William de Percy (d.1096)

William de Percy (d.1096/9), 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe in Yorkshire,[1] known as Aux Gernons ("with whiskers"), was a Norman who arrived in England immediately after the Norman Conquest of England of 1066, and was the founder of the powerful English House of Percy.

The Cartularium abbathiae de Whitteby states that Hugh d'Avranches and William de Percy arrived in England in 1067.[2]

It is possible that Percy had been one of the Normans to whom Edward the Confessor had given lands, but who were later expelled by Harold Godwinson. This may explain Percy's unusual epithet, Aux Gernons, as at the time Normans were generally cleanshaven and the English were not, and it may be that Percy had assimilated local custom.[3] Later generations of Percys would use the soubriquet, as the Christian name Algernon.

Consolidation

Following the rebellion of Gospatric Earl of Northumbria, and the subsequent Harrying of the North, large swathes of territory in northern England and the Earldom of Chester were granted to Hugh d'Avranches, who had been instrumental in the devastation. Percy in turn was granted territory by d'Avranches, in addition to those already held by him from the king.[4] At the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, Percy was in possession as a tenant-in-chief of a hundred and eighteen manors in Lincolnshire and the North Riding of Yorkshire, with further lands in Essex and Hampshire.[5]

Building works

Percy set about fortifying his landholdings, constructing motte and bailey castles at Spofforth and at Topcliffe, where was situated the caput of his feudal barony. He granted land to the Benedictine order and financed the construction of the new Whitby Abbey, amongst the ruins of the Anglo-Saxon Abbey of Streoneshalh.

Marriage and progeny

Percy married an English noblewoman called Emma de Porte, her epithet presumably came from her landholdings at Seamer, a once thriving harbour in North Yorkshire. It may be the case that the lands granted to Percy by the king were de jure uxoris.[6] By Emma de Porte, Percy produced four sons:

Death on the First Crusade

Percy accompanied Duke Robert Curthose on the First Crusade, where he died within sight of Jerusalem. His body was buried at Antioch, and his heart was returned to England and is buried at Whitby.[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.148
  2. ↑ Fonblanque,Vol I, p.11 footnotes
  3. ↑ Fonblanque, Vol I, p12
  4. ↑ Fonblanque, Vol I , p.14
  5. ↑ Fonblanque, Vol I, p21
  6. ↑ Fonblanque, Vol I, p13
  7. ↑ Brenan, Vol I, p8

Sources