William de Falaise (11th century), also called William of Falaise, was a Norman from
Falaise,
Duchy of Normandy, today in the
Calvados department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the
Lower Normandy region of north-western France. He became
feudal baron
A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely been ...
of
Stogursey
Stogursey is the name of a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the no ...
in Somerset and also held manors in Devon.
Biography
William married Geva de Burci (her second husband), who was the daughter and sole heiress of
Serlo de Burcy
Serlon de Burci was a Norman of the eleventh century. After the Norman conquest of England, he became a feudal baron and major landowner in south-west England. His feudal barony had as its ''caput'' the manor of Blagdon in Somerset. He is recorded ...
, feudal baron of Blagdon, Somerset, which barony is sometimes stated to be of Dartington, Devon, as the ''
caput'' cannot be clearly assigned exclusively to either place. Geva's first husband was "Martin" (died before 1086) for whom she produced a son and heir,
Robert fitz Martin (died 1159), who with his descendants were feudal barons of Blagdon. William's daughter and sole heiress to the feudal barony of Stogursey was Emma of Falaise, who married
William de Courcy (died about 1114), to whose descendants the barony of Stogursey passed. The Devon lands of William of Falaise however passed to the
FitzMartin family, feudal barons of Blagdon, who were sometimes seated at his former manor of Dartington.
Landholdings
The
Exeter Domesday Book lists him as holding the following 17 Devon manors as a
tenant-in-chief of the king:
*Combe Martin, in Braunton Hundred
*Furse, possibly Furze in
West Buckland in Braunton Hundred
*
Parracombe, in
Shirwell Hundred
*Churchill, in East Down parish, Braunton Hundred
*"Beare", possibly a lost Beare in Worlington, Witheridge Hundred
*Washford Pyne in Witheridge Hundred
*Worlington, in Witheridge Hundred
*Bradford, in Witheridge Hundred
*Densham, in Woolfardisworthy parish
*Cockington, in Haytor Hundred
*Holne, now a parish, in Stanborough Hundred
*Stoke, in Holne parish, in Stanborough Hundred
*Dean Prior, a parish in Stanborough Hundred
*Rattery, a parish in Stanborough Hundred
*Dartington, a parish in Stanborough Hundred
*Harbourneford, in South Brent parish in Stanborough Hundred
*Englebourne, now in Harberton parish, Coleridge Hundred.
He is listed as ''Wilts de Faleise'', holding 3 Somerset manors as tenant-in-chief:
Open Domesday Online: William of Falaise
/ref>
*Stogursey
Stogursey is the name of a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the no ...
, in Cannington Hundred
*Wootton ourtenay in Carhampton Hundred
*Woodspring, in Winterstoke Hundred
Sources
*Thorn, Caroline & Frank, ''Domesday Book, Vol. 9, Devon'', vol. 1, Chichester, 1985, Chapter 20, holdings of William de Falaise.
*Sanders, Ivor J., 'Barony of Blagdon' in ''English Baronies'' (Oxford, 1960), p. 15,
References
Anglo-Normans
Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief
Feudal barons of Stoke Courcy
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