Robert de Brantingham was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 noble

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 of the late fourteenth century. He lived in southern England, although the Brantingham family

Brantingham (family)

The Brantinghams are a once-noble family from North East England, originally from Brantingham in Yorkshire.-Coat of arms:...

 traditionally came from Brantingham

Brantingham

Brantingham is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated about north of Brough, and west of Kingston upon Hull. It lies to the north of the A63 road...

 in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, and his half-effigy

Effigy

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...

 in brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

 may be found in St Martin's Church, East Horsley, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

.

Legal involvement

On 18 November 1381, in a case tried at Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

, de Brantingham stood alongside Alexander Marley and two clerks, Thomas de Staindrop and Thomas de Barton, as plaintiff against Sir John and Gwenllian de Raleigh. The action was a plea of covenant concerning Drewsteignton

Drewsteignton

Drewsteignton is a village and civil parish within the administrative area of West Devon, England, also lying within the Dartmoor National Park. It is located in the Teign valley, west of Exeter and south east of Okehampton...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, for which de Brantingham and his fellow plaintiffs paid 100 marks, and in return were granted the manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Drewsteignton.

De Brantingham also stood as a witness to the grant by Sir John de Segrave

Segrave

Segrave is a surname and can refer to:An English baronial family:*Stephen de Segrave a judge*Gilbert de Segrave , who was also a judge*Nicholas de Segrave, 1st Baron Segrave *John de Segrave...

 to John de Denton of Sileby

Sileby

Sileby is a former industrial village and civil parish in the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, between Leicester and Loughborough. Nearby villages include Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Seagrave and Cossington....

, his wife, Emma, and his son, William, of a messuage

Messuage

In law, the term messuage equates to a dwelling-house and includes outbuildings, orchard, curtilage or court-yard and garden. At one time messuage supposedly had a more extensive meaning than that conveyed by the words house or site, but such distinction no longer survives.A capital messuage is the...

 in the vill

Vill

Vill is a term used in English history to describe a land unit which might otherwise be described as a parish, manor or tithing.The term is used in the period immediately after the Norman conquest and into the late medieval. Land units in Domesday are frequently referred to as vills, although the...

 of Sileby with five acres of land and three roods of meadow, which one Reginald Robinet formerly held, for their lives, rent 10 shillings

Shilling (English coin)

The English shilling was a coin of the Kingdom of England, when first introduced known as the testoon. It remained in circulation until it became the British shilling as the result of the Union of England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.There were twenty shillings to the...

a year.