Earl of Pembroke William de Lusignan de Valence

• General Notes
  • # Note:
    
        William de Luzignan, otherwise de Valence, son of Hugh le Brun, Comte de la Marche, in Poictou, by Isabel, his wife, dau. of Aymer, Comte d'Angouleme, and widow of King John, derived his surname from the place of his birth, as the rest of his brothers did from theirs, and being so nearly allied to King Henry III (half-brother by the mother), was brought into England in 1247 with Guy de Lusignan, his elder brother, and Alice, his sister, in consequence of being oppressed by the King of France. Not many months after his arrival, he was made governor of Goderich Castle, and through the influence of the king, obtained the hand of Joane, dau. and eventually heir of Warine de Monchensy, by Joane, his wife, 2nd sister and co-heir of Anselme Marshal, Earl of Pembroke.
    
    # Note:
    
        William de Valence had, subsequently, a grant from the crown of the castle and honour of Hertford, as also another grant to himself and his lady, and to their issue of all those debts which William de Lancaster did then own to the Jews throughout the whole realm. "About this time," writes Dugdale, "this William de Valence, residing at Hertford Castle, rode to the Park at Haethfel, belonging to the bishop of Ely, and there hunting without any leave went to the bishop's manor house and, readily finding nothing to drink but ordinary beer, broke open the buttery doors and swearing and cursing the drink and whose who made it; after all his company had drunk their fills, pulled the spigots out of the vessels and let out the rest on the floor; and that a servant of the house hearing the noise and coming to see what the matter was, they laughed him to scorn and so departed."
    
    # Note:
    
        In the 34th Henry III, William de Valence was in the Holy Land, and in the 42nd had a military summons to march against the Welsh, but he was soon afterwards obliged to fly the kingdom when the barons took up arms against the influence of himself and other foreigners. He came back, however, after an exile of only two years, under the protection of the king, but was not suffered to land by the barons until he had sworn to observe the ordinances of Oxford. Nevertheless, the contest again breaking out, he had a chief command in the royal arms and, with the prince, assaulted successfully the town or Northampton, when the whole baronial force was put to the rout, but soon rallying owing to the junction of the Londoners, the battle of Lewes ensued and victory deserted the royal banner. In this action the king and his son became prisoners; but Valence, who then bore the title Earl of Pembroke, with the Earl of Warren and others, escaped by flight, first to Pevensey and thence into France. His lands were, however, seized by the triumphant barons, and his wife, who was residing at Windsor Castle, ordered to retire immediately into some religious house. The battle of Evesham, however, again changing the fortune of war and the power of the king being re-established, the Earl of Pembroke, with the other stanch adherents of royalty, were restored to their possessions, and his lordship had, subsequently, large grants from the crown.
    
    # Note:
    
        In the 18th Edward I [1290], the earl, with Joane, his wife, presented a petition to parliament setting forth "that, whereas, upon the death of William de Monchensi (brother to her, the said Joane), they had obtained a bull from the Pope directed to the archbishop of Canterbury, touching the inheritance of the lands of the said William de Monchensi, thereby desiring that the king would please to commit the tuition of Dionysia, the daughter of the said William, unto some person who might appear before the said archbishop, and such other judges as were named in the bull." But it was answered that the admission of that bull would tend to the diminution of the king's authority and power by reason that such cases of hereditary succession ought not to be determined but in his own courts. Wherefore, inasmuch as it did appear that the object of the earl was to invalidate the sentence of the bishop of Worcester, which had declared the said Dionysia to be legitimate, and his design to make her a bastard in order that he might enjoy her estates, his lordship and his lady were prohibited to prosecute their appeal any further. His lordship was afterwards engaged in the wars of France and was slain there in 1296, when his remains were conveyed to England and interred in Westminster Abbey under a splendid monument. The earl had issue by the heiress of Monchensi three sons and four daus., viz. John, William, Aymer, Anne, Isabel, Joan, and Margaret. His lordship was s. by his only surviving son, Aymer de Valence. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 545, Valence, Earls of Pembroke]