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Birth:          ABT 1025 of Poitiers, Poitou, France
Death:          22 Feb 1071 Battle of Cassel, Flanders
Cause of Death: killed in battle
Burial:         Cormeilles Abbey, France

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_FitzOsbern,_1st_Earl_of_Hereford
William FitzOsbern (circa 1020 – 22 February 1071), Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was 
a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great 
magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Wessex, a title 
which his son did not inherit.[1] He was created Earl of Hereford before 22 February 
1067, one of the first peerage titles in the English peerage. He is one of the very few 
proven Companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of 
Hastings in 1066. His chief residence was Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, 
one of many English castles he built.
Origins[edit]

William FitzOsbern was the son of Osbern the Steward, a nephew of Duchess Gunnor, 
the wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy. Osbern was the steward of his cousin Duke 
Robert I of Normandy. When Robert left the Duchy to his young son William, Osbern 
became one of Duke William's guardians. Osbern married Emma, a daughter of Count 
Rodolf of Ivry, who was a half-brother of Duke Richard I of Normandy. Through her he 
inherited a large property in central Normandy, including the honours of Pacy and 
Breteuil.

Career pre-1066[edit]

William FitzOsbern was probably raised at the court of his cousin William Duke of 
Normandy, and like his father, became one of the ducal stewards. He founded 
Cormeilles Abbey and Lyre Abbey[2] (La Vieille-Lyre), and Saint-Evroul Abbey.[3] He 
was one of the earliest and most vigorous advocates of the invasion of England, and 
tradition holds that, at the Council of Lillebonne, he convinced the doubters amongst 
the Norman barons of the feasibility of the invasion. FitzOsbern's younger brother 
Osbern FitzOsbern was one of Edward the Confessor's chaplains, and possessed the 
rich church of Bosham in Sussex, where King Harold went to in the first scene of the 
Bayeux tapestry, and was well placed to pass along intelligence on the situation in 
England. He later became Bishop of Exeter.

In England after 1066[edit]

As Duke William took control of England as William the Conqueror, FitzOsbern was 
given charge of the Isle of Wight, and then before 22 February 1067 he was created 
Earl of Hereford as well as Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Worcester and Earl of 
Oxfordshire. FitzOsbern was also created Earl of Wessex.[4] That western part of 
England was not yet fully under Norman control; the understanding must have been 
that FitzOsbern was to take charge of the conquest of these regions when he was 
able. In the summer of 1067 King William returned to Normandy and left his half-
brother Bishop Odo of Bayeux and FitzOsbern in charge of England during his 
absence. The King was back in England in 1068 and FitzOsbern accompanied him in 
the subjugation of south-west England. He attended the King's Whitsun court in May 
1068, and then visited Normandy, where he fell ill for some months.

In February or March 1069 FitzOsbern was asked by William to oversee the peace in 
York, where Gilbert de Ghent was made castellan of the new castle, but FitzOsbern 
returned south in time to attend the King's Easter court in April 1069 before returning 
to York.

Anglo-Saxon resistance in the West Midlands was crushed later in 1069, and it is 
likely FitzOsbern played a major part in this, although the details are not certain. 
During this time FitzOsbern and his followers pushed on westwards into Wales, thus 
beginning the Norman conquest of the Welsh Kingdom of Gwent.

Castle builder[edit]

As part of the assertion of Norman control over England and Wales, FitzOsbern was 
one of the major Norman castle builders. Early castles attributed to him include 
Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, Chepstow Castle (Striguil) in South Wales, 
Wigmore Castle and Clifford Castle in Herefordshire, Berkeley Castle in 
Gloucestershire and Monmouth Castle in Wales. FitzOsbern also created or improved 
fortifications in the towns of Hereford and Shrewsbury.

Distraction and death in Flanders[edit]

In 1070 trouble arose in Flanders, where King William's brother-in-law Count Baldwin 
VI of Flanders had died, leaving his county and his young sons in the hands of his 
widow Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut. Her control of Flanders was 
challenged by the brother of her late husband, Robert the Frisian. Looking for help, 
she offered herself in marriage to FitzOsbern. He could not resist the chance to 
become also Count of this rich Principality, close to Normandy and hurried there with 
his army, where he was defeated by the Count of Flanders, and killed in the Battle of 
Cassel on 22 February 1071.

Marriages and progeny[edit]

FitzOsbern married twice:
Firstly to Adeliza de Tosny, daughter of Roger I of Tosny, by whom he had three 
children: William of Breteuil, who succeeded his father in Normandy. He was held 
captive and tortured by Ascelin Gouel de Perceval 'Lupus', Sire d'Yvry, until he finally 
granted his daughter Isabella de Breteuil in marriage to him.[5]
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, who succeeded his father in England and 
Wales;
Emma de Breteuil, wife of Ralph de Gael, 1st Earl of Norfolk

Secondly it must be assumed that he also married Richilde, Countess of Mons and 
Hainaut shortly before the Battle of Cassel in 1071.

Death[edit]

He was killed in the Battle of Cassel on 22 February 1071.

Parents
DE CREPON Osbern ("the Steward") (ABT  990 - ABT 1040)
DE IVRY Emma (ABT  990 - BEF 1034)

Siblings
FITZ OSBERN Emma (ABT 1021 - )
FITZ OSBORNE William (ABT 1025 - 22 Feb 1071)

Marriage To DE TOSNY Alice (Adelise) (ABT 1035 - )
    m.  Cambridgeshire, England

Notes

Parents
DE TOSNY (DE TOENI) Roger "the Spaniard" (ABT  990 - Mar 1039)
____ Adela (or Godeheut) ()

Children by DE TOSNY Alice (Adelise) ABT 1035 - 
FITZ OSBERN Adeliza (ABT 1050 - 27 May 1156)
DE BRETEUIL William (ABT 1052 - 1103)
FITZ OSBORNE Emma (ABT 1059 - ABT 1096)

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