Gerard de Furnival (c.1175–1219) was a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and Lord of

Hallamshire Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, approximating to the current City of Sheffield local government area. The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Hall ...

(now part of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) and

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...

. De Furnival's father was also called Gerard de Furnival, and had fought with

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

at the

Siege of Acre Siege of Acre may refer to: * Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade *Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade * Siege of Acre (1263), Baibars laid siege to the Crusader city, but abandoned it to attack Nazareth. *Siege of A ...

. De Furnival was married to Maud, the great-granddaughter of

William de Lovetot William de Lovetot, Lord of Hallamshire, possibly descended from the Norman Baron Ricardus Surdus,* (wikisource) was an Anglo-Norman Baron from Huntingdonshire, often credited as the founder of Sheffield, England. It is unknown when de Lovetot ...

, and it was by this marriage that the lordships of Hallamshire and Worksop came into the Furnival family. However, this inheritance was not without competition, as although the eldest branch of De Lovetot ended in a female heiress, there was another branch still existing, which sprang from the William de Lovetot, by his younger son Nigel. With the death of Maud's father (also called William de Lovetot), the rights of this branch were vested in Maud's cousin, Richard de Lovetot, who seems to have acquiesced in the transit of the great property of the family to Maud, her husband, Gerard de Furnival, and her issue. During the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by Al-Adil I, al-Adil, brothe ...

De Furnival travelled to Damietta (Egypt), where he died in 1219. He was succeeded by his son,

Thomas de Furnival Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

, who died alongside his brother Gerard in the Holy Land while on the Barons' Crusade in 1241.James Doherty, 'The Crusading Furnivals: Family Tradition, Political Expediency and Social Pressure in Crusade Motivation', ''Journal of Family History'' (202

/ref> Furnival Gate in Sheffield is named after Gerard.

References

* White, Robert (1875) ''Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest''. Transcription at Nicholson, AP:
Nottinghamshire History
(accessed 28 January 2006). 1170s births 1219 deaths Anglo-Normans Norman warriors People from Sheffield {{UK-noble-stub

See also

References