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Birth:          ABT 1045 of Bellencombe, Normandy
Death:          24 Jun 1088 Lewes, Surrey, England
Burial:         Priory of Lewes, Lewes, Surrey, England

Notes
Seigneur de Varennes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Warenne,_1st_Earl_of_Surrey
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, Lord of Lewes, Seigneur de Varennes (died 
1088), was a Norman nobleman created Earl of Surrey under William II Rufus. He is 
among the few who are documented as having fought for William the Conqueror at the 
Battle of Hastings in 1066. At the time of the Domesday Survey, he held extensive 
lands in 13 counties including the Rape of Lewes in Sussex, now divided between the 
ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex.
Early career[edit]

William was a son of Ranulf de Warenne and Emma, and reported to have descended 
from a sibling of duchess Gunnor, wife of duke Richard I. Chronicler Robert of Torigny 
reported, in his additions to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, 
that William de Warenne and Anglo-Norman baron Roger de Mortimer were brothers, 
both sons of an unnamed niece of Gunnor. Unfortunately, Robert's genealogies are 
somewhat confused, (elsewhere he gives Roger as son of William, and yet again 
makes both sons of Walter de Saint Martin), and several of Robert's stemma appear to 
contain too few generations.[1] Orderic Vitalis describes William as Roger's 
consanguineus, literally "cousin", more generically a term of close kinship, but not 
typically used to describe brothers, and Roger de Mortimer appears to have been a 
generation older than William de Warenne.[2][1] Charters report several earlier men 
associated with Warenne. A Ranulf de Warenne appears in two charters, one dated 
between 1027 and 1035, the second from about 1050 and naming his wife, Beatrice. 
In 1059, a Ranulf and wife Emma appear along with their sons Ranulf and William. 
These occurrences have typically been taken to represent a single Ranulf with 
successive wives, of which Beatrice was the mother of William and hence identical to 
the Gunnorid niece described by Robert de Torigny,[3][4] yet the 1059 charter 
explicitly names Emma as William's mother.[1] Reevaluation of surviving charters led 
Katherine Keats-Rohan to suggest that, as he appears to have done elsewhere, 
Robert of Torigny compressed two generations into one, with Ranulf (I) and Beatrice 
being parents of Ranulf (II) de Warenne and of Roger de Mortimer (a Roger son of 
Ranulf de Warenne appears in a charter dated 1040/1053), and Ranulf (II) in turn 
married Emma and as attested by the 1059 charter, they had Ranulf (III), the heir in 
Normandy, and William. Associations with the village of Vascœuil led to identification of 
the Warenne progenitrix with a widow Beatrice, daughter of Tesselin, vicomte of 
Rouen, appearing there in 1054/60. Robert of Torigny shows a different vicomte of 
Rouen to have married a niece of Gunnor, perhaps suggesting that it was through 
Beatrice that William de Warenne was linked with Gunnor's family.[1] [a]

William was from the hamlet of Varenne, near to Arques-la-Bataille, Duchy of 
Normandy, now in the canton of Bellencombre, Seine Maritime.[8][9][10] At the 
beginning of Duke William’s reign, Ranulf de Warenne was not a major landholder, 
and as a second son, William de Warenne did not stand to inherit the family’s small 
estates. During the rebellions of 1052–54, the young William de Warenne proved 
himself a loyal adherent to the Duke and played a significant part in the Battle of 
Mortemer for which he was rewarded with lands confiscated from his kinsman, Roger 
of Mortemer, including the Castle of Mortimer and most of the surrounding lands.[11] 
At about the same time he acquired lands at Bellencombre including the castle which 
became the center of William de Warenne’s holdings in Normandy.[12][13]

Conquest of England[edit]

William was among the Norman barons summoned to the Council of Lillebonne by 
Duke William when the decision was made to oppose King Harold II's accession to the 
throne of England.[12][14] He fought at the Battle of Hastings and was well rewarded 
with numerous holdings. The Domesday book records his lands stretched over thirteen 
counties and included the important Rape of Lewes in Sussex, several manors in 
Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, the significant manor of Conisbrough in Yorkshire and 
Castle Acre in Norfolk, which became his caput (see below).[12][13] He is one of very 
few proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle 
of Hastings in 1066.[15][16][17] He fought against rebels at the Isle of Ely in 1071, 
where he showed a special desire to hunt down Hereward the Wake, who had killed 
his brother-in-law Frederick the year before.[18][19] Hereward is supposed to have 
unhorsed him with an arrow shot.[20]

Later career[edit]

Sometime between 1078 and 1082,[21] William and his wife Gundred traveled to Rome 
visiting monasteries along the way. In Burgundy they were unable to go any further 
due to a war between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. They visited Cluny 
Abbey and were impressed with the monks and their dedication. William and Gundred 
decided to found a Cluniac priory on their own lands in England. William restored 
buildings for an abbey. They sent to Hugh, the abbot of Cluny, for monks to come to 
England at their monastery. At first Hugh was reluctant but he finally sent several 
monks, including Lazlo who was to be the first abbot. The house they founded was 
Lewes Priory, dedicated to St. Pancras,[22][23] the first Cluniac priory in England.[24]

William participated in the siege of Saint-Suzanne, supporting the king against some 
rebellious lords. William was loyal to William II,[18] and it was probably in early 1088 
that he was created Earl of Surrey.[25] He was mortally wounded at the First Siege of 
Pevensey Castle and died 24 June 1088 at Lewes, Sussex, and was buried next to his 
wife Gundred at the Chapterhouse of Lewes Priory.[26][27]

Family[edit]

He married first, before 1070, Gundred.[28][29] sister of Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl 
of Chester.[30]

William married secondly a sister of Richard Gouet, who survived him.[31]

Issue[edit]

By Gundred, William had:
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (d. 1138), who married Elisabeth (Isabelle) de 
Vermandois, widow of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester.[32]
Edith de Warenne, who married firstly Gerard de Gournay, lord of Gournay-en-Bray, 
and secondly Drew de Monchy.[33]
Reynold de Warenne, who inherited lands from his mother in Flanders[33] and died c. 
1106–08.[34]
An unnamed daughter, who married Ernise de Coulonces.[35]

He had no issue by his second wife.

Parents
DE WARENNE Rodulf (Ralph) I (ABT 1001 - AFT 1074)
DE VASCOEUIL Beatrice (Beatrix) (ABT 1003 - )

Siblings
DE MORTIMER Roger (ABT 1030 - ABT 1080)
DE WARENNE William I (ABT 1045 - 24 Jun 1088)

Marriage To OF NORMANDY Gundrada (ABT 1060 - 27 May 1085)
    m.  

Notes
his first

Parents
____ William I "the Conqueror" (14 Oct 1024 - 9 Sep 1087)
OF FLANDERS Maud (Matilda) (1028 - 2 Nov 1083)

Children by OF NORMANDY Gundrada ABT 1060 - 27 May 1085
DE WARENNE Edith (Ediva) (ABT 1076 - )
DE WARENNE William II (1081 - 11 May 1138)

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