William IV (Warenne) de Warenne
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William (Warenne) de Warenne (1166 - 1240)

William (William IV) "6th Earl of Surrey" de Warenne formerly Warenne
Born in Lewes, Sussex, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , and
Husband of — married before 1207 [location unknown]
Husband of — married before 13 Oct 1225 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Father of and
Died at about age 74 in London, Middlesex, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 17 May 2012
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Illustrious Men
William IV de Warenne was one of 16 Illustrious Men, counselors to King John, who were listed in the preamble to Magna Carta.
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Contents

Biography

Birth and Parentage

William was the son and main heir of Hamelin Plantagenet and Isabel de Warenne.[1][2][3][4] His birth date is uncertain, but his parents married in April 1164[2], so he may have been born in about 1166. He is mentioned in an 1182 charter of his father.[4]

In 1202 he succeeded his father as Earl of Surrey.[2][3][4]

He played a leading role in King John's unsuccessful attempt to resist the French invasion of Normandy in 1204.[2] In April 1205 he was granted the manors of Grantham and Stamford in Lincolnshire as compensation for the loss of lands in Normandy.[2][4]

In November 1206 he was appointed to help escort the king of Scotland to meet King John at York.[3]

In 1212 King John briefly entrusted the strategic castles of Bamburgh and Newcastle in Northumberland to William[2][3] and made him Sheriff of Northumberland.[2] The following year he witnessed King John's submission to the Pope.[3]

William de Warenne stayed loyal to King John during the baronial unrest of 1215, and was one of the Illustrious Men, King John's counsellors listed in the preamble to the Magna Carta.[3][5]

In May 1216 William was appointed Warden of the Cinque Ports[3], but soon afterwards gave his support to the baronial rebellion and the invading forces of Louis of France.[3] In June 1217, he swore fealty to the young Henry III.[3]

From 1217 William was Sheriff of Surrey[3][6], continuing in that position until 1226.[6]

In 1227 William joined a rebellion of Richard, Earl of Cornwall[1][2][3], possibly because of disappointment that he had been deprived of the office of Sheriff of Surrey and had had to surrender a castle[2]: but by the end of the year he had rejoined King Henry III.[1][3] Three years alter, in 1230, he was made Keeper of ports on the East coast if England while Henry III was in Brittany.[2]

On 20 January 1235/6 (1236 in modern reckoning) William acted as ceremonial Butler and cup-bearer at the coronation of Henry III's Queen, Eleanor of Provence.[1][2][3] He became a member of Henry III's Council in 1237.[3] The next year, 1237, he was a witness to the re-issue of the Magna Carta.[2]

Marriages and Children

Before 1207 William married Maud or Matilda d'Aubigny.[2] She is said to have died, without issue, on 6 February 1215/6 (1216 in modern reckoning).[2][3][4]

Before 13 October 1225 he married Maud Marshal, widow of Hugh Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk,[1][3][4] whose marriage and dower he had paid for.[2] They had two children:

Death and burial

William de Warenne died in London on 27 May 1240 and was buried at Lewes Priory, Sussex.[1][2][3] His widow died in 1248.[1][2][3][4]

Research Notes

Previously shown daughter Margaret

WikiTree has previously shown a Margaret de Warenne as a daughter of William de Warenne and Maud Marshal. Margaret's profile is unsourced, and no source has been found for this relationship. She was therefore detached.

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011, Vol. I, pp. 200-202, BIGOD 2
  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 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Warenne, William de, fifth earl of Surrey [Earl Warenne] (d. 1240)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. XII Part I, St Catherine Press 1953, pp. 500-503, SURREY VI
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Charles Cawley. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), entry for 'William (IV) de Warenne'. See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands.
  5. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, Vol. I, p. x
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wikipedia: High Sheriff of Surrey
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Warenne, William de, fifth earl of Surrey [Earl Warenne] (d. 1240)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
  • Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for 'Warenne, William de (d.1240)'
  • Cokayne, G E. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. XII Part I, St Catherine Press 1953, pp. 500-503, SURREY VI
  • Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, Salt Lake City: the author, 2013, Vol. I pp. 364-366. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’.
  • Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011, Vol. I, pp. 200-202, BIGOD 2. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Magna Carta Ancestry.’’
  • Sanders, English Baronies, p.129.
  • WikiPedia: William de Warrene




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with William IV by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:

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Images: 2
Warenne Coat of Arms - Early
Warenne Coat of Arms - Early
Le Comte de Garenne
Le Comte de Garenne


Comments: 18

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Gleason Gleeson-1 Enrique Treat (Gleason Gleeson) Gleason Esq.
He is sometimes styled as “5th or 6th Earl of Surrey” — anyone know of any sources to help determine whether he was 5th or 6th Earl of Surrey?

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

posted by Enrique Treat (Gleason Gleeson) Gleason Esq.
Cochoit-2 Joe Cochoit
The numbering of titles can be inconsistent. This is usually because some people choose to restart the numbering of titles when they are newly created. We use Complete Peerage as the gold standard for how to correctly number titles. In this case, Complete Peerage holds that both of the husbands of Isabel de Warenne (daughter of the 3rd Earl), held the title as Earl of Surrey. So her first husband was William de Blois, 4th Earl of Surrey and her second husband was Hamel "Plantagenet" 5th Earl of Surrey. Their son was this William de Warenne 6th Earl of Surrey. This giving a title on account of their marriage was common in the early earldoms (12th century and earlier). This is different than we might expect in later years where Isabel would have held the title in her own right as the 4th Countess of Surrey.

So, the answer is, we are following Complete Peerage. Cokayne, G E. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. XII Part I, St Catherine Press 1953, pp. 500-503, SURREY VI https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/202803/?offset=0#page=509&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q=

posted by Joe Cochoit
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
[Comment Deleted]
posted by Michael Cayley
deleted by Michael Cayley
Jordan-8461 Michael Jordan
Hi Michael,

APPARENTLY, like many others, I am a direct descendant of The Earl. I was looking up information on the battle of Stirling Bridge on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stirling_Bridge It references that the battle was fought between Wallace and JOHN deWarrene, the Sixth Earl. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_de_Warenne,_6th_Earl_of_Surrey

With the work you have done, perhaps you clarify or correct the descrepancy. Thanks again for all your work here!

posted by Michael Jordan
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
I assume you are referring to how the Earls of Surrey are counted. The answer is simple. Wikipedia is counting the Earls of Surrey in a different way from what a number of other sources do, notably Cokayne's Complete Peerage. The difference seems to stem from Wikipedia counting only one of the husbands of Isabel de Warenne (mother of the William of this profile), even though it says they were both Earls of Surrey - see this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Surrey. It is not absolutely clear which of them the Wikipedia numberers regard as not to be counted but I would guess it is her first husband.

On WikiTree we follow Cokayne's Complete Peerage when numbering Earls etc.

The William de Warenne of this profile did not fight at Stirling Bridge - he died over 55 years earlier. It was his son John, whom we count on WikiTree as 7th Earl of Surrey, who did.

posted by Michael Cayley
edited by Michael Cayley
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
Thanks, Andrew. I never get involved in DNA stuff myself. I have never tried to understand DNA for genealogy, and I never myself add anything about it on profiles.
posted by Michael Cayley
Lancaster-1279 Andrew Lancaster
Concerning the Y DNA match that will be showing automatically because on wikitree we apparently have them in the same male line papertrail, and no one else who has been tested including modern Warrens. The way to break it is to find a mistake in that male line, and the only correct way to add Warrene matches is by proving a paper trail. If there is no obvious mistake, then on wikitree that is information we surely want to show, whether there were non paternity events or not? We have some medieval people with several matches with entirely different haplogroups, and that at least helps tell us we have work to do. Most likely, many of these come from bad papertrails though.
posted by Andrew Lancaster
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
I can find no source for a Margaret de Warenne being a daughter of William de Warenne and Maud Marshal. All sources I have found say that he just had two children, Isabel and John. I am asking a question in G2G, but, subject to responses to that, propose to detach Margaret from them, with research notes on relevant profiles.
posted by Michael Cayley

Rejected matches › William Blancminster (abt.1180-abt.1240) › William Blancminster (abt.1180-abt.1240)

Featured National Park champion connections: William IV is 21 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 25 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 20 degrees from George Catlin, 22 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 29 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 21 degrees from George Grinnell, 25 degrees from Anton Kröller, 20 degrees from Stephen Mather, 27 degrees from Kara McKean, 24 degrees from John Muir, 19 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 31 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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Categories: Sheriffs of Surrey | Earls of Surrey | Early Barony of Lewes | Magna Carta | Illustrious Men