The identity and parentage of Earl William Longespée's mothe

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Douglas Richardson

The identity and parentage of Earl William Longespée's mothe

Legg inn av Douglas Richardson » 08 okt 2007 18:34:46

Dear Newsgroup ~

Below is a lengthy note which discsusses the identity and parentage of
Ida de Tony, mother of William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, and wife
of Roger le Bigod, Earl of Norfolk. Earl William Longespée was the
well known bastard son of King Henry II of England. Earl William's
mother was long thought in popular print to have been King Henry II's
mistress, "Fair" Rosamond Clifford, which connection has been
disproved by modern scholarship. Earl William specifically named his
mother as Countess Ida in two contemporary charters [see London,
Cartulary of Bradenstoke Priory (Wiltshire Rec. Soc. 35) (1979): 143,
188].

Credit for the identification of Ralph le Bigod as the [half-] brother
of Earl William Longespée goes to the French historian, Henri Malo,
who made this identification in his book, Un grand feudataire, Renaud
de Dammartin et la coalition de Bouvines, published back in 1898.
William Longespée's mother, Countess Ida, was first identified as the
wife of Roger le Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, in modern times in Roberts,
Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants (1993): 347, which identification was
taken from original research provided to Mr. Roberts by Douglas
Richardson.

Readers who wish to view the Malo book may do so at the following
weblink:

http://books.google.com/books?id=cHAvAA ... es#PPP7,M1

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
William Longespée's mother, Countess Ida

[Note: William Longespée has long been thought to have been the
illegitimate child of Henry II, King of England, by his mistress,
Rosamond Clifford. New evidence has surfaced in recent years,
however, which indicates William was actually the son of King Henry II
by another mistress, a certain Ida, afterwards wife of Roger le Bigod
(died 1221), Earl of Norfolk [see C.P. 9 (1936): 586-589 (sub
Norfolk); Kemp Reading Abbey Cartularies 1 (Camden 4th Ser. 31)
(1986): 371]. For conclusive evidence that William Longespée was the
son of Countess Ida le Bigod, see London Cartulary of Bradenstoke
Priory (Wiltshire Rec. Soc. 35) (1979): 143, 188, which includes two
charters in which Earl William Longespée specifically names his
mother, Countess Ida. Furthermore, among the English prisoners
captured at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, there was a certain Ralph
[le] Bigod, who a contemporary French record refers to as
"brother" [that is, half-brother] of William Longespée, Earl of
Salisbury [see Brial Monumens de Règnes des Philippe Auguste et de
Louis VIII 1 (Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 17)
(1878): 101 (Guillelmus Armoricus: "Isti sunt Prisiones (capti in
bello Bovinensi)...Radulphus Bigot, frater Comitis Saresburiensis"); see
also Malo Un grand feudataire, Renaud de Dammartin et la coalition de
Bouvines (1898):199, 209, which author identified Ralph le Bigod as
brother of William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury]. For newly published
evidence that Countess Ida was a member of the Tony family, see Morris
The Bigod Earls of Norfolk in the 13th Century (2005): 2, who cites a
royal inquest dated 1275, in which jurors affirmed that Earl Roger le
Bigod had received the manors of Acle, Halvergate, and South Walsham,
Norfolk from King Henry II, in marriage with his wife, Ida de Tony
[see Rotuli Hundredorum 1 (1812): 504, 537]. Morris shows that Earl
Roger le Bigod received these manors by writ of the king, he having
held them for three quarters of a year at Michaelmas 1182 [see PR 28
Henry II, 1181-1182 (Pipe Roll Soc.) (1910):64]. This appears to
pinpoint to marriage of Ida de Tony and Earl Roger le Bigod as having
occurred about Christmas 1181]. As for Countess Ida's parentage, it
seems virtually certain that she was a daughter of Ralph V de Tony
(died 1162), of Flamstead, Hertfordshire, by his wife, Margaret (b. c.
1125, living 1185), daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of
Leicester [see C.P.7 (1929): 530, footnote e (incorrectly dates Ralph
and Margaret's marriage as "after 1155" based on the misdating of a
charter-correction provided by Ray Phair); C.P. 12(1) (1953): 764-765
(sub Tony)]. For evidence which supports Ida's placement as a child
of Ralph V de Tony, several facts may be noted. First, Countess Ida
and her husband, Roger le Bigod, are known to have named children,
Ralph and Margaret, presumably in honor of Ida's parents, Ralph and
Margaret de Tony [see Thompson Liber Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmenis (Surtees
Soc. 136) (1923): fo.63b, for a contemporary list of the Bigod
children]. Countess Ida was herself evidently named in honor of Ralph
V de Tony's mother, Ida of Hainault. Next, William Longespée and his
descendants had a long standing association with the family of Roger
de Akeny, of Garsington, Oxfordshire, which Roger was a younger
brother of Ralph V de Tony (died 1162) [see C.P. 8 (1932): chart foll.
464; 14 (1998): 614; Loyd Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Fams. (1951):
2; VCH Oxford 5 (1957): 138; Harper-Bill Dodnash Priory Charters
(Suffolk Rec. Soc. 16) (1998): 34-37, 39-40, 72-73; Fam. Hist. 18
(1995-97): 47-64; 19 (1998): 125-129]. Lastly, Roger le Bigod and his
step-son William Longespée both had associations with William the
Lion, King of Scotland, which connection can be readily explained by
virtue of King William's wife, Ermengarde, being sister to Constance
de Beaumont, wife of Countess Ida's presumed brother, Roger VI de Tony
[see C.P. 12(1) (1953): 760-769 (sub Tony)]. William the Lion was
likewise near related to both of Countess Ida's presumed parents, her
father by a shared descent from Countess Judith, niece of William the
Conqueror, and her mother by a shared descent from Isabel de
Vermandois, Countess of Surrey. Roger le Bigod and William Longespée
were both present with other English relations of William the Lion at
an important gathering at Lincoln in 1200, when William the Lion paid
homage to King John of England [see Stubbs Chronica Magistri Rogeri de
Houedene 4 (Rolls Ser. 51) (1871): 141-142]. Thus, naming patterns,
familial and political associations give strong evidence that Ida,
wife of Earl Roger le Bigod, was a daughter of Ralph V de Tony].

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