William le Gros, William le Gras, William d'Aumale, William Crassus (died 20 August 1179) was Earl of York and Lord of Holderness in the English peerage and the Count of Aumale in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was the eldest son of Stephen, Count of Aumale, and his spouse, Hawise, daughter of Ralph de Mortimer of Wigmore. William witnessed two charters of King Stephen in 1136, in which he is recorded as ''Willelmus de Albamarla'', but is not placed among the earls. He distinguished himself at the Battle of the Standard in 1138, and was made Earl of York (apart from

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = Non-metropolitan district , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_em ...

) as his reward. He was with Stephen in his defeat at Lincoln on 2 February 1141. His Scarborough Castle was forfeited to King Henry II as a result of unauthorised construction during

the Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Duchy of Normandy, 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 Adel ...

. He founded the Abbey of

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

in 1150. He was intombed within the Abbey of Thornton,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, which he had founded in 1139. William married Cicely, Lady of Skipton, the daughter and co-heir of William Fitz-Duncan by his spouse Alice, Lady of Skipton, daughter of William Meschin, Lord of Copeland. As "lady of Harewood" she brought him vast estates. Dying without male issue, he left a daughter and heiress, Hawise (died 11 March 1214), who succeeded her father in the County of Aumale and Lordship of Holderness. Hawise married three times, firstly, on 14 January 1180,

William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex (1st Creation) (died 14 November 1189) was a loyal councillor of Henry II and Richard I of England. William was the second son of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex and Rohese de Vere, Countess ...

. He died without issue 14 January 1189. She married secondly after 3 July 1190, the crusader William de Forz (died 1195), by whom she had her heir and successor. Thirdly,

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

gave her in marriage to

Baldwin of Bethune Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

. All three husbands gained from her the title of Count of Aumale.

References

Bibliography

* * Cokayne, G. E., ''The Complete Peerage'', 1904, volume 1, p. 353. * Dalton, Paul. "William Earl of York and royal authority in Yorkshire in the reign of Stephen." ''Haskins Society Journal'' 2 (1990): 155–65. * Dalton, Paul. "William le Gros, Count of Aumale and Earl of York." ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/47237 (Accessed 21 November 2018).

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Yorkshire, William Earl of Counts of Aumale People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Year of birth unknown People of The Anarchy

Peers created by King Stephen {{England-earl-stub