Bernard de Balliol (nobleman, † before 1162)

The ruins of Barnard Castle, named after Bernard de Balliol

Bernard de Balliol ( Bernard de Balliol senior ) († between 1154 and 1162) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He was the leading representative of the second generation of the Balliol family in England .

origin

The Balliol family came from Picardy in northern France. The names of Bernard's parents are unknown, but he had at least four younger brothers with Ralph , Ingram , Hugh and Joscelin . Between 1130 and 1133 he inherited the estates of his uncle Guy de Balliol in northern England. Four documents have come down to us from Bernard de Balliol, which prove the family's origins in Picardy.

Baron in England

After 1130 he probably had an older ring wall built into a castle in northern England and founded a borough next to it . The castle was named after him as Castrum Bernadi and is still known today as Barnard Castle . Presumably around 1135 Balliol made an oath of allegiance to the Scottish King David I. He did not own any possessions in Scotland, however, Balliol may have been captured in a Scottish raid in 1135 and was released after taking the oath of allegiance. When the Scottish king invaded northern England again with an army in 1138, Balliol belonged to the English army that was deployed to repel the Scottish attack. Together with Robert de Brus he was sent to David I as negotiator, but they could not persuade the Scottish king to retreat. When the Scottish king decided to continue his attack and crossed the River Tees to Yorkshire with his army , Balliol publicly revoked his oath of allegiance to the Scottish king. In the ensuing standard battle , the Scots suffered a heavy defeat. During the battles of the so-called Anarchy in England, Balliol supported King Stephen . He was a member of the royal army that was defeated at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141. His northern English possessions were devastated by William Cumin , who occupied the area of the Diocese of Durham from 1141 to 1144 .

Marriage and offspring

With his wife Maud, whose origin is unclear, Balliol had at least four sons and a daughter:

Ingram de Balliol († 1152 or 1153)
Guy de Balliol († between 1162 and 1167)
Eustace de Balliol
Bernard de Balliol († around 1190)
Hawise de Balliol

His eldest son Ingram died before him, after which his second son Guy inherited his property. After his untimely death, his youngest son Bernard junior inherited the property in England by 1167 at the latest.

Web links

GP Stell: Balliol, Bernard de (d.1154x62). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

^ Geoffrey Stell: The Balliol Family and the Great Cause of 1291-2 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 152.

personal data
SURNAME	De Balliol, Bernard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bernard de Balliol senior
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Anglo-Norman nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH	11th century or 12th century
DATE OF DEATH	between 1154 and 1162

[1] Geoffrey Stell: The Balliol Family and the Great Cause of 1291-2 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 152.