Stephen Devereux c. Stephen Devereux was born about , the eldest of three sons of Walter Devereux [ 1 ] and Cecilia de Longchamp. Walter Devereux's lands passed into the King's hands and were placed in the custody of the sheriff of Hereford, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. King John abandoned Normandy in December , and they returned to England. Marshal tried to retain his Normandy estates at Longueville, and paid homage to King Philip for this purpose. This led to a falling out of favour with King John that festered over the next few years.
In Stephen Devereux's uncle and namesake, Stephen de Longchamp, granted him the manor of Frome Herbert Halmond [ 8 ] with John confirming it on 26 July, and this probably was an early attempt to subvert the loyalty of Stephen to the earl of Pembroke. Against the king's wishes, William Marshal and Devereux traveled in early to Ireland to secure the earl's lands and title to Leinster. In late summer John summoned the earl to return to England.
The Marshal held council with his wife and leading men, including Stephen, and all believed the summons to be a trick to allow the Justiciar of Ireland , Meiler FitzHenry , to seize key fortresses and drive Marshal from Ireland. The earl prepared his defenses, assigning John of Earley as guardian of south-west Leinster Ossory , including county Kilkenny and Wexford with Stephen Devereux to advise him, and Jordan of Sauqueville as guardian of north-east Leinster Carlow , Wicklow , and Kildare.
William Marshal arrived back in Wales in late , and in his absence the king's Justiciar launched assaults on his lands across Leinster.
The Justiciar delivered three letters in January summoning John of Earley, Jordan de Saqueville, and Stephen Devereux to appear before the king in England within 15 days, or suffer the loss of all their lands. On 20 February the King sent a letter to Marshal telling him "I want you to know that I have delivered to you the lands I confiscated from John of Early, which he held from you.
