William FitzAlan, Lord of Oswestry
William FitzAlan | |
---|---|
Lord of Oswestry High Sheriff of Shropshire | |
Born | c. 1085 England |
Died | 3 April 1160 England |
Buried | William Fitz Alan, 1st Lord of Oswestry and Clun Christiana m. Hugh Pantulf, 4th Baron of Wem |
Father | Alan fitz Flaad |
Mother | Avelina de Hesdin |
Occupation | English Marcher Lord |
William FitzAlan (1085–1160) was a nobleman of
Background and early life
William was born around 1085. He was the eldest son and heir of
William's mother was Avelina de Hesdin. Her father was Ernulf de Hesdin (also transcribed as Arnulf), a crusader baron from Hesdin in Artois, which was a fief of the County of Flanders and only loosely attached to France. Ernulf built up large holdings in Staffordshire and Gloucestershire. After his death in the First Crusade, Avelina's brother, also called Ernulf, inherited his lands and titles.
Baron and rebel
William succeeded his father around 1114, probably still aged under 10. He was appointed the High Sheriff of Shropshire by Adeliza of Louvain, the second wife of Henry I.[2] His first notable appearance is as a witness to King Stephen's charter to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1136.
As Sheriff of the county, William was also castellan of Shrewsbury Castle. In 1138, he joined in the revolt against Stephen and garrisoned the castle against the king. After resisting the attacks of the royal army for a month,[2] he fled with his family in August 1138, leaving the castle to be defended by his uncle, Ernulf de Hesdin. When the town fell, Stephen acted in anger, hanging Ernulf and 93 others immediately, frightening the local people and magnates into transferring their allegiance to him.[2]
William was deprived of his lands and titles and spent the next fifteen years in exile, until the accession of Henry II to power in place of Stephen in 1153–4.[2][3] He was a close supporter of the Angevin cause, accompanying the Empress or her son on numerous occasions. He was present with Empress Matilda at Oxford in the summer of 1141,[4] and shortly after at the siege of Winchester Castle. He remained in attendance on her at Devizes, witnessing the charter addressed to himself by which she grants Aston to Shrewsbury Abbey. In June 1153 he was present with Henry FitzEmpress, then Duke of Normandy, at Leicester. It was during this period that his younger brother, Walter, used the family's royal connections to make a new career in Scotland under David I of Scotland, an uncle of the Empress.
William's active support did not end with Henry's accession to the throne. In July 1155, when the king marched against
Benefactor
It was probably between 1130 and 1138 that FitzAlan made the first recorded grant to
Death and burial
William died around Easter 1160. He was buried at Shrewsbury Abbey, according to Eyton, noted in the Haughmond Abbey history ("After William FitzAlan (I), who left his body for burial in Shrewsbury Abbey").[1]
Family and heritage
William's first wife was Christiana. She was the niece of
- William's eldest son and heir was also called William FitzAlan.
- William's eldest son and heir was also called
- Christiana, their daughter married Hugh Pantulf, 4th Baron of Wem, a later High Sheriff of Shropshire.
His wife Christiana died before William regained his ancestral estates in 1155. Henry II therefore gave him the hand of
and was an early benefactor of Haughmond Abbey. Clun was to pass to the FitzAlans on the death of Helias, but he outlived William, so it passed to his son, the second William. Isabel brought prestige as well as land.The FitzAlans remained important Marcher lords and magnates in central England for several centuries. A strategic marriage with their Sussex neighbours, the d'Aubigny family, brought the FitzAlans the rich and important
In literature
The taking of Shrewsbury in 1138 by King Stephen, including the escape of William FitzAlan and the hanging of the supporters who did not escape, was the historical background for the novel
References
- ^ a b c d Angold, M J; Baugh, G C; Chibnall, Marjorie M; Cox, D C; Price, D T W; Tomlinson, Margaret; Trinder, B S (1973). Gaydon, A T; Pugh, R B (eds.). "Houses of Augustinian canons: Abbey of Haughmond". A History of the County of Shropshire. London. pp. 62–70. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ^ a b c d Owen, Hugh; Blakeway, John Brickdale (1828). "A History of Shrewsbury". London: Harding and Lepard. pp. 77–79.
- ^ Burke, John (1831). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland. London: Colburn and Bentley. p. 197.
- ^ Eyton, R W. "Haughmond Abbey". Archaeological Journal. vii: 287.
- ^ Angold, M J; Baugh, G C; Chibnall, Marjorie M; Cox, D C; Price, D T W; Tomlinson, Margaret; Trinder, B S. Gaydon, A T; Pugh, R B (eds.). "Houses of Augustinian canons: Abbey of Lilleshall". A History of the County of Shropshire. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ^ Angold, M J; Baugh, G C; Chibnall, Marjorie M; Cox, D C; Price, D T W; Tomlinson, Margaret; Trinder, B S. Gaydon, A T; Pugh, R B (eds.). "Houses of Augustinian canons: Priory of Wombridge Shropshire". A History of the County of Shropshire. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-521-32932-3.
- ^ Seton, Robert (1899). An Old Family: Or, The Setons of Scotland and America. Brentano's. p. 14. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Ellis Peters. "One Corpse Too Many". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
External links
- Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1889). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. London: Smith, Elder & Co.