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Birth:          ABT 1260 of Bramber, Sussex, England
Death:          BEF 1 May 1326 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose,_2nd_Baron_Braose
William de Braose[a] (c. 1260–1326) was the second Baron Braose, as well as Lord of 
Gower and Lord of Bramber. He was held as a hostage after being captured in 1264 
during the Second Barons' War and records of some of his childhood expenses 
survive from his time as a hostage. He first entered royal service in 1286 and, in 1291, 
he succeeded his father as baron. He continued in royal military service, serving in 
Scotland as well as in Wales. Protracted disputes over his lands embroiled him 
throughout his life and at the end of his life helped spark a revolt against King Edward 
II of England's favourites, the Despensers. He married twice, and his heirs were his 
daughter Aline and his grandson John de Bohun.
Family and early life[edit]

Braose was the son of William de Braose, 1st Baron Braose and his first wife, Aline, 
daughter of Thomas de Multon.[1] He was likely born around 1260, as his age was 
given as about 46 in 1307. Other events prove that he was born prior to 1264, as he 
was captured in that year. This came about during the Second Barons' War (1264–
1267) during the reign of King Henry III of England, as the elder Braose had sided with 
the king during Simon de Montfort's rebellion. The younger Braose was a hostage in 
the custody of Montfort's wife, Eleanor. Her household accounts include expenses 
related to the younger William's care.[2]

Sometime around 1285, Braose confirmed grants of land by his ancestors to the 
religious house of Sele Priory.[3][b] In 1286 Braose was in the king's service, for 
unspecified duties overseas. It is possible that these included accompanying the king, 
Edward I, to Paris where Edward performed homage to the new French king, Philip IV, 
for Edward's French lands.[2] Braose played a significant role in King Edward's Welsh 
wars. In the winter of 1287–8 he commanded the force blockading Emlyn castle. His 
men also provided the escort for the transport of a huge siege engine from Dryslwyn to 
Emlyn. The arrival of the engine, with 480 great stones as ammunition, persuaded the 
defenders of the castle to surrender peaceably.[5]

Marcher Baron[edit]

The younger Braose succeeded his father before 1 March 1291, when he did homage 
for his father's lands.[1] He received custody of his father's lands on 2 March 1291, 
which had been placed into the custody of Robert de Tibetot on 12 January 1291.[6] 
He was summoned a number of times to Parliament from 1291 until 1322 as Baron 
Braose. He was the second Baron Braose, as well as Lord of Gower and Lord of 
Bramber.[1]

After his father's death, Braose continued to serve Edward. He contributed both 
money and personal military service in Edward's wars in Wales, Scotland, and France.
[2] He saw service in Gascony in 1294.[3] In 1297 he took part in a military campaign 
in Flanders. As a reward for his service in Flanders, he received the wardship of John 
de Mowbray, who Braose eventually married to his daughter Aline.[2] From 1298 to 
1306 he was involved in the Scottish wars, and was at the Battle of Falkirk on 22 July 
1298.[3] Besides the military service, he served the king in 1301 by signing a letter 
from the leading barons of England to Pope Boniface VIII in which the barons decried 
papal interference in the royal rights of England.[2]

Braose captured the Welsh rebel William Cragh in 1290, whose miraculous 
resurrection after being hanged was attributed to Thomas de Cantilupe.[7] This led in 
1307 to Braose giving testimony to papal commissioners inquiring into the events 
surrounding Cragh's hanging and whether or not it would support the canonisation of 
Cantilupe.[8]

It was most likely Braose who commissioned a condensed copy of Domesday Book, 
now Public Record Office manuscript E164/1. This copy has a marginal notation of 
"Br" next to the estates owned by Braose's ancestor, the first William de Braose.[9]

Braose was embroiled in a dispute over his lordship of Gower in 1299 when the Bishop 
of Llandaff, John de Monmouth, brought a case against Braose to the king. Although 
the case was adjudicated in 1302, the resulting decision was overturned. In 1304 
Braose secured King Edward's confirmation of earlier grants and charters granting 
Braose special rights and liberties in Gower. He managed this because he was serving 
the king in Scotland at the time, and thus had easy access to the king. In 1305, 
however, Braose miscalculated and insulted a royal judge,[10] using "gross and 
contumelious words" to describe the royal official.[11] This episode caused the case 
of Gower to be reopened in 1306, and Braose was only able to settle the issue again 
by the grant of rights to his men in Swansea and Gower.[10]

In 1320 King Edward II of England confiscated the lordship of Gower on the grounds 
that Braose had given it to his son-in-law Mowbray without royal permission. Over the 
preceding years Braose had promised Gower to a number of persons,[12] including 
Humphrey de Bohun, the Earl of Hereford, Hugh Despenser the Younger, and Roger 
Mortimer of Wigmore. Mowbray then in late 1319 took custody of Gower to protect his 
rights. Despenser persuaded the king in 1320 to take Gower into royal hands in 
October, and was appointed keeper of the honour in November.[13] The other lords in 
the Welsh Marches resented this seizure, feeling that the king's excuse for it was not 
applicable. The seizure was one of the precipitating causes of the baronial rebellion 
that led to the exile of the Despensers in 1321.[12] In 1322 Gower was given to the 
younger Despenser again, who then traded it for the honours of Usk and Caerleon. 
Braose was then induced to sue the new holder of Gower for the return of the barony 
in April 1324, which action succeeded in June 1324. Braose then promptly gave 
Gower to the elder Despenser, returning the property to the Despenser family once 
more.[14] The lordship of Gower eventually ended up in the hands of the Beauchamp 
family, but it was not until the 1350s that the issue was decided.[15]

Marriage, death, and legacy[edit]

The name of Braose's first wife was Agnes,[16] but her family is not known. His 
second wife was Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of Raymund de Sully. He had 
two daughters with his first wife, but no children with his second wife, who outlived 
him.[1] It appears that there was a son named William, who was the subject of a 
military summons from King Edward in 1311, but nothing further is mentioned of him 
after 1315. In 1316 a settlement of William the father's estates made no mention of 
this son making it likely that the son died before this date.[17]

Braose died not long before 1 May 1326[1] and his heirs were his daughter Aline and 
his grandson John de Bohun.[18] Aline, the elder daughter,[13] married John de 
Mowbray and Richard de Peschale. The second daughter, Joan, married James de 
Bohun and Richard Foliot, son of Jordan Foliot. Mowbray received the lands of Gower 
and Bramber before Braose's death.[1]

Braose was known as a man often in debt and as being unable to manage his cash 
flow well.[17] Thomas Walsingham stated in his chronicle that Braose was "very rich 
by descent but a dissipater of the property left to him".[19]

Parents
DE BRAOSE William (1224 - 6 Jan 1290)
DE MOULTON Aline (ABT 1242 - )

Siblings
DE BRAOSE William (ABT 1260 - BEF 1 May 1326)
DE BRAOSE Joan (1284 - 23 Jun 1324)

Marriage To ----- Agnes (ABT 1270 - )
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- Agnes ABT 1270 - 
BRAOSE Alivia (Alice) (ABT 1291 - BEF 30 Jul 1331)

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