MONTAGU FAMILY

also spelled Montague, or Montacute, family name of the later medieval English earls of Salisbury, who were descended from Drogo of Montaigu, given in Domesday Book (1086) as one of the chief landholders in Somerset. The family first became prominent in the 14th century, notably by the achievements of William de Montagu, who helped King Edward III throw off the tutelage of his mother, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March; William was created Earl of Salisbury in 1337. His descendants fought with distinction in the Hundred Years' War. Thomas de Montacute (d. 1428), Earl of Salisbury, left only a daughter, Alice; she married Richard Neville (who became earl in her right), and their son Richard, Earl of Warwick, was called the kingmaker for his dominant role in the Wars of the Roses.