Maud de Braose, Lady of Bramber (c. 1155 – 1210) was an English noble, the spouse of
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber
William de Braose, (or William de Briouze), 4th Lord of Bramber (1144/1153 – 9 August 1211), court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, L ...
, a powerful
Marcher baron and court
favourite
A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated si ...
of King
John of England
John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...
. She would later incur the wrath and enmity of the King who caused her to be starved to death in the dungeon of
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the P ...
along with her eldest son.
In contemporary records, she was described as beautiful, very wise, doughty, and vigorous. She kept up the war against the Welsh and conquered much from them.
She features in many Welsh myths and legends; and is also known to history as Matilda de Braose, Moll Wallbee, and Lady of La Haie.
Family and marriage
She was born Maud de St. Valery (''Maud de Saint-Valéry'') in France in about 1155, the child of Bernard de St. Valéry of
Hinton Waldrist
Hinton Waldrist is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is between Oxford and Faringdon, southwest of Oxford. The ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
(now
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
)
and his first wife, Matilda. Her paternal grandfather was Reginald de St. Valéry (died c.1162).
She had many siblings and half-siblings, including Thomas de St. Valéry (died 1219), who was a son of Bernard by his second wife Eleanor de Domnart. Thomas married Adele de Ponthieu, by whom he had a daughter, Annora, who in her turn married
Robert III, Count of Dreux
Robert III of Dreux (1185–1234), List of Counts of Dreux, Count of Dreux and Braine, was the son of Robert II of Dreux, Robert II, Count of Dreux, and Yolanda de Coucy. He was given the epithet, byname Gasteblé (lit. wheat-spoiler) when he de ...
, by whom she had issue. Thomas fought on the French side, at the
Battle of Bouvines
The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...
on 27 July 1214.
Sometime around 1166, Maud married William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, son of
William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
and
Bertha of Hereford
Bertha of Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres (born c. 1130), was the daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, and a wealthy heiress, Sibyl de Neufmarché. She was the wife of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber to whom sh ...
de Pitres. He also held the lordships of
Gower
Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...
,
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...
,
Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
,
Radnor,
Builth
Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...
,
Abergavenny
Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...
,
Kington,
Painscastle
Painscastle (Welsh: ''Castell-paen'') is a village and community in Powys (formerly Radnorshire), Wales which takes its name from the castle at its heart. It lies between Builth and Hay-on-Wye, approximately 3 miles from the Wales-England borde ...
,
Skenfrith
Skenfrith ( cy, Ynysgynwraidd) is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. It is located on the River Monnow, close to the border between Wales and England, about north-west of Monmouth. The road through the village (B4521) was once ...
,
Grosmont,
White Castle and
Briouze
Briouze () is a commune in the Orne department of Normandy in northwestern France. It is considered the capital of the ''pays d'Houlme'' at the western end of the Orne in the Norman bocage. The nearby Grand Hazé marshland is a heritage-listed ar ...
in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. When King John of England ascended the throne in 1199, Braose became a court favourite and was also awarded the lordship of
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Maud had a marriage portion,
Tetbury
Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...
from her father's estate.
Maud supported her husband's military ambitions and he put her in charge of Hay Castle and surrounding territory.
She is often referred to in history as the ''Lady of Hay''. In 1198, Maud defended Painscastle in
Elfael
Elfael was one of a number of Welsh cantrefi occupying the region between the River Wye and river Severn, known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, in the early Middle Ages. It was divided into two commotes, Is Mynydd and Uwch Mynydd, separated by the chain of ...
against a massive Welsh attack led by
Gwenwynwyn
Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog (died c. 1216) was the last major ruler of mid Wales before the completion of the History of Wales#Wales and the Normans: 1067–1283, Norman English invasion. He was one of few native rulers to represent a real threa ...
, Prince of
Powys
Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...
. She successfully held off Gwenwynwyn's forces for three weeks until English reinforcements arrived. Over three thousand Welsh were killed. Painscastle was known as ''Matilda's Castle'' by the locals.
Maud and William are reputed to have had 16 children.
[F.M. Powicke, "Loretta, Countess of Leicester", in ''Historical Essays in Honour of James Tait'', ed. J. G. Edwards et al. (Manchester: 1933), pp. 247-274] The best documented of these are listed below.
Issue
* Maud de Braose (died 29 December 1210), married
Gruffydd ap Rhys II Gruffydd ap Rhys II (died 25 July 1201) was a prince of Deheubarth in south-west Wales.
Lineage
He was the son of Rhys ap Gruffydd (The Lord Rhys) and grandson of Gruffydd ap Rhys. Gruffydd was the eldest son of Rhys ap Gruffydd by his wife Gwe ...
, by whom she had two sons, Rhys and Owain.
* William de Braose (died 1210). Starved to death with his mother in either Windsor or Corfe Castle. He married Maud de Clare, daughter of
Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford
Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford (–1217), feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, and lord of Tonbridge in Kent and of Cardigan in Wales, was a powerful Anglo-Norman nobleman with vast landholdings in England and Wales.
Career
Richard was the ...
, by whom he had issue, including
John de Braose
John de Braose (born 1197 or 1198 – 18 July 1232), known as ''Tadody'' to the Welsh, was the Lord of Bramber and Gower.
Re-establishment of the de Braose dynasty
John re-established the senior branch of the de Braose dynasty.
His father w ...
.
*
Margaret de Braose (died after 1255), married
Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath
Walter de Lacy (c. 1172 – 1241) was lord of Meath in Ireland. He was also a substantial land owner in Weobley, Herefordshire, in Ludlow, Shropshire, in Ewyas Lacy in the Welsh Marches, and several lands in Normandy. He was the eldest son ...
, son of Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath and Rohese of Monmouth.
*
Reginald de Braose
Reginald de Braose (19 September 1182 – June 1228) was one of the sons of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and Matilda, also known as Maud de St. Valery and Lady de la Haie. Her other children included William and Giles.
The de Braoses w ...
(died between 5 May 1227 and 9 June 1228), married firstly, Grace, daughter of
William Briwere
William Briwere (died 1244) was a medieval Bishop of Exeter.
Early life
Briwere was the nephew of William Brewer, a baron and political leader during King Henry III of England's minority.Vincent ''Peter des Roches'' p. 213 Nothing else is k ...
, and secondly, in 1215,
Gwladus Ddu
Gwladus Ddu, ("Gwladus the Dark Eyes"), full name Gwladus ferch Llywelyn (died 1251) was a Welsh noblewoman who was a daughter of Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd and Joan Plantagenet, a daughter of John, King of England. She married two Marcher lo ...
, daughter of Welsh Prince
Llewelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and d ...
. He had issue by his first wife, including
William de Braose, who married
Eva Marshal
Eva Marshal (1203–1246) was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman and the wife of the powerful Marcher lord William de Braose. She was the daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and the granddaughter of Strongbow and Aoife of Leinster.
She ...
.
*
Giles de Braose
Giles de Braose (or Giles de Bruse; died 17 November 1215) was Bishop of Hereford from 1200 to 1215.
Early life
Giles was the second son of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber.Barrow "Briouze, Giles de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biograp ...
, Bishop of
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
(died 13 November 1215)
* John de Braose
(died before 27 May 1205), married Amabil de Limesi.
*
Loretta de Braose, married
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died circa 21 October 1204) ( Latinized to ''de Bellomonte'' ("from the beautiful mountain")) was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPe ...
. She died without issue.
* Annora de Braose, married
Hugh de Mortimer Hugh de Mortimer (c. 1100 – 26 February 1180/81) was a Norman English medieval lord.
Lineage
The son of Ranulph de Mortimer, he was Lord of Wigmore Castle, Stratfield Mortimer, Cleobury Mortimer and at times, Bridgnorth, Bishop's Castle and ...
and later became a recluse at
Iffley
Iffley is a village in a designated Conservation Area in Oxfordshire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the city of Oxford, between Cowley, Oxfordshire, Cowley and the estates of Rose Hill, Oxford, Rose Hill and Donnington, Oxfordshire, D ...
.
* Flandrina de Braose, Abbess of Godstow, (elected 1242, deposed 1248).
Enmity of King John
In 1208, William de Braose quarrelled with his friend and patron King John. The reason is not known but it is alleged that Maud made indiscreet comments regarding the murder of King John's nephew Duke
Arthur I of Brittany. There was also a large sum of money (five thousand marks) de Braose owed the King. Whatever the reason, John demanded Maud's son William be sent to him as a hostage for her husband's loyalty. Maud refused, and stated loudly within earshot of the King's officers that "she would not deliver her children to a king who had murdered his own nephew." The King quickly led troops to the Welsh border and seized all of the castles that belonged to William de Braose. Maud and her eldest son William fled to Ireland, where they found refuge at
Trim Castle
Trim Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Troim) is a castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, with an area of 30,000 m2. Over a period of 30 years, it was built by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter as ...
with the
de Lacy
de Lacy (Laci, Lacie, Lascy, Lacey, Lassey) is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first recorde ...
s, the family of her daughter Margaret. In 1210, King John sent an expedition to Ireland. Maud and her son escaped but were apprehended in
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
by
Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick
Donnchadh (; Latin: Duncanus; English: Duncan) was a Gall-Gaidhil prince and Scottish magnate in what is now south-western Scotland, whose career stretched from the last quarter of the 12th century until his death in 1250. His father, Gille-B ...
. After being briefly held at
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of B ...
,
[''Histoire des Ducs de Normandie et des Rois d'Angleterre'', pp.112-5] they were dispatched to England.
Imprisonment and death
Maud and William were first imprisoned at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
, but were shortly afterwards transferred to
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the P ...
in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
where they were placed inside the
dungeon
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...
. The contemporaneous ''History of the Dukes of Normandy and Kings of England'' claims Maud and William both starved to death.
It is also said that John had her with her son imprisoned at Corfe castle and ordered that a sheaf of oats and one piece of raw bacon be given to them. He did not allow them to have any more meat. After eleven days, the mother was found dead between her son's legs. Her son, who was also dead, was found sitting straight, bent against the wall. So desperate was the mother that she had eaten the flesh from her own son's cheeks. The manner in which they met their deaths so outraged the English nobility that the
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 ...
, which King John was forced to sign in 1215, contains clause 39: "No man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land."
Her husband died a year later in exile in France where he had gone disguised as a beggar to escape King John's wrath after the latter had declared him an
outlaw
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
, following his alliance with
Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and d ...
, whom he had assisted in open rebellion against the King, an act which John regarded as
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
. He was buried in the
Abbey of St. Victor, Paris.
Maud's daughter Margaret de Lacy founded a religious house, the Hospital of St. John, in
Aconbury,
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
in her memory.
[''Histoire des Ducs de Normandie et des Rois d' Angleterre''] On 10 October 1216, eight days before his death, King John conceded three
carucate
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
s of land in the royal forest of Aconbury to Margaret for the construction of the religious house. He sent the instructions to her husband Walter de Lacy, who held the post of Sheriff of Hereford, by letters patent.
Legends
Maud de Braose features in many
Welsh folklore Welsh folklore is the collective term for the folklore of the Welsh people. It encompasses topics related to Welsh mythology, but also include the nation's folk tales, customs, and oral tradition.
Welsh folklore is related to Irish folklore and Sc ...
myths and legends. There is one legend which says that Maud built the castle of
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the t ...
single handed in one night, carrying the stones in her apron.
She was also said to have been extremely tall and often donned armour while leading troops into battle.
The legend about her building Hay Castle probably derives from the time she added the gateway arch to a tower which was built in the 1180s.
[Mike Salter, ''Hay Castle'']
In fiction
A book entitled ''Lady of Hay'' was written by author
Barbara Erskine
Barbara Erskine (born 10 August 1944) is an English novelist. She was born in Nottingham in 1944. Her father was World War II Battle of Britain flying ace Squadron Leader Nigel Rose.
Erskine has a degree in medieval Scottish history from Univer ...
. It is a highly fictional account of Maud's life simultaneously set in the past and in 20th century England where she was fictitiously reincarnated as a modern Englishwoman. Maud is also mentioned in the novel ''
Here Be Dragons
"Here be dragons" ( la, hic sunt dracones) means dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of a medieval practice of putting illustrations of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures on uncharted areas of maps where potent ...
'' by
Sharon Penman
Sharon Kay Penman (August 13, 1945 – January 22, 2021) was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. She was best known for the Welsh Princes trilogy and the Plantagenet series. In addition, she wrote four medieval ...
, and in the novels ''To Defy A King'' and ''The Scarlet Lion'' by
Elizabeth Chadwick
Elizabeth Chadwick (born 1957) is an author of historical fiction. She is a member of Regia Anglorum, a medieval reenactment organisation.
Biography
Elizabeth Chadwick was born in Bury, Lancashire in 1957. She moved with her family to Scotlan ...
, and in
Jean Plaidy
Eleanor Alice Hibbert (née Burford; 1 September 1906 – 18 January 1993) was an English writer of historical romances. She was a prolific writer who published several books a year in different literary genres, each genre under a different pen ...
's novel ''The Prince of Darkness'' about King John. The incident of Maud's starvation and death at the hands of King John is fictionalized in Pamela Kaufman's ''The Prince of Poison.''
References
Bibliography
* Costain, Thomas B. (1962). ''The Conquering Family''. Graden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braose, Maud de
Anglo-Normans
English murder victims
1150s births
1210 deaths
People from Abergavenny
People from Bramber
People from Vale of White Horse (district)
Women in medieval European warfare
Deaths by starvation
Women in 12th-century warfare
Women in 13th-century warfare
12th-century English women
12th-century English people
13th-century English women
13th-century English people
Women in war in Britain