William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (died 10 September 1217) (or de Reviers), of
Tiverton Castle and
Plympton Castle, both in Devon, was
feudal baron of Plympton in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
.
Origins
He was the son of
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon by his wife Adelize Ballon. William de Redvers is also known as William de Vernon, because he was brought up at Vernon Castle, 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 ...
, the seat of his grandfather
Richard de Redvers
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
.
Career
In 1194, De Redvers took part in the second coronation of
King Richard the Lionheart
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 overl ...
(1189-1199), when the Canopy was supported by four Earls. He was a firm supporter of Richard's younger brother and heir
King John (1199-1216), but after John's death, he permitted
Falkes de Breauté, one of his mercenary captains, to seize De Redvers' widowed daughter-in-law, force a marriage, and take her dowry. These events are featured in
Alfred Duggan
Alfred Duggan (born Alfredo León Duggan; 1903–1964) was an English historian and archaeologist, and a well-known historical novelist in the 1950s. His novels are known for meticulous historical research.
Background
Though brought up in Brita ...
's novel, ''Leopards and Lilies'' (1954).
Marriage and issue
He married Mabel de Beaumont, a daughter of
Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (c. 1142 – 1204, Poitiers, France), was the son of Waleran IV de Beaumont and Agnes de Montfort.
Family and children
Around 1165 Robert married Maud of Cornwall, daughter of Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st E ...
by his wife Maud FitzRoy, a daughter and co-heiress of
by his wife Beatrice FitzRichard. By Mabel de Beaumont he had one son who predeceased him and two daughters:
* Baldwin de Redvers (b. after 28 April 1200; d. 1 September 1216), eldest son and
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
, who predeceased his father aged under 16, having married Margaret FitzGerold, daughter and heiress of Warin FitzGerold (1167 – post-1216) (eldest son and heir of Henry FitzGerold (d.1174/5), Chamberlain to King
Henry II) by his wife Alice de Curcy, sister and heiress of William de Curcy IV (d.1194)
feudal baron of
Stoke Curcy (now
Stogursey) in Somerset and of
Harewood in Yorkshire. He left a son
Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon.
* Mary de Redvers, known as "Mary de Vernon", who married, firstly,
Pierre des Preaux
Peter de Preaux, known in his time in the Old French language as Pierre de Préaux, (died 1212) was a Norman knight in the service of the Angevin kings of England. Osbert, Peter's father, was a minor Norman baron in the Roumois (the neighborhood ...
(Anglicised to "Peter Prouz" and
Latinised as ''de Pratellis'' ("from the meadow")).
Ralph Brooke
Ralph Brooke (1553–1625) was an English Officer of Arms in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He is known for his critiques of the work of other members of the College of Arms, most particularly in ''A Discoverie of Certaine Errours Pu ...
(1553–1625),
York Herald
York Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms. The first York Herald is believed to have been an officer to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York around the year 1385, but the first completely reliable reference to such a ...
, and others, stated that her descendants by her first marriage were the "Prouse" family of
Gidleigh Castle and of
Chagford in Devon; the arms of de Redvers were quartered by this family, as is visible on the monument of Humphrey Prouse (d.1648) in Chagford Church. However, the Devonshire historian Sir
William Pole (d.1635) was sceptical about Brooke's version of the pedigree which he could "hardly admytt without better proofe than theire allegacion", objecting that he had never encountered the Devonshire Prouses called ''de Pratellis'' in any documents, and that their name was instead Latinised as ''Probus'' ("upright, proud"). Mary de Redvers married, secondly, Robert de Courtenay (died 1242),
feudal baron of Okehampton
The feudal barony of Okehampton was a very large feudal barony, the largest mediaeval fiefdom in the county of Devon, England,Thorn & Thorn, part 2, chapter 16 whose ''caput'' was Okehampton Castle and manor. It was one of eight feudal baronies ...
, Devon, son of
Reginald de Courtenay (died 1194) by his wife Hawise de Curcy (died 1219), heiress of Okehampton. From this marriage, the Courtenays later inherited the feudal barony of Plympton in 1293 and in 1335 were declared
Earls of Devon.
[Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, pp.70,138] Robert de Courtenay (died 1242) was the great-grandfather of
Hugh de Courtenay, 1st/9th Earl of Devon
Hugh de Courtenay, 1st/9th Earl of Devon (14 September 1276 – 23 December 1340). of Tiverton Castle, Okehampton Castle, Plympton Castle and Colcombe Castle, all in Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, was an Englis ...
(d.1340).
* Joan de Redvers, who married William Brewere; she had been betrothed to
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, but the marriage did not proceed.
Death and succession
He died on 10 September 1217 when his title passed to his grandson,
Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon, his only son Baldwin de Redvers having predeceased him.
Footnotes
References
*
External links
Redvers family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redvers, William de 5th Earl of Devon
Devon, Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of
Devon, Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of
5
Redvers, William de, 5th Earl of
Year of birth unknown
William
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 Engl ...