Sibyl of Falaise
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Sibyl of Falaise (or Sibil de FalaiseKeats-Rohan ''Domesday Descendants'' p. 454) was a kinswoman 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 ...
. She was possibly his illegitimate daughter or a niece, as the sources are unclear. Another possibility is that she may have been more distantly related to him instead. She married and had at least one daughter, although her husband's other children may possibly be her offspring also. Through her daughter, Sibyl was the grandmother of
Reginald fitzUrse Sir Reginald FitzUrse (1145–1173) was one of the four knights who murdered Thomas Becket in 1170. His name is derived from ''Fitz'', the Anglo-Norman French term meaning "son of" and ''urse'' meaning a bear, probable the ''nom de guerre'' of his ...
, one of the murderers of
Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
.


Life

Sibyl was called the "nepta" (either "niece" or "kinswoman") 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 ...
. The term "niece" was often used to mean that the person was an illegitimate child rather than a niece, so it is possible that she was really Henry's bastard daughter.Given-Wilson and Curteis ''Royal Bastards'' p. 71 The historian Frank Barlow also implies that she could have been Henry's daughter rather than his niece.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 236 Against this, Kathleen Thompson argues that Henry was not shy about recognizing his bastards, and that it is more likely that Sibyl was the illegitimate daughter of Henry's elder brother
Robert Curthose Robert Curthose, or Robert II of Normandy ( 1051 – 3 February 1134, french: Robert Courteheuse / Robert II de Normandie), was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 1087, reigning until 1106. ...
. Robert was
Duke of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western Kingdom of France, France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple, Charles III in ...
from 1086 (although he pawned it in 1096 to another brother,
William Rufus William II ( xno, Williame;  – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
, to finance going on 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 ...
),Clanchy ''England and Its Rulers'' p. 46 and Falaise was where Robert's legitimate son,
William Clito William Clito (25 October 110228 July 1128) was a member of the House of Normandy who ruled the County of Flanders from 1127 until his death and unsuccessfully claimed the Duchy of Normandy. As the son of Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William ...
, was being raised.Thompson "Affairs of State" ''Journal of Medieval History'' pp. 150–151
Katharine Keats-Rohan Dr Katharine Stephanie Benedicta Keats-Rohan (; born 1957) is a British history researcher, specialising in prosopography. She has produced seminal work on early European history, and collaborated with, among others, Christian Settipani.< ...
argues instead that Sibyl was the younger daughter of
William de Falaise William de Falaise (11th century), also called William of Falaise, was a Norman from Falaise, Duchy of Normandy, today in the Calvados department in the Lower Normandy region of north-western France. He became feudal baron of Stogursey in Somers ...
and Geva de Burcy. William de Falaise was the lord 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 ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
.Sanders ''English Baronies'' p. 22 footnote 7 Keats-Rohan says that Sibyl was just a "kinswoman" of Henry and not a bastard of either Henry or Robert. I. J. Sanders does not believe Sibyl was William's daughter, but does not speculate further on her ancestry. If Sibyl was a bastard, nothing is known of her mother.Given Wilson and Curteis ''Royal Bastards'' p. 63 Thompson speculates that if Sibyl was the daughter of Robert, Sibyl's mother may have been someone employed in raising William Clito and that Sibyl was named for Robert's deceased wife, Sibyl of Conversano. Sibyl married Baldwin de Boullers (sometimes spelled Bullers), at the instigation of Henry I. Baldwin held lands in
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
.Keats-Rohan ''Domesday Descendants'' p. 357 Baldwin had at least two sons – Stephen and Baldwin – and two daughters – Matilda (or Maud) and Hillaria. Matilda married Richard fitzUrse, and only she is known for sure to be the daughter of Sibyl.Keats-Rohan ''Domesday Descendants'' p. 357 Matilda was the mother of
Reginald fitzUrse Sir Reginald FitzUrse (1145–1173) was one of the four knights who murdered Thomas Becket in 1170. His name is derived from ''Fitz'', the Anglo-Norman French term meaning "son of" and ''urse'' meaning a bear, probable the ''nom de guerre'' of his ...
, one of the murderers of
Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
.


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