Susanna di Gunale (?)1

F, #5941

Marriage* Principal=Mariano II (?)1 

Family

Mariano II (?) d. 1112
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Andrea (?)1

M, #5942

Father*Barisone III (?)1 d. 1073
Andrea (?)||p199.htm#i5942|Barisone III (?)|d. 1073|p206.htm#i6161||||Barisone I. (?)|d. 1022|p206.htm#i6162||||||||||

Marriage* 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Hugh II of Ponthieu1

M, #5943, d. 20 November 1052

Father*Count Enguerrand I of Ponthieu1 d. 9 Dec 1046
Mother*Adele of Holland (?)1
Count Hugh II of Ponthieu|d. 20 Nov 1052|p199.htm#i5943|Count Enguerrand I of Ponthieu|d. 9 Dec 1046|p199.htm#i5945|Adele of Holland (?)||p148.htm#i4417|Count Hugh I. of Ponthieu|d. 4 Jul 1000|p199.htm#i5947|Gisela o. F. (?)||p199.htm#i5948|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Bertha d' Aumale1 
Death*20 November 1052 1 
Burial* St. Riquier, France1 

Family

Bertha d' Aumale
Children

Last Edited19 Jul 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Bertha d' Aumale1

F, #5944

Father*Guerinfroi (?)1
Bertha d' Aumale||p199.htm#i5944|Guerinfroi (?)||p199.htm#i5946||||||||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Count Hugh II of Ponthieu1 

Family

Count Hugh II of Ponthieu d. 20 Nov 1052
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Enguerrand I of Ponthieu1

M, #5945, d. 9 December 1046

Father*Count Hugh I of Ponthieu1 d. 4 Jul 1000
Mother*Gisela of France (?)1
Count Enguerrand I of Ponthieu|d. 9 Dec 1046|p199.htm#i5945|Count Hugh I of Ponthieu|d. 4 Jul 1000|p199.htm#i5947|Gisela of France (?)||p199.htm#i5948|Count Hilduin I. of Ponthieu|d. a 981|p170.htm#i5098|Hersende (?)||p329.htm#i9868|Hugh Capet|b. 941\nd. 24 Oct 996|p93.htm#i2762|Adelaide of Poitou|b. c 945\nd. c 1004|p93.htm#i2763|

Marriage*1033 Principal=Adele of Holland (?)1 
Death*9 December 1046 1 
Name Variation Isambart1 

Family

Adele of Holland (?)
Children

Last Edited19 Jul 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Guerinfroi (?)1

M, #5946

Marriage* 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Hugh I of Ponthieu1

M, #5947, d. 4 July 1000

Father*Count Hilduin III of Ponthieu1 d. a 981
Mother*Hersende (?)1
Count Hugh I of Ponthieu|d. 4 Jul 1000|p199.htm#i5947|Count Hilduin III of Ponthieu|d. a 981|p170.htm#i5098|Hersende (?)||p329.htm#i9868|Count William of Montreuil|d. 965|p170.htm#i5099||||||||||

Marriage*circa 987 Principal=Gisela of France (?)1 
Death*4 July 1000 1 

Family

Gisela of France (?)
Child

Last Edited19 Jul 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Gisela of France (?)1

F, #5948

Father*Hugh Capet1 b. 941, d. 24 Oct 996
Mother*Adelaide of Poitou1 b. c 945, d. c 1004
Gisela of France (?)||p199.htm#i5948|Hugh Capet|b. 941\nd. 24 Oct 996|p93.htm#i2762|Adelaide of Poitou|b. c 945\nd. c 1004|p93.htm#i2763|Hugh Magnus of France|b. c 895\nd. 16 Jun 956|p93.htm#i2764|Hedwig of Saxony|b. 922\nd. 10 May 965|p93.htm#i2765|William I. of Poitou|b. 900\nd. 3 Apr 963|p95.htm#i2846|Adela of Normandy|b. c 920\nd. c 14 Oct 962|p153.htm#i4565|

Marriage*circa 987 Principal=Count Hugh I of Ponthieu1 

Family

Count Hugh I of Ponthieu d. 4 Jul 1000
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Hugh de Beauchamp1

M, #5949

Marriage* Principal=Matilda Tailbois1 
DNB* Beauchamp, de, family (per. c.1080-c.1265), gentry, held a modest barony of about forty-five knights' fees, predominantly in Bedfordshire, with some land in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, and Huntingdonshire. The family exercised a local dominance in Bedfordshire, but was only occasionally prominent on the national stage. No connection has been found to the Beauchamps of Worcester. The family was first represented by Hugh de Beauchamp (fl. 1080-c.1118), presumably of Norman origin, who acquired his lands and position through marriage to Matilda, apparently the daughter and heir of Ralf Tallebosc, post-conquest castellan of Bedford and sheriff of Bedfordshire, and Azelina, who held lands in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire in her own right. Information for the early twelfth century is scarce, but Hugh seems to have had at least two sons, Simon and Robert. Simon [i] de Beauchamp (d. 1136/7), who witnessed King Stephen's charter of liberties as royal steward in 1136, was probably the eldest son and heir to the barony. His daughter married Hugh Poer, who was granted the honour and castle of Bedford and created earl by King Stephen, to the anger of Robert's sons, who believed they were being deprived of their rightful inheritance. The elder son, Miles de Beauchamp (d. 1142x53), tried unsuccessfully to turn Stephen's problems to his advantage, promising to support Stephen if he did not try to remove him from Bedford Castle, but he was forced out after a siege at Christmas 1137. In 1141 Miles and his followers recovered the castle, ‘as triumphant and fierce as they had once been humble and downcast’ (Gesta Stephani, 33), only to lose it once again before both barony and castle were returned to the Beauchamps by Henry II.

Miles's brother and heir, Payn de Beauchamp (d. in or before 1155), was both outlived and overshadowed by his wife, Rohese [Rose] de Beauchamp (d. 1166). The daughter of Aubrey (II) de Vere (d. 1141), she had previously been married to the powerful Geoffrey de Mandeville, first earl of Essex (d. 1144). The connection between the two families remained close for some time, with the Beauchamps adopting a variation of the Mandeville arms. In common with most of their contemporaries the earlier Beauchamps had already made grants to religious houses, including St Albans and Bermondsey, but the Beauchamps' patronage of the church now moved onto a new plane with the foundation of a priory for Gilbertine nuns at Chicksands, Bedfordshire, c.1150. Although her husband, Payn, was associated with her in early charters, Rohese was always spoken of as the founder. Her support for the priory and her forceful personality were vividly illustrated by her response to the death of her son from her first marriage, Geoffrey de Mandeville. After his death his men tried to take his body to Walden, Essex, for burial at the abbey founded by his father. On hearing this Rohese gathered a band of armed retainers and caught up with the cortège, ordering it to go instead to Chicksands. However, early the next morning her son's servants turned the bier around and took it to Walden Abbey before Rohese could prevent it. Thwarted in her efforts to have her son's body in her own chosen burial place, Rohese retaliated by taking all the furnishings of Geoffrey's private chapel for Chicksands. Rohese was also closely involved in the early stages of the foundation (c.1166) of Newnham Priory by her son Simon [ii] de Beauchamp (c.1145-1206/7). This conversion of the college of secular canons at St Paul's, Bedford, into a community of regular Augustinian canons was part of the widespread contemporary movement towards the regular monastic orders. It has traditionally been linked with the case of Philip de Broy, a canon of Bedford accused of homicide. The failure of the church courts to deal adequately with his case was one of the grievances of Henry II against Thomas Becket, and this notorious incident may have acted as a catalyst by attracting attention to Bedford. Simon was a generous patron of the church; he made several additions to Newnham's original endowment, and also made grants to Warden Abbey, Chicksands Priory, and the hospital of St John at Bedford.

Simon [ii] de Beauchamp held the Bedford barony for over fifty years, including a nine-year minority. The Beauchamp family clearly had a claim to be hereditary constables of Bedford Castle, but it was not acknowledged as a formality: in 1189/90 Simon had to pay £100 for custody of the castle. From 1194 to 1197 he served as sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, but only after paying 200 marks for the privilege. Simon was succeeded by his son, William de Beauchamp (c.1185-1260), who served in the royal army in Ireland in 1210 and Poitou in 1214, but who joined the rebels in 1215 and was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III. Captured at the battle of Lincoln, he was soon restored to favour. Bedford Castle, however, had been taken by Falkes de Bréauté in December 1215. Following his fall from power, Bréauté was forced out after a siege in 1224, and the castle partially demolished. It was returned to William on condition that he maintain only an unfortified residence there. In his later years, William served as a baron of the exchequer, as sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and as hereditary almoner at the coronation of Henry and Eleanor in 1236. He married first Gunnora de Lanvaley (d. before 1220), and second, Ida (d. 1266×9), daughter of William Longespée, earl of Salisbury. William was praised in the Flores historiarum as a benefactor of the church, but with Ida he became involved in disputes with Newnham Priory and Warden Abbey. His younger brother Geoffrey was also to be found in the king's service; he fought in both Wales and Gascony, and served as provost of Bayonne in 1253–4.

Clearly another forceful woman, after her husband's death Ida raided Simon of Pattishall's manor of Little Crawley, Buckinghamshire. Marriage to Ida brought William the manor of Newport Pagnell and patronage of the priory there, which she held as dower from her first marriage to Ralph de Somery. The temporary nature of this acquisition is typical of the Beauchamp family, whose land holdings remained virtually constant throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In 1257 William surrendered his barony to his third son William de Beauchamp (d. 1262), his elder sons John and Simon [iii] having predeceased him. He died at an advanced age in 1260. The younger William held the barony for only five years until his death, reputedly by poison, after which the Beauchamp lands were in wardship while his brother and heir John de Beauchamp (b. after 1241, d. 1265) was a minor. John was killed fighting for Simon de Montfort at the battle of Evesham on 4 August 1265. His niece and heir Joan, Simon [iii]'s daughter, died soon after. Of John's three sisters, Matilda (d. by 1275) married first Roger de Mowbray and second Roger Lestrange (d. 1311), Ela married Baldwin de Wake, and Beatrice married first Thomas fitz Otto and second William de Munchensi, of Edwardstone, Suffolk. The barony was broken up by division between the sisters and their heirs. The Beauchamp family arms were quarterly or and gules, a bend gules.

Kathryn Faulkner
Sources

C. Gore Chambers and G. H. Fowler, The Beauchamps, barons of Bedford, Bedfordshire Historical RS, 1 (1913), 1–24 · J. Godber, ed., The cartulary of Newnham Priory, 1 vol. in 2 pts, Bedfordshire Historical RS, 43 (1963–4) · G. H. Fowler, Early charters of the priory of Chicksand, Bedfordshire Historical RS, 1 (1913), 101–23 · VCH Bedfordshire · J. Godber, History of Bedfordshire, 1066–1888 (1969) · Chancery records · Pipe rolls · Ann. mon., vol. 3 · Paris, Chron. · K. R. Potter and R. H. C. Davis, eds., Gesta Stephani, OMT (1976) · H. R. Luard, ed., Flores historiarum, 3 vols., Rolls Series, 95 (1890) · CIPM, 1, no. 516 · Calendar of inquisitions miscellaneous (chancery), PRO, 1 (1916), 612–13, 629, 936
© Oxford University Press 2004–5
All rights reserved: see legal notice      Oxford University Press


Kathryn Faulkner, ‘Beauchamp, de, family (per. c.1080-c.1265)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54497, accessed 24 Sept 2005]

de Beauchamp (per. c.1080-c.1265): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54497
Hugh de Beauchamp (fl. 1080-c.1118): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61191
Simon de Beauchamp [i] (d. 1136/7): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61192
Miles de Beauchamp (d. 1142x53): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61193
Payn de Beauchamp (d. in or before 1155): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61194
Rohese de Beauchamp (d. 1166): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61195
Simon de Beauchamp [ii] (c.1145-1206/7): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61196
William de Beauchamp (d. 1262): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61198
John de Beauchamp (b. after 1241, d. 1265): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61199, Witness=Rohese de Vere, Witness=Paganus de Beauchamp, Witness=Sir William de Beauchamp2 

Family

Matilda Tailbois
Children

Last Edited24 Sep 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S376] Unknown editor, unknown short title.
  3. [S301] Carl Boyer 3rd, Medieval English Ancestors of Robert Abell, p. 15.

Matilda Tailbois1

F, #5950

Marriage* Principal=Hugh de Beauchamp1 

Family

Hugh de Beauchamp
Children

Last Edited1 Feb 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S301] Carl Boyer 3rd, Medieval English Ancestors of Robert Abell, p. 15.

Urse d' Abitot1

M, #5951, d. after 1077

Father*Almeric de Abitot2
Urse d' Abitot|d. a 1077|p199.htm#i5951|Almeric de Abitot||p199.htm#i5953||||Gerard d. Tankerville||p199.htm#i5954|Helesinde (?)||p199.htm#i5955|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Adelisa (?)2 
Death*after 1077 2 
Note* The overlords of Abbetot were the chamberlains of Tancarville1 
Name Variation Abetot1 
Name Variation Urso d' Arbitot2 
Event-MiscSummer 1066 A charter of William, Duke of Normandy confirmed certain gifts to the church of St. Georges de Boscherville, witnessed by Ralf son of Gerold of Tancarville and Urso 'de Abetot.'1 
Event-Misc*1067 He was first recorded in England1 

Family

Adelisa (?)
Children

Last Edited20 Dec 2004

Citations

  1. [S341] Lewis C. Loyd, Anglo-Norman Families, p. 1.
  2. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Adelisa (?)1

F, #5952

Marriage* Principal=Urse d' Abitot1 

Family

Urse d' Abitot d. a 1077
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S341] Lewis C. Loyd, Anglo-Norman Families, p. 1.

Almeric de Abitot1

M, #5953

Father*Gerard de Tankerville1
Mother*Helesinde (?)1
Almeric de Abitot||p199.htm#i5953|Gerard de Tankerville||p199.htm#i5954|Helesinde (?)||p199.htm#i5955|||||||||||||

Birth* near Havre, Normandy, France1 
Marriage* 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Gerard de Tankerville1

M, #5954

Marriage* Principal=Helesinde (?)1 

Family

Helesinde (?)
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Helesinde (?)1

F, #5955

Marriage* Principal=Gerard de Tankerville1 

Family

Gerard de Tankerville
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Ralph Basset1

M, #5956, d. 1120

Father*Thurston Basset1 d. a 1086
Ralph Basset|d. 1120|p199.htm#i5956|Thurston Basset|d. a 1086|p199.htm#i5957||||||||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=(?) de Buci1 
Death*1120 1 
DNB* Basset, Ralph (d. 1127?), justice, was included by the chronicler Orderic Vitalis in his list of new men raised from the dust by Henry I, men allegedly of obscure birth who rose by their service to Henry and acquired great wealth in the process. He came from Montreuil-au-Houlme near Argentan in Normandy, not far from the abbey of St Évroul where Orderic was a monk and to which Ralph was a benefactor. In England either Ralph Basset the justice or an earlier namesake was in 1086 an under-tenant of Robert (I) d'Oilly at Marsworth in Buckinghamshire and Tiscot in Hertfordshire. He could also have been connected with Robert d'Oilly in Normandy, given that Robert may have come from Ouilly-le-Basset. Basset first appears as a witness to a royal document in 1101 or 1102. In 1106 he was appointed by the king to a judicial commission empowered to hear a complaint against Osbert, the sheriff of Yorkshire. About 1110 he was a member of another group set up to investigate the king's rights in Winchester, a city which had been omitted from the Domesday Book, and in the same or the following year was present when a lawsuit involving the abbey of Abingdon was heard before the Empress Matilda in the king's court meeting ‘in the treasury of Winchester’, possibly at a meeting of the court of the exchequer.

Between 1110 and 1127 Basset was one of the most prominent of Henry I's justices, and was described by the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon as one of the ‘justices of all England’, a description which indicates the geographical scope of his authority, as opposed to those who acted for the king only in their own locality. As such he was an early example of a royal justice who conducted local visitations to investigate the administration of the king's rights, setting a precedent for the later general eyres. Two sessions where he presided have become well known. The first took place at Huntingdon, where a man named Bricstan was brought to trial for concealment of treasure, a case reported by Orderic Vitalis. At the second, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Basset was responsible for hanging forty-four thieves in 1124 at ‘Hundehoge’, probably Huncote in Leicestershire. In 1130, by which date he was dead, his earlier activities as a justice were mentioned in the accounts of ten counties, including Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Middlesex. He had also heard forest pleas in Surrey, and, judging from a charter reference to his ‘gelds and assizes’, he had also been active in Devon. Basset evidently spent most of his career in England. Only once did he attest a royal document issued in Normandy; otherwise his attestations show him to have been at Henry I's court, at such preferred royal residences as Woodstock, Westminster, and Winchester.

Basset fell terminally ill at Northampton, and instructed that he be clothed in the habit of a monk, for he had entered the fraternity of Abingdon Abbey, a house he was said to love with a special affection. The year of his death is most likely to have been 1127; it antedated that of Abbot Vincent of Abingdon in the spring of 1130. One of his sons, Richard Basset, was also a justice of Henry I; two others, Nicholas and Turstin, later held land of the honour of Wallingford, at least some of which they inherited from their father, who bequeathed the churches of his demesne manors to his fourth son, Ralph, an ecclesiastic. Although Basset acquired land in the course of his career, most of his estates seem to have been held as under-tenancies. The most important estate which he held in chief of the crown was the manor of Mixbury in Oxfordshire, held by Roger d'Ivry in 1086. Only the initial—A—of his wife's name is known, and the names of his daughters not at all.

Judith A. Green
Sources

W. T. Reedy, ‘The first two Bassets of Weldon’, Northamptonshire Past and Present, 4 (1966–72), 241–5, 295–8 · Ordericus Vitalis, Eccl. hist., 6 · Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. D. E. Greenway, OMT (1996) · ASC · J. Stevenson, ed., Chronicon monasterii de Abingdon, 2 vols., Rolls Series, 2 (1858), 170 · Reg. RAN, vol. 2 · Pipe rolls, 31 Henry I · A. Farley, ed., Domesday Book, 2 vols. (1783) · H. E. Salter, ed., Eynsham cartulary, 1, OHS, 49 (1907), 91 · W. T. Reedy, ‘The origins of the general eyre in the reign of Henry I’, Speculum, 41 (1966), 688–724 · H. E. Salter and A. H. Cooke, eds., The Boarstall cartulary, OHS, 88 (1930), 319, 327 · A. Saltman, Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury (1956), 414 · R. C. van Caenegem, ed., English lawsuits from William I to Richard I, SeldS, 1, 106 (1990), nos. 172, 189, 204, 219, 221, 237 · W. T. Reedy, ed., Basset charters, c.1120–1250, PRSoc., new ser., 50 (1995)
© Oxford University Press 2004–5
All rights reserved: see legal notice      Oxford University Press


Judith A. Green, ‘Basset, Ralph (d. 1127?)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1644, accessed 24 Sept 2005]

Ralph Basset (d. 1127?): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16442 
Note His grandson Geoffrey stated that Ralph held one Kt. fee of the honour of Wallingford3 
Note* He was Justice of England. Burke says "To his wisdom we are said to be indebted for many salutary laws."4 

Family 1
Child

Family 2

(?) de Buci
Children

Last Edited24 Sep 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S376] Unknown editor, unknown short title.
  3. [S347] Carl Boyer 3rd, Medieval English Ancestors of Certain Americans, p. 12.
  4. [S342] Sir Bernard Burke, Extinct Peerages, p. 26.

Thurston Basset1

M, #5957, d. after 1086

Of* Thurleigh1 
Death*after 1086 1 
Occupation* Justice of England under Henry I2 

Family
Child

Last Edited1 Feb 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S342] Sir Bernard Burke, Extinct Peerages, p. 26.

Robert de Harcourt "The Strong"1

M, #5958

Father*Anchetil de Harcourt1 d. a 1027
Mother*Eva de Boessey la Chastel1
Robert de Harcourt "The Strong"||p199.htm#i5958|Anchetil de Harcourt|d. a 1027|p199.htm#i5960|Eva de Boessey la Chastel||p198.htm#i5918|Turchetil de Harcourt|b. c 960\nd. a 1027|p198.htm#i5919|Anceline d. Montfort-sur-Risle||p198.htm#i5920|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Colede d' Argouges1 
DNB* Harcourt [ de Harcourt] family (per. c.1050-1330), gentry, a family of major importance in the central midlands, was first to be found in Normandy before 1066 where sources deriving from the abbey of Bec-Hellouin identify one Anschetil as lord of Harcourt (Eure) and as a close cousin of the magnate family known as the Beaumonts, lords of Beaumont-le-Roger and Pont-Audemer. His son Robert fitz Anschetil (d. in or before 1118) held a large barony from the Beaumonts. The creation of the earldom of Warwick for Henry de Beaumont in 1088 brought Robert an estate of seven fees in Leicestershire and Warwickshire formerly held in chief by Robert de Vescy but subordinated to the earldom. The Harcourts secured a number of other estates in the same counties when Henry I created the earldom of Leicester for Robert de Beaumont, count of Meulan (d. 1118), in 1107, including Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, which became the Harcourt centre in England in the twelfth century. Robert fitz Anschetil had died by 1118 to be succeeded by numerous sons, at least four of whom took shares of his cross-channel estates. The son who founded the chief English branch of the family was Ivo de Harcourt (d. in or after 1166) who acquired most of the Harcourt lands in England perhaps in succession (at least in the earldom of Warwick) to his elder, childless brother, Anschetil fitz Robert, who died soon after 1130. Ivo was a major follower of Robert (II), earl of Leicester. He is found frequently in the Leicester household, and accompanied his lord to Normandy in 1154. Perhaps to simplify the problems posed by the split allegiance, Roger, earl of Warwick, transferred to Earl Robert three and a half Harcourt fees in exchange for an equal number of Leicester fees in Warwickshire, in a singular arrangement transacted before 1153. Ivo was still alive in 1166, but probably died not long afterwards.

Ivo was succeeded by his son Robert de Harcourt (d. c.1205). Robert attested a late charter of Robert (II) of Leicester, and although he acted as a pledge for Earl Robert (III) in a debt to Aaron the Jew before 1179, he seems largely to have separated himself from the Leicester family after 1168. He was an independent figure in the midlands, his concerns centred on estate improvement and enlargement. He promoted the status of his house at Market Bosworth by the building of a substantial private chapel, which involved him in litigation with Bertram de Verdon, patron of the parish church of the place. In the reign of Henry II, before 1184, he made a profitable marriage to Isabel, daughter of Richard (I) de Camville, obtaining in 1192 the substantial marriage portion of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, and Norton and Stratton in the soke of Rothley, valued at £56 rent p.a. Between 1198 and 1202 he was sheriff of Leicestershire and Warwickshire, and left a debt of £127 3s. 0d. which was still outstanding on his death c.1205.

Robert left several sons, but the bulk of his estates came to his eldest, Sir William [i] de Harcourt (d. c.1223), who was active in King Richard's wars in France, doing service for his father for the fee of Stanton Harcourt in 1197. He was also active on King John's behalf in the campaigns of 1215 and campaigned in 1220–21 for the regents of Henry III against the count of Aumale's rebellion and John's former sheriffs. The exchequer memoranda have him alive in the year Easter 1222–3 but there is reference to the executors of his testament in a fine of April 1223. His son answered for his considerable debts (over £400) in 1224. As with his father, William seems not to have had any magnate links, but rather to have formed a connection with the king direct and entered the group of minor curial magnates: the scale of his debts indicates that his finances may not have equalled his aspirations.

William was succeeded by his son Sir Richard [i] de Harcourt (d. 1258). Richard made a third substantial acquisition for his family in the Staffordshire manor of Ellenhall, which came to him through marriage to Orabilia, daughter of Thomas Noel. He made careful arrangements for the succession to his lands, enfeoffing his younger son, Saher, with two Leicestershire manors, Kibworth and Newton Harcourt, in his own lifetime. He died early in 1258 leaving his brother, William, rector of Aylestone, as his executor, as appears from a later fine. His eldest son, Sir William [ii] de Harcourt (d. 1270), succeeded to the bulk of his estate, doing homage to the king for his manor of Stanton in April 1258. William [ii] made two marriages, the first (before 1253) to Alice, sister of Alan de la Zouche, which brought him the manor of Tong, Shropshire, and Braunstone, Leicestershire, from his father. The second marriage was to a certain Hilaria. This William became involved with the Montfortian cause in 1264–5, although there is little evidence to link him with the Montfort affinity in the midlands before then. His brother Sir Saher was, however, a long-term associate of Earl Simon, and was ruined by his involvement with the baronial cause. William [ii] was burdened with fines of 500 marks, but in 1267 found a group of neighbours and relatives able to guarantee and clear 400 marks, which the king had granted to Sir Philip Basset, and in 1269 negotiated the clearing of a further 100 marks owed to William de Valence. William died in 1270, leaving his only son, Sir Richard [ii] de Harcourt (1256-1293), a minor, as heir. Richard had proof of age in 1277, when his date of birth was agreed as having been 9 December 1256 in Oxfordshire (presumably at Stanton), which would have made him the son of William's first marriage. Richard was already married at that time to Margery Bek of Eresby. Sir Richard died early in 1293 leaving as heir his son Sir John Harcourt (1274-1330).

The successive heads of the Harcourt family after the 1160s were men of national significance, and although they clearly found their minor magnate status a financial burden, did not enter into any alliance with the greater magnates. The Harcourts successfully maintained and augmented their already substantial demesne interests in three midland counties throughout the thirteenth century, largely by advantageous marriages, which must be a tribute to their court connections and lineage. Their arms were two bars (seal of Richard [i], c.1223) and later or, two bars gules (William [ii], c.1285, St George's roll).

David Crouch
Sources

register of Leicester Abbey, Bodl. Oxf., MS Laud misc. 625 · Bodl. Oxf., MS Ashmole 833 · Bodl. Oxf., MS Dugdale 15 · L. C. Loyd and D. M. Stenton, eds., Sir Christopher Hatton's book of seals (1950) · PRO, E159; JUST 1/734; KO26/148; E13/1E; CP 25(1)/122/24/430 · muniments, Merton Oxf., nos. 2780, 2872 · D. Crouch, The Beaumont twins: the roots and branches of power in the twelfth century, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, 4th ser., 1 (1986) · CIPM · Rotuli de finibus excerptis e rotulis · Pipe rolls
© Oxford University Press 2004–5
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David Crouch, ‘Harcourt family (per. c.1050-1330)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54506, accessed 25 Sept 2005]

Harcourt family (per. c.1050-1330): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54506
Robert fitz Anschetil (d. in or before 1118): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59020
Ivo de Harcourt (d. in or after 1166): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59021
Robert de Harcourt (d. c.1205): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59022
Sir William de Harcourt (d. c.1223): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59023
Sir Richard de Harcourt (d. 1258): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59024
Sir William de Harcourt (d. 1270): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59025
Sir Richard de Harcourt (1256-1293): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59026
Sir John Harcourt (1274-1330): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/590272 

Family

Colede d' Argouges
Child

Last Edited25 Sep 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S376] Unknown editor, unknown short title.

Colede d' Argouges1

F, #5959

Marriage* Principal=Robert de Harcourt "The Strong"1 

Family

Robert de Harcourt "The Strong"
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Anchetil de Harcourt1

M, #5960, d. after 1027

Father*Turchetil de Harcourt1 b. c 960, d. a 1027
Mother*Anceline de Montfort-sur-Risle1
Anchetil de Harcourt|d. a 1027|p199.htm#i5960|Turchetil de Harcourt|b. c 960\nd. a 1027|p198.htm#i5919|Anceline de Montfort-sur-Risle||p198.htm#i5920|Torf de Harcourt|d. a 955|p160.htm#i4798|Eremburga d. B. (?)|b. c 930|p160.htm#i4799|Hugh I. Montfort||p198.htm#i5921||||

Marriage* Principal=Eva de Boessey la Chastel1 
Death*after 1027 1 

Family

Eva de Boessey la Chastel
Children

Last Edited4 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Odoacre of Harlebec1

M, #5961, d. 862

Father*Count Engelram of Harlebec1 d. 824
Count Odoacre of Harlebec|d. 862|p199.htm#i5961|Count Engelram of Harlebec|d. 824|p199.htm#i5962||||Count Lyderic of Harlebec|d. 802|p199.htm#i5963|Flandrina (?)||p199.htm#i5964|||||||

Death*862 1 

Family
Children

Last Edited3 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Engelram of Harlebec1

M, #5962, d. 824

Father*Count Lyderic of Harlebec1 d. 802
Mother*Flandrina (?)1
Count Engelram of Harlebec|d. 824|p199.htm#i5962|Count Lyderic of Harlebec|d. 802|p199.htm#i5963|Flandrina (?)||p199.htm#i5964|||||||||||||

Death*824 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited3 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Lyderic of Harlebec1

M, #5963, d. 802

Marriage* Principal=Flandrina (?)1 
Death*802 1 

Family

Flandrina (?)
Child

Last Edited3 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Flandrina (?)1

F, #5964

Marriage* Principal=Count Lyderic of Harlebec1 

Family

Count Lyderic of Harlebec d. 802
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Wigo II (?)1

M, #5965, b. circa 970, d. after 1034

Father*Wigo I (?)1 d. b 18 Oct 996
Mother*Fredeburga de Vienne (?)1 d. a 1012
Wigo II (?)|b. c 970\nd. a 1034|p199.htm#i5965|Wigo I (?)|d. b 18 Oct 996|p199.htm#i5967|Fredeburga de Vienne (?)|d. a 1012|p199.htm#i5968|Guigues I. (?)|d. a 954|p200.htm#i5971|Fredeburga (?)||p165.htm#i4934|Richard d. V. (?)|d. a Jan 962|p200.htm#i5972||||

Birth*circa 970 1 
Marriage*before 18 October 1013 Principal=Gotelene de Clerian (?)1 
Death*after 1034 1 

Family

Gotelene de Clerian (?) d. a 1027
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Gotelene de Clerian (?)1

F, #5966, d. after 1027

Father*Silvian (?)1
Mother*Willa de Clerieu1
Gotelene de Clerian (?)|d. a 1027|p199.htm#i5966|Silvian (?)||p199.htm#i5969|Willa de Clerieu||p199.htm#i5970|||||||||||||

Marriage*before 18 October 1013 Principal=Wigo II (?)1 
Death*after 1027 1 

Family

Wigo II (?) b. c 970, d. a 1034
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Wigo I (?)1

M, #5967, d. before 18 October 996

Father*Guigues III (?)1 d. a 954
Mother*Fredeburga (?)1
Wigo I (?)|d. b 18 Oct 996|p199.htm#i5967|Guigues III (?)|d. a 954|p200.htm#i5971|Fredeburga (?)||p165.htm#i4934|Domnus G. I. (?)|d. b Oct 957|p162.htm#i4832|Wandalmodis d. Salins|d. 947|p296.htm#i8866|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Fredeburga de Vienne (?)1 
Death*before 18 October 996 1 

Family

Fredeburga de Vienne (?) d. a 1012
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Fredeburga de Vienne (?)1

F, #5968, d. after 1012

Father*Richard de Vienne (?)1 d. a Jan 962
Fredeburga de Vienne (?)|d. a 1012|p199.htm#i5968|Richard de Vienne (?)|d. a Jan 962|p200.htm#i5972||||Count Charles Constantine of Vienne|b. c 900\nd. c Jan 962|p161.htm#i4822|Teutberge o. T. (?)|d. a 960|p161.htm#i4821|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Wigo I (?)1 
Death*after 1012 1 

Family

Wigo I (?) d. b 18 Oct 996
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Silvian (?)1

M, #5969

Marriage* Principal=Willa de Clerieu1 

Family

Willa de Clerieu
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Willa de Clerieu1

F, #5970

Marriage* Principal=Silvian (?)1 

Family

Silvian (?)
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
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