William (Warenne) de Warenne (abt. 1071 - 1138)

Born about 1071 in Sussex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 11 May 1138 at about age 67 in Lewes, Sussex, England

Biography

William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 1138), was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He is more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey.

This nobleman, William de Warrenne (Earl of Warrenne), 2nd Earl of Surrey, joined Robert de Belesmé, Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, in favour of Robert Curthose against Henry I, and in consequence forfeited his English earldom and estates, but those were subsequently restored to him and he was ever afterwards a good and faithful subject to King Henry. His lordship m. Isabel, dau. of Hugh the Great, Earl of Vermandois, and widow of Robert, Earl of Mellent, by whom he had issue, William, Reginald, Ralph, Gundred, and Adeline. The earl d. 11 May, 1138, and was s. by his eldest son, William de Warrenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey. ^[1]

Marriage and Children

In 1115, Elizabeth de Vermandois Countess of Meulan was apparently carried off or abducted by Warenne, which abduction apparently concealed a long-standing affair. Elizabeth also known as Isabel was born about 1085 to Hughes of France and Adelle de Vermandois. There was some kind of separation or divorce between Meulan and his wife, which however did not permit her to marry her lover. The elderly Count of Meulan died, supposedly of chagrin and mortification in being thus publicly humiliated, in the Abbey of Preaux, Normandy on 5 June 1118, leaving his properties to his two elder sons whom he had carefully educated. The historian Planche says (1874) that the Countess was seduced by or fell in love with a younger nobleman, William de Warenne (b. ca. 1071 - d. 11 May 1138) himself the thwarted suitor of Edith of Scotland, Queen consort of Henry I of England. Warenne was said to want a royal bride, and Elizabeth fitted his requirements, even though she was also another man's wife.

In 1118 William acquired the royal-blooded bride he desired when married Elizabeth de Vermandois. She was a daughter of count Hugh of Vermandois, a son of Henry I of France, and was the widow of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester.

By Elizabeth he had three sons and two daughters:

1. William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey;
2. Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy, including the castles of Bellencombre and Mortemer. He married Adeline, daughter of William, lord of Wormgay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William (founder of the priory of Wormegay), whose daughter and sole heir Beatrice married first Dodo, lord Bardolf, and secondly Hubert de Burgh; Reginald was one of the persecutors of Archbishop Thomas in 1170.
3. Ralph de Warenne
4. Gundrada de Warenne, who married first Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, and second William, lord of Kendal, and is most remembered for expelling king Stephen's garrison from Warwick Castle;
5. Ada de Warenne, who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, s. of David I, King of Scotland, by whom she was mother of Malcolm IV and William the Lion, Kings of Scotland, who made many grants to the priory of Lewes.

Child: Ada de Warenne

Marriage Date: 1118^[2]

Child: William III de WARENNE

Child: Reginald de WARENNE

Child: Ralph de WARENNE

Child: Gundred De Warenne

Child: Adelian de WARENNE

Career

In 1090 he fought in Normandy against Robert de Belléme (afterwards 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury), who was supported by Duke Robert. In January 1091, William assisted Hugh of Grantmesnil (d.1094) in his defense of Courcy against the forces of Robert de Belleme and Duke Robert.

Sometime around 1093 he tried to marry Matilda (or Edith), daughter of king Malcolm III of Scotland. She instead married Henry I of England, and this may be the cause of William's great dislike of Henry I, which was to be his apparent motivator in the following years.

He accompanied Robert Curthose (Duke Robert) in his 1101 invasion of England, and afterwards lost his English lands and titles and was exiled to Normandy. There he complained to Curthose that he expended great effort on the duke's behalf and had in return lost most of his possessions. Curthose's return to England in 1103 was apparently made to convince his brother to restore William's earldom. This was successful, though Curthose had to give up all he had received after the 1101 invasion, and subsequently William was loyal to Henry.

To further insure William's loyalty Henry considered marrying him to one of his many illegitimate daughters. He was however dissuaded by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, for any of the daughters would have been within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. The precise nature of the consanguinous relationship Anselm had in mind has been much debated, but it is most likely he was referring to common descent from the father of duchess Gunnor.

William was one of the commanders on Henry's side (against Robert Curthose) at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. Afterwards, with his loyalty thus proven, he became more prominent in Henry's court.

In 1106 he commanded a division of the royal army at the battle of Tinchebrai. In 1109 he was at a Great Council at Nottingharn; and in 1110 he was a surety for the performance of the treaty with the Count of Flanders. In 1111 he was one of the nobles sitting in judgement in Normandy.

In 1110, Curthose's son William Clito escaped along with Helias of Saint-Saens, and afterwards Warenne received the forfeited Saint-Saens lands, which were very near his own in upper Normandy. By this maneuver king Henry further assured his loyalty, for the successful return of Clito would mean at the very least Warenne's loss of this new territory.

In 1131 he attended the Council at Northampton.

He fought at the Battle of Bremule in 1119, and was at Henry's deathbed on 1 December 1135 at Lyons-la-Foret; after which the councillors put him in charge of the district of Rouen and the pays de Caux. Later he went to England, and he was at Westminster with Stephen at Easter 1136. He was probably still living in June 1137. He was a benefactor, or confirmed previous benefactions, to the abbeys of St. Evroul and St. Amand (Rouen), and the priories of Lewes, Castle Acre, Wymondham, Longueville and Bellencombre.

He encouraged Henry to fight when William (de Tancarville) the Chamberlain urged him to retreat. His alleged speech to the King before the battle is given in "Chron. Men de Hida", pp. 316-7.

Death and Burial

The death of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, was recorded in the register of the Priory of St. Pancras aka Lewes Priory, Sussex, on died 11 May 1138, and was he buried at his father's feet in the chapter house there. His wife Elizabeth had died on 13 February 1131 in England.

Sources

1. ↑ Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 569, Warren, Earls of Surrey
2. ↑ p. 83-24, 93-25

See also:

• Wikipedia:William_de_Warenne,_2nd_Earl_of_Surrey
• http://www.renderplus.com/hartgen/htm/de-warenne.htm#name4271
• Royal Ancestry 2013 Vol. V p. 271-274
• Visitation of Cornwall, Vivian ed., 1887, p.105
• CPv12.1-APPp29+12.2p362
• AFN 9484WL, 8HV7L2

• Source: Title: Millennium File Author: Heritage Consulting Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA

• Title: Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants. Volume II Repository: Note:

• Stolp Line on RootsWeb

• Title: Magna Charta Sureties 1215, Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr, 5th Edition, 1999, Page: 155-1

• Title: Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999, Page: 2944

• Title: Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom, by G. E Cokayne, Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2000, Page: XII/1:495-6

• The Plantagenet Ancestry, by William Henry Turton, 1968, Page: 112

• Richardson, Douglas, and Kimball G. Everingham. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. 5. Salt Lake City, UT.: Douglas Richardson., 2013, pp. 271-274.

• Author: Roberts, Gary Boyd Selected and Introduced by Title: ENGLISH ORIGINS OF NEW ENGLAND FAMILIES Publication: Name: From NEHGS Register Three Volumes. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1984; Volume I