Devon (Redvers)

Who he is

Name

William de Redvers, called William de Vernon

Title

Earl of Devon, lord of the Isle of Wight

Since

1193, succeeding his nephew Richard de Redvers

Born

Before 1155 (a son of the first earl, who died in 1155); about 50 or older in 1200

Family

Son of Baldwin de Redvers, 1st earl of Devon, and Adeliza Ballon. Wife: Mabel, daughter of Robert, count of Meulan. Children: Baldwin, his heir (later married to Margaret FitzGerold, heiress of Stogursey); Mary (married Peter de Preaux, later Robert de Courtenay of Okehampton); Joan (later married to William Briwere the younger).

Confidence

high

He supported the canopy at Richard I's second coronation in 1194 and is counted a firm supporter of John. No disgrace or forfeiture is recorded around 1199-1200.

Overlord

King John

What it holds

• The Isle of Wight: Carisbrooke castle, the boroughs of Newport (charter of Earl Richard, about 1177-84) and Yarmouth (charter of Earl Baldwin), the island's knights; Quarr Abbey is the family's foundation (1132)
• Christchurch (Twynham): castle, borough and harbour; patronage of the Augustinian priory
• Lymington: the earls' new borough on the Solent (its charter from Earl William is not dated more closely than his time as earl)
• Plympton castle and borough (Plympton Erle), caput of the honour of Plympton; Plympton Priory lies below it
• Tiverton castle in the Exe valley
• Honiton and Topsham, the latter the sea-gate of Exeter on the Exe estuary
• The third penny of Devon

How it was acquired

Richard de Redvers received the Isle of Wight and Plympton from Henry I; his son Baldwin was made earl of Devon by the Empress (about 1141). The earldom descended through Richard (died 1162), Baldwin (died 1188) and Richard (died 1193) to William, the first earl's surviving son.

Allies and rivals

Linked by marriage to the Courtenays of Okehampton (later) and the Briweres; Exeter's citizens resent the earls' hold on Topsham. The king's foresters press on the Redvers lands in Hampshire and Devon.

How things stand that morning

Held by Earl William without challenge. The island and Christchurch face the Channel crossings to Normandy and are part of the king's coastal defence.

Wealth

The island's corn and wool, the salt of Lymington, the harbours of Christchurch, Yarmouth and Topsham, the Plympton honour's manors and its share of the tin country on the edge of Dartmoor. No figures.

Military

Castles of Carisbrooke, Christchurch, Plympton and Tiverton; the honour's knights' fees (Cartae Baronum, 1166); the island militia. Earl Baldwin held Exeter castle and then the island against Stephen in 1136 and was driven out, a family memory of rebellion.

Threats

• The crown's appetite for the island as a key to the Channel
• A minority if the heir Baldwin dies young

Places of note

• Carisbrooke castle: Caput of the Isle of Wight
• Christchurch castle: Castle and priory town
• Plympton castle: Caput of the honour of Plympton
• Tiverton castle: Castle in the Exe valley

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The holder, his marriage and the main castles are secure; the boroughs' charter dates are those generally given and Lymington's is not pinned.

On the map: The honour of Plympton's many manors across Devon are not all drawn; only the caput and the main centres.

Primary sources for England

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.

• Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, Jocelin of Brakelond (about 1198 to 1203). An inside account of Bury St Edmunds under Abbot Samson, written while the events were fresh. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. 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
• Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
• English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online
• Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online
• Images of History, Ralph de Diceto (about 1188 to 1202). A London view of the year from the dean of St Paul's, who knew the justiciar and the bishops personally. Read online

22 more in the sources library for The British Isles.