Joscelin of Louvain, also spelled Jocelin de Louvain and Jocelyn of Leuven, (1121/36–1180) was a nobleman from the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

who settled in England after his half-sister Adeliza of Louvain married King Henry I. There Joscelin married an English heiress, and through his son, the

House of Percy A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air co ...

—as the

Earls Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

and later the

Dukes of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke o ...

—became the most powerful family in Northern England.

Origins

He was a son of

Godfrey I, Count of Louvain Godfrey I ( nl, Godfried, 1060 – 25 January 1139), called the Bearded, the Courageous, or the Great, was the Landgrave of Brabant, Count of Brussels and Leuven (Louvain) from 1095 to his death and Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1106 to 1129. He w ...

by an unnamed mistress.

Petworth

Joscelin was granted the manor of Petworth, in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, by his half-sister Adeliza of Louvain, the widow of King

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

of England. His descendants were seated at

Petworth House Petworth House in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century Grade I listed country house, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the design of the architect Anthony Sa ...

for many centuries. Though they originally intended Petworth to be their southern home, the Earls of Northumberland were confined to Sussex by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

in the late 16th century, when she grew suspicious of Percy allegiance to her rival,

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

. Petworth then became their permanent home.

Marriage and progeny

He married Agnes de Percy (d.1203), one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of William II de Percy (d.1174/5), 3rd feudal baron of Topcliffe, Yorkshire.Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.148 Upon his marriage, he adopted the Percy surname. By his wife he had at least seven children: * Henry de Percy (d.1190/98), eldest son, who predeceased his mother and married Isabel de Brus, daughter of Adam II de Brus (d.1196), grandson of

Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale Robert I de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale (–1141) was an early-12th-century Anglo-Norman lord and the first of the Bruce dynasty to hold lands in Scotland. A monastic patron, he is remembered as the founder of Gisborough Priory in Yorkshire, En ...

. He was survived by a son William III de Percy (1197-1245), who inherited from his uncle

Richard de Percy Sir Richard de Percy (c. 1170–1244), 5th Baron Percy, was a Magnate from the North of England, and a participant in the First Barons' War. He was the son of Agnes de Perci, ''suo jure'' Baroness Percy, the heiress of the Percy estates, and her h ...

(d.1244) his grandmother's

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

of the barony of Topcliffe. His descendants were later created

Earls of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

. *

(d.1244), younger son, who inherited from his mother her moiety of the barony of Topcliffe. He himself died without issue when his heir was his brother's son William III de Percy (1197-1245), who thus regained the whole of the Percy barony of Topcliffe, having inherited the other moiety from his great-aunt Maud de Percy (d.1204), sister of Agnes. He was a

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

surety. * Joscelin * Radulph, went to France * Eleanor * Maud (born c. 1164) * Lucy

References

{{reflist Nobility of the Duchy of Brabant 1180 deaths Percy family