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Urse d'Abetot

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Urse d'Abetot
The Château de Tancarville in Normandy
Sheriff of Worcestershire
In office
c. 1069 – 1108
Preceded bynone
Succeeded byRoger d'Abetot
Royal constable
In office
after 1087 – 1108
Personal details
Bornc. 1040
Normandy
Died1108
SpouseAlice
ChildrenRoger d'Abetot, Emmeline

Urse d'Abetot (sometimes Urse of Abetot; Urse d'Abitot or Urse of Abitôt) (circa (c.) 1040–1108), was a medieval Norman sheriff of Worcester and royal official under Kings William I, William II and Henry I. A native of Normandy, he came to England shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, and was appointed sheriff around 1069. He helped to put down a rebellion against King William I in 1075, and continued to serve William's sons, being named constable under William II and marshal under Henry. He was known for his acquisitiveness, and during William II's reign was considered second only to Ranulf Flambard in his rapacity. Through his daughter, he was the ancestor of the Beauchamp family.

Family and early life

Urse came from an undistinguished family, and made his way on military reputation. He was likely born about 1040, but the exact date is unknown. He was from St Jean d'Abbetot in Normandy, where his family had lands, and where he himself was a tenant of the lords of Tancarville. Other tenants of the Tancarville lords included Robert d'Abbetot and his wife Lesza, who held lands nearby St Jean d'Abbetot in the early 12th century, but it is unknown if Robert was related to Urse. Urse had a brother usually called Robert Despenser, sometimes known as Robert fitz Thurstin, who was a royal official also. The historian Emma Mason speculates that it is possible that Urse was a nickname, given for his tenacious temperament. Urse's usual last name derives from his anscestral village in Normandy. His brother's usual last name of Despenser derives from his office, that of dispenser, in the royal household.

Ralph, the lord of Tancarville during the reign of King William I of England and who was Urse's lord in Normandy, was at the Battle of Hastings, but there is no evidence that Urse was present at Hastings. The Urse d'Abetot who was added as a witness to a charter of William, prior to the invasion of England, is probably the same Urse that became sheriff after Hastings. The historian Lewis Loyd refers to him as "in origin a man of no importance who made his way as a soldier of fortune".

Sheriff

Urse was appointed sherif of Worcester shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, probably around 1069. He built Worcester Castle in Worcester, but nothing remains of the castle. Urse probably arrived in England after Hastings, and it is unknown if his brother Robert arrived with him or separately.

In the rebellion of 1075, Urse, along with Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, Abbot Æthelwig of Evesham, and Walter de Lacy, prevented Roger de Breteuil, the Earl of Hereford, from crossing the River Severn. Roger was one of the rebels who plotted to revolt against the king in 1075, in combination with rebels in Brittany and an invasion by the king of Denmark, Sweyn II, who had a distant claim to the English throne. Urse's actions kept the rebels from seizing the Severn Valley, and joining up with the other English rebels, Waltheof, the Earl of Northumbria, and Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk. Besides the obvious desire to suppress rebellion, none of those working with Urse on this occasion can have objected to quelling de Breteuil, as he was the most powerful lord in the area. Roger was eventually caught, tried and imprisoned for life. When he was gone, power of the bishop, Urse, de Lacy and the abbot increased with the elimination of a rival.

During the reign of William I, Urse became involved in a dispute with Bishop Wulfstan over the rights of the sheriff in the lands of the diocese. By the time of Domesday Book in 1087, Urse's powers as sheriff had been excluded from the Oswaldslaw, or area of Worcester controlled by the bishops of Worcester. The Oswaldslaw was regarded as an immunity, and Domesday Book recorded this fact. Urse complained that this immunity reduced his income, but this did not affect the outcome. Although Wulfstan claimed that the immunity dated to prior to the Conquest, it actually owed its existence to the ability of the bishop to fill the shire court with his supporters and control what the court claimed.

Urse was also involved in a dispute between Wulfstan and Evesham Abbey over lands in Worcestershire, as after the Conquest, Urse acquired the lands of Azur, a kinsman of an earlier Bishop of Worcester, Beorhtheah. Azur had originally leased the lands from the diocese, but after Urse confiscated the lands, the sheriff did not return the lands to the bishop, but kept them for himself. The Worcester monk Hemming, recorded the loss of the lands to Urse in Hemming's Cartulary, a cartulary written about 1095 recording lands and charters belonging to the diocese of Worcester. Hemmings' Cartulary mentions not just Azur's lands, but others at Acton Beauchamp, Clopton, and Redmarley as taken from Worcester by Urse. Urse also acquired after Æthelwig's death lands that Æthelwig had seized through less than legal means, when Odo of Bayeux, Bishop of Bayeux and half-brother of William I, presided at the lawsuit brought to determine the ownership of the lands. Odo gave a number of the disputed estates to Urse during the course of the lawsuit.

The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury records a story that shortly after Urse was appointed sheriff, he encroached on the cemetery of the cathedral chapter of Worcester Cathedral, Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, pronouced a rhyming curse on Urse, saying "Thou are called Urse. May you have God's curse." Ealdred had been Bishop of Worcester prior to becoming Archbishop, and still retained an interest in the diocese. Gerald of Wales, a later medieval writer, has Wulfstan uttering the phrase when Urse attempted to have Wulfstan deposed as bishop. Gerald goes on to relate that Wulfstan stated he'd only relinquish his episcopal staff to the king who had granted it, in this case William I's predecessor Edward the Confessor. Wulfstan then worked a miracle at Edward's tomb that so impressed King William that Wulfstan was confirmed in his episcopate. Although Urse did not succeed in removing Wulfstan, and although there are certainly embelishments added in Gerald's story, it is clear that Urse and Wulfstan were the main powers in Worcestershire, and because of this struggled to gain the upper hand over the other.

The castle was built on a hill that overlooked the river, just south of the area the cathedral was in. However, the archbishop's curse did little to hinder Urse's career, and it had little effect on the castle also. Other chroniclers record that Urse stole monastic lands, including those of Evesham Abbey. Great Malvern Priory, however, claimed him as a founder in a fourteenth century document. Urse's reputation was that he was avaricious and grasping, especially of church lands.

Service to William II and Henry I

After the death of King William I of England, d'Abetot continued to serve William's sons, Kings William II and Henry I. In 1088, shortly after William became king, Urse was present at the trial of William de St-Calais, the Bishop of Durham, and is mentioned in the contemporary account of the trial, the De Iniusta Vexacione Willelmi episcopi. During William I's reign, Urse had mainly served the king as a local official, but during William II's reign Urse began to take a wider role in the kingdom. As a sign of this, Urse was a constable in the king's household for both William II and Henry I. He also held the office of marshal under William II.

Under William II, Urse's estates grew, as they were larger in 1100 than they were in 1087, the date of the Domesday Survey. Partly this was a result of the inheritance of some of his brother's lands, as Robert Despencer died during William II's reign, and the king granted Urse some of Robert's lands. Later, Urse was allowed to exchange some of Robert's lands in Lincolnshire with another baron, Robert de Lacy, for lands closer to Urse's base in Worcestershire.

Urse served as an assistant to William II's main minister, Ranulf Flambard. Urse also served as a royal judge. The historian Emma Mason argues that Urse, along with Flambard, Robert Fitzhamon, Roger Bigod, Haimo the dapifer, or seneschal, and Eudo, another dapifer, were the first recognizable barons of the Exchequer. The king addressed a number of writs to Urse, along with Haimo, Eudo, and Robert Bloet, when the king was on the continent. These writs ordered the group of royal officials, including Urse, to enforce the royal decisions in England. These men owed their position in the government to their royal service, not to any feudal offices they held. The historian Francis West, who studied the office of the justiciarship, asserts that Haimo, Eudo and Urse, along with Flambard, could be considered the first English justiciars.

Although he did not attest the charter Henry issued after he seized the throne, Urse was at court shortly afterwards. When Henry's elder brother, Robert Curthose, invaded England in 1101 in an attempt to take the English throne, Urse supported Henry. Urse was present at the court held at Winchester on 2 August 1101, when a peace treaty was ratified between Henry and Robert. During Henry's reign, the king regranted Urse's lands back to Urse, this time as a tenant-in-chief. Previously Urse had held his lands as a sub-tenant, and not directly from the king. These were Urse's lands at Salwarpe, Worcestershire which were originally held of Roger of Montgomery, but were granted to Urse as a direct tennant of the king when Roger's son Robert of Belesme was outlawed in 1102 Urse continued to attest many of Henry's charters until 1108. Urse also gained the barony of Salwarpe, which passed to his heirs.

Death and legacy

He died sometime in 1108. His wife was named Alice, and Urse was suceeded as sheriff by his son Roger d'Abetot, and Roger's successor Osbert d'Abetot probably was a brother of Urse. Urse also had a daughter, probably named Emmeline, who married Walter de Beauchamp. Walter was Urse's eventual heir, after the exiling of Roger around 1110. Urse's Robert Despenser died about 1097, and Urse inherited Robert's lands. A charter for Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey may indicate that Urse had another son named Robert in addition to Roger. Urse may have had another daughter who married Robert Marmion, as some of Urse's estates went to Marmion's family as well as the Beauchamps.

Urse earned a reputation for extortion and financial exactions. During the reign of William II, he was considered second only to the king's minister Ranulf Flambard in his rapacity. The first mention of his exactions is in Hemming's Cartulary. Further details were given by the medieval chroniclers William of Malmesbury and Gerald of Wales, both of whom relate Ealdred's curse. He scared the monks of the Worcester cathedral chapter so much that they leased him two estates, Greenhill and Eastbury, in order to appease him. Urse's lands were clustered in and around Worcestershire, and were not widely scattered over the country. Urse was also one of a new type of royal official, one that was not opposed to royal power, but rather welcomed it as helping his own position.

Through his daughter, he was the ancestor of the Beauchamp family of Elmley in Worcestershire, of which William de Beauchamp eventually became Earl of Warwick. The Beauchamp family's symbol of a bear likely derived from the symbol that Urse probably likely used.

Notes

  1. This would have been a play on the meaning of the latin word ursa, which is bear.
  2. One further translation is "Hattest thu Urs? Have thu Godes kurs." Another historian renders it as "Hattest ðu Urs, haue ðu Godes kurs".
  3. Interestingly, Alice at one point adopted the title of vicecomitissa, or viscountess, indicating that Urse's ambitions envisiged a higher status than just sheriff.
  4. These, unlike Urse's lands, were not concentrated around Worcestershire, and stretched from Worcestershire to the North Sea.
  5. Or Marmion connection may have been from a daughter of Robert Despencer, instead.

Citations

  1. Barlow William Rufus p. 72
  2. ^ Brooks "Introduction" St Wulfstan and His World" p. 3
  3. Hollister "Henry I and the Anglo-Norman Magnates" Proceedings of the Battle Conference II p. 95
  4. Barlow William Rufus pp. 188–189
  5. ^ Barlow William Rufus p. 152
  6. ^ Round "Abetot, Urse d' (c.1040–1108)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  7. ^ Keats-Rohan Domesday People p. 439
  8. ^ Green Aristocracy p. 33
  9. ^ Mason "Magnates, Curiales and the Wheel of Fortune" Proceedings of the Battle Conference II p. 135
  10. Barlow William Rufus p. 141
  11. ^ Mason "Magnates, Curiales and the Wheel of Fortune" Proceedings of the Battle Conference II p. 137
  12. Loyd Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families pp. 1–2
  13. Pettifer English Castles p. 280
  14. Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 60 footnote 67
  15. ^ Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 231–232
  16. Prestwich "Military Household" English Historical Review p. 22
  17. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 180–181
  18. Williams "Cunning of the Dove" St Wulfstan and His World p. 37
  19. Williams "Cunning of the Dove" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 33–35
  20. ^ Dyer "Bishop Wulfstan and His Estates" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 148–149
  21. ^ Mason "Legends of the Beauchamps' Ancestors" Journal of Medieval History pp. 34–35
  22. ^ Mason "Magnates, Curiales and the Wheel of Fortune" Proceedings of the Battle Conference II p. 136
  23. Quoted in Bates William the Conqueror p. 153
  24. ^ Brooks "Introduction" St Wulfstan and His World p. 15
  25. Wormald "Oswaldslow" St Oswald of Worcester p. 125
  26. Mason "St Oswald and St Wulfstan" St Oswald of Worcester pp. 279–281
  27. Mason "Magnates, Curiales and the Wheel of Fortune" Proceedings of the Battle Conference II pp. 136–137
  28. Holt "Worcester in the Time of Wulfstan" St Wulfstan and His World pp. 132–133
  29. Chibnall Anglo-Norman England p. 32
  30. ^ Mason William II p. 75
  31. Offler "Tractate" English Historical Review p. 337
  32. Barlow William Rufus p. 95
  33. Green Government p. 35
  34. Barlow William Rufus p. 202
  35. Hollister Henry I p. 171
  36. Hollister Henry I pp. 363–364
  37. West Justiciarship pp. 11–13
  38. Green Government p. 169 footnote 137
  39. Hollister Henry I p. 133
  40. Hollister "Anglo-Norman Civil War" English Historical Review p. 329
  41. Newman Anglo-Norman Nobility p. 117
  42. Sanders English Baronies pp. 75-76
  43. Newman Anglo-Norman Nobility pp. 183–184
  44. Mooers "Familial Clout" Albion p. 274
  45. White "King Stephen's Earldoms" Transactions p. 71 and footnote 1
  46. Southern "Ranulf Flambard" Transactions of the Royal Historical Society pp. 110–111
  47. Fleming Kings & Lords pp. 202–203
  48. Prestwich "Military Household" English Historical Review p. 22
  49. Mason "Legends of the Beauchamps' Ancestors" Journal of Medieval History p. 25

References

External link

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