William III de Cantilupe (died 25 September 1254) (anciently Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe, Latinised to de Cantilupo) was the 3rd feudal baron of Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire, and jure uxoris (in right of his wife Eva de Braose, heiress of the de Braose dynasty of Welsh Marcher Lords) was feudal baron of Totnes in Devon and Lord of Abergavenny. His chief residences were at Calne in Wiltshire and Aston Cantlow (named after his family), in Warwickshire, until he inherited Abergavenny Castle and the other estates of that lordship.

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of William II de Cantilupe (d.1251) by his wife Millicent de Gournay (d.1260), a daughter of Hugh de Gournay and widow of Amaury VI of Montfort-Évreux (d. 1213), Earl of Gloucester. His uncle was Walter de Cantilupe (1195–1266), Bishop of Hereford and his younger brother was Thomas de Cantilupe (1220–1282), Bishop of Hereford and Chancellor of England, canonised in 1320.

Marriage and progeny

At some time before 15 February 1248 he married his father's ward Eva de Braose (d.1255), a daughter and co-heiress of William V de Braose (d.1230), "Black William", Lord of Abergavenny, by his wife Eva Marshal, daughter and eventual heiress of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Eva's wardship and marriage had been purchased by his father in 1238. Eva is said to be represented by the surviving recumbent female effigy in the Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny (formerly the church of Abergavenny Priory), most of whose body is covered by a large shield sculpted with the arms of Cantilupe ancient (three fleurs-de-lys), and holding a heart in her hands. By Eva he had the following issue:

Death

Cantilupe died in 1254, at about Michaelmas, 29 September. His death is recorded by his contemporary Matthew Paris (d.1259) in his Historia Anglorum thus: (His father William II died in 1251 and his grandfather William I in 1239). One of the chief mourners at his funeral was Simon de Montfort, a close friend of the family.