Descendants of John Coo

Descendants of John Coo

Generation No. 1

1. CAVALIER JOHN¹ COO¹ was born Abt. 1340 in Gestingthorpe, co. Essex, England¹, and died Aft. 1412 in Gestingthorpe, co. Essex, England².

Notes for CAVALIER JOHN COO:
THE NAME "COE".
The name derives from "Koo", "Coo", "Coho", "Cooe", and "Coe"--families originating from different places in England, Scotland and France. Our lineage originated in Norman France, carried to England at the time of 'William the Conqueror', the progenitors settling on lands in Counties Essex and Suffolk, whose spelling of the name was first recorded as "le Queu" ('the cook', Latin "coquus" or "cocus") which by 1200 was Anglicized to "le Keu", by 1350 to "le Koo" and within a generation to simply "Coo". In the 1500's it became spelled "Coe".
THE COES OF ESSEX AND SUFFOLK.
The earliest identifiable progenitor of our lineage was John Coo of Gestingthorpe, born about 1340 in county Essex during the reign of King Edward III, when chivalry was at its peak and when martial prowess elevated to wealth and power many men of obscure origin, (our progenitor included).
In early manhood he joined "The White Company" of Sir John Hawkwood, a band of mercenary soldiers who gained fame, fortune and power fighting in Italy, whose sponsors were mainly the Popes and the city-state of Florence. He became one of Sir John's chief lieutenants, having won knighthood in the bloody battle of San Gallo in 1364, and during the next 20 years his exploits were preserved by Italian historians among which are letters to him from Pope Gregory XI.
(The exploits of 'The White Company' are related by Arthur Conan-Doyle, author of the 'Sherlock Holmes' detective novels, in his romantic novel 'The White Company'.)
Having secured by his sword rank, wealth, fame and power, John Coo returned to England and acquired extensive estates in Essex and Suffolk. The earliest record of him there is in 1397 Tax Lists. In 1412, at 70 some years of age, he settled his affairs and donated a large part of his estate to found and endow a monumental chantry over the tomb of Sir John Hawkwood in Essex, which is the last record of him in English records. Of his wife and children, only 2 children are known--John (born about 1375), and William, (born about 1380). He died about 1415.
The armorial bearing of John Coo are "three pales wavy charged with twelve martlets".
His seal is "a holy lamb with a banner", probably derived from the seal of the Knights Templar, which order was suppressed by the Pope about 1315, before the time of its use by John Coo in 1403. He probably acquired its design during his service to the Popes.
(A more detailed account of him is found in 'Robert Coe, Puritan. His Ancestors and Descendants, 1340-1910', J. Gardner Bartlett. Boston, 1911, pp. 3-18).

More About CAVALIER JOHN COO:
Military service: Italy (see Notes).
Occupation: Soldier, Knight, Landowner
Religion: Catholic

Child of CAVALIER JOHN COO is:

JOHN² COO, b. Abt. 1375, Co. Essex, England; d. Abt. 1425, (Pos) Co. Essex, England.

Name: John Coo

Sex: M

Birth: ABT. 1340 in , Essex, England

Death: ABT. 1415

Note:

Source: WFT Volume #14, Tree #1715

John Coo, the earliest historical progenitor of the Coe family of

Gestingthorpe, co. Essex, etc., ancestors of Robert Coe the principal

founder of the Coe family of America, was born probably in Essex county,

England, about A.D. 1340 during the reign of Edward III; a period when

chivalry was at its height and when martial prowess elevated to wealth and

power many heroes who, rising from obscure origin, became historical

characters and founders of great families. At just this time commenced the

wars in France which lasted over a score of years and during which the

English arms attained immortal glory under the leadership of the Black

Prince, the most illustrious hero of the age of chivalry. Among his

followers to rise to fame was Sir John Hawkwood Knt., born about A.D. 1320

at Sible Hedingham, co. Essex (the parish adjacent to Gestingthorpe on the

southwest), a younger son of an obscure family, who when a young man

entered the English army in France and so distinguished himself by valor

as to secure the favor of his royal commander and be raised to the honor

of knighthood. About A.D. 1360 the war with France terminated, and Sir

John Hawkwood, who had acquired an international reputation as a soldier,

went to Italy (which then was divided into several small states and

independent cities, continually at war with one another), and there the

celebrated warrior passed the remaining thirty-five years of his life as a

professional "codottiere" in the pay and service of different states at

various times as commander of their armies. As a nucleus of his forces he

secured from England several thousand picked men whom he organized into a

highly efficient heavy cavalry known as "Compagnia Biance," or "The White

Company," who were irresistible in battle, and whose achievements famed

throughout Europe are mentioned in Conan Doyle's romantic novel bearing

their name. During his career Hawkwood secured large wealth which was lost

in his later years, and in his old age he lived on a pension from the city

of Florence where in the Duomo still may be seen a heroic equestrian

fresco of him painted by Paolo Uccello as a memorial of the renowned

commander. In Hawkwood's "White Company" was an Englishman called in the

Italian chronicles Coc, Cok, or Cocco*, who won the spurs of knighthood by

desperate valor in the sanguinary battle of San Gallo, May 1, 1364, and

later became one of Hawkwood's principal constables (captains).

* "The Englishmen were always mercenaries preferred by the Florentines. .

. . On October 3d, 1384, John Gulion, John Cokum, Thomas Ball, and Richard

Sticklet were engaged as constables (captains) each with 100 lances and 4

trumpeters." Each "lance" consisted of three men; the knight, his squire,

and his page.

Accounts of many of his exploits during the next twenty years were

preserved by the Italian historians, and among the Papal Registers are

several letters in A.D. 1373 from Pope Gregory XI, addressed to Coc and

other English officers under Hawkwood, then in service of the Pope,

promising them the pay for their services. (See "Sir John Hawkwood," by

John Temple-Leader and Gieuseppe Marcotti, translated by Leader Scott, pp.

27-8, 93, 106, 139, 160, 182; also Calendar of Papal Registers, (English

State Papers), vol. 4, pp. 120, 122, 129, 136.) Sir John Hawkwood died at

Florence Mar. 16, 1394-5, and was honored by a magnificent public funeral;

later his body was removed to England, at the special request of King

Richard II, and interred in his native place. "At Sible Hedingham in the

parish church of St. Peter may still be seen part of a canopy under an

arch where once rose a noble cenotaph, the arch bearing the allusive

heraldic decoration of a hawk flying amid trees . . . . . . .

. This monument was the tomb of Sir John Hawkwood . . . . .

erected by his zealous friends Robert Rokenden, Sen., Robert Rokenden

Jun., and John Cook (should be John Coo as hereafter shown), perhaps the

man whom the Italian choniclers called Cocco and who was among the leaders

in Hawkwood's company. And not content with merely perpetuating the

memory and providing a tomb for their captain, they also took thought for

his soul by founding a chapelry in the church and another in the priory of

Castle Hedingham to pray for the soul of Sir John Hawkwood," etc. (See

"Sir John Hawkwood" by Temple Leader and Marcotti, translated by Leader

Scott, pp. 307-8.) In the original records the founder of the Hawkwood

Chantries is called John Coo (not Cook) of Gestingthorpe, as appears from

the following documents: Inquisition taken at Branketre (Braintree, co.

Essex), on Tuesday before the Feast of St. Matthias, 13 Henry IV., (Feb.

1411-12). The jury say it will be no prejudice to the King or any other

to allow Robert Rykedon the elder, Robert Rykedon the younger, and John

Coo to establish a chantry in the parish church of Hengham Sibille (Sible

Hedingham) and another in the Priory of Nuns at Castle Hengham

(Hedingham), with an endowment of lands in those places and in Gosfield,

Mapletrestede (Maplestead), Great and Little Yelham, and Topesfeld, for

the souls of Sir John Haukewode Knt., John Olyver, Esq., and Thomas Newton

Esq., Besides the lands to be so assigned there will remain to the

Rykedons lands in Shalford, etc.; and to John Coo two hundred acres of

land, ten acres of pasture, and 20 sh. rents, all in Gestyngthorpe, held

of Lady Joane de Swynbourne by Knight's service, worth 10 marks yearly.

(Inquisition ad Quod Damnum, Record Office, File 443, No. 24.) On Oct. 20,

1412, License was issued for 20 pounds paid into the Hanaper (Treasury) by

Robert Rykedon the elder, Robert Rykedon the younger, and John Coo, for

them to found a chantry of one chaplain in the parish church of Hengham

Sibille and another chantry of one chaplain in the church of Priory of

Nuns of Hengham at the Castle, and to grant four messuages (dwelling

houses), four tofts (old dwellings), four hundred and twenty acres of

land, thirteen acres of meadow, twenty acres of pasture, four acres of

wood, and twenty-two acres of alder, in Hengham Sibille, Hengham at the

Castle, Gosfield, Mapeltrested, Great Gelham (Yelham), Little Gelham, and

Topesfeld, not held of the King, to the said churches for the souls of

John Hawkwode knight, John Olyver esquire, and Thomas Newenton esquire.

(Patent Rolls, 14 Henry IV, membrane 18.) It was suggested by the

historians Morant and Weever that the founders of these chantries were

executors of Hawkwood, and that the endowment was from his estate; but as

the chantries were also for the souls of two of his companions and as it

is known that Hawkwood died insolvent, this idea is untenable and moreover

the wording of the Inq. ad Quod Damnum makes it evident that the

foundation was a gift of Coo and the Rykedons. What caused John Coo of

Gestingthorpe to donate so much of his estate to found chantries for the

soul of Sir John Hawkwood? That he had gained his wealth in service with

Hawkwood in Italy is the only reasonable explanation; in the Indian

chronicles and English names of Hawkwood and his officers were so

mutilated by Italian spelling as to be hardly recognizable; i. e. Hawkwood

was distorted into Haucut, Haud, Auchut, Agut, Agud, Auguth, Agostino,

Acuto, Aguti, Aucudo, Agulio, Karcoud, Kauchwole, etc.; Brise appears as

Brez, Briche, bresci, Breccia, etc; Thornbury becomes Tournaberil,

Tornabarilli, Comneberil, etc.; so the identity of Coc or Cocco, the

Cavalier of the "White Commpany", with John Coo* of Gestingthorpe, founder

of the Hawkwood chantries and progenitor of the Coe family of

Gestingthorpe and America, seems well established.

* It has been previously shown how Coo, Coho, and Koo, were probably

anglicized forms of the Norman-French Keu, meaning Cook, from the Latin

Coquus or Cocus shortened to Cok or Coc.)

We therefore conclude that John Coo in early manhood joined Hawkwood's

"White Company" in Italy and for many years participated in the famous

exploits of that celebrated band. Such a career was the acme of the

strenuous life; physical prowess, skilled horsemanship, indomitable

courage, reckless daring, and romantic chivalry were the characteristics

of the cavalier of that period "when knighthood was in flower," and when

warfare with all its scenes of valor, carnage, and pillage, was considered

the greatest glory of mankind. Having secured by his sword rank, fame, and

fortune, John Coo returned to his native land, acquired extensive estates

in the region of his birth, and passed his remaining years as a country

gentleman. The earliest reference yet found of him in England is in 20

Richard II (1397), when he is assessed on a subsidy (royal tax) as a

married man for lands in Belchamp St. Paul, co. Essex, appearing in the

tax list as Johannes Koo et uxor ei, iij sh. (Lay Subsidies, Essex,

107-68.) At the Visitation of Essex, in 1612, his descendant Edward

(eight generation) Coo produced a deed dated the Feast of the Holy Trinity

4 Henry IV. (about June, 1403), signed by John (first generation) Coo,

with the latter's seal bearing a holy lamb with a banner* and within an

escutcheon the following arms: Three pales wavy charged with twelve

martlets. (Visitation of Essex 1612, Harl. Mss. 6065, fol. 66.)

* the paschal lamb, or holy lamb with the banner of St. George, was

originally the badge of the Knights Templar, a military-religious order

founded about the year A.D. 1115 by some crusaders, for the service of the

Christian church in the Holy Land, and although at one period of great

power throughout Europe, was suppressed about A.D. 1315. At one time part

of Hawkwood's "White Company" called "The Company of St. George," was in

the service of the Pope and Church; John Coo being in this service

perhaps adopted this badge on that account. (See "Sir John Hawkwood," p.

56; also Calendar of Papal Registers in English State Papers, vol. 4, pp.

120, 122, 129, 136.) The description of the seal of John Coo as given in

the Visitation, is not clear as to the position on it occupied by the

paschal lamb; but perhaps the latter was above the escutcheon and so in

the nature of a crest.

About this time John Coo also held lands in Wickham St. Paul, co. Essex,

as tenant of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's Church, London. (See

Morant's "History of Essex," vol. 2, p. 276.) The following records of

his acquisition of lands have also been discovered: On the Feast of St.

Martin the Bishop 9 Henry IV, (Nov. 11, 1407), Nicholas Berners and

Margery (Swynbourne) his wife granted to John Coo and Geoffrey Swynbourne

of co. Essex, et als., the manor of Ambirden (in Debden, Essex). (Ancient

Deeds at Record Office, C. 2383); also in 9 Henry IV. (1407) , John Coo

paid entry fine (fee) on one messuage (dwelling-house) and twenty-six

acres of land in Gestingthorpe called Grene's acquired of John Warner.

(Court Rolls, Honour of Clare (a great feudal baronial jurisdicion of the

Earls of Clare, co. Suffolk), vol. 1859, p.35.) Having attained an age of

about seventy years, John Coo settled his affairs in A.D. 1412 by donating

a large part of his estate to found the Hawkwood chantries as previously

described, which is the last mention found of him. No records have been

found to show the name of his wife and the names of all their children.

Children: i. John, b. about 1375, was eldest son and heir according to the

Visitation of Essex in 1612. ii. William. b. about 1380, was of Halstead,

co. Essex, 3 Henry V (1415). (Court Rolls, Honour of Clare, vol. 1859,

p.48.) His further history has not been traced, but perhaps he was father

of John Coo who d. in 1452, progenitor of the Coes of Boxford and Groton,

co. Suffolk, who bore the same coat-of-arms as the Coes of Gestingthorpe.

Marriage 1 Spouse Unknown

Children

1. John Coo II b: 1375 in England

[Coo.FTW]