Bernard (Balliol) de Balliol (abt. 1135 - abt. 1188)

Born about 1135 in Bywell, Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Husband of Agnes (Picquigny) de Balliol — married 1152 in England

Died about 1188 at about age 53 in Barnard Castle, Durham, England

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Biography

In 1174, Bernard was a royal commanders at the Battle of Alnwick. He gave to Whitby the churches of Ingleby and Kirkby for the souls of Guy, his brother, and Hawise, his sister, and also to Rievaulx Abbey a pasture in Teesdale and the forest of Westerdale for the soul of his lord King Henry (II), and for those of Agnes, his wife, and Joscelin, his uncle, ca 1166-1189. By a charter of 1171, Bernard confirmed to the Abbey of Selincourt the gifts made by his father Bernard and his brother Eustace. The Liber Vitae of Durham lists among the benefactors Bernard de Baliol, Sr., Bernard, Jr., his son, and the latter's sons Ingram, Guy, and Eustace, Agnes de Picquigny, wife of Bernard, Jr., Maud, his mother, two Hawise de Baliols, Roger, son of Hugh de Baliol, nephew of Bernard, Jr., and John, son of Hugh and brother of Roger. Bernard's wife was then a daughter of the noble Picard house of Picquigny. Bernard II also had a son Hugh, who confirmed the grant made by his father Bernard of Stottecliffe in Teesdale to Bernard de Stottecliffe. Witnessed by Ingram de Balliol, Guy de Fountaines, et al. Bernard II appears to have died about 1188.

He was probably the fourth son of Bernard I de Balliol senior, and succeeded his elder brother, Guy, in the early 1160s, certainly by 1167. He is best known for his part in the events surrounding the capture of William the Lion, king of Scots, at Alnwick in 1174, an action for which he was singled out for praise by some chroniclers. He was vir nobilis atque magnanimus (an honorable and magnanimous man) according to William of Newburgh, and a seur chevalier (trustworthy knight) to Jordan Fantosme, conventional terms of praise perhaps but sufficient to delineate a strength of character in this, one of the few ascertainable details of his public life.

Despite unfounded statements to the contrary, Bernard de Balliol had no children, certainly none that survived long enough to find their way into written record. His last datable act was a final concord with the bishop of Durham in the court of Richard I at Dover in early December 1189, and he was succeeded during 1190 by his cousin, Eustace de Helicourt, who assumed the Balliol patronymic and remarried in that year.

Sources

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Newsgroup: soc.genealogy.medieval, at groups - google.com - post by Alex Maxwell Findlater, 7 Nov 2008
• Geneajourney.com
• Wikipedia: Bernard II de Balliol