Agnes (Unknown) de Brus (1095 - 1170)

Born 1095 in Warwickshire, England

Descendants

Died 1170 at about age 75 in Skelton, Yorkshire, , England

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Biography

Rejected Origins

"Farrer's own initial suggestion was that Agnes was daughter of Geoffrey Bainard, a sheriff of Yorkshire who briefly held the manor of Burton [Agnes] in the time of Rufus. Although King supports this theory, Farrer himself ultimately rejected it, with good reason. Like Carlton, Burton [Agnes] was part of the initial Brus fief, and two of its berewicks were added in the exchange of 1103 as a direct grant from the king. In 1086 the manor had been held by the king and let out to farm, so despite Geoffrey Bainard granting the church and some land there to St Mary's, York, he may only have held it temporarily or by virtue of his office. Furthermore, Agnes is not named at all in her husband's own grant of the church of Burton [Agnes] to York, making it unlikely that she was Geoffrey's heir. Finally, the appellation 'Agnes' was not used until the mid-thirteenth century and may well have come from Agnes d'Aumale, wife of Adam de Brus I."^[1]

Marriage

Robert had two sons by Agnes. His older son Adam also allegedly fought against David at the Battle of the Standard, but his younger son Robert chose to remain in David's allegiance, fighting against his own father. It was the younger Robert who was given possession of Annandale. Adam and his descendents continued to hold lands in England as Lord of Skelton. Robert the elder died in 1142.^{[citation needed]}

"Little is known about the wife of the first Robert de Brus except that her name was Agnes, that she was linked with her husband in his grants to foundations at Guisborough, York and Whitby, and that she made a gift to Guisborough priory in her own right, of the manor of Carlton by Camblesforth.

This last grant has given rise to the theory that Agnes was the daughter of a Paynel, an idea which Farrer rightly rejected. Although Carlton was soke of the Paynel manor of Drax, it had been held by the king in 1086, formed part of the original Brus fief and was later held by Paynel of Brus not the other way round. It is therefore more likely that Carlton had been gifted to Agnes by her husband as part of her dower."

Sources

1. ↑ Blakely, 2000

• Blakely, R.M. (2000). The Brus Family in England and Scotland 1100 - c.1290, (pp.26-27). Durham Theses. Durham University. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1594.