William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny (c. 1197 to 1204 – May 2, 1230) was the son of Reginald de Braose by his first wife, Gracia de Briwere (born 1186) from Stoke in Devon. He was the tenth Baron Abergavenny and an ill-fated member of a powerful and long lived dynasty of Marcher Lords.

Dynastic history

William de Braose was born in Brecon. The Welsh, who detested him and his family name, called him Gwilym Ddu, Black William. He succeeded his father in his various lordships in 1227, including Abergavenny and Builth.

Career

He was captured by the Welsh forces of Llywelyn the Great, leader (Welsh, "Tywysog") of most of Wales, in fighting in the commote of Ceri near Montgomery, in 1228. William was ransomed for the sum of £2,000 and then furthermore made an alliance with Llywelyn, arranging to marry his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn.

However on a later visit to Llywelyn during Easter 1230 William de Braose was found in Llywelyn's private bedchamber with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales.

Execution

The Chronicle of Ystrad Fflur's entry for 1230 reads:

"In this year William de Breos the Younger, lord of Brycheiniog, was hanged by the Lord Llywelyn in Gwynedd, after he had been caught in Llywelyn's chamber with the king of England's daughter, Llywelyn's wife."

Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on May 2, 1230, in the marshland at the foot of the royal home Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, the spot remembered as Gwern y Grog, "Hanging Marsh." It is believed that a daughter Joan, Lady of Wales gave birth to in early 1231 was fathered by William, as the child was born roughly 9 months after the incident.

Children of William de Braose and Eva Marshal, daughter of William Marshal

See also: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

They had four daughters and coheiresses:

1. Isabella de Braose (born c. 1222), wife of Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn
2. Maud de Braose (born c. 1224 - 1301), wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore another very powerful Marcher dynasty.
3. Eleanor de Braose (c. 1226 - 1251), wife of Humphrey de Bohun and mother of Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford.
4. Eve de Braose (c. 1227- July 1255), wife of William de Cantelou.

Prominence of the junior branch of the dynasty

With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose.

William's wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right, after the death of her husband. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234-1237).

Bibliography

• Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn Y Traethodydd ISSN 09698930
• Registrum Epistolarum Fratis Johannis Peckham Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, ed. C. T. Martin, 3 Vols (RS, 1882-86)
• Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions 1962 Article Aber Gwyn Gregin Professor T. Jones Pierce
• Y Traethodydd (1998) Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn
• Gwynfor Evans (2001) Cymru O Hud Abergwyngregyn
• Gwynfor Evans (2002) Eternal Wales Abergwyngregyn
• John Edward Lloyd (1911) A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest (Longmans, Green & Co.)
• F.E. Fynes-Clinton (1912) The Welsh Vocabulary of the Bangor District (Oxford)

Literature

• Saunders Lewis - Siwan (play)
• Thomas Parry - Llywelyn Fawr (play)
• Edith Pargeter - The Green Branch (novel)
• Sharon Penman - Here Be Dragons (novel)

External Links

• Eva Marshal page and pictures
• William de Braose page
• The Barons de Braose A history of the de Braose family in England

Donate to Wikimedia