William de Courcy (died c. 1114)

William de Courcy was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and baron.

William was the son of Richard de Courcy and his wife Wandelmode.[1] The family was from the Calvados region of Normandy.[2] William inherited the English lands of his father about 1088.[1] On the accession of King Henry I of England in 1100, William was appointed as a royal steward,[3] or dapifer.[1] There were probably four stewards in the royal household, and Henry kept in office the three he inherited from his brother – Eudo, Haimo, and Roger Bigod. William was the only new appointment to this office at the start of Henry's reign.[4]

In March 1101 William served as a surety for King Henry fulfilling a treaty with Robert II, the Count of Flanders. William pledged 100 marks as a security that would have been forfeited if the king failed to uphold the treaty terms.[5] In 1107 William witnessed 1 charter of King Henry in Normandy and 6 more royal charters during 1110 in England.[6] While Henry was absent from England in 1111 William was one of the advisors of Queen Matilda, who was left behind in England to govern the country.[7]

William married Emma, the daughter and heiress of William de Falaise, who was the owner of Stogursey in Somerset at the time of Domesday Book. William inherited the lands of his wife and can be considered Baron of Stogursey in right of his wife.[8] William gave a gift of land as well as the right of advowson of the church at Nuneham Courtenay in Oxfordshire to Abingdon Abbey, with the avowdson grant being related by the Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis. Shortly after these grants, William further gave to Abingdon a fishery named "Sotiswere".[9]

William died around 1114. He had three sons – William, Richard, and Robert.[1] The son William inherited the barony of Stogursey.[8] Robert may have inherited his father's royal stewardship.[4]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 428
  2. ↑ Loyd Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families p. 36
  3. ↑ Green Henry I p. 50
  4. 1 2 Green Government of England p. 35
  5. ↑ Green Henry I p. 62
  6. ↑ Newman Anglo-Norman Nobility pp. 184–185
  7. ↑ Green Government of England p. 39
  8. 1 2 Sanders English Baronies p. 143
  9. ↑ Lobel "Parishes: Nuneham Courtenay" A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon hundred

References

  • Green, Judith A. (1986). The Government of England Under Henry I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37586-X. 
  • Green, Judith A. (2006). Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-74452-2. 
  • Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-863-3. 
  • Lobel, Mary D., ed. (1957). "Parishes: Nuneham Courtenay". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon hundred. Victoria County History. Victoria County History. pp. 234–249. Retrieved 9 July 2013. 
  • Loyd, Lewis Christopher (1975) [1951]. The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Reprint ed.). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8063-0649-1. 
  • Newman, Charlotte A. (1988). The Anglo-Norman Nobility in the Reign of Henry I: The Second Generation. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-8138-1. 
  • Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC 931660. 
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