Share Bookmark
Baron William de Braose, III

Baron William de Braose, III[1]

Male 1153 - 1211  (58 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All

  • Name William de Braose  [2
    Prefix Baron 
    Suffix III 
    Birth 1153  Bramber, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4, 5, 6, 7
    Gender Male 
    Death 9 Aug 1211  Corbeil, Marne, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Burial 10 Aug 1211  St. Victor's Abbey, Paris, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 3 Siblings 
    Person ID I15101  Geneagraphie | Ahnen BvS
    Last Modified 19 Mar 2010 

    Father William II de Braose   d. 1192 
    Mother Bertha de Pitres,   b. 1130   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage Abt 1150 
    Family ID F5305  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Maud de St. Valerie,   b. 1155, Isleworth, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1210, Corfe Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years) 
    Marriage 1169 
    Children 
    +1. William de Braose, IV,   b. Abt 1175, Bramber, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Aug 1211, Corfe Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 36 years)
    +2. Reginald de Braose,   b. 1178, Bramber, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Jun 1228, Brecon, Brecknockshire, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 50 years)
     3. John de Braose
    +4. Maud de Braose   d. 1201
    +5. Bertha de Braose   d. Yes, date unknown
    +6. Margaret de Braiose,   b. Abt 1177, Abergavenny, Gwent Uwch Coed, Monmouthshire, Wales Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
     7. Eleonora de Braose
     8. Laurette de Braose,   b. 1176, Bramber, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Mar 1265-1266, Hackington (near Canterbury), Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 90 years)
     9. Bishop Giles de Braose   d. 17 Nov 1215, Gloucester Find all individuals with events at this location
     10. Roger de Braose
     11. Philip de Braose
     12. Thomas de Braose
     13. Walter de Braose
     14. Henry de Braose
     15. Bernard de Braose
     16. Flandrina de Braose
     17. Joan de Braose,   b. 1175, Bramber, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F5328  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 3 Mar 2021 

    Family 2 Beatrice de Vaux   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F21037  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2000 

  • Notes 
    • Lord Bramber 5th Baron. Lord of Limerick. Lord of Abergavenny. Lord of Brecknock & Upper Gwent.
      Owner of Bramber Castle, together with forty manors.

      William supported the claim of Arthur (son of King John's older brother Geoffrey who had died earlier) as the legitimate heir to the throne. Soon thereafter, John took William prisoner and for reasons not known, released him but remained dubious about his loyalty. When war with the Barons broke out in 1209, John immediately demanded the sons of William as hostages to assure his fidelity. When Maud made her insulting response to that demand, William was outlawed and his estates confiscated. He and Maud escaped to Ulster, Ireland.

      In 1210, John invaded Ireland & Matilda fled to Scotland w/ sons. A Scots Lord captured Matilda & children & gave them to John.

      Known for massacre of Welsh in his own hall aft inviting them in for a festival. Ruthless, unscrupulous, bloodthirsty & savage, with a suave veneer on top. Jan 1202-1203 John appt him keeper of his (John's) nephew Arthur, who was later murdered. Apr 1203 It is not known if de Braose or John himself did the murder. One of the few barons friendly both to John & Richard.

      William de Braose junior celebrated his new lordships in 1175 with a Christmas feast at Abergavenny castle. The princes and chieftains of Gwent were invited, including Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, lord of Upper Gwent and his son Gruffydd. Seisyll was the murderer of William's uncle Henry (FitzMiles)
      Those gathered in the great hall had recently met king Henry at Gloucester to pledge peace and fealty. The Welsh laid down their weapons for the feast but the drunken merry making came to a dramatic halt when William challenged them never again to bear arms in his domains. Seisyll indignantly refused. William's men took this as the signal to slaughter all his Welsh guests.
      The murder of William's uncle Henry had benefited the de Braoses well but it was savagely avenged. William pursued Seisyll's wife Gwladus and cut down the son she was protecting in her arms, seven year old Cadwaladr. Seisyll's lands were ravaged.
      Seven years later, Seisyll's surviving sons in turn avenged the massacre by burning most of Abergavenny castle to the ground. The keep held out, however, William retained his stronghold and an imposing new castle was built. This fourth lord of Bramber married a formidable woman, Maud de Saint Valery, sometimes called Matilda. She supported her husband's military ambitions and he put her in charge of Hay castle and surrounding lands. Welsh folklore portrays her as a giantess and a witch.
      Two bloody battles near "Matilda's castle", Painscastle, took place in 1198. Gwenwynwyn, prince of Powys, threatened the entire Welsh middle marches after the death of Lord Rhys. William de Braose hurried to defend Brecon while a terrified and unprepared force marched to intercept Gwenwynwyn as he swept towards Hay.
      Maud de Saint Valery appeared before the English army disguised as a nun. She was accompanied by a Welsh hermit from Llowes who assured the men that they should go into battle without fear. "And they believed him, as being a holy man, they did so, and in one day slew of the Welsh three thousand."
      William de Braose instigated another furious blood feud in his reprisals against Gwenwynwyn's campaign. He seized the lord of Llangorse, Trehearn Fychan, and bound him to the tail of a horse. To the shame and fury of the Welsh, he dragged the man through the town of Brecon then had him beheaded. The body was hung up by the feet to rot on a common gallows.
      Gwenwynwyn vowed revenge and returned to besiege "Matilda's castle". Maud held off the massive Welsh attack for three weeks until Norman reinforcements arrived. Welsh bards wrote mournfully of the three thousand seven hundred Welsh men who were slaughtered there.
      Bad blood between the de Braoses and the Welsh continued for generations.
      William de Braose was as god fearing as his ancestors, despite his savage reputation. Five years later he remembered the atrocity he committed against the Welsh princes and sought atonement by massively extending the church of Saint Mary de Haura in New Shoreham, Sussex. He later rebuilt or restored many of the churches within his Welsh domains. These included Saint Bridget's in Skenfrith, Saint Nicholas' in Grosmont, Saint John's in Brecon and Saint Mary's in Abergavenny.
      Gerald of Wales wrote a famous account of his Welsh tour during 1188. He met William de Braose in Brecon and described him as a pious man, riding about the town on his horse exchanging God's blessings with little children. Gerald also complimented William's wife Maud for her efficiency as a housekeeper. In fact, as archdeacon of Brecon, Gerald knew the family well.
      Some strange folk tales about Maud de Saint Valery have survived. One story calls her Moll Walby and tells how she built the castle of Hay on Wye, single handed in one night. She carried the stones in her apron but one lodged itself in her slipper. She flicked it out over the river Wye three miles away, where it survived the centuries as a nine foot tall standing stone with magical powers.
      Substantial remains of the de Braose castles can still be seen in the marches. The towns of Abergavenny, Hay and Brecon were each dominated by a massively fortified family residence. The armoured and mounted knights which clattered over the drawbridges were a persistent menace.
      A typical piece of folk lore begins two miles from Matilda's (or Pains) castle. The baron was returning with his men from a hunting expedition when they spotted a Welsh princess and her attendants bathing in a lake. William carried off the women and imprisoned them in the castle.
      The princess caught the attention of her grieving relatives by holding a family token over a candle at her dark prison window. William denied that he had taken the girl but Rhys ap Gruffydd launched a bloody attack on the castle and rescued her.
      The great lord Rhys of Deheubarth did lead a massive campaign in 1196, taking Matilda's castle, Builth, Radnor and others before his death in a terrible plague the following year. Perhaps there is some truth in the folk tale.
      Gerald, archdeacon of Brecon, toured Wales in 1188 with the archbishop of Canterbury gathering support for the crusades. His written account of the journey is a valuable snapshot of the times with some fascinating glimpses of the de Braoses.
      Three surviving versions of Gerald's travel diary each show a different treatment of William de Braose. The first describes the barbaric murder of the Welsh princes at Abergavenny, though Gerald leaves some doubt as to the extent of William's guilt. By the time of the second version, and the death of some key figures in the story, William had deeply impressed Gerald as a friend and benefactor. Now we learn how William was powerless to prevent a wicked plot inspired by Henry II from taking place under his own roof.
      Ranulf Poer, sheriff of Hereford was at the feast. He was responsible for the killings and had acted on the king's secret orders, including the removal of William to ensure he could not restrain his men. This account tells how William was tossed into the castle moat by the sheriff's carefully placed impostors. After the massacre William was dragged out of the water and set upon, but rescued without injury by his own men. Seisyll's sons later murdered Ranulf in revenge.
      William's worldly tales of skirmishes with Welsh bowmen were eagerly repeated by Gerald. Equally, he was anxious to paint William as a picture of piety. His scribes, we are told, had tedious work adding extensive wishes for God's blessing at the end of every letter. William gave them an extra gold piece each year for their efforts. "By the grace of God" and "In God's name" were favourite phrases of both William and his wife. Her virtues were "rare among women".
      Gerald's fawning comments may have been influenced by his dangerous neighbour's increasing power. By the time his career ambitions were past, Gerald wrote more impartially that only God could judge the fate of such men's souls. Nonetheless, William gave flattering endorsements of Gerald's books and there seems to have been a real mutual affection. In a letter to pope Innocent, Gerald could not resist repeating a compliment on his good looks paid to him by Maud de Saint Valery.
      An alternative portrait of William is given in another of Gerald's stories. The priest of the St Nicholas chapel in Brecon castle had three disturbing visions. Each time he saw a venerable old man who warned that William de Braose had kept for his own use property granted to the chapel for charitable purposes.
      The priest went to Gerald, who interpreted the vision. It was saint Augustine foretelling the fall of William de Braose: "What is not surrendered to Christ is removed by taxation and what you refuse to a priest you will hand over to a godless soldier." The godless soldier turned out to be king John.
      William was sheriff of Hereford under king Richard from 1192 to 1199. Although not in the Holy Land, he fought alongside the Lion Heart in 1195. He was also at Chalus in 1199 when Richard received his fatal arrow wound. On his death bed Richard agreed to appoint Giles de Braose as bishop of Hereford.
      At this time, we have a glimpse of how William might have appeared to his contemporaries: courageous, ambitious, astute and politically sophisticated. He was first to reach John with the news of Richard's death and was instrumental in securing John's succession.
      William then accompanied king John, fighting in Normandy. In 1202 William de Braose captured John's sixteen year old nephew Arthur, count of Brittany. Arthur was beseiging John's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, at Mirebeau. The young count had allied with king Philip of France to contest John's succession. John was elated at the victory and ordered that the prisoner should be castrated and blinded.
      William objected, threatening to return to England, but John begged him to stay loyal.
      Arthur escaped John's order thanks to the compassion of his jailers.
      They put about a false story that their young prisoner had died. Before long Arthur really had disappeared, however, outraging those who suspected his wicked uncle John.
      Some held William personally responsible. Others said he received the king's bribes to keep silent and his greed degenerated to blackmail. Suspicion focused on July 1203, when William received the city of Limerick and became one of king John's most powerful companions. William, already a royal favourite, had gained north Munster in Ireland two years before Arthur's death. Henry II once granted it to his uncle Philip de Braose. John demanded huge fees for these lands, but William probably never intended to pay.
      In October 1202 John granted William the custody of Glamorgan castle and four months later he received Gower. In 1206 the de Braoses' power increased still further. William received the "three castles", Whitecastle, Grosmont and Skenfrith, but again for a high fee. The king also re-appointed him sheriff of Hereford plus justice itinerant of Gloucester.

      King John's troubles multiplied when he lost Normandy, then in 1207 when the pope imposed Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury. John's resistance provoked a papal interdict on England and the people suffered the distress of being unable to bury the dead, receive mass or confess their sins. Many nobles, the archbishop and several prominent churchmen, including Giles de Braose, bishop of Hereford, fled to France where king Philip encouraged the exiles in their intrigues against John.
      King John's reign was a continuous struggle to overcome the legacy of Richard, who drained the treasury to pay for his exploits abroad. John exacted every toll, tax or fee that his sharp wits could conjure up, to the outrage of his barons. As John fought and harassed his opposition, the costs of war increased the tax burden even more.
      The church gave moral justification to those who opposed him and bishop Giles de Braose was prominent among them.
      The king started to demand hostages from his barons. Hostage taking was a common royal tactic to subdue any dangerous intent and encourage loyalty. Disobedience or an armed attack put the hostages at risk of mutilation or slaughter.
      Maud de Saint Valery spat a defiant insult at the king's messengers. She would not hand her sons over to John, the murderer of his own nephew Arthur! This stinging challenge clinched the de Braoses' fate. William de Braose had received royal favour but his insubordinate wife had voiced a deadly accusation. Few would doubt that it was the truth. Her husband was in a position to know. Giles' open hostility seemed all the more dangerous.
      The king's favour turned icy cold. First John called in William's debt of 5,000 marks for Limerick. He refused to pay. Then at a decisive meeting in Hereford John confiscated Brecon, Hay and Radnor, also demanding three of William's grandsons as hostages, to be held until payment was made. The children were William, son of Reginald, and Philip and Giles, sons of William, the de Braose heir.
      The baron agreed to John's terms, then immediately launched a rebellion with his sons Reginald and William. He failed to take his lost castles but burned and pillaged Leominster. John dispossessed and outlawed William in 1208.
      Maud repented and tried in vain to placate the king. Among her peace offerings, she sent a herd of 400 cows and a magnificent bull to the queen. All of them were milk white except for their red ears.
      Terrified by the king's increasing fury, Maud and William fled to Ireland with their family. They sought safety with the powerful Marshal family then the de Lacy brothers, lords of Meath and Ulster. Walter de Lacy of Meath had married their daughter Margaret in 1200.
      In Wales, Gwenwynwyn of Powys and Llywelyn of Gwynedd were swift to take advantage of the vast power vacuum caused by the de Braoses' fall. King John dealt brutally with their rebellion in 1208. He moved to invade Ireland in 1210 and expelled the de Lacys for harbouring the de Braose family.
      William made a desperate return to Wales and recruited Llywelyn to his cause. They fought side by side until John returned to crush the alliance.
      The last Welsh princes to submit to John's humiliating peace terms were Owain and Rhys of Deheubarth, grandsons of William de Braose through his daughter Matilda's marriage to Gruffydd ap Rhys.
      Maud and her family were beseiged at Meath but they managed to escape and headed for Scotland. At Galloway Duncan of Carrick captured the fugitives and handed them over to king John. Maud tried again to buy back the king's favour with 50,000 marks (which she didn't have). Meanwhile, her husband arranged the safe keeping of their eldest grandson John in Gower.
      William de Braose narrowly escaped king John's pursuit. He dressed himself as a beggar and fled to France via his home port of Shoreham. John's fury turned murderous. He threw Maud and her son William into Windsor castle. Others in the terrorised family survived captivity but William, the heir, and his mother starved to death in a Windsor dungeon.
      William de Braose fanned the flames of rebellion when he reached Paris by revealing the deadly secret which had prompted his promotion and his fall. He told king Philip how John had murdered prince Arthur. The story spread like wildfire. John killed Arthur with his own hands during a drunken rage and threw the body in the river Seine.
      William died at Corbeil within a year, in 1211. Some chroniclers report that he was killed in a duel. If this is true, it raises the possibility that he resorted to the tournament and his skills in combat to earn a living and perhaps a reprieve for his family. William had accumulated more enemies than most in his eventful career. It may be that one of them simply took advantage of his vulnerability in exile.

      Giles de Braose pledged to seek justice and revenge for his ruined family, supported by his brother Reginald.

      A memory of the terrible fall of the de Braose family survives in Bramber. The figures of two children have been seen in the village on Christmas eve running hand in hand along the main street, pale and thin, as though fleeing from the wrath of king John.

      The king was quick to distribute the de Braose lands in return for support in the barons' wars but he kept Bramber for himself. John enjoyed hunting at Knepp and there are several royal letters addressed from Bramber.

      In 1212 King John prepared a massive army to crush Llywelyn once and for all.
      But the plan came to an abrupt halt. The king was shaken by rumours of a plot inspired in France. His life would be threatened by betrayal during the coming battle. In a stunning political somersault, John wrong-footed his enemies by yielding to the pope at last and surrendering England as a fief to Rome.
      Pope Innocent III was more than pleased to accept John's subjection, along with large sums of money. The papal interdict and John's excommunication would be lifted. Now an attack on John would be an affront to the pope himself. The exiled churchmen would return, including bishop Giles de Braose, to absolve his sins. In reality, of course, John's churchmen loathed the deal and their renewed hatred sealed his reputation as England's most wicked king.
      John persistently denied the murder of prince Arthur. He calculated that his new found papal protection would thwart the efforts of Philip of France to bring him to trial. But Margam abbey recorded an ugly story for posterity informed, perhaps, by their patron William de Braose:
      After king John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some time, at length in the castle of Rouen after dinner on the Thursday before Easter when he was drunk and possessed by the Devil, he slew him with his own hand, and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine. It was discovered by a fisherman in his net, and being dragged to the bank and recognised, was taken for secret burial . . .
      The old legend that John and his family were "the Devil's brood", literally spawned by the Devil, had never seemed so true.
      Disenchanted clerics also told another horror story.
      Maud de Braose and her son had been shut up in a dungeon with only a bacon and some oat bread to sustain them. After eleven days the prison cell was opened and both were found dead. William sat upright on a chair, his face turned to the wall. The body of his mother embraced her child. She seemed to have died kissing his cheeks but closer inspection revealed that they had been chewed away.
      John recognised that the de Braose stories were harmful to his cause. He published his own version of William de Braose's fall, to discredit the family for their rebellion.
      He had given them every chance to settle with him for Munster and Limerick but their promises of payment were never honoured. Therefore, "according to the law and custom of England", William de Braose was outlawed.
      Maud de Braose had clearly maddened the king but the true cause of his fury and her ultimate fate received no mention. The testimony was witnessed by several barons, half of whom would later appear as leaders of the rebellion against John in 1215.

  • Sources 
    1. [S190] Peter Barns-Graham, British Pedigrees, (Stirnet), Braose of Bramber, Braose of Braose, Braose of Brecknock, Braose of Gower, Brewes (Breuse) of Stinton, Brewose (Braose) of Tetbury, Braose (Brewse) of Westneston (Wiston) (Reliability: 2).

    2. [S306] Peter C. Bartrum, Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts, (Cardiff, 1960 ,).

    3. [S11] Frederick Lewis Weis, Magna Charta Sureties, 1215, (4th ed, Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore , , Repository: J.H. Garner).

    4. [S74] George Edward Cokayne, Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom , (St Catherine Press, London ).
      St. Catherine Press, 29 Great Queen St, Kingsway, W.C. 1959.Repository: Mid-Continent Library Genealogy Reference section, Independence, MO

    5. [S35] Vernon M. Norr, Some Early English Pedigrees.

    6. [S34] Gary Boyd Roberts, Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants, (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1993).

    7. [S10] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America bef 1760, (7th ed Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore 1992 , , Repository: J.H. Garner).



Home Page |  What's New |  Most Wanted |  Surnames |  Photos |  Histories |  Documents |  Cemeteries |  Places |  Dates |  Reports |  Sources