Sybil (wife of Pain fitzJohn)

Last updated

Sybil was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman in 12th-century England. Her parentage is unclear, but her first marriage to Pain fitzJohn is well-attested. Through her marriage, Sybil transferred lands in several shires to her husband, including lands around Ludlow Castle and the castle itself. After Pain's death in 1137, Sybil attempted to retain control of Ludlow and her lands but in 1139 King Stephen of England married her to Josce de Dinan, who died in 1166. Sybil had two daughters with Pain and is probably the mother of Josce's two daughters also. Sybil's marriage to Josce, and his control of Ludlow in right of his wife forms the background to a medieval Welsh romance, Fouke le Fitz Waryn .

Contents

Parentage

Historians disagree about Sybil's parentage. One theory, given in the entry for her first husband in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that Sybil was the niece of Hugh de Lacy. [1]

Another theory, coming from the Complete Peerage , states that Sybil was the daughter of Geoffrey Talbot and Talbot's wife Agnes, who was probably the daughter of Walter de Lacy, Hugh's father. [2] [lower-alpha 1] Yet another theory, put forth by historian Katharine Keats-Rohan, states Sybil was the daughter of Hugh de Lacy. [6] [lower-alpha 2]

Marriage

Sybil married, first, Pain fitzJohn, [11] a marriage that took place around 1115. [1] Through Sybil, Pain acquired a number of holdings around Ludlow Castle, [12] as well as control of the castle itself. [13] Ludlow was an important strategic stronghold which controlled part of the Welsh Borders. [14] Sybil also brought her husband lands in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. [10]

Both King Henry I and King Stephen recognized Pain's right to his wife's lands. Sybil had inherited lands that originally had been held by her kinsman Roger de Lacy, who had been banished from England in 1095 and his English estates confiscated; he had though retained his properties in Normandy. Roger's English possessions were given to his brother Hugh de Lacy, from whom Sybil had inherited them. [10]

On Roger's death his son Gilbert inherited the lands in Normandy, and pressed his claim to the family's former English estates. Coplestone-Crow notes that there was uncertainty hanging over the inheritance, and accounted for one reason why Sybil's husband worked to secure more lands around Ludlow. [12]

Sybil was not the only recipient of Hugh de Lacy's largesse; some went to Josce de Dinan and some to Miles of Gloucester. [9]

Widowhood

Pain died on 10 July 1137 and was buried in Gloucester Abbey. [1] Sybil retained control of Ludlow Castle until the middle of 1139, when she was forced to surrender it to King Stephen after a siege. [15] Stephen then married Sybil to Josce de Dinan, [16] probably because he felt that Josce trustworthy enough to control the castle. [15]

Dinan thus acquired control of Ludlow Castle in right of his wife, setting up the background to Gilbert de Lacy's attempts to seize Ludlow from Dinan on which the medieval Welsh romance work Fouke le Fitz Waryn is based. [16] Josce, however, rebelled against Stephen and fortified Ludlow against the king. [17] Josce died in 1166. [18]

Children

Sybil had two daughters, Cecily and Agnes, with Pain. [6] The two girls married five times in their lives; [1] Cecily's three marriages failed to produce any direct heirs. [19] Cecily was first married to Roger, the son of Miles of Gloucester. [1] This alliance had been arranged by Cecily's father and the marriage contract specified that Roger would inherit all of Pain's lands, but at Pain's death the marriage had still not been formally contracted. In December 1137, King Stephen confirmed the terms of the settlement. [3] Stephen also settled the bulk of Pain's lands on Cecily, which led to disturbances and a minor war among disappointed claimants. [20]

Agnes first married Warin de Munchensy and then Haldenald de Bidun. She died sometime after 1185 when she was noted as a widow. [2] Presumably Sybil is the mother of Josce's two daughters – Sibil, who married Hugh de Pulgenet and died in 1212, and Hawise who married Fulk FitzWarin, who died in 1197. [18]

In 1199, Sibil and Hawise petitioned the king regarding the ownership of the town and castle of Ludlow but were turned down. [21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Other historians agreeing with this are Bruce Coplestone-Crow [3] [4] and David Crouch. [5]
  2. ↑ Also shared by historians Judith Green, [7] Paul Dalton, [8] Brock Holden, [9] and W. E. Wightman. [10]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mason "Pain fitz John (d. 1137)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed 28 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 Cokayne Complete PeerageXII/2 pp. 270–271
  3. 1 2 Coplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle" Shropshire History and Archaeology pp. 171–172
  4. ↑ Coplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle" Shropshire History and Archaeology p. 179
  5. ↑ Crouch Reign of King Stephen p. 79 footnote 21
  6. 1 2 Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 919
  7. ↑ Green Henry I p. 133
  8. ↑ Dalton "Eustace Fitz John" Speculum p. 360
  9. 1 2 Holden Lords of the Central Marches pp. 17–18
  10. 1 2 3 Wightman Lacy Family p. 175
  11. ↑ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 538
  12. 1 2 Coplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle", Shropshire History and Archaeology, p. 178
  13. ↑ Green Henry I p. 174
  14. ↑ Crouch Reign of King Stephen p. 102 and footnote 55
  15. 1 2 Crouch Reign of King Stephen p. 102
  16. 1 2 Coplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle" Shropshire History and Archaeology p. 181
  17. ↑ Chibnall Empress Matilda pp. 123–124
  18. 1 2 Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 434
  19. ↑ Newman Anglo-Norman Nobility, pp. 172–173
  20. ↑ Green Aristocracy of Norman England, p. 381
  21. ↑ Coplestone-Crow "The End of the Anarchy to the de Genevilles" Ludlow Castle: Its History & Buildings, pp. 36–37

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludlow Castle</span> Medieval castle in Shropshire, England

Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy after the Norman Conquest and was one of the first stone castles to be built in England. During the civil war of the 12th century the castle changed hands several times between the de Lacys and rival claimants, and was further fortified with a Great Tower and a large outer bailey. In the mid-13th century, Ludlow was passed on to Geoffrey de Geneville, who rebuilt part of the inner bailey, and the castle played a part in the Second Barons' War. Roger Mortimer acquired the castle in 1301, further extending the internal complex of buildings. Richard, Duke of York, inherited the castle in 1425, and it became an important symbol of Yorkist authority during the Wars of the Roses. When Richard's son, Edward IV, seized the throne in 1461 it passed into the ownership of the Crown. Ludlow Castle was chosen as the seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches, effectively acting as the capital of Wales, and it was extensively renovated throughout the 16th century. By the 17th century the castle was luxuriously appointed, hosting cultural events such as the first performance of John Milton's masque Comus. Ludlow Castle was held by the Royalists during the English Civil War of the 1640s, until it was besieged and taken by a Parliamentarian army in 1646. The contents of the castle were sold off and a garrison was retained there for much of the interregnum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulk FitzWarin</span> English lord (died c. 1258)

Fulk FitzWarin, variant spellings, the third, was a prominent representative of a marcher family associated especially with estates in Shropshire and at Alveston in Gloucestershire. In young life, early in the reign of King John (1199–1216), he won notoriety as the outlawed leader of a roving force striving to recover his familial right to Whittington Castle in Shropshire, which John had granted away to a Welsh claimant. Progressively rehabilitated, and enjoying his lordship, he endured further setbacks in 1215–1217.

de Lacy

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.

Hugh de Mortimer was a Norman English medieval lord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath</span> Anglo-Norman landowner and official (d. 1186)

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy, was an Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Following his participation in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, he was granted, in 1172, the lands of the Kingdom of Meath by the Anglo-Norman King Henry II, but he had to gain control of them. The Lordship of Meath was then the most extensive liberty in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William de Chesney</span> 12th-century Anglo-Norman nobleman

William de Chesney was an Anglo-Norman magnate during the reign of King Stephen of England and King Henry II of England. Chesney was part of a large family; one of his brothers became Bishop of Lincoln and another Abbot of Evesham Abbey. Stephen may have named him Sheriff of Oxfordshire. Besides his administrative offices, Chesney controlled a number of royal castles and served Stephen during some of the king's English military campaigns. Chesney's heir was his niece, Matilda, who married Henry fitzGerold.

Eustace fitz John, Constable of Chester, was a powerful magnate in northern England during the reigns of Henry I, Stephen and Henry II. From a relatively humble background in South East England, Eustace made his career serving Henry I, and was elevated by the king through marriage and office into one of the most important figures in the north of England. Eustace acquired a great deal of property in the region, controlled Bamburgh Castle, and served jointly with Walter Espec as justiciar of the North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert de Lacy</span> 12th-century Anglo-Norman baron

Gilbert de Lacy was a medieval Anglo-Norman baron in England, the grandson of Walter de Lacy who died in 1085. Gilbert's father forfeited his English lands in 1096, and Gilbert initially only inherited the lands in Normandy. The younger de Lacy spent much of his life trying to recover his father's English lands, and eventually succeeded. Around 1158, de Lacy became a Templar and went to the Holy Land, where he was one of the commanders against Nur ad-Din in the early 1160s. He died after 1163.

Sibyl de Neufmarché, Countess of Hereford, suo jure Lady of Brecknock, was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, heiress to one of the most substantial fiefs in the Welsh Marches. The great-granddaughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, king of Wales, Sibyl was also connected to the nobility of England and Normandy. Sibyl inherited the titles and lands of her father, Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon, after her mother, Nest ferch Osbern, had declared her brother Mahel to have been illegitimate. Most of these estates passed to Sibyl's husband, Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, as her dowry. Their marriage had been arranged personally by King Henry I of England in the spring of 1121. Sibyl, with her extensive lands, was central to the King's plans of consolidating Anglo-Norman power in south-east Wales by the merging of her estates with those of Miles, his loyal subject on whom he relied to implement Crown policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pain fitzJohn</span> 12th century Norman baron in England

Pain fitzJohn was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and administrator, one of King Henry I of England's "new men", who owed their positions and wealth to the king.

Roger de Valognes was an Anglo-Norman nobleman who held lands around Benington in Hertfordshire, a tenure that made Roger the feudal baron of Benington. In 1136 he was a supporter of King Stephen of England's seizure of the English throne from Matilda, the daughter of the previous king, Henry I. Roger built Benington Castle and gave lands to Binham Priory in the early part of Stephen's reign, but was dead by 1142. His barony passed to his first two sons in succession and his third son became a royal official in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josce de Dinan</span> 12th-century Anglo-Norman landholder in England

Josce de Dinan was an Anglo-Norman nobleman who lived during and after the civil war between King Stephen of England and his cousin Matilda over the throne of England. He was a landholder in the Welsh Marches when he was married by Stephen to the widow of Pain fitzJohn, a union that gave Josce control of Ludlow Castle. Control of the castle was contested by other noblemen, and the resulting warfare between the nobles forms the background to a late medieval romance known as Fouke le Fitz Waryn, which is mainly concerned with the actions of Josce's grandson, but also includes some material on Josce's lifetime. Josce eventually lost control of Ludlow and was granted lands in compensation by Matilda and her son, King Henry II of England, who succeeded Stephen in 1154.

William de Chesney was a medieval Anglo-Norman nobleman and sheriff. The son of a landholder in Norfolk, William inherited after the death of his two elder brothers. He was the founder of Sibton Abbey, as well as a benefactor of other monasteries in England. In 1157, Chesney acquired the honour of Blythburgh, and was sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk during the 1150s and 1160s. On Chesney's death in 1174, he left three unmarried daughters as his heirs.

Geoffrey Talbot was a medieval Anglo-Norman nobleman during the civil war of King Stephen of England's reign. His landholdings around Swanscombe are considered to possibly constitute a feudal barony. Although he was at Stephen's court in early 1136, by 1138 Talbot was supporting Stephen's rival, Matilda. After escaping capture twice, Talbot was captured by partisans of Stephen but was released. In 1139 and 1140, Talbot was engaged in military operations around Hereford, which included fortifying Hereford Cathedral in an attempt to take Hereford Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter de Lacy, Lord of Weobley and Ludlow</span> 11th-century Anglo-Norman baron in England

Walter de Lacy was a Norman nobleman who went to England after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He received lands in Herefordshire and Shropshire, and served King William I of England by leading military forces during 1075. He died in 1085 and one son inherited his lands. Another son became an abbot.

William Meschin was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and baron. The brother of the earl of Chester, Meschin participated in the First Crusade. After returning to England, he acquired lands both from King Henry I of England and by his marriage to an heiress.

William Paynel was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and baron. Son of a Domesday landholder, William inherited his father's lands in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Normandy after the death of an older brother during their father's lifetime. After the death of King Henry I of England, Paynel supported Henry's daughter Matilda in her attempts to take the throne from her cousin Stephen, who had seized it. Matilda entrusted Nottingham Castle to Paynel's custody, although he lost it within two years when it was captured by a supporter of Stephen's. Paynel also founded two religious houses - one in England and one in Normandy. After Paynel's death around 1146, his lands were split between two sons.

Geoffrey Talbot was an Anglo-Norman nobleman in medieval England. Holding lands around Swanscombe in Kent, he is often considered to have been the feudal baron of Swanscombe. Besides his lands, he was also given custody of Rochester Castle. His heir was his son, also named Geoffrey.

Halenald de Bidun or Halneth de Bidun was a Breton who held land in England during the reigns of King Henry I and Stephen.

Ivo Pantulf was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and feudal baron of Wem in Shropshire.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.