William (Albini) d'Aubigny (abt. 1151 - 1236)

Born about 1151 in Leicestershire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died May 1236 at about age 85 in Uffington, Lincolnshire, England

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Magna Carta Surety Baron William III d'Aubigny was one of the twenty-five medieval barons who were surety for Magna Carta in 1215. Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Biography

Birth and Parentage

William d'Albini or d'Aubigny was the son of William d'Albini and Maud/Matida de Senlis.^[1][2][3]

William was a minor when his father died^[1][2]: his father's lands were taken into the king's hands (with an allowance being paid for William and his siblings), and not released until 1172, when it is likely that William came of age. This points to a birth date of about 1151.^[1]

Up to the reign of King John

William witnessed charters of King Henry II.^[1] From 1190 to 1193 he was Constable of Peveril Castle, known as the Castle of the Peak.^[1] He fought in Normandy in the first half of the 1190s.^[2] When the future King John rebelled against his brother Richard I, William fought on Richard's side and he was granted a confiscated estate as a reward.^[1] When Richard I was freed from being held in Germany in 1194, William went to meet him at Speyer.^[1]

William was Sheriff of several counties in the second half of the 1190s:

• Rutland from 1195 to 1198^[1][2]
• Warwickshire and Leicestershire about 1197^[1][2]
• Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire from 1197 to 1199^[1][2]

During the 1190s he served as a royal justice on the eyre circuit.^[1]

Reign of King John

William remained in favour following the accession of King John. He was often at court^[1] and was given official permission to hunt foxes and hares in royal forests^[2]; and his liability to scutage was remitted for most of John's reign.^[1] In 1208 he was again a justice on eyre.^[1] He sent knights to fight with John's forces in Normandy^[1] and fought for John in Ireland in 1210.^[2] In 1211 he was made Keeper of the Ports of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.^[1]

But his relationship with King John was not always easy. In 1201 he and other barons resisted demands to fight in Normandy, and the price of King John letting him retain Belvoir Castle was to hand over a son as hostage.^[1] In 1213 he joined other barons in investigating complaints against the royal administration in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.^[1]

In the early summer of 1215 William joined the barons' rebellion against King John, and he was one of the Surety Barons when the Magna Carta was signed.^[1][2] Later that year he took charge of Rochester Castle, Kent, on behalf of the rebels, but was compelled to surrender and was then held captive in Corfe Castle, Dorset.^[1][2] His life was spared in return for Belvoir Castle being handed over to the royal forces.^[1] Along with other rebels he was excommunicated in December 1215.^[2]

Reign of Henry III

William was released soon after the accession of Henry III, in return for agreement to a ransom of 6000 marks, of which 1000 marks was paid upfront, with his econd wife Agatha and a son being given as hostage for the remainder.^[1][2] His wife was exchanged for other hostages in 1217^[2]: they were held until 1220.^[1] William had by now returned fully to allegiance, and he fought on the royalist side in the Second Battle of Lincoln in May 1217.^[1] In 1218 he served again as a royal justice on eyre.^[1] His lands were restored in the early years of Henry III's reign, and in 1223 an agreement was reached under which the outstanding amount of his ransom could be paid in annual instalments of 49 marks.^[1]

Lands

William held lands in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and elsewhere.^[2] Among his properties was Belvoir Castle, which featured on his seal^[1]; and when he came of age he inherited the Barony of Belvoir.^[4]

Marriages and Children

William married twice. His first wife was Margaret de Umfraville, daughter of Odinel de Umfraville.^[1][2] He remarried in about September 1198^[1][2] so she must have died before then. William and Margaret had the following children:

• William, his main heir^[1][2][3]
• Odinel^[1][2][3]
• Robert^[1][2][3]
• Nicholas^[1][2][3]

William's second wife was Agatha de Trussebut, widow of Hamo FitzHamo^[1][2][3]: they had no children.^[2]

Death and Burial

William died at Uffington, Lincolnshire in May 1236. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives the death date as 6 May^[1]; Douglas Richardson, as 7 May.^[2] His main remains were buried at Newstead, Lincolnshire; his heart, at Belvoir Priory, Lincolnshire (now in Leicestershire).^[2] He had been a benefactor of both Newstead and Belvoir Priories.^[1][2][3]

Research Notes

Name

William's last name can be found as d'Albini, d'Aubigny, d'Aubigné, d'Aubeney, d'Aubeny and de Albeney.^[1][2][3][5] These variations are common in this family for this period.

Arms

The previous arms shown on this page were "the lion ... used by the d'Aubignys of Arundel, including the 'Illustrious Man'. Sources differ on the correct arms for d'Aubigny of Belvoir." The arms on the page as of August 11, 2015 are those shown for this William d'Aubeney in Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry.

Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Biography

For the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015, Professor Nigel Saul wrote a set of biographies of the Surety Barons. He and the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Committee generously gave permission for them to be reproduced on WikiTree. They can be viewed here.

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 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Aubigné, William d' [William de Albini] (d. 1236)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), Vol I, pp 69-72 Aubeney 1, Google Books
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7} Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands. Entry for William III de Albini Brito
4. ↑ I J Sanders. English Baronies. A Study of their Origin and descent 1086-1327, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 12
5. ↑ Wikipedia: William d'Aubigny (rebel)

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Aubigné, William d' [William de Albini] (d. 1236)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
• Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol IV, p. 11 (wife's lineage); Vol II pp 393-396
• Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), Vol I, pp 69-72
• Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands. Entry for William III de Albini Brito
• Wikipedia: William d'Aubigny (rebel)

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

As a surety baron, William III d'Aubigny's profile is managed by the Magna Carta Project. See Albini-39 Descendants for profiles of his descendants that have been improved and categorized by the Magna Carta project and are in a project-approved trail to a Gateway Ancestor. See this index for links to other surety barons and category pages for their descendants. See the project's Base Camp for more information about Magna Carta trails.

This profile was revised for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley in December 2019.