Joan PLANTAGENET

Other Events:

• _UID: AA11C00CAD244E6EA050CAF9BCBF8BEDBA46

Notes:

Following from Leo van de Pas in a posting to soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup, 23 Feb 1999:

I found the following about Joan bastard of England, after her death she was buried at Llanfaes but, at the dissolution of the monastery, her coffin was removed. In the 19th century it was discovered that it was being used as a horse trough. Rescued from this use, it was placed in Baron Hill Park, near Beaumaris in Anglesey. The most recent location is given as the Church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in Beaumaris.

Joan married in 1205. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joan married Llewelyn Ap IORWERTH, Prince Of Wales in 1206. Llewelyn (son of Iorwerth "Drwyndwn" Ap OWAIN, Prince North Wales and Marared Verch MADOG) was born in 1173 in Aberffraw Castle, Aberffraw, Anglesy, Wales; died on 11 Apr 1240 in Conwy, Caernarfonshire, Wales; was buried in Apr 1240 in Aberconwy Abbey, Conwy, Caernarfonshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Gwladys "Ddu" Verch LLEWELYN, Princess Of Wales was born about 1207 in Caemarvonshire, Wales; died in 1251 in Windsor, Berkshire, England.
2. Angharad Verch LLEWELYN was born about 1209 in Caernarvonshire, Walesey, Wales; and died.
3. Helen Ellen Verch LLEWELYN was born about 1215 in Gynedd, Wales; died before 24 Oct 1253 in Colne Quincy, Essex, England.

Other Events:

• Affiliation: ; House of Plantagenet
• CAUSED BY DEA: Probably From Dysentery
• FamilySearch ID: LBYQ-Z26
• Name: Lackland
• _UID: 65CCDAABBD1F4C5CA4AF7F3CB2656D441068
• RULED: Between 1199 and 1216, King Of England
• ACCEDED: 27 May 1199, Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England
• Coronation: 27 May 1199, Westminster Abbey
• Signed Magna Carta: 15 Jun 1215, England
• Interment: Oct 1216, Worcestershire, England; Worcester Cathedral

Notes:

John was born on Christmas Eve 1167. His parents drifted apart after his birth; his youth was divided between his eldest brother Henry's house, where he learned the art of knighthood, and the house of his father's justiciar, Ranulf Glanvil, where he learned the business of government. As the fourth child, inherited lands were not available to him, giving rise to his nickname, Lackland. His first marriage lasted but ten years and was fruitless, but his second wife, Isabella of Angouleme, bore him two sons and three daughters. He also had an illegitimate daughter, Joan, who married Llywelyn the Great, Ruler of All Wales, from which the Tudor line of monarchs was descended. The survival of the English government during John's reign is a testament to the reforms of his father, as John taxed the system socially, economically, and judicially.

The Angevin family feuds profoundly marked John. He and Richard clashed in 1184 following Richard's refusal to honor his father's wishes surrender Aquitane to John. The following year Henry II sent John to rule Ireland, but John alienated both the native Irish and the transplanted Anglo-Normans who emigrated to carve out new lordships for themselves; the experiment was a total failure and John returned home within six months. After Richard gained the throne in 1189, he gave John vast estates in an unsuccessful attempt to appease his younger brother. John failed to overthrow Richard's administrators during the German captivity and conspired with Philip II in another failed coup attempt. Upon Richard's release from captivity in 1194, John was forced to sue for pardon and he spent the next five years in his brother's shadow.

John's reign was troubled in many respects. A quarrel with the Church resulted in England being placed under an interdict in 1207, with John actually excommunicated two years later. The dispute centered on John's stubborn refusal to install the papal candidate, Stephen Langdon, as Archbishop of Canterbury; the issue was not resolved until John surrendered to the wishes of Pope Innocent III and paid tribute for England as the Pope's vassal.

John proved extremely unpopular with his subjects. In addition to the Irish debacle, he inflamed his French vassals by orchestrating the murder of his popular nephew, Arthur of Brittany. By spring 1205, he lost the last of his French possessions and returned to England. The final ten years of his reign were occupied with failed attempts to regain these territories. After levying a number of new taxes upon the barons to pay for his dismal campaigns, the discontented barons revolted, capturing London in May 1215. At Runnymeade in the following June, John succumbed to pressure from the barons, the Church, and the English people at-large, and signed the Magna Carta. The document, a declaration of feudal rights, stressed three points. First, the Church was free to make ecclesiastic appointments. Second, larger-than-normal amounts of money could only be collected with the consent of the king's feudal tenants. Third, no freeman was to be punished except within the context of common law. Magna Carta, although a testament to John's complete failure as monarch, was the forerunner of modern constitutions. John only signed the document as a means of buying time and his hesitance to implement its principles compelled the nobility to seek French assistance. The barons offered the throne to Philip II's son, Louis. John died in the midst of invasion from the French in the South and rebellion from his barons in the North.

John was remembered in elegant fashion by Sir Richard Baker in A Chronicle of the Kings of England: ". . .his works of piety were very many . . . as for his actions, he neither came to the crown by justice, nor held it with any honour, nor left it peace."

MAGNA CARTA
The Great Charter of English liberty granted (under considerable duress) by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215 John, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, greeting.

Know that before God, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester, William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal household, Brother Aymeric master of the Knights of the Temple in England, William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:


In French JEAN SANS TERRE king of England from 1199 to 1216. In a war with the French king Philip II, he lost Normandy and almost all his other possessions in France. In England, after a revolt of the barons, he was forced to seal the Magna Carta (1215).

From the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, article titled "John:"

"John's reputation, bad at his death, was further depressed by writers of the next generation. Of all centuries prior to the present, only the 16th, mindful of his quarrel with Rome, recognized some of his quality. He was suspicious, vengeful, and treacherous; Arthur I of Brittany was probably murdered in captivity, and Matilda de Braose, the wife of a recalcitrant Marcher baron, was starved to death with her son in a royal prison. But John was cultured and literate. Conventional in his religion rather than devout, he was remembered for his benefactions to the church of Coventry, to Reading Abbey, and to Worcester, where he was buried and where his effigy still survives. He was extraordinarily active, with a great love of hunting and a readiness to travel that gave him a knowledge of England matched by few other monarchs. He took a personal interest in judicial and financial administration, and his reign saw important advances at the Exchequer, in the administration of justice, in the importance of the privy seal and the royal household, in methods of taxation and military organization, and in the grant of chartered privileges to towns. If his character was unreliable, his political judgment was acute. In 1215 many barons, including some of the most distinguished, fought on his side."


"Lackland" refered to John's status as the youngest son, resulting in no significant inherited fiefs from his Father. His titles included King of Ireland 1177, Count of Mortain 1189, Earl of Gloucester. John succeeded his brother Richard I as King in 1199. In 1215 he put his seal on the Magna Carta (Great Charter). The Magna Carta is the foundation of English Constitutional law and liberties and placed the King, like the subjects he ruled, subject to the rule of law. He is Interred in Worcester Cathedral. "The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages" Norman F. Cantor, General Editor.

AKA (2):
"Lackland"

John married Agatha DE FERRERS. Agatha (daughter of Sybil DE BRAOSE) was born about 1168 in Chartley, Stafforshire, England; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 2E3CFA36037A4B9AAFE6C7A8141380D07795

Notes:

It is known that Agatha was a mistress of John, but it is only supposition that she is the mother of his child.

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LYD7-TB9
• Name: Henri COMTE D'ANJOU
• Name: Henry II CURTMANTLE
• Occupation: ; King of England
• Residence: Abad?a de Fontevrault, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, , France
• _UID: 1732A7A23693403A840A0D5C65FAB2F5D278
• Knighted - by David, King of the Scots: 22 May 1149, Carlisle, Cumberland, England
• RULED: Between 1154 and 1189, King Of England
• ACCEDED: 19 Dec 1154, Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England
• Coronation: 19 Dec 1154, Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England

Notes:

Henry was the first of the Plantagenets, the name coming from the fact that he was fond of wearing a spring of the broom-plant in his helmet.

From Enclopedia Britannica Online, article titled Henry II:

"by name HENRY OF ANJOU, HENRY PLANTAGENET, HENRY FITZEMPRESS, OR HENRY CURTMANTLE (SHORT MANTLE) duke of Normandy (from 1150), count of Anjou (from 1151), duke of Aquitaine (from 1152), and king of England (from 1154), who greatly expanded his Anglo-French domains and strengthened the royal administration in England. His quarrels with Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and with members of his family (his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and such sons as Richard the Lion-Heart and John Lackland) ultimately brought about his defeat.

"Henry II lived in an age of biographers and letter writers of genius. John of Salisbury, Thomas Becket, Giraldus Cambrensis, Walter Map, Peter of Blois, and others knew him well and left their impressions. All agreed on his outstanding ability and striking personality and also recorded his errors and aspects of his character that appear contradictory, whereas modern historians agree upon the difficulty of reconciling its main features. Without deep religious or moral conviction, Henry nevertheless was
respected by three contemporary saints, Aelred of Rievaulx, Gilbert of Sempringham, and Hugh of Lincoln. Normally an approachable and faithful friend and master, he could behave with unreasonable inhumanity. His conduct and aims were always self-centred, but he was neither a tyrant nor an odious egoist. Both as man and ruler he lacked the stamp of greatness that marked Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror. He seemed also to lack wisdom and serenity; and he had no comprehensive view of the
country's interest, no ideals of kingship, no sympathetic care for his people. But if his reign is to be judged by its consequences for England, it undoubtedly stands high in importance, and Henry, as its mainspring, appears among the most notable of English kings." Henry II was Count of Anjou (1151-1189) whose family emblem was the 'plantegenet', a yellow flowering broom; Duke of Normandy (1151-1189); Duke of Aquitane (1152-1189) and as King of England (1154-1189), ruled an empire that stretched from the Tweed to the Pyrenees. He was the Founder of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line. Henry was the first of fourteen hereditary kings, who were later referred to in the history oracles as Plantagenets. He is more commonly known as FitzEmpress, Henry II Curtmantle, King of England.
In spite of frequent hostilities with the French King, his own family and rebellious Barons (culminating in the great revolt of 1173-74) and his quarrel with Thomas Becket, Henry II maintained control over his possessions until shortly before his death.
Henry II's judicial and administrative reforms, which increased Royal control and influence at the expense of the Barons, were of great constitutional importance. Henry II Introduced trial by Jury.
Henry II, by marrying ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE immediately after her divorce from Louis VII, King of France, gained vast territories in France. Henry had lands reaching for 1000 miles, and it was this vast domain, which was called the Angevin Empire.
In 1153 he invaded England and forced STEPHEN to acknowledge him as his heir. As king he restored order to war-ravaged England, subdued the barons, centralized the power of government in royalty, and strengthened royal courts. Henry's desire to increase royal authority brought him into conflict with THOMAS ?A BECKET, whom he had made (1162) archbishop of Canterbury. The quarrel, which focused largely on the jurisdiction of the church courts, came to a head when Henry issued (1163) the Constitutions of CLARENDON, defining the relationship between church and state, and ended (1170) with Becket's murder, for which Henry was forced by public indignation to do penance. During his reign he gained northern counties from Scotland and increased his French holdings.
Henry II was also involved in family struggles. Encouraged by their mother and LOUIS VI of France, his three oldest sons, Henry, RICHARD I, and Geoffrey, rebelled (1173-74) against him. The rebellion collapsed, but at the time of Henry's death, Richard and the youngest son, JOHN, were in the course of another rebellion. He was unfortunate in love, relentlessly and romantically pursuing the hand of his wife, Eleanor, who became a selfish spoilt lady, and who turned her sons against their own father. Because of the rebellion by the eldest son, Henry was crushed, and Eleanor was placed under house arrest for fifteen years. The other brothers placed continual pressure on their father, in alliances with the King of France. Henry died a lonely and grief stricken man deserted by all of those he had loved and honored.

Contemporaries: Louis VII (King of France, 1137-1180), Thomas Beckett (Archbishop of Canterbury), Pope Adrian IV, Frederick I (Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, 1152-1190)
Henry II, first of the Angevin kings, was one of the most effective of all England's monarchs. He came to the throne amid the anarchy of Stephen's reign and promptly collared his errant barons. He refined Norman government and created a capable, self-standing bureaucracy. His energy was equaled only by his ambition and intelligence. Henry survived wars, rebellion, and controversy to successfully rule one of the Middle Ages' most powerful kingdoms.

Henry was raised in the French province of Anjou and first visited England in 1142 to defend his mother's claim to the disputed throne of Stephen. His continental possessions were already vast before his coronation: He acquired Normandy and Anjou upon the death of his father in September 1151, and his French holdings more than doubled with his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitane (ex-wife of King Louis VII of France). In accordance with the Treaty of Wallingford, a succession agreement signed by Stephen and Matilda in 1153, Henry was crowned in October 1154. The continental empire ruled by Henry and his sons included the French counties of Brittany, Maine, Poitou, Touraine, Gascony, Anjou, Aquitane, and Normandy. Henry was technically a feudal vassal of the king of France but, in reality, owned more territory and was more powerful than his French lord. Although King John (Henry's son) lost most of the English holdings in France, English kings laid claim to the French throne until the fifteenth century. Henry also extended his territory in the British Isles in two significant ways. First, he retrieved Cumbria and Northumbria form Malcom IV of Scotland and settled the Anglo-Scot border in the North. Secondly, although his success with Welsh campaigns was limited, Henry invaded Ireland and secured an English presence on the island.

English and Norman barons in Stephen's reign manipulated feudal law to undermine royal authority; Henry instituted many reforms to weaken traditional feudal ties and strengthen his position. Unauthorized castles built during the previous reign were razed. Monetary payments replaced military service as the primary duty of vassals. The Exchequer was revitalized to enforce accurate record keeping and tax collection. Incompetent sheriffs were replaced and the authority of royal courts was expanded. Henry empowered a new social class of government clerks that stabilized procedure - the government could operate effectively in the king's absence and would subsequently prove sufficiently tenacious to survive the reign of incompetent kings. Henry's reforms allowed the emergence of a body of common law to replace the disparate customs of feudal and county courts. Jury trials were initiated to end the old Germanic trials by ordeal or battle. Henry's systematic approach to law provided a common basis for development of royal institutions throughout the entire realm.

The process of strengthening the royal courts, however, yielded an unexpected controversy. The church courts instituted by William the Conqueror became a safe haven for criminals of varying degree and ability, for one in fifty of the English population qualified as clerics. Henry wished to transfer sentencing in such cases to the royal courts, as church courts merely demoted clerics to laymen. Thomas Beckett, Henry's close friend and chancellor since 1155, was named Archbishop of Canterbury in June 1162 but distanced himself from Henry and vehemently opposed the weakening of church courts. Beckett fled England in 1164, but through the intervention of Pope Adrian IV (the lone English pope), returned in 1170. He greatly angered Henry by opposing the coronation of Prince Henry. Exasperated, Henry hastily and publicly conveyed his desire to be rid of the contentious Archbishop - four ambitious knights took the king at his word and murdered Beckett in his own cathedral on December 29, 1170. Henry endured a rather limited storm of protest over the incident and the controversy passed.

Henry's plans of dividing his myriad lands and titles evoked treachery from his sons. At the encouragement - and sometimes because of the treatment - of their mother, they rebelled against their father several times, often with Louis VII of France as their accomplice. The deaths of Henry the Young King in 1183 and Geoffrey in 1186 gave no respite from his children's rebellious nature; Richard, with the assistance of Philip II Augustus of France, attacked and defeated Henry on July 4, 1189 and forced him to accept a humiliating peace. Henry II died two days later, on July 6, 1189.

A few quotes from historic manuscripts shed a unique light on Henry, Eleanor, and their sons.
From Sir Winston Churchill Kt, 1675: "Henry II Plantagenet, the very first of that name and race, and the very greatest King that England ever knew, but withal the most unfortunate . . . his death being imputed to those only to whom himself had given life, his ungracious sons. . ."

From Sir Richard Baker, A Chronicle of the Kings of England: Concerning endowments of mind, he was of a spirit in the highest degree generous . . . His custom was to be always in action; for which cause, if he had no real wars, he would have feigned . . . To his children he was both indulgent and hard; for out of indulgence he caused his son henry to be crowned King in his own time; and out of hardness he caused his younger sons to rebel against him . . . He married Eleanor, daughter of William Duke of Guienne, late wife of Lewis the Seventh of France.

Henry married Queen Eleanor De AQUITAINE on 18 May 1152 in Bordeaux Cathedral, Bordeaux, France. Eleanor (daughter of Guillaume X Duke Of AQUITAINE, Poitou Guillaume and Elbeanor De CHATELLERAULT) was born in 1121-1122 in Chateau DE Belin, Bordeaux, Aquitaine; died on 31 Mar 1204 in Poitiers, Poitou, Aquitaine; was buried in Fontevraud Abbey, Maine-Et-Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Fact 10: They Had 8 Children; Fact 10
• FamilySearch ID: 9C8T-V1R
• Name: DETAILLEFER
• _UID: 485FD2AD6746498BB76C6BACA5826F87FEF2
• ACCEDED: 12 Dec 1154

Notes:

From Encyclopedia Britannica Online, article titled Eleanor of Aquitaine:

"also called ELEANOR OF GUYENNE, French ?EL?EONORE, OR ALI?ENOR, D'AQUITAINE, OR DEGUYENNE, queen consort of both Louis VII of France (in 1137-52) and Henry II of England (in 1152-1204) and mother of Richard I the Lion-Heart and John of England. She was perhaps the most powerful woman in 12th-century Europe.

"She died in 1204 at the monastery at Fontevrault, Anjou, where she had retired after the campaign at Mirebeau. Her contribution to England extended beyond her own lifetime; after the loss of Normandy (1204), it was her own ancestral lands and not the old Norman territories that remained loyal to England. She has been misjudged by many French historians who have noted only her youthful frivolity, ignoring the tenacity, political wisdom, and energy that characterized the years of her maturity. "She was beautiful and just, imposing and modest, humble and elegant"; and, as the nuns of Fontevrault wrote in their necrology: a queen "who surpassed almost all the queens of the world."ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE (1122-1204) was one of the most important rulers of Medieval Europe.

Many noblewomen in the Middle Ages were well-educated. but Eleanor had the chance to use her education at a time when European politics was dominated by men.

When she was just fifteen, Eleanor's father died, and she inherited Aquitaine. the largest kingdom in France. That same year she married King Louis VII and became Queen of France. Although still a teenager, Eleanor was an impressive figure--beautiful, very well-educated, and fearlessly independent.
When Louis went off on the Crusades, she went with him, traveling thousands of miles, much of it through hostile lands.

But Eleanor and Louis had no male heir, and tensions developed between them. The Pope granted them a divorce when Eleanor was twenty-nine. Within months. Eleanor married Henry Plantagent, her ex-husband's main rival. Two years later Henry became King of England--and Eleanor was a queen again.

However, Henry soon fell in love with another woman, and Eleanor left England to set up her own court in Aquitaine, which she still ruled. Troubadours from all over France flocked to her palace at Poitiers, where Eleanor acted as patron of the arts. Many of the ideas of chivalry that we associate with the Middle Ages were developed in Eleanor's court..

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Some say King Lewis carried her into the Holy Land, where she carried herself not very holily, but led a licentious life; and, which is the worst kind of licentiousness, in carnal familiarity with a Turk.

Birth:
Some sources states that she was born in 1123.

Notes:

Married:
They may have been married on the 11th of May.

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: LYDM-F1T
• _UID: A0001D7CF3154EAFA6D08F5DEA6B6C7FE0AB

Notes:

Married:
2 _PREF Y

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• FamilySearch ID: 9HBT-X6S
• Name: Le Bon
• _UID: E35D5492E8104A0E86CB349DB6C840D1271E

Notes:

Plantagenet, surname, originally nickname, of the English royal house of Anjou or the Angevin dynasty, founded by Geoffrey IV, count of Anjou (1113-1151), husband of Matilda (1102-1167), daughter of King Henry I of England. The name is derived from the Latin planta ("sprig") and genista ("broom plant"), in reference to the sprig that Geoffrey always wore in his cap. Reigning from 1154 to 1485, the Plantagenet kings, in the main line of descent, were Henry II, Richard I, John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, and Richard II; through the house of Lancaster, Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI; and through the house of York, Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III.

Geoffrey married Emporess Maud Matilda ANGEVIN, Queen Of England on 22 May 1127 in , Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Maud (daughter of King Henry I Beauclerc Of Angevin ENGLAND, Of England and Princess Matilda "Atheling" CAENMOR, Of Scotland) was born on 5 Aug 1103 in London, Middlesexshire, England; died on 10 Sep 1169 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France; was buried in Bec Abbey, Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: 9CW3-3SK
• _UID: AFFDD381E24346B999BDF3FA274503885E10

Notes:

Ancestral File Number: 9FM0-NL

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• _UID: 425AF6CE61D84047BAD24D9C036F4DF0446E

Notes:

Ancestral File Number: 8XPZ-GR

Guillaume married Elbeanor De CHATELLERAULT in 1121 in Of, , , France. Elbeanor (daughter of Aimeri I Viscount Of CHATELLERAULT and Dangereuse (Aka) Maubergeonne De L' ISLE BOUCHARD) was born about 1103 in , Chatellerault, Poitou, Aquitaine; died after Mar 1130. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: B39CA58C8185413B9CF585F420C3249EB1FA

Notes:

Ancestral File Number: 8XPZ-HX

Other Events:

• FamilySearch ID: GF6B-4PG
• _UID: BFE84213C0CA40C4A2A782E80CB64E60ADB0
• TitleOfNobility: Aft 1134, Sussex, England; 3rd Lord of Bramber
• TitleOfNobility: 1173; Feudal Lord Abergavenny

Notes:

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber (fl. 1135? 1179) was a 12th-century Marcher lord who secured a foundation for the dominant position later held by the Braose family in the Welsh Marches. In addition to the family's English holdings in Sussex and Devon, William had inherited Radnor and Builth, in Wales, from his father Philip. By his marriage he increased the Braose Welsh holdings to include Brecon and Abergavenny.

William remained loyal to King Stephen during the 12th-century period of civil war. He became a trusted royal servant during the subsequent reign of Henry II, accompanying the king on campaigns in France and Ireland. He served as sheriff of Herefordshire from 1173 until 1175. The family's power reached its peak under his son William during the reigns of kings Richard I and John.

Lands and family
William was the eldest son of Philip de Braose, lord of Bramber. His mother was Aenor, daughter of Juhel of Totnes. He was the third in the line of the Anglo-Norman Braose family founded by his grandfather, the first William de Braose. After his father died in the 1130s William inherited lordships, land and castles in Sussex, with his caput at Bramber. He also held Totnes in Devon, and Radnor and Builth in the Welsh Marches. He confirmed the grants of his father and grandfather to the abbey of St Florent in Anjou and made further grants to the abbey's dependent priory at Sele in Sussex. In about 1155, he also inherited through his mother's family one half of the honour of Barnstaple in Devon, paying a fee of 1,000 marks for the privilege. William became an internationally recognised figure. When Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was asked by Pope Adrian IV to inquire into the background of a certain Walter, canon of St Ruf, his reply, dated to 1154/9 read:

The facts which you demand need but little enquiry; for they shine so brightly in themselves that they cannot be hid; so great is the brilliance of his noble birth and the glory of all his kin. For Walter, as we know for a fact, was the son of a distinguished knight and born of a noble mother in lawful wedlock, and he is closely related by blood to the noble William de Braose.

Marriage
William had married Bertha, daughter of Miles of Gloucester and Sibyl de Neufmarch?, by 1150. When each of Bertha's four brothers (Walter de Hereford, Henry FitzMiles (or Henry de Hereford), Mahel de Hereford and William de Hereford) died leaving no issue, William's marriage became unexpectedly valuable. He gained control of the lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny after 1166 when the last brother died. These additional land holdings greatly expanded the territorial power and income of the Braose family. They now held a vast block of territory in the Welsh Marches as well as their extensive interests in Sussex and Devon. William's daughters were able to make good marriages, notably
1. Sibyl to William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby.
2. Maud was married to John de Brompton of Shropshire.
3. William's son and heir, another William de Braose, became a major player in national politics under King John.

Royal service
Empress Maud, the only legitimate living child of Henry I, landed in England in 1139 in an attempt to press her claim to the monarchy. She was soon besieged by King Stephen's forces at Arundel Castle. Stephen allowed Maud a safe conduct to Bristol and provided her with an escort, which included William de Braose, suggesting that he was an adherent of King Stephen. William was present as a witness when three charters were issued by Stephen at Lewes dated to the years 1148? 53, therefore it appears that he remained loyal to the king until the Treaty of Wallingford ended the hostilities.

William was in Sussex in 1153, but he followed Duke Henry, soon to become King Henry II, to Normandy in 1154. William was frequently with the new king. He was one of the military leaders who supported Henry at Rhuddlan in 1157. He witnessed one of the king's charters at Romsey in 1158, and he is recorded at the king's court in Wiltshire in 1164 when the Constitutions of Clarendon were enacted. He accompanied the king on expedition to France, witnessing at Leons in 1161 and Chinon in 1162. William is also documented on the Irish campaign at Dublin in 1171 and Wexford 1172. William's younger brother, Philip, also accompanied the king to Ireland, and remained with the garrison at Wexford. In 1177 Philip was granted the kingdom of Limerick by Henry but failed to take possession after the citizens set fire to the town.

When Henry was facing war with his sons in 1173, William was appointed as sheriff of Herefordshire at Easter. He maintained the king's interests in Herefordshire until 1175.

Later life and death
King Henry withdrew his favour from the family after William's son organised the murder of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal and other Welsh princes at Abergavenny in 1176. There is little subsequent record of William in public life, and it is likely that he retired to his estates in Sussex. William died after 1179 and was succeeded by his son, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, who gained the favour of both King Richard I and King John and became a dominant force in the Welsh Marches during their reigns.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose,_3rd_Lord_of_Bramber




Title (Facts Pg):
Lord Bramber

William married Bertha DE PITRES about 1148 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England. Bertha (daughter of Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford and Sibyl DE NEUFMARCH?, Countess of Hereford) was born about 1130 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; died in 1204 in Bramber, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Fact: ; Heiress of Brecon
• FamilySearch ID: LRGN-LN7
• Name: Bertha FITZMILES
• Name: Bertha OF HEREFORD
• _UID: 6E462D7C9B434AD69E957B057F051400A67C

Notes:

Bertha of Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres (born c. 1130), was the daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, and a wealthy heiress, Sibyl de Neufmarch?. She was the wife of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber to whom she brought many castles and Lordships, such as Brecknock (including Hay Castle), and Abergavenny.

Family
Bertha was born in England in about 1130. She was a daughter of Miles, Earl of Hereford (1097- 24 December 1143) and Sibyl de Neufmarch?. She had two sisters, Margaret of Hereford, who married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had issue, and Lucy of Hereford, who married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, by whom she had issue. Her brothers included Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Walter de Hereford, Henry Fitzmiles, William de Hereford, and Mahel de Hereford.

Bertha's paternal grandparents were Walter FitzRoger de Pitres, Sheriff of Gloucester and Bertha de Balun of Bateden, a descendant of Hamelin de Balun, and her maternal grandparents were Bernard de Neufmarch?, Lord of Brecon, and Nesta ferch Osbern. The latter was a daughter of Osbern FitzRichard of Richard's Castle, and Nesta ferch Gruffydd. Bertha was a direct descendant, in the maternal line, of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (1007- 5 August 1063) and Edith (Aldgyth), daughter of Elfgar, Earl of Mercia.

Bertha's father Miles served as Constable to King Stephen of England. He later served in the same capacity to Empress Matilda after he'd transferred his allegiance. In 1141, she made him Earl of Hereford in gratitude for his loyalty. On 24 December 1143, he was killed whilst on a hunting expedition in the Forest of Dean.

Marriage and issue
In 1150, Bertha married William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber (1112? 1192), son of Philip de Braose, 2nd Lord of Bramber and Aenor, daughter of Judael of Totnes. William and Bertha had three daughters and two sons, including William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber.
In 1173, Bertha's brothers all having died without issue, she brought the Lordships and castles of Brecknock and Abergavenny, to her husband. Hay Castle had already passed to her from her mother, Sibyl of Neufmarche in 1165, whence it became part of the de Braose holdings.
In 1174, Bertha's husband became Sheriff of Hereford.

Bertha's children include
1. William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, (1144/1153- 11 August 1211, Corbeil), married Maud de St. Valery, daughter of Bernard de St. Valery, by whom he had 16 children.
2. Roger de Braose or Reynold de Briouse
3. Sibyl de Braose (died after 5 February 1227), married William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby (1136- 21 October 1190 at Acre on crusade), son of Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby and Margaret Peverel, by whom she had issue.
4. Maud de Braose, married John de Brompton, by whom she had issue.

Legacy
Upon the childless death of Roger in 1155, the Earldom of Hereford fell into abeyance until 1199 when King John bestowed the title on Henry de Bohun, Sibyl's grandson through her eldest daughter, Margaret. As her sons all died without legitimate offspring, Sibyl's three daughters became co-heirs to the Brecon honour, with Bertha, the second daughter, passing Sibyl's inheritance on (through marriage) to the de Braoses, thereby making them one of the most powerful families in the Welsh Marches.[42][43]
Bertha died on an unknown date. She was the ancestress of many noble English families which included the de Braoses, de Beauchamps, de Bohuns and de Ferrers; as well as the Irish families of de Lacy and de Burgh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_of_Hereford

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