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Birth:          ABT 1153 Bramber, Sussex, England
Death:          9 Aug 1211 Corbeil, Marne, France
Burial:         10 Aug 1211 France

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose,_4th_Lord_of_Bramber
William de Braose, (or William de Briouze), 4th Lord of Bramber (1144/1153 – 9 August 
1211), court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also 
Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick, 
Glamorgan, Skenfrith, Briouze in Normandy, Grosmont, and White Castle.
Lineage[edit]

William was the most notable member of the de Braose dynasty. His steady rise and 
sudden fall at the hands of King John is often taken as an example of that king's 
arbitrary and capricious behaviour towards his barons.

William was the son of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber and his wife Bertha of 
Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres, (born 1130) daughter of Miles Fitz Walter, 
Earl of Hereford and his wife, Sibyl, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarche. From his 
father he inherited the Rape of Bramber, in Sussex, and through his mother he 
inherited a large estate in the Welsh Marches area of modern-day Monmouthshire.

Abergavenny Massacre[edit]

In 1175, William de Braose carried out the Abergavenny Massacre, luring three Welsh 
princes and other Welsh leaders to their deaths. His principal antagonist was a Seisyll 
ap Dyfnwal, of Castell Arnallt near Llanover in the valley of the River Usk near 
Abergavenny, whom he blamed for the death of his uncle Henry. After having invited 
the Welsh leaders to a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle under the pretence of 
peace and the start of a new era at the end of the year (a traditional time for settling 
outstanding differences amongst the Welsh), he had them murdered by his men. This 
resulted in great hostility against him among the Welsh, who named him the "Ogre of 
Abergavenny". Gerald of Wales exonerates him and emphasises the religious piety of 
de Braose and his wife and de Braose generosity to the priories of Abergavenny and 
Brecon. William de Braose did however reputedly hunt down and kill Seisyll ap 
Dyfnwal's surviving son, Cadwaladr, a boy of seven.

In 1192 William de Braose was made sheriff of Herefordshire, a post he held until 
1199. In 1196 he was made Justice Itinerant for Staffordshire. In 1195 he 
accompanied King Richard I of England to Normandy and in 1199, William de Braose 
fought beside Richard at Châlus, where the king was mortally wounded. He then 
supported King John's claim to the throne of England, and represented the new king, 
making various royal grants.

The disappearance of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany[edit]

In 1203, William de Braose was put in charge of Arthur of Brittany,[a] whom he had 
personally captured the previous year at the Battle of Mirebeau. William was 
suspected of involvement in Arthur's disappearance and death, although no concrete 
evidence ever came to light. There is somewhat better evidence that he at least knew 
the truth of the matter. William was in attendance with John in Normandy at the time of 
Arthur of Brittany's imprisonment and it was alleged that Arthur suffered the same fate 
as the Welsh princes at William's hand, although this has never been proven. Arthur's 
death remains a mystery. After Arthur disappeared, De Braose served in the war of 
1204 against King Philip II of France in France.

Royal favourite[edit]

He was greatly favoured by King John early in his reign. John granted him all that he 
might conquer from the Welsh in Radnorshire, gave him lordship over Limerick in 
Ireland (save for the city itself), possession of Glamorgan castle, and the Lordship of 
Gower with its several castles.

In early 1200, King John deprived Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler of all his offices 
and lands in Ireland because of his irregularities as sheriff. His lands were not restored 
until January 1202.[1] A manuscript in the National Library of Ireland points to William 
as the agent of his restoration:


"Grant by William de Braosa, (senior) to Theobald Walter (le Botiller) the burgh of 
Kildelon (Killaloe) ... the cantred of Elykaruel (the baronies of Clonlisk and Ballybritt, 
Co. Offaly), Eliogarty, Ormond, Ara and Oioney, etc. 1201."[2]

"Elykaruel" refers to the Gaelic tuath of "Ely O'Carroll", which straddled the southern 
part of County Offaly and the northern part of Tipperary (at Ikerrin). The other 
cantreds named are probably the modern baronies of Eliogarty, Ormond Upper, Ormond 
Lower and Owney and Arra in County Tipperary.

In 1206, after his service in France, King John gave William de Braose the three great 
neighbouring trilateral castles of Gwent (Skenfrith Castle, Grosmont Castle, and White 
Castle). These have been interpreted as bribes encouraging silence on the demise of 
Arthur, seen by many as a rightful heir to the throne occupied by John of England.

At this point only an earldom separated him from the greatest in England.

Royal persecution and death in exile[edit]

Soon after this, William de Braose fell out of favour with King John of England. The 
precise reasons remain obscure. King John cited overdue monies that de Braose owed 
the Crown from his estates, but the King's actions went far beyond what would be 
necessary to recover the debt. He distrained (seized) de Braose's English estates in 
Sussex and Devon, and sent a force to invade Wales to seize the de Braose domains 
there. Beyond that, he sought de Braose's wife, Maud de St. Valery, who, the story 
goes, had made no secret of her belief that King John had murdered Arthur of Brittany. 
[b]

De Braose fled to Ireland, then returned to Wales as King John had him hunted in 
Ireland. In Wales, William allied himself to the Welsh Prince Llywelyn the Great, and 
helped him in his rebellion against King John.

In 1210, William de Braose fled Wales disguised as a beggar, to France. His wife and 
eldest son were captured. William died the following year in August 1211 at Corbeil, 
France. He was buried in the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris by a fellow exile and 
vociferous opponent of King John, Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
His hopes to return alive to Wales and for a burial in Brecon were to be unfulfilled. 
William's wife, Maud, and eldest son, William, once captured, were allegedly murdered 
by King John, possibly starved to death while incarcerated at Windsor Castle and 
Corfe Castle in 1210.

While William had aroused the jealousy of the other barons during his rise, the 
arbitrary and violent manner of his fall very probably discomfited them and played a 
role in the Baronial uprisings of the next decade. The historian Sidney Painter, in his 
biography of King John, called it "the greatest mistake John made during his reign, as 
the King revealed to his Barons once and for all his capacity for cruelty."

The de Braose lineage[edit]

William de Braose's eldest son, William, married Maud (Matilda) de Clare (ca. 1184–
1213), the daughter of Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford. This younger William 
was captured with his mother and starved to death in 1210. He had fathered four 
sons, John, Giles, Philip and Walter and although they were also held in prison, they 
were released in 1218. John, the eldest, was said to have been brought up secretly, in 
Gower, by a Welsh ally or retainer. On his release he came under the care of his uncle 
Giles de Braose. John made a claim to being the rightful heir of the de Braose lands 
and titles and although the courts did not find for him, his other uncle Reginald de 
Braose was able to cede by a legal convention the Baronies of both Gower and 
Bramber to him for a fee. This established John's branch of the family and positioned it 
for survival at least or, at best, an opportunity for continued future power and 
influence.

Later dynasty[edit]

The middle son, Giles de Braose, exiled in France until 1213, was Bishop of Hereford 
from 1200 until his death in 1215. He made peace with King John and agreed terms for 
regaining de Braose lands in 1215 but had also made alliances with the Welsh leader 
Llywelyn the Great. He died in 1215 before he could come into the lands.

William's third son, Reginald de Braose reacquired his father's lands and titles for 
himself through simply seizing them back by force following the death of Giles. 
Reginald did not actually come to terms with the Crown until 1217 and the new, young 
King Henry III of England, after the death of King John. This, in turn, aroused the 
anger of Llywelyn the Great who had an understanding with Giles de Braose and the 
seeming duplicity caused the Welsh to attack de Braose lands in Brecon and 
Abergavenny and Gower. Abergavenny Castle had to be rebuilt as a result. Reginald 
de Braose died in 1228.

William's eldest daughter Matilda (also called Maud) married a prominent Welsh prince, 
Gruffydd ap Rhys II of Deheubarth. Another daughter, Margaret, married Walter de 
Lacy, Lord of Meath in Ireland and himself another powerful Marcher Lord. [ There 
seem to be some confusion with Matilde on who her father is re Professor Thomas 
Jones Pierce, M.A., F.S.A., (1905-1964), Aberystwyth. she is the daughter of William 
Braose and Bertha Hereford the father of this William ]

Fiction[edit]

The story of the death of Maud de St. Valery and the conflict of her family with John 
Lackland is covered in several novels, notably Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine. 
Erskine describes the life of Maud by sending a woman of the 20th century by 
psychological regression back into the 12th century.

Parents
DE BRAOSE William (ABT 1115 - ABT 1192)
DE GLOUCESTER Bertha (ABT 1130 - )

Siblings
DE BRAOSE Maude (ABT 1146 - )
DE BRAOSE Sybil (ABT 1147 - AFT 5 Feb 1228)
DE BRAOSE Bertha (1151 - )
DE BRAOSE William (ABT 1153 - 9 Aug 1211)

Marriage To DE ST. VALERY Maud (Mathilda) (ABT 1155 - 1210)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE ST. VALERY Bernald IV (ABT 1117 - )
____ Matilda (ABT 1128 - )

Children by DE ST. VALERY Maud (Mathilda) ABT 1155 - 1210
DE BRAOSE William (ABT 1175 - 1210)
DE BRAOSE Margaret (ABT 1177 - AFT 1255)
DE BRAOSE Reginald (ABT 1178 - 9 Jun 1228)
DE BRAOSE Leuca (ABT 1181 - 1236)

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