William Malet (companion of William the Conqueror)

Last updated

William Malet (Anglo-Norman: Willame Malet de Graville, died 1071) held senior positions within the Norman forces that occupied England from 1066. He was appointed the second High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1068. Of the so-called companions of William of Normandy, Malet is one of about a dozen for whom there is evidence of their presence at the Battle of Hastings of 14 October 1066. For example, the contemporary chronicler William of Poitiers recorded that Malet was present at the battle.

Contents

According to apocryphal accounts, Malet was related to both William of Normandy and King Harold of England. Some accounts claim that Malet took charge of Harold's body following the Norman victory at Hastings. [lower-alpha 1] However, there is no evidence confirming such claims.

Malet held substantial property in Normandy – chiefly in the Pays de Caux, with a castle at Graville-Sainte-Honorine  [ fr ] (now a suburb of Le Havre). After 1066, he held many properties in England as well, most of them in Yorkshire and East Anglia.

Biography

Early life

According to unverifiable, apocryphal accounts, Malet had significant, multiple ties to the Anglo-Saxon elite before the Norman Conquest.

However, modern historians discount any blood-links to Anglo-Saxon royalty or aristocracy, noting instead that there was considerable Norman influence in England even before 1066. [2]

Battle of Hastings

There is evidence that Malet fought on the Norman side at Hastings, regardless of any divided loyalties that may have been caused by family ties. For instance, William of Poitiers wrote of King Harold's remains: "His corpse was brought into the Duke's camp and William [of Normandy] gave it for burial to William, surnamed Malet, and not to Harold's mother, who offered for the body of her beloved son its weight in gold." [3] If Malet was at the Norman headquarters, immediately after the battle, it would be strong evidence that he played a significant role in the Norman victory.

High Sheriff of Yorkshire

Malet's activities during the first few years of the Norman conquest of England are not known. Early on he was granted the great honour of Eye, with vast lands in Suffolk and several other shires. It was in fact the largest lordship in East Anglia. He made Eye his caput, his main headquarters, built a motte and bailey castle there, and started a highly successful market. He is credited with initiating the urbanization of Eye.

After the Danish stronghold York was captured in 1068, he was appointed the second High Sheriff of Yorkshire. William was in charge of the garrisons defending the shire, and built a timbered castle fortress on a motte in York and another wooden castle across the River Ouse. His efforts at defending the shire from Danish raids were, in the end, a terrible failure, for the next year the city was burned and the garrison slaughtered. Malet, his wife, and two of their children were held as hostages, and finally released when the Danes were driven off.

Malet was relieved of his duties in the north, but his efforts to defend the kingdom did not go unappreciated. He stayed in the king's favour and was appointed High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk about 1069/70, and appointment that passed to his son Robert upon his death.

In historical literature & the media

The Domesday Book of 1086 also mentions a Durand Malet, who held land in Lincolnshire [4] and possibly some neighbouring shires. This may be William Malet's brother, but this is not certain.

On screen, Malet has been portrayed by Peter Halliday in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625 , and by Gawn Grainger in the TV drama Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990).

Family

While still in Normandy, about 1050, William married Hesilia (Helise or Elisee), daughter of Gilbert de Brionne. Hesilia was the second cousin of William the Conqueror and possibly the widow of Balderic Teutonicus (Balderic de Courcy; Balderic de Bacqueville). William and Hesilia had two sons and at least one daughter: [5] [6]

Thorold, the sheriff of Lincoln and father of Lucy Bolingbroke was married to a daughter of William, either Beatrice (before she married William de Achis) or another, unknown daughter. [7]

Death

William Malet died around 1071, probably during the rebellion of Hereward the Wake, although Kirk, referencing Stapleton's Norman Pipe Rolls, assigns his death to 1069 and the siege of York. [8] He was succeeded by his son Robert as Lord of Eye and Sheriff of Suffolk.

Preceded by
New Creation
After Norman Conquest
High Sheriff of Yorkshire
1068–1069
Succeeded by
Hugh FitzBaldric
Preceded by
New Creation
After Norman Conquest
High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk
1070–1071
Succeeded by
Preceded by
New Creation
After Norman Conquest
Lord of Eye
The Honour of Eye

-1071
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lord of Graville (Normandy)
-1071
Succeeded by

Notes

  1. For example William of Poitiers in his account, describes how the body of Harold "[he] was carried into the camp of the duke , who entrusted his burial to William surnamed Malet." [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William the Conqueror</span> King of England, Duke of Normandy (c. 1028 – 1087)

William the Conqueror, sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Godwinson</span> Anglo-Saxon King of England (r. 1066)

Harold Godwinson, also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman Conquest. Harold's death marked the end of Anglo-Saxon rule over England. He was succeeded by William the Conqueror.

Godwin of Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the first Earl of Wessex. Godwin was the father of King Harold II and of Edith of Wessex, who in 1045 married King Edward the Confessor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward the Confessor</span> King of England from 1042 to 1066

Edward the Confessor was an Anglo-Saxon English king and saint. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 until his death in 1066.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Hastings</span> Battle between English and Normans in 1066

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 mi (11 km) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Conquest</span> 11th-century invasion and conquest of England by Normans

The Norman Conquest was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.

Robert of Jumièges was the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury. He had previously served as prior of the Abbey of St Ouen at Rouen in Normandy, before becoming abbot of Jumièges Abbey, near Rouen, in 1037. He was a good friend and adviser to the king of England, Edward the Confessor, who appointed him bishop of London in 1044, and then archbishop in 1051. Robert's time as archbishop lasted only about eighteen months. He had already come into conflict with the powerful Earl Godwin and, while archbishop, made attempts to recover lands lost to Godwin and his family. He also refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, Edward's choice to succeed Robert as Bishop of London. The rift between Robert and Godwin culminated in Robert's deposition and exile in 1052.

William of Poitiers was a Norman priest who served as the chaplain of Duke William II of Normandy, for whom he chronicled the Norman conquest of England in his Gesta Willelmi ducis Normannorum et regis Anglorum. He had trained as a soldier before taking holy orders.

Robert Malet was a Norman-English baron and a close advisor of Henry I.

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan, also known as Robert of Meulan, was a powerful Norman nobleman, one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, and was revered as one of the wisest men of his age. Chroniclers spoke highly of his eloquence and his learning, and three kings of England valued his counsel. He was granted immense land-holdings in England by William the Conqueror and by Henry I and was created Earl of Leicester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia</span> Earl of Mercia and Earl of East Anglia

Ælfgar was the son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, by his famous wife Godgifu. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on the latter's death in 1057. He gained the additional title of Earl of East Anglia, but also was exiled for a time. Through the first marriage of his daughter he became father-in-law to Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, a few years after his death, his daughter became a widow and married the English King Harold.

Edwin was the elder brother of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, son of Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on Ælfgār's death in 1062. He appears as Earl Edwin in the Domesday Book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith the Fair</span> 11th-century consort of King Harold Godwinson

Edith the Fair, also known as Edith Swanneck, was one of the wealthiest magnates in England on the eve of the Norman conquest, and may also have been the first wife of King Harold Godwinson. "Swanneck" comes from the folk etymology which made her in Old English as swann hnecca, "swan neck", which was actually most likely a corrupted form of swann hnesce, "Gentle Swan". She is sometimes confused with Ealdgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar of Mercia, who was queen during Harold's reign.

William Malet was the third of his family to hold the honour of Eye and the lordship of Graville in Normandy. He was either the younger brother, son, or nephew of Robert Malet – in other words, either a son or grandson of the first William Malet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Companions of William the Conqueror</span> People who were with William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066

William the Conqueror had men of diverse standing and origins under his command at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. With these and other men he went on in the five succeeding years to conduct the Harrying of the North and complete the Norman conquest of England.

Events from the 1060s in England.

Ealdgyth, also Aldgyth or Edith in modern English, was a daughter of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, the wife of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, ruler of all Wales, and later the wife and queen consort of Harold Godwinson, king of England in 1066. She was described by William of Jumièges as a considerable beauty.

Lucy of Bolingbroke or Lucia Thoroldsdottir of Lincoln was an Anglo-Norman heiress in central England and, later in life, countess of Chester. Probably related to the old English earls of Mercia, she came to possess extensive lands in Lincolnshire which she passed on to her husbands and sons. She was a notable religious patron, founding or co-founding two small religious houses and endowing several with lands and churches.

Walter Gautier Giffard, Lord of Longueville, Normandy, was a Norman baron, a Tenant-in-chief in England, a Christian knight who fought against the Saracens in Spain during the Reconquista and was one of the 15 or so known companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burning of Southwark</span> Battle in England in 1066

The Burning of Southwark was a battle fought in Southwark during the Norman Conquest of England in October 1066.

References

  1. William of Poitiers 1998, pp. 140–141.
  2. R.Kirk, ‘The Countess Lucy: Singular or Plural?’, Genealogist, 1888
  3. Wm. of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi II Ducis Normannorum, quoted in David C.Douglas & George W. Greenaway (Eds.), English Historical Documents 1042–1189, London, 1959, p.229.
  4. Domesday Book
  5. Dictionary of National Biography, Volume XXXV by Sir Leslie Stephen (1885 edition), p. 421; https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatio35stepgoog/page/n433/mode/1up
  6. R.Kirk, ‘The Countess Lucy: Singular or Plural?’, Genealogist, 1888
  7. Prosopon Newsletter 2, May 1995, Katharine S. B. Keats-Rohan
  8. R.Kirk, ‘The Countess Lucy: Singular or Plural?’, Genealogist, 1888

Sources