General Notes

m. Lucia Malet; father of Lucia Taillebois. [Falaise Roll, Tables III, XIII]

NEWLIN LINE

Father of Lucia who m. Guillaume de Roumare. [Falaise Roll, p. 50]

A note in the cartulary of La Trinite de Vendome mentions a copy of the grant of the church and patronage of Cristot by Ive Taillebois to the abbey of Cristot, Calvaos, arr. Caen, cant. Tilly-sur-Seulles. [Anglo-Norman Families, p. 100]

There is very little known of the family excepting that they were Angevin. Three of the name are written in Domesday 1086. William Taillebois who was an under-tenant in Bedford and Hereford and Lincoln was probably a bro. of Ivo. Ivo held a barony in Lincoln and Norfolk and was lord of the whole district of Hogland. He was the sheriff of Lincoln, in which county he was a great prince, holding court with much pomp and splendour at his castle of Spalding. He held large portions of the north of Lancaster as well as that part of Westmorland which came under the barony of Kendal. He is said to have been a relative of the Conqueror, which is most unlikely, and was the husband of Lucia, dau. of William Malet. Ivo d. in 1114. Ethelred, or Fitz Renfrid, is variously claimed to have been his bro., son, or nephew, which assertions are all disputed. However, this Ethelred, whoever he was, inherited the barony of Kendal, Westmoreland. Ivo did have a dau. Lucia who was his heiress. [Falaise Roll, p. 63]

In 1086 the manor of Aulkborough was possessed by Ivo Taillebois, father of Countess Lucia, which land is recorded to have been previously owned by William Malet. He possibly gave it to his daughter Lucia, wife of Ivo, during his lifetime, otherwise it would not have been separated from the barony of his son and heir Robert. Furthermore, a manor in Ludford was held by Ivo, which, prior to the Domesday compilation, was owned by Thorold, wherein the latter appears as the "antecessor" of the former. [Falaise Roll, p. 157]

When William the Conqueror granted lands to his supporters after the conquest, Ivo de Taillebois (Taleboys) became the possessor of the part of England known as Kendal. Ivo was descended from a band of Viking Northmen who settled on the Loire River in France at Ives. The estate he received in England was Southern Westmoreland and Copeland (Southern Cumberland). He built a castle a few miles east of Kendal. This castle became known as the Kendal Castle. He held 58 manors and as a baron he had 13 full-fledged knights on horseback, equipped by him, and one knight not fully equipped. Those who associated themselves with the place Kendal were referred to as "(given name) de Kendal". [Early Kendall Ancestry, p. 6]

Born in Anjou or Normandy, France in 1020 or 1040; m. Lucia Malet; known as "Baron of Kendal", brother of the Earl of Anjou; went to England in 1066; father of:
1. Lucia
2. Aelftred, b.c. 1045, known as "The Englishman"
3. Nicholas Fitz Gilbert [I DOUBT THIS!!]
[Ancestors of Richard Ratcliff of Lancashire, England and Talbot County, Maryland by Donald Ratcliff,
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Campus/1719/rradd.txt]

Hundreds of years before the Ratcliffs came to American shores, our ancestor Ivo de Tailbois arrived in England the same year William the Conqueror overtook the country, 1066. Without doubt Ivo assisted William in the battles that took place and may have even been related to him. Ivo was born abt 1022 in Anjou or Normandy, France. Ivo's family was one of the most illustrious in Normandy, and his brother was the Earl of Anjou. Ivo was known as "Baron of Kendal." Ivo m. Lucia, a dau. of Earl Aelfger. Lucia was clearly of royal line, being the gr.dau. of Gruffydd, the King of Wales. [The Ratcliff Family Tree by Donald Ratcliff, http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Campus/1719/treel.html]

The entries in Domesday reflect a conflict of interests that was to preoccupy Spalding's population for many centuries. In its original form this was between Ivo Tailbois, the lord of Spalding, and the Abbey of St Gughlac's at Croyland (now Crowland), nine miles to the east. Ivo was King William's nephew and had been his standard bearer at the Battle of Hastings, but is known best for the unhappy role he is said to have played in the rebellion of 1070-1, when Hereward the Wake was making his last stand against the Normans on the Isle of Ely. Ivo allegedly blundered so badly in attempting to flush a raiding party out of the woods that Hereward made off with the Abbot of Peterborough, whom Ivo was supposed to be defending. Later, when the rebels were being besieged on the island, so the story goes, Ivo persuaded the king to build a movable wooden tower with a sorceress at its top, to cast spells on the English defenders while his own soldiers built a wooden bridge across the marshes to the island. Hereward succeeded in outflanking the entire operation and in burning down both tower and bridge.
   Nevertheless, after the revolt had been crushed, William granted the manor of Spalding to Ivo. It was the most important of his 100 Lincolnshire holdings, making him the county's largest landholder. Why he almost immediately made an enemy of the monks of Croyland Abbey and Ingulph, their abbot, is not clear. Perhaps he associated them with his humiliation at Ely, where the local monks had supported the other side. In any case, within a year he had given the priory at Spalding to the abbey of his home town, Angers.
   In the interim, according to what was known as Abbot Ingulph's Croyland History, Ivo, besides tormenting and harassing his own men, 'raged with such tyrannical and frantic fury,' against the monks 'that he would many a time lame their cattle, oxen, as well as horses, would daily impound their sheep and poultry, and frequently strike down, kill and destroy their swine and pigs; while at the same time, the servants of the prior were often assaulted in the highways with swords and staves, and sometimes killed.' Eventually the monks retired to Croyland, and Ivo brought six monks over frm Angers to replace them.
   When William died in 1087, Ivo seized all the lands in his area belonging to Croyland, including the two carucates in Spalding mentioned by Domesday. Ingulph produced a charter from Earl Algar, Ivo's Saxon predecessor, proving Croyland's rights to the lands, and succeeded in having them restored by the new king, William II. Four years later, however, a fire destroyed the monastery and Ivo, assuming that all the charters had been burnt, again challenged the monks' title. But some charters had survived, providing the monks with the necessary evidence in court. Ivo next tried to belittle the charters because they were in Saxon characters. That, too, had no effect, and he then had the monks' clerk ambushed on his way home from court, in an attempt to steal the papers. But this tactic also failed, for another monk, anticipating trouble, had already taken the charters back to the monastery.
   Ivo's attacks on Croyland were at last brought to an end by his involvement in Bishop Odo's attempt to overthrow William II and replace him by his brother Robert. He was banished to Anjou, and permitted back only when Henry I became king in 1100. He died soon afterwards of a paralytic stroke, leaving no heirs. 'Thus", wrote Ingulph, 'in order that his bastard slips might not take deep root in the world, did the accursed line of this wicked man perish, the axe of the Lord hewing down all his offspring.'
   All traces of Ivo's great castle have disappeared. But the Domesday market still functions on Saturday morning, although it now deals in  bags and jeans rather than in sheep and cattle as it did 900 years ago. [The Domesday Book, p. 164-5]

[jweber.ged]

Came with William the Conqueror.  In 1092 (shortly before his death) William II Rufus drove the Scots from the Lake District and gave Kendal to Ivo de Taillebois, whose descendants maintained an interest in the town until the nineteenth century.

No published source that I have gives parents for Ives/Ivo.  World Connect/rootsweb was the source of Gatinais/Anjou as parents, and I have seen references in soc.genealogy.medieval as "of Anjou" which fits with his mother.  The book "Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families" does give a reliable account of his origins in Cristot, Calvados,Normandy, although that is not where he was necessarily born, and he may have held other lands than just Cristot.

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The following concerns Ivo's origins in Normandy, prior to the conquest:

Taillebois.

Cristot: Calvados, arr. Caen, cant. Tily-sur-Seulles.

A note in the cartulary of La Trinite de Vendome mentions a copy of the grant of the church and patronage of Cristot by Ives Taillebois to the abbey.  An account of Cristot is given in Beziers, "Diocese de Bayeux, vol ii, p. 192.  [Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families]

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The following is a post to SGM, 22 Oct 2001, by Rosie Bevan (gives details of Ivo's claim to Kendal):

From: Rosie Bevan (cbevan@paradise.net.nz)
Subject: Taillebois [was Gundred de Warenne, Countess of Warwick)
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Date: 2001-10-22 17:57:13 PST

Hi Todd

Yes, I agree in the normal course of events, it was very unusual for a Norman to name a son by an English name. On the face of it, this family appears to have been a mix of Norman, Saxon and Scandinavian and blood. The barony of Kendal was granted to Ivo de Taillebois, who died about 1089, by William Rufus and during the reign of Henry I it passed to Ketel son of Eldred, lord of Workington. Ketel was followed by his son Gilbert and Gilbert by his son William of Lancaster. Dugdale in Monasticon [v.5, p.249] claims that William was called Taillebois and by permission from the king (Henry II) changed his name to Lancaster. [Sanders p.56]. Why he would need permission, I'm not sure.  Ketel also had a son Orm which I think is also a Scandinavian name. I think it is important to remember that this was at the northern tip of the Norman empire in England where Norman influence and culture was not initially quite so important locally and the north of England has always had a different culture and perspective from the south. Cumberland was not even covered in the Domesday Book.

Whether there is a genetic link between Ivo de Taillebois and Eldred is not absolutely clear but for Eldred to have been born to Ivo, he (Ivo) would have had to have married a very high status Saxon lady (his marriage to Countess Lucy was evidently contracted late in life). For Eldred to have had a son with a Norwegian name he would have had to have married a high status Norwegian lady. Ketel appears to have maried a Norman lady although Orm, Ketel's son, was reputedly married to Gunnild da. of Gospatric and granddaughter of Harold II. I am no expert on this period (and it probably shows) so would appreciate informed comment from someone who has studied
this line.

Cheers

Rosie

Note: I at one time had Eldred as son of Ivo de Taillebois, but have subsequently changed it based on later information to his son Ketel (Chetell) marrying a daughter of Ivo, thus explaining the relationship.

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The following information on Ivo was supplied in a post-em by Curt Hofemann, curt_hofemann@yahoo.com:

Not much to hang your hat on, but...

Ivo de Talboys. Also called 'cut-bush'. Married Lucy. In charge of siege of Hereward the Wake at Ely, 1069. Steward to William II. Holdings in Lincs. and Norfolk.
[Ref: Domesday Online: http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/index.html]

The Lancasters are said to be descendants of Ivo de Taillebois and as William was governor of Lancaster Castle assumed the name accordingly. [Stemma Ivonis de Tayleboyse (ex registro S. Mar Ebor New Monast iii 553) Ivo is stated to have had issue Elthred, the father of Ketel, the father of Gilbert, father of Wm of Lancaster who married Gundreda Countess of Warwick. Ketellus filius Elredi was donor of various property to the Abbey of St Mary, York. [Ref: Rosie Bevan 21 Oct 2001 citing The Topographer and Genealogist 1846 p15] note: "is stated" is usually a subtle reference to a difference of opinion amongst scholars... Curt

Regards,
Curt

Came with William the Conqueror. In 1092 (shortly before his death)William II Rufus drove the Scots from the Lake District and gave Kendalto Ivo de Taillebois, whose descendants maintained an interest in thetown until the nineteenth century

Maloney, Hendrick & Others - J. H. Maloney
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1087 - Ivo de Talebois; First Baron of Kendal appointed by William I, King of England
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1089 Kendal was invaded by Duncan Earl of Fife and Kendal was under the rule of Malcom King of Scotland. (Possibly the Gilpins or Rather Kentmere Hall not being listed in the Doomsday book is due to Kendal area being in the possession of Scotland at this time?)
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1087 - 1100 William (Rufus) II King of England
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1092 - William Rufus conquered Cumbria and fixed the Anglo-Scotts border at Carlisle, Westmoreland became part of the English Kingdom.
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1094 - William Rufus grants Heversham and most other local Parishes including Kendal to Ivo de Taillebois, South Westmorland becomes part of the Barony of Kendal. Ivo grants part of the Manor of Heversham and the Church to St Mary's Abbey at York. The rest of the manor was retained by the Lords of Kendal and was inherited by the de Lancastre family who subsequently devolved it to the de Wyndesores.