Baudouin FitzGilbert (Brionne) de Brionne (bef. 1039 - bef. 1091)

Born before 1039 in Eu, Normandie, France [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1 Jan 1091 at about age 52 in Okehampton, Devon, England

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Biography

Baldwin de Muelles aka Baldwin son of Count Gilbert, Baldwin brother of Richard son of Count Gilbert, Baldwin the Sheriff, Baldwin of Exeter,^[1] Baldwin Fitz Gilbert, Seigneur de Meules and du Sap, Normandie, Lord of Okehampton, Devon,^[2] Baudouin de Brionne^[3]

Baldwin Brionne was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

Baldwin was the third^[3] son of Gilbert, count of Eu and possibly Brionne, and the great-grandson of Richard (I), Duke of Normandy, because his father was the son of Godefroy, one of the duke's illegitimate children.^[1] Baldwin was probably born at Eu, his father's home.^[1] There is no record of his date of birth, but his oldest brother, Richard, was born before 1035 and his father was murdered in 1040.^[3]

There is no record of who Baldwins' mother was.^[3]

Baldwin was the brother of:

1. Richard, Seigneur de Bienfaite et d'Orbec, born before 1035, died circa April 1090,^[3] ancestor of the family of Clare;^[2]
2. Guillaume de Brionne, living on 29 August 1060 when he was mentioned in a charter in which Gausberti Villa was donated to Chartres Saint-Père;^[3]
3. Adela, who was married by 29 August 1060, to Neel, Vicomte de Cotentin;^[3]

Baldwins' father was one of the guardians of the young William II, duke of Normandy.^[1] Baldwin and his brother, Richard, took refuge in Flanders after their father's murder.^[3] After Duke William married Matilda, he gave Baldwin the lordships of Meulles (fr: Seigneurie de Meulles) and Le Sap,^[1] restoring properties which had been his father's^[2] at the request of Baldwin V, count of Flanders, William's father-in-law.^[3]

Marriage and Children

Baldwin married Emma —,^[4] in or before 1066.^[1] Green, citing K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, "The Bretons and Normans of England, 1066–1154: the family, the fief and the feudal monarchy", Nottingham Medieval Studies, 36 (1992), 42–78, says Emma may have been the daughter of Richard Goz, vicomte of the Avranchin.^[1] However, Keats-Rohan in Domesday People only says Emma was possibly from west Normandy.^[5] Watson in The Complete Peerage says Baldwin's wife was Emma or Auberée and she was the first cousin or niece of Duke William/King William I of England.^[2] However, it should be noted that in a contemporary charter, ie made in 1066 by William II, duke of Normandy, Baldwin's wife was named Emma and no relationship to the duke was specified.^[1] Also, in a charter Henry II, king of England, granted "to the abbey of the Holy Trinity of Caen and the nuns there serving God, the following gifts made to them by by his predecessors and others." The enumerated gifts in the charter, dated to between 1180 and 1187, included that of Baldwin, son of count Gilbert, and Emma his wife, of the churches of Foresta with the tithes and 200 acres of land there.^[4]

According to the Chronicle of Tintern^[2] and the chronicle of Forde Abbey, which was written at a later period, Baldwin's wife was Albreda, so Baldwin may have been married twice, or her name was recorded incorrectly.^[1]

Baldwin with his wife/wives had children:

1. Robert, who succeeded to Le Sap and Meulles in France;^[1]
2. William fitz Baldwin, succeeded to his father's properties in south-west England,^[1] but died without surviving children;^[2]
3. Richard,^[1] succeeded his brother William in the barony of Okehampton and then also died without issue 1137;^[6]
4. Adelise, died 24 August 1142, was buried at Forde Abbey, Devon;^[3] (MEDLANDS seems to have no reason to translate her name Adelicia as Adela.) She was called "vicecomitissa" in the record of in Forde Abbey indicating that she "appears to have briefly succeeded her three elder brothers as Baldwin's heirs before dying without issue";^[5] Keats-Rohan (D. Descendants p.845) calls her "Filia Baldwini Filii Comitis, Adelicia".
5. [?] Emma, married Hugh de Waft;^[3] [Citation to MEDLANDS seems questionable here (see MEDLANDS itself), Some online trees have her as the wife of William fitz Wimund...]^{[citation needed]}
6. Mathilda. Wife of William fitz Wimund of Avranches.^[7] Keats-Rohan calls her Matilda. (That is the name of the wife of William son of Guimond, seigneur de Ponts et d'Avranches, in the deed of a gift in the cartulary of Mont Saint-Michel^[8] But could he have had more several wives?) Of Dolton, Devon, married 1) William d'Avranches, son of Guimond, died circa 1087, and 2) Ranulf Avenel, died 1128-9;^[9] The Domesday Survey recorded in Helenscane and Dolton, Devon, that William fitzWimund was the subtenant of tenant-in-chief, Baldwin the sheriff.^[10]

Baldwin also had illegitimate children:

1. Wiger, monk of Bec;^[1]

Career and Property

In 1068, William, then king of England, ordered a castle built at Exeter which he gave to Baldwin to hold,^[1] (1067 to Balduinum de Molis^[3]). King William addressed Baldwin as sheriff of Devon in 1070-1.^[11] 1080 to 1086 at least and probably until his death.^[2]

At the time of the Domesday survey, 1086, Baldwin was a major landholder in Devon with more than 90 knight service fees around Exeter and Okehampton,^[1] and a total of some 160 lordships in Devon, Dorset and Somerset; Okehampton was the capital seat of his barony.^[2] (For a list of his holdings, see "Baldwin 8 Baldwin the sheriff, fl. 1066x1086", Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.) The manor of Okehampton was a small one of thirty ploughs, with no soke, where Baldwin had a small castle on the east point of a spur of high land, its whole area covering scarcely two acres, a borough with four burgesses and a market.^[12]

What's in a Name?

He attested documents as:

• Baldwin, son of Count Gilbert, in 1074 (a grant by William I, king of England and lord of Normandy to the church of Bayeux),^[13] 1075 (a grant by Adeliz the countess, daughter of Richard, sister of Robert, granting the castle of Hulme in the Côtentin to the abbey of the Holy Trinity of Caen)^[14], 1082 (a grant by William to the church of St Calais and a charter by William I and Matilda his wife to the Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen)^[15] and an undated notification by him of a grant of a moiety of the church of Moeles and the tithe to the abbey of St Amand, Rouen, for this mother;^[16]
• Baldwin sheriff of Exeter in 1080 (a charter by William I to the Abbey of Lessay [Coutances]);^[17]
• Baldwin of Exeter in 1085 (a confirmation by William to the Abbey of Fécamp king Edward's gift of Steyning);^[18] and
• Baldwin, his brother, ie the brother of Richard son of Count Gilbert, in 1081 (a charter of William I to St Peter's, Ghent)^[19]) and 1086 (a notification of a plea held by William I concerning the property of the Abbey of the Holy Trinity, Fécamp).^[20]

Death

There is no record of when and where Baldwin de Meulles died, but he was dead before 1 January 1091.^[1]

Cawley states Baudouin de Brionne died [Feb] 1090 ... 'The necrology of Saint-Nicaise de Meulan records the death of "Baldoinus filius comitis", undated but listed among deaths recorded in Feb' citing Obituaires de Sens Tome II, Prieuré de Saint-Nicaise de Meulan, p. 238.^[3] However, the index of Obituaires de la Province de Sens, Tome II, says "Baldoinus, filius comitis, frater noster" on page 238 c relates to Baldoinus, filius comitis Mellenti.^[21]

Research Notes

The French Wikipedia citing Green incorrectly says Albreda may have been the daughter of Richard Goz.^[22]

Americans of Royal Descent: Collection of Genealogies states "Baldwin de Brion, ... married Lady Albreda, daughter of Richard-goz d'Abrancis, Viscount d'Auveran-chez (who accompanied the Conqueror and was granted the Earldom of Chester, in 1086), and his wife, Lady Emme, half-sister of King William the Conqueror."^[23] Richard le Goz was not granted the earldom of Chester in 1086, his son Hugh was in 1071.^[24] This book contains other errors, such as Baldwin's son was Richard d'Auveranche de Redvers, earl of Devon which is not correct.^[2]

The Monasticon and Dugdale's Baronage confused Richard the son of Baldwin the son of Count Gilbert with Richard de Redvers and made a compound Richard who was earl of Devon, in an error that persisted for many years: Baldwin de Redvers' father was not an Earl and was not Richard the son of Baldwin de Moeles.^[25]

Roger de Meulles was recorded in the Domesday survey in Devon as a subtenant of Baldwin's.^[26] Although the Lysons speculate in Magna Britannia that Roger de Molis was Baldwin's brother or son,^[27] there is no evidence that he was related.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} Judith A. Green, ‘Baldwin [Baldwin de Meulles] (d. 1086x90)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/1161, accessed 5 September 2023). Baldwin [Baldwin de Meulles] (d. 1086x90): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1161
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} G W Watson, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed, G E Cokayne, Vicary Gibbs with H Arthur Doubleday, eds, 13 volumes in 14, (London: The St Catherine Press, 1916), IV:308-9, Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/completepeerageo04coka#page/308/mode/2up accessed 30 September 2017.) Devon.
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12} Charles Cawley, "Normandy: Arques, Aumâle, Caux, Rouen, Eu: Chapter 4 Eu: A. Comtes d"Eu 996-1040, descendants of Geoffrey de Brionne", Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, (v4.1 Updated 06 August 2017), Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, (http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/normacre.htm#GeoffreyBrionnedied1015B accessed 30 September 2017).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} John Horace Round, ed, Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, Illustrative of the History of Great Britain and Ireland, (London: Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1899), I:148, Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/calendardocumen00roungoog#page/n210/mode/2up accessed 2 October 2017). No 439.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Keats-Rohan, K.S.B. (1999) "Balduin Vicecomes" in Domesday People, p.162
6. ↑ Sanders, I.J. (1960) "Okehampton" in English Baronies, p.69
7. ↑ The Exeter ("Exon") satellite Domesday survey mentions that Baldwin gave Dolton to William son of Wimund with his daughter in marriage.
8. ↑ La Bibliothèque virtuelle des manuscrits médiévaux (BVMM), Avranches, Bibliothèque municipale, 0210 folio 84 (Reproduction intégrale) https://bvmm.irht.cnrs.fr/iiif/969/canvas/canvas-1207401/view accessed 5 September 2023).
9. ↑ The Complete Peerage, IV:317, (https://archive.org/stream/completepeerageo04coka#page/316/mode/2up accessed 30 September 2017.) Devon.
10. ↑ "William 118: William fitzWimund, fl. 1086", Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England, http://domesday.pase.ac.uk/Domesday?op=5&personkey=47682, accessed 29 September 2017.
11. ↑ Henry William Carless Davis and R J Whitwell, Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154, 4 volumes, (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1913), I:15-6 , Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/regestaregumangl01daviuoft#page/14/mode/2up/ accessed 1 October 2017). Nos 58, 59.
12. ↑ Ella S Armitage, "The Early Norman Castles of England." The English Historical Review, vol 19, no 74, 1904, pp 209–245. Digital Image JSTOR ( www.jstor.org/stable/548823 accessed 4 October 2017.)
13. ↑ Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154, I:20, No 76.
14. ↑ Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, I:141, No 421.
15. ↑ Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154, I:40-1, Nos 147, 150.
16. ↑ Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, I:26, No 95.
17. ↑ Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154, I:33, No 125.
18. ↑ Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, I:38, No 115.
19. ↑ Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, I:503, No 1375.
20. ↑ Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154, I:59, No 220.
21. ↑ Auguste Molinier, "Obituaires de la Province de Sens, Tome II, Diocèse de Chartres", Recueil des Historiens de la France, (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1906), 495, Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/recueildeshistor02acaduoft#page/494/mode/2up/ accessed 1 October 2017).
22. ↑ Contributeurs à Wikipedia, 'Baudouin de Meules', Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 18 janvier 2016, 22:15 UTC, <https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baudouin_de_Meules&oldid=122481281> [Page consultée le 18 janvier 2016]
23. ↑ Charles H. Browning, Americans of Royal Descent: Collection of Genealogies Showing the Lineal Descent from Kings of Some American Families, 7th edition, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1911), 25, Digital Image Google Books (25, Pedigree IV : accessed 1 November, 2018.
24. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hugh_d%27Avranches,_Earl_of_Chester&oldid=801767795 (accessed September 30, 2017).
25. ↑ John Horace Round, Feudal England: Historical Studies on the XIth and XIIth Centuries, (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co, 1895), 472-3, Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/feudalenglandhi00roungoog#page/n494/mode/2up/ accessed 2 October 2017).
26. ↑ "Roger 33: Roger de Meulles, fl. 1086", Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England, http://domesday.pase.ac.uk/Domesday?op=5&personkey=47673, accessed 3 October 2017.
27. ↑ Daniel and Samuel Lysons, Magna Britannia; Being a Conscise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain. 6 volumes, (London: Printed for Thomas Cadell, 1822), VI: l, Digital Image Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/magnabrittanicab06lyso#page/n69/mode/2up accessed 3 October 2017). Devonshire.

See also:

• Willelmi Gemmetencis Historiæ (Du Chesne, 1619), Liber VIII, XXXVII, p. 312.
• Orderic Vitalis (Chibnall), Vol. IV, Book VIII, p. 209.
• Dugdale Monasticon VI.2, Covenham Priory, Lincolnshire, I, p. 993.
• Michael Altschul. A Baronial Family in Medieval England: The Clares, 1217-1314. (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, 1965).