Gundred Beaumont (1137 - aft. 1200)

Born 1137 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England

Ancestors

Died after 1200 after age 63 in Norwich, Norfolk, England

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Biography

Gundred Beaumont was a member of the aristocracy in England.

There are several uncertainties concerning the standard and most widely repeated genealogical proposals about Gundred, which is found for example in Complete Peerage (CP). To summarize the uncertainty, there were three different 12th century men married to a Countess Gundred, who appears to be either the wife of Roger de Beaumont herself, or a daughter with the same name. According to the standard hypothesis of CP, the younger Gundred married two Rogers:

• William I de Lancastre, also known as William fitz Gilbert d. after 1166. According to CP, he married Roger's widow, the older Gundred.
• Roger Bigod d. before 1177, was Earl of Norfolk (so his wife would automatically be a countess).
• Roger de Glamville, d. 1192-1199, was also married to a Countess Gundred, who died between 1200 and 1208.

Gundred is not mentioned in Beaumonts in History, by Edward Beaumont and Charles Cawley treats her CP genealogy as uncertain on the MedLands website, although he also follows it.

Cawley presents the CP explanation of William de Lancaster's wife in the following way:

• Cawley claims that CP deduces her parentage only from a charter under which "Willelmus de Lancastre" made a gift with the consent of his son and heir William, and his wife Gundred, for the souls of his dead parents and son, as well as "Margaret the daughter of the countess" in which the first two witnesses William his son and heir and Gundred the daughter of the countess.^[1]
• The other evidence presented in CP, is that, quite simply, and using CP's wording "The Coucher of Furness Abbey (Dugdale, Mon, vol. v, p.249) states that William de Lancaster married Gundred, widow of Roger, Earl of Warwick". Cawley mentions this evidence, in a way which implies CP was not aware of it, and says it "certainly suggests that this assumption is probably correct, but the question is not entirely without doubt". Strikingly, Cawley explains nothing more about any such doubts concerning the wife of William de Lancaster. It should however be noted that such later medieval monastic genealogies about past benefactors often contain mistakes. Nevertheless, the statement is remarkably clear, and matches the charter well.

CP states that William Bigod's father, Hugh Bigod, married secondly Gundred ‘apparently’ the daughter of Roger, Earl of Warwick, by Gundred, daughter of William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and in a footnote offers circumstantial evidence.^[2] Medieval Lands discusses the Complete Peerage assumptions and concludes that her parentage should be considered uncertain.^[3] Wikipedia^[4] names William Bigod’s mother as Gundreda, daughter of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick but gives no source information.

Thus, wikitree is following the proposal of CP and others, which is also followed in MedLands.^[5] In other words, she married, firstly, as his second wife, Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, son of Roger Bigod of Earsham, Suffolk and his second wife Alice de Tosny (1095-before 9 Mar 1177), and married, secondly, as his second wife, Roger de Glanville, son of Robert de Glanville.

Sources

1. ↑ Charles Cawley, “Medieval Lands : A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families - Earl of Warwick
2. ↑ George E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom : Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910), Vol. IX, p.585, footnote e
3. ↑ Charles Cawley, “Medieval Lands : A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families,” http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm#HughBigodNorfolkdied1177B
4. ↑ Hugh Bigod, Ist Earl of Norfolk
5. ↑ Charles Cawley, “Medieval Lands : A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families - Earl of Warwick

Publications:

• Medieval Lands - EARLS of WARWICK 1088-1263 (BEAUMONT)

• Beaumonts in History; Edward Beaumont; Chapter 3, page 37. Note pdf download.

• George E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom : Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910), Vol. IX, p.585, footnote e

Research notes

Tracking Notes

GEDCOM: Gundred /de WARWICK. Birth: ABT 1130 Of, WAR, England. Death: AFT 1200. Burial: BEF 1208. Marriage: c. 1155. Husband: Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk. Child: Hugh Bigod