Roesia de Verdun | |
|---|---|
 Tomb effigy of Roesia de Verdun, now in the Church of St John the Baptist, Belton | |
| Born | Roesia de Verdun c. 1204 |
| Died | 10 February 1247 Grace Dieu |
Roesia de Verdun (c. 1204 - 10 February 1247), also spelled Rohese and Rose, was a Norman femme sole and one of the most powerful women of Ireland in the 13th century.
Very little is known about the early life of Roesia de Verdun before her marriage. de Verdun was the daughter of Nicholas de Verdun of Alton, Staffordshire and Clementia, daughter and heir of Philip le Boteler, through whom Clementia brought the estates of Stoke Farthing and Wilsford to the de Verduns. [1] She was also the widow of William Perceval de Somery. The agreement to marry occurred on 4 September 1225. She was the second wife of Theobald le Botiller. As his second wife her five children were not heirs to his lands but they were eligible to be heirs to hers so she and they retained her family name.
When her husband died at Poitou in 1230 during the English invasion of France, de Verdun claimed her inheritances and paid the taxes to be allowed remain unmarried. She applied to be a femme sole and retain her independence. The king authorised Maurice FitzGerald to grant to her her lands in April 1233. She built Castleroche, seven miles northwest of Dundalk, in 1236 to defend her lands. She gained a strong and powerful reputation. However she was also very pious. de Verdun founded the Augustinian priory of Grace Dieu Priory in Leicestershire in 1239. As time went on however the pressure to marry again increased until de Verdun decided to become a nun. By 1242, she was a member of the community at Grace Dieu. Her son inherited fully in 1247 when she died. Though originally buried at the priory, in the aftermath of the dissolution of the monasteries, the villagers of Belton reburied her in their parish church. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
After the building of her castle on the edge of the Irish frontier de Verdun garnered a violent reputation. de Verdun was said to have been a ferocious fighter and wore body armour. Stories were told of her riding into battle against her enemies, the O'Hanlons. There were also fictional tales around the building of the castle. She was said to have ordered the master mason thrown from one of the castle windows to prevent his working for anyone else, causing it to be known as the ‘murder window’. [2] [3] [4] de Verdun is one of the women of Through Her Eyes by Clodagh Finn. [8] [9]
| Authority control databases: People |
|---|
Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore was the second son and eventual heir of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore. His mother was Maud de Braose.
Theobald le Botiller, also known as Theobald Butler, 2nd Baron Butler was the son of Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler and Maud le Vavasour. He had livery of his lands on 18 July 1222.
de Lacy is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first recorded for Hugh de Lacy (1020–1085). His sons, Walter and Ilbert, left Normandy and travelled to England with William the Conqueror. The awards of land by the Conqueror to the de Lacy sons led to two distinct branches of the family: the northern branch, centred on Blackburnshire and west Yorkshire was held by Ilbert's descendants; the southern branch of Marcher Lords, centred on Herefordshire and Shropshire, was held by Walter's descendants.
Walter de Lacy was lord of Meath in Ireland. He was also a substantial land owner in Weobley, Herefordshire, in Ludlow, Shropshire, in Ewyas Lacy in the Welsh Marches, and several lands in Normandy. He was the eldest son of Hugh de Lacy, a leading Cambro-Norman baron in the Norman invasion of Ireland, and Rohese of Monmouth.
Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville, Countess of March, Baroness Mortimer, also known as Jeanne de Joinville, was the daughter of Sir Piers de Geneville and Joan of Lusignan. She inherited the estates of her grandparents, Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville, and Maud de Lacy, Baroness Geneville. She was one of the wealthiest heiresses in the Welsh Marches and County Meath, Ireland. She was the wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, the de facto ruler of England from 1327 to 1330. She succeeded as suo jure 2nd Baroness Geneville on 21 October 1314 upon the death of her grandfather, Geoffrey de Geneville.
The office of Lord High Constable of Ireland was used during coronations of the monarch of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1800. The office was abolished after the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922.
Castle Roche is a Norman castle located some 10 km north-west of Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. It was the seat of the de Verdun family, who built the castle in 1236 AD.
Pontefract Priory was a Cluniac monastery dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, founded about 1090 by Robert de Lacy, 2nd Baron of Pontefract, and located in Yorkshire, England. It existed until the dissolution of the monasteries. The Church and buildings have been completely destroyed, but the site is still indicated by the name of Monk-hill.
Maud 'Matilda' le Vavasour, Baroness Butler was an Anglo-Norman heiress and the wife of Fulk FitzWarin, a medieval landed gentleman who was forced to become an outlaw in the early 13th century, who is allegedly linked to the tale of Robin Hood and its origins.
Isabel de Verdun, Baroness Ferrers of Groby was an heiress, who was related to the English royal family as the eldest daughter of Elizabeth de Clare, herself a granddaughter of King Edward I of England. When she was a child, Isabel was imprisoned in Barking Abbey, along with her mother and half-sister, after her stepfather had joined the Earl of Lancaster's ill-fated rebellion against King Edward II. Her husband was Henry Ferrers, 2nd Baron Ferrers of Groby.
Maud de Lacy was an English noblewoman, being the eldest child of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln, and the wife of Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester.
Maud de Lacy, Baroness Geneville was a Norman-Irish noblewoman and wealthy heiress who inherited half the estates of her grandfather Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath, upon his death in 1241. The lordships of Trim and Ludlow passed to her second husband Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville by right of his marriage to her; although she helped to rule and administer the estates in an equal partnership. She is sometimes referred to as Matilda de Lacy.
Margaret de Braose, Lady of Trim, was an Anglo-Welsh noblewoman, the daughter of Marcher Lord William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and the legendary Maud de St. Valéry, who was left to starve to death by orders of King John of England. Margaret founded a religious house, the Hospital of St. John in her mother Maud's memory. Margaret was the wife of Walter de Lacy, Lord of Trim Castle in County Meath, Ireland, and Ludlow Castle in Shropshire.
Eleanor de Braose was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman and a wealthy co-heiress of her father, who was the powerful Marcher lord William de Braose, and of her mother, Eva Marshal, a co-heiress of the Earls of Pembroke. Her husband was Humphrey de Bohun, heir of the 2nd Earl of Hereford, by whom she had children, including Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford and Gilbert de Bohun.
The Priory of St Mary, Huntingdon was an Augustinian Priory in Huntingdonshire, England.
Campsey Priory was a religious house of Augustinian canonesses at Campsea Ashe, Suffolk, about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) southeast of Wickham Market. It was founded shortly before 1195 on behalf of two of his sisters by Theobald de Valoines, who, with his wife Avice, had previously founded Hickling Priory in Norfolk for male canons in 1185. Both houses were suppressed in 1536.
The Lordship of Meath was an extensive seigneurial liberty in medieval Ireland that was awarded to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry II of England by the service of fifty knights and with almost royal authority. The Lordship was roughly co-extensive with the medieval kingdom of Meath. At its greatest extent, it included all of the modern counties of Fingal, Meath, Westmeath as well as parts of counties Cavan, Kildare, Longford, Louth and Offaly. The Lordship or fiefdom was imbued with privileges enjoyed in no other Irish liberty, including the four royal pleas of arson, forestalling, rape, and treasure trove.
William Devereux (1219–1265) was an important Marcher Lord who held Lyonshall Castle controlling a strategically vital approach to the border of Wales. The castle's significance was heightened by the rebellion of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. With strong family ties to the politically powerful families of Cantilupe and Giffard, his support was strongly sought after by Henry III and Simon de Montfort throughout the Second Barons' War.
Theobald de Verdun (1278–1316) was the second and eldest surviving son of Theobald de Verdun, 1st Baron Verdun, of Alton, Staffordshire, and his wife Margery de Bohun. The elder Theobald was the son of John de Verdon, otherwise Le Botiller, of Alton, Staffordshire, who was killed in Ireland in 1278. John, in turn, was the son of Theobald le Botiller and Roesia de Verdun. Roesia was the daughter of Nicholas de Verdun, who was the son of Bertram III de Verdun. When King Henry II of England invaded Ireland in 1171, this Bertram was appointed Seneschal for the undertaking, that is to say, he was responsible for provisions and stores. The Verdun family became major landowners in Ireland, especially in County Louth and County Meath.
Sir John de Verdon was the 2nd son and eventual heir of Sir Thomas de Verdon, Lord of Brixworth in Northamptonshire and Bressingham in Norfolk, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Bewes otherwise Bogo de Knovill, 1st Baron Knovill. His main residence was initially at Bressingham, then later at Martlesham in Suffolk. In 1324, he was returned as a knight to attend the Great Council at Westminster. He is cited as being on the King's service in Aquitaine in June 1324. He was summoned to Parliament as a Baron by Writ 1331/1332, 1335/1336 and to the Great Councils in 1342 and 1347. In 1346, during the Crecy campaign, he served in the 1st Division under Prince of Wales 'the Black Prince', who gave him a destrier called Grisel de Coloign. However, illness necessitated his return to England sometime before 12 January 1346/7. In 1369 he attended Parliament as a Knight of Northamptonshire, although he had been created a Baron before then. He married firstly Agnes, and secondly Maud, the widow of Ralph de Crophull of Bonnington, Nottinghamshire, whose son Sir John de Crophull married Margery, daughter of Sir John de Verdon's kinsman, Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Baron Verdun of Alton Castle.
