1st Baron de Braose, Lord of Gower, Lord of Bramber. Knight of Bramber, Sussex, Buckingham and Bourton, Tedbury in Gloucestershire, Manningford Bruce, Wiltshire, etc.
Also spelled Briouze and Brewes
William was the son of John de Braose and Margaret Llywelyn, grandson of four powerful families; William de Braose and Matilda de Clare, Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd, and Joan of England. He descended from a turbulent history - his great grandmother, Mathilda de Saint Valery de Braose, was murdered by his great grandfather, King John Lackland. The family originated from Briouze in Normandy, descendants of Marcher Lord, William de Braose, who fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.
William married thrice: firstly to Aline, daughter of Thomas de Multon and Maud de Vaux. Her maritagium included the manor of Thorganby, Yorkshire. They had a son, William, heir and Lord of Buckingham.
Aline died after 1260, and William married Agnes, the daughter of Nicholas de Moeles and Hawise de Newmarch. Ger maritagium included the manors of Woodlands in Horton and Knowlton in Dorset. Their son was Sir Giles de Braose who fought in Scotland in 1300.
His third wife was Mary, the daughter of Robert de Ros and Isabel d'Aubigny. Her dowry included the manor of Weaversthorpe, Yorkshire. They were married before 1271 and had three children:
* Richard, died by 1296
* Peter, died by 1312
* Margaret, wife of Baron Ralph de Camoys
* William, listed in some sources
William's father died in 1232 before he was an adult. He inherited his father's properties 18 July 1232, and came of age by 15 July 1245. Calculations make his birth approximately 1224.
He served King Henry III and Henry's son Edward I as a councilor, and sided with King Henry against Simon de Montfort during the civil war. William was summoned to Parliament in April 1292 as Lord Braose, or Willelmo de Breuse. He fought in Wales in 1257 through to 1282. He was summoned to attend the King at Shrewsbury in 1283.
Braose was a benefactor of Sele Priory, giving the monks a half acre of property on the high road from Bramber to Chichester, and then 229 acres at Crockhurst in 1254 for the souls of he and his wife to the priory in exchange for 10 marks annually for tithes.
William died at Findon, Sussex and was buried 15 January at Sele Priory. William's eldest son, William de Braose, succeeded him as Lord and Baron, and his widow, Mary, received the manor of Tetbury which she surrendered to her son, Richard.
Bio by Anne for Findagrave
Douglas Richardson provides the argument that the recorded second wife of Robert de Brus, per their licence, is Maud FitzAlan. He was unable to locate any proof Robert's first wife was Isabella de Mar.
Knight, and in the right of his wife, Vicomte de Beaumont in Maine, seigneur of Beaumont-le-Vicomte, Saint Suzanne, la Fleche, Fresnay, le Lude.
Louis and Agnes had four sons and four daughters. Agnes was heiress to her brother, Richard de Beaumont. In 1246 she and her first cousin, Margaret de Toeni, widow of Malcolm, 6th Earl of Fife, wrote to Pope Innocent III regarding the deplorable conditions of Perray Abbey. In 1253, Louis and Agnes allowed the nuns of Vivoin to expand the court of their monastery. In 1255 Louis was present at the court of Alfonso X, King of Castile. After his death, his widow gave the barony of Crail of Fifeshire in Scotland to her daughter Isabel de Vescy. Both Louis and Agnes are buried at Etival.
Gilbert was the son of Richard the Fearless. As a young man he inherited Brionne and became one of the most powerful landowners in Normandy.
In about 1026, Herleva of Falaise, the sixteen year old daughter of a tanner from Falaise in Normandy, gave birth to a son called Richard. Gilbert was the father of the child. As Herleva was not married to Gilbert, the boy became known as Richard Fitz Gilbert. The term 'Fitz' was used to show that Richard was the illegitimate son of Gilbert.
When Robert, Duke of Normandy died in 1035 William the Conqueror inherited his father's title. Several leading Normans, including Gilbert of Brionne, Thurold Osbern the Seneschal, William's tutor and Alan of Brittany, were William's guardians and died as a result.
A number of Norman barons would not accept an illegitimate son as their leader and in 1040 an attempt was made to kill William. The plot failed but they did manage to kill Gilbert of Brionne. It is believed his killer was Ralph of Wacy or Gace, his cousin and the son of Archbishop Robert.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORgilbertB.htm
His son, William Baldwin the Sheriff:
From the Domesday pages at http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Devonshire.htm: Baldwin the Sheriff, was known by a number of different names such as Baudoin of Exeter, Baudoin de Meules, Baldwin the Viscount, Baudoin de Meules et du Sap. He was also known as FitzGilbert, since he was the eldest son of Gilbert, the Count of Brionne and Eu, who was the son of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. William(Baldwin the Sheriff) was granted vast domains, 164 manors, 159 of which were in Devonshire, 19 in Exeter. He built Rougemont Castle. He was Governor of the city of Exeter, Sheriff of Devonshire, one the most powerful men in the west country. He also built his Castle at Okehampton. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard FitzBaldwin, who was also Sheriff of Devonshire. There is some confusion between this family and the Redvers family who were later Earls of Devon, but they are two distinct, unrelated families.
Inwardleigh Lincombe Aller (Kentisbeare) Appledore (Clannaborough) Ashclyst Ashford Ashmansworthy Aylesbeare Blackborough Blakewell Boasley Bradford (Cookbury) Chevithorne Clayhidon Clifford Englebourne Germansweek Great Fulford Haccombe Hennock Highampton Hittisleigh Hockworthy Ilfracombe KentisbeareKentisbury Landcross Langford (Cullompton) Langstone Lashbrook Manhood Manaton Manhood Meeth Melanin Melhuish Mockham Monkokehampton Musbury Neadon Newton (Chittlehampton) Nymet Rowland OakOffwell Okehampton Oldridge Parkham Payhembury Ringcombe Ringmore (in St Nicholas) Rocombe Rushford Shirwell Smallicombe Snydles parkwell Spreyton Stedcombe Tapps Tedburn St. Mary Teigngrace Uppacott WalsonWembworthyWest BucklandWest ClystWest Prawle Whimple Whitestone Whiteway Whitstone Wilmington Wilson Wolborough Woodburn Woolladon Woolleigh Worthy Yard Yarde Yarnscombe Exbourne Shapley (Chagford) Beetor Belstone Braton ClovellyBridestowe Brixton Brush ford Burston CharlesChawleigh Chettiscombe Chichacott Chulmleigh Clannaborough Clyst Hydon Colwell Comboyne Culm Pyne Dolton Dotton Drewsteignton Dunsland Dunterton Eggbeer Exwick Fursham George Teign Gorhuish Great Beere Greenslade Halse Heanton Punchardon Heanton Stachville Holcombe Honeychurch Kelly Kenn Kigbeare Kingsford Leigh ( Coldridge) Lewtrenchard Loxhore Maidencombe Martin Meshsaw Middleton (Broadwood Kelly) Poltimore Ponsford Potheridge Rackenford Rose Ash Sampford Courtenay Sellake Bridford Cheldon Larkbeare .
Supported his brother, Giles, Bishop of Hereford in the rebellion against John Lackland, both active in the baron's war. Neither were present at the signing of the Magna Carta as both were still rebellious and would not compromise.
1216 May John Jackland conceeded to allowing Reginald his Wales estates of Brecon, Abergavenny, Builth even though Reginald was a vassal to Lleweyln Fawr (his father in law) but took them back in 1217. They were restored again by Henry III.
His son William (1204 - 1230) captured by Prince Llywelyn Fawr in the mountains of the commote of Ceri. The castle was again taken over by the Crown when William, who had since his capture established friendly relations with Llywelyn, was captured in a compromising position in Princess Joan's bedchamber at Llywelyn's court! Apparently William had been plotting with Llywelyn's wife to assassinate the prince and seize the Principality of Wales for himself. Llywelyn was allegedly warned of the plot by Earl Hubert Burgh the leader of the English government, who had a personal grudge against the Braose family. In his outrage Llywelyn had Braose tried by a jury of his barons where he was found guilty of adultery with the prince's wife, and therefore treason. William was taken to a tree at Llywelyn's manor of Crogen, and there hung by the neck until dead. Joan was pardoned.
From Huntington Castle review.
Noted to be a "Danish wife" but Breton is descent. Supposedly captured by William.
That Robert de Ivry is not a myth, however, is clear from the fact of his having received from Robert d'Oiley a large share of the spoil, and specially the honor of St. Waleries; but whether he married or left issue does not appear. His patronymic would point to a descent from Ralph, Comte d'Ivri, or Yvery (latinized Ibreio and Iberico), half-brother of Richard I, being the son of Sprote, mistress of William Longsword, Duke of Normandy, by Asperleng, the wealthy Miller of Vaudreuil, whom she married after the death of the Duke. http://genealogy.patp.us/conq/ivry.shtml
William de Braosa, Seigneru of Briouze Saint Gervase, Guillaume de Briouze
Listed as present the the Battle of Hastings
First Lord of Bramber Rape by 1073, built Bramber Castle
From Braose, near Falaise. Lord of the Sussex rape of Bramber, with castle there. Holdings in five other Southern counties. http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/landowners.html
Listed as having 61 manors in Berkshire and other lands in WTC's Domesday book. One manor was near Falasie where WTC was born.
1093 Present at the consecration of his church at Briouze
1096 Son Philip was issuing charters, William had passed by this time?
L C Perfect, a 13th century genealogy in the Bibliothèque de Paris gives the name of his wife as Eve de Boissey, widow of Anchetil de Harcourt
1175, Dec 25 - William, at Abergavenny Castle murdered Seisyllt ap Dyfnwal, lord of Castell Arnallt, a stronghold nearby.
He served in the military in Conquered Radnor and the Cantref of Builth,
Wales and died in Jerusalem, Palestine. Returned in 1103.
Lord of Braiose (Normandy), Bramber (Sussex), Radnor and Builth (Wales),
and Totnes (Devon)
He built the Norman church of St Nicolas (right) at Old Shoreham and founded
the port of New Shoreham.
His lands were confiscated by Henry I in 1110, due to his traitrous support
of William, son of Robert Curthose but they were returned in 1112
There are charters where Robert de Harcourt's sons, Philip and Richard, refer
to Philip de Braose as "patruus" - paternal uncle. This lends weight to the
theory that Robert de Harcourt and Philip de Braose were both sons of Eve
de Boissey. In another record dated 1103 (Pipe Roll Soc. Vol 71 no 544) it
is stated that Philip de Braose was represented by "his brother Robert, the
son of Anketill".
http://freespace.virgin.net/doug.thompson/BraoseWeb/index1.htm
William's wife, Berta, inherited all her families land as her brothers all died at young ages. She brought to her marriage the lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny.
William served as Sheriff of Hereford in 1174. His interest in Sussex was maintained as he confirmed the grants of his father and grandfather for the maintenance of Sele Priory and extended St. Mary's, Shoreham.
William de Braose, Third Lord of Bramber (d. ca. 1180) was the eldest son of Philip de Braose, Second Lord of Bramber. William married Bertha de Pitres, daughter of Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford. Through this marriage, William acquired lordship of Brecon and Abergavenny in 1166 because Bertha's brothers all died young without heirs.
In 1174, William became sheriff of Hereford. He was succeeded as Lord of Bramber by his son, William. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose%2C_3rd_Lord_of_Bramber
Served as Sheriff of Herefordshire between 1192 and 1199 in Hereford, England for King Richard. The most hated of the Marcher Lords.
Lord of Bramber, Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick and the three castles of Skenfrith, Grosmont and Whitecastle. William inherited Bramber, Builth and Radnor from his father; Brecknock and Abergavenny through his mother.
He was the strongest of the Marcher Lords involved in constant war with the
Welsh and other lords. He was particularly hated by the Welsh for the massacre
of three Welsh princes, their families and their men which took place during
a feast at his castle of Abergavenny in 1175. One of the Normans' foremost
warriors.
He was sometimes known as the "Ogre of Abergavenny".
1175 Dec 25 Abergavenny Massacre: Murdered three Welsh princes and their men including Seisyllt ap Dyfnwal, lord of Castell Arnallt. In retailiation, Hywel ap Iorwerth, lord of Caerleon, burnt William's Abergavenny castle, a place that "has been oftner stain'd with the infamy of treachery, than any other castle in Wales." (William Camden, the 16th-century antiquary) He believed they were responsible for the death of his Uncle Henry, Henry FitzMiles or Henry de Hereford.
1199 Fought alongside King Richard at Chalus in 1199 when Richard received
his fatal wound.
1201 Received Limerick from King John, also given custody of Glamorgan, Monmouth
and Gwynllwg in return for large payments.
1203 Captured Arthur, Count of Brittany at Mirebeau and was in charge of
his imprisonment for King John. Other records say Arthur was put in charge
of Hubert de Burgh at Falaise, who was ordered to blind Arthur and could
not do it. An accounting of William killing Arthur with his bare hands occurs
in the Annals of Margam which says, "After King John had captured Arthur
and kept him alive in prison for some time, at length, in the castle of Rouen,
after dinner on the Thursday before Easter" [i.e. 3rd April 1203] "when he
was drunk and possessed by the devil, he slew him with his own hand, and
tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine. It was discovered
by a fisherman in his net . . . (and) taken for secret burial . . "
1203 Feb 12 Well rewarded with the grant of Gower by King John. He may have
had knowledge of the murder of Arthur and been bribed to silence by John
with the city of Limerick in July.
1206 Became Sheriff of Herefordshire. He had held this office under Richard
from 1192 to 1199.
King John gave William three great castles in Gwent : Skenfrith, Grosmont,
and Whitecastle
1207 William's fall began, due to non payment of dues to Lackland or the
possibility of William and his wife knowing the truth of what happened to
Lackland's nephew, Arthur of Brittany. William had paid only 700 marks for
the past six years opposed to 500 marks a year.
1208 John Lackland fought the Pope against the election to the Archbishopric
of Canterbury, and William's son Giles, Bishop of Hereford, was one of the
five bishops who sided with the Pope.Lackland would have suspected the loyalty
of the family, especially in light Lackland asked for William's son as hostage
for his loyalty and Mathilda respinded before William saying she would not
trust her son to a man that killed his own nephew. It was said that Maud
sent Queen Isabella a herd of cows and a bull all white as milk but with
red ears, to no avail.
William was stripped of his office as bailiff of Glamorgan and other custodies
by King John and later deprived of all his lands. Sought by King.John in
Ireland, he returned to Wales and joined the Welsh Prince Llewelyn in rebellion,
his family fled to Ireland, chased by Lackland at Meath but were captured
in Galloway, Scotland in 1210, and murdered by King John. William joined
forces with Llewelyn against John.
1210 William fled to France in 1210 via Shoreham "in the habit of a beggar"
and died in exile near Paris.
Despite intending to be interred at St. John's, Brecon, he was buried in
the Abbey of St. Victoire, Paris by Stephen Langton, the exiled Archbishop
of Canterbury, another of John's chief opponents who was also taking refuge
there.
Children were listed in the Braose genealogy given in the 13th century MS (British Library, Cotton Julius D, x ) on the history of the Lords of Brecon.
Son William did not accompany King Richard on Crusade but fought with King John against Philip of France in Normandy (1203/4). John demanded William as a hostage for his father's loyalty in 1208. His mother Maud refused and they fled to the family estates in Ireland. In 1210 John prepared an expedition to Ireland. Maud and William escaped Ireland but were apprehended in Scotland. William the father was in Wales at this time. It is believed that Maud and William were starved to death at Windsor Castle, some say Corfe. http://freespace.virgin.net/doug.thompson/BraoseWeb/index1.htm
~~~~~~~~~~William de Braose, Fourth Lord of Bramber (1140/1150 - August 9, 1211) at his peak was also lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick, Skenfrith, Grosmont, and White Castle. His rise and fall at the hands of king John is often taken as an example of that king's arbitrary and capricious behavior towards his barons.
William was the son of William de Braose, Third Lord of Bramber and Bertha of Hereford, daughter of Miles Fitz Walter, Earl of Hereford and his wife, formerly Sibyl de Neufmarche. From his father he inherited the Rape of Bramber, in Sussex, and through his mother he inherited a large estate in the Welsh Marches.
In 1175, William carried out the Massacre of Abergavenny, killing several Welsh princes to avenge the death of his uncle Henry, Earl of Hereford, after having invited them to a feast at Abergavenny Castle. This resulted in great hostility against him among the Welsh, who named him the "Ogre of Abergavenny". In 1199, William fought beside King Richard the Lion-heart at Chalus, where Richard was killed.
He was greatly favored by King John early in his reign. John granted him all that he might conquer from the Welsh in Radnor, gave him lordship over Limerick in Ireland (save for the city itself), possession of Glamorgan castle, and then lordship over Gower.
In 1203, William was put in charge of Arthur of Brittany, whom he had personally captured the previous year. William was suspected of involvement in Arthur's disappearance, 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 John gave William the three great castles of Gwent (Skenfrith, Grosmont, and Whitecastle). At this point only an earldom separated him from the greatest in England.
But soon after William fell out of favor with the king. The precise reasons remain obscure. John's stated reasons regard money de Braose owed the crown. But the king's actions went far beyond what would be necessary to recover the debt. Instead, he evidently wanted to break de Braose, and to that end invaded Wales to seize the de Braose domains there. Beyond that, he sought de Braose's wife, who, the story goes, had made no secret of her belief that John had murdered Arthur of Brittany.
De Braose fled to Ireland, then returned to Wales as John hunted him in Ireland. In Wales, William allied himself to the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great and helped him in rebellion against King John.
In 1210, William fled in disguise to France and died the following year at Corbeil. William's wife, Maud de St. Valery, and eldest son, William, were captured and murdered by King John, possibly starved to death.
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".
Eventually, William's third son, Reginald de Braose reacquired some of his father's titles and lands. The middle son, Giles, was Bishop of Hereford from 1200 until his death in 1215.
William's eldest daughter Matilda (also called Maud) married Gruffydd ap Rhys II of Deheubarth. Another daughter, Margaret, married Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose%2C_Fourth_Lord_of_Bramber
Founded an Augustinian convent in memory of her parents and brother on land donated by King John at Aconbury in Herefordshire, near the village of Holme Lacy. She was buried there in the Priory Church, which is now disused and locked.
children:
ELIZABETH (ELEANOR), b. circa 1406 in Brereton, Cheshire.
WILLIAM, b. circa 1390 in Brereton; m. ALICE CORBET circa 1404 Of, Leighton, Montgomery, England; d. before 1425
children:
William of, Brereton, b. in 1414; m. Phillipa Hulse; d. in 1456 in .
Isabel Johanna b. circa 1418 in Brereton; m. Robert Aston on 27 Oct. 1436.
Maud of, Shavington, Shrop, England, b. circa 1402.
Alice Elizabeth of, Hatherton, Cheshire, b. abt 1420 (1420?); m. Peter Corbett
Ruler of Powys during Cenwulf's oppressive reign of Mercia, and died before Cenwulf's invasion of Wales. Succeeded by son Cyngen.
52 - EE14
Reknown for his white chariot, probably for battle as the Mercians established themselves in central and western England during his reign.
His son, Selyf, succeeded him first, who extended the terriotries to the Welsh Marches in Shrewsbury and was killed at the Battle of Chester, 613 or 615. His nickname was Solomon, indicating a wise ruler, and allowed refuge for disposed rulers.
Questionable sons were:
Cynddylan, King of Powys 620's who first appears in history at the battle of Maserfelth in 642 where Penda of Mercia killed Oswald of Northumbria, and is presented as an ally to Mercia, where as the Welsh from Gwynedd and Powys consider the Northumbrians enemies since the Battle of Chester 613. Cynddylan remained loyal to Penda and died at the same battle of Winwaed in 655 when the eastern part of his kingdom was taken by the Northumbrians which later fell to the English.
His traditional burial place is Baschurch in Shropshire.
Another questionalbe son was Cyndrwyn the Stubborn who would have ruled veofre Cynddylan.
At this time, the Mercians and Northumbrians are Angles, the Gwynedds and Powys are Welsh.
52 - EE5
The son of King Brochfael Ysgythrog and Arddyn Benasgel, the daughter of King Pabo Post Prydain of the Pennines, and St. Tysilio's elder brother. This late 6th century King of Powys apparently had very white legs, hence his name of White-Shanks. Though, the epithet may be a mistaken rendering of "Carrwyn," of the White-Chariot. His horse, 'Du Hir Tynnedig' (Tall Black-Tinted One), is named as one of the three chief steeds of Britain.
Cynan was a powerful king remembered in the poems of Taliesin. But, despite his probable identification with 'Cynan of the Prophecies' who was expected to free the British from Saxon oppression, his armies mostly fought against his fellow Celts. He had victories from Ynys Mon (Anglesey) to Gwent and Dyfed, and even threatened Dumnonia. His forces were, apparently, most successful in Brycheiniog, which Cynan seems to have conquered for a time. The Powysian monarch encamped on the River Nedd, but the monks of Llancarfan negotiated a peace which stopped him from continuing further into Glywysing. Cynan was a Christian himself, a patron of St. Beuno to whom he had given land near Corwen.
Cynan married Gwynwenwen daughter of Prince Domangart mac Aidan of the Scots; and they had at least three children: Selyf Sarffgadau, Dinogad and Afandreg Ddu, the wife of King Cadfan the Wise of Gwynedd. Upon his death, Selyf succeeded to the throne of Powys. EBK
Bretislaus I (Czech: Bretislav) (born between 1002 and 1005, died 10 January 1055), known as The Bohemian Achilles, of the house of the Premyslids, was the duke of Bohemia from 1035 till death.
Bretislaus was a son of duke Oldrich, then the protector of the Žatecko province, and his would-be wife Božena. In 1019, at Schweinfurt, he kidnapped his future wife Judith (Jitka) of Schweinfurt, a daughter of a Bavarian magnate, Henry of Nordgau.
During his father’s reign, in 1029, he took back Moravia from Poland. About 1031 Bretislaus invaded Hungary in order to prevent its expansion under king Stephen. The partition of Bohemia between Oldrich and his brother Jaromir in 1034 was probably the reason why Bretislaus fled beyond Bohemian border only to come back to take the throne after Jaromir’s abdication.
In 1035 Bretislaus helped Emperor Conrad II in his war against the Lusatians. In 1039 he invaded Little Poland, captured Krakow and Poznan and sacked Gniezno, bringing the relics of St Adalbert back with him. On the way back he conquered part of Silesia including Wroclaw. His main goal was to set up an archbishopic see in Prague and create a large state subject only to the Holy Roman Empire. In 1040 the German King Henry III invaded Bohemia but was forced to retreat by an ambush on his supply lines. However, Bretislaus was aware that he could not hold out indefinitely against the Germans and signed a truce with Henry III. In the ensuing peace treaty Bretislaus renounced all of his conquests save for Moravia.
In 1047 Emperor Henry III negotiated a peace treaty between Bretislaus and the Poles. This pact worked in Bretislaus' favour as the Polish ruler swore never again to attack Bohemia in return for an annual subsidy to Gniezno. In 1054 Bretislaus issued the famous Seniority Law. For the first time this act stated that Bohemia and Moravia would pass directly through the senior line of the Premyslid dynasty. Younger members of the dynasty were allowed to govern Moravia, but only at the Duke's discretion.
Bretislaus was the author of decrees concerning the rules of Christianization, which included a ban on polygamy or trade on holidays.
Bretislaus died at Chrudim in 1055 during his preparation for another invasion of Hungary and was succeeded by his son Spytihnev II.
It was in 1030 that he married the aforementioned Judith. Before his death, Bretislaus organised the succession. His eldest son, Spytihnev, was to succeed him as duke of Bohemia with control over that territory. Moravia was put under the Bohemian crown, but divided between three of his younger sons. Olomouc went to Vratislaus, Znojmo went to Conrad, and Brno went to Otto. The youngest son, Jaromir, enterred the church and became bishop of Prague.
Godfrey I (c.1060 – 25 January 1139), called the Bearded, the Courageous, or the Great, was the landgrave of Brabant, and count of Brussels and Leuven (or Louvain) from 1095 to his death and duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey V or VI) from 1106 to 1129. He was also margrave of Antwerp from 1106 to his death.
Godfrey was the son of Henry II of Leuven and a countess called Adela (origin unknown). He succeeded his brother Henry III in 1095. He first came into conflict with Otbert, Bishop of Liège, over the county of Brugeron that they both claimed. In 1099, the arbitration of the Emperor Henry IV allotted the county to the bishop, who entrusted it to Albert III, Count of Namur. Godfrey arbitrated a dispute between Henry III of Luxembourg and Arnold I, Count of Looz, over the appointment of the abbot of Saint-Trond.
Godfrey was in favour with the emperor and defended his interests in Lorraine. In 1102, he stopped Robert II of Flanders, who was invading the Cambraisis. After the death of the emperor in 1106, his son and successor, Henry V, who had been in rebellion, decided to avenge himself on his father's partisans. Duke Henry of Lower Lorraine was imprisoned and his duchy confiscated and given to Godfrey. After Henry escaped from prison, he tried to retake his duchy and captured Aachen, but ultimately failed.
In 1114, during a rift between the emperor and Pope Paschal II, Godfrey led a revolt in Germany. In 1118, the emperor and the duke were reconciled. In 1119, Baldwin VII of Flanders died heirless and Flanders was contested between several claimants, of which William of Ypres had married a niece of Godfrey's second wife. Godfrey supported William, but could not enforce his claim against that of Charles the Good. Also dead in that year was Otbert. Two separate men were elected to replace him and Godfrey again sided with the loser.
By marrying his daughter Adeliza to Henry I of England, who was also the father-in-law of the emperor, he greatly increased his prestige. However, Henry V died in 1125 and Godfrey supported Conrad of Hohenstaufen, the duke of Franconia, against Lothair of Supplinburg. Lothair was elected. Lothair withdrew the duchy of Lower Lorraine and granted it to Waleran, the son of Henry, whom Henry V had deprived in 1106. Nonetheless, Godfrey maintained the margraviate of Antwerp and retained the ducal title—which would eventually become "Duke of Brabant".
After the assassination of Charles the Good in 1127, the Flemish succession was again in dispute. William Clito prevailed, but was soon fraught with revolts. Godfrey intervened on behalf of Thierry of Alsace, who prevailed against Clito. Godfrey continued to war against Liège and Namur. He died on 25 January 1139 and was buried in the monastery of Affligem. He is sometimes said to have passed in 1140, but this is an error.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_I_of_Leuven
Brunhilda[1] (circa 543 – 613) was a Frankish queen who ruled the eastern kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy in the names of her sons and grandsons. Initially known as a liberal ruler of great political acumen, she became notorious for her cruelty and avarice. She was possibly born about 543 in Toledo, the Visigothic capital, the daughter of the Visigoth king Athanagild and Ingund, his queen. She was the younger of his two daughters. She was only eleven years old when her father was elevated to the kingship (554). She was educated in Toledo as an Arian Christian.
In 567, she was married to king Sigebert I of Austrasia, a grandson of Clovis I who had sent an embassy to Toledo loaded with gifts. She joined him at Metz. Upon her marriage, she abjured Arianism and converted to orthodox Roman Catholicism.[2]
Sigebert's father, Clotaire I, had reunited the four kingdoms of the Franks, but when he died, Sigebert and his three brothers divided them again. According to Gregory of Tours, Sigebert's marriage to a Visigothic princess was a criticism of his brothers' choices in wives. Instead of marrying low-born and promiscuous women, Sigebert contracted a princess of education and morals.
In response to Sigebert's noble marriage, his brother King Chilperic of Soissons sent to Spain for Brunhilda's sister, Galswintha. Gregory of Tours suggests that he proposed because he envied his brother's marriage to Brunhilda.[3] However, Galswintha ordered him to purge his court of prostitutes and mistresses and he soon grew tired of her. He and his favourite mistress, one Fredegund, conspired to murder her within the year. He then married Fredegund. Brunhilda so detested Fredegund for the death of her sister—and this hatred was so fiercely reciprocated—that the two queens persuaded their husbands to go to war.[4] Sigebert persuaded their other brother, the elder Guntram of Burgundy, to mediate the dispute between the queens. He decided that Galswintha's dower of Bordeaux, Limoges, Cahors, Béarn, and Bigorre should be turned over to Brunhilda in restitution. However, Chilperic did not easily give up the cities and Brunhilda did not forget the murder. Germanus, Bishop of Paris, negotiated a brief peace between them. Between 567 and 570, Brunhilda bore Sigebert three children: Ingund, Chlodosind, and Childebert.
The peace was then broken by Chilperic, who invaded the Sigebert's dominions. Sigebert defeated Chilperic, who fled to Tournai. The people of Paris hailed Sigebert as a conqueror when he went there with Brunhilda and their children. Germanus wrote to Brunhilda, asking her to persuade her husband to restore the peace and to spare his brother. Chroniclers of Germanus' life say that she ignored this; certainly Sigebert set out to besiege Tournai. Fredegund responded to this threat to her husband by hiring two assassins, who killed Sigebert at Vitry with poisoned daggers (scramasaxi, according to Gregory). Brunhilda was captured and imprisoned at Rouen.
When, after disobeying his father's direct orders, Merovech, son of Chilperic and Audovera, went to Rouen on pretext of visiting his mother, he married the widowed Brunhilda. Thus he was strengthening his chance of becoming a king. His stepmother, Fredegund, was determined that only her sons should succeed as kings, and she eliminated her husband's sons of other women. They were married by the bishop Praetextatus to prevent a scandal, though the marriage was contrary to canon law, as Gregory is quick to note,[5] she being his aunt. Quickly, Chilperic besieged them in the church of St Martin on the walls. Eventually he made peace with them, but he took Merovech away with him to Soissons.
In an effort to nullify the marriage, Chilperic had Merovech tonsured and sent to the monastery of Le Mans to become a priest. Merovech fled to the sanctuary of St Martin at Tours, the church of Gregory (who is thus an eyewitness to these events),[6] and later Champagne. He finally returned to Tours in 578, and when and when his bid for power failed, he asked his servant to kill him.[7]
Brunhilda now tried to seize the regency of Austrasia in the name of her son Childebert II, but she was resisted fiercely by her nobles and had to retire briefly to the court of Guntram of Burgundy before obtaining her goal. At that time, she ruled Austrasia as queen. She was, not being a fighter, primarily an administrative reformer, with a Visigothic education. She repaired the old Roman roads, built many churches and abbeys, constructed the necessary fortresses, reorganised the royal finances, and restructured the royal army. However, she antagonised the nobles and her continued imposition of royal authority wherever it was lax. To reinforce her positions and the crown's prestige and power, she convinced Guntram, newly heirless, to adopt Childebert as his own son and heir. This he did in 577.[8] In 579, she married her daughter Ingunda, then only thirteen, to the Visigothic prince Hermenegild, allying her house to that of the king of her native land. However, Hermenegild converted to Catholicism and he and his wife both died in the ensuing religious wars which tore apart the Visigothic kingdom in Spain.
Brunhilda ruled Austrasia until Childebert came of age in 583, at the traditional Merovingian majority of thirteen
The conflict with Fredegund flared up once more upon the death of Chilperic. Now in the regency in Neustria, Fredegund was in a position to renew the war with her old enemy. Firstly, however, Brunhilda had to deal with her own internal enemies.
Many of the dukes opposed strongly her influence over her son the kings. Three of them—Rauching, Ursio, and Berthefrid—conspired to assassinate Childebert, however, their plot was found out. Rauching was killed and Ursio and Berthefrid fled to a fortress. Upon this, Guntram immediately begged for Childebert, Brunhilda, and Childebert's new sons to take refuge at his court. This they did and soon Ursio and Berthefrid were killed. In 587, Guntram, Childebert, and Brunhild settled the Pact of Andelot[9] securing for Childebert the Burgundian succession and a continuing alliance of the two realms for the rest of Guntram's life.
In that same year, King Reccared I of the Visigoths sent embassies to both Childebert and Guntram, the former accepting them and consolidating an alliance and the latter refusing to see them for some reason or another. Thus, when Brunhilda and Childebert negotiated a marriage for the king's sister Chlodosind with the king of Spain, it was rejected by Guntram and abandoned. In 592, Guntram died and Childebert, as per the treaty, succeeded to his kingdom, immediately making war on Clotaire of Neustria.
Upon Childebert's death in September or October 595 at the age of only twenty-six, Brunhilda attempted to govern Austrasia and Burgundy in the name of her grandsons Theudebert II and Theuderic II, respectively. Though she attributed the death of Childebert to Fredegund, the latter died in 597 and the direct conflict between her and Brunhilda ended. Peace would elude the Franks, however, for many years more as the conflict raged between the two queens' descendants.
In 599, Brunhilda's eldest grandson, Theudebert, at whose court she was staying, exiled her. She was found wandering near Arcis in Champagne by a peasant, who brought her to her Theuderic. The peasant was rewarded with the bishopric of Auxerre, as the legend goes, though it seems unlikely that an exiled queen would have been left andering alone, and the so-called peasant seems to be Desiderius, who was of royal blood. Theuderic welcomed her and readily fell under her influence, which was inclined to vengeful war with Theudebert at the time. Soon the brothers were at war.
It is at this point that Brunhilda begins to display that ruthlessness which led to her especially violent demise. Brunhilda first took to herself Protadius as lover and, desiring to promote him to high office, conspired to have Berthoald, the mayor of the palace, killed. In 604, she convinced Theuderic to send Berthoald to inspect the royal villae along the Seine. Clotaire, probably alerted by men of Brunhilda's bidding, sent his own mayor Landric (ironically, a former paramour of Fredegund) to meet Berthoald, who had only a small contingent of men with him. Realising that he had been the victim of courtly plotting, Berthoald, in the ensuing confrontation, overchased the enemy till he was surrounded and killed. Protadius was promptly put in his place.
Brunhilda and Protadius soon persuaded Theuderic to return to war with Theudebert, but the mayor was murdered by his warriors, who did not wish to fight to assuage to ego of queen. The man who ordered Protadius' execution, Duke Uncelen, was soon arrested by Brunhilda and tortured and executed. He was not the first ducal victim of the queen's revenges.
It was also during these later regencies that Desiderius, Bishop of Vienne (later Saint Didier) publicly accused her of incest and cruelty. Desiderius finally enraged her with a pointed sermon on chastity preached in 612 before her and Theuderic, with whom she hired three assassins to murder the bishop at the village now called Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne.
In that year, at the battle of Tolbiac, Theuderic defeated and captured Theudebert, whom the queen was now claiming was in fact the son of a gardener, and brought him and his royal paraphernalia to his Brunhilda, who had him put up in a monastery. She probably had him murdered (along with his son Merovech) to allow Theuderic to succeed to both thrones unhindered. This he did and died of dysentery in his Austrasian capital of Metz in late 613
The successor of Theuderic II was his bastard son Sigebert, a child. The mayor of the palace of Austrasia, Warnachar, fearing that at his young age he would fall under the influence of his great-grandmother, brought him before a national assemby, where he was proclaimed by the nobles, who did homage to him over both his father's kingdoms. Nonetheless, he could not be kept out of the hands of Brunhilda. Thus, for the last time in a long life, she was regent of the Franks, this time for her own great-grandson.
But Warnachar and Rado, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, along with Pepin of Landen and Saint Arnulf, bishop of Metz, abandoned the cause of Brunhilda and the young king and joined with Clotaire, promising not to rise in defence of the queen-regent and recognising Clotaire as rightful regent and guardian of Sigebert. Brunhilda, with Sigebert, met Clotaire's army on the Aisne, but the dukes yet again betrayed her: the Patrician Aletheus, Duke Rocco, and Duke Sigvald deserted her and she and her king had to flee. As far as the Orbe they got, hoping to enlist the aid of certain German tirbes, but Clotaire's minions caught up with them by the lake Neuchâtel. The young king and his brother Corbo were killed. Thus ended the long and bloody feud between Austrasia and Neustria, and reuniting the two kingdoms, Clotaire then had the entire realm of the Franks. Clotaire accused Brunhilda of the death of ten kings of the Franks[10]and many churchmen, including Desiderius. According to the Liber Historiae Francorum:
"Then the army of the Franks and Burgundians joined into one, all shouted together that death would be most fitting for the very wicked Brunhilda. Then King Clotaire ordered that she be lifted on to a camel and led through the entire army. Then she was tied to the feet of wild horses and torn apart limb from limb. Finally she died. Her final grave was the fire. Her bones were burnt."
One legend has her being dragged by a wild mare down the Roman road La Chaussée Brunehaut at Abbeville
In 576, Sigebert's brother Guntram founded a bishopric that was suffragan of Vienne at Maurienne, which belonged to the Diocese of Turin. The Bishop of Turin protested this to Brunehaut for more than twenty years but even when Pope Gregory the Great supported his complaint in 599, Brunhilda dismissed it. In general, however, she protected the church and treated Gregory with great respect. He wrote a series of positive letters to her; in 597 he wrote to her about interdicting pagan rites such as tree worship. Gregory of Tours was another favoured cleric; he was a trusted courtier to her and her son from 587 until his death. She also took a keen personal interest in the bishoprics and monasteries within her dominion. This brought her into conflict with Columbanus, abbot of Luxeuil, whom she eventually exiled to Italy, where he founded Bobbio.
Brunhilda was buried in the Abbaye de St. Martin at Autun that she founded in 602 on the spot where the bishop of Tours had cut down a beech-tree that served as an object of pagan worship. The abbey was destroyed in 1793 and Brunhilda's sarcophagus is now in the Musée Lapidaire in Avignon.
Brunhilda commissioned the building of several churches and the abbey of St. Vincent at Laon (founded in 580). She is also credited with founding the castle of Bruniquel and having a Roman road resurfaced near Alligny-en-Morvan (where the name of a nearby hill Terreau Bruneau is believed to be derived from hers). The part of Mauves-sur-Loire known as la Fontaine Bruneau is named after Brunehaut who may have cooled herself with the fountain's water when she suffered heat exhaustion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunhilda_of_Austrasia
Captured by the Llywelyn the Great in 1228, ransomed for £2000, then arranged for Llywelyn to marry his daughter Isabella to Llywelyn's only legitmate son, Dafydd. Then William ruined everything by being found, when Llywelyn returned at Easter, in Llywelyn's private bed chambers with his wife, Joan, Lady of Wales, the daughter of John Lackland. He was publically hanged 02 May 1230, possibly at Crogen near Bala, Wales. Others believe the hanging took place at Llywelyn's palace at Abergwyngregyn, later shortened to Aber, wonder why?) in Gwynedd. It was recorded, the hanging and the reason, in Ystrad fflur's chronicle of 1230.
With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose. William's wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right, after the death of her husband. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234–1237).
Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months after the incident. She was then, according to the Chronicle of Chester, forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored to favour. She may have given birth to a daughter early in 1231.