William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber

William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber (1144/1153 – 9 August 1211), court favourite

Favourite

A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...

of King John of England

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny

Abergavenny

Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...

, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor

New Radnor

New Radnor is a village in Powys, mid Wales. It was the original county town of Radnorshire. The population today is around 400, a higher than normal proportion of which are pensioners...

, Kington

Kington, Herefordshire

Kington is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,597.-Location:Kington is near the Wales-England border and, despite being on the western side of Offa's Dyke, has been English for over a thousand years. The town is in the...

, Limerick, Glamorgan

Glamorgan

Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...

, Skenfrith

Skenfrith Castle

Skenfrith Castle is a medieval castle located in Monmouthshire, Wales. The castle is in the centre of the village of Skenfrith, located on the banks of the River Monnow, just five miles to the north of the town of Monmouth...

, Briouze

Briouze

Briouze is a commune in the Orne department of Normandy in north-western France. A small town of 1599 inhabitants in 2004, it is considered the capital of the "pays d'Houlme" at the western end of the Orne in the Norman bocage...

in Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

, Grosmont

Grosmont Castle

Grosmont Castle is a ruined castle in Grosmont, Monmouthshire very near the present English / Welsh border, approximately 8 miles northeast of Abergavenny, between Abergavenny, Hereford and Monmouth.-Grosmont Castle:...

, and White Castle

White Castle (Wales)

White Castle is a medieval castle located in Monmouthshire, Wales. The name "White Castle" was first recorded in the thirteenth century, and was derived from the whitewash put on the stone walls. The castle was originally called Llantilio Castle , after Llantilio Crossenny, the mediæval manor of...

Lineage

William was the most notable member of the de Braose dynasty and his steady rise and sudden fall at the hands of King John is often taken as an example of that king's arbitrary and capricious behaviour towards his barons.

William was the son of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber was a 12th-century Marcher lord who secured a foundation for the dominant position later held by the Braose family in the Welsh Marches. In addition to the family's English holdings in Sussex and Devon, William had inherited Radnor and Builth, in Wales, from...

and his wife Bertha of Hereford

Bertha of Hereford

Bertha of Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres , was the daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, and a wealthy heiress. She was the wife of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber to whom she brought many castles and Lordships, including Brecknock, Abergavenny, and...

, also known as Bertha de Pitres, (born 1130) daughter of Miles Fitz Walter

Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford

Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Brecknock was the son of Walter de Gloucester, who served as hereditary sheriff of that county between 1104 and 1121....

, Earl of Hereford

Earl of Hereford

The title of Earl of Hereford was created six times in the Peerage of England. See also Duke of Hereford, Viscount Hereford. Dates indicate the years the person held the title for.-Earls of Hereford, First Creation :*Swegen Godwinson...

and his wife, Sibyl

Sibyl de Neufmarché

Sibyl de Neufmarché, Countess of Hereford, suo jure Lady of Brecknock , was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, heiress to one of the most substantial fiefs in the Welsh Marches...

, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarche

Bernard de Neufmarché

Bernard of Neufmarché was "the first of the original conquerors of Wales." He was a minor Norman lord who rose to power in the Welsh Marches before successfully undertaking the invasion and conquest of the Kingdom of Brycheiniog between 1088 and 1095. Out of the ruins of the Welsh kingdom he...

. From his father he inherited the Rape of Bramber

Rape of Bramber

The Rape of Bramber is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. Bramber is a former barony, originally based around the castle of Bramber and its village, overlooking the river Adur.-History:...

, in Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, and through his mother he inherited a large estate in the Welsh Marches

Welsh Marches

The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...

area of modern day Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...

Abergavenny Massacre

In 1175, William de Braose carried out the Abergavenny Massacre, luring three Welsh princes and other Welsh leaders to their deaths. His principal antagonist was a Seisyll ap Dyfnwal

Seisyll ap Dyfnwal

Seisyll ap Dyfnwal was a 12th century Welsh Lord of Gwent Uwchcoed .- Family and estates :Seisyll was the son of Dyfnwal ap Caradog ap Ynyr Fychan and his wife, said to have been Joyce daughter of Hamelin de Balun...

, of Castell Arnallt

Castell Arnallt

Castell Arnallt , located below Abergavenny and near modern-day Llanover in the Usk Valley of Monmouthshire, Wales, was a fortification believed to have been the site of the palace of the Kings of Over Gwent...

near Llanover

Llanover

- Location :Llanover is located four miles south of Abergavenny just off the A4042 road to Pontypool.- History & Amenities :Llanover is associated with Lady Llanover who lived locally all her life and certainly left her mark on the village and the surrounding Llanover estate, still privately owned...

in the valley of the River Usk

River Usk

The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain of mid-Wales, in the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and...

near Abergavenny, whom he blamed for the death of his uncle Henry

Henry FitzMiles

Henry FitzMiles , Baron Abergavenny was a Norman baron and a Marcher Lord in the Welsh Marches.- Birth :...

. After having invited the Welsh leaders to a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle

Abergavenny Castle

Abergavenny Castle is a castle in the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales.- A naturally fortified site :The castle was sited above the River Usk overlooking the river valley and the confluence of the rivers Gavenny and Usk. The site would have been naturally defensible in...

under the pretence of peace and the start of a new era at the end of the year (a traditional time for settling outstanding differences amongst the Welsh), he had them murdered by his men. This resulted in great hostility against him among the Welsh, who named him the "Ogre of Abergavenny". Gerald of Wales exonerates him and emphasises the religious piety of de Braose and his wife and de Braose generosity to the priories of Abergavenny

Abergavenny

and Brecon

Brecon

Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

. William de Braose did however reputedly hunt down and kill Seisyll ap Dyfnwal's surviving son, Cadwaladr, a boy of seven.

In 1192 William de Braose was made sheriff of Herefordshire

High Sheriff of Herefordshire

The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions are now...

, a post he held until 1199. In 1196 he was made Justice Itinerant for Staffordshire. In 1195 he accompanied King Richard I of England

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...

to Normandy and in 1199, William de Braose fought beside Richard at Chalus, where the king was mortally wounded.

He then supported King John's claim to the throne of England, supported the new king in making various royal grants and was in attendance with John in Normandy at the time of Arthur of Brittany's death in 1203. Arthur was John's nephew and was seen by many as the rightful heir to the English throne.

De Braose served in the war of 1204 against King

King

- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

Philip II of France

Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

in France.

Royal favourite

He was greatly favoured by King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

early in his reign. John granted him all that he might conquer from the Welsh

Welsh people

The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

in Radnorshire

Radnorshire

Radnorshire is one of thirteen historic and former administrative counties of Wales. It is represented by the Radnorshire area of Powys, which according to the 2001 census, had a population of 24,805...

, gave him lordship over Limerick in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

(save for the city itself), possession of Glamorgan

Glamorgan

castle, and the Lordship of Gower with its several castles.

In 1203, William de Braose was put in charge of Arthur of Brittany, whom he had personally captured the previous year at the Battle of Mirebeau

Battle of Mirebeau

The Battle of Mirebeau was a three-sided battle between the House of Lusignan-Breton alliance, the Kingdom of England, and the Kingdom of France...

. William was suspected of involvement in Arthur's disappearance and death, although no concrete evidence ever came to light. There is somewhat better evidence that he at least knew the truth of the matter.

In 1206 King John gave William de Braose the three great neighbouring trilateral castles of Gwent (Skenfrith Castle

Skenfrith Castle

, Grosmont Castle

Grosmont Castle

, and White Castle

White Castle (Wales)

). These have been interpreted as bribes encouraging silence on the demise of Arthur, seen by many as a rightful heir to the throne occupied by John of England

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

.

At this point only an earldom separated him from the greatest in England.

Royal persecution and exiled death

But soon after this William de Braose fell out of favour with King John of England. The precise reasons remain obscure. King John cited overdue monies that de Braose owed the Crown from his estates. But the King's actions went far beyond what would be necessary to recover the debt. He distrained de Braose's English estates in Sussex and Devon and sent a force to invade Wales to seize the de Braose domains there. Beyond that, he sought de Braose's wife, Maud de St. Valery

Maud de Braose

Maud de Braose, Lady of Bramber was the wife of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, a powerful Marcher baron and court favourite of King John of England...

, who, the story goes, had made no secret of her belief that King John had murdered Arthur of Brittany. Gerald of Wales describes Maud as a 'prudent and chaste woman' who bore her husband three sons William, Giles and Reginald de Braose.

De Braose fled to Ireland, then returned to Wales as King John had him hunted in Ireland. In Wales, William allied himself to the Welsh Prince Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...

and helped him in rebellion against King John.

In 1210, William de Braose fled Wales disguised as a beggar, to France. His wife and eldest son were captured, and William died the following year in August 1211 at Corbeil

Corbeil

- Places :* Corbeil, Ontario, Canada* Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne, France, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris* The Corbeil Cathedral* Corbeil, Marne, France, a commune in north-eastern France...

, France. He is buried in the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris by a fellow exile and vociferous opponent of King John, Stephen Langton

Stephen Langton

Stephen Langton was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228 and was a central figure in the dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III, which ultimately led to the issuing of Magna Carta in 1215...

, the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

. His hopes to return alive to Wales and a burial in Brecon were to be unfulfilled. William's wife, Maud, and eldest son, William, once captured, were murdered by King John, possibly starved to death while incarcerated at Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...

and Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle, and is some eight...

in 1210.

While William had aroused the jealousy of the other barons during his rise, the arbitrary and violent manner of his fall very likely discomfited them and played a role in the Baronial uprisings of the next decade. The historian Sidney Painter, in his biography of King John, called it "the greatest mistake John made during his reign, as the King revealed to his Barons once and for all his capacity for cruelty."

The de Braose lineage

William de Braose's eldest son, William, married Maud (Matilda) de Clare (ca. 1184–1213), the daughter of Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford. William was captured with his mother and starved to death in 1210. He had fathered four sons. They were John

John de Braose

John de Braose , known as Tadody to the Welsh, was the Lord of Bramber and Gower.-Re-establishment of the de Braose dynasty :John re-established the senior branch of the de Braose dynasty....

, Giles, Philip and Walter and although they were also held in prison they were released in 1218. John

John de Braose

John de Braose , known as Tadody to the Welsh, was the Lord of Bramber and Gower.-Re-establishment of the de Braose dynasty :John re-established the senior branch of the de Braose dynasty....

, the eldest, was said to have been brought up secretly, in Gower, by a Welsh ally or retainer. On release he came under the care of his uncle Giles de Braose

Giles de Braose

Giles de Braose was Bishop of Hereford from 1200 to 1215.-Early life:Giles was the second son of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. His father was a landholder on the Welsh Marches, who gained the favour of King John of England in the early years of John's reign. Giles' mother was Maud of St...

. John made a claim to being the rightful heir of the de Braose lands and titles and although the courts did not find for him, his other uncle Reginald de Braose

Reginald de Braose

Reginald de Braose was one of the sons of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and Matilda, also known as Maud de St. Valery and Lady de la Haie. Her other children included William and Giles....

was able to cede by a legal convention the Baronies of both Gower and Bramber

Rape of Bramber

to him for a fee. This established John's branch of the family and positioned it for survival at worst and at best opportunity, continued future power and influence.

Later dynasty

The middle son, Giles de Braose

Giles de Braose

, exiled in France until 1213, was Bishop of Hereford

Bishop of Hereford

The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...

from 1200 until his death in 1215. He made peace with King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

and agreed terms for regaining de Braose lands in 1215 but had also made alliances with the Welsh leader Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...

. He died in 1215 before he could come into the lands.

William's third son, Reginald de Braose

Reginald de Braose

Reginald de Braose was one of the sons of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and Matilda, also known as Maud de St. Valery and Lady de la Haie. Her other children included William and Giles....

reacquired his father's lands and titles for himself through simply seizing them back by force following the death of Giles. Reginald did not actually come to terms with the Crown until 1217 and the new, young King Henry III of England

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

, after the death of King John. This in turn aroused the anger of Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...

who had an understanding with Giles de Braose and the seeming duplicity caused the Welsh to attack de Braose lands in Brecon

Brecon

and Abergavenny

Abergavenny

and Gower. Abergavenny Castle

Abergavenny Castle

had to be rebuilt as a result. Reginald de Braose died in 1228.

William's eldest daughter Matilda (also called Maud) married a prominent Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Rhys II

Gruffydd ap Rhys II

Gruffydd ap Rhys II was a prince of Deheubarth in south-west Wales.- Lineage :He was the son of Rhys ap Gruffydd and grandson of Gruffydd ap Rhys....

of Deheubarth. Another daughter, Margaret, married Walter de Lacy

Walter de Lacy

Walter de Lacy was Lord of Meath in Ireland and Ludlow in Shropshire in the Welsh Marches.- Life :With his father Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath he built Trim Castle , Trim, County Meath....

, Lord of Meath in Ireland and himself another powerful Marcher Lord.

Fiction

The story of the death of Maud de St. Valery and the conflict of her family with John Lackland is covered in several novels, notably Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine

Barbara Erskine

Barbara Erskine is an English novelist.-Biography:Erskine owns homes in Hereford and Colchester, England. Erskine's first novel was published in 1986...

. Erskine describes the life of Maud by sending a woman of the 20th century by psychological regression back into the 12th century.

External links

FMG on the first son of William de Braose/Briouse
Holden, Brock W., "King John, the Braoses, and the Celtic Fringe, 1207-1216", Albion: Journal of British Studies v.33 (2001)

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