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Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey (c. 1130 – 7 May 1202) (alias Hamelin of Anjou and, anachronistically, Hamelin Plantagenet), was an Anglo-Angevin nobleman, being an elder half-brother of the first Plantagenet English monarch King Henry II.

Origins

Hamelin was an illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou, Count of Anjou. He was thus a half-brother of King Henry II of England, and an uncle to both King Richard I and King John.

Marriage and children

King Henry II arranged for him to marry Isabel de Warenne, 4th Countess of Surrey, the widow of William of Blois, one of the wealthiest heiresses in England. The marriage occurred in April 1164, following which he was recognised as Comte de Warenne (that being the customary designation for what more technically should be Earl of Surrey) and adopted the surname de Warenne, as did his descendants. By his wife he had one son and three daughters, as follows:

• William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, only son and heir, who married Maud Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
• Adela de Warenne, who married firstly Robert de Newburgh and, secondly William FitzWilliam of Sprotborough. She was a mistress of her half-first cousin King John, and by him was the mother of Richard FitzRoy, feudal baron of Chilham, in Kent.
• Maud de Warenne (alias Matilda), who married, firstly, Henry II, Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings, secondly, Henry d'Estouteville, Seigneur de Valmont.
• Isabel de Warenne, who married, firstly, Robert de Lacy of Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, and secondly, Gilbert de l'Aigle, Lord of Pevensey Castle in Sussex.

Career

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Warenne was prominent at the royal court of King Henry II, and at those of his sons and successors King Richard I and King John. Warenne's lands in England centered on Conisbrough Castle in Yorkshire, which was a powerful castle he rebuilt. He also possessed the "third penny" (an entitlement to one third of the fines levied in the county courts) of his County of Surrey and held the castles of Mortemer and Bellencombre in Normandy.

In 1164 Hamelin joined in the denunciations of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, although after Becket's murder he became a great believer in Becket's sainthood, having reportedly been cured of blindness by the saint's intervention. In 1176 he escorted his niece Joan to Sicily for her marriage, where she became Queen of Sicily.

He remained loyal to Henry II through all the problems during the later part of his reign when many nobles deserted him, and continued as a close supporter of that king's eldest son and his own nephew, Richard I. During Richard's absence on the Third Crusade, he took the side of the regent William Longchamp. Hamelin was present at the second coronation of King Richard in 1194 and at King John's coronation in 1199.

Death and succession

He died in 1202 and was buried in the chapter house of Lewes Priory in Sussex. He was succeeded by his son William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey.

References

1. ^ Keats-Rohan 2002, p. 239.
2. Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Band II, (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Taflen 46, 82-3
3. ^ John Guy, Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel (New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 2012), p. 161
4. George Edward Cokayne, The complete peerage; or, A history of the House of lords and all its members from the earliest times, Volume XII, Part 1, Ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1953), p. 500
5. George Edward Cokayne, The complete peerage; or, A history of the House of lords and all its members from the earliest times, Volume XII, Part 1, Ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1953), p. 500 n. (h)
6. ^ George Edward Cokayne, The complete peerage; or, A history of the House of lords and all its members from the earliest times, Vol. XII/1, Ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1953), p. 500 n. g
7. Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.111, note 5
8. Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., 'Royal Bye-Blows, The Illegitimate Children of the English Kings From William I to Edward III', The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 119 (April 1965), p. 98
9. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Warenne, Earls" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 324.
10. Attree, F. W. T. "Wivelsfield". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 35: 8. doi:10.5284/1085445.

Sources

• Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (2002). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166. Vol. 2. The Boydell Press.

Notes

1. "It is much to be wished that the surname "Plantagenet," which since the time of Charles II, has been freely given to all descendants of Geoffrey of Anjou, had some historical basis which would justify its use, for it forms a most convenient method of referring to the Edwardian kings and their numerous descendants. The fact is, however, as has been pointed out by Sir James Ramsay and other writers of our day, that the name, although a personal emblem of the aforesaid Geoffrey, was never borne by any of his descendants before Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York (father of Edward IV), who assumed it, apparently about 1448. V.G., The Complete Peerage, Vol. 1, p. 183 note (c)
2. Technically they were half first cousins, both being grandchildren of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou by different mothers. See Schwenicke, Europaische Stammtaleln (ES), Band II, Tafeln 82, 83; ES, III/3, tafel 355; Sheppard, 'Royal Bye Blows', NEHGR, 119, 97. Her given name is not known for a certainty.

v t e House of Plantagenet
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou Wife: Empress Matilda Henry II of England Geoffrey, Count of Nantes William FitzEmpress Illegitimate: Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey Emma of Anjou Mary of Shaftesbury
Henry II of England Wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine William IX, Count of Poitiers Henry the Young King Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony Richard I of England Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile Joan of England, Queen of Sicily John, King of England Illegitimate: Geoffrey (archbishop of York) William de Longespée, Earl of Salisbury
Henry the Young King Wife: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary William Plantagenet (died in infancy)
Richard I of England Wife: Berengaria of Navarre Illegitimate: Philip of Cognac
John, King of England Wife: Isabella of Angoulême Henry III of England Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Joan of England, Queen of Scotland Isabella of England Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester Illegitimate: Joan, Lady of Wales Richard FitzRoy Oliver FitzRoy Geoffrey FitzRoy John FitzRoy Henry FitzRoy Osbert Gifford Eudes FitzRoy Bartholomew FitzRoy Maud FitzRoy Isabel FitzRoy Philip FitzRoy William de Forz
Henry III of England Wife: Eleanor of Provence Edward I of England Margaret of England Beatrice of England Edmund Crouchback Katherine of England
Edward I of England Wives: Eleanor of Castile Margaret of France, Queen of England Henry Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar Joan, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester Alphonso, Earl of Chester Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant Mary of Woodstock Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Edward II of England Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edward II of England Wife: Isabella of France Edward III of England John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall Eleanor of Woodstock Joan of the Tower Illegitimate: Adam
Edward III of England Wife: Philippa of Hainault Edward the Black Prince Isabella de Coucy Joan of England Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York Mary of Waltham Margaret, Countess of Pembroke Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester Illegitimate: John de Southeray Jane Northland Joan Skerne
Richard II of England Wives: Anne of Bohemia Isabella of Valois
Henry IV of England Wives: Mary de Bohun Joan of Navarre, Queen of England Henry V of England Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Blanche of England Philippa of England Illegitimate: Edmund Leboorde
Henry V of England Wife: Catherine of Valois Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England Wife: Margaret of Anjou Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
Edward IV Wife: Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth of York Mary of York Cecily of York Edward V Margaret of York Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York Anne of York, Lady Howard George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford Catherine of York Bridget of York Illegitimate: Elizabeth Plantagenet Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle Grace Plantagenet
Edward V no consort or issue
Richard III of England Wife: Anne Neville Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales Illegitimate: John of Gloucester Katherine, Countess of Pembroke Richard of Eastwell
Category

• Earls of Surrey
• 1202 deaths
• Burials at Lewes Priory
• House of Plantagenet
• 1130s births