Hawisa (Aumale) de Forz (abt. 1160 - 1214)

Born about 1160 in Holderness, North Riding, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of William (Mandeville) de Mandeville — married 14 Jan 1180 in Pleshey Castle, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 11 Mar 1214 at about age 54 in Rickling, Saffron Walden, Essex, England

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Biography

HAWISE, 1st (or, more probably, only) daughter and heir., succeeded her father in the Comte of Aumale and the Lordship of Holderness. She m., 1stly, 14 Jan 1179/80, at Pleshy, Essex, William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who thereby became Count of Aumale. He dsp., 14 Nov 1189. She m., 2ndly, after 3 July 1190, William de Forz, who thereby became Count of Aumale. He accompanied Richard I in his Crusade, and d. in 1195. She m., 3rdly, Baldwin de Bethune, le Roux, Seigneur de Bethune and Avoue d'Arras, by Adelaide, daughter of Hugh III, Count of St. Pol. He thereby became Count of Aumale. His castle of Aumale was captured by the King of France in 1196. He d. 13 or 14 Oct 1212 [not 1211 or 1213], and was buried in the Abbey of Meaux. His widow gave, 3 Nov 1212, 5,000 marks to possess her inheritance, and that she might not be compelled to marry again. She d. 11 Mar 1213/4^[1]

"Hawise was countess in her own right when she married, on 14 January 1180, to William, Earl of Essex. On his death late in 1189 the widowed Hawise was described by chronicler Richard of Devizes as "a woman who was almost a man, lacking nothing virile except the virile organs." In addition to her inherited lands in Normandy and England (which included the Honour of Holderness, in the eastern part of Yorkshire), she received in dower one-third of the substantial Mandeville estates. After a widowhood of less than a year, she remarried. Her second husband was William de Forz (or in Latin de Fortibus) of Oleron. The Poitevin was one of the commanders of the crusading fleet of King Richard I, and the match is said to have been forced on Countess Hawise by that king."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ .Complete Peerage, I:354-5
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawise,_Countess_of_Aumale

See also:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawise,_Countess_of_Aumale It gives several academic sources in the sources below which might be worth looking at for somebody who has access to an open library. It mentions her marriage to William de Mandeville, William de Forz and Baldwin de Bethune.

• Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2324744

• All three marriages are mentioned in "Historical Dictionary of the Crusades" https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_the_Crusades/uX8e2zU_TG0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Hawisa+(Hawise)+de+Forz&pg=PA39&printsec=frontcover

• There are some records here in Latin: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Early_Yorkshire_Charters_Volume_7_The_Ho/PGnetE9YIc0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Hawisa+(Hawise)+de+Forz&pg=PA87&printsec=frontcover
• The Phillips, Weber, Kirk, & Staggs families of the Pacific Northwest, Jim Weber, rootsweb.com