William Fitz-Ansculf was a Norman-French landowner who succeeded his father,

Ansculf de Picquigny Ansculf de Picquigny (c. 1014 – c. 1084) was a French baron who followed William the Conqueror to England. Biography Ansculf de Picquigny, born around 1014, was the son of Guermond de Picquigny, Picquigny being a village near Amiens in Picardy ...

Birth and early life

William's date of birth is not known, though it was likely in

Picquigny Picquigny () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Picquigny is situated at the junction of the N235, the D141 and D3 roads, on the banks of the river Somme, some northwest (and downstream) o ...

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

, now in the Somme department, France, in the mid 11th Century. William inherited many lands in central England that had been granted to his father, Ansculf de Picquigny by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

after the Norman conquest in 1066. William made his base at the castle built by his father in Dudley, Worcestershire. He and his successors were overlords of the manors of Selly Oak and Birmingham both of which had previously been owned by Wulfwin. His ownership of

Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborn ...

was challenged by the Bishop of Lichfield using a nuncupative (oral) will made by Wulfwin as evidence. It would appear that William Fitz-Ansculf died during the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

. Henry of Huntingdon in his ‘History of the English People’ writes that: “Then from the middle of February they besieged the castle of ‘Arqah, for almost three months. Easter was celebrated there (10 April). But Anselm of Ribemont, a very brave knight, died there, struck by a stone, and William of Picardy, and many others.”.

Lands held

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 shows William holding from the Crown around one-hundred estates in twelve counties. Many of these were estates formerly held by King Harold Godwinsson, Lady Godiva, Earl Algar and Ulwin, a thegn based in the Midlands. William was either Lord, or tenant-in-chief. List of land held by William Fitz Ansculf in 1086:

References

{{reflist Anglo-Normans 11th-century births 11th-century deaths