Peter de Maulay or Peter de Mauley (died 1241) was a nobleman and administrator who was one of King John of England's "evil counsellors". First appearing in the historical record in 1202, Maulay was in England by 1204 and serving as an official of John. During the rebellions of the end of John's reign, Maulay supported the king and was given custody of the king's younger son as well as important prisoners. Maulay continued to serve the new king, Henry III, after 1216 but ran into difficulties with the young king's regents and was accused of treason in 1221. Maulay was cleared of the charges, but retired to his lands in late 1221. In 1223 Maulay's lands at Upavon were confiscated by the king but were returned within a few months. Upavon was again confiscated in 1229 and given to another noble, but in 1233 King Henry regranted the manor to Maulay, an event which led to a revolt by Richard Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, against the king. In 1241 Maulay went on crusade, and died late that year, probably in the Holy Land.
Early life
Maulay's parentage is unknown, but he originated from the Maulay region in Poitou. He appears to have had a younger brother named Aimery, who possibly was the same as an Aimery de Maulay who owned lands in Quinçay and La Rochelle between 1218 and 1259. In a monastic chronicle, Peter is said to have relinquished his lands in France to Aimery in 1204, after the overlordship of the lands passed from King John of England to King Philip II of France. Peter's first appearance in the historical record was in 1202, when he received land around Loudun in exchange for Moncontour. Under John, he was appointed an usher in the king's household, where he soon became a close advisor of the king. He was considered one of the "evil counsellors" of John by the chronicler Roger of Wendover.
After John's loss of Normandy, Maulay went to England and was given the manor of Upavon in Wiltshire. His grant of the manor was at the king's pleasure, because the manor, which had been held by a noble who forfeited his land in England by staying in Normandy after its loss, would need to be restored to its rightful holder if John recovered Normandy. He served as an envoy to Rome in 1213 and in 1214 was in command of royal forces at La Rochelle in France. In 1214 he married Isabella, the daughter and heiress of Robert of Thornham. Robert had died in 1211, so through his wife, Maulay acquired the Barony of Mulgrave in Yorkshire. Maulay paid the king 7000 marks as a fine for the right to marry Isabella, one of the highest fines paid for the right to marry under John. According to the medieval chronicler Ralph of Coggeshall, Maulay was the murderer of John's nephew Arthur of Brittany.
When the barons of England revolted against John in 1215, Maulay was given command of Corfe Castle by John. Along with Corfe, Maulay was given custody of John's younger son, Richard of Cornwall. He was also given Gomshall in Surrey. In 1216 he was given the office of Sheriff of Dorset and Somerset, where he made a name for himself with his exactions and heavy profiteering. Besides the custody of Richard of Cornwall, Maulay was also responsible for supervising the confinement of John's niece, Eleanor of Brittany, who, as the daughter of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, elder brother of King John, had a strong claim to the English throne and had been held captive since 1202. At times, he was also responsible for keeping John's wife, Isabella of Angouleme and his heir, Prince Henry, safe from rebels, as long as they were at Corfe.