Some confusion surrounds the ancestry of John fitz Richard, also called "Monoculus". John fitz Richard came to England from Normandy during the reign of William the Conqueror, and acquired landholdings there. In some pedigrees he is called John fitz Richard, and reputedly descended from Ranulf the Moneyer, a wealthy Norman banker and merchant.1 However, in others he is called John fitz Eustace de Burgh and reputedly descended from the Counts of Boulogne and Ponthieu, who were descendants of Charlemagne, aka, Charles the Great.2 The origin of the epithet "Monoculus" or "One Eyed" is explained in the family history of the Counts of Boulogne and Ponthieu in which a tendency to blindness was hereditary. Eustace, Count of Boulogne, was called "Oculatus" or "Clear Eyed", because his eyesight was very good for a member of his family.2 Perhaps John fitz Richard may have lost an eye or sight in one, which lead to the moniker of "Monoculus" and the mistaken belief he was a member of the de Burgh family. Most likely the label "Monoculus" is bogus, added later to the John fitz Richard name as a result of confusing him with the de Burgh family pedigree, and should be scrapped. An early source suggested John fitz Richard was the brother of Serlo de Burgh of Knaresborough Castle, probably because the castle later came under the tenancy of John fitz Richard's son, Eustace fitz John;1,3 however, this brotherly relationship between Serlo de Burgh and John fitz Richard has been considered and rejected.4 Furthermore, John fitz Richard was recorded in the "Domesday Book" with the latinized name of Johannes Nepos Waleranni, i.e., nephew of Waleran fitz Ranulf (Richard fitz Ranulf's brother), and Serlo de Burgh was recorded with the latinized name of Serlo De Burci, whose father was Eustace de Burgh. Keats-Rohan flatly states that John fitz Richard was the "son of Richard fitz Ranulf,"5 whose father was Ranulf the Moneyer of Vains, and so no brotherly relationship to Serlo de Burgh could exist, therefore John fitz Richard wasn't a descendant of the de Burghs nor Charlemagne. To add to the confusion, John fitz Richard's son Eustace fitz John married Agnes fitz Nigel de Halton; her father was William fitz Nigel, Baron of Halton, whose father was Nigel (or Niel) de Augenges.6 However, William fitz Nigel is reported by some to be John fitz Richard's brother rather than reporting him as Eustace fitz John's father-in-law,1 perhaps because Eustace fitz John inherited his father-in-law's title. William fitz Nigel appears in the "Domesday Book" as Willelm Filius Nigelli, and Keats-Rohan makes the relationships clear in writing that William fitz Nigel's daughter "and his principal heiress Agnes wife of Eustache fitz John, through whom the constableship passes to her descendants".5 So, John fitz Richard's son Eustace fitz John was the husband of Agnes fitz Nigel, and thus William fitz Nigel was his father-in-law with his title Baron of Halton passed to Eustace fitz John in right of his wife, Agnes, so that the title might be passed to her descendants. Again, Keats-Rohan flatly states that John fitz Richard was the "son of Richard fitz Ranulf"4 and so no brotherly relationship to William fitz Nigel could exist. John fitz Richard was recorded in the "Domesday Book" as Johannes Nepos Waleranni. Keats-Rohan writes he was the "son of Richard fitz Ranulf," and "nephew of Waleran fitz Ranulf". Waleran fitz Ranulf appears in the "Domesday Book" as Waleran Filius Ranulfi and Keats-Rohan writes he was the "son of Ranulf the moneyer, from Vains, Manche, in west Normandy," as was Richard fitz Ranulf. Furthermore; "His five children, possibly by two wives, achieved some importance during the reign of Henry I, of whom his sons Payn, Eustache and William were prominent servants; his daughters were Alice abbess of Barking and Agnes, wife of Roger de Valognes".5 Agnes fitz John was the mother of Cecilia (Cecily) de Valognes, who was the mother of Agnes of Essex,7 the third wife of Aubrey III de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford.8 Perhaps, John fitz Richard wasn't the "Lord of Knaresborough". Keats-Rohan writes that John fitz Richard was a "holder of a minor tenancy-in-chief in Domesday East Anglia".5 East Anglia consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, including part of Essex. Knaresborough in North Yorkshire wasn't listed among John fitz Richards holding in the "Domesday Book", but instead King William I (aka William the Conqueror) was recorded as possessing Knaresborough, which was called Chadnaresburg in 1086. Furthermore, concerning Knaresborough Castle; "Throughout its long history, the castle has been in royal control or held directly by the Crown".3 The first documented reference to Knaresborough Castle was in the Pipe Rolls of 1129-30, which makes reference to Eustace fitz John, John fitz Richard's son, spending money "for the King's works" (i.e., the King's castle) at Knaresborough.3 According to Keats-Rohan, Serlo de Burgh's son, Osbert, predeceased him, and "after Serlo's death his lands were given to Eustache fitz John".9 Therefore, Knaresborough Castle seems to have come under the tenancy of Eustace fitz John. Possibly, some genealogists thought that Eustace fitz John inherited Knaresborough Castle from his father (whose seat of power was in East Anglia, not North Yorkshire) rather than receiving it as a tenant from the Crown. Therefore, John fitz Richard may be wrongly viewed as the "Lord of Knaresborough", because of his son's tenancy of Knaresborough Castle. Eustache fitz John's first wife was Beatrix, the daughter and heiress of Yvo de Vesi, who was a companion of William the Conqueror during the 1066 Norman Conquest of England for which he was rewarded with many property grants, including Alnwick. After Yvo de Vesi died, Eustache fitz John held Alnwick in right of his wife, Beatrix. Eustache fitz John was an intimate friend of the monarch, Henry I, who bestowed vast estates on him.10 His next wife was Agnes fitz Nigel, daughter and heiress of William fitz Nigel, 2nd Baron of Halton; Agnes fitz Nigel's son, Richard fitz Eustace, was the 5th Lord of Halton, inheriting the lordship from his mother.5 There is a possibility that the pedigree of Roger fitz Richard, 1st Baron of Warkworth, may be found among the descendants of John fitz Richard, meaning Eustace fitz John might be his grandfather. Therefore, Roger fitz Richard may also be the son of Richard fitz Eustace and Albreda de Lisours, whose other son was John fitz Richard, 6th Baron of Halton.6 Warkworth Castle11 and Alnwick Castle12 are located in Northumberland near the Scottish border, a stone's throw from each other, and since Roger fitz Richard received Warkworth, which is in the same area as Alnwick, it may indicate that he was related to Eustace fitz John. The barons of Warkworth and Alnwick shared the same shield design; "quarterly [quarterings] or [gold] gules [red]; a bend sable [diagonal black band]",13,14 which connected them together into a family group, since a similarity between heraldic shields symbolized a close kinship.15,16 John fitz Richard, 6th Baron of Halton, used the same design, except with a label over arms (horizontal band with pendants),13,17 "which the Claverings [Roger fitz Richard and his descendants] bore with no difference",13,18 which would signified a close kinship, such as a brotherly relationship. Furthermore, Roger fitz Richard, 1st Baron of Warkworth in Northumberland, which borders on Scotland to the North, and John fitz Richard, 6th Baron of Halton in Chester, which borders on Wales to the West, had similar duties in that Roger fitz Richard defended the northern territory of England against invasion by the Scottish clans, and John fitz Richard defended the western territory of England against invasion by the Welsh tribes, perhaps indicating some sort of a relationship between them, since Eustace fitz John had baronies and families in both areas.19 Starting out with almost nothing, Eustace fitz John represents a medieval Horatio Alger story in which he achieved success by taking on the hard task of defending England's borders, and thereby, he and his descendants became among the most important families in England.5,9,19

_______________ 1 Vesey01 Vesci of Alnwick www.stirnet.com/genie/british/uv/vesey01.php 2 Eustace Families Association; www.mnbeef.org/eustace/eustacedevesci.html 3 Knaresborough Castle www.knaresborough.co.uk/castle/history.htm 4 Burgh01 www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/bb4fz/burgh01.php 5 Keats-Rohan, K.S.B. Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166 I: Domesday Book (Woodbridge, Suffolk ; Rochester, NY : Boydell Press, 1999) 6 The Barons of Halton & Halton Castle balder.prohosting.com/shissem/Hissem_Halton.html 7 GEN_MEDIEVAL-L Archives archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GEN-MEDIEVAL/2003-04/1050659562 8 Corrections and Additions to the Complete Peerage: Volume 10 www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cp/vol10.shtml 9 Keats-Rohan, K.S.B. Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166: II. Pipe Rolls to 'Cartae Baronum' (Woodbridge, Suffolk ; Rochester, NY : Boydell Press, 2002) 10 Hartshorne, C.H. Memoirs, Vol. II (London: Bell and Daldy, 1858) Ch. VIII, Manorial History of Warkworth, pgs. 188 & 191 11 Warkworth Castle en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle 12 Alnwick Castle en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnwick_Castle 13 Warkworth and Warkworth Castle www.fusilier.co.uk/warkworth_castle/northumberland_1.htm 14 Burke, J. History of the Commoners, Vol. I (London: Bell and Bradfute, 1836) Clavering of Callaly, pg. 237 15 Round, J.H. Geoffrey de Mandeville (London, New York: Longmans, Green, 1892) pgs. 388-394 16 Early Blazon: Vere / Mandeville perso.modulonet.fr/~earlyblazo/pedigree/vere.htm 17 de Lacy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Lacy 18 Dugdale, W. Baronage of England, 1675, Vol. I, (New York: Georg Olms, 1977) pg. 90 19 Eustace fitz John en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_fitz_John

Eustace fitz John, Baron of Alnwick