MONTACUTE or MONTAGU, WILLIAM de, second Earl of Salisbury (1328–1397), elder son of William de Montacute, first earl [q. v.], by his countess Catharine, was born 25 June 1328, and succeeding to his father's honours while yet a minor in 1344, was a ward of John de Somerton and Thomas Waryn. He accompanied the king in his expedition against France in 1346; on landing at La Hogue on 13 July he was knighted by the Prince of Wales, and served in the ensuing campaign. A contract of marriage was
made between him and Joan (1328–1385), the 'Fair Maid of Kent' [q. v.], daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent [q. v.], but the lady was claimed by Sir Thomas Holland, first earl of Kent of the Holland family [q. v.], and her contract with Salisbury was annulled by a papal bull, dated 13 Nov. 1349. In that year he obtained livery of his lands. In 1350 he was one of the original knights of the order of the Garter, and in August shared in the king's victory over the Spaniards off Winchelsea. He did homage in 1353 for the lordship of Denbigh in North Wales, which he inherited from his father, and being the following year appointed constable of the king's army in France, he sailed for Bordeaux with the Prince of Wales on 30 June 1355, having received a protection for two years in respect of any debts for which he might be liable in Gascony. The rear-guard of the prince's army was under his command, and he bore his part in the ravage of the south of France (Avesbury). On 17 Sept. 1356 he held the command of the rear of the prince's army, with the Earl of Suffolk, at the battle of Poitiers, defending the gap in the hedge that covered the English position with dismounted men-at-arms and archers, and, fighting 'like a lion,' routed the attack of the marshal, Jean de Clermont. He served in France in 1357, in 1359, and again in 1360, in which last year he received a commission to treat with the enemy, and assisted to make the treaty of Bretigni (Fœdera, iii. i. 483, 493). By the death of Joanna, dowager-countess of Surrey, in 1361, he came into possession of the castle of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, together with lands in that county and in Somerset and Dorset, of which his father had obtained the reversion from the crown (ib. p. 638). In 1364 he received commission to treat with the Count of Flanders for a marriage between the king's son Edmund, earl of Cambridge [see under Langley, Edmund de, first Duke of York], and the count's daughter Margaret. He was at this time a member of the king's council, and as such joined in sending letters to the Prince of Wales in assenting to his expedition in aid of Pedro of Castile. In August 1369 he served under the Duke of Lancaster [see John of Gaunt] in the north of France. On the defeat of the Earl of Pembroke in 1372 the king designed to send him to the relief of Rochelle, but the plan came to nought and Rochelle was lost. He took part in the abortive attempt that the king made in September to relieve Thouars. On 16 Feb. 1373 he was appointed commander of an expedition to guard the coast, and contracted to serve himself for six months with twenty knights, 279 esquires, and as many bowmen. Being joined by the admirals of the western and northern fleets, he sailed from Cornwall in March, and burnt seven Spanish ships in the port of St. Malo. He thence sailed to Brest, and having received reinforcements from England, cruised about off the coasts of
Normandy and Brittany. He was called to the relief of Brest, the garrison having given hostages to Du Guesclin, and promised to surrender to him on a certain day unless they were relieved by a force sufficient to meet him in the field. Salisbury landed his troops and sent a message to Du Guesclin bidding him either meet him or give up the hostages. The constable would not accept his challenge, and after the day fixed for the surrender had passed without his doing so, Salisbury reinforced and revictualled the place, and left it to return to his work of guarding the coasts. At the opening of parliament in November, the chancellor, Sir John Knyvet [q. v.], spoke in strong terms of the success of this expedition (Rolls of Parliament, ii. 316).
In February 1375 Salisbury was appointed joint-ambassador to attend the congress at Bruges, and in the following September was a joint-commissioner to treat of peace with France. He was made admiral of the western fleet in July 1376, but was relieved of that office in November. In the course of that year he was sent by the king to summon the king of Navarre to a conference (Continuatio Eulogü, iii. 340). A French invasion being expected, he was ordered in March 1377 to go down to his estate in the Isle of Wight with all his household and such force as he could muster for the defence of the island (Fœdera, m. ii. 1073). In April he was appointed joint-commissioner to treat with France, crossed the Channel and entered into negotiations, but was unable to obtain more than a month's truce (ib. p. 1076; Chronicon Angliœ, p. 140). He returned to England in June about the time of the king's death (Froissart, i. 709), and in July received charge of
