Ref:

Dictionary of National Biography- Leslie Stephen, Ed., Oxford University Press
The Complete Peerage- St. Catherine Press, London, Vol. V, p.495

d.c.1171

Issue-

m. HAWISE, d. of Joceas of Dinan
d. 1197

Fulk's father died when he was a boy and tradition states that he was brought up in the Royal household at Windsor Castle and he and the future King John were playmates. The two supposedly had a falling out at a young age while playing chess. Prince John was loosing and overturned the chessboard and hit Fulk in the mouth. Fulk struck back and John fell backwards hitting his head and was unconscious. After coming to he ran off the complain to his father the king who told his son that he probably deserved all he got and punished him for being a tattle tale.

In 1177 the Pipe Roll for Shropshire shows that he was fined 40 marks by Henry II for forest trespass. In 1180 he won a dispute over the right of Shrewsbury Abbey to the advowson of Alberbury. In 1190 he was fined �100 for Hawise's share of her inheritance and through her he obtained several Wiltshire manors. In 1194 he was named attorney for her in a suit of mort d'ancestre concerning these lands and was fined 10 marks.

In 1195 he owed 40 marks for Whittington Castle. The fine remained unpaid in 1202. In 1198, the year after his death, Hawise paid 30 marks that she would not be obligated to remarry. Her name appears as a litigant until 1226.

m.1. before 1 Oct. 1207 MAUD le VAVASOUR (d. before 1226)
2. c.1227 Clarice d'Auberville (d. after Oct. 1250)
d. after 8 Oct. 1250

Whittington Castle

Whittington Castle was rebuilt beginning in 1221 on the site of an earlier fortress which dates back to the 9th century. Fulk applied to Henry III for permission to build a stone fortress. The original castle that Fulk built had seven towers 60' high and a 40' drawbridge. Fulk quarrelled with King John and the feud caused Fulk to flee to France. He was granted a pardon and returned to his castle. Fulk survived a siege in 1223 by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd, but the castle was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt. The castle fell into disrepair after the Civil War and the stones were used for local building and road projects. Today Whittington Castle is the only castle in England which is owned and managed by a group of local residents.

The most famous legend concerning Whittington is in regards to the Marian Chalice, which is thought by some to be the Holy Grail. Sir Fulk was supposedly in the line of gardians of the Grail and King Arthur and that the Grail was kept in a private chapel in the castle.

Fulk was immortilized in the Romance of Fulk FitzWarin which survives as a manuscript in the British Library as a pre-1320 transcription of an earlier French manuscript.

In the year ending on Michaelmas 1200, Fulk was fined �100 with King John to have judgement concerning the castle as his right. The king was bribed by Meurig of Powys to confirm him in the possession of Whittington Castle and subsequently Fulk and his brothers and friends rebelled. The Romance of Fulk FitzWarin says that King John gave Fulk's inheritance away due to the humiliation he had received as a child by his father. With his brothers and a band of followers he lived in the forests and robbed the king's wagon trains and harassed his soldiers. Fulk fled to France and became pirates in the Channel and in their adventures rescued the daughter of the King of Orkney and saved the Duke of Carthage from a dragon!

Upon returning to England he heard that the king was holding court at Windsor castle so they went to Windsor forest and waited for John to go hunting there. Hearing that the king was in the area, Fulk put on the clothes of a charcoal burner and sat by his fire in the forest. The king and his hunting party rode by and asked if he had seen any deer. Fulk said he had seen a large stag run into the woods and leg the king into an ambush and the king and his party was surrounded. The Romance states that Fulk just wanted to live a quiet life and agreed to let the king go if he would promise to be his friend again. The king of course agreed and upon returning to Windsor he sent out James de Normandy with an armed force, but, Fulk and his men were ready for them and were able to overcome them. Fulk exchanged clothes and horses with Sir James and rode off to present the king with his prisoner. Fulk told the king that he must return to the battle and John gave him a fresh horse. Only when Sir James' helmet was removed did the king realize what had happened.

King John sent out another force and during this bloody battle many of Fulk's followers were killed. Fulk was wounded and his brother John scooped him up onto his horse and they headed for the coast. The Earl of Chester hid his other brother, Hurley, in a nearby monastery but was soon discovered and thrown into prison at Windsor. Fulk escaped to Spain and the Barbary Coast and after more adventures he returned to England and rescued his brother from prison in London. Fulk supposedly captured King John again while he was hunting in the New Forest and they finally made peace and his outlawry was revoked by patent in Rouen 11 Nov. 1203 and in 1204 King John restored Whittington Castle to him.

Fulk was one of the rebel barons and excommunicated by Pope Innocent III 16 Dec. 1215. He made his peace with King Henry III in 1218.

Issue-First 3 children by Maud, last 2 by Clarise

Ref:

Royal Berkshire History- David Nash Ford at: http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/ffitzwarin.html The Complete Peerage- St. Catherine Press, London, Vol. V, p.495; Vol.XII/2, p.21
An excellent article concerning this family was written by John Ravilious in the soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup 2 Jan. 2004