Part 16 (2/2)
Aubin-le-Cauf, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Dieppe. His English history as earl of Surrey is well known; _Introd. Dom_. i. 506. M. Le Prevost expresses his opinion that William was not son of Walter de St. Martin, as _d.u.c.h.esne_ stiles him, but of Ralf de Warren,--a benefactor of the abbey of la Trinite du mont about the middle of the eleventh century,--by a niece of the d.u.c.h.ess Gunnor; Roger de Mortemer, the first of the name, being another son. In a charter to St. Wandril by the conqueror, there is subscribed as witness, 'S. Rogerii filii Rodulfi de Warena.' A Gilbert de Warena witnesses a charter to Jumieges in 1088. A.L.P. We have good authority for observing that the hamlet of Varenne in St. Aubin never belonged to the Warrens, but to a family named Neville or Neuville, the adjoining hamlet. The river was anciently called Varimna, and there was a town of the same name, which appears to have been changed to that of Bellencombre--Bellus c.u.mulus--from the lofty mound on which stood the castle of the Warrens, their caput baroniae. Warren is in the Red book one of the defaulters.]
[Footnote 36: HUGH, lord of GOURNAY, who occupied the frontier district of Brai; an important post for the defence of Normandy. See before, p.
49. We find 'Hugo senex,' in a charter of Hen. I., who retired to and died at Bec; but this was probably a son of the one at Mortemer and Hastings. We may well expect to find him characterised as 'old Hue,'
when we see Jehan de Flagy--or whoever wrote the old romance of Garin le Loherain, just published by M. Paris--boldly introducing 'Hues qui Gournay tient,' with 'Anjorrans li sires de Couci,' and 'de Toartois le vis-quens Haimeris,' as meeting 'la pucelle Blancheflors au cler vis,'
at the court of Pepin, 'a la cit de Paris.' We find Hugh de Gournay,--probably the son,--a landholder in Ess.e.x, _Introd. Domesday_, i. 431; in the Red book roll is 'Hugo de Gurnayo 12 mil. et omnium reliquorum ad Marchiam.' See the history of this family, and of the junior branches which remained in England, in Burke's _English Commoners_, i. 484.]
[Footnote 37: ENGERAND DE L'AIGLE, appears to have been the son of Fulbert, the founder of the castle de l'Aigle, on the Rille, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Mortagne. He was killed in the pursuit after the battle of Hastings; but his children had Pevensey and large estates. In the Red book, 'Richardus de Aquila 5 mil. et dim. de fdo de Crepon in Cadomo;' and among the defaulters stands, 'Richerus de Aquila nisi pro fdo de Crepun.']
[Footnote 38: AIMERI viscount of THOUARS has appeared before.]
[Footnote 39: It is generally understood that not RICHARD D'AVRANCHES, in the Cotentin, (though living at the time), but his son HUGH LUPUS accompanied the conqueror; receiving in 1070 the earldom of Chester, to hold 'tam libere ad gladium sicut ipse rex tenebat Angliam per coronam.'
See _Ordericus Vitalis_, 787, and _Introd. Domesday_, i. 437. In the Red book, 'comes Cestriae 10 mil. de Sancto Severo et de Bregesard; et ad serv. suum 51 mil. et dim. et 4m. et 8m. Idem de fdo Morton,' In the inquest of Bayeux knights 'comes Cestriae tenet 5 mil. de episcopo fdum,' of which the particulars are given. Of Hugh Lupus _Gaimar_ draws a striking portrait: as well as of others of these fortunate leaders. In speaking of an enormous guard of honour that William kept about him when going from England to Normandy, he says;
Il les tenoit ne sai pur quoi Car nule guerre il n'avoit, Ne de nul horn ne se cremoit: Mes par sa grant n.o.bilite Avoit cele gent od soi mene.
Qe dirroie de ses barons?
Quieus homs estoit li quens Huons!
L'empereur de Lumbardie Ne menoit pas tiele compaignie Come il fesoit de gent privee.
Ja sa [tiel] meson ne tut vee A gentil home ne a franc.
Ewe en viver u en estanc Ert plus legier a espucher Que n'iert son beivre ne son manger.
Touz tens avoit richesce a.s.sez; Ja tant n'eust le jor donez Qe lendemain li sovenist, E q'autretant ne departist.
Conte de Cestre estoit clame; Od grant gent est au roi ale.]
[Footnote 40: LES BIARDS, canton d'Isigny, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Mortain.
William Avenel is probably meant, who in 1082 was a benefactor to the abbey of St. Pierre-de-la-Couture at Mans; _Gallia Christiana,_ ix.
Instr. 107. See the Avenels again below, and our note there.]
[Footnote 41: SUBLIGNY, near Avranches. There was a bishop of Avranches of this house in the twelfth century. Sublignys appear in Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset See M. de Gerville's _Recherches_, No. 83. In the Red book, 'Joannes de Soligneio 1 mil. et ad servitium suum 3 mil;' and 'in ballia de Tenerchebraio--Joannes de Solegneio 1 mil. de honore de Gilleb'vill. et sibi 4 mil.']
[Footnote 42: D'AUBIGNY, near Periers, in the Cotentin; where there are now two parishes, St. Martin and Christopher d'Aubigny. As to the chateau, and that of Lithaire, see M. de Gerville's _Recherches_, No.
49--36. Lithaire however appears not to have belonged to this family; see our note. Dugdale, Blomfield, and most of our genealogists are extremely inaccurate as to the early history of this family. Almost all state William d'Aubigny, or de Albineio, pincerna of Hen. I., who did not die till 1139, to have come with the conqueror in 1066; to have been _his_ butler, and to have received his estates from _him_. From contemporary doc.u.ments, particularly the charters of Lessay in the _Monasticon_ and _Gall. Christiana_, the known pedigree commences with a William d'Aubigny, or de Albini, who married the sister of the traitor Grimoult del Plesseiz; see the Bayeux Inquest, and our note p. 30. They had a son Roger, who married Amy Moubray, sister of Jeffery the bishop, and of Roger de Moubray. These had several children,--bom probably about or soon after the conquest,--namely William, pincerna of Hen. I., who married Maud Bigot, and was father of the first earl of Arundel; Richard, abbot of St. Albans (see _Mat. Paris_); Nigel, whose son took the name and estates of Moubray; Humphry; and Rualoc or Ralf. The subsequent pedigree of the Albini earls is correctly given by Mr.
Tierney in his _Hist. of Arundel_. Wace anachronizes in calling his d'Aubignie--boteillers. If one of the family was at Hastings, it must have been the eldest William or his son Roger. At _Domesday_, however, Nigel, younger son of Roger, was of age and a landholder; having perhaps succeeded to the English estates of his father or grandfather; probably both then dead, as they are not mentioned. William pincerna, his brother, (the founder of Wymondham), probably inherited the Norman estates, which were considerable; he appears to have had none in England, till for his services to Hen. I. he was enfeoffed, about 1106, of the barony of Buckenham, (see Heame's _Liber Niger_), to hold in grand serjeantry by the butlery; an office now discharged by the dukes of Norfolk his descendants, holders of part of the barony. If William the grandfather survived Roger, the confusion between the two Williams may have occasioned the errors of genealogists. In the Red book the earl of Arundel is a defaulter; and we find only his Bayeux fee, acquired by the marriage of his ancestor with Grimoult's sister; and 'Willus de Albigneio in Barbavill,' without further particulars.]
[Footnote 43: ROBERT, lord of VITRE or Vitry, in Brittany, was, according to the Breton historians, in William's expedition, and is probably here meant. There is, however, a Vitray-sous-l'Aigle, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Mortagne; and as the name occurs again below, it is probable that one at least does not refer to a Norman lord. In the Red book roll we find, 'Robertus de Vitreio medietatem de Ria in Baiocasino, et Trungeium et Caignoles et Duxeium in Boscagio.']
[Footnote 44: La.s.sY, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Vire. Walter de Lacy was the conqueror's attendant, and Ilbert de Lacy is also said to have been present. Roger, son of Walter also is in Domesday; _Introd. Dom._ i.
431, 432; ii. 345. Lacie occurs again below. In the Bayeux Inquest we find 'feodum de Lacey in Campellis (Campeaux in the Bocage) 2 mil. scil.
Guilleberti et Henrici.']
[Footnote 45: VAL DE SAIRE is the name of a district in the Cotentin, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Valognes; 'la tut dreit u Sarre en mer chiet;' _Wace_, i. 318.]
[Footnote 46: TRACY, in the arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Caen, where are still remains of the castle. It was probably Turgis de Tracy who was at the battle. _Orderic. Vit_. 532. In _Gallia Christ_, xi. Instrum. 107, we find in 1082 William and Gilbert de Tracy. A natural son of Hen. I. was afterwards called William de Tracy. Henry de Tracy received from Stephen the barony of Barnstaple. A.L.P. In the Red book, 'Turgillus de Traseio 2 mil. et ad servit. suum 8 mil.' He subsequently occurs as 'Turgis de Traceio,' besides 'Willmus de Traceio,' and 'Oliverus de Traceio.']
[Footnote 47: HUGH DE MONTFORT, noticed above.]
[Footnote 48: EPINAY is a common name in Normandy. M. Le Prevost thinks that Epinay-sur-Duclair, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Rouen, was meant here. Its lords appear in the charters of Jumieges. In the Bayeux inquest we have 'Enguerandus de Espineto tenet de Episcopo feodum v militum;' and this would rather lead us to look nearer Bayeux. It seems by Hardy's _Rot.
<script>