William (Braose) de Braose (abt. 1200 - 1230)

Born about 1200 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 2 May 1230 at about age 30 in hanged by Llewelyn ap Iorwerth near Crogen, Bala, Wales

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Biography

William 'Black Will' De Braiose Of Abergavenny

Born about 1200-00-00 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales

Death 1230 5 2, William was executed by his father's father-in-law, Llewellyn for an affair with Llewelyn's wife, Joan, daughter of John 'Lackland' Plantagenet.

The Welsh, who detested him and his family name, called him Gwilym Ddu, Black William. He succeeded his father in his various lordships in 1227, including Abergavenny and Builth.

He was captured by the Welsh forces of Prince Llywelyn the Great (Llewelyn ap Iorwerth), in fighting in the commote of Ceri near Montgomery, in 1228, during Hubert de Burgh's disastrous Kerry (Ceri) campaign. William was ransomed for the sum of £2,000 and then furthermore made an alliance with Llywelyn, during which he agreed to cede Builth as a marriage portion for his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn.

However on a later visit to Llywelyn during Easter 1230 William de Braose was found in Llywelyn's private bedchamber with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales. Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on 2 May 1230, possibly at Crogen, near Bala, though others believe the hanging took place near Llywelyn's palace at Abergwyngregyn.

With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose.

William's wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right, after the death of her husband. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234–1237).

SOURCES:

• Royal Ancestry 2013 Vol. I p. 557

1. The Plantagenet Ancestry, Eng. 116, p. 72, 78

2. The Complete Peerage, G.E.C., Eng. V, v. 1, p. 22, v. 6, p. 462,

v. 9, p. 280

3. Burke's Extinct Peerage, 1883, Eng. P-1, p. 72

4. Arch. Cambr., Wales Pub. A, 3s, v. 3, p. 32

5. v. 6, p. 191-93

6. Irish Pedigrees, Ire 6, v. 2, p. 47

7. Wells & Allied Families, B8G4, p. 162, 163, 177, 178

 !RESEARCH NOTE: 1. The claim in "Arch. Cambr." 3rd s, v. 6, p. 191-193, that

the above couple had a daughter Ada who married Henry Lord Hastings is in

error, since that Ada was a daughter of David, Earl of Huntington. (See

Complete Peerage, G.E.C., v. 6, p. 345, 366) The claim that the above couple

had a child Bertha who married Walter de Beauchamp is not in any way confirmed

by any of the above sources.

William de Braose (c. 1197 - 2 May 1230) was the son of Reginald de Braose by his first wife, Grecia de Briwere (born 1186) from Stoke in Devon. He was an ill-fated member of a powerful and long lived dynasty of Marcher Lords.

Dynastic history

William de Braose was born in Brecon, probably between 1197 and 1204. The Welsh, who detested him and his family name, called him Gwilym Ddu, Black William. He succeeded his father in his various lordships in 1227, including Abergavenny and Builth.

[edit] Marriage and children

William married Eva Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. They had four daughters:

Isabella de Braose (born c. 1222), wife of Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn

Maud de Braose (born c. 1224 - 1301), wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore another very powerful Marcher dynasty.

Eleanor de Braose (c. 1226 - 1251), wife of Humphrey de Bohun and mother of Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford.

Eve de Braose (c. 1227- July 1255), wife of William de Cantelou.

Career

He was captured by the Welsh forces of Prince Llywelyn the Great, in fighting in the commote of Ceri near Montgomery, in 1228. William was ransomed for the sum of £2,000 and then furthermore made an alliance with Llywelyn, arranging to marry his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn.

However on a later visit to Llywelyn during Easter 1230 William de Braose was found in Llywelyn's private bedchamber with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales.

Execution

The Chronicle of Ystrad Fflur's entry for 1230 reads:

"In this year William de Breos the Younger, lord of Brycheiniog, was hanged by the Lord Llywelyn in Gwynedd, after he had been caught in Llywelyn's chamber with the king of England's daughter, Llywelyn's wife."

Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on 2 May 1230, possibly at Crogen, near Bala,[1] though others believe the hanging took place near Llywelyn's palace at Abergwyngregyn.[2]

Legacy

With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose.

William's wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right, after the death of her husband. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234-1237).

^ Shirley, Royal Letters of Henry III, pp366-7

^ see Joan, Lady of Wales, Adultery with William de Braose

Bibliography

Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn (1998) Y Traethodydd ISSN 09698930

Registrum Epistolarum Fratis Johannis Peckham Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, ed. C. T. Martin, 3 Vols (RS, 1882-86)

Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions 1962 Article Aber Gwyn Gregin Professor T. Jones Pierce

Gwynfor Evans (2001) Cymru O Hud Abergwyngregyn

Gwynfor Evans (2002) Eternal Wales Abergwyngregyn

John Edward Lloyd (1911) A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest (Longmans, Green & Co.)

F.E. Fynes-Clinton (1912) The Welsh Vocabulary of the Bangor District (Oxford)

* Royal and Noble Genealogical Data, Brian Tompsett, Copyright 1994-2001, Version March 25, 2001

• http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/GEDCOM.html, Department of Computer Science, University of Hull, Hull, UK, HU6 7RX, B.C.Tompsett@dcs.hull.ac.uk
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose_%28died_1230%29
• http://freespace.virgin.net/doug.thompson/BraoseWeb/family/william5.html
• http://trees.ancestry.ca/tree/15216659/person/230715727
• http://trees.ancestry.ca/tree/14269509/person/18043773778?ssrc=&ml_rpos=1

Acknowledgments

• Created on 14 April 2010 through the import of Jamie 2010_2010-04-10.ged.