General Notes

EARLDOM OF SURREY (II)

WILLIAM (DE WARENNE) II, EARL OF SURREY, 1st son and heir by 1st wife, usually styled EARL DE WARENNE. In 1090 he fought in Normandy against Robert de BellEme (afterwards 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury), who was supported by Duke Robert. Shortly after 1093 he sought unsuccessfully to marry Maud, daughter of Malcolm III, King of Scotland. He was with Henry I at Windsor on 3 September 1101, but later in that autumn he went with Duke Robert to Normandy and supported him against the King, who confiscated his inheritance in England; however, in 1103 the Duke induced Henry to restore his English Earldom. 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. He commanded a division of the royal army at the battle of BrEmule in 1119 (l). In 1131 he attended the Council at Northampton. He was present at the death of Henry I 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. Henry I had proposed to marry William to one of his illegitimate daughters, but on Archbishop Anselm's objection this match was abandoned on the ground of affinity. William eventually married Isabel (or Elizabeth), widow of Robert (DE BEAUMONT), COUNT OF MEULAN and 1st EARL OF LEICESTER (died 5 June 1118) (c), daughter of Hugh DE CR.PI (styled "the Great"), COUNT OF VERMANDOIS (younger son of HENRY I, KING OF FRANCE), by Adelaide, daughter and heir of Herbert, COUNT OF VERMANDOIS and VALOIS. He died probably 11 May 1138 and was buried at his father's feet in the chapter-house at Lewes. Isabel survived him and with the consent of her son the 3rd Earl gave the church of Dorking to Lewes priory (g). She died probably before July 1147 (h). [Complete Peerage XII/1:495-6, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

Note: According to Ancestral Roots, Isabel preceeded William in death in 13 Feb 1130/31--not July 1147.

(l) He had 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.

(c) According to Henry of Huntingdon [their daughter Ada's husband], the death of Isabel's 1st husband was hastened by an (unnamed) Earl carrying her off, by force or fraud.  The truth of this is open to question.

(g) He left 3 sons: William - 3rd Earl, Ralph, and Rainald, ancestor of the Warennes of Wormegay; and 2 daughters: (1) Gundred, who m. 1st Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick; 2ndly, (as his 2nd wife), William de Lancaster; (2) Ada, who m. Henry, 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.

(h) Before her son William, 3rd Earl, went on crusade in June 1147.

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This nobleman, William de Warrenne (Earl of Warrenne), 2nd Earl of Surrey, joined Robert de BelesmE, 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. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 569, Warren, Earls of Surrey]