| History |
William was the son of William de Warenne, 1st earl of Surrey, 1st earl of Warenne, and his first wife Gundred. In January 1091 he assisted Hugues de Grantmesnil in his defence of Courcy against the forces of Robert de Belleme and Robert II Curthose, duke of Normandy. Sometime around 1093 he attempted to marry Edith (later Matilda), daughter of Malcolm III Canmore, king of Scots. She instead married Henry I of England, which may have been the cause of William\'s great dislike of Henry I, which would be his apparent motivator in the following years.
He accompanied Robert Curthose in his 1101 invasion of England, and afterwards lost his English lands and titles and was exiled to Normandy. There he complained to Curthose that he had expended great effort on the duke\'s behalf and had in return lost most of his possessions. Curthose\'s return to England in 1103 was apparently made to convince his brother to restore William\'s earldom. This was successful, though Curthose had to give up all he had received after the 1101 invasion, and subsequently William was loyal to Henry.
To further ensure William\'s loyalty Henry considered marrying him to one of his many illegitimate daughters. He was however dissuaded by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, for any of the daughters would have been within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. The precise nature of the consanguineous relationship Anselm had in mind has been much debated, but it is most likely he was referring to common descent from the father of Gunnor, wife of Richard I, duke of Normandy.
William was one of the commanders on Henry\'s side against Robert Curthose at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. Afterwards, with his loyalty thus proven, he became more prominent in Henry\'s court.
In 1110 Curthose\'s son William Clito escaped along with Helias of Saint-Saens, and afterwards William de Warenne received the forfeited Saint-Saens lands, which were very near his own in upper Normandy. By this manoeuvre King Henry further assured his loyalty, for the successful return of Clito would have meant at the very least Warenne\'s loss of this new territory.
In 1118 William acquired the royal-blooded bride he desired when he married Elisabeth de Vermandois, daughter of Hugues I Magnus, comte de Vermandois et de Valois, a son of Henri I of France, and Adelaide, comtesse de Vermandois et de Valois. Elisabeth was the widow of Robert I de Beaumont, 1st earl of Leicester, comte de Meulan. William and Elisabeth had three sons and two daughters, of whom two sons and both daughters would have progeny.
William fought at the Battle of Bremule in 1119, and was at Henry\'s deathbed in 1135. William\'s death is recorded as 11 May 1138 in the register of Lewes priory, and he was buried with his father at the chapter-house there. [1] |
Ellie Wood Keith Genealogy
Abt 1070 - 1138 (~ 68 years)
(Age ~ 32 years)