Walter of Douai
Walter of Douai (Old Norman: Wautier de Douai) (born c.1046, died: c.1107) was a Norman knight, probably at the Battle of Hastings, and a major landowner in South West England after the Norman Conquest,[1] being feudal baron of Bampton in Devon and of Castle Cary in Somerset. He is given various names and titles in different sources including: Walter (or Walschin or Walscin) de Douai. Douai is sometimes written as Dowai. He has also been called Gautier de Douai and later Walter the Fleming.
Family
Walter was the son of Urso of Douai, that was then a fiefdom of the counts of Flanders and now is a commune in the Nord département in northern France. Located on the river Scarpe some 40 km from Lille and 25 km from Arras.
He married Emma (or Eddeva)[2] of Devon, and may have had two children: Richilde de Douai and Ralph (of Tintinhull) Lovel. He also had a second wife.[3] His son Robert built Bampton Castle in Devon.[4]
Norman Conquest
Walter likely fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066,[5][6][7] though he is not among those for whom proof of participation has been found.
In the aftermath of the victory,
Post Conquest
Following the defeat of the
Walter of Douai was feudal baron of Bampton in Devon and of Castle Cary in Somerset.[11]
After the Norman invasion the land on which Bridgwater stands was given to Walter of Douai,[10] hence becoming known variously as Burgh-Walter, Brugg-Walter and Brigg-Walter, eventually corrupted to Bridgwater. An alternative version is that it derives from "Bridge of Walter" (i.e. Walter's Bridge).[12][13]
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Walter was described as holding land in Worle, Somerset,[14] Weare, Sparkford and Bratton Seymour.[15][16]
Others holdings in Somerset and Devon included:
See also
- https://archive.org/details/lafodalitdansle00brasgoog La féodalité dans le Nord de la France. Histoire du château & de la châtellenie de Douai. (French language). Author: Félix Brassart. Published 1877.
References
- ^ Open Domesday Online: Walter of Douai
- ^ Green p. 66
- ^ Keats-Rohan page 39
- ^ a b Dunning, 1995 page 32-33
- ^ "The Manor of Bawdrip". Bawdrip Online. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- ^ "Part 1: The Complete and Utter History of Bridgwater with the Celts, Saxons and the Normans". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- ^ "Devonshire Manors in the Domesday Book". Hemyock Castle. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- ^ Prior, pp.74–75.
- ^ Prior, p.75.
- ^ a b Dunning, 2001 p.21
- ^ Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, pp.5, 27
- ^ Robinson
- ^ Farr pages 101-116
- ^ "History". Worle village. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
- ^ "Bratton Seymour". Victoria County History. British History Online. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
- ^ Fleming pages 132, 133, 235 & 246
- ^ "Norman Origins". The Dowie Family Name. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^ "Devonshire Manors in the Domesday Book". Hemyock Castle. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- Somerset County Council. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^ Page, William. "The Land of Walter de Dowai". Text of the Somerset Domesday: Part 2', A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 1 (1906), pp. 479-526. British History Online. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- Somerset County Council. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
Bibliography
- Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The Complete Guide. Dovecote Press. pp. 214. ISBN 1-874336-26-1.
- Dunning, Robert (1995). Somerset Castles. Tiverton: Somerset Books. ISBN 978-0-86183-278-1.
- Dunning, Robert (2001). Somerset Monasteries. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1941-2.
- Farr, Grahame (1954). Somerset Harbours. London: Christopher Johnson.
- ISBN 978-0-521-52846-7.
- Green, Judith A. (2002). The Aristocracy of Norman England. Cambridge University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-521-52465-0.
- Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Prosopography of persons occurring in English documents, 1066-1166, Volume 1. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85115-722-1.
- Prior, Stuart. (2006) The Norman Art of War: a Few Well-Positioned Castles. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-3651-1.
- Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.