William de Mohun of Dunster 1st Earl of Somerset

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William de Mohun of Dunster (c. 1090-c.1155) was a favourite of Empress Matilda and a loyal supporter of her in the war against King Stephen, during which he earned the epithet of the "Scourge of the West". Empress Matilda conferred upon him the title Earl of Somerset, in 1141. In the foundation charter of the priory at Bruton he describes himself as "Willielmus de Moyne, comes Somersetensis". The title was not recognised by Stephen or Henry II, Matilda's son, and his descendants did not use the title.

William married Agnes de Gaunt, daughter of Walter de Gaunt and Maud (Matilda) of Brittany, daughter of Stephen I.

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• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis; Line 143-24