Family of Geoffrey de Turville

TURVILLE

1. ANSCHITIL-

d. before 1086

One of the greatest lords that accompanied William the Conqueror upon his memorable invasion of England in 1066 was his half brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. Among the Bishop's followers was Anschitil, who may have been actually present at the Battle of Hastings.

Issue-

  • 2I. ROGER-

    Ref:

    "English Origins of New England Families"- First Series, Vol. II, p.667


    2I. ROGER (ANSCHITIL 1)

    In the Doomsday Survey of 1086 Roger held extensive estates of the Bishop of Bayeux in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Kent, and Hertfordshire. The greater portion of his estate was in Bucks. where he held Weston, Taplow, Chalfont, and Saunderton as well as several lesser lordships. In Kent he is called "son of Anschitil" and held Hastingleigh and Eastling, in Hertford he held the manor of Putenham. These estates, assessed at upwards of fifty hides, constituted a very large estate for a Doomsday under-tenant.(1) (A hide was the amount of land which could be ploughed in a year using one plough and support a family. It could therefore vary in area with the soil quality, generally between 60 and 180 acres.)

    Issue-

  • 3I. GEOFFREY-
  • II. Isabel- m. _____ de Bolebec

    Ref:

    (1) Doomsday Book


    3I. GEOFFREY (ANSCHITIL 1, ROGER 2)

    After Bishop Odo's forfeiture many of his lordships passed to Robert De Beaumont, Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan. His son Waleran, Count of Meulan, whose fortunes Geoffrey would naturally follow, rebelled against the King in 1123, and was defeated at the battle of Rougemontier, where he and some 80 of his men-at-arms were taken prisoner. At Rouen in 1124 the King pronounced judgment on the captives and caused the eyes of Geoffrey De Turville and another knight named Odard du Pin to be put out. The Count of Flanders, who was then at the court, commiserated the lot of the condemned and said to the King, "my lord King, you are doing what is quite abhorrent to our usages when you mutilate captives taken in the service of their lords". To which the King replied, "Sir Count, I do what is right, and I will prove it by good reasons. Geoffrey and Odard became my liege men with the consent of their lords and, breaking their oaths of fealty, proved false to me and therefore incurred the penalty of death or mutilation."(1)

    It is not known for certain if Geoffrey survived this terrible punishment. Either he or his son was in the King's favor in 1130 when he was pardoned £4/8/6 of geld (an amount close to the sum that would have been due on the Doomsday assessment) on his lands in Bucks.(2) At the same time smaller sums, representing the geld on 25 hides were remitted on his lands in the counties of Warwick, Northants, and Cambridge. These estates were probably of the Earl of Leicester's grant.(3) (Geld is an Old English term for an extraordinary tax based on the amount of land possessed.)

    Geoffrey's son Geoffrey acknowledged in 1146 that with the consent of Gundred, his wife, he had given to the church of St. Mary of Missenden, for the souls of his father Geoffrey, his brother William, himself, his wife and his sons, all the land of "la Lega" that Ralf de Haltuna held.(4)

    Issue-

  • I. Geoffrey- m. Gundred, d. before 1177
  • 4II. WILLIAM-
  • III. Payn-

    Ref:

    (1) "English Origins of New England Families"- First Series, Vol. II, p.669
    (2) Pipe Rolls- 31 Henry I
    (3) Ibid
    (4) Cartulary of Missenden Abbey- No. 201 (This charter from Harl. MSS 3688 is preserved in the Browne Willis Transcript at the Bodleian Library)


    4II. WILLIAM (ANSCHITIL 1, ROGER 2, GEOFFREY 3)

    In 1146 Geoffrey de Turville, William's brother, gave to John de "Leia" and to his heirs a hide of land of his demesne in Weston and the mill that William held, free from all service save that John and his heirs should do castle-guard in the castle of Weston for forty days in time of war, with a destrier (ie. a war-horse) and a rouncey (ie. a riding horse), and for three weeks in time of peace. And this he did because John had surrendered to him his own inheritance, to wit, the land of "Leia" which he had given to the canons of Missenden in alms. This deed was witnessed by the abbot of Missenden, Hugh de Noers, William de Puteham, Payn de Puteham, Osbert de Saunderton and many others, including the whole hallmote of Weston.(1) (The hallmote was the court of the manor which dealt with petty offences.)

    Issue-

  • 5I. MAUD- m. RICHARD FITZ WALE (see PUTNAM)

    Ref:

    (1) Cartulary of Missenden Abbey- No.248

    A History of the County of Buckingham- William Page, 1908- Vol. II, pp. 345-7 at: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62785


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