BRAOSE

1. WILLIAM de BRAOSE

d.c.1095

Bramber Castle, Sussex

William was the lord of Bramber, Sussex and was originally from Briouze-Saint-Gervais, Orne. William's mother was named Gunnor and in the 1080's was a nun at Sainte-Trinite de Caen.

Guillaume de Briouze participated in the victory over the Saxons at the battle of Hastings in support of William the Conqueror and received the lands of Bramber, Sussex in 1073 where he built Bramber Castle. He made extensive grants to the Abbey of St. Florent, Samur as well as endowed the Priory at Sele, West Sussex and a Priory at Briouze.

William built a new Norman castle at Bramber to guard the harbor at Steyning which led to a boundary dispute with the monks from Fecamp, Normandie to whom King William had granted Steyning. William had built a bridge at Bramber and demanded tolls from ships travelling further along the river to the busy port at Steyning. The monks also challenged Bramber's right to bury people in the churchyard of William de Braose's new church of Saint Nicholas, and demanded the burial fees for themselves, despite it being built to serve the castle not the town. The monks then produced forged documents to defend their position and were unhappy with the failure of their claim on Hastings, which were very similar. The monks claimed the same freedoms and land tenure in Hastings as King Edward had given them at Steyning. Though on a technicality William was bound to uphold all aspects of the status quo before Edward's death, the monks had already been expelled 10 years before that death. King William wanted to hold Hastings for himself for strategic reasons and ignored the problem until 1085, when he confirmed their Steyning claims but swapped the Hastings claim for land in the manor of Bury (near Pulborough in Sussex). In 1086 the King William called his sons, Barons and Bishops to court (the last time an English king presided personally, with his full court, to decide a matter of law) to settle this. It took a full day, and the Abbey won over the baron, forcing William de Braose to curtail his bridge tolls, give up various encroachments onto the Abbey's lands, including a farmed rabbit warren, a park, eighteen burgage plots, a causeway, and a channel to fill his moat, and organise a mass exhumation and transfer of all Bramber's dead to the churchyard of Saint Cuthman's Church in Steyning.

William was present for the consecration of a church in Briouze, near Falaise in 1093, however, his son Philip was issuing charters as Lord of Bramber in 1096, so he had undoubtedly had died by that time.

Issue-

·  2I. PHILIP- m. AANOR de TOTNES, d. before 1155

·  II. Agnes- m. Robert FitzAnsquetil de Harcourt

Ref:

Domesday People- K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Boydell Press, 1999- p. 471
English Baronies- I.J. Sanders, Oxford University Press, 1963- p. 108
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families- Lewis Christopher Loyd and David C. Douglas, The Harleian Society, Leeds
Tim Powys-Lybbe's web page at: http://www.tim.ukpub.net

2I. PHILIP (WILLIAM 1)

m. AANOR de TOTNES-
d.c.1130

Philip conquered the lordships of Radnor and Builth and acquiring through his wife the lordship of Totnes, Devon. He supported Henry I against Robert of Normandy but in 1110 revolted against King Henry his estates being confiscated. He regained possession in 1112 and shortly after 1130 his lands passed to his son William.

Philip was responsible for the building of St. Nicolas' church in Old Shoreham, Sussex and founded the port at New Shoreham. He confirmed his father's gifts to the Abbey of St. Florent in 1096. He also was a member of the First Crusade in 1103 and probably died in 1134 while on a crusade.

Issue-

·  3I. WILLIAM- m. BERTHA de HEREFORD (b.c.1130 Gloucester), d.c.1192

·  ?II. Basilia- m. Od de Danmartin

·  III. Philip- Accompanied Henry II to Ireland.

·  IV. Gillian-

Ref:

Welsh Biography On-Line- National Library of Wales web page, article by Prof. William Rees, D.Sc., F.S.A. at: http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-BRAO-SE0-1066.html
The Complete Peerage- St. Catherine Press, London- Vol. I, pp.19ff
Domesday People- K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Boydell Press, 1999- pp. 285-6, 471
Domesday Descendants- K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Boydell Press, 2002- p. 346, 742
English Baronies- I.J. Sanders, Oxford University Press, 1963- pp. 21, 105, 108
Tim Powys-Lybbe's web page at: http://www.tim.ukpub.net

3I. WILLIAM (WILLIAM 1, PHILIP 2)

m. BERTHA de HEREFORD (b.c.1130 Gloucester)
d.c.1192

William was lord of Bramber, Sussex and held half of the Honour of Barnstable, Devon agreeing to pay a fee of 1,000 marks. He was also Sheriff of Hereford.

Bertha was the daughter of Milo of Gloucester whose vast territories after the death of his four sons, passed to his daughters in 1176. Through her William obtained the lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny his lands forming a solid block in the Middle March.

William also supported the church of St. Mary de Haura in Shoreham as well as the priory at Sele, West Sussex.

Issue-

·  4I. BERTHA- m. WILLIAM de BEAUCHAMP (b.c.1105 Elmley Castle, Gloucester, d. after 1170)

·  II. William- m. Maud de St. Valerie, d. 9 Aug. 1211 Corbeuil, bur. 10 Aug. 1211 Abbey of St. Victor, Paris.

·  III. Sibilla- m.1. William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby (d. before 21 Oct. 1190 at the siege of Acre, Palestine), 2. Adam de Port, Lord of Basing (d. before 28 July 1213), d. before 5 Feb. 1228

Ref:

Welsh Biography On-Line- National Library of Wales web page, article by Prof. William Rees, D.Sc., F.S.A. at: http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-BRAO-SE0-1066.html
The Complete Peerage- St. Catherine Press, London- Vol. I, pp.21-2; IV, pp.193-4; XII/1, p. 171; XIV, p. 6
Domesday Descendants- K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Boydell Press, 2002- p. 346-7
English Baronies- I.J. Sanders, Oxford University Press, 1963- pp. 21, 105, 108
Tim Powys-Lybbe's web page at: http://www.tim.ukpub.net

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