Walter de Beauchamp | |
---|---|
Sheriff of Worcestershire | |
In office 1114–c. 1130 | |
Preceded by | Osbert d'Abetot [1] |
Succeeded by | possibly Humphrey [1] |
Personal details | |
Died | between 1130 and 1133 |
Nationality | English |
Spouse | Emeline (?) |
Children | William de Beauchamp Stephen de Beauchamp (?) Walter de Beauchamp (?) |
Residence | Elmley Castle |
Walter de Beauchamp [lower-alpha 1] (died between 1130 and 1133) was a medieval nobleman and Sheriff of Worcestershire. Married to the daughter of one of his predecessors as sheriff,nothing is known for sure of his background before he appears as a witness to royal charters between 1108 and 1111. Beauchamp also inherited offices in the royal household from his father-in-law and also appears to have been a royal forester. He and another nobleman divided some of the lands of his father-in-law,but disagreements about the division lasted until the 12th century between the two families. He died between 1130 and 1133,and one of his descendants later became Earl of Warwick.
Beauchamp is sometimes known as Walter de Beauchamp of Elmley,to distinguish him from the members of the Beauchamp family of Bedford. [5] He married the daughter of Urse d'Abetot,who is usually named Emeline,although her name is not given in contemporary records. [3] [4] Urse d'Abetot was the Sheriff of Worcestershire from around 1069 to around 1108. [6] Beauchamp may have been a tenant of his father-in-law prior to his marriage. [3] Nothing is known for sure of Beauchamp's background before he first witnessed a royal charter some time between 1108 and 1111. [7] Some documents suggest that his father may have been named Peveral de Beauchamp and that he had a brother named William Peveral de Beauchamp,but the only identifiable Peveral is younger than Walter. [8]
In the 1110s,Beauchamp became Sheriff of Worcestershire,holding the office until 1130. [4] Some sources state he received the office in 1114, [4] and others place the acquisition of the office between December 1113 and April 1116. [9] Beauchamp inherited most of d'Abetot's lands and the hereditary office of Sheriff of Worcestershire when Roger d'Abetot,Urse's son,forfeited his lands and offices after being exiled by Henry I for murder. [10] King Henry I of England granted Beauchamp the right to hunt wolves and foxes in the royal forests of Worcestershire. [11] Along with the right to hunt in the royal forests came a grant of the right to keep pheasants on his own lands,and the right to fine anyone hunting the birds without his permission. [12] Because of the king's promotion of Beauchamp,he is considered one of Henry I's "new men". [13]
Beauchamp probably held the office of royal forester for Worcestershire as well as sheriff. The evidence for this is that after Beauchamp's death,his son William was granted the revenues from the royal forests of Worcestershire at the same rate as his father had held them;this strongly implies that the elder held the office of forester. [11] The historian Judith Green felt that Walter de Beauchamp might possibly have held the office of constable,which had been held by his father-in-law, [7] although the historian C. Warren Hollister felt that Beauchamp definitely did hold the office. [14] He also upheld the royal office of dispenser,an office which later became known as a butler. [14] [15] He acquired this because his wife inherited the office from her father. [2] The date when he acquired the office is unknown. [16] While a member of the royal household,Beauchamp witnessed a number of royal charters,mainly when the king was in England. [14]
Beauchamp and the Bishop of Worcester had a dispute over the lands that Beauchamp inherited from d'Abetot. The dispute caused the two sides to agree to the creation of the Worcester Survey,a land survey undertaken in Worcestershire sometime between 1108 and 1118 that shows changes in land ownership after the Domesday Book . [17]
D'Abetot's widow Adeliza granted her dower lands in the county of Worcestershire to Beauchamp,which was confirmed by King Henry sometime between 1123 and 1129,although the document cannot be dated more precisely than that. In 1130,at Michaelmas,Henry allowed Beauchamp to not pay geld on his lands in Berkshire,and he is mentioned in the 1130 Pipe Roll as still living. [8]
Sometime between 1130 and 1133,Beauchamp died and his son William de Beauchamp took over his lands. [4] Stephen de Beauchamp,a tenant on the Beauchamp lands and a friend of Robert of Gloucester,was likely a younger son of Walter's. [3] The historian David Crouch says that another son was Walter,who is recorded as William's brother and was a follower of Waleran,Count of Meulan. [18] Beauchamp was the ancestor of the Beauchamp family of Elmley in Worcestershire,a member of which,William de Beauchamp,became Earl of Warwick. [19]
The lands and offices of Urse's brother Robert were divided between Beauchamp and Robert Marmion. [20] Marmion and Beauchamp disagreed about the division of the lands,leading to a long dispute between the two families that was only settled in the late 12th century. [21] Some sources state that another daughter of Urse d'Abetot married Robert Marmion,which was the reason for the division of the lands and offices between the two men. [21] Other sources are less sure,accepting this as one possibility among several for the divided inheritance between the Marmion and Beauchamp families. Because there are no contemporary sources showing that Urse had any children besides his son and the daughter who married Beauchamp,another possibility is that Urse's brother Robert had a daughter who married Marmion and that Urse managed to acquire part of her inheritance on the strength of his friendship with King William II of England. [20]
Spencer is a surname, representing the court title dispenser, or steward. An early example is Robert d'Abbetot, who is listed as Robert le Dispenser, a tenant-in-chief of several counties, in the Domesday Book of 1086. In early times, the surname was usually written as le Despenser, Dispenser or Despencer—notably in works such as the Domesday Book and the Scottish Ragman Rolls of 1291 and 1296, but gradually lost both the "le" article and the unstressed first syllable of the longer surname to become Spencer.
Walter of Gloucester was an early Anglo-Norman official of the King of England during the early years of the Norman conquest of the South Welsh Marches. He was a sheriff of Gloucester and also a Constable under Henry I.
Eudo Dapifer ;, was a Norman aristocrat who served as a steward under William the Conqueror, William II Rufus, and Henry I.
Urse d'Abetot was a Norman who followed King William I to England, and became Sheriff of Worcestershire and a royal official under him and Kings William II and Henry I. He was a native of Normandy and moved to England shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, and was appointed sheriff in about 1069. Little is known of his family in Normandy, who were not prominent, but he probably got his name from the village Abetot. Although Urse's lord in Normandy was present at the Battle of Hastings, there is no evidence that Urse took part in the invasion of England in 1066.
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.
Robert Despenser was a Norman officeholder and landholder in post-Conquest medieval England.
Roger d'Abetot was a medieval English Sheriff of Worcestershire.
Hamo Dapifer was an Anglo-Norman royal official under both King William I of England and his son King William II of England. He held the office, from which his epithet derives, known in Latin as dapifer and in French seneschal, in English "steward", as well as the office of Sheriff of Kent.
Cyneweard of Laughern or simply Cyneweard was a mid-11th century Anglo-Saxon thegn and sheriff in Worcestershire, England. Probably the son of Æthelric Kiu and grand-nephew of Wulfstan Lupus, Archbishop of York (1003–1023), he was one of the leading nobles of the county at the Norman Conquest of England. On the death of Edward the Confessor he held lands in Gloucestershire and Warwickshire as well as Worcestershire.
Worcester Castle was a Norman fortification built between 1068 and 1069 in Worcester, England by Urse d'Abetot on behalf of William the Conqueror. The castle had a motte-and-bailey design and was located on the south side of the old Anglo-Saxon city, cutting into the grounds of Worcester Cathedral. Royal castles were owned by the king and maintained on his behalf by an appointed constable. At Worcester that role was passed down through the local Beauchamp family on a hereditary basis, giving them permanent control of the castle and considerable power within the city. The castle played an important part in the wars of the 12th and early 13th century, including the Anarchy and the First Barons' War.
Ralph Basset was a medieval English royal justice during the reign of King Henry I of England. He was a native of Normandy and may have come to Henry's notice while Henry held land in Normandy prior to becoming king. Basset is first mentioned in documents about 1102, and from then until his death around 1127, he was frequently employed as a royal justice. His son Richard Basset also became a royal judge.
Richard Basset was a royal judge and sheriff during the reign of King Henry I of England. His father was also a royal justice. In about 1122 Basset married the eventual heiress of another justice; the marriage settlement has survived. In 1129–30 Basset was co-sheriff of eleven counties. Basset and his wife founded a monastic house in 1125 from their lands, which before the donation were equivalent to 15 knight's fees.
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.
Walter II de Beauchamp, of Elmley Castle in Worcestershire, was hereditary Sheriff of Worcestershire.
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.
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.
Adam de Port was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and Baron of Kington.
Hugh de Beauchamp was a Norman who held lands in England after the Norman Conquest.
The Bear and Ragged Staff is a heraldic emblem or badge associated with the Earldom of Warwick.