General Notes

EARLDOM OF SURREY (I)

WILLIAM DE WARENNE was 1st son of Rodulf II by Emma. At some time in or after 1054 Duke William gave him the castle of Mortemer, which had been forfeited by his kinsman, Roger de Mortimer, after the Battle of Mortemer in February of that year. Probably at the same time he acquired lands at Bellencombre, the castle of which became the caput of the Warenne barony in Normandy. In 1066 he was one of the Norman barons summoned by the Duke to a Council on hearing that Harold had been crowned King after the death of the Confessor. He took part in the invasion of England and was present at the Battle of Hastings. He was rewarded with lands in 13 counties (j), including most of the rape of Lewes in Sussex, the manor of Conisborough, co. York, and Castle Acre and a number of holdings in Norfolk. In 1067 he was one of the Norman nobles whom the Conqueror left in England to support his vice-regents, William FitzOsbern and the Bishop of Bayeux. In 1075 he was one of the two chief justiciars who were in charge of England when the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk rebelled and who summoned them to the King's court, and on their refusal crushed the rebellion (b). About 1083-85 he was fighting for the King in Maine (c). In the spring of 1088 he supported William II against the rebels led by the Bishop of Bayeux and the Count of Mortain, and to secure his loyalty he was created, shortly after Easter (16 April) 1088, EARL OF SURREY (e), his immediate successors being styled more usually EARLS DE WARENNE. He was mortally wounded at the siege of Pevensey before the end of May. He founded Lewes priory as a cell of Cluny abbey, about 1078-82. He married, 1stly, Gundred, sister of Gerbod the Fleming, EARL OF CHESTER, possibly daughter of Gerbod, hereditary advocate of the Abbey of St. Bertin at St. Omer. She died in child-birth, 27 May 1085, at Castle Acre, Norfolk, and was buried the chapter-house at Lewes. He married, 2ndly, [----], sister of Richard GUET (living 1098). He died 24 June 1088, apparently from the effect of his wound at Pevensey, at Lewes, and was buried there beside his wife. [Complete Peerage XII/1:493-5, XIV:604 (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(j) Bedford, Bucks, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Oxford, York, Berks, Essex, Hants, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Sussex.

(b) William was one of those who occupied Norwich castle after its surrender.

(c) He was one of the leaders of an unsuccessful attack on the castle of Ste Suzanne in Jan, year uncertain.

(e) The creation has been ascribed to the Conqueror, but certainly in error.  This was the only earldom created before the reign of Stephen of which the holder did not take his title from the county in which lay his chief territorial strength.  However, it is likely that with the Earldom he was given lands at Reigate in Surrey.

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[From "The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families"]

For this identification see Mr. Loyd's paper 'The Origin of the Family of Warenne' in Yorkshire Arch. Journal, vol. xxxi, pp. 97-113.  The hamlet of Varenne lies on the river Varenne c. 2 miles S of Arques and c. 13 miles N of Bellencombre.  The latter place, arr. Dieppe, cant. Bellencombre, where there was a castle, became the caput of the Warenne honour in Normandy.

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William Warenne was one of those followers of William of Normandy who made their fortunes by the conquest of England. The younger son of Rudulf of Varenne in Normandy, he distinguished himself in ducal service as a very young man in the early 1050s. After the ducal victory at Mortemer (1054) he received estates in upper Normandy, but it was only after the English invasion that he attained the front rank. He fought at Hastings and was rewarded with lands which by 1086 extended into thirteen counties, most notably strategically important estates in Sussex centered round Lewes. By the end of William I's reign he was one of the dozen largest individual landowners in England. He repaid his debt with vigorous loyalty in both England and France. In 1075 he played a leading role in suppressing the revolt of the earls of Hereford and Norfolk. After the Conqueror's death, Warenne supported William Rufus in 1087-88 against Robert Curthose and Odo of Bayeux. Rufus encouraged his service by creating him earl of Surrey in 1088. The same year Warenne was seriously wounded by an arrow in his leg at the siege of Pevensey and died at his foundation of Lewes Priory on 24 June 1088.

Warenne's career was more than meteoric. A younger son of an obscure minor Norman nobleman, he had risen through conspicuous loyalty to his lord to become not only one of the richest men in one of the richest kingdoms of Europe but also the founder of a dynasty which, powerful, wealthy and influential, survived as earl of Surrey until 1347. Warenne's foundation at Lewes (1078/80) was the first Cluniac house in England, another sign of the Conquest's effect on establishing institutional as well as personal links across the Channel. Warenne's success depended on the traditional chivalric virtues of loyalty, bravery and prowess in arms. His life illustrates the stupendous prizes and the personal dangers on offer to those who joined the conquest of England. It was appropriate that Warenne's direct descendent, John De Warenne, Earl of Surrey (1231-1304), when challenged in 1278 by royal commissioners to produce title to his land, produced an old rusty sword declaring, 'Here, my Lord, is my warrant (warrantus: a pun which no doubt appealed to the somewhat intractable sense of honour of the time). My ancestors came with William the Bastard and won their lands with the sword, and by the sword I will hold them against all comers.' Earl John won his case. William of Warenne would have approved. [Who's Who in Early Medieval England, Christopher Tyerman, Shepheard-Walwyn, Ltd., London, 1996]

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William de Warrenne, Earl of Warrenne, in Normandy, a near kinsman of William the Conqueror, came into England with that prince and, having distinguished himself at the battle of Hastings, obtained an immense portion of the public spoliation. He had large grants of land in several counties, amongst which were the Barony of Lewes, in Sussex, and the manors of Carletune and Benington, in Lincolnshire. So extensive indeed were those grants that his possessions resembled more the dominions of a sovereign prince than the estates of a subject. He enjoyed, too, in the highest degree, the confidence of the king, and was appointed joint justice-general with Richard de Benefactis for administering justice throughout the whole realm. While in that office, some great disturbers of the public peace having refused to appear before him and his colleague in obedience to citation, the Earl took up arms and defeated the rebels in a battle at Fagadune, when he is said, for the purpose of striking terror, to have cut off the right foot of each of his prisoners. Of those rebels, Ralph Wahir or Guarder, Earl of Norfolk, and Roger, Earl of Hereford, were the ringleaders. His lordship was likewise highly esteemed by King William Rufus, and was created by that monarch Earl of Surrey. He m. Gundred, dau. of the Conqueror*, and had issue, William, Reginald, Gundred-Edith, and another dau. who m. Ernise de Colungis.

This potent noble built the castle of Holt and founded the priory at Lewes, in Sussex. He resided principally at the castle of Lewes, and had besides Castle-Acre, in Norfolk, and noble castles at Coningsburg and Sandal. He d. 24 June, 1088, and Dugdale gives to following curious account of his parting hour. "It is reported that this Earl William did violently detain certain lands from the monks of Ely, for which, being often admonished by the abbot, and not making restitution, died miserably. And, though his death happened very far off the isle of Ely, the same night he died, the abbot lying quietly in his bed and meditating on heavenly things, heard the soul of this earl, in its carriage away by the devil, cry out loudly and with a known and distinct voice, Lord have mercy on me; Lord have mercy on me. And, moreover, that the next day after, the abbot acquainted all the monks in chapter therewith. And likewise, that about four days after, there came a messenger to them from the wife of this earl with 100 shillings for the good of his soul, who told them that he died the very hour that the abbot had heard the outcry. But that neither the abbot nor any of the monks would receive it, not thinking it safe for them to take the money of a damned person. If this part of the story as to the abbot's hearing the noise be no truer than the last, viz., that his lady sent them 100 shillings, I shall deem it to be a mere fiction, in regard the lady was certainly dead about three years before." The earl was s. by his elder son, William de Warenne. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 568, Warren, Earls of Surrey]

* At one time, it was thought that Gundred was the daughter of William the Conqueror. This has since been disproved. For details, see "Early Yorkshire Charters" by C. T. Clay, or "…tudes sur Quelques Points de l'Historie de Guillaume le ConquÈrant" by H. Prentout. [Brian Tompsett, Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, University of Hull, Hull, UK, "Electronic," royal01389]