William Peverel

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William Peverel, c.1050-c.1115, also William de Peverel, was a Norman knight who fought in the Battle of Hastings. There is some belief that he was the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror (later King William I of England), but official genealogies do not record this.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

William's mother seems to have been a Saxon named Maud, daughter of the noble Ingelric. She was married to one Ranulph Peverel, from whom William took his name, although rumors persist that he was the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror.

[edit] Holdings in England

Whatever his paternity, William Peverel was a favorite of the Conqueror. He was greatly honoured after the Norman Conquest, receiving over a hundred holdings in central England from the king. In 1086, the Domesday Book records William as holding substantial land (162 lordships), collectively called the Honour of Peverel, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including Nottingham Castle.[2][3]

William's wealth and power increased through his marriage to Adelina, daughter of Roger of Poitou, Earl of Lancaster. When Roger died heirless, William inherited his Lancashire lordships through his wife. On William's death, control of his lands passed to his son, also named William.

[edit] Other family

Maud and Ranulph's known legitimate son, also Ranulph, was almost as well favored by the king as William was. He was granted 64 manors in Nottingham, although these were later taken from his family by Henry II for their support of Stephen against the Empress Matilda. The baronial family of the Peverels descend from Ranulph, not William.

Beryl Platts has suggested that the Peverels in Normandy derive in fact from Flanders.[4]

The Peverel name was later spelled "Peverell", and it appears in both forms in town names across England, e.g., Peverell, Sampford Peverell, Hatfield Peverel, etc.

[edit] Trivia

In the Harry Potter series, Marvolo Gaunt claims to have a family heirloom with the Peverell coat of arms.

[edit] References

  1. ↑  See, e.g., The Complete Peerage, Vol IV, App. I, pp 761-770, "Peverel Family"
  2. ↑  A description of holdings in Derbyshire, from the Domesday Book (http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Derbyshire.htm)
  3. ↑  A local history of Duston, Northampton (http://www.duston.org.uk/peverel.htm)
  4. ↑  A history of Langar Hall (http://www.baronage.co.uk/langar/langar-1.html)
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