William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
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William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 11 May 1138) was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his wife Gundred. He was more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey.<ref name="CP495">G. E. Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, Vol. XII/1 (The St. Catherine Press, London, 1953) p. 495</ref>
Life
His father, the 1st Earl, was one of the Conqueror's most trusted and most rewarded barons who, at his death in 1088, was the third- or fourth-richest magnate in England.<ref name="Hol86">C. Warren Hollister. 'The Taming of a Turbulent Earl: Henry I and William of Warenne', Historical Reflections, Vol. 3 (1976), p. 87</ref> In 1088 William II inherited his father's lands in England and his Norman estates including the castles of Mortemer and Bellencombre in Haute-Normandy. But William II was not as disposed to serve the king as his father was.<ref name="Hol86"/> In January 1091, William assisted Hugh de Grandmesnil (died 1094) in his defence of Courcy against the forces of Robert de Belleme and Duke Robert of Normandy.<ref>The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, ed. Marjorie Chibnall, Vol. 2 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1990)p. 692</ref> In 1093 he attempted to marry Matilda (or Edith), daughter of king Malcolm III of Scotland.<ref>C. Warren Hollister. Henry I (Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2003)p. 340</ref> She instead married Henry I of England, and this may have been the cause of William's great dislike of Henry I, which motivated him in the following years.<ref name="Hol87">C. Warren Hollister. 'The Taming of a Turbulent Earl: Henry I and William of Warenne', Historical Reflections. Vol. 3 (1976) p. 87</ref>
When Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy invaded England in 1101 William joined him.<ref name="EH785">The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, ed. Marjorie Chibnall, Vol. 2 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1990), p.785</ref> But when Curthose promptly surrendered to Henry I, William lost his English lands and titles and was exiled to Normandy.<ref name="EH785"/> There he complained to Curthose that he had expended great effort on the duke's behalf and in return lost all of his English possessions. Curthose's return to England in 1103 was apparently made to convince his brother, the king, to restore William's earldom. This was successful, though Curthose had to give up his 3,000-mark annual pension he had received after the 1101 invasion, after which William's lands and titles were restored to him.<ref name="Hol87"/>
To further insure William's loyalty Henry considered marrying him to one of his many illegitimate daughters. Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury forbade the marriage based on the couple being related in the fourth generation on one side, and in the sixth generation on the other.<ref>Edmund Chester Waters. 'Gundrada de Warenne', Archaeological Journal, Vol. XLI (1884), p. 303</ref> William was one of the commanders on Henry's side (against Robert Curthose) at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. Afterwards, with his loyalty thus proven, he became more prominent in Henry's court.<ref name="CP495"/>
In 1110, Curthose's son William Clito escaped along with Helias of Saint-Saens, and afterwards Warenne received the forfeited Saint-Saens lands, which were very near his own in upper Normandy. In this way king Henry further assured his loyalty, for the successful return of Clito would mean at the very least Warenne's loss of this new territory.<ref name="CP495"/><ref>C. Warren Hollister. 'The Taming of a Turbulent Earl: Henry I and William of Warenne', Historical Reflections, Vol. 3 (1976) p. 89</ref> He fought for Henry I at the Battle of Bremule in 1119.<ref name="CP495"/><ref>Orderic Vitalis. The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester, Vol. III (Henry G. Bohn, London, 1854) pp. 481-2</ref> William, the second Earl of Surrey was present at Henry's deathbed in 1135.<ref name="CP495"/><ref>Orderic Vitalis. The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester, Vol. IV (Henry G. Bohn, London, 1856) p. 150</ref> After the king's death disturbances broke out in Normandy and William was sent to guard Rouen and the Pays de Caux.<ref name="CP495"/><ref>C. Warren Hollister. Henry I (Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2003)p. 375</ref>
William was a donor to a number of priories, with his donations being mentioned in charters issued between 1130 and 1138 to Longueville Priory near Rouen, NormandyTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and to the priory of Bellencombre (also near Rouen) in 1135.Template:Sfn His sons and his wife were witnesses to many of these charters.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
William's death is recorded as 11 May 1138 in the register of Lewes Priory and he was buried at his father's feet at the chapter house there.<ref name="CP496">G. E. Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, Vol. XII/1 (The St. Catherine Press, London, 1953) p. 496</ref> His wife, the countess Elizabeth, survived him, dying before July 1147.<ref name="CP496"/>
Family
In 1118, William finally acquired the royal-blooded bride he desired when he married Elizabeth of Vermandois.<ref>C. Warren Hollister. 'The Taming of a Turbulent Earl: Henry I and William of Warenne', Historical Reflections, Vol. 3 (1976) p. 90 n. 36</ref> She was a daughter of Hugh I, Count of Vermandois and granddaughter of Henry I, King of France, as well as the widow of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester.<ref>Detlev Schwennicke. Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 1, Herzogs und Grafenhäuser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches Andere Europäiche Fürstenhäuser (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 55</ref>
By his wife Elizabeth, he had three sons and two daughters:
- William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey<ref>G. E. Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, Vol. XII/1 (The St. Catherine Press, London, 1953) p. 500</ref><ref name="EYC27">Early Yorkshire Charters, Vol. VIII – The Honour of Warenne (The Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1949) pp. 27-8</ref>
- Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy, including the castles of Bellencombre and Morteme.<ref name="EYC27"/> He married Alice de Wormegay, daughter of William de Wormegay, Lord of Wormegay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son, William de Warenne (founder of the priory of Wormegay),<ref name="EYC27"/> whose daughter and sole heir, Beatrice de Warenne, married, firstly, Doun, Lord Bardolf, and, secondly, Hubert de Burgh.<ref>G. E. Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, Vol. VII (The St. Catherine Press, 1929), p. 142, footnote (a)</ref><ref>Early Yorkshire Charters, Vol. VIII – The Honour of Warenne (The Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1949) pp. 33-4</ref> Reginald was one of the persecutors of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170.
- Ralph de Warenne<ref name="EYC10">Early Yorkshire Charters, Vol. VIII – The Honour of Warenne (The Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1949) pp. 10-11</ref>
- Gundred de Warenne,<ref name="EYC10"/> who married, firstly, Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick,<ref>Elisabeth van Houts. 'The Warenne View of the Past 1066-1203', Anglo-Norman Studies XXVI, Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2003, ed. John Gillingham (Boydell Press, Woodbridge. 2004), p. 109 n. 49</ref> and, secondly, William de Lancaster, Lord of Kendal, and is most remembered for expelling King Stephen's garrison from Warwick Castle.
- Ada de Warenne, who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, and was the mother of two Scottish kings.<ref>The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, ed. Sir James Balfour Paul, Lord Lyon King of Arms, Vol. I (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904, p. 4</ref> She made many grants to the priory of Lewes.<ref>Early Yorkshire Charters, ed: William Farrer, Charles Travis Clay, Volume VIII – The Honour of Warenne (The Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1949), p. 11</ref>
Ancestry
References
Sources
External links
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