William (Plantagenet) Longespée (abt. 1176 - 1226)

Born about 1176 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Ela (Salisbury) Longespee — married before Sep 1197 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Descendants

Died 7 Mar 1226 at about age 50 in Salisbury Castle, Wiltshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Michael Cayley [send private message] and Magna Carta Project WikiTree [send private message]

Illustrious Men William Longespée was one of 16 Illustrious Men, counselors to King John, who were listed in the preamble to Magna Carta. Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Biography

William (Plantagenet) Longespée is a member of the House of Plantagenet.

Birth and Parentage

William Longespée's birth date is uncertain. He was an illegitimate son of King Henry II of England by Ida de Toeni.^[2][3]

Marriage and Children

In 1196 his half-brother Richard I gave him the hand of Ela, whose father had died that year, making her Countess of Salisbury in her own right: she was then still a child.^[2] Through this marriage, William became Earl of Salisbury. They had the following children:

• William, who died before his mother and therefore never legally assumed the title of Earl of Salisbury.^[2][4][5] He married Idoine de Camville ^[5]
• Stephen^[2] who married Emeline de Ridelisford ^[6]
• Richard, a clerk, canon of Salisbury^[2], was buried at Lacock Abbey. ^[7]
• Nicholas, Bishop of Salisbury^[2][8][9]
• Ida, who had two husbands - first Ralph de Somery, and second Sir William de Beauchamp^[10]
• Petronilla or Pernel, who died unmarried.^[2][11]
• Mary, who married an unknown husband in about September 1227. ^[12]
• Isabel, who married Sir William de Vescy.^[2][13] She was buried at Alnwick Abbey, Northumberland, England.^[13]
• Ela, who had two husbands - Thomas Warwick, 6th Earl of Warwick, and second, Philip Basset.^[2][14]
• Another Ida, who married Sir Walter Fitz Robert^[2], son and heir of Magna Charta Surety Sir Robert Fitz Walter^[5]

Life

William fought with Richard I in Normandy in 1196-1198.^[1][2] He was present at the coronation of King John in 1199^[1][2] and was closely associated with him.^[2] He held a number of appointments under King John and during the minority of Henry III, including:

• Sheriff of Wiltshire (1199-1202, 1203-1207, 1213-1226)^[1][2] and was closely associated with him.^[2]
• Lieutenant of Gascony (1202)^[11]
• Keeper of the Castle of Avranches (1203)^[1]
• Keeper of the Castle and Honor of Eye (1205)^[1]
• Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and of Huntingdonshire (1212-1215/6)^[1]
• Keeper of Dover Castle (1204-1206^[11], 1212/3 and probably at other times)^[1]
• Sheriff of Somersetshire and of Devon (1217)^[1]
• Sheriff of Lincolnshire (1217-21)^[2][11]
• Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire (1223/4)^[1]
• Keeper of the castles of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury (1224)^[1]
• Constable of Portchester, Southampton, and Winchester Castles (1224)^[11]

He also headed several diplomatic missions. In 1204 he escorted Llywelyn the Great to a meeting with King John. In 1206 he escorted William the Lion, King of Scotland, to meet King John at York.^[1][2]

At various times in his life he fought in France, Flanders and Wales. In 1214 he was captured during the Battle of Bouvines: he was exchanged by May 1215 for Robert, son of the Count of Dreux.^[2]

At the time of the signing of the Magna Carta he was one of the "Illustrious Men" who were with King John^[1][2] and he stayed loyal to John over the following months. But in late June 1216 he submitted to Prince Louis, who had made rapid gains in southern England. King John ordered his lands to be seized. In May 1217 he returned to royalist allegiance, taking a prominent role in the Battle of Lincoln and the naval battle off Sandwich which paved the way for the negotiations which led to Louis leaving England.^[2]

In 1225 William was de facto leader of a military expedition, nominally under Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to secure English possessions in Gascony.^[1][2] He was taken sick there, and set sail for England. On his way back he was shipwrecked and narrowly escaped capture.^[2]

Death and burial

William Longespée died at Salisbury Castle, Wiltshire on 7 March 1226.^[1][2] The chronicler Matthew Paris gives an almost certainly false story that his death was due to poisoning by Hubert de Burgh. Hubert was a close friend of his from childhood and William's death may well have been due to the illness he had contracted in Gascony.^[2] He was buried at Salisbury Cathedral.^[2] The tomb can be seen in the South Transept.^[15][16] He is the first person known to have been buried in the Cathedral.^[17]

Research Notes

Birth date

William's birth date is unknown. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that in 1188 Henry II granted him the Manor of Appleby, Lincolnshire^[2], pointing to his being of age then. But according to a statement in a legal dispute between John Malherbe and the Abbot of Thornhill Priory, the grant was to Henry II's brother William, who was also nicknamed Longespée.^[3] The earliest certain reference to the William Longespée of this profile seems to be on 5 February 1190/1, when Richard I ordered that the manor of Kirton in Lindsey be given to his brother William. That may suggest that William was just of age then.^[3]

Mother

It has long been known that William Longespée was an illegitimate son of Henry II, but the identity of his mother was established only recently. For some time there was speculation that she was the 'Fair Rosamund', Rosamund Clifford.^[1][3][18] Besides issues around dates, this is disproved by a charter in which he refers to "Comitissa Ida, mater mea" - "Countess Ida, my mother".^[3] Paul C Reed's 2002 article in The American Genealogist discusses the identity of Countess Ida. There were two Countesses called Ida in the relevant period. One was Ida of Eu, who was a countess by birth and whose mother was born no earlier than 1138, and quite likely several years later. Ida of Eu would have been too young at the time of William Longespée's birth to be his mother. The other Ida is Ida de Toeni who became Countess of Norfolk by her marriage to Roger Bigod.^[3] A list of prisoners taken at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 confirms that Ida de Toeni was indeed William Longespée's mother: it includes Ralph Bigod, described as brother (in fact half-brother) of the Earl of Salisbury, and Roger was Ida’s son.^[2][19]

Legitimate Chldren

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that William Longespée and Ela, Countess of Salisbury had only four daughters, giving only one Ida, whose husbands are stated to be Walter FitzRobert and William de Beauchamp.^[2]

Some trees on the internet give a further daughter, Lora, said to have been a nun at Lacock Abbey.^[20] This suggestion appears in T C Banks's The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England (1809).^[21] The book Annals and Antiquities of Lacock Abbey suggests that Lora was a granddaughter.^[22]

Roger de Meulan

It is sometimes suggested that Roger de Meulan (or Meuland or Meyland etc), c.1215-1295, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, may possibly have been an illegitimate son of William de Longespée.^[23] In 1738 Thomas Cox, in a series of books on Britain, described Roger as "3d son of William Longespe, Earl of Salisbury, and Eva his wife," suggesting he was actually a legitimate child.^[24] As the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states, these suggestions are speculation and guesses ultimately inspired by the fact that Matthew Paris, chronicler of the first half of the 13th century, once appears to refer to him as "Master Longespée" without naming a father, and there is no good evidence for the relationship.^[25] In a 2007 discussion in soc.genealogy.medieval (post by Peter Stewart dated 3 December 2007), some doubt was expressed as to whether Matthew Paris was actually referring to Roger de Meulan or to someone else.^[26] An 1835 book on Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire seems to imply that the idea of this possible relationship originated in a conjecture by a Dr Pegge.^[27] The Victoria County History of Staffordshire cites a grant of 1259 by Henry III to "Bishop Roger de Meuland or Longespèe... his kinsman" but with nothing to indicate how Roger might be connected to the Longespée family.^[28]

The 2007 discussion on soc.genealogy.medieval confirms the doubts about a relationship between Roger de Meulan and William Longespée, and other possibilities for Roger's parentage are floated.^[26] A 2012 post there by Douglas Richardson suggests that Roger de Meulan's father may have been an illegitimate son of King John, which would rule out William Longespée as his father.^[29] Richardson cites a document in which a Roger, cleric, describes himself as nephew of the King of England and Richard Earl of Cornwall.^[30]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, volume XI, St Catherine Press 1949, pp. 379-82 SALISBURY III
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28} Oxford Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: 'Longespée [Lungespée], William, third earl of Salisbury', 2004, revised online 2010, available online via some libraries
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Paul C Reed. 'Countess Ida, Mother of William Longspee, Illegitimate Son of Henry II', The American Genealogist, volume 77, 2002, pp. 137-149
4. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, volume XI, St Catherine Press 1949, p. 384
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, page 610 #6
6. ↑ Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 603ii
7. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 606iii
8. ↑ Nicholas, Bishop of Salisbury
9. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 606iv
10. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 607v
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4} Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, pp. 599ff
12. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 608iv
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 608vii
14. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 608viii
15. ↑ Personal knowledge of Michael Cayley who has visited the Cathedral
16. ↑ 2015 Salisbury Cathedral welcome leaflet for visitors
17. ↑ 'Salisbury Cathedral: effigy of William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury, in the south transept', page on website of the Royal Institute of British Architects, accessed 28 June 2019
18. ↑ W H Matthews. Mazes and Labyrinths, Longmans, Green & Co, 1922, Chap. XIX, p. 164, Internet Sacred Text Archive
19. ↑ Raymond W Phair. 'William Longespee, Ralph Bigod and Countess Ida', The American Genealogist, volume 77, 2002, pp. 279-281
20. ↑ See for instance this tree on www.geni.com
21. ↑ T C Banks. The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England, Vol. III, London, 1809, p. 646, Google Books
22. ↑ William Lisle Bowles and John Gough Nichols. Annals and Antiquities of Lacock Abbey, pub. John Bowyer Nichols and Son, London, 1835, p. 160, footnote 1, Internet Archive
23. ↑ See for instance Wikipedia: Roger de Meyland
24. ↑ Thomas Cox. Magna Britannia Antiqua & Nova, volume V, 1738, p. 131, Google Books
25. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Meuland [Meuleng, Meulent, Molend], Roger de [Master Longespée]', 2004 (print), revised online 2008, available online through some libraries, accessed 21 June 2019
26. ↑ ^{26.0 26.1} 'The Longespée parentage of Roger de Meulan, Bishop of Coventry & Lichfield', soc.medieval.genealogy, also archived at narkive.com
27. ↑ William Lisle Bowles and John Gough Nichols. Annals and Antiquities of Lacock Abbey, pub. John Bowyer Nichols and Son, London, 1835, p. 164, Google Books
28. ↑ 'Cannock: Manors and economic history', in A History of the County of Stafford, Volume 5, East Cuttlestone Hundred, ed. L Margaret Midgley (London, 1959), pp. 49-63, British History Online, accessed 26 June 2019
29. ↑ 'King's Nephew: Roger de Meulan (died 1295), Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield', post by Douglas Richardson dated 27 April 2012, soc.genealogy.medieval
30. ↑ Les registres de Grégoire IX, Volume III, Albert Fontemoing, Paris, 1908-1910, p. 132, entry 4966, Internet Archive

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry:
  • Volume I, p. 40: illegitimate child of Henry II, by a mistress, Ida de Tony, daughter of Ralph de Tony, (died 1162), by Margaret, daughter of Robert, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Ida later became the wife of Roger le Bigod, Earl of Norfolk (died 1221). William Longespee, Knt., Earl of Salisbury, married Ela Of Salisbury.
  • Vol. I. p. 354
  • Vol. I, p. 448
  • Vol. III pp. 599-610
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: 'Longespée [Lungespée], William, third earl of Salisbury', 2004, revised online 2010, available online via some libraries
• Cokayne, G E. Complete Peerage, new edition, volume XI, St Catherine Press 1949, pp. 379-82 SALISBURY III
• Royal Tombs of Medieval England M. Duffy 2003 p. 65-68
• Leese, T Anna. Blood Royal. Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England 1066-1399, Heritage Books 2007, pp. 54-55
• G2G discussion (birth location)
• The American Genealogist, volume 77 (April 2002): 137–149. Countess Ida, Mother of William Longespée, Illegitimate Son of Henry II, by Paul C. Reed.
• The American Genealogist, volume 77 (October 2002): 279–281. William Longespée, Ralph Bigod, and Countess Ida, by Raymond W Phair
• Weis, Frederick Lewis, continued by Sheppard, Walter Lee Jr. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company 2004, p. 38 (line 30-26)
• Thomson, Richard. An Historical Essay on the Magna Charta. London, 1829, p. 313
• Call, Michel. Royal Ancestry Bible, self-published 2005: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Royal_Ancestry_Bible/lL4nAAAACAAJ?hl=en&kptab=overview
• http://www.robertsewell.ca/longespee.html
• Wikipedia: William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury
• Shaw, Henry, Dresses and decorations of the middle ages, (London, England, 1843), digital image, Internet Archive, accessed 28 March 2014; extracted from database of same title, Vol I

Acknowledgements

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