Brian fitz Count (also Brian of Wallingford) was descended from the Breton ducal house, and became an Anglo-Norman noble, holding the lordships of Wallingford and

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 wit ...

. He was a loyal adherent of Henry I, King of England, and a staunch supporter of his daughter, the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

, during

the Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legi ...

(1135–1153). Brian would go on to become one of the most notable knights to have sided with

and the Angevin faction. As a result, he is consistently mentioned in contemporary sources.

Life

Brian fitz Count was an illegitimate son of

Alan IV, Duke of Brittany Alan IV (c. 1063 – 13 October 1119) was Duke of Brittany from 1072 until his abdication in 1112. He was also Count of Nantes (from c. 1103) and Count of Rennes. His parents were Duchess Hawise and Duke Hoel II. He is also known as Alan Fergant ...

, and thus the half-brother of Conan III, Duke of Brittany.C. Warren Hollister, ''Henry I'' (Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2003), p. 314 He was sent to be raised at the court of King

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

.Henry's patronage of Brian fitz Count, the illegitimate son of his brother-in-law Alan Fergent, could be seen as patronage to a nephew and his presence at court could be the result of having been sent there either out of friendship or a family relationship. Regardless, Brian fitz Count proved to be a loyal and valuable adherent to Henry I. See: Charlotte A. Newman, 'Family and Royal Favor in Henry I's England', ''Albion'', Vol. 14, no. 3/4 (Autumn 1982), p. 301 & n. 27 He served Henry well at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106 and elsewhere, winning the king's favour. Brian became a close friend of

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. c. 1090, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200Retrieved ...

, Henry I's illegitimate son, and the two remained longstanding allies.Donald Matthew, ''King Stephen'' (Hambledon and London, London, 2002), p. 97 In 1127 Brian and Robert were chosen by Henry to accompany his daughter,

, to

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...

during the negotiations for her marriage to

Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou Geoffrey V (24 August 1113 – 7 September 1151), called the Handsome, the Fair (french: link=no, le Bel) or Plantagenet, was the count of Anjou, Touraine and Maine by inheritance from 1129, and also Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. ...

. The ''Gesta Stephani'' notes that Brian was a man of "distinguished birth and splendid position".Potter, K.R. ed. ''Gesta Stephani The Deeds of Stephen''. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, 1955. p.60 As a

Marcher Lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in ...

through the Barony of

, Brian was reputedly concerned with the resurgence of Welsh hostility following the death of

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 N ...

. Brian married an English heiress, Matilda D'Oyly, widow of Miles Crispin, and through her obtained the Honour of Wallingford . Brian also inherited the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and Barony of

in the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches ( cy, Y Mers) is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ...

from his uncle,

Hamelin de Balun Hamelin de Ballon (or Baalun, Baalan, Balun, Balodun, Balon, etc.) (born ca. 1060, died 5 March 1105/6) was an early Norman Baron and the first Baron Abergavenny and Lord of Over Gwent and Abergavenny; he also served William Rufus.J. Horace R ...

. He held the

honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

Grosmont Castle Grosmont Castle is a ruined castle in the village of Grosmont, Monmouthshire, Wales. The fortification was established by the Normans in the wake of the invasion of England in 1066, to protect the route from Wales to Hereford. Possibly comm ...

, but by what right is uncertain. He gave this to

Walter de Hereford Walter of Hereford was a holder of the feudal title Baron Bergavenny or Lord Abergavenny in the Welsh Marches in the mid twelfth century. Lineage Walter of Hereford was a son of Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, and Sibyl of Neufmarch ...

, the son of

Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford (died 24 December 1143) (''alias'' Miles of GloucesterSanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.7) was a great magnate based in the west of ...

about 1141. Brian held the honour of Wallingford by marriage, and his extensive estates in the counties of

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 Ber ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

ran from the Chilterns to the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. He supported Empress Matilda against King Stephen from 1139 on. Unlike the other Marcher Lords that followed Robert of Gloucester in swearing for Matilda in 1138, Brian only swore his support for Empress Matilda upon her arrival in England at

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

in 1139. Although Stephen's forces repeatedly besieged

Wallingford Castle Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire (historically Berkshire), adjacent to the River Thames. Established in the 11th century as a motte-and-bailey design within an Anglo-Sa ...

, they failed to take the fortification and had to retreat as it had been reinforced by Brian. Wallingford Castle under Brian fitz Count was considered impregnable, not just because of the fortifications but also due to the large body of fighting men he had gathered together. A.L. Poole wrote of Brian: "Brian, a man of intelligence and education, was one of the better types of baron of the anarchy, a type more numerous perhaps than is usually supposed, whose honest purpose is lost sight of at a time when the majority of the class was making the very name of baron a byword for faithlessness, cruelty and lawlessness". See: K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, 'The Devolution of the Honour of Wallingford, 1066–1148', ''Oxoniensia'' Vol. 54 (1989), p. 315. His castle of Wallingford was the easternmost point of the Angevin defences in the Thames valley and it held off King Stephen's forces for over thirteen years. Empress Matilda's nighttime escape from the siege of Oxford was to the safety of Wallingford Castle. When Brian died is unknown. After his death, Matilda became a nun at Bec and died in the 1150s. As they had no heirs their lands and castles in England and Wales reverted to the Crown early in the reign of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...

.I.J. Sanders, ''English Baronies: a study of their origin and descent, 1086-1327'' (The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1963), p. 93

Life

Notes

References

Further reading