The Golden Falcon

Chapter I/7 - Falcon

The exclusively English order, called the Hospitallers of St. Thomas of Canterbury at Acre or the Knights of St. Thomas Acon was founded sometime before 1191 during the reign of King Amalric of Jerusalem and sent 5,000 men to capture Acre (now Accra), the best harbour, chief port and largest town in Palestine.

By December 1090 (during the First Crusade), Acre made a peace treaty with Godfrey de Bouillon in exchange for an annual tribute of 5,000 bezants and other gifts such as horses and provisions.  In 1187, after 83 years of Christian rule, the Acre was captured by Saladin who held it for 4 years.  The port was besieged by Guy of Lusignan, king of Jerusalem and Cyprus and Richard I "Coeur de Lion" in 1189 during the Third Crusade with the loss of 100,000 through war, disease and famine.  After a 2 year siege, Acre surrendered on 12.7.1191 and the infidel garrison, numbering 2,700, was massacred.  It was during this siege that Leopold, Archduke of Austria's banner, raised on one of the towers of Acre, was torn down and thrown into a sewer, latrine or ditch by Richard, leading to the king of England's capture, imprisonment and ransom.  Edward I was at Acre during St. Louis IX's Crusade and his daughter Joan of Acre (wife of Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester) was born there.  The port of Acre finally fell on 18.5.1291 to the Saracens.

During the siege, William the chaplain of the Dean of St. Paul's began to care for the sick and aided by Richard I "Cœur de Lion", built a small chapel, purchased a cemetery, founded a nursing brotherhood restricted to Englishman and a hospital.

The Knights became a military order after the fifth Crusade and although they were Hospitallers, followed the Templar rule.  Their habit was a white mantle with a red cross and a scallop shells and their coat of arms was "sable, a cross formy parted argent and gules".

The Master of the Knighthood was called the Master of St. Thomas the Martyr in Cyprus, Apulia, Sicily, Calabria, Brundusium (Brindisi), England, Flanders, Brabant, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall.

The Hospitallers of St. Thomas acquired lands in Cyprus (where they founded their headquarters at Ludolphe, Nicosia and the church of St. Nicholas Anglicorum in 1279) as well as in Sicily, Naples, Greece and Ireland where they may have built St. Thomas, Dublin.

Their London headquarters was the Hospital where their master moved in 1397 when it was rebuilt and they had preceptories in Berkhampstead and Doncaster.  Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, gave them a new church at Acre and 50 marks.

In 1256 they supported the Venetians against the Genoese during a minor civil war at Acre, helped by the Pisan and Provençal merchants, the Templars, the Teutonic knights and the Brethren of St. Lazarus.

King Edward I helped to build their new church at Acre and endowed them.  In 1272 they wrote letters to him and he welcomed their advice.

In 1291 when al-Ashraf the Mameluke tried to destroy Acre, 9 knights of St. Thomas (all of whom died during the sack of Acre) fought against the Saracens troops with the other orders.

The brotherhood was connected with the Templars but did not fall with when they were dissolved.  The order declined but managed to keep a preceptory in Cyprus during the 14th century.  All the orders had "confratres" who were civilians and married.  By the end of the 14th century the order died out - the last known Knight of St. Thomas was Frater Richard de Tickhill who was given his habit by the preceptor of Cyprus, Frater Hugh de Curteys in 1357 at the church of St. Nicholas of the English at Nicosia.

There is a mosaic of Thomas a'Becket at Monreale, Sicily (conquered by the Normans before England) made a little more than a generation after his death.

Henry II's daughter, Joan Plantagenet (later wife of Raymond, Count of Toulouse) married William II of Sicily (1166-89) and Becket's letters to the king's mother Margaret, daughter of King Garcia Ramirez of Navarre, still survive.  Queen Margaret was descended from the family of Aquila, l'Aigle or Eagle who came from Laigle, Canton Orne in the arrondissement of Mortain-sur-la-Rille and were intermarried with the families of the Earls of Chester, Warenne and Mortain-Perche.  Richer de L'Aigle was a friend of Thomas a'Becket.

Lambeth and Streatham, which were once in Surrey, formed part of the Terra Normannorum or lands which belonged to those who had sided with the French in Normandy (Pipe Roll 1210-12).  The earl de Insula (Baldwin de Bethune, earl of the Isle of Wight) held Lambeth and Streatham and lands in Mitcham.  During the reign of Henry III, the forfeited Norman lands included the Manor of Witley held by the earl Marshal which had formerly belonged to Gilbert de Aquila and was worth £30.  The manor of Westcott held by the earl had also belonged to Gilbert de Aquila and was worth £10.

Fig.4 - The Honour of Aquila, l'Aigle or Eagle.

Eugenulph de L’Aigle died at Hasting in 1066 >:

(a) Roger de L’Aigle Richer de L’Aigle = Judith, d. of Richard of Avranches & sister

     of Hugh “Lupus”, earl of Chester.

(b) Richer helped William I in Maine and died there > Gilbert, Eugenulph & Maud.

(c) Gilbert de L’Aigle, lord of Witley, Surrey (20 William I).  He followed William

     “Rufus” and Henry I >:

      1. Geoffrey de L’Aigle

      2. Egenulph & Gilbert de L’Aigle died in the wreck of the “White Ship” 26.11.1120

      3. Richer de L’Aigle > heir who followed Robert Curthose of Normandy’s son

          William Clito in 1118 and forfeited his lands.  On intercession of Rotro his uncle,

          the lands were restituted.  In 1127 he forfeited them again for following William

          Clito.  In 1137 he returned his allegiance to King Stephen after the gift of

          Bonmolins.  He = Edeline (d. 1176) >:

          a. Richer de L’Aigle

          b. Eugenulph de L’Aigle, a clerk

          c. Juliana de L’Aigle = William, baron Courci of Stoke Courcy, Somerset

          d. Gilbert de L’Aigle (d. 6 John), eldest son & heir, Lord of Witley = Isabelle,

              widow of Robert de Lacy I (d. 1193) & d. of Hamelin, earl Warenne & Surrey

              (illegitimate son of Geoffrey Plantagenet) >: 4 sons. Gilbert de L’Aigle,

              eldest son = Isabel.  William d’Albini or Aubigny, received the grant of

              Witley during Gilbert’s minority and the lands of Gilbert’s mother.  Gilbert

              got his lands in 1227 but in 1235 he forfeited them for going into Normandy

              without Henry III’s permission.  In 1241 Gilbert’s heir was ward of Peter of

              Savoy (Queen Eleanor of Provence’s uncle).  The heir received the lands

              when aged 29 or 30 together with the Castle of Pevensey.  The honour of

              Aquila went to Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester & Hertford and later to

              the king.

Matilda of Flanders = (1) William I of Normandy = (2) Herluin of Conteville.   By (2) > Geoffrey II of Mortaigne, Count of Perche = Beatrice > Julienne = Gilbert d l'Aigle > Margaret de L'Aigle = Garcia IV Ramirez of Navarre (1150-94) > William II of Sicily (1166-89) = Joanna Plantagenet, d. of Henry II of England.

Many of the knights involved in Becket's murder held land of the Honour of Boulogne and Reginald de Lucy's daughter married Odo Dammartin (Renaud Dammartin was the last native Count of Boulogne, then in Flanders, by right of his wife) so may have been Flemish.

The Winters of Wych and the Wintersells of Surrey were both descended from Ranulf le Broc.

The families of le Broc and le Bret were related; le Broc's daughter Juliana was wife of Geoffrey de Lucy:

"Pro Rege de Custodia Terrarum Galfridi de Lucy": Gilbert de Clare petitions the king regarding Geoffrey de Lucy's lands and inheritance in the king's hands "terraraum et haeredum Galfridi de Lucy nuper defuncti in manu Regis" which Geoffrey held by military service which Ranulf le Broc held of the king in the manor of Catteshull, Surrey for the service of sergeanty of the king's host "per serjantiam custodiendi hostium Camerae regis"; that Ranulf had 2 daughters Edelive and Juliana who were his coheiresses "quae Galfridi de Lucy", grandfather of the said Geoffrey married Juliana le Broc "quae prius fuit uxor Petris de Stoke" former wife of Peter de Stoke.  (Red Book of the Exchequer).

Ranulf le Broc (Ralph Purcell) was son (by his wife Damietta) of Dynus or Dyvus Porcellus (Purcell), Usher to Henry II.  Ralph Purcell held lands in Cornwall (1166), in Essex & Hertfordshire (1212-17), 1 "feodum" in the Gloucester Honour "per serjeantarium in hospitio Regis" for sergeanty of the king's host (1210-12); in Oxford Honour of St. Valery (1211-12).

Ranulf le Broc and two daughters - Juliana wife of Geoffrey de Lucy and Edeliva or Edeline, wife of Stephen de Turnham (d. 1213), seneschal of Anjou (perhaps a descendant of Richard I "Coeur de Lion's admiral) who held half a knight's fee in "Erdintone" (Artington), Surrey of the Honour of Dudley (Pipe Roll 1210-12).

Edeline was ancestress of both the Wintersells of Surrey and the Winters of Wych.  She had 4 daughters Mabel, wife of Thomas de Banelingham, Eleanor, wife of Roger de Leybourne and then of Ralph fitzBernard, Alice wife of Adam de Bendings and Beatrice, wife of Ralph de Fay, then of Hugh de Plaiz.

Beatrice de Fay had two daughters.  One was Maud de Fay, wife of (1) Roger de Clare (their descendants were the fitzWalters of Dunmow, Essex and Barnard's Castle, London), (2) William de Braiose (ancestor of the Winters of Wych) and (3) Rhys Grygg ap Rhys Griffith of Deheubarth.  Beatrice's other daughter Philippa married William Nevill (25 Henry III) - their daughter Beatrice Nevill was wife of William de Wintershull (d. 1237) who held the manors of Bramley, Surrey and Frobury Kingsclere, Hampshire (Feet of Fees, Div. Co. Trinity, 33 Henry III).

Ranulf le Broc held manors in Sussex (1166), in Shropshire of the Carta Galfridi with the Uptons, in Buckinghamshire (1166) "apud Piperherge" (Pepperharrow, Surrey) of the Carta of William de Windsor; Robert le Broc in Sussex of the Carta John, count of Augo (Eu) also in Sussex & in Southampton (1166); Henry le Broc in Stafford (1212-7); Simon le Broc in Wrangle and Leke, Staffs (1212-1); Ralph le Broc et Decanissa of Honour de Helium in Langeley & Esse (Ashen). (1211-12).

The family Lucy may have originated in Luzy, canton Nievre, arrondissement of Chateau Chinon in the Nivernais (capital Nevers).

The Lucys of Surrey descended from Richard de Lucy the Justiciar (who founded Lesnes Priory, Kent in 1178) or his kinsman.  Richard supported Stephen, then Henry II and held lands in Norfolk and Essex.  He had 2 sons Geoffrey and Herbert who died without heirs.

Geoffrey de Lucy (d. Whitsun 1285) held Byfleet, Surrey in 1267 which had been held previously by Richard de Lucy the Justiciar.  Geoffrey's son also named Geoffrey, aged 17 at the time of his father's death, sold Byfleet in 1294.  Geoffrey also held Bulbrooke, le Frith, Weybridge, Bisley and Frogbury in Surrey.

There was also a Reginald de Lucy in the reign of Henry II, possibly a brother or relative, who gave a moiety of the church of Godstone in the Tandridge Hundred of Surrey to Lesnes.

Reginald de Lucy in Wolcstede (Walkingstead, Oxted), in Surrey "modo Odo de Danmartin" as Odo Dammartin (Red Book of the Exchequer).

Reginald de Lucy's son Richard de Lucy held "Wolneste", in Surrey of the Honour of Boulogne.  His two sisters married Odo Dammartin or Odo de Merdon (Testa de Nevill) and Roger St. John.  Alice Dammartin, wife of Roger de Clare (7 Edw. I) was Odo's grand daughter.

Richard de Lucy held the Honour of Egremond or Egremont in Cumberland by right of his wife Ada de Morville whose second husband was Thomas de Multon.  The families of Multon of Egremont (deriving from Aigremont in Flanders), the Morvilles and Richard de Lucy were connected by marriage:

Fig. 5 - Honour of Egremont

Sarah de Flete = Thomas de Multon > Lambert de Multon = Amabel de Lucy > Multon of Egremont.

Thomas de Multon = (2) Ada de Morvell = (1) Richard de Lucy of Egremont > Amabel de Lucy = Lambert de Multon.

Thomas de Multon, son of Thomas & Ada de Morvell held his wife's dower lands in Devon and Somerset in 1247.

Red Book of the Exchequer:

Richard de Lucy held land in Essex, Kent & Devon "sed Geoff. de Lucy habet" as Geoffrey de Lucy held it (1159-60), in Dorset (1167-8), in Kent (1191-2), in Cornwall (1166 & 1194-5), in Kent including Newton, Suffolk, in Norfolk & Essex (1166), Kent & Huntingdon including Inclington (Ickleton) of the Honour of Boulogne (1210-12), Copland in Cumberland (1210-12); "modo haeredite" as an inheritance in Angre (Ongar), Stanford (Stamford), Roynge (Roothing), Crisehall (Chrishall) (1211-12); Bokebroc (Bugbrooke), Northamptonshire "modo Comes Cestriae" as the earl of Chester (1210-12); Bailly de Basseiss (Le Passeis, Normandy) with Gervase Paynell (1211-12); Colchester, Hadfield 100 of Angre (Ongar), in Essex "per breve Regis" by the king's brief  (1211-12); Bray, Berkshire (1211-12).

Geoffrey and Richard de Lucy in Copeland, Cumberland "xxs xjd. ob de cornagio de iiij villis in dominico et x in Lomaglia de baronia quae fuit Hugonis de Morville" (1210-12).

Richard de Lucy in Essex & Hertfordshire (1210-12), Hugh Neville in Great Totham of Gloucester Honour "pertinante ad Angre (Ongar) quando (quod) comes Glos. dedit illiam Richard de Lucy" (belonging to Ongar as the earl of Gloucester gave it to Richard de Lucy).

Geoffrey de Lucy in Essex & Hertfordshire (1190-1), in Devon (1166), in Buckinghamshire (1210-12) of Gloucester Honour "de haereditate uxor suae" (of his wife's inheritance); Honour Aungre (Ongar) and Honour of Boulogne in Ongar (1211-12); in Nuneton (Nineton), Devon and "eam Isabella de Meduana" (1212-17)..

Robert de Lucy of the Honour of Boulogne "v milites quos Milo de Sumeri tenet de eo in Dodenho" 5 knights' fees as Miles de Somery had in (Elmdon) & Lenes (Leebury) cum Crawelle (Crawleybury) in Essex (1211-12).

Richard de Lucy, Stephen de Turs (Turonensis or Turnham) & Michael de Turnham held land in Suffolk in 1166 (Red Book of the Exchequer).

The family of Lucy of Charlecote took their surname when Thurston, son of Thurston de Montfort of Charlecote married Cecily Lucy, heiress of Egremont.

According to Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms, Bertrada, daughter of Geoffrey de Lucy, was wife of Hugh Kevellick or Cyfeilliog, 5th earl of Chester who succeeded his father Ranulf "Gernons", 4th earl of Chester in 1153.  Ranulf "Gernon's" wife was Matilda, daughter of Robert "le Consul", earl of Gloucester, illegitimate son of Henry I.  Robert "le Consul's" grand daughter Amicia (d. 1225), was wife of Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford (d. 1217-8).  Her sister Isabel was first wife of King John, another sister Mabel (d. 1199) married the count of Evreaux (d. 1196) and was ancestress of the de Montforts and Winters.  Eleanor de Montfort married Ranulf "le Meschin" (d. 1129), 3rd earl of Chester.  Richard de Clare's mother was Maud de St. Lis (St. Hilaire du Harcouet) whose 2nd husband was William d'Aubigny (ancestor of the Winters).  Richard's grandfather, also Richard fitz Gilbert (d. 1136) , married Adeliza sister of Ranulf, earl of Chester.

Elsi, son of Winter, had a grant of land in Thirlstane, near Lauder, Scotland from Hugh de Morville before 1162.  Hugh Morville held Knaresborough Castle and died about 1202, leaving two daughters - his sword is at Brayton between Whitehaven and Carlisle.  According to the Red Book of the Exchequer he held lands in Yorkshire in 1157-9 and Cumberland in 1210-12 (which Richard de Lucy and Richard Gernon later possessed).

Richard de Morville held lands in Yorkshire (1166), Ernald de Morville in Northamptonshire (1167-8), Roger de Morville in Lancaster "de feodo bussellorum" (1210-12) and William de Morville in Dorset & Somerset (1212-17).

(Red Book of the Exchequer).

Many of these families were related or connected by feudal service.  Withybrook manor in the Knightlow Hundreds of Warwickshire:  Richard de Morville gave his kinsman William Rodville the manor of Lindley in Leicester in exchange for Withybrook.  The manor was confirmed by Roger de Mowbray (d.1200s) in 1166 to Morville and Neil, son of Roger de Mowbray confirmed it to Nicholas, son of Liuf of Withibroc in 1209-10 whose overlord was William de Mowbray.  Liuf's son, Nicholas of Coventry held after which it passed to William de Castell, probably Nicholas's son-in-law, who held it by right of his wife Joan.  The family of Castell held it until it was bought in 1522 by William Botoner of Coventry.  Elizabeth Botoner was mother of William of Worcester the historian who was employed by Sir John Fastolf.  Neil, son of Roger d'Aubigny (who took the name of Mowbray from his manor) also held Anstey from Henry de Ferrars and Hampton-in-Arderne, both in the Hemlingford Hundreds of Warwickshire.  His arms were "gules, a lion rampant or" which were the arms of the d'Aubigny Earls of Arundel.  The Castell or de Castro family arms "gules, two bars or, a canton or charged with a castle" which was the reverse of the arms of the Wintersell - in heraldry this could mean they were brothers.

Castle Bromwich was held in 1168 by Wido de Bramewic.  Henry de Chastel de Bromwich held in 1168 and Alan in 1185.  It passed in 1287 to Henry de Chastell de Bromwich.  Anselm, son of Robert de Bromwyck received half the lands of his sister Juliana from Roger de Somery (d. 1291) of Dudley (ancestor of the Winters of Wych).  The tenants were Anselm de Bromwych and John de Bradwell.  When John, son of Roger de Somery died in 1322, it passed to Anselm de Bromwych, Henry, son of Robert, Thomas de Castello, William de Cloteshales and John de Bradwell.  The overlordship passed to Thomas de Botetourt (the Somery heir from whom the Winters of Wych descended).

Coughton, Warwickshire: Robert and Randolph de Castro or Castello held court and received dues here in the 13th century.  In 1410 Robert Castell had free warren in Anspath and Luddington in the Barlichway Hundreds in 1410.  John Welshe, lord of "Lodyington" and Agnes, his wife were admitted to the guild here in 1426-7.  Coughton then passed to John Walsh.  Sir John Throgmorton (ancestor of the Winters of Huddington) obtained the manor on marriage to the heiress of Spineys and it was involved in the Gunpowder Plot.  The family of Walsh of Shelsey Walsh (which passed to the Cookseys) held this manor from Osbern FitzRichard of Richard's Castle (kinsman of Gilbert de Gand or Ghent).

The Walsh coat of arms "argent, a fesse between 6 martlets, sable" was a reverse tincture of that of the family of Wysham of Clayton Wickham or Clayton Wicham in the Buttinghall Hundred, Sussex (held in 1086 by William de Watevile - Richard de Wateville was Queen Isabella's naval commander in the reign of Edward II).  John de Wysham (d..1333) and his wife Hawise were given land in 1312-1327.  They held Harrowsley (Herewardsley) in the Horne Hundred of Tandridge, Ham, Red or Rede Hall in Burstow and Horne, all in Surrey; Churchill in the Oswaldslow Hundred (a moiety of which was purchased by William Cokesay in 1565/6), Streche Bentley in the Tardebigge Hundred of Halfshire, Worcestershire, Wolverton-in-Stoulton in the Oswaldslow Hundred of Worcestershire, Shelsey Beauchamp, Woodmanton manor in Clifton-upon-Teme (where William Walsh of Shelsey Walsh had a grant of free warren from John de Wysham) and Nether Sapey (received by Hugh Cooksey in 36 Edward III), all in the Doddingtree Hundred, Worcestershire; Wigginton manor in the Bloxham Hundred and South Weston in the Purton Hundred, both in Oxfordshire; Tideston de la More, Herefordshire, Elsingham, Norfolk, Faxfeet, South Cave in the Harthill Wapentake, North Riding of Yorkshire (gifted to the Templars by Roger de Mowbray in 1185).

The Walsh and Wysham arms with martlets (a sign of cadency for a fourth son) are similar to those of Winter/de Lacy or de Lucy of Ireland which were "sable, a fesse argent"  William and Walter Walsh or Welshmen were the sons of Princess Nesta fech Rhys ap Twdwr (ancestress of the Winters of Lydney) by William Hay or fitzHay, Lord of Hay.

Reginald fitzUrse held manors in Northamptonshire (1167-8) of Carta Fulk de Lisours.  Richard Engayne "avus meus dedit ultimae uxori suae in dotem scilicet, uxori Rich. filii Ursi" (my grandfather who gave his last wife in her dowry, now wife of Richard fitzUrse) also Carta of Richard fitzUrse in Northamptonshire (1166) (Red Book of the Exchequer).

Reginald fitzUrse owned Williton, Somerset, lands in Ireland and Montgomery Castle formerly the property of Baldwin de Bollers (Reginald's mother was the Boller's heiress).  Richard le Bret gifted the Priory of Woodspring near Bristol to the church.

The family of fitzUrse held lands in Somerset and Ireland, William de Tracy, justiciar of Normandy held Wollacombe Tracy near Exeter and Dacrombe, Devon.  He may have been the illegitimate son of Henry I or a descendant of Goda, sister of Edward the Confessor by her husband the Earl of Mantes by whom she had two sons, the other was Roger of Suddeley.  William and Oliver Tracy held manors in Devon (1167-8) (Red Book of the Exchequer)..

Haughley Castle near Framlingham, Suffolk, entrusted to le Broc, was captured after a rebellion which involved Hugh, Earl of Chester, Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, Robert, Earl of Leicester and Ralph Fougeres of Brittany.

Hugh fitzRanulf Kevellick or Cyfeiliog, Earl of Chester, Robert, Earl of Leicester, Richard de Lucy the justiciar, the king's uncle Reginald of Cornwall, Roger de Clare, Geoffrey of Mandeville, Earl of Essex, William d'Aubigny, Earl of Arundel (Queen Adeliza's of Louvain's second husband), Patrick, Earl of Salisbury and William Ferrars, Earl of Derby had been on the committee to try Becket.

When the Breton Duke Conan died in February 1171, Henry II took an army into Brittany to obtain it for his son Geoffrey and then invaded Ireland.  Eleanor returned to Poitou, leaving Richard de Lucy and Prince Henry as regents.

The rebellion against Henry II occurred in 1173, three years after the death of Becket whom Prince Henry considered his godfather.  Becket had been accused of having been encouraged by Louis of France and the barons of England and Normandy, especially Ralph de Faye, Queen Eleanor's uncle and Hugh de St. Maure (Seymour), baron of Anjou.

Prince Henry also held a grievance against his father for the dismissal of his friend Ansculf de St. Hilaire who had joined Ralph of Fougeres and Hugh, earl of Chester, in the Breton revolt against Duke Conan of Brittany, King Henry's vassal.  Ansculf was captured by the king's Brabantine mercenaries and imprisoned at Pontorson.

Hugh, earl of Chester took refuge in the castle of Dol with Ralph de Fougeres and 60 knights - he was later imprisoned at Falaise.

Hugh of Chester and the earl and countess of Leicester were sent to England via Barfleur in chains.  They were excluded from the amnesty so were Ralph of Fougeres and William the Lion, King of Scots (who had quarrelled with Henry II over the earldom of Northumberland) and his brother David, Earl of Huntingdon who had joined the rebels.  The leaders of the revolt, Hugh of Chester, and the earls of Leicester and Derby were released and later restored to their properties.  Hugh died about 1183.

Robert "le Bossu" (Hunchback), earl of Leicester was justiciar on the committee which judged his friend Becket whom he warned of the king's anger.  He died in 1168.

He was son of Robert of Beaumont whose father was at the Conquest.  Beaumont supported Henry II against Stephen and built the Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary de Pre, Leicester.

Robert Beaumont "le Bossu" married the daughter of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk and their son, Robert Beaumont "Blanchemains" (White Hands) was husband of Petronilla Grantmesnil, who with her husband, headed the Flemish mercenaries at the relief of Leicester which held for them under the castellan Asketill Mallory.

Blanchemains was the first baron to join Prince Henry against the king and had his property confiscated.  He had a castle in Breteuil and with his countess fled to Flanders where he was joined by Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, Humphrey Bohun (who had married Margaret, sister of King William of Scots, widow of Conan of Brittany), Reginald of Cornwall and William, earl of Gloucester.

William d'Aubigny, Earl of Arundel fought for the king against the rebels and captured Blanchemains who was imprisoned at Porchester but was later restored ot his lands and died about 1183.

THE WHITE CASTLE

"The city of Memphis, capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt stood at the point of the Delta on the western bank of the Nile.  In the midst of the city rose a citadel, the White Castle, in which the palace and barracks were situated.  Memphis was known as the City of the White Castle and the abode of the soul of Ptah (god of property, arts, crafts and patron of Memphis).  ("The ancient Engineers" - L. Sprague de Camp).

There were castles called Castell Gwyn or White Castle in Wales and the Welsh Marches which could have been Gwilym ap Aedan's castle.  One was Whitecastle in Monmouth near Llanvetherine from the towers of which Monmouthshire and the blue mountains of Wales to the west can be seen.

King Arthur was supposed to have fought his eighth battle at "Castle Guinnion" and the ninth at the City of the Legion (Caerleon or Car Llion on Usk where Arthur held court).  Whitecastle, Monmouthshire is near Arthur's Cave and there is a burial chamber called Arthur's Stone near Llan Farm between Bredwardine Hill and Dorstone (which has a castle on the river Dore), both in Herefordshire.

Whitecastle was originally named Llantilio but this was changed to Castell Gwyn about the 13th century as white plaster coated the walls from 1184/5.

1215: "And then Giles de Braoise, son of William de Braiose, sent Robert his brother to Brycheiniog (Brecon) and the leading men of Brycheiniog received him honourably.  And before the end of 3 days he gained possession of the castles of Pencelli and Abergavenny and Whitecastle and Skenfrith (Castell Penn Kelli, ac Aber Gefenni a'r Castell Gwynn ac Ynys Gwynreid). ("Brut y Twysogion" or Chronicle of the Princes).

Another site for White Castle could be Twr Gwyn near Carn Gwilym (White Tower and William's Castle) on the borders of Powys and Dyfed in the former county of Montgomeryshire near the sources of the Rivers Wye and Severn, about 20 miles as the crow flies from Aberdovey (Aberteivi) whose constable was Robert fitzStephen, one of Princess Nesta ferch Twdwr's sons who helped in the conquest of Ireland.

The best site however is that of Castell Gwyn near Llandyssilio in Pembrokeshire (now Dyfed).  It was a Romano-British hillfort and a Norman motte and bailey castle (taken over by the Welsh) and is described on the 6 inch Ordnance Survey sheet for Pembroke as being north west latitude 51 degrees 51' 42", longitude 44' 45".

"It is situated a mile west of the parish church in a circular work placed on the edge of a steep descent to the Eastern Cleddau which, at this point, is the parish boundary.  Although much destroyed it can be easily traced and consists of 3 lines of circular banks, the exterior rampart and ditch extending to the edge of the declivity.

This bank has a length of some 700 feet, rises 5 ft and falls 10 ft to its ditch which is now filled. An entrance faces west.  The end of the rampart, running up from the south, is bifurcated, the two forks, each of 20 ft, expanding to a width of 15 ft.  At a distance of about 70 ft within this outer rampart and on its south side, is a curved bank 250 ft long and from 2 ft to 3 ft in height, showing slight remains of an exterior ditch.

The innermost bank is practically circular and distant about 80 ft from the second. It measures 120 ft by 160 ft, the bank rising 2 ft and falling 3 ft to a shallow ditch.  The entrance was probably to the south and almost in a line with the outer portal.  The length of the enclosure at the verge of the descent to the river is 500 ft.  The enclosed area is level.

The field in which it stands is known as Parc y Gaer.  Small cannon balls have been turned up by the plough in its vicinity"

Cannons were first used in 1324 at Metz and in the 100 Years War - one wonders what battle was fought here.

The Roman province of Demetia, consisting of the land north of the Bristol Channel became the seven cantrefs of the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed (Pembrokeshire) in the south western peninsula, separated from the kingdom of Ceredigion (Cardigan) by the River Teifi.

Dyfed was conquered by a prince of the royal house of Gwynedd, then Ceredigion fell in the early part of the 8th century, followed by the lands between the Teifi and the Tawe which were seized by Seisyll.  The boundaries of medieval Dyfed were the sea and a line northwards from Carmarthen between the rivers Teifi and Tawe.  The county of Pembrokeshire (which covered the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed and part of Carmarthen) now bears its original name again.

Dyfed fell to the Normans under Roger Montgomery de Bellême, Earl of Shrewsbury between 1093 and 1099 after Rhys ap Twdwr was defeated.  A chronicler reported: "1st July 1093 - about the kalends of July the French for the first time held Dyfed and Ceredigion and set castles in them and thence occupied the whole land."

The prince's rival Cadwgan ap Bleddyn of Powys invaded Dyfed but Montgomery occupied Ceredigion where he built the first Norman castle at Din Geraint (Geraint's Fastness) near the mouth of the Teifi, later known as Aberteifi and Cardigan.

The land was given to Roger's younger son Arnulf who had his capital at Pembroke.  Arnulf made his follower Gerald of Windsor, castellan of Pembroke which was then only a wooden stockade but due to its strategic position, never fell to the Welsh.

In the east of Dyfed William fitzBaldwin (d. 1096), sheriff of Devon, was commanded by William II "Rufus" to build another castle at Rhyd-y-gors, a ford on the river Towy, a mile south of the old Roman fort of Carmarthen and the church of Llandenlyddos.

When the Welsh revolted, they destroyed all the Norman castles except Pembroke and Rhyd-y-gors.  Richard fitzBaldwin held the latter castle in 1106 but nothing more is heard of him.

The remains of Rhyd-y-gors are on a homestead on the banks of the river Towy, about one mile south of Carmarthen but there is no earthwork which can be identified.

By 1109 Carmarthen was the most important castle, held by Walter, sheriff of Gloucester.

In his Will dated 1330 Walter Winter, archdeacon of Carmarthen, bequeathed to the Prior and canons, 2 acres of land in Llanllwni and the advowsons of the moiety of the church there.  He asked for two chaplains celebrate mass daily, a canon in the church of St. John and a lay chaplain in the church of St. Peter, Carmarthen, for the souls of the kings of England, Walter, his predecessors and all the faithful dead departed.

Llanllwni was divided between Hugh Fastolf, Bishop of St. David's and Walter.  The Fastolfs settled in Suffolk and Norfolk so the Winters of Carmarthen (from whom the Wych branch descended) and those of Barningham Winter, Norfolk are probably connected.  JohnWinter (probably brother of Roger Winter of Wych) was John Fastolf's seneschal or steward of Castlecombe, Somerset.

Llanllwni is pronounced "Thlanthlooni" so perhaps there was confusion between Llanwllni and Llanthony (pronounced similarly) where William or Walter de Lacy was supposed to have died an anchorite.

The descent of the manor of Bramley not only shows that the Winters were descended from Ranulf le Broc but also from Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and Joan Plantagenet through their daughter Margaret, wife of John de Braiose and not through her half-sister Gwenllian who married William de Lacy of Ireland in the 1200s.

Llywelyn had only one wife, Joan Plantagenet, illegitimate daughter of King John (sister of Richard de Douvre or fitzRoy and Warenne, lord of Chilham Castle, Kent, illegitimate son of King John).

Joan's children were Dafydd (d. 1246) who married Isabella de Braiose in 1230, Margared, wife first of John de Braiose (d. 1232) and then in 1232-33, of Walter Clifford (d. 1251), Helen who in 1222 married John le Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, Cambridge and Chester (1232) and secondly Robert de Quincy.

Llywelyn had a concubine Tangwystl ferch Llywarch Goch by whom he had a son Gruffyd (d. 1240) and two daughters, Gwldus Ddu who in 1213-4 married Reginald de Braiose (d.1228) and then 1230 Ralph Mortimer (d. 1246), lord of Wigmore and Gwenllian, wife of William de Lacy (d. 1233).

Joan married Llywelyn in 1206 after he made peace with her father, King John.  She was buried at Llanfaes in 1237 in a carved sarcophagus in the porch of the parish church of Beaumaris or "beau marais" (beautifual saltmarsh) in Anglesey, Gwynedd.  Llywelyn ap Iorwerth Fawr, Prince of Snowdonia and lord of Aberffraw died in 1240.

Llywelyn ap Iorwerth Fawr's illegitimate son Gruffyd had a son Llywelyn ap Gruffyd who joined Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester (husband of Eleanor Plantagenet, Henry III's sister) in the Barons' War of 1264-5.  Llywelyn ap Gruffyd married Eleanor de Montfort, Earl Simon's daughter.  He and his brother David rebelled against Edward I who invaded and conquered Wales in 1282.

Giraldus Cambrensis names the princes of Wales of his time as:

Owen Gwynedd ap Gruffyd ap Conan in North Wales (d. 1169), was Prince or tywysog of Aberfrraw and lord of Snowdon.

Meredyth ap Gruffyd ap Rhys, lord of Cardigan and Stratwy (d. 1153).

Owen Cyfeilioc ap Gruffyd ap Meredyth ap Blethyn, lord of Powys (d. 1197), leaving the principality to his son Gwenwynwyn.

Cadwalader ap Gruffyd ap Conan of North Wales (d. 1172).

Gruffyd of Maelor ap Madoc ap Meredyth ap Blethyn, Prince of Powis (d. 1160)  succeeded by his son Gruffyd.

Rhy ap Gruffyd (Lord Rhys), son of Gruffyd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr (d. 1137).

David ap Owen Gwynedd who forcibly seized North Wales, slaying his brother Howel and setting aside the lawful claims of the heir, Iorwerth Drwyndwn, whose son, Llwelyan ap Iorwerth in 1194 recovered his inheritance.

Howel ap Iorwerth of Caerleon.

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