SURREY, JOHN DE WARENNE, 8TH EARL OF, EARL OF STRATHEARN

born June 24, 1286 died June 30, 1347, Conisborough, Yorkshire, Eng. byname Earl Warenne, also called (incorrectly) Earl Of Sussex prominent supporter of Edward II of England, grandson of the 7th Earl of Surrey. Warenne opposed Edward II's favourite, Piers Gaveston, but nevertheless supported the king against the Lords Ordainer, a baronial committee seeking to restrict the king's powers of appointment and other prerogatives. He was one of the last earls to remain faithful to Edward II in 1326. Warenne joined in Edward III's Scottish wars, and his cousin Edward Balliol, as king of Scotland, created him Earl of Strathearn in 1332. His abduction in 1317 of Alice, Countess of Lancaster, involved him in a private war (131718) with Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, that cost him many of his estates. At his death he left no issue, and his remaining estates passed to the crown.