MALVOISIN DE HERCY

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What follows is my view on the most likely ancestry of “Malvoisin de Hercy”; he who married Théophanie Pont de l´Arche, daughter and coheir of Gilbert de Pont de l´Arche (C.M. Lesaulnier, ed.,”Recherches sur la Domesday”, p. 200. 1842), who held two knights’ fees of the honour of Tickhill in 1203 (Red Book, p. 182). Théophanie’s sister, Isabelle, married William Rufus. Essentially, this brief account shows the Mauvoisin family to have “originated” in Serquigny (wherein a family of “Arches”); to be donators to the Abbey of St. Evroult, at a time when such donation was a jealously guarded privilege, confined to those related to the “founder”; to be likely ancestors of a family of Rufus. Thus, the marriage of “Malvoisin de Hercy” and William Rufus to daughters of “Gilbert de Archis” is explained in the context of a kinship network that enhanced and its economic wellbeing by marriages within its confines; the concept of marriage as business.

Such a concept offers a far greater insight than orthography as to who people were. The vast number of different spellings of names in medieval times confuses research. Families were often given names of similar spelling; thus Hersin for Hercy, a variation of spelling, rather than families so named being synonomous. What also confuses research is “Victorian certitude” – the need of some genealogists of that era to provide “links” between branches of the same family. Whilst I believe “Malvoisin de Hercy” may have been linked to other other families of “Hercy”, and most certainly to other families of Mauvoisin in England, these links are not known to any degree of exactness.

MALUS VICINUS

The Mauvoisin family are an important component in the genealogy of that branch of the Crispins from which the Stanhopes descended. According to Mathieu – Reserches Sur Les Premiers Comtes de Dammartin, 19, 60, 1996 – a probable wife of William Crispin 11. was Agnes Mauvoisin, who was the daughter of Eustachia Dammartin; daughter of Manasser, Count of Dammartin, and Constance Capetien, daughter of Robert II., 972-1031, King of France. She married Raoul (Radulphus or Ralph) Mauvoisin, “le Barbu”, Seigneur of Rosny, and Viscount of Mantes. It is claimed he was a part of the Hastings invasion force, before becoming a monk at Gassicourt, dying, by some accounts, in 1074. An act of Agnes, daughter of Eustachia, daughter of Count Manasser, granted tithes at Rosny ‘for the souls of her mother and husband, William. Raoul Mauvoisin donated land at Lommoye to Saint-Evroult in 1060; the abbey founded by the Giroie family. (The relevance of this donation will be explored hereafter).

Mauvoisin lineage can not be determined by name, which is a sobriquet; Fr. mauvais voisin, lat. malus vicinus, “a bad neighbour”, which in the sense of these times can be taken to mean “a relentless encroacher”; the manner in which it was applied to such as Hugh Lupus. Mauvoisin territory was on the disputed border (the Vexin; of which, as his father, William Crispin II. was Vicomte), between Normandy and France, which readily explains the sobriquet. This sobriquet was used, without recourse to personal names when signing charters; “Mauvoisin de Rosel” being but one example of the sobriquet followed by the name of a holding or family association. The ‘Mauvoisins’ were closely connected to powerful families of Normandy and Bretagne. ‘Mauvoisin’ appeared in any number of forms; Malvoisin, Malveysin, as examples. It may also be of interest that the Mauvoisin family controlled commercial traffic along a portion of the Seine; exemping the Abbey of Bec from taxes on goods destined for them.

DAMMARTIN

1. Count Hilduin I. of Montdidier, possible son of Roger de Ponthieu, sp. Hersende de Ramarapt-Roucy.

1.1. Count Manasses de Dammartin, sp. “Constance”* (possibly de Capetian). Count Manasses was killed in battle at Ornel, near Etain, Bar-le-Duc, 15th October 1037.*(Mon. Germ. Script., viii).

1.1.1. Count Hugh I. de Dammartin, sp. Rohais de Bulles; of the various hypothesese regarding her, perhaps the most substantial makes her synonomous with Rohais d’Hérouville;* lands owned by her devolving to the Dammartins. Count Hugh is named as brother of Count Hilduin III., Comte de Ramarapt-Roucy. (Bouquet, Historiens de France, x., p. 626). *Hérouville désigné habituellement sous le nom d’Hérouville-St-Clair, Hérulfivilla, Herolvilla.

1.1.1.1. Adela de Dammartin, sp. Aubrey I de Mello, Chamberlain of France.

1.1.2. Eustachia Dammartin, sp. Raoul de Mauvoisin.

1.1.2.1. Agnes de Mauvoisin, sp. William Crispin 11.

MANTES LA JOLIE

The following account is not an exhaustive one. It does not cover the post-Conquest holdings in England, including associations to Nottinghamshire; nor gives detail of ‘early’ family associations as detailed in charters – Raoul II. de Mauvoisin’s brother, Gui, witnessed charters of Roger de Percy’s family; other donations to religious foundations were confirmed by the Bertrands – instead, it concentrates on links to who was described in French antiquarian accounts as “Malvoisin de Hercy”; he who married Théophanie de Pont-de-l’Arche. I will endeavour to show why this “Malvoisin” was known as “of Hercy.”

1. Raoul Mauvoisin, “le Barbu”. Donator to St. Evroult.

1.1. Raoul II. de Mauvoisin, vicomte de Mantes. It is he who occurs as ‘Malusvicinus’ in Suffolk, 1086. Donator to St. Evroult.

1.1.1. Raul III. de Mauvoisin, seigneur de Rosny, “Le Barbu.”

1.1.1.1. Raul IV. de Mauvoisin, s. a. 1177, seigneur de Rosny, “Le Barbu”, sp. Agnès d’Aulnay, d. o. Gautier II d’Aunay, Sénéchal de Dammartin.

1.1.1.1.1. Guillaume II. Mauvoisin, s. a. 1200, seigneur de Rosny, sp. 1171, Adeline de Maudétour.

1.1.1.1.1.1. Gui III. Mauvoisin, seigneur de Rosny (1201), sp. Aélis de Porhoët.

THE DUKES OF BRETAGNE

The immediate ancestor of the Dukes of Bretagne and the Counts of Porhoët appears to have been Conan “le Tort”, Count of Rennes, who, by Ermengarde of Anjou, had, 1st, Geoffry, Duke of Bretagne (from whom that dukedom descended by heirs female, to the house of Dreux) : and 2dly, Juhael, Count of Porhoët, the father of Guethenoc, Viscount of Chateau Tro, near la Triniti, and Count of Porhoët. This gentleman built a castle, and was buried in the abbey of Redon in 1040, being succeeded by his son Jossclin, who called the castle built by his father the Chateau de Josselin, and was himself also buried there; he was succeeded by his son, Eudo, and he by his son, Geoffroy, from whom the family of Zouche descended.

1. Guethenoc, Vicomte de Château Tro-en-Porhoët, Vicomte de Château Tro-en-Porhoët, 1008-1021.

1.1. Josselin, Vicomte de Bretagne et de Rennes, s. a 1074.

1.1.1. Eudon I., Vicomte de Porhoët et de Rennes, 1066–1092; sp. Emme de Léon, s. a. 1092.

1.1.1.1. Geoffroy, Vicomte de Porhoët.

1.1.1.1.1. Eudon II., Comte de Porhoët, 1148-1156, Vicomte de Bretagne, sp. Berthe de Cornouaille, d. o. Duke Conan III., (house Cornouaille), widow of Alain Fergant de Bretagne (house of Rennes); Ist Earl of Richmond. Berthe de Cornouaille held the county of Nantes in 1155, Geoffrey, the younger brother of Henry II. was made Count of Nantes under her. Nantes was strategically important, controlling the mouth of the Loire.

1.1.1.1.1.1. Eudon III., Comte de Porhoët, s. a. 1234.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Mathilde de Porhoët, Vicomtesse de Porhoët; sp. William de Fougères, s. o. Geoffroi, Comte de Fougères, s. o. William de Fougères and Agatha du Hommet;* s. o. Raoul de Fougères, ob. 1194, and Jeanne of Dol, d. o. Geldouin I, Seigneur of Dol. *She married, firstly, Foulques II. Paynel. She was the aunt of Jourdain du Hommet, connétable de Normandie, see as follows. Her daughter, Clementia, married Alan de Vitré, seigneur de Dinan.

1.1.1.1.1.1.2. Aliénor de Porhoët, Dame de La Chèze, sp. Alain V. de Rohan, Vicomte de Rohan.

1.1.1.1.1.1.3. Jeanne de Porhoët, sp. Olivier de Montauban.

1.1.1.1.1.1.4. Aélis de Porhoët, s. a. 1235, sp. Gui III. de Mauvoisin.

1.1.1.1.2. Alain I. de La Zouche, sp. Alice de Beaumetz, d. o. Philippe de Beaumetz and Mahaut le Meschin.

1.1.1.1.3. Amicie de Porhoët, sp. Guillaume I. de Montfort.

(Detlev Schwennicke: Europäische Stammtafeln Band X (1986) Tafel 13ff).

It is important to view the the Mauvoisin connections to the leading families of Bretagne in a political context; they, with their Fougères and Vitré cousins, were a part of Henry II’s “marcher barons” in Bretagne. Duke Conan IV. continued to exercise ducal authority in Bretagne as vassal of Henry; a charter of Raoul de Fougères, as above, mentions “Conani comitis”, whose power centred on Nantes. Near to Nantes is the ancient parish of Saint-Herblain; one of its main communes was Hérissière; the site of a mill was Hercy. The two are most likely connected, for, just as in the example of Hérissière, canton Haye-Paynel, Avranches, synonomous with Héricière, and from which sprang the Heriz alias Heris or Herice family of Notts., Hercy is most likely another contraction of Hérissière or Héricière, which, as I have mentioned elsewhere, derived from the specific Crispin family of Gilbert Crispin I., nicknamed Hérissée on account of their spikey hair (Adolphe André Porée (abbé); Impr. de C. Hérissey; Histoire de l’abbaye du Bec, p.178, 1901).

NANTES AND HERISSIERE

The commune of Hérissière near Nantes probably gave rise to the Hérisson or Hériçon family of Bretagne, arms d’ argent trois hérissons de sable (Charles; Dictionnaire Héraldique, p. 464); the same, in effect, as the Heriz of Notts. I do not propose that a Mauvoisin derived his toponym of Hercy of Saint-Herblain from a Porhoët connection, notwithstanding their connection to Nantes, but, rather, from the following marriage to a descendant of Gilbert Crispin I.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Gui IV. Mauvoisin, s. a. 1252, seigneur de Rosny, cousin of Raoul, baron de Fougères, sp. Julienne, dame de Tillières-sur-Avre, d. o. Gilbert V. Crispin, seigneur de Tillières-sur-Avre, Damville et Bourth, and Aliénor de Vitré. Gilbert Crispin was a direct descendant of Gilbert Crispin I. He was a great-grandson of Gilbert Crispin II., whose brother, William Crispin I. (my ancestor) was father of the William noted above, who married Agnes Mauvoisin.

(Aliénor de Vitré was married four times: Guillaume III. Paynel, seigneur de Hambye et de Drax, baron de Marcey ép. Aliénor de Vitré, fille de Robert III de Vitré et Emma de Dinan (parents also of Alan de Vitré, as above); veuve, elle ép. (2) Gilbert de Tillières; (3) William de Salisbury; après 1196, Gilbert de Malesmains. She died 12 Aug 1233, and was buried at the Abbaye de St-Martin Mondaye* at the request of Guillaume Pont-de-l’Arche, Bishop of Lisieux (Madelaine, Essai historique sur l’Abbaye de Mondaye, 1874). Aliénor de Vitré made a donation for her daughter Julienne’s soul at the abbey of St Martin at Mondaye. Joan, Aliénor’s younger daughter, married Thomas Malmains (Eleanor de Vitre’s stepson by her fourth husband). King John granted the manor of Burton Latimer to Thomas Malmains in the right of Joan his wife on 29 Aug 1216 (Rot. Pat. ed. T. D Hardy 1835 p.195; M. Jackson Crispin, Falaise Roll, p. 188; VCH Northants, v. 3, p.181/182). * Built on waste ground on land donated by the Percy and Vesci families.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Gui V Mauvoisin, seigneur de Rosny, sp. Isabelle de Mello, fille de Dreu II. de Mello, seigneur de Saint-Bris et de la Villehardouin,* et Helvise de Montbard, dame d’Epoisse, Givry et Château-Chinon; soeur de Dreu, seigneur de Saint-Bris et de Château-Chinon; veuve de Richard d’Harcourt, seigneur de Boissey-Le-Châtel. Armorial général de Bretagne, p. 136, 1844, shows that the Bretagne families of Hérisson or Hériçon were intermarried with the family of de Mello, and bore d’argent, à trois hérissons de sable, synonomous with the Heriz of Notts. and the Héricy of Normandy; they were the same family, divided by geography and different interpretations of contractions of the same name; descendants of Gilbert Crispin I. These ‘contractions’ took on ‘a life of their own’, resulting in variations of armorial devise. * “Famille de Ville-Hardouin vient d’un village du comté de Champagne, assis au diocèse de Troies, à demi-lieue de la rivière d’Aube, entre Bar et Arcis” (Jean Alexandre, Recherches, vol. II., p. 17, 1811).

1.1.1.1.1.1.2. Guillaume de Mauvoisin. ‘It is possible that the William Mauvoisin who received Serquigny in 1204 was the brother, not son, of Guy Mauvoisin’ (Daniel Power, The Norman frontier in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. p. 556, 2004). William Mauvoisin, fl. 1204-35, Lord Of Serquigny, and of St-Clair-d’Arcey, cant. and arr. de Bernay, from whence a branch of the family of Arques/Arches derived (Ctl. Beaumont, no. xxxv; Ctl. Vaux-en-Cernay, no. clxxx). Serquigny and St-Clair-d’Arcey are situated near Beaumont-le-Roger, caput of the Beaumont family in Normandy.

“While the composition of Henry’s assemblies in Noremandy is poorly documented, we are quite wll informed about two of his Christmas courts there. At Bur-le-Roi in 1170, just before the murder of Thomas Becket, Henry was attended by, among others, Earl Robert III. of Leicester, William de Mandeville, the Anglo-Norman lord Engulger de Bohun, the English baron and official Saher de Quency, Richard du Hommet, and the French baron William Mauvoisin, who was purportedly a kinsman of Count Eudo of Brittany” (Christopher Harper-Bill, Nicholas Vincent Henry II: new interpretations, p. 119, 2007). “In 1174 William de Mauvoisin, lord of Rosny near Mantes received English lands” from Henry II. in the honour of Peverel (ibid. p. 116).

1.1.1.1.1.1.3. Robert de Mauvoisin, sp. Elizabeth Morhier, d. o. Garnier de Morhier.

The Mauvoisin family most likely came to possess the mill of Hercy near Hérissière in Saint-Herblain as a result of the Bretagne connections of the families they married into, especially that of “Crispin le Hérissée.”

THE BRETAGNE CONNECTIONS OF MAUVOISIN

Hugues III du Maine. “Hugo Cenomannensis comes” donated property to the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel by charter dated 1014, witnessed by “Roscelini vicecomitis, Hameli de Leido Castello,* Haymonis de Medano, Herberti fratris comitis, Droci filii Milonis, Odilarii Drudi (Le Mans Saint-Victeur IV, p. 5.) *Hameli de Leido Castello was Hamon de Chateau-du-Loir, brother-in-law of William Talvas, de Belleme. He was not the same person as Haymonis de Medano, alias Hamo de Mayenne, who was the father of Geoffrey de Mayenne, who held land in Chartres (Carte St. Michel de l’Abbayette, no. 5), as well as Maine. Haymonis de Medano is suggested by Bachrach (“Enforcement of the formal fidelitatis”, no. 65) to have been a fidelis of Fulk Nerra, thus gaining the lordship of Mayenne in nortwestern Maine. Faced by the Norman advance into Maine, Geoffrey de Mayenne called on the assistance of Geoffrey of Anjou and Count Eudo of Bretagne. In an ensuing battle, Geoffrey was captured and held prisoner by William II. de Belleme. Giroye, in spite of his attachment in Bellêrne, lined up on this occasion on the side of Geoffroy. Giroye interceded for the prisoner and requested he be set free. William II. de Belleme only agreed to this on the condition that Giroye gave up the castle of Montaigu, held of the lord de Mayenne, who compensated Giroye by building for him the castle of Saint-Céneri. It is a strong possibility that Giroie had chosen to side with his Bretagne kinship network.

1. Juhael Comte de Rennes.

1.1. Conan de Rennes. The Chronicle of Nantes names “Conano filio Judicael Berengarii Redonensi comite”, m (973) Ermengarde d’Anjou, daughter of Geoffrey (Gaufrid) I “Grisegonelle” Comte d’Anjou & his first wife Adela de Meaux, d. o. Robert of Vermandois and Adelais de Vergy. Ermengard d’Anjou’s brother was Fulk Nerra (a notoriously volatile character) who came into conflict with the Counts of Rennes, he conquered and slew his brother-in-law Conan I of Rennes at the Battle of Conquereuil on 27 June 992. He then extended his power over the Counties of Maine and Touraine.

(The family of Vitré were descended in the male line from Martin de Rennes, a younger brother of Conan de Rennes, Duke of Bretagne, who died in 992; and Aliénor Countess of Salisbury was through her mother first-cousin to Duke Conan le Jeune. Again, Andre de Vitré, brother to the Countess of Salisbury, married a cousin-german of the same Conan; and Andre de Vitré, his son, who was slain at Mansoura, married Catharine, granddaughter of Conan, and half-sister to the unfortunate Prince Arthur).

1.1.1. Geoffrey de Bretagne. “Gaufridus Dux Britanniæ filius Conani filii Juhelli Berengarii” died in 1008. Guillaume de Jumièges names Hadvise, wife of “Geoffroi comte des Bretons”, as the second of the three daughters of Duke Richard and Gunnora.

1.1.1.1. Eudes de Bretagne. A charter dated 1008 records that, after the death of “Gaufrido comite Britanniæ”, “filii eius Alanus et Eudo cum matre eorum Hadeguisia” restored the abbey of Saint-Méen

1.1.1.1.1. Étienne de Bretagne, Comte de Penthièvre, Baron of Richmond; sp. “comitissa Hadewisa.”

1.1.1.1.1.1. Agnorie de Penthièvre, sp. Oliver II de Dinan.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Emma de Dinan, sp. Robert III de Vitré.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Aliénor de Vitré, sp. (1) Guillaume III. Paynel, seigneur de Hambye et de Drax; (2) Gilbert de Tillières; (3) William Fitz Patrick 2nd Earl of Salisbury, son of Patrick de Salisbury 1st Earl of Salisbury and Adela de Tavas (Belleme); great-grandaughter of William II. de Belleme. William Fitz Patrick was the brother of Sibyl de Salisbury, sp. John FitzGilbert, “the Marshal”, son of Gilbert “the Marshal.” The Malvoisins served the Marshal/Warenne family network:

(1. Gilbert “the Marshal.”

1.1. John fitz Gilbert, “the Marshal”, sp. Sibyl de Salesberia; she was the aunt of William FitzPatrick, earl of Salisbury, who m. Eleanor de Vitre, whose second husband was Gilbert de Tillières; they the parents of Julienne, dame de Tillières, sp. Gui IV. Mauvoisin. *Of Gilbert Crispin’s family.

1.1.1. William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, sp. Isabel de Clare.

1.1.1.1. Maude Marshal, sp. William, Earl of Warenne. He was the son of Hameline (Plantagenet) de Warenne and Isabel de Warenne, heiress of Warenne, d. o. William III. de Warenne, s. o. William II. de Warenne, whose sister, Edith, was the great-great grandmother of Isabeau de Mello, sp. Gui V. Mauvoisin.

1.1.1.1.1. Maude de Warenne, sp. Henry II. of Hastings.

1.1.1.1.1.1. Lady Alice of Eu Countess of Eu, whose seneschal was Malvesin de “Hersin” (Hercy or Hersy)

1.1.2. Matilda Marshal, sp. Robert de Arches; of the Arches family of Grove.

Grant – Alice countess of Eu and Stephen de Segrave. n.d. (early thirteenth-century). Alice has granted to Stephen her mill of Turnewod and her holding of Forda with all the rents and services pertaining to it, the homage and service of Richard de Ottelaio for the holding which he holds of Alice at Friebec (4s. 8d. a year), the homage and service of Alsic son of Roger in the same vill (14d. a year) and the homage and service of Thomas de Odestorp in the same vill (5s. 6d. a year); to hold by the service of a sparrowhawk or 2s. a year. Witnesses: William, earl of Warenne, Simon de Echingeham, William de Moncellis, Malvesin de Hersin, now Alice’s seneschal, William de Clarevall, Hellebold de Fanencort, Hugh de Aut, Alice’s clerk

Alice countess of Eu had tenurial connections to the family of Tilly – Grant by Alice countess of Eu (Augi), widow, to William, earl Warenne, of the manor of Gretewell, rendering a sparrowhawk yearly to Philippa de Tilly. Witnesses:- John de Bassingburn, Nicholas de Kenet, and others (named): [Linc.] 1219-1240.

“Upton was for the major Part Soc to Dunham, of which Grove was part, the King’s great Manor. It was held by Ralph Tilly, and Sibyl his Mother, yet Philippa Tilly held of the Countess of Ewe,* a Knight’s Fee of the old Feoffment, and six Bovats of Land, with Meadow belonging to it in this Place” (Magna Britannia Antiqua & Nova: Nottinghamshire). Philippa Tilly was of the same branch of the family as Otho de Tilly, who held three knights’ fees of Henry de Lacy in Yorkshire. Otho de Tilly was the Seneschal or Steward of Coningsburgh Castle under Hameline Earl Warenne during the reigns of Stephen and Henry II. This Otho is a witness of the foundation charter of Kirkstall, 17 Stephen. These Tillys were an “ancienne race de la province de Normandie, près Bayeux”, “descendu du sang des Danois, natus Umfremus de spermate Danorum.” Ernaud, ou Arnaud, sire de Tilly, capitaine du château de Hastings, en Angleterre, l’an 1098, épouse Alix de Grentmesnil, fille de Robert, sire de Grentemesnil, and Hadvise Giroye. The Tillys were noted in the defence of their chateau of Umfrainville in 1213 (Chronique du Normandie), most obviously the vil of Humphrey or Onfroi, their progenitor.

*Ralph de Lusignan was a younger son of Hugh le Brun, Earl of Marche. In May 1214 the honour of Tickhill was granted to Ralph de Lusignan, husband of the claimant, Alice, countess of Eu (Rot Litt. Claus. I. 147).’The Counts of Eu, sometime Lords of the Honour of Tickhill’ (Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, ix. (1886), 292-3). Thus, the honour of Tickhill was granted to Ralph de Lusignan in right of his wife’s claim to it as descendant of Beatrice de Busli, d. o. of Roger de Busli II, and William, Count of Eu.

The Hersins alias Hercys alias Hersys also occur within this family network thus: Deeds relating to Kirklees – Confirmation by William, Earl Warren (ob. 1240), of the grant by Reinerus Flandrensis, son of William Flandrensis, to Kirklees Nunnery, of lands, etc. Witnesses, Osbert Giffard, Auker de Freschenvill, Willam de Albo Monasterio, Richard de Mednar, Baldwin de Hersin, Thomas de Horbir, Seneschal of Earl Warrenne, William de Livet, Jordan de Heton, John de Pleiz, clerk).

Witnesses to a deed from Alice, Countess of Eu, formerly wife of Ralph de Isondon, Earl of Eu, who confirmed the site of Roche Abbey to the monks. The deed was executed at Tickhill, and the witnesses were William Earl Warenne her uncle, Philip Ulecote, William de Cressi, Mauvesyn de Hercy, Baldwin his brother, and Matthew de Shepleie, all knights. (1219).

Omnibus Christi fidelibus, ad quos presens carta pervenerit, Willelmus Comes Warren, salutem in Domino. Sciatis me concessisse et hac presenti carta mea confirmasse Deo, et beate Marie et Monachis de Rupe, pro salute anime meo et antecessorum meorum totam terram de Cumbrewode cum messuagiis, et omnibus pertinenciis quam Matheus de Schepelay, eis debit et cartis suis confirmavit tenendum in perpetuam, elemosinam secundum tenore carte Mathei. Hiis testibus Willielmo filio Willielmi, Malveisimo de Hersy, Rico, de Memers, Baldewino de Hersy, Roberto de Brettvile, Radulfo de Eccleshale, Johe de Wakling, clerico, Johe Wkefeld, clerico.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Julienne, dame de Tillières, sp. Gui IV. Mauvoisin.

1.1.1.1.1.2. Olive de Penthièvre, ob. ante 1187, Henry de Fougeres.

1.1.1.1.1.2.1. Raoul II. de Fougeres, sp. Jeanne de Dol, d. o. Geldouin I de Dol. Thus, Raoul II. de Fougeres was cousin of Conan IV. of Bretagne, “parent de la famille de la Saint-Jean dans l’Avranchin.”

1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1. Guillaume de Fougeres, sp. Agatha du Hommet.

1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1. Geoffroi de Fougeres, sp. Maud de Porhoët, whose sister, Aélis de Porhoët, s. a. 1235, sp. Gui III. de Mauvoisin.

1.1.2. Judith de Bretagne, ob. ante 16 Jun 1017, m. Mont Saint-Michel (1000) as his first wife, Richard II Comte de Normandie, son of Duke Richard and Gunnora.

1. Hugues, Vicomte de Châteaudun, sp. (the sister or cousin of Hugues III du Maine), Hildegarde, grandaughter* of Hugues I Comte du Maine, *As conjectured by Christian Settipani: “Les comtes d’Anjou et leurs alliances aux Xe et XIe siècles” (pp. 211-267). It is likely that Comte Hugues II du Maine (father of Huguea III.) was the son of Comte Hugues I. Comte Hugues I was the son of Roger (Rotger), son of — Comte du Maine 897; ob. ante I Nov 900; sp. [890], Rothildis, d. o. Emperor Charles II “le Chauve”, King of the West Franks, & his second wife Richildis de Provence, 871-928.

1.1. Rotrou de Châteaudun, Vicomte de Châteaudun, Comte de Corbon (Mortagne) in 1058, sp. Adelise de Bellême, d. o. Guerin (Warinus) de Bellême, d. o. William II. Bellême.

1.1. Geoffroy de Châteaudun, Comte de Corbon (Mortagne), ob. 1100, bur. Nogent-le-Rotrou, sp. Beatrix de Ramerupt, d. o. Hilduin IV. (Herluin) de Montdidier and Ramerupt, Comte de Roucy, and Adelaide de Roucy, s.a. 1129.

1.1.1. Margaret de Châteaudun (Perche), sp. Henry de Beaumont, s. o. Roger de Beaumont and Adeline de Meulan.

1. Hilduin IV.(Herluin) de Montdidier.

1.1. Ebles de Ramerupt; the Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines names “Ebalus…de Roceio et Andreas de Ramerut et Arceis comites” as the two sons of “Hilduinus de Ramerut” and his wife Adelaide; sp. Sibyl de Apulia, d. o. Robert “Guiscard”, Duke of Apulia. Sibyl’s sister, Mabel, married William de Grentmesnil, s. o. Hugh de Grentmesnil and Alice, d. o. Ivo, Count of Beaumont; Hugh being s. o. Robert de Grentmesnil and Hawise de Giroie, d. o. Guillaume Giroie and Gisela de Montfort-sur-Risle.

1.2. Manasses, Count of Dammartin, sp. Constance de Capetian, d. o. Robert II., 972-1031, King of France.

1.2.1. Eustachia Dammartin, sp. Raoul de Mauvoisin; “le Barbu” donator to St. Evroult, founded by Guillaume Giroie and two Grentmesnil grandsons, whose family held the chatelanie of Mantes under the Beaumonts.

1.2.1. Agnes de Mauvoisin, sp. William Crispin 11.

1. Toustain de Montfort.

1.1. Gisela de Montfort-sur-Risle,* sp. Guillaume Giroie (Gérouin); seigneur de Montreuil-L’Argillé et d’Echauffour, fils d’Ernaud de Courcerault.** Guillaume de Jumièges records the marriage of Giroie and Gisela daughter of “Toustain de Montfort.” * Sister of Hugh “le Barbu” de Montfort-sur-Risle.

1.1.1. Eremburge Giroie, sp. Vauquelin de Pont-Echanfray. Eremburge Giroie’s sister, Hawise Giroie, married Robert de Grentmesnil; from Grentmesnil, in the arrondissement of Lisieux.

1.1.1.1. Raoul du Pont-Echanfray. (Noted with his brother, Guillaume, fighting alongside Robert de Hauteville (i.e. Guiscard = “the wise”) in Calabria).

1.1.1.2. Guillaume du Pont-Echanfray.

1.1.4.1.2.1. Ralf Rufus. A household knight of Henry I. was Ralf Rufus (Ralph “le Rouge”) of Pont-Echanfray, “who came from a family of benefactors of St. Evroult. “He was probably a grandson* of Eremburge and Giroie” (Matthew Strickland, ‘Anglo-Norman warfare’, p. 112, 1992). *I would suggest great-grandson.

LISIEUX CONNECTIONS

Some comment regarding Guillaume de Arches would seem appropriate, as it was into his family that “Malvoisin de Hercy” married. He, as was the custom of these times, was a political appointee to the bishopric of Lisieux. Lisieux was the ancestral lands of the Crispins; Milo Crispin recounts how William Crispin III., son of Agnes de Mauvoisin, was taken prisoner by the French on his way back from Lisieux; his last request, which was granted, was to be buried next to his grandmother (Eve de Montfort, who he admired with ‘ fitting love’) at le Bec (Milo Crispin, How The Holy Virgin Appeared To William Crispin The Elder And On The Origin Of The Crispin Family, ed. Migne, cols. 735-744, 1856). William’s father (“of outstanding manners” – ibid.) was an Anglo-Norman lord who held land in Wetherby, Wheldrake, Coxwold, and Goodmanham in Yorkshire, and in Ancroft in Northumberland, as mesne-tenant of William de Percy.

William Crispin III. nearly killed Henry I. at the Battle of Bremule. He repeatedly fought against Henry, alongside his cousin, Amaury de Montfort, in his sphere of influence around L’Aigle and Gisors – fortress areas near Neaufles. He also fought with his cousin against the French who sought to usurp Amaury de Montfort’s lands. He married Joanna de Trèves (Ctl. St. Aubin, ii, no. DCCCCXXXI, 1114). Their son, Joscelin Crispin, married Isabella de Dangu, daughter of Robert de Dangu (BN, ms. lat. 18369, pp. 55-57). They had issue: William Crispin IV., vivant en 1223, Baron du Bec-Crespin, who married Eve de Harcourt, daughter of William de Harcourt (Le Prevost, 11, 6-8, 1862-1869). Their son was Maréchel Guillaume Crispin V., vivant en 1225, who married Amice de Roye (Actes de Philippe Auguste, iii.. no. 1376). His son was Guillaume Crispin VI., seigneur du Bec Crepin, de Varenguebec, de Neaufle, de Dangu et d’Etrepagni, “de connétable héréditaire de Normandie, et de maréchal de France” (Hist, génial. t. VI, p. 631). He married Jeanne, “fille et héritière de Robert de Mortemer” (Voy. M. de Gerville, Rech, sur les anc. châteaux de l’arrond. de Contonees, p.18); whose mother was Jeanne de Mortemer, “fille et héritière de Jourdain du Hommet, connétable de Normandie (Voy. le même. Rech, sur les anc. chat, de arr. de Saint-Lo, p. 95).

The previous Bishop of Lisieux to Guillaume de Arches was Jourdain du Hommet, uncle of Jourdain du Hommet, as above. Guillaume de Arches was succeeded by a member of the D’Astin family, vassals of old of the family of Gilbert Crispin II. (Cart. St. Ettiene). It is reasonable to assume that Guillaume de Arches was part of the ‘Crispin circle.’

ARCHES

William de Arques — i.e. de Arcis or Arches and his relations have been shown to be very much connected to the Bec of Caux family, certainly in terms of overlordship. Hi name was derived from Arques, a bourg in Offranville, in the vicinity of Dieppe; it adjoins Bourg-Dun. He was son of Godfridus, vicomte of Arques, and grandson of Gozelin, also vicomte of Arques, and afterwards of Rouen. Gozelin was his grandfather by the mother’s side, as Osbern de Bolbec, husband of one of the sisters of the duchess Gunnora, wife of Duke Richard I., is reputed to have been his paternal grandfather. We a find a carta from Robert de Caux in Derbyshire and Notts, with fifteen tenants, all holding under “de Arches.” This Arches family were settled at Grove in Notts, and at Mendham in Suffolk. In 1166, the wife of Robert de Arches held “2 men” under this Robert “de Chauz”, so there certainly must have been some family connection. Further, Robert de Chauz held in 1161 under Piperel i.e. Peveril; in 1194 under Tickhill (The Antiquary v. 38, p. 215, 1889).

William de Arques had a brother called Osbern, known variously as “Osbern de Archis”, “Osbern de Arches”, and “Osbern the Sheriff.” At Domesday he held 66 manors in Yorkshire, including Newton Kyme. Osbern’s youngest son was Gilbert de Arches, who was the father of Herbert de Arches., who held land at Coniston, near the boundary of Kettlewell. His nephew was Simon, son of the Saxon Thane Uctred de Hebden (descendant of Uctred, Earl of Northumberland, son of Waltheof Earl of Bernicia and Judith of Lens, daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Adelaide of Normandy, sister of William the Conqueror; Uctred, Earl of Northumberland married Bethoc; daughter of Donald III, King of Scotland); brother of Henry of Coniston (Bradford Antiquary, p. 420, 1905). Herbert had married Uctred’s sister, Ingoldina.

It appears from the Domesday record that the men of Borchescire wapentake affirm that four oxgangs of land in Monechetone (Monkton) of the land of Merlesuen which Osbern de Arches held, belong to Ralph Paganel. A descendant (probably grandson) of this Osbern de Arches was William de Arches, who with Ivetta his wife, founded about a.d. 1150 the Priory of Benedictine Nuns at Monkton, which they very liberally endowed, and which their daughter Matilda afterwards joined as a nun. Her sister, Juetta, married Adam de Brus, 2nd Lord of Skelton; their daughter, Isabel, married Henry de Percy. William de Arches and Ivetta were also the parents of the above mentioned Robert de Arches.

Robert de Arches, s. a. 1196. Military fee certifications in the Red Book of the Exchequer, in 1166, record that “uxor Roberti de Archis” held two knights´ fees from “Roberti de Chauz” in Nottinghamshire, sp. Matilda Marshal, daughter of John Marshal and his second wife, Sibyl of Salisbury, the aunt of William Fitz Patrick, Earl of Salisbury, whose wife, as shown, by her second husband, Gilbert de Tillières, was the mother of Julienne, dame de Tillières, sp. Gui IV. Mauvoisin. Robert de Arches ewas the father of William de Arches, who I take to be the father of the Bishop of Lisieux; the Bishop’s father being recorded as a certain William.

Herbert de Arches, probable cousin of William, paid, the twenty-second year of the reign of Henri II, ten marcs for fines (Rot. pip. 22, Henri II). In 1166, “Herbert de Arches” held two knights’ fees under Henry de Lacy, founder of Kirkstall Abbey, 1147; son of Robert de Lacy, the son of Ilbert de Lacy. Henry de Lacy married the sister of William de Vesci, recorder of Berwick. Domesday Book does not name a mesne lord of Ryhill in 1086, but states that it was a berewick of Shafton. The manor of Shafton and Carlton (in Staincross wapentake) was then held by Alric and ——- as mesne tenants of Ilbert de Lacy. Ryhill may have been the tenure of one rather than both of them. Its subsequent tenurial history suggests that it was probably held by Alric, and, in 1166, by William de Neville. Either Adam, son of Sveinn, son of Alric, or Adam de Montbegan enfeoffed Herbert de Arches with an undertenancy in Craven, but it seems to have included land in Ryhill as in the first half of the thirteenth century Alexander de Neville confirmed to the canons of Nostell rent from Midle Hirst in Ryhill. The Lacy family were overlords of the Heriz.

Herbert was the father of Gilbert de Arches; he paid, in the twenty-eighth year of the same prince, fifty marcs and two palfreys, to retain the possession of his father (Pip. 28, Henry II.). He gave the church of Weston to the Priory of Blythe, Nottinghamshire.

His son, Gilbert de Arches succeeded to him in the parishes of Weston and Grove, and confirmed the donation made by his father with the monks of Blythe, and also gave his tenement at Oledtorp to the abbey of St-Jacques de Welbeck. He died without male posterity, leaving two girls, Théophanie, married to Malvoisin de Hercy, constable of Tickhill Castle in 1221, and Isabelle, who married William Rufus.

EARLS OF SALISBURY

1. “Comes Patricius Sarum” m secondly as her second husband, Ela de Ponthieu, widow of William de Warenne Earl of Surrey, daughter of Guillaume I. “Talvas” Comte d’Alençon & his wife Hélie de Bourgogne (Capet).

1.1. William FitzPatrick succeeded his father in 1168 as Earl of Wiltshire, but was always styled Earl of Salisbury. The Red Book of the Exchequer refers to “Willelmus filius comitis Patricii in Wiltshire in 1171. Willielmus comes Sarum” donated property to Bradenstoke priory, for the souls of “Alianoræ de Viterio comitissæ meæ.”

1.2. Sibyl de Salesberia, married before 1144, as his second wife, John FitzGilbert, “the Marshal”, son of Gilbert “the Marshal.”

1.2.1. Matilda Marshal, sp. Robert de Pont de l´Arche, as above.

Malvoisin de Hercy’s ancestry can only be conjectured, yet, I believe, with a reasonable degree of probability. One clue as to Mauvoisin lineage is gleaned from the fact that from the remotest of times they were associated with Cerquigny or Serquigny, canton and arr. de Bernay. “La famille Mauvoisin paraît avoir été propriétaire de Cerquigny dès une époque fort reculée (MSAN, 4, 412, 1828).

SERQUIGNY

The earliest record of Serquigny dates to the tenth-century Latin name “Sarchinneium”, suggesting the existence of a vil that belonged to a certain “Sarcho”, a name of Germanic origin. It is next recorded as a gift to Conan “le Tort’s” daughter, Judith, on her marriage to Richard II, ‘Duke’ of Normandy. Judith founded the abbey of Bernay on this land, which held Cerquigny for a short time, it being given to Onfroi, seigneur de Pont-Audemer, probably as an inducement to secure his loyalty to the “ducal” family. Onfroi (de Vieilles) divided Sequigny, he retaining one half, the other being given to Anquetil, seigneur d’Harcourt, about whom it is best to say, given the “legendary” status of genealogies of this time, was a close relative. Anquetil’s portion of Cerquigny was called Maubuisson, which remained under Harcourt control. Whatever the near ancestry of Anquetil, it would seem he married Anceline de Montfort-sur-Risle. The portion of Cerquigny that was Onfroi’s came to the Beaumonts (again, comment regarding the relationship between the Beaumonts and Harcourts would be speculative): “The Mauvoisin family were noted to be in the service of the comtes de Meulan and Beaumont at the beginning of the twelfth-century” (Bull. Mon., p. 541, 1881). This relationship went back further; to repeat: “La famille Mauvoisin paraît avoir été propriétaire de Cerqujgny dès une époque fort reculée”; the ancient nature of this association is shown by the succession of the Vicomtes de Mantes:
1. Hellouin II. brother of Galeran I de Meulan.

2. Raoul Mauvoisin.

3. Hellouin III., nephew of Galeran I de Meulan.

(“Bulletin Historique”, p. 120, 1898).

MONTFORT-SUR-RISLE

1. Heriulfr Turstain.

1.1. Anslech de Bastembourg.

1.1.1. Thurstan de Bastembourg. Guillaume de Jumièges names “Bertrand et Hugues de Montfort dit le Barbu” as sons of “Toustain de Bastenbourg” (WJ VII. 38, p. 232).

1.1.1.1. Guillaume Bertran de Briquebec, sp. ——– Beauf(f)ou, fille de Richard.

1.1.1.1.1. Robert “Le Tort” Bertran de Bricquebec, vicomte dans le Cotentin, sp. Suzanne d’Espagne.

1.1.1.1.1.1. Robert II “Le Tort” Bertran de Bricquebec, sp. Adelise d’Aumale, fille d’Etienne de Blois-Champagne, et de Havise de Mortemer, who m. (2) Enjuger de Bohon.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Guillaume Bertran, sp. Marguerite de Fougères, fille de Raoul II. de Fougères; who m. (2), 25/11/1179, Waleran V, comte de Meulan.

1.1.1.2. Hugh “cum barba” de Montfort-sur-Risle.

1.1.1.2.1. Hugh II. de Montfort-sur-Risle. Guillaume de Jumièges names “Hugues le second” as son of “Hugues de Montfort dit “le Barbu”, recording that he later became a monk at Bec (ibid.).

1.1.1.2.2. Raoul or Radulph Montfort-sur-Risle. “Hugo de Monteforti” founded Saint-Ymer-en-Auge for the souls of “patris mei Hugonis et matris meæ et uxoris mea et … fratrum meorum Radulphi ac Roberti atque filiorum” by charter dated to 1066/67 (Cart.Saint-Ymer-en-Auge I, p. 1).

1.1.1.3. Anceline de Montfort-sur-Risle.* Elle épouse Turquetil de Neufmarché, seigneur de Tourville et Turqueraye dit d’Harcourt; nommé vers l’an 1001 dans plusieurs Chartes des Abbayes de Fécamp & de Bernay (D.N. 283, 1868). *She is given in some accounts as sister of Thurstan de Bastembourg, in others, as given here; a more chronologically feasible assumption.

1.1.1.3.1. Anquetil, seigneur d’Harcourt, seigneur de Maubuisson. “Donna 40 acres de terre à l’Abbaye de Fécamp, & fut présent en 1024, avec son père à la confirmation des fondations de celle de Bernay, par Judith de Bretagne, Duchesse de Normandie.” (ibid.).

1.1.1.4. Gisela de Montfort-sur-Risle, sp. Guillaume Giroie (Gérouin); seigneur de Montreuil-L’Argillé et d’Echauffour, fils d’Ernaud de Courcerault. Guillaume de Jumièges records the marriage of Giroie and Gisela daughter of “Toustain de Montfort.”

1.1.1.4.1. Eremburge Giroie, sp. Vauquelin de Pont-Echanfray. Eremburge Giroie’s sister, Hawise Giroie, married Robert de Grentmesnil; from Grentmesnil, in the arrondissement of Lisieux. Giroie, founded St. Evroult in 1050 with two Grentmesnil grandsons.

1.1.1.4.1.1. Raoul du Pont-Echanfray. (Noted with his brother, Guillaume, fighting alongside Robert de Hauteville; i.e. Guiscard = “the wise”, in Calabria).

1.1.1.4.1.2. Guillaume du Pont-Echanfray.

1.1.1.4.1.2.1. Ralf Rufus. A household knight of Henry I. was Ralf Rufus (Ralph “le Rouge”) of Pont-Echanfray, “who came from a family of benefactors of St. Evroult. He was probably a grandson of Eremburge and Giroie” (Matthew Strickland, ‘Anglo-Norman warfare’, p. 112, 1992).
Ralph Rufus and his brother, Walkelin, are first mentioned in a charter of St. Evroult in 1100 (Matthew Strickland, ‘Anglo-Norman warfare’, p. 85, 1992). Ralf Rufus was a man of Eustace de Breteuil, and died in the wreck of the White Ship, 1120. He married the only daughter of Ascelin Gael, seigneur d’Ivry, and Isabel, the illegitimate daughter of William of Breteuil, son of Earl William FitzOsbern and Adeliza de Tosny. Ascelin Gael’s sons were Robert d’Ivry and William d’Ivry, the latter joined the rebellion of his brother-in-law, Waleran of Meulan, in 1123 (Hollister, p. 293); escaped from the battle of Bourgtheroulde, 26 March 1124, and made peace with King Henry I., receiving grants of land after 1124. He had married Maud de Beaumont, d. o. Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan, and Isabel of Vermandois. Their son was Waleran d’Ivry; his son being Robert d’Ivry; members of the Mauvoisin family standing surety for him (pledging their land) in his promise to render the castle of Ivry to king Philippe-Auguste:

“Manassès Mauvoisin était oncle et feudataire de Gui Mauvoisin, seigneur dominant à Mantes, avec lequel et un autre de ses neveux, Pierre Mauvoisin, il garantit, au mois de juillet 1200, la promesse faite par Robert d’Ivry au roi Philippe-Auguste de lui livrer les forteresses d’Ivry et d’Avrilly (L. Delisle, Cat. des actes de Phil.-Aug., n° 632). Le Nécrologe de Notre-Dame, qui qualifie Manassès Mauvoisin de nobilis genere et slrenuus amis, donne son obit sous la date du 12 des calendes de novembre. La famille Mauvoisin s’étendait sur toute la partie du Vexin français, située aux environs de Mantes. Deux de ses membres, Pierre et Guillaume, figurent comme témoins dans un acte de Geoffroy de Neauphle* (a. 1213); un autre, appelé Robert, avait épousé Cécile, sœur de Gui de Chevreuse (1208), et un quatrième était beau-frère de Guillaume Morhier, seigneur de Villiers (1209). (Cart. des Vaux-de-Cernay, p. 162, 113, 189, 197, 203.) Vers la fin de 1204 ou le commencement de 1205, Philippe-Auguste confirma le bail que Gui Mauvoisin avait fait des deux tiers de la coutume de Rosny à la communauté des hommes de Mantes. Vers 1201, le même roi donne à Pierre Mauvoisin la ville de Nonancourt, et, au mois de juillet 1213, le village de Saint-André, diocèse d’Evreux. (Voir, pour ces pièces et d’autres relatives à cette famille, L. Delisle, Cat. des actes de Phil.-Aug., nos 511, 512, 599, 693 A, 869, 897 960 et 1455). *Descendant of Gilbert Crispin I.

1.1.4.2. Hawise Giroie, sp. Robert de Grentemesnil.

1.1.4.2.1. Hugh de Grentemesnil, sp. Adeliza, d. o. Ivo, count of Beaumont-sur-l’Oise.

1.1.4.2.1.1. William de Grentemesnil, sp. Mabel, d. o. Robert “Guiscard”, as above.

It is reasonable to assume that Raoul or Radulph du Pont-Echanfray was synonomous with Raoul or Radulph Mauvoisin, and that he may have held of his “kinsmen” in Maubuisson, before taking up duties in the Vexin and Calabria; with his sobriquet being punned from Maubuisson; a very common Norman practice. Raoul Mauvoisin being known, as his sons, as “le Barbu” is also highly suggestive of the Montfort-sur-Risle clan. This appellation was most unusual at a time when priests often refused to officiate at the funerals of those whose facial hair was not shaven; a sign of “unholiness”; thus, to defy the convention meant that you were of a family powerful enough to do so, who were perhaps making a statement of their independence of the Church. That Raoul Mauvoisin’s family’s gifts to religious foundations were confirmed by the Bertrand family, a point I have not laboured, also supports a ‘Montfort-sur-Risle’ hypothesis. His donations to St. Evroult most certainly suggest a close Giroie connection, as do the aforementioned Mauvoisin marriages with the descendants of the Counts of Rennes.

As to the parentage of “Malvoisin de Hercy”, I can only suggest that he was closely associated with Aliénor de Vitré, so perhaps a son of Gui III. de Mauvoisin, named Robert, after his brother; or a son of the same Robert; or a son of another brother, Guillaume de Malvoisin, lord of Serquigny. Malvoisin de Hercy’s first son was named Robert. These Hercys seem to be of the same kinship network as the Hercys of Pillerton Hercy, who seem to have intermarried with the Heriz family:

1. ————- 1.1. Thurstan Bassett of Colston, Nottinghamshire. 1.1.1. Richard Basset of Wallingford, Berkshire.1.1.1.1. Thurstan Bassett of Letcombe Basset, Oxfordshire. 1.1.1.1.1. Isabel Basset, b. c. 1175, of Clapham, Bedfordshire, sp. Robert Mauduit, son of William Mauduit and Isabel de St. Liz. William Mauduit was the brother of Robert Mauduit, as herein mentioned, whose daughter, Constance, married Guillaume de Pont de l´Arche, whose connection to the Mauvoisins is shown herein. 1.2. Thomas Bassett. 1.2.1 Gilbert, Baron of Hedendon, sp.Egeline, d. o. Reginald de Courtney. 1.2.1.1. Thomas Bassett, ob. 1220, who had the Barony of Hedendon, sp. Philippa, daughter and heir of William de Malbanc. “John de Hersy”, son of “Hugh de Hersy” of Nether Pillerton, was under age and in ward to Thomas Basset in 1211.

From previous notes:

“Ivo de Heriz I., who was Sheriff of Nottingham and Derbyshire, 1127-1129 (W. A. Morris, The Medieval English Sheriff to 1300, p. 82, 1927). This Ivo also held land in Lower Pillerton, Warwickshire, under Hugh de Grentemesnil II., son of Hugh de Grentemesnil I. and Adeliza de Beaumont-sur-Oise, descendant of Radulpus de Beaumont, who held it of Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Warwick (Pipe Roll, 30 Hen. I).”

“It can be reasonably be proposed that William de Heriz (son of Ivo de Heriz I) had firstly married a member of the Loudham family. Eustace de Loudham was under-sheriff of Notts. in 1213, and sheriff of Yorkshire in 1224-26, and sheriff of Notts in 1233 (CPR, 1216-1225, p. 524). He held land of John de Lacy, Constable of Chester. Walter, his son, was steward of the Lacy barony of Pontefract (EYC. VIII., p. 197). Walter, ob. 1272, was given joint custody and marriage of the heir of Hugh de Hercy II. in 1268. This Walter had a daughter called Alice or Maud, who shortly after Walter’s death married John de Heriz II.”

DUNHAM

The Bassett family (also intermarried with the Heriz) also occur in the following link between Gilbert de Arches, his son-in-law, William Rufus, and the Mauvoisin family:

Some part in Grove, as before is noted in Hedune, was ancient demesne of the Soc of Dunham; but the principal part was of the fee of Roger de Busli, viz. that which be fore his coming, was the freehold of Alwin and Osmund, and paid for four bovats and an half to the common taxation of those times (‘Grove’, Thoroton’s History of Nottinghamshire: volume 3: Republished with large additions by John Throsby (1796), pp. 260-264).

In 1216, Henry III., then only nine years of age, gave land in Dunham to “Rad Plucket”, “who gave to the monks of Rufford, for the souls of his father and mother and ancestors, one toft in Dunham; the witnesses were Gilbert de Arches, Swain de Hoiland, Robert de Draiton, William de Draiton, Richard de Laxton, Thomas, Clerk of Headon.” (Thoroton).

In 1218, the King granted the Manor of Dunham to Reginald de Dammartin. In 1223, Henry III. was declared old enough to govern, and all who held manors belonging to the King were to surrender them on pain of excommunication. In 1227, he gave it to Ralph Fitz-Nicholas. “Grant to Ralph son of Nicholas and his heirs of the Manor of Dunham, to be held as Reginald de Dammartin late Count of Boulogne held it. This gift was witnessed by William Rufus, son-in-law of Gilbert de Archis, and brother-in-law of Malvoisin de Hercy.

1. Manasses de Montdidier, Count of Dammartin, ob. 15 Dec 1037; sp. Constance of France, d. o. Robert II, King of France, and Constance of Provence.

1.1. Eustachia Dammartin, sp. Raoul de Mauvoisin.

1.1.1. Agnes de Mauvoisin, sp. William Crispin 11.

1.2. Hugh I de Montdidier, Count of Dammartin, sp. Rohese de Clare, d. o. Sir Richard Fitz Gilbert, Lord of Clare and Tonbridge, and Rohese Giffard.

1.2.1. Eudes de Dammartin, held in Norton and Mendlesham, Suffolk

1.2.1.1. Alberic I de Dammartin, Count of Dammartin, sp. (1) Mathilde; (2) Joan Basset, d. o. Gilbert Basset, Baron of Hedendon, sp. Egeline, d. o. Reginald de Courtney; their son, Thomas Bassett, ob. 1220, having the wardship of “John de Hersy”, son of “Hugh de Hersy” of Nether Pillerton in 1211.

1.2.1.1.1. Alberic II de Dammartin, sp. Maud de Clermont, d. o. Count Renaud II of Clermont, and Clemence de Barre.

1.2.1.1.1.1. Reginald de Dammartin.

1. ————-

1.1. Gilbert II. de Mello, s. a. 1083.

1.1.1. Dreux de Mello, sp. Richilde de Creil, d. o. Hugues, Count of Clermont.

1.1.1.1. Dreux de Mello, sp. Edith de Warenne, d. o. William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey.

1.1.1.1.1. Dreux de Mello, sp. Ermengarde de Mouchy.

1.1.1.1.1.1. Guillaume ‘le Jeune’ de Mello.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Dreux de Mello, seigneur de Saint-Bris, sp. Helvise de Montbard, dame d’Epoisse, Givry et Château-Chinon; soeur de Dreu, seigneur de Saint-Bris et de Château-Chinon; veuve de Richard d’Harcourt, seigneur de Boissey-Le-Châtel.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Isabeau de Mello, sp. Gui V. Mauvoisin.

1.1.2. Aubrey de Mello, sp. Aelis de Dammartin, d. o. Hugues, Count of Dammartin.

1.1.2.1. Alberic I de Mello, Count of Dammartin, 1110-1183, sp. Joan Basset, d. o. Gilbert Basset.

1.1.2.1.1. Alberic II, Count of Dammartin, sp. Maud de Ponthieu.

1.1.2.1.1.1. Reginald de Dammartin.

OTHER MAUVOISINS

From The Shropshire Gazetteer of 1824:

“In the northern, but fruitful district of the Isle de France, situate on the confines of the Gastinnis, and not very far from the banks of the Seine, sometime stood one of these awful bulwarks, from which it is presumed the neighbouring and illustrious Lords of Rosny first assumed the name of Malvoisin, a name standing proudly conspicuous in the ancient French records of feudal grandeur, and which may be traced amongst the nations of Europe in the succeeding ages, by various acts of munificent piety and romantick valour. Of this family was Sampson Manvisin, archbishop of Rheims, and the renowned Sir Guy Mauvoisin, who fought under the banner of St. Louis, against the Saracens of Egypt; but the head of this house in the eleventh century was that venerable chief Raoul Manvoisin surnamed Le Barbu, living in 1080, at the seigniory of Rosny near the city of Mantes, and who ranking amongst the names of his sons, Robert and Hugo, and of his grandsons William who fell in battle, may remind us of the same favourite and distinguished names so familiar in the pedigree of our Anglo Norman line at Ridware in Staffordshire.

Having braved all the dangers and therefore having a right to share the spoils of victory, Malvesyn would be eager to fix his residence on some of the conquered lands; and we are assured by uniform tradition that his valour was rewarded with the grant of the lordship of Rideware, which was probably held by this Norman knight under the Montgomerys, Norman Earls of Shrewsbury (as he or his son presently held it, under Fitz-Alans and the castle of Oswaldester) by the knightly tenure of bearing arms against the Welsh. But there were other lands of which he got possession seemingly at the same early period, and which were held likewise under the same barony, by the same Military service. Among these was the Lordship of Berwicke, (Juxta Attingham) in Shropshire; and as the leading branch of this family, gave their name to the Seigniory of Mauvesin Rosny in France; so these two younger branches communicated the same name to their respective Lordships of Manvesin Ridware and Manvesin Berwick in England, which became their principal places of abode, and where they long continued to flourish in the Jays of our Henrys and Edwards, a knightly gallant race in an age of gallantry; foremost, like their Norman kindred in deeds of arms, and works of piety.

Henry Malveysin must have been born in the conqueror’s reign, being of sufficient age in the year 1100, the last of William Rufus, (or 1110, 1 Henry the first, as Mr. Nasmith contends) to attest the foundation grant of William Fitz-Alan (Fitz-Flaald) to the abbey of Haghmon, in Shropshire; test. Henrico Malevicino, Ric. de Constantino, Helia de Hedingeham, Galfr. de Ver, &c. (The Fitz-Alans were of the nobility of Bretagne, connected to the house of Dol, M.S).

I take it to be the former Henry Malveysin, who is named with Peter Malveysin, in an extent of lands belonging to the Monastery of Burton, in the first year of Abbot Geoffrey, 14 Henry the first, where it is said they ought to join with others in the inclosure of a certain hay of Bromlegh (Abots) “debent claude certain hayam de Brom,” a manor adjoining immediately to the Malveysins manor of Rideware, and to their demesne lands in Blythburg. If then, he could retire from his Lord’s castle in Shropshire, possibly he had now fixed his residence either in Bromlegh, or Blythburgh, for in each of these the “Malveysins” appear to have settled very early. It has been presumed that he had issue, Hugo, Henry, and Nicholas, all living in the reign of Henry the second, and holding their lands under that very house of Fitz-Alan, with which this Henry has been shewn to have connexion; it is likely therefore that some of these possessions descended from him, in right of blood to one or more of the three following. Hugo Malveysin, was Lord of Rideware, and held one knight’s fee, under Fitz-Alan, in Salopshire, temp. Henry II., Henry Malveysin was Lord of Berwicke, and appears along with Hugo as holding one manor under Fitz-Alan in the same county.

He attests with Herbert his son, Hugo’s grant in Rideware to his son Hugo mentioned hereafter. Also in company with the strangers Fitz Noel, and other marchers of note; he (Henricus Malvisin) attests William (fil William) Fitz Alan’s grant to the Abbey of Buildewas, in Shropshire. With theconsentof A veline his wife, he bestowed the tenth of his lordship of Berewicke, (deca dini sui de B) on the Abbey Church of the blessed Mary of Lilleshull, in that county; his son Herbert de Mavesyn, was Lord of Berewicke and Haghmon, by deed Sans date, holding half a knight’s fee in the former, regno Henry 3, and gave all the Arable Lands of Locksey, to the same Abbey, when his brother William became a Monk there. Nicholas Malveisin was Lord of Potes, (Juxta Stafford,) whence he is sometimes named Nicholas de Potes, which he held regno Henry 2, under Fitz Alan, as Saer Malveisin also held it, regno Henry 3, by the service of guarding the Castle of Oswaldstre, during the wars between England and Wales. This Nicholas Malveisin was a benefactor to the priory of Saint Thomas the Martyr, near Stafford; and 1 take him to be the same Nicholas Malveisin who gave the Ville of Sallington, in that county, to the priory of Stone, which was confirmed by Henry the second, and also afterwards by Nicholas’s nephew and heir Herbertus Malusvicinus, before-mentioned, and whose descendants of the male line continued lords of Berwick Malvesyn, (the name it still bears) till the reign of Henry the fourth.”

However events may be, the Mauvosin lineage as portrayed above is a wonderful one, enfused with the noblest blood of Normandy and Bretagne; a lineage of which any claiming connection to it can be justifiably proud.

GIROIE

1. Abbo “le Breton”

1.1. Arnold “le Gros”. Orderic Vitalis names “Ernaldi Grossi de Corte Sedaldi Abonii Britonis filii filio” m —. The name of Arnold’s wife is not known. Arnold & his wife had (three) children:

1.1.1. Giroie. Guillaume de Jumièges records that Giroie was “issu de deux nobles familles de Francs et de Bretons” and went with Guillaume de Bellême to the court of Duke Richard who granted him the castles of Montreuil et d’Echauffour. Guillaume de Jumièges records that in 1050 Giroie founded the monastery of Saint-Evroult with his grandsons Robert and Hugues de Grantmesnil. Giroie married Gisela de Montfort-sur-Risle; her family carrying the epithet “le Barbu.”

1.1.1.1. Eremburge Giroie, sp. Vauquelin de Pont-Echanfray. Eremburge Giroie’s sister, Hawise Giroie, married Robert de Grentmesnil; from Grentmesnil, in the arrondissement of Lisieux.

1.1.1.1.1. Raoul du Pont-Echanfray. (Noted with his brother, Guillaume, fighting alongside Robert de Hauteville (i.e. Guiscard = “the wise”) in Calabria. I take him to be synonomous with Raoul de Mauvoisin (“le Barbu”), donator to Saint-Evroult, sp. Eustachia Dammartin, d. o. Count Manasses de Dammartin, and “Constance” (possibly de Capetian).

1.1.1.1.1.1. Raoul II. de Mauvoisin, vicomte de Mantes. It is he who occurs as ‘Malusvicinus’ in Suffolk, 1086. Donator to St. Evroult.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Raul III. de Mauvoisin, seigneur de Rosny, “Le Barbu.”

1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Raul IV. de Mauvoisin, s. a. 1177, seigneur de Rosny, “Le Barbu”, sp. Agnès d’Aulnay, d. o. Gautier II d’Aunay, Sénéchal de Dammartin.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Guillaume II. Mauvoisin, s. a. 1200, seigneur de Rosny, sp. 1171, Adeline de Maudétour.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Gui III. Mauvoisin, seigneur de Rosny (1201), sp. Aélis de Porhoët.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Gui IV. Mauvoisin, s. a. 1252, seigneur de Rosny, cousin of Raoul, baron de Fougères, sp. Julienne, dame de Tillières-sur-Avre, d. o. Gilbert V. Crispin, seigneur de Tillières-sur-Avre, Damville et Bourth, and Aliénor de Vitré. Gilbert Crispin was a great-grandson of Gilbert Crispin II., whose brother, William Crispin I. (my ancestor) was father of the William noted above, who married Agnes Mauvoisin. Aliénor de Vitré was married four times: Guillaume III. Paynel, seigneur de Hambye et de Drax, baron de Marcey ép. Aliénor de Vitré, fille de Robert III de Vitré et Emma de Dinan (parents also of Alan de Vitré, as above); veuve, elle ép. ( 2) Gilbert de Tillières; (3) William de Salisbury; après 1196, Gilbert de Malesmains. She died 12 Aug 1233, and was buried at the Abbaye de St-Martin Mondaye* at the request of Guillaume Pont-de-l’Arche, Bishop of Lisieux (Madelaine, Essai historique sur l’Abbaye de Mondaye, 1874).

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2. “Malvoisin de Hercy” (A reasonable conjecture), sp. Théophanie Pont de l´Arche, daughter and coheir of Gilbert de Pont de l´Arche (C.M. Lesaulnier, ed.,”Recherches sur la Domesday”, p. 200. 1842).

1.1.1.1.2. Guillaume du Pont-Echanfray.

1.1.I.1.2.1. Ralf Rufus. (Ralph “le Rouge”) of Pont-Echanfray, “who came from a family of benefactors of St. Evroult. He was probably a grandson of Eremburge and Giroie”, as noted above. It seems reasonable to assume that a descendant of his was Malvoisin de Hercy’s brother-in-law.

copywrite Michael Stanhope 2010