William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey

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William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, (died 1088) was one of the Norman aristocrats who fought at the Battle of Hastings and became great landowners in England.

He was a son of Rodulf II de Warenne and Emma and a grandnephew of duchess Gunnor, wife of duke Richard I of Normandy. The de Warenne surname derives from the castle of that name on the River Varenne, which flows through the territory William acquired in Upper Normandy^[1] in the region today called Bellencombre.

As a young man, William played a prominent role in protecting the Norman realm of the future William the Conqueror's from a major invasion by the King of France in February 1054 at the Battle of Mortemer^[2]. After this battle Roger de Mortemer forfeited most of his lands, and the duke gave them to William^[3].

William was one of the nobles who advised duke William when the decision to invade England was being considered. He fought at Hastings^[4], and afterwards received the Rape of Lewes in Sussex^[5], and subsequently lands in twelve other shires. He built castles at Lewes (Sussex), Reigate (Surrey), Castle Acre (Norfolk) and Conisbrough in Yorkshire ^[6]. By the time of the Domesday survey he was one of the wealthiest landholders in England with holdings in 12 counties^[7].

He fought against rebels at the Isle of Ely in 1071 where he showed a special desire to hunt down Hereward the Wake who had murdered his brother the year before^[8].

William was loyal to William II^[9], and it was probably in early 1088 that he was created Earl of Surrey^[10]. He died shortly afterwards of wounds he received while helping suppress the rebellion of 1088. At the time of his death, it has been estimated that his wealth was equivalent to £73.9 billion in today's money.

Contents 1 Family 2 Children of William and Gundred 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Family

He married twice:

• First, Gundred (Latin: Gundrada), sister of Gerbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester.

• Second, to a sister of Richard Gouet

[edit] Children of William and Gundred

• William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (d. 1138)
• Edith de Warenne who married Gerard de Gournay
• Reynold de Warenne, who inherited lands from his mother in Flanders and died before 1118

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Hunt
2. ^ Douglas, p. 67-69
3. ^ Hunt, Douglas p. 100
4. ^ Douglas, p.203
5. ^ Hunt
6. ^ Hunt
7. ^ Ellis: Introduction to Domesday, i.213.
8. ^ Hunt
9. ^ Hunt
10. ^ probably between the very end of 1087 and March 24, 1088 (Lewis p. 335)

[edit] References

• Douglas, David C. (1964). William the Conqueror. ISBN 0300078846. 
• C. P. Lewis, "The Earldom of Surrey and the Date of Domesday Book", Historical Research 63 (1990)
• Notes on the family of Gerbod, Earl of Chester, and of Gundred, wife of William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
• William Warenne, reprinted from the 1917 Dictionary of National Biography
• Hunt, William (1899). "William Warenne, first Earl of Surrey". Dictionary of National Biography 59. 372-373. 
• Warren Family History Project Ancestrial File References
• The Origin of the Family of Warenne by L.C. Loyd - Yorkshire Archealogical Society Journal vol. xxxi (1933) pp 97-113