Roland (Tudor DeVelville) de Velville (1471 - 1535)

Born 1471 in London, England

Descendants

Died 1535 at about age 64 in England

Sir Roland Tudor DeVelville was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Biography

Roland (Tudor DeVelville) de Velville is Notable.

ROLAND VELEVILLE(or VIELLEVILLE) alias BRITTANY, Knt., of Westminster, Middlesex and Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, king’s servant, Constable of Beaumaris Castle. He served in Sir John Cheyne’s retinue in the expedition to Brittany in 1489. He is probably to be identified with the “Roland de Bella Vill” who served as an esquire in the army which King Henry VII took to France in the autumn of 1492. He was granted an annuity of £20 for life in 1493, and, in 1496, a further annuity of 40 marks. He was knighted at the Battle of Blackheath in June 1497. In 1512 he was granted letters of denization, he being a native of Brittany. He took part in the French campaign in 1513. He attended the king at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520. He married before 6 July 1528 AGNES FERCH GWILYM FYCHAN AP GWILYM, widow of Robert Dowding (living 1508, dead before June 1516), of Beaumaris, and daughter of Gwilym Fychan ap Gwilym (otherwise known as William Griffith), Marshal of the King’s Hall, deputy to various Chamberlains of North Wales, by his 2nd wife (or mistress), Gwenllian ferch Iorwerth Ddu ap Dafydd. She was the half-sister of William Griffith, K.B., of Penrhyn, Caernarvonshire, Chamberlain of North Wales [see COYTEMORE 15]. They had two daughters, Grace (wife of William Glynn) and Jane (wife of Tudur ap Robert Fychan of Berain). In 1526 Roland and Agnes quitclaimed two shops in Beaumaris, Anglesey. He was granted parcels of land in the ancestral Tudor estate of Penmynyd, Anglesey by Owen ap John ab Owen ap Tudor Fychan. SIR ROLAND VELEVILLE left a will dated 6 June 1535, proved 13 June 1535, requesting burial in the monastery of the Friars Minor of Llanfaes. His widow, Agnes, left a will dated 16 Dec. 1542, proved 15 Dec. 1543. ^[1]

Marriage

Sir Roland de Velville m. Agnes Griffith, widow of Robert Dowdyn, and daughter of William (Gwilym) Griffith Fychan. They had two daughters, Grace and Jane. Jane m. Tudor ap Robert Vychan, who in turn had a dau. Katherine Tudor, (Welsh: Catrin o Ferain).

ROLAND VELEVILLE (or VIELLEVILLE) alias BRITTANY, Knt., married before 6 July 1528 AGNES FERCH GWILYM FYCHAN AP GWILYM, widow or Robert Dowding (living 1508, dead before June 1516), of Beaumaris, and daughter of Gwilym fychan ap Gwilym (otherwise known as William Griffith), Marshal of the King's Hall, deputy to various Chamberlains of North Wales, by his 2nd wife (or mistress), Gwenllian ferch Iorwerth Ddu ap dafydd. She was the half sister of William Griffith, K.B., of Penrhyn, Caernarvonshire, Chamberlain of North Wales. They had two daughters, Grace (wife of William Glynn) and Jane (wife of Tudur ap Robert Fychan of Berain). ^[2]

Battle of Blackheath

Sir Roland de Velville was knighted after the Battle of Blackheath, and was appointed Constable and Captain of Beaumaris Castle in 1509, a post he held until his death 25 June 1535.

Research Notes

Parentage Dispute

Sir Roland de Velville (1471/4 - 25 June 1535) has an unclear parentage. He was either the an illegitimate son of King Henry VII of England by an unknown woman from Brittany, or a favored member of the court of Henry VII and later recipient of beneficences, who had unknown parents and was brought to England as an adolescent with the 28-year-old Henry after his exile in Brittany.

Roland de Velville has been considered a natural son of Henry VII for almost 400 years, but multiple scholars of Tudor and Welsh history such as Prof. S B Chrimes, Prof. R A Griffiths and W R B Robinson have recently began to doubt that he was the natural son of Henry VII. Griffiths in The Making of the Tudor Dynasty argues that the exiles in Brittany lived there only briefly, did not integrate with the local popuation and there's no record of Henry courting or marrying a Breton Lady. Griffith's argues Rolad was simply a Breton soldier who stood by him in exile and honours such as a knighthood and lands in Wales were simply recognizing his gratitude to de Velville for his service.^[3]

Other scholars seem to think there is ample evidence he was the natural son of Henry VII. De Velville appears in England in 1485, less than half Henry's age of 28 at the time, so neither of military age or a mercenary, and too young to be a friend. For the next 25 years, de Velville was a courtier and member of the Royal Household who accompanied the King hunting and participated in jousting tournaments and was knighted in 1497. He was not a servant and was on equal terms with other aristocrats of high rank and status. It is unusual that Henry Tudor was unmarried at 28, and since de Velville has quartered coats of arms and Henry was simply Henry Tudor in 1485, Beuclerk-Dewar wonders if there was a connection to the French nobility, he guesses a daughter of the de Vieileville family, who were the Counts of Durtal near Angers.^[4]

Douglas Richardson states, "The well known Tudor historian, Stanley Bertram Chrimes, in his book, Henry VII (1972), pg. 67 states the following: “The allegation has often been made that Sir Roland de Veleville, appointed constable of Beaumaris by Henry VIII, was a bastard son of Henry VII, begotten in Brittany, appears untenable.” Having reviewed all the evidence once again this past week, I concur with Mr. Chrimes. The allegation that Sir Roland Veleville was an illegitimate son of King Henry VII is untenable." ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ References to Douglas Richardson's current file on Roland Veleville: Dwnn, Heraldic Vis. of Wales 2 (1846): 131, footnote 4 (author identifies Sir Roland Velville as “natural son of Hen. 7.”). Shaw, Knights of England 2 (1906): 30. Broadley, Doctor Johnson & Mrs. Thrale (1910): 280–281. Griffith, Peds. of Anglesey & Carnarvonshire Fams. (1914): I–II, 26 (Carreglwyd ped.), 106 (Plas Penmynydd ped.) (author identifies Sir Rowland Vielleville, Kt as an illegitimate son of King Henry VII), 184–185 (Griffith ped.), 223 (Berain ped.), 236, 270 (Lleuar ped.). Welsh Hist. Rev. 3 (1966–67): 287–289; 15 (1991): 351–367 (Roland Veleville is described as “reputed base son of Henry VII” in Thomas Pennant Tour of Wales 2 (1783): 244–245; author cites letter dated 1636/7 written by John Salusbury who states: “… and whose sone Veleville was, I doubt not you have heard”; also notes that Veleville was referred to as a “man of a kingly line” and “of earl’s blood” in an elegy composed on Sir Roland’s death in 1535 by the Anglesey bard, Dafydd Alaw.). Chrimes, Henry VII (1972): 67 (“The allegation has often been made that Sir Roland de Veleville, appointed constable of Beaumaris by Henry VIII, was a bastard son of Henry VII, begotten in Brittany, appears untenable.”). Wagner, English Gen. (1972): 240. Bartrum Welsh Gens. 1400–1500 8 (1983): 1265 [Marchudd 6 (B1): ancestry of Agnes/Annes, wife of Roland Veleville [Britain]; author identifies Agnes as the daughter of William Fychan ap Gwilym, by his mistress (not wife), Gwenllian f. Iorwerth], 1284 [Marchudd 13(A): Jane, wife of Tudur ap Robert of Blaenau, is erroneously assigned as daughter of Owen Tudor and Queen Katherine of France, cites Harleian MSS 1974, modern folio 111 (which MS dates pre-1631); Bartrum “cancels” this placement of Jane in his Adds. & Corrs., 3rd List (2002), realizing she is doubtless the same woman as Jane, daughter of Sir Roland Veleville]. Griffiths, Making of the Tudor Dynasty (1985): 108, 174–175, 192. National Lib. of Wales Jour. 25 (1988): 387–398. English Hist. Rev. 108 (1993): 22–49. ODNB (2004): (biog. of Katheryn of Berain) (“It was firmly, if incorrectly, believed that Sir Roland [de Veleville] was the son of Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) and a Breton lady; he was knighted at the coronation of Henry VIII in 1509, appointed constable of Beaumaris Castle, and given the king’s moiety of the Tudor property in Penmynydd together with other lands in Anglesey.”) (article available at www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/67988). Breverton, Everything you ever wanted to know about the Tudors but were afraid to ask (2014). Online resource: www.happywarrior.org/genealogy/roland.htm (author cites e-mail communication dated 2011 of Gruffydd Aled Williams, Emeritus Professor of Welsh at Aberystwyth University who cites an undated poem by Robert Evans in praise of Sir Roland de Veleville’s great-grandson, John Salisbury of Lleweni, which poem states that Sir Roland was of “the lineage of kings” and that he was “purely descended from the ancient blood of Brittany.”).
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. 5, page 210
3. ↑ A Griffiths, R S Thomas, The Making of the Tudor Dynasty, (Gloucestershire, U.K.: The History Press, 2011), revised edition, p. 105
4. ↑ Peter Beauclerk-Dewar & Roger Powell, "King Henry VII (1457-1509):Roland de Velville (1474-1535)", in Royal Bastards: Illegitimate Children of the British Royal Family (Gloucestershire, U.K.: The History Press, 2008), e-book edition, pp. 177-186, ISBN 0752473166.
5. ↑ Douglas Richardson, post, soc.medieval gen, August 27, 2016

See also:

• Wikipedia: Roland de Velville

• Wikidata: Item Q3178566, en:Wikipedia