William de Brus

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William de Brus, Lord of Annandale († July 16, 1211 or July 16, 1212) was an Anglo-Scottish nobleman.

origin

William de Brus came from the Anglo-Scottish Brus family . He was the second son of Robert (II) de Brus and his wife Euphemia . After his older brother Robert (III) de Brus died before 1191 with no surviving descendants, he became his father's heir.

Worked as a nobleman in England and Scotland

After the death of his father in 1194, Brus inherited the Crown Fief Annandale in Scotland as well as Hartness and other land holdings in northern England, which he held partly as a fiefdom of his cousin Adam the Brus from Yorkshire . Very little is known about the life of William de Brus. In 1197 he was able to repay his father's debts to the Jew Aaron , but in 1198 he had to mortgage his land at Hartness. 1201 he bought for 20 marks for Hartlepool the market law and the right of a fair hold. From 1294 he had to make increasingly higher shield money payments for the wars of the English King Richard I in France . Richard's successor, Johann Ohneland , was reluctant to comply with the increasing demand for shield money from 1199, before making a partial payment of £ 25 in 1209. Politically, it apparently hardly played a role in England. As security for his loyalty after the Anglo-Scottish Treaty of Norham in August 1209, he had to hand over his younger son William as a hostage to Johann Ohneland. In Scotland, too, he apparently hardly played a role, as he only attested to a document from King William I. The year of his death is not exactly known, it is more likely that he died in 1212 instead of 1211.

Marriage and offspring

Brus had married a Christina whose origin is unknown. He probably had two sons with her:

  • Robert (IV) de Brus (around 1195 - between 1226 and 1233)
  • William de Brus († after 1213)
  • John de Brus

Robert had confirmed his father's donations to Guisborough Priory. He himself made donations for Melrose Abbey . His heir became his eldest son Robert. His second son, whose name William is not known, was still serving as a hostage in 1213. Williams' widow was second married to Patrick Dunbar, 4th Earl of Dunbar .

literature

  • AAM Duncan: The Bruces of Annandale, 1100-1304 . In: Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society . 3rd Ser., 69: 89-102 (1994)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AAM Duncan: The Bruces of Annandale, 1100-1304 . In: Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society . 3rd Ser., 69: 94 (1994)
personal data
SURNAME de Brus, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English-Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1211 or July 16, 1212