| Nationality | Basset, Philippa, countess of Warwick (d. 1265), magnate, was the eldest of three daughters and coheirs of Thomas Basset, lord of Colyton and Whitford, Devon, and Headington, Oxfordshire. When he died in 1220 she took Headington as her third of his estate. Meanwhile, however, Philippa had become the second wife of Henry de Newburgh, fifth earl of Warwick, whose wardship and marriage Thomas Basset had purchased for 500 marks in 1205. It was not an exalted marriage for a man of Newburgh's rank and it may well have been considered disparaging. When he died, on 10 October 1229, she was assigned a third of the Newburgh estate in dower. She was one of several dowagers whose longevity was a major factor in curtailing the resources of successive earls of Warwick during the thirteenth century, which is thought to have reduced their influence in national politics.
On Newburgh's death Philippa paid 100 marks to the king to be allowed to remain unmarried or to marry a man of her own choosing. By 4 November 1229, however, she had married the warlike Sir Richard Siward (d. 1248), probably on the urging of her cousin, Gilbert Basset. Siward, in company with Gilbert and his brothers, rebelled in 1233. As a consequence, Philippa's lands became vulnerable. In January 1234 the sheriff of Oxford was ordered to carry their houses at Headington to Beckley where they were to provide the material for the rebuilding of the house belonging to Richard, earl of Cornwall, which Richard Siward had fired. Meanwhile, however, Philippa had been allowed to retain her dower lands and was given free passage to join her rebellious husband in the Welsh marches. Their marriage was annulled in 1242, perhaps because she had married under duress. Before the annulment Philippa made an agreement with Siward for the equal sharing of their goods. When it came to carrying this out, however, discord arose between them, most particularly over the matter of Siward's debts. It was finally agreed, on 19 September 1242, that Philippa would pay him £75 for his share of their goods minus the sum that he owed the merchants, which she would satisfy. In 1246 she was at law, defending her tenure of the double hundred of Bullingdon, which had traditionally been attached to the manor of Headington.
Philippa remained unmarried and died shortly before 29 November 1265. She was buried at Bicester Priory, which had been founded by Gilbert Basset and endowed by members of the family. She had given the canons 7s. rent at Horton for a light to burn before the altar of St John the Baptist in their conventual church, which benefaction was made for her soul and those of her ancestors and children. She appears to have been the mother of the younger Richard Siward, who was brought up in Scotland. Her heirs, however, were found to be Margery, Ela, and Isabel, the daughters of Philippa's sister, Alice, and her husband, John Bisset. |