married [[Maud le Vavasour]] (1176–1226), heiress of Robert le Vavasour, a baron of Yorkshire,<ref name=CPII447/> John Lodge in the ''Peerage of Ireland'' in 1789 gave the year as 1189,<ref>Lodge, John ''The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of That Kingdom'', 1789, Vol IV, p 5.</ref> but on no apparent authority, as no other author follows him on this.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}
He died on 4 February 1206 at Arklow Castle and was buried at Wotheney Abbey.
Their children were
* [[Theobald le Botiller, 2nd Chief Butler of Ireland]]<ref name=CPII447/>
* Maud (1192–1244) marries three times yet only has two surviving children Ralph and Marie
==References==
{{Reflist|60em}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Theobald Walter, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:Butler dynasty|Theobald]]
[[Category:People from County Tipperary]]
[[Category:Normans in Ireland]]
[[Category:12th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:13th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Lancashire]]
[[Category:1165 births]]
[[Category:1206 deaths]]