Sibyl de Neufmarché
Sibyl de Neufmarché | |
---|---|
Countess of Hereford suo jure Lady of Brecknock | |
Born | c.1100 Brecon Castle, Brecon, Wales |
Died | after 1143 |
Father | Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon |
Mother | Nest ferch Osbern |
Sibyl de Neufmarché, Countess of Hereford,
As an adult, Sibyl lived through
Family
Ancestry
Sibyl was born in about 1100 in Brecon Castle, Brecon,
Sibyl's father, Bernard, was born at the castle of
Ancestors of Sibyl de Neufmarché | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Inheritance
Sibyl had two brothers, Philip, who most likely died young, and Mahel. Nest had Mahel disinherited by swearing to King Henry I of England that Mahel had been fathered by another man. According to
Marriage
Sometime in April or May 1121, Sibyl married Miles (or Milo) FitzWalter de Gloucester, who on his father's death in 1129, became sheriff of Gloucester,[18] and Constable of England.[19][20] The marriage was personally arranged by King Henry I, to whom Miles was a trusted royal official.[12][21] A charter written in Latin (the maritagium), which dates to 10 April/29 May 1121, records the arrangements for the marriage of Sibyl and Miles.[12][22] Historian C. Warren Hollister found the charter's wording telling, noting that "the king gave the daughter as if he were making a grant of land": "Know that I [King Henry I] have given and firmly granted to Miles of Gloucester Sibyl, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarché, together with all the lands of Bernard her father and of her mother after their deaths ... ".[12][23] Her parents' lands would be conveyed to Miles after their deaths or earlier during "their life if they so wish".[12] Henry also commanded that the fief's tenants were to pay Miles liege homage as their lord.[12]
By arranging a series of matrimonial alliances, similar to that between Sibyl and Miles, King Henry I of England transformed "the map of territorial power in south-east Wales". Such arrangements were mutually advantageous. Hollister describes Miles' marriage to Sibyl as having been a "crucial breakthrough in his career". The new lords, in similar positions to Miles, were the King's own loyal
Children
Together Sibyl and Miles had eight children:[original research?]
- Margaret of Hereford (1122/1123- 6 April 1197), married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had children. She received the office of constable of England and exercised lordship of Herefordshire as a widow until her death.[26]
- Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford (before 1125- 22 September 1155). Roger's marriage settlement with Cecily FitzJohn (her first marriage), daughter of Payn FitzJohn and Sibyl de Lacy, was ratified by King Stephen in 1137.[17] The marriage was childless as were Cecily's subsequent marriages.
- Walter de Hereford (died 1159/60), whether he married is unknown; however, Walter departed for Palestine on Michaelmas 1159, and died shortly afterwards without leaving legitimate issue[27]
- Henry Fitzmiles(died c.1162), married a woman named Isabella, surname unknown; Henry died without legitimate issue.
- Mahel de Hereford(died 1164), no record of marriage; died without legitimate issue.
- William de Hereford(died 1166), no record of marriage; died without legitimate issue.
- Bertha of Hereford (c.1130-), married William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, by whom she had issue.
- Lucy of Hereford, Lady of Blaen Llyfni and Bwlch y Dinas (died 1219/20), married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, by whom she had issue.
The Anarchy
After Henry I's death in 1135, the throne of England was seized by Stephen of Blois, a grandson of William I of England. Henry's daughter, Empress Matilda (Maud), also claimed the throne, and had the support of the Marcher Lords. On the death of her husband, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V, in 1125, Matilda had returned to England for the first time in 16 years. At the insistence of her father, the barons (including Stephen) swore to uphold Matilda's rights as his heir. Matilda married Geoffrey of Anjou in 1128. They lived together in France, having three sons; the eldest of whom was to become King Henry II of England.[28] Initially, Miles supported Stephen.[29] In about 1136, Stephen granted Sibyl's husband the entire honour of Gloucester and Brecknock, and appointed him Constable of Gloucester Castle, whereby Miles became known as one of Stephen's "henchmen".[29]
Miles transferred his allegiance to Empress Matilda, on her return to England in 1139.
During the Anarchy, which the period of Stephen's reign as King of England was to become known, life was greatly disrupted in her husband's lands. Sibyl would have doubtless suffered as a result, especially after Miles' decision to support Matilda's claim to the throne and to oppose Stephen.[29] When Matilda was defeated at Winchester in late 1141, Miles was compelled to return to Gloucester in disgrace: "weary, half-naked and alone".[37] In November of that same year, Stephen was released from prison and restored to the English throne.[17]
Sibyl's distress would have been heightened in 1143 after the Bishop of Hereford, Robert de Bethune placed an interdict upon Hereford, blocked all the cathedral's entrances with thorns, and excommunicated Miles. In order to raise money to pay his troops and to assist Matilda financially, Miles had imposed a levy on all the churches in his earldom, an act which the bishop had regarded as unlawful.[21][38] When the bishop protested and threatened Miles with excommunication, Miles in response, sent his men to plunder the diocese of its resources.[21] In retaliation against Miles' earlier attacks on the royalist city of Worcester and the castles of Hereford and Wallingford, King Stephen bestowed the title "Earl of Hereford" on Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester; Miles, however, never surrendered the earldom nor the title to Robert de Beaumont.[38]
Widowhood and death
While on a deer-hunting expedition in his own Forest of Dean, Sibyl's husband was accidentally shot in the chest by an arrow which killed him on 24 December 1143.[37][39] He had been involved in legal proceedings against the bishop's jurisdiction when he died.[38] Their eldest son, Roger succeeded him in the earldom.[20] In protest against his father's excommunication, Roger remained an outspoken enemy of the Church until close to the end of his life when he entered a Gloucester monastery as a monk.[39][40] After her husband's death, Sibyl entered a religious life at Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucester,[33] which she had previously endowed. Sibyl was buried in the same priory,[41] the dates of death and burial unrecorded.[citation needed]
Sibyl's legacy
Upon the childless death of Roger in 1155, the
The Brecknock lordship would eventually go to the de Bohuns, by way of Eleanor de Braose. Eleanor, a descendant of Sibyl's through Bertha of Hereford, married Humphrey de Bohun, son of the 2nd Earl of Hereford. Eleanor and Humphrey's son, Humphrey de Bohun, succeeded his grandfather to the titles in 1275.[44]
Notes
- ^ According to Gerald of Wales, when Bernard witnessed a charter issued by William I in 1086-87, he signed his name in Latin as Bernardus de Novo Mercato (Gerald of Wales, p.88)
- ISBN 978-1-4392-0361-3. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ Cokayne 1910, p. 20.
- ^ Davies, 1993, p. 100
- ISBN 9780292781054. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-85115-745-9. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ISBN 9780292781054. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
- ^ a b Davies, 1993, p. 103
- )
- ^ a b de Bari, Gerrald (Giraldus Cambrensis) (1191) [1194]. Originally: Itinerarium Cambriae ("Journey through Wales", 1191), Descriptio Cambriae ("Description of Wales", 1194), This edition: The itinerary through Wales, Description of Wales. Everyman's Library (5th (1935) ed.). London: J.M. Dent & Sons. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
- ^ Evans, Christopher J (1912). Breconshire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 80–81. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
- ^ Woodward, Bernard Bolingbroke (1859). History of Wales. London: James S. Virtue, City Road. p. 250. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Ward 1995, pp. 26–27 quotes a translation from the Latin of the grant by Henry I which includes Sibyl's maritagium (Public Records Office, London, DL10/6).
- ^ Ward 2006, p. 25.
- ^ Foliot 1965, p. 37.
- ^ a b Ward 1995, p. 26.
- ^ a b Keats-Rohan 1992, p. 86 (PDF 14).
- ^ a b c d Matthew 2002, pp. 72, 73, 104.
- ^ Morris 1968, p. 50 footnote 62; "The power of these families ... was further increased ... in each case the custody of a castle was held together with the shrievalty" (Morris 1968, p. 50 footnote 62).
- ^ Cokayne 1926, pp. 451–452.
- ^ a b Cobbett, William (1832). A geographical dictionary of England and Wales: etc. London: William Cobbett. p. 146. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d Walker, David (1958). "From the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society" (PDF). 77, pp. 66-84, Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford. Cheltenham: Bristol and Gloucestershire Archeological Society: 67, 68 and 75. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Note:The charter is located in the Public Record Office, London, DL10/6; in Latin
- ^ ISBN 0-85115-691-6. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
- ISBN 0-907628-68-0. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
- OCLC 931660. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
- ^ Ward 1995, pp. 106–107.
- ^ Keats-Rohan 2002, p. 512
- ^ Matthew 2002, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c Matthew 2002, p. 96.
- ^ Wade, George Wöosung; Wade, Joseph Henry (1930). Monmouthshire. Little Guides (2nd ed.). London: Cambridge University Press. p. 101. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
... during the disturbances of Stephen's reign they suffered so much from the raids of the Welshmen, that under the patronage of Milo of Gloucester, Constable of England, and in 1140 Earl of Hereford, they migrated to Gloucester where a new Llanthony was founded for them in 1136.
- ^ de Bari, Gerrald (Giraldus Cambrensis) (1191) [1194]. Originally: Itinerarium Cambriae ("Journey through Wales", 1191), Descriptio Cambriae ("Description of Wales", 1194), This edition: The itinerary through Wales, Description of Wales. Everyman's Library (5th (1935) ed.). London: J.M. Dent & Sons. p. 36. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
William of Wycumb, the fourth prior of Llanthoni, succeeded to Robert de Braci, who was obliged to quit the monastery on account of the hostile molestation it received from the Welsh.
- ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
- ^ a b Ward 1995, p. 107.
- ^ Matthew 2002, pp. 95, 96
- ISBN 978-1-115-38708-8. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ Round 1888, Part I, 26, p. 43
- ^ ISBN 0-415-18583-1. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84383-361-1. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ a b Fils, Paul Barrier (1908). The Age of Owain Gwynedd: An Attempt at a Connected Account of the History of Wales from December, 1135 to November, 1170. To which are added several Appendices of the Chronology, &C., of the period. London: David Nutt, Long Acre. pp. 24–25. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
He was still engaged in legal proceedings with the latter [Bishop Robert], when, hunting deer on Christmas eve, he was struck by an arrow in the breast ; and the superstition of the time saw in his fall the just judgment of God" "but he [Roger] never forgot his father's excommunication, and was a vigorous enemy of the Church till his death.
- ^ "People — Roger fitz Miles , earl of Hereford". Monastic Wales website. Monastic Wales. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ "XX", Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, vol. I, 1834, p. 168
- ISBN 0-521-55459-4. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Evans, Christopher J (1912). Breconshire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 81. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
"Four of his [Milo's] sons succeeded him, but as they died without male heirs, their possessions went by marriage to Philip de Breos of Builth, the husband of their second sister."
- ^ Waugh 2004, Bohun, Humphrey (VI).
References
- ISBN 0-14-014581-8.
- Cokayne, G. E. (1910). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant (Ab-Adam to Basing). Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). London: The St Catherine Press.
- Cokayne, G. E. (1926). H. A. Doubleday; Duncan Warrand; Lord Howard de Walden (eds.). The Complete Peerage, or a history of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times (Gordon to Hustpierpoint). Vol. 6 (2nd ed.). London: The St Catherine Press.
- Foliot, Gilbert (1965), Gilbert Foliot and His Letters, London: Cambridge University Press, p. 37
- Keats-Rohan, Katharine S. B. (2002), Domesday Descendants — A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166 - II: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum (1st ed.), Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, p. 512, ISBN 0-85115-863-3
- Matthew, Donald (2002), King Stephen, London: ISBN 1-85285-272-0
- Morris, William Alfred (1968), The Medieval English Sheriff to 1300 (reprint ed.), Manchester University Press ND, p. 50, 51, ISBN 0-7190-0342-3
- Round, J. H., ed. (1888), Ancient Charters Royal and Private prior to A.D. 1200: Part I, London
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Waugh, Scott L. (2004). "Bohun, Humphrey (VI) de, third earl of Hereford and eighth earl of Essex (c.1249–1298)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2776. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Ward, Jennifer C (1995), Women of the English nobility and gentry, 1066-1500, Manchester medieval sources series, Manchester: ISBN 0-7190-4115-5
- Ward, Jennifer C (2006), Women in England in the Middle Ages, New York: ISBN 1-85285-346-8