William (Avranches) d'Avranches (abt. 1037 - abt. 1087)

Born about 1037 in Avranches, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1087 at about age 50 in Okehampton, Devon, England

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Biography

Keats-Rohan has an entry for him:^[1]

Willelm Filius Wimundi

Domesday tenant of Baldwin of Exeter, whose daughter he married. Identified as William fitz Wimund in Exon, he is well evidenced as William fitz Wimund of Avranches. He and his son Robert were benefactors of Mont-Saint-Michel (Bibl. mun. Avranches ms 210, fol. 83r-v). In one item (ibid., 83v), dated 1066 but which, on account of reference to a Bishop Michael of Avranches, must be dated 1069-84, William's wife was named Matilda. He was probably dead by 1130 when his son Robert, married in 1129 to Hadvise daughter of Gelduin de Dol, appears on the Pipe Roll 31 Henry I, p.155, on account of that marriage.

Charles Cawley on his MEDLANDS website calls him William FitzWimund d'Avranches^[2]

There are no records of exactly where or when William d'Avranches was born, although he was probably born in Avranches, Normandy, France. The d'Avranches were aristocratic landowners of viking descent in the Cotentin,^[3] in Normandy.

William was the only child of Guitmund or Wimund d'Avranches, Vicomte, and an unknown mother. Between 1027 and 1040, Guitmund witnessed two extant charters: one in which Richard II Duke of Normandy donated property to the abbey of Bernay in August 1027 and the other has been dated to 1040 in which Guillaume Comte de Talou donated property to Jumièges.^[2]

William and his unknown wife were the parents of:

1. Robert d'Avranches, died before 1142,^[2] married twice:
   • Hawise de Dol, the daughter of Gelduin de Dol and his wife Noga de Tinteniac, for which marriage "Robt de Abrinc" had to account for his malevolence in 1130 in Devonshire to the king. Robert names his wife Hawise in a charter to the Mont;^[2] and
   • Matilda Avenell, died 21 Sep 1173, the daughter of Randulf Avenell, and his wife Alice.^[2]
2. a daughter, died after 1145, married William Paynell of Moûtiers-Hubert, the son of William Paynell of Moûtiers-Hubert and Hambye and his wife,^[2] and had four children:
   1. Hugh;
   2. Fulk (I) Paynell of Hambye and Bréhal, Normandy and Drax, Yorkshire, married Lesceline de Subligny Dame du Grippon, the daughter of Hasculf de Subligny and his wife Denise d’Avranches;^[4]
   3. Thomas;
   4. Jean;

Orderic Vitalis recorded the death of “Guillelmus de Abrincis filius Witmundi” among events during 1087.^[2] There is no record of where he died, although online trees say he died at Okehampton, Devon, England.

Sources

1. ↑ Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, p.490
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Charles Cawley, "Normandy, Avranches, Bayeux, Cotentin: C. Vicomtes d'Avranches", Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, (v4.0 Updated 19 April 2017), Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, (http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/normabc.htm#_Toc479099598 accessed 21 September 2017).
3. ↑ C. P. Lewis, ‘Avranches, Hugh d', first earl of Chester (d. 1101)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/14056, accessed 24 March 2024.
4. ↑ Charles Cawley, "Untitles English Nobility P - S: Paynell: B. Paynell Families of Hambye", Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, (v4.0 Updated 19 April 2017), Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, (http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISHNOBILITYMEDIEVAL3P-S.htm#FulkPaynelldied1182B accessed 21 September 2017).

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Stephen Bridges for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Stephen and others.

This person was initally created through the import of Acrossthepond.ged on 21 February 2011.