Otton de Grandson

Who was Otton de Grandson?

Otto de Grandson was a medieval Savoyard knight long in the service of the English crown under Edward I. He was the closest personal friend of Edward, and shared the king's many interests.

The son of Peter, lord of Grandson near Lausanne, the young Otto travelled to England probably in the company of Peter I of Savoy in 1252, certainly not later than 1265. There he entered the service of Henry III and by 1267 was placed in the household of the prince Edward. In 1268 both prince and servant were knighted and in 1271 the latter accompanied his lord on the Ninth Crusade, where he served at Acre that year. According to one source, it was Otto, not Eleanor of Castile, who sucked the poison from the wounded Edward after an attempted assassination. In 1272 Otto was appointed an executor in Acre.

After returning to England, he was employed in Scotland and Wales, where he served as chief justiciar in the north from 1284 to 1294, and in Gascony, where he was sent in 1278 to reform the government with Robert Burnell. He was also employed as a diplomat and gained contacts with most of the sovereigns of western Europe. In 1283 he was briefly in the employ of Edmund Crouchback, the king's younger brother, for diplomatic work. It was said that no one could do the king's will better, including the king himself.