Coat of arms of William d'Aubigny, Lord of Belvoir Castle

William d'Aubigny or D'Aubeney or d'Albini, Lord of Belvoir (died 1 May 1236) was a prominent member of the baronial rebellions against King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin ...

. He was one of the signatories of the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...

Family background

D'Aubigny was the son of William d'Aubigny of Belvoir and Maud FitzRobert and the grandson of William d'Aubigny and Cecily le Bigod, and was heir to

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 ...

landholder Robert de Toeni, who held many properties, possibly as many as eighty. Amongst them was one in Leicestershire, where he built Belvoir Castle, which was the family's home for many generations. He was High Sheriff of Warwickshire and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1199.

Involvement in military actions

D'Aubigny stayed neutral at the beginning of the troubles of King John's reign, only joining the

rebels Rebels may refer to: * Participants in a rebellion * Rebel groups, people who refuse obedience or order * Rebels (American Revolution), patriots who rejected British rule in 1776 Film and television * ''Rebels'' (film) or ''Rebelles'', a 2019 ...

after the early success in taking London in 1215. He was one of the twenty-five sureties or guarantors of

. In the war that followed the sealing of the charter, he held

Rochester Castle Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, South East England. The 12th-century keep or stone tower, which is the castle's most prominent feature, is one of the best preserved in England or France. Situat ...

for the barons, and was imprisoned (and nearly

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

) after John captured it. He became a

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British C ...

on the accession of Henry III in October 1216, and was a commander at the

Second Battle of Lincoln The Second Battle of Lincoln occurred at Lincoln Castle on Saturday 20 May 1217, during the First Barons' War, between the forces of the future Louis VIII of France and those of King Henry III of England. Louis's forces were attacked by a relie ...

on 20 May 1217.

Death

He died on 1 May 1236, at

Uffington, Lincolnshire Uffington is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 686. It is in the valley of the River Welland, between Stamford and The Deepings. Geo ...

and was buried at Newstead Abbey and "his heart under the wall, opposite the altar at Belvoir Castle." He was succeeded by his son, another William d'Aubigny, who died in 1247 and left only daughters. One of them was Isabel, a co-heiress, who married Robert de Ros.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DAubigny, William Year of birth unknown 1236 deaths Place of birth unknown 12th-century English people 13th-century English people Anglo-Normans English soldiers High Sheriffs of Leicestershire High Sheriffs of Warwickshire High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire Magna Carta barons People from the Borough of Melton Sheriffs of Warwickshire English feudal barons