William de Braose, 2nd Baron Braose

Seal of the 2nd Baron Braose (1301)

William de Braose, 2nd Baron Braose (also William de Briouze , Breuse or Breose ; * 1261 , † before May 1326 ) was an English nobleman and 10th feudal baron of Bramber and Gower . The dispute over his inheritance led to a revolt against Hugh le Despenser in South Wales .

Origin and youth

William came from the old Cambro-Norman Braose family and was the eldest son of William de Braose and his first wife Alina de Multon . He served as a squire of Reginald Gray and fought with him during the conquest of Wales begun by Edward I in 1277 .

When his father died, he inherited the title in 1291 Baron Braose and was in 1299 as such by Writ of Summons to Parliament convened King Edward I.

Life

Rebellion of Rhys ap Maredudd

While his father was still alive, William took over the management of his property. In January 1288 he was involved in the siege of Newcastle Emlyn Castle , the last base of the rebels, during the rebellion of Rhys ap Maredudd . His roster included seven other knights with almost 1,000 foot soldiers, archers and servants, as well as a siege machine that made a significant contribution to the fact that the castle's crew surrendered without a fight on January 20 after 20 days of siege.

Baron of the Welsh Marches

After the death of his father on March 1, 1291, the possession of Bramber and Gower was confirmed to him. Like his father, William was also involved in numerous legal proceedings, some of which dragged on for years. Among his opponents were Bishop John Monmouth of Llandaff in 1299 and his tenants in Gower in 1306, to whom William had to guarantee their rights in writing. His steward John Iweyn already had a tenant who wanted to complain to the king about Braose in 1302 and imprisoned in Oystermouth Castle until the latter withdrew his charges. In 1307 he was supposed to pay 800 marks to his stepmother Mary de Ros , his father's widow. He then left the court cursing. As a punishment, the king then let him run bareheaded and without a sword through Westminster , then he was imprisoned in the Tower for disregarding the court . As a result of these processes, William was almost bankrupt and had to sell parts of his property.

Dispute over his inheritance

Because of his services during the campaign in Flanders , William became guardian of ten-year-old John de Mowbray in 1297 . He betrothed his ward to his six-year-old daughter Alina. After the death of his only son, he appointed Alina and her husband as heirs. Nevertheless, he also tried to sell his lands to the father-in-law of his daughter Joan, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Roger Mortimer of Chirk and his nephew Roger Mortimer of Wigmore , while Hugh le Despenser, the king's favorite, was baron from Glamorgan Gower wanted to win for himself. Despenser tried to prove that William no longer had any rights to his rule. The king then confiscated Gower on October 26, 1320 and had it occupied in November. This procedure was one of the reasons for the rebellion of the Marcher Lords , the so-called Despenser War from 1321 to 1322. The rebellion forced Hugh le Despenser and his father into exile, while John de Mowbray received Gower. However, Despenser returned the following year with the approval of the king. In the battle of Boroughbridge on March 16, 1322, the king was able to prevail against the barons, Humpfrey de Bohun fell in the battle, John de Mowbray was captured and then hanged in York. William de Braose's daughter Alina fled by boat to Ilfracombe in Devon , but she was caught there and imprisoned with her son John in the Tower of London. William himself was deeply in debt and a broken man who ceded his lands to the king in exchange for a lifelong pension. He tried in vain to obtain freedom for his daughter and finally died in 1326.

Edward II had given Gower back in 1322 to Hugh Despenser, who plundered it and then forced his widowed sister-in-law Elizabeth de Clare to exchange it for her estates Caerleon , Usk and Trelleck . In November 1326, the Despensers were finally overthrown by Queen Isabelle and her favorite Roger Mortimer. The king was captured and renounced the throne in January 1327. Alina de Mowbray was released and got Gower and Bramber back. She married Richard de Peshall , who had been imprisoned with her in the Tower, for the second time . After her death in 1331, her son John Mowbray inherited Gower and Bramber.

Family and offspring

William was first married to Agnes , with whom he had three children:

• Joan († 1323), ⚭ around 1295 James de Bohun
• William († before 1320)
• Alina (* 1291; † 1331), ⚭ 1298 John Mowbray, 2nd Baron Mowbray (* 1286; † 1322)

In 1317 he married Elizabeth de Sully in his second marriage . This marriage remained childless.

Web links

Commons : William de Braose, 2nd Baron Braose  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• William de Braose, Lord of Bramber and Gower (d 1326)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ George Edward Cokayne (Ed.): The Complete Peerage . Volume 2, The St Catherine Press, London 1912, pp. 302 f.
2. ↑ Castell Ystumllwynarth / Oystermouth Castle. Retrieved March 15, 2014 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
William de Braose	Baron Braose 1291-1326	Title abeyant