Braose

Who he is

Name

William de Braose (Guillaume de Briouze)

Title

Lord of Bramber, Brecon (Brycheiniog), Abergavenny, Builth (Buellt), Radnor and Elfael; Marcher lord

Since

Bramber, Builth and Radnor from his father Philip's line; Brecon and Abergavenny through his mother Bertha, daughter of Miles of Gloucester, from about 1175; Elfael with Painscastle seized and rebuilt by 1195

Born

Between 1144 and 1153 (not pinned)

Family

Wife Maud de St Valery, the 'Lady of Hay', who kept Painscastle (Castell Matilda) in 1198. Children: William the younger (married Maud de Clare), Giles (a clerk; elected bishop of Hereford in 1200), Reginald, Maud (married 1189 to Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth), Margaret (wife of Walter de Lacy), Loretta (wife of Robert, earl of Leicester), Annora (wife of Hugh Mortimer). Son-in-law to two of the great men of this sheet and father-in-law of the prince of Deheubarth.

Confidence

high

Wikipedia (William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber); the list of sheriffs of Herefordshire; Painscastle.

Overlord

King John (for his English baronies); in Wales he holds by conquest, where the king's writ does not run

What it holds

• Brecon (Brycheiniog): Brecon castle and borough, the priory of St John, the commotes of the lordship; Cantref Selyf held under him by the Cliffords; Hay castle and town
• Abergavenny (Over Gwent): castle and borough
• Builth (Buellt): castle on the Wye
• Radnor: the castle of New Radnor (burned by the Lord Rhys in 1196) and Old Radnor
• Elfael: Painscastle and lower Elfael, taken after 1191
• Kington and Huntington on the Herefordshire border (medium confidence)
• In England: the barony of Bramber (Sussex) and claims in Devon (Totnes and Barnstaple), recorded by the ese and esw researchers
• In Normandy: Briouze

How it was acquired

Inheritance (1175 and earlier) and conquest (Elfael, 1190s).

Allies and rivals

Allies: King John; his sons-in-law Gruffydd ap Rhys, Walter de Lacy and the earl of Leicester; Walter de Clifford. Enemies: the Welsh of Gwent, Elfael and Maelienydd; Gwenwynwyn of Powys.

How things stand that morning

Holds all his Marcher lordships firmly on 1 January 1200; high in John's favour. Gower is still the king's (granted to him only in 1203) and the honour of Limerick is not yet his (January 1201).

Wealth

The dues and courts of half a dozen Marcher lordships, the boroughs of Brecon, Abergavenny, Hay and Radnor, and his English baronies; he owes the crown large sums for his favours (no figures here).

Military

Castles of Brecon, Abergavenny, Builth, Radnor, Painscastle, Hay and Kington, the knights of the Brecon and Abergavenny fees and Welsh footmen of his lordships. He fought at Chalus (1199).

Threats

• The Welsh of Elfael and Gwent
• Gwenwynwyn
• Debts to the crown, which John will one day use against him

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200 (elected; consecrated 24 September 1200)His son Giles becomes bishop of Hereford, vacant since 24 December 1198.Depends on: John's favour and the chapter's election Stopped by: A papal quash or a rival royal candidate
2. 1200 (Pipe Roll of 2 John)Sheriff of Herefordshire again, with William of Burghill as his deputy.Depends on: John's favour Stopped by: A change in John's appointments

Later, on the likely course

1. January 1201Granted the honour of Limerick, except the city.Depends on: John's favour Stopped by: As above
2. 1203Granted Gower with Swansea.Depends on: As above Stopped by: As above

Places of note

• Brecon castle: Caput of Brycheiniog
• Abergavenny castle: Scene of the massacre of 1175
• Builth castle: Castle of Buellt
• New Radnor: Castle burned by the Lord Rhys in 1196
• Painscastle (Castell Matilda): Besieged by Gwenwynwyn, relieved 13 August 1198
• Hay castle: Maud de St Valery's castle and town
• Kington: Border castle (medium confidence)

Where the sources disagree

• John's grant to him of all he could conquer from the Welsh to add to Radnor is dated only 'early in the reign' by Wikipedia; it is not counted as in force on 1 January 1200.
• Wikipedia's Braose article dates the Three Castles (Skenfrith, Grosmont, White Castle) to him in 1206; on 1 January 1200 they are the king's (Royal castles in Wales).

Evidence: His career is well documented; the exact bounds of each lordship in 1200 are not.

On the map: Lordship outlines follow the later county lines of Brecon and Radnor; Hay, Radnor and Elfael are drawn small.

Primary sources for March of Wales

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Monastic Annals (Margam, Tewkesbury, Burton, Winchester, Waverley, Dunstable, Bermondsey, Worcester, Osney) (12th to 14th centuries). Nine sets of house annals, each with a short entry for 1200. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Charter Rolls of King John (1199 to 1216, at the royal chancery). The enrolled charters of John's first years, beginning with his accession in 1199: confirmations to towns, bishoprics and abbeys, grants of land and office, and the great grants to men like William Marshal and the king's new allies in Poitou. Read online
• The Great Rolls of the Pipe for 1199 and Michaelmas 1200 (1199 and 1200, at the Exchequer). The audited accounts of every sheriff and farmer for the Exchequer year ending Michaelmas 1200: county farms, the scutage of 1199, the carucage of 1200, debts of magnates and towns, wardships, and the fines offered to the new king.

3 more in the sources library for The British Isles.