Hainault Roets & Geography

For our purposes, the story of the Roet Family coming to England begins in the early 1300s, when Payne Roet, father of Katheryn Roet Swynford and Philippa Roet Chaucer, was likely born. There is no concrete information to back this claim, only the statement of Arthur Stanborough Cook that, based upon other dates we have for Payne, he may well have been born in the early years of the century. Although many scholars have gathered together much of the existing information surrounding Payne Roet, geneaology is much the same problem for the Roet family tree as it later proves to be for determining the Swynford family tree. Cook notes that Kervyn de Lettenhove's version of Froissart's Chronicle gives a short pedigree for Payne Roet: he is supposedly the son of Jean Ruet, son of Huon Ruet (Ibid). But this information does not appear to be confirmed elsewhere. Certainly, this branch of the Roet family is rather obscure and does not appear to be directly related to the landbaron Lords of Roeulx family line, which is assumed to have held a considerable estate in and around the town of Le Rouelx, 8 miles northeast of Mons. This town appears to be the largest of the three Hainault towns bearing names derived from Paon's family surname. In addition to Le Rouelx, there is Roux, approximately forty miles easterly of Mons, and Fauroeulx, approximately twenty miles south of Mons. Lettenhove states that Jean Ruet, Payne's father, died in 1305. While Cook assumes Le Rouelx to be the site of the Paon Roet family line's estate on the basis of information not divulged, he may well be correct. Le Rouelx has the closest proximity to the convent of Sainte Wandru at Mons, with which Paon Roet's family would later be connected. In addition, the town of Roux appears to bne closely related to the town of Trazegnie and its main family, which eventually absorbed the Lordship of Rouelx .

 

The Hainault Roets -- du Roeulx -- claimed descent from the Counts of Hainault themselves. However, tracing the family tree is problemmatic as available sources give conflicting geneaologies. The following tree below was constructed from information available from the Mormon Church archives, which are provided freely but are not guaranteed. The tree below is a screenshot of a database program I am constructing. This means that clicking on its buttons won't work ;-) If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please drop me an email.

 

 

Payne Roet Comes to England

After his father's death, Payne presumably remained in his native Hainault, likely on some small family estate near one of the the namesake towns mentioned, until he forms part of the retinue of Philippa of Hainault, who went to England in 1327 to wed King Edward III. It is assumed that Payne remained in Philippa's English service for the following twenty years, as he is still found in her employment at the 1347 Siege of Calais as one of two knights she deputized to provide safe conduct for the citizen's there she had saved (Cook, 60/1).

The identity of Payne's wife has not been determined. She was possibly English or connected with Philippa's entourage, and married Payne no later than 1335/6, as their daughter Elizabeth (Ysiabel), nobili adolescentule Elizabet dou Ruet domini Egidii dicti Paonet de Ruet filie, appears to have been born in that year. Other children followed: Walter Roet in 1340?, Philippa Roet in 1345/6? and, according to the Dictionary of National Biography, Katheryn Roet in or about 1350.

Following the Siege of Calais and Payne's knighthood (which is confirmed on his tomb in St. Pauls, the inscription of which, however, is dated to a post 1396 era), we find him serving Queen Philippa in the capacity of Marshal of the House (Galway ), but two years later he likely returns to his native Hainault to witness his daughter's entering the convent at Sainte Wandru, Mons (Cartulaire, ), which has been described as one of Hainault's most prestigious.

This 1349 granting of St. Wandru's prebend to Elizabeth Roet indicates a close relationship between the Roet family and the Bavarian royal family, whose Countess Margaret of Hainault (Cartulaire, 521-2) granted her the honor. At her death, on or before 24 July, 1368, she is described as damiselle Ysabiel de Ruet, who is chanoinesse de Sainte Waudru (Cartulaire, II, 157-8). This dowering of a daughter of a civil servant by a member of the local royal house will later serve as a useful comparison for the similar situation in which Elizabeth Roet's namesake, Elizabeth Chaucer, daughter of Elizabeth Roet's sister, Philippa, is nominated by Richard II and dowered by John of Gaunt. The latter situation is often unfortunately construed as indicating that Elizabeth Chaucer was the illegitimate daughter of Gaunt simply because he dowered her entry into a convent. If this logic were similarly applied, we could assume the Countess Margaret's action construed an acceptance of Elizabeth Roet as an illegitimate daughter, which would not seem valid, nor has this theory been forwarded by any who apply this logic to Elizabeth Chaucer and John of Gaunt.

The dowering of Elizabeth Roet by the Countess Margaret would not be the last linking of fortunes between the Roet family and the Bavarian royal house, for on May 11, 1350, Payne is found in the service of the Countess Margaret's son, Duke Albert, preparing to go on a pilgrimate with Albert to St. Druon (Cartulaire). During the period 1350 - 1352, Payne is mentioned seven times in the official records of the Hainault royal service. At Christmas, 1351, he has presumably returned from the pilgrimage and travels to England with the Countess Margaret's party to attend the marriage of the Countess' son William to Mathilda of Lancaster, sister of Blanche of Lancaster, who would later marry John of Gaunt, fourth son of Queen Philippa of Hainault. They remained in England until March, 1352, but all mention of Payne is lost five months later; the last notice of his being alive is an August 4, 1352 entry in the official records (Cartulaire ).

After Payne's presumed death in the mid 1350s, his children are found scattered among the households of the English royal family, excepting Elizabeth, who remained at Sainte Wandru's until her death. Payne's son Walter Roet apparently follows his father's example of serving two royal masters, as he is found in the Countess Margaret's service at Mons when he is summoned by the Black Prince (heir of Edward III and Queen Philippa of Hainault) in 1355 to attend on the Black Prince at the expedition into Guyenne in September of that year (Galway, ). The following year, his sister Philippa is noted as forming part of the household of Elizabeth and Lionel of Ulster, in whose house Geoffrey Chaucer also served at that time, as the Ulster's purchased clothing for one "Philippa Pan.", which has now been determined to refer to Philippa Roet (Galway, Braddy, etc.).

We know Katheryn Roet,, the youngest daughter, eventually became associated with the retinue of Blanche of Lancaster, as she is described as Blanche Swynford, damoiselles a les dites deux filles de Lancastre in a 1369 warderobe account providing mourning clothes for the funeral services for Queen Philippa who died in that year (31:172-3). While this account erroneously names her "Blanche" Swynford rather than Katheryn Swynford, it indicates that by 1369 Katheryn was employed by the Lancasters. She has likely been misidentified, as no Blanche Swynford appears in England's official record excepting Katheryn's daughter, Blanche Swynford, who in 1369 would have been a mere infant, thus an unlikely candidate to be the damoiselles a les dites deux filles de Lancastre, although Galway has interpreted the document as implying that Blanche of Lancaster placed Katheryn's infant daughter in the same household as her own two daughters (483).

Thus, while the date of Katheryn's entry into the Lancastrian household has not been determined conclusively, it is, however, likely that she took her place caring for the children of Blanche and John of Gaunt as soon as 1) there were children to care for; and 2) she was of sufficient age. On the other hand, her brother Walter and sister Philippa are found in various households of Queen Philippa of Hainault's children by 1355/6, so there is no reason not to assume that Katheryn may well have been placed in a royal household considerably earlier than 1369.

In any case, Katheryn is married by 1364/5 to a Lincolnshire knight who is himself in the service of John of Gaunt, fourth son of Philippa of Hainault and King Edward III of England. Katheryn's marriage may have introduced her to the Lancastrian household service, although the connections between her brother and sister with the various royal households in 1355/6 offers a more likely rationale for expecting to find Katheryn in either the Lancastrian or another royal household prior to 1369.