William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 1138), was the son of
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of SurreyWilliam de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, was one of the Norman nobles who fought at the Battle of Hastings and became great landowners in England.-Life:...
and his first wife
GundredGundred, Gundreda, or Gundrada was probably born in Flanders , sister of Gerbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester.Gundred married William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey , who rebuilt Lewes Castle, making it his chief residence...
. He is more often referred to as
Earl Warenne or
Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey.
In January 1091, William assisted Hugh of Grantmesnil (d.1094) in his defense of Courcy against the forces of Robert de Belleme and Duke Robert .
Sometime around 1093 he tried to marry
Matilda (or Edith)Matilda of Scotland was the first wife and queen consort of Henry I of England.-Early life:Matilda was born around 1080 in Dunfermline, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret...
, daughter of king
Malcolm III of ScotlandMáel Coluim mac Donnchada , called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, "Big Head" or Long-neck , was King of Scots...
.
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 1138), was the son of
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of SurreyWilliam de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, was one of the Norman nobles who fought at the Battle of Hastings and became great landowners in England.-Life:...
and his first wife
GundredGundred, Gundreda, or Gundrada was probably born in Flanders , sister of Gerbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester.Gundred married William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey , who rebuilt Lewes Castle, making it his chief residence...
. He is more often referred to as
Earl Warenne or
Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey.
In January 1091, William assisted Hugh of Grantmesnil (d.1094) in his defense of Courcy against the forces of Robert de Belleme and Duke Robert .
Sometime around 1093 he tried to marry
Matilda (or Edith)Matilda of Scotland was the first wife and queen consort of Henry I of England.-Early life:Matilda was born around 1080 in Dunfermline, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret...
, daughter of king
Malcolm III of ScotlandMáel Coluim mac Donnchada , called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, "Big Head" or Long-neck , was King of Scots...
. She instead married
Henry I of EnglandHenry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, and this may be the cause of William's great dislike of Henry I, which was to be his apparent motivator in the following years.
He accompanied Robert Curthose (Duke Robert) in his 1101 invasion of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and afterwards lost his English lands and titles and was exiled to
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
. There he complained to Curthose that he expended great effort on the duke's behalf and had in return lost most of his possessions. Curthose's return to England in 1103 was apparently made to convince his brother to restore William's earldom. This was successful, though Curthose had to give up all he had received after the 1101 invasion, and subsequently William was loyal to Henry.
To further insure William's loyalty Henry considered marrying him to one of his many illegitimate daughters. He was however dissuaded by Archbishop
AnselmAnselm of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk, an Italian medieval philosopher, theologian, and church official who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the founder of scholasticism, he is famous in the West as the originator of the ontological argument for the...
of Canterbury, for any of the daughters would have been within the prohibited degrees of
consanguinityConsanguinity refers to the property of being from the same lineage as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
. The precise nature of the consanguineous relationship Anselm had in mind has been much debated, but it is most likely he was referring to common descent from the father of duchess
GunnorGunnora or Gunnor was the wife and consort of Richard I of Normandy. Her parentage is unknown, earliest sources reporting solely that she was of Danish ancestry and naming siblings including brother Herfast de Crepon who is sometimes erroneously given as her father.She was living with her sister...
.
William was one of the commanders on Henry's side (against Robert Curthose) at the
Battle of TinchebrayThe Battle of Tinchebray was fought 28 September 1106, in the town of Tinchebray , Normandy, between an invading force led by Henry I of England, and his older brother Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy...
in 1106. Afterwards, with his loyalty thus proven, he became more prominent in Henry's court.
In 1110, Curthose's son
William ClitoWilliam Clito was the son of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, by his marriage with Sibylla of Conversano...
escaped along with
Helias of Saint-SaensHelias of Saint Saens, Count of Arques was a Norman nobleman of the eleventh and twelfth century, who came into conflict with Henry I of England....
, and afterwards Warenne received the forfeited Saint-Saens lands, which were very near his own in upper Normandy. By this maneuver king Henry further assured his loyalty, for the successful return of Clito would mean at the very least Warenne's loss of this new territory.
He fought at the
Battle of BremuleThe Battle of Brémule was fought in 1119 between Henry I of England and Louis VI of France. Henry I had to defend his holdings in Normandy several times and defeated a French invasion at the Battle of Brémule in 1119.-External links:...
in 1119 , and was at Henry's deathbed in 1135.
William's death is recorded as 11-May-1138 in the register of Lewes priory and he was buried with his father at the chapter-house there.
Family
In 1118 William acquired the royal-blooded bride he desired when married Elizabeth de Vermandois. She was a daughter of count
Hugh of VermandoisHugh I , called Magnus or the Great, was a younger son of Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev and younger brother of Philip I. He was in his own right Count of Vermandois, but an ineffectual leader and soldier, great only in his boasting...
, a son of
Henry I of FranceHenry I was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians...
, and was the widow of
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of LeicesterRobert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age...
.
By Elizabeth he had three sons and two daughters:
- William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey , was the eldest son of the William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth de Vermandois.He was generally loyal to king Stephen...
;
- Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy, including the castles of Bellencombre and Mortemer He married Adeline, daughter of William, lord of Wormgay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William (founder of the priory of Wormegay), whose daughter and sole heir Beatrice married first Dodo, lord Bardolf, and secondly Hubert de Burgh; Reginald was one of the persecutors of Archbishop Thomas in 1170.
- Ralph de Warenne
- Gundrada de Warenne, who married first Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick
Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick , was the elder son of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick and Marguerite, daughter of Geoffrey II of Perche and Beatrix of Montdidier...
, and second William, lord of Kendal, and is most remembered for expelling king StephenStephen often known as Stephen of Blois was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was the last Norman King of England, from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne jure uxoris. His reign was marked by civil war with his rival the Empress Matilda and general chaos, known as The Anarchy...
's garrison from Warwick CastleWarwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a cliff overlooking a bend in the River Avon. Warwick Castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the...
;
- Ada de Warenne
Ada de Warenne or Adeline de Varenne was the Norman-French wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a great-granddaughter of Henry I of France...
, who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of HuntingdonHenry of Scotland was a Prince of Scotland, heir to the Kingdom of Alba. He was also Earl of Northumberland and Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton....
who made many grants to the priory of Lewes.
Sources