William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, (died 1088) was one of the Norman nobles who fought at the Battle of Hastings and became great landowners in England.
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Life
He was a son of Rodulf II de Warenne and Emma and a grandnephew of duchess Gunnor, wife of duke Richard I of Normandy. The de Warenne surname derives from the hamlet named Varenne located on the river
As a young man, William played a prominent role in protecting the Norman realm of the future William the Conqueror's from a major invasion by the King of France in February 1054 at the Battle of Mortemer.[2] After this battle Roger de Mortemer forfeited most of his lands, and the duke gave them to William.[3]
William was one of the nobles who advised duke William when the decision to invade England was being considered. He is said to have fought at Hastings,[4] and afterwards received the Rape of Lewes in Sussex,[1] and subsequently lands in twelve other shires. He built castles at Lewes (Sussex), Reigate (Surrey), Castle Acre (Norfolk) and Conisbrough in Yorkshire.[1] By the time of the Domesday survey he was one of the wealthiest landholders in England with holdings in 12 counties.[5]
He fought against rebels at the Isle of Ely in 1071 where he showed a special desire to hunt down Hereward the Wake who had murdered his brother the year before.[1]
William was loyal to William II,[1] and it was probably in early 1088 that he was created Earl of Surrey.[6] He died shortly afterwards of wounds he received while helping suppress the rebellion of 1088.
Family
He married twice:
- First, Gundred (Latin: Gundrada), sister of Gerbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester.
- Second, to a sister of Richard Gouet
Children of William and Gundred
- William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (d. 1138)
- Edith de Warenne who married Gerard de Gournay
- Reynold de Warenne, who inherited lands from his mother in Flanders and died before 1118
Landholdings in the Domesday Book of William de Warenne
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Notes
- ^ a b c d e Hunt
- ^ Douglas, p. 67-69
- ^ Hunt, Douglas p. 100
- ^ Douglas, p.203
- ^ Ellis: Introduction to Domesday, i.213.
- ^ probably between the very end of 1087 and March 24, 1088 (Lewis p. 335)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The Domesday Book, p. 186
- ^ a b c d e f g The Domesday Book, p. 187
- ^ a b The Domesday Book, p. 47
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m The Domesday Book, p. 188
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Domesday Book, p. 189
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m The Domesday Book, p. 190
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Domesday Book, p. 191
- ^ a b c d e f The Domesday Book, p. 48
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Domesday Book, p. 192
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The Domesday Book, p. 193
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n The Domesday Book, p. 194
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The Domesday Book, p. 195
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The Domesday Book, p. 196
References
- Douglas, David C. (1964). William the Conqueror. ISBN 0300078846.
- C. P. Lewis, "The Earldom of Surrey and the Date of Domesday Book", Historical Research 63 (1990)
- Notes on the family of Gerbod, Earl of Chester, and of Gundred, wife of William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
- William Warenne, reprinted from the 1917 Dictionary of National Biography
- Hunt, William (1899). "William Warenne, first Earl of Surrey". Dictionary of National Biography. 59. pp. 372-373.
- Warren Family History Project Ancestral File References
- "The Origin of the Family of Warenne" by L.C. Loyd - Yorkshire Archaeological Society Journal vol. xxxi (1933) pp 97-113
- Thomas Hinde, ed. The Domesday Book: England's Heritage Then and Now. ISBN 1858334403.
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