Geoffrey Luttrell


Sir Geoffrey Luttrell III lord of the manor of Irnham in Lincolnshire was a mediaeval knight remembered principally today as having commissioned the Luttrell Psalter, a rare and profusely illustrated manuscript now in the British Library in London.

Origins

He was the son of Robert Luttrell and a descendant of Sir Geoffrey de Luterel. He was referred to as the 2nd Lord of Irnham. His family's arms were: Azure, a bend between six martlets argent. Another branch of the Luttrell family, which bore the same arms but differenced by tincture, in 1376 acquired Dunster Castle in Somerset, where they were seated until the extinction of the male line in 1737.

Career

Within the last five years before his death in 1345 he commissioned the Luttrell Psalter, the illustrations to which include a representation of him, his wife and his daughter-in-law, with profuse display of his armorials.
Although he has been praised for his patronage of the arts, it has also been claimed that Luttrell, like many medieval landowners of his time, was capable of ruthlessness and violence. A private war which he conducted together with his neighbour Roger de Birthorpe against the monks of Sempringham Priory was considered serious enough to warrant a Royal Commission of Inquiry in 1312. However, it has been argued that Birthorpe was the principal offender and that Luttrell was to blame only for supporting his friend; this may be borne out by the fact that while Birthorpe was outlawed for a time, Luttrell seems to have escaped censure.