William 1ST EARL OF WARREN

Notes:

William de Warren I, Earl of Warenne, came from Normandy, a near kinsman of William the Conqueror. He received large grants of land in recognition of the distinguished part he took at the battle of Hastings. He had large grants of land in several counties among which were the barony of Lewes, in Sussex, and the manors of Carletune and Benington, in Lincolnshire. So extensive indeed were those grants that his possessions resembled more the dominions of a sovereign prince than the estates of a subject. He enjoyed, too, in the highest degree, the confidence of the king, and was appointed joint Justice-General, with Richard de Benefactis, for administering justice throughout the whole realm. While in that office, some great disturbers of the public peace having refused to appear before him and his colleague, in obedience to citation, the Earl took up arms, and defeated the rebels in a battle at Fagadune, when he is said, for the purpose of striking terror, to have cut off the right foot of each of his prisoners. Of these rebels, Ralph Wahir or Gauder, Earl of Norfolk, and Roger, Earl of Hereford, were the ringleaders. He was likewise highly esteemed by King William Rufus, and was created by that monarch the first Earl of Surrey. He married Gundred, daughter of William the Conqueror and Lady Matilda.

The following account is from Crispin and Macary in "Falaise Rolls":
"The family derived its name from the fiefdom of Vareene in St.-Aubin-le-Cauf, arrondissement of Dieppe. William, Count of Warren (Varenne) in Normandy, was descended from Gautier de St.-Martin and a niece of the duchess Gonnor, who had issue: 1. Raoul de Warren, a benefactor to the abbey of Trinite du Mont in the middle of the 11th century, was the father of William de Warren I and of Roger de Mortemer, father of Raoul de Mortemer, who was present at Hastings; 2. sire de St.-Martin, possibly named Gautier, ancestor of the family of this name in Normandy and England. Orderic Vital styles William the cousin or kinsman of Roger de Mortemer; however, this is an error. Norman People published this pedigree: Gautier de St.-Martin, and a niece of the aforesaid duchess had a son, William de St.-Martin, whose issue were: 1. Roger de Mortemer, father of Raoul de Mortemer, a warrior at Hastings; 2. Raoul de Warren; and 3. sire de St.-Martin, but this makes too many generations for the known facts.

William de Warren is first mentioned in history in connection with the battle of Mortemer in 1054 by Oderic Vital, and again as having attended the council at Lillebonne, where it was determined to invade England. He later was one of the powerful seigniors who attended Duke William to the Conquest, and Wace records "De Garenes i vint Willeme," but nothing of importance is chronicled concerning him at Hastings. In 1067 he was one of the nobles entrusted with the government of England during the king's absence in Normandy under the jurisdiction of Bishop Odo and William Fitz Osberne. In 1074 he was associated with Richard de Bienfaite in the suppression of the rebellion of the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk and as joint-Justice-General with him for administering justice throughout the whole realm. His reward was princely, since he held the great baronies of Castle Acre in Norfolk, Lewes in Sussex, where he usually resided, and Coningsburg in Yorkshire, with twenty-eight towns and hamlets in its soke. In all he possessed 300 manors and was created the first Earl of Surrey by King William Rufus. The reason for this enormous reward was probably because he married Gundreda, who is believed to have been the daughter of Queen Matilda (and William the Conqueror?); she died in 1085. This theory is supported by a charter of William de Warren to Lewes priory, in which he states that his donations, among others, were for Queen Matilda, the mother of his wife. It is conjectured that Grundreda and Gherbold the Fleming, created Earl of Chester, her brother, were the children of Queen Matilda by a former marriage, probably clandestine, and therefore not reported by the historians of the day. William de Warren I. was succeeded by his son, William de Warren II., Earl of Warren and Surrey, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the great Earl of Vermandois, the widowed countess of Meulent, by whom he had, among other children, William de Warren III., the last earl of his line, who succeeded him and died in the Holy Land, leaving an only child, Isabel Warren, who inherited his vast domain and through whom the family descended. In addition to Wace, William de Warren is reported in Hastings by William de Poitiers, Oderic Vital and Benoit de St.-More."

William married Gundred OF ENGLAND. Gundred (daughter of William I 'the Conqueror' KING OF ENGLAND and Matilda OF FLANDERS) was born in 1051; died on 27 May 1087. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The name Warrene originates from the river Varenne near Dieppe. William came from France with the invasion of 1066 and was created the Earl of Surry with castles at Lewes, Castle Acre and Reigate. He was granted the Wakefiled estates by his father-in-law. William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 1138), was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He is more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey.

William de Warren II, 2nd Earl of Warren and 2nd Earl of Surrey, joined Robert de Belesme, Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, in favor of Robert Curthose, against King Henry I., and in consequence forfeited his English earldom and estates; but those were subsequently restored to him, and he was ever afterwards a good and faithful subject to King Henry. He married Isabel Vermandois, Countess of Leicester, daughter of Hugh the Great, Earl of Vermandois, and Alice, his wife, daughter of Hubert, 4th Count de Vermandois, son of Henry, 3rd Count de Vermandois, by his wife, Edgina, daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England, son of Alfred the Great, King of England. Isabel was also the widow of Robert, Earl of Mellent, and granddaughter of King Henry I of France.

In January 1091, William assisted Hugh of Grantmesnil (d.1094) in his defense of Courcy against the forces of Robert de Belleme and Duke Robert. Sometime around 1093 he tried to marry Matilda (or Edith), daughter of king Malcolm III of Scotland. She instead married Henry I of England, and this may be the cause of William's great dislike of Henry I, which was to be his apparent motivator in the following years. He accompanied Robert Curthose (Duke Robert) in his 1101 invasion of England, and afterwards lost his English lands and titles and was exiled to Normandy. There he complained to Curthose that he expended great effort on the duke's behalf and had in return lost most of his possessions. Curthose's return to England in 1103 was apparently made to convince his brother to restore William's earldom. This was successful, though Curthose had to give up all he had received after the 1101 invasion, and subsequently William was loyal to Henry. To further insure William's loyalty Henry considered marrying him to one of his many illegitimate daughters. He was however dissuaded by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, for any of the daughters would have been within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. The precise nature of the consanguinous relationship Anselm had in mind has been much debated, but it is most likely he was referring to common descent from the father of duchess Gunnor.
William was one of the commanders on Henry's side (against Robert Curthose) at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. Afterwards, with his loyalty thus proven, he became more prominent in Henry's court. In 1110, Curthose's son William Clito escaped along with Helias of Saint-Saens, and afterwards Warenne received the forfeited Saint-Saens lands, which were very near his own in upper Normandy. By this maneuver king Henry further assured his loyalty, for the successful return of Clito would mean at the very least Warenne's loss of this new territory.
He fought at the Battle of Bremule in 1119, and was at Henry's deathbed in 1135. William's death is recorded as 11-May-1138 in the register of Lewes priory and he was buried with his father at the chapter-house there.

William married Isabel (Elizabeth) DE VERMANDOIS. Isabel (daughter of Hugo 'the Great' de Crepi OF VERMANDOIS and Adelheid DE VERMANDOIS, Comtesse de Valois, daughter of Hugh Magnus 'the Great' DE VERMANDOIS and Adelheid DE VERMANDOIS) was born in 1081 in Valois, Bretagne, France; died on 13 Feb 1131. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Ada de Warenne or Adeline de Varenne (c. 1120

Adelaide married Henry 9TH EARL OF HUNTINGDON, of Scotland in 1139. Henry (son of David I "the Saint" KING OF SCOTLAND and Matilda (Maud) of HUNTINGDON) died on 12 Jun 1152. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Reginald de Warren, who marrying Alice, daughter and heir of William de Wirmgay, became Lord Wirmgay, in Norfolk. He founded the priory of Wirmgay, and left a daughter, Alice, wife of Reginald de Dunstavil, and a son, William. Watson, in his "History of the House of Warren", corroborated by Camden and Ormerod, makes this Reginald to have married Aldelia de Mowbray, and to have had a son, William, from whom he deduced the family of Warren, of Poynton, co. Chester.

Notes:

William de Warren III, 3rd Earl of Warrenne and 3rd Earl of Surrey, zealously espoused the cause of King Stephen, and had a chief command in the army of that monarch, in the battle fought at Lincoln, between him and the adherents of the Empress Maud. He married Adela (Alice) Talvace, daughter of William Talvace, Baron de Talvace, son of Robert de Belesme, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel, and by her (who married (2) Patrick de Eureux, Earl of Salisbury).

In 1147, the Earl of Warrenne and Surrey assumed the cross, and accompanied King Louis of France to the Holy Land against the Saracens. From this unfortunate enterprise he never returned, but whether he fell in battle or died in captivity has never been ascertained.

Notes:

Name:
Princess of Scotland

Margaret married Humphrey III de Bohun. Humphrey (son of Humphrey II de Bohun and Margaret of Hereford, Constable of England) was born before 1144 in England; died in Dec 1181 in France; was buried in Llanthony Secunda Priory, Hempsted, Gloucester, Monmouthshire, England. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, was knighted by King Henry II. in 1170. He accompanied King Richard I. to the Holy Land, with 500 men in his train; but upon his return, his fleet being scattered, he was made prisoner of the Egyptians, and eventually redeemed by the Venetians. He married in August 1190 Maud Keveloik, Countess of Huntingdon, eldest daughter of Hugh de Keveliok, Earl of Chester, and sister and co-heir of Ralph Keveloik, Earl of Chester. David died June 17, 1219 at Yardley, in Northamptonshire and was buried at Sawtrey Abbey.

Notes:

Isabela of Huntingdon, married Robert Bruce V., 4th Baron of Annadale. He was the son of William Bruce, 3rd Baron of Annadale, and had large estates in both England and Scotland. He died in 1245 and she died in 1252. They had a son, Robert Bruce, Lord of Annadale, born in 1210. He was an able and strenuous baron, and acted a great part in the reign of King Alexander III. of Scotland. In 1255, he was appointed one of the fifteen Regents of Scotland. In 1284, he was one of the Magnates Scotiae who consented to accept Margaret of Norway as their sovereign, on the demise of Alexander III. He contested unsuccessfully, in 1291, for the throne of Scotland. King Edward I., the arbitrator, decided in favor of John Balliol. He married in May 1240 (1) Isabel (Isabella) Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Gloucester, and a Surety of the Magna Charta, born November 2, 1226, and living July 10, 1264. He succeeded his father in 1245 and his mother in 1251. On April 19, 1267 he, together with his son, swore fealty to the King and Prince Edward. He married before May 10, 1275, (2) Christian d'Irevy, daughter of William d'Irevy. Robert Bruce, at the age of eighty-five, died at Lochmaben Castle in 1295 and was buried April 17, 1295 in Guisborough Priory.

Notes:

Malcolm IV, King of Scotland, (The Maiden) 10th Earl of Huntingdon, born probably in 1141. He succeeded his grandfather, May 24, 1153, a year after his father's death, being only twelve years of age. He died without issue, December 9, 1165, and was succeeded by his brother, William.

Notes:

William I., the Lion, King of Scotland, 11th Earl of Huntingdon, taking up arms in favor of Prince Henry, so exasperated King Henry II., that he immediately sent an army against him, and promised that the castle and earldom should be restored to the family of St. Liz, the rightful heirs; whereupon Simon St. Liz, Earl of Northampton, son and heir of Simon, last Earl of Huntingdon, of that family, levied troops, and appeared before the castle, when William of Scotland, finding it untenable, made a surrender to St. Liz of that fortress, which the King of England ordered to be demolished, but nevertheless, Simon de St. Liz was restored to the Earldom of Huntingdon, about 1174, which he enjoyed for the remainder of his life. He d.s.p., in 1184, whereupon King Henry II. restored the Earldom to King William, of Scotland, and that monarch transferred it to his younger brother, David. From the treaty of Falaise, December 8, 1174, to King Richard's quit-claim of December 5, 1189, William acknowledged the King of England as overlord of Scotland. William married Ermengarde Beaumont, and was the father of Alexander II, and he was also the father of many children; four with his wife Ermengarde