William Meschin

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William Meschin (sometimes William le Meschin;

nobleman and baron. The brother of the earl of Chester, Meschin participated in the First Crusade. After returning to England, he acquired lands both from King Henry I of England
and by his marriage to an heiress.

Meschin built Egremont Castle on his lands and with his wife was a benefactor of a couple of religious foundations. He died sometime between 1130 and 1135, with his estates eventually being divided amongst the descendants of his three daughters.

Early life

Meschin was the brother of

Hugh d'Avranches, who had previously been Earl of Chester. There was also an older brother, Richard, who died young, and a sister, who married Robert de Grandmesnil.[3] Meschin went on the First Crusade and was present at the siege of Nicaea in 1097.[3]

Acquisition of lands

The modern-day county boundaries of Cumbria (red) within England; Meschin held lands within this area.

Meschin was given

Carlisle) by his brother,[4] in order to protect the approaches to Carlisle in Cumberland. Due to attacks by the Scots, Meschin was unable to hold it.[5] In compensation, King Henry I of England gave him lands around Allerdale in Cumberland, which centred on Egremont. These lands comprised the lordship, or feudal barony of Egremont.[4][a] Through his wife, he acquired Skipton, and the lordship, or barony of Skipton.[7] Besides these lands, Meschin also was awarded two escheated properties in Leicestershire, some of which had earlier been lands of Roger de Busli.[8] Other properties in Leicestershire were previously held by Durand Malet and William Blund in the Domesday Book.[9] Meschin also held lands in Lincolnshire and Cheshire from his brother.[3]

Meschin built the original parts of

motte-and-bailey stone castle on the River Ehen.[10] He and his wife also founded the Augustinian priory of Embsay Priory.[11] Katrina Legg, a historian who studied medieval monasticism, argues that Meschin's main motive for the foundation was to show support for a monastic order that enjoyed the patronage of King Henry I. Against this, Legg feels that Meschin's wife's motives were more probably religious, as she was close to Thurstan, the Archbishop of York. Another religious foundation of Meschin's was St Bees Priory, a daughter house of St Mary's Abbey, York. St Bees was founded around the same time as Embsay,[12] Embsay was founded between 1120 and 1121;[13] and St Bees was founded sometime after 1120.[14]

Meschin married Cecily, daughter of Robert de Rumily. They had one son, Ranulf Meschin, and three daughters, Alice, Avice,[2] and Matilda.[1] Another son, Matthew, who was the eldest son, died before his parents.[3]

Death and legacy

Meschin died between 1130 and 1135. His widow married Henry de Tracy, and she died around 1151.

Counts of Aumale, the family of the Courcys, and the last and smallest part to the Mortimer family.[19]

Notes

  1. ^ This is sometimes referred to as the lordship of Coupland.[6]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 601
  2. ^ a b c Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants pp. 1039–1040
  3. ^ a b c d King "Ranulf (I)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  4. ^ a b c d Sanders English Baronies p. 115
  5. ^ Green Aristocracy of Norman England p. 119
  6. ^ Barrow "Pattern of Lordship" Journal of Medieval History pp. 121–122
  7. ^ a b Sanders English Baronies pp. 142–143
  8. ^ Newman Anglo-Norman Nobility pp. 124–125
  9. ^ Newman Anglo-Norman Nobility p. 144 footnote 47
  10. ^ Pettifer English Castles p. 41
  11. ^ Green Aristocracy of Norman England p. 404
  12. ^ Legg Bolton Priory pp. 3–4
  13. ^ Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses p. 152
  14. ^ Knowles, et al. Heads of Religious Houses p. 95
  15. ^ a b c Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 674
  16. ^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 428
  17. ^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants pp. 1057–1058
  18. ^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 317
  19. ^ Holt "Presidential Address" Transactions of the Royal Historical Society p. 14

References


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