Matilda Maud (de Colville) Colville

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Biography

This person never existed.

Research Notes

Sir William Dugdale, in his Baronage of England, outlined a prestigious lineage for the recently created (1622) Earls of Denbigh . ^[1] The Fieldings had only recently been elevated to the peerage, nevertheless, he claimed, they were descended through the paternal line from the Hapsburgs, the Counts Palatine in Germany. In short, a Geofrey Felding aka Galfrid, the son of Galfrid, Count of Hapsburg and a cousin of Rudolf, the emperor came to England, married and remained.

Dugdale cited a grant of sesin allegedly written in the reign of Edward 11, in which the ancestor described himself as Galfrid, (Anglo-Norman version of Geoffrey), the son of Count Galfrid Habsbug of Laufenberg and Rinfilding in Germaney. Galfird the younger was married to Agnes de Napton .His mother was one Maud de Colville ^[2] Dugdale cited a second record from the time of Edward IV which described the circumstances of Geoffreys emigration to England.^[3] Apprently, Count Galfrid of Habsburg was oppressed by Count Rudolph Hapsbugh (later the emperor) and because of this came to England where his son, during the time of Henry 111 married Matilda (Maud) de Coleville, taking the name Fielding (Filding) as an anglicisation of his German possession Rinfelden. The couple had three children Galfrid, John and Thomas. Galfrid married Agnes Napton . Dugdale supplies 2 further citations from documents, all of which appear to have been provided from the ' Bok of my Fader'by Sir Edward Fielding

This pedigree was embellished ^[4]and copied to many published genealogies. In the late 19th Century, the academic historian and genealogist J Horace Round debunked the whole story. Subsequent editions removed the early generations of the pedigree.However, the accessibility of earlier editions of these books on the internet has resulted in internet trees including these generations

The pedigree came to Round's attention when he noticed that although the German family origin purported to date to the time of Henry III, the story only appeared during the reign of Charles II. Round developed his falsification using several strands of evidence

1)Family Memorials and Stained Glass

None of the armorials on early brasses bear the Hapsburg arms. A detailed armorial window created at about the close of the 16th Century starts with Geoffrey Fielding and his wife Agnes de Nap

2)Visitations

The 1593 Visitation only starts with Geoffrey Fielding and his wife Agnes.(no copy online) The 1619 Visitation did include several generations prior to that of Geoffrey and Agnes. This information was annotated 'out of Mr Feilding's pedigree'. These extra generations are not in the published version available online which does include a parent for Galfrid, a William Feldinge ^[5]

3)The family Patents

The original patent for the family described their ancestor as a William Willington who bought property in Barcheston, Warwick in 1555.Mr Willington,s own pedigree as described by Dugdale derived from a Gloucestershire family who may have been barons at the time of Edward III

4) The documentary evidence

These were ,according Round, 'ridculous documents. He points out many flaws. The Memorandum cited earlier was written in the wrong style of handwriting for its supposed age. Others contained dog latin and confused dates. The emperor Adolph is said in one document to have been reigning some 9 years after his death.Seals on the documents had been broken off, including one which was said to have borne the Hapsburg crest.

5) The Hapsburg Family Pedigree

Round turns to German genealogies. First he points out that the name used by the family was Gottfried, not Galfrid. He convincingly demonstrate that it was impossible for Galfrid to be a cousin of Rudolf . Rudolf 111's son Gottfried of Laufenburg who died in 1271 leaving two children. Gottfied, the son of Gottfied of Laufenburg (d 1271) and Rudolf (b 1270) . The young Gottfried died as a child and was buried in his father's tomb .He is not even mentioned in many genealogies. Rudolf had no cousin.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Dugdale, William, Sir, (1605-1686) The baronage of England, or, An historical account of the lives and most memorable actions of our English nobility in the Saxons time to the Norman conquest, and from thence, of those who had their rise before the end of King Henry the Third's reign deduced from publick records, antient historians, and other authorities pp 440-441 [Early English Books, Text Creation Partnership online accessed April 2019]
2. ↑ Dugdale

   Filius Galfridi Filii Galfridi Com. deHap spurgh, & domini de Laufenburg, & Rinfilding in Germaniâ and by the consent of Agnes de Napton,his wife , gives power to William Pure∣fey,to deliver seis• of his Mannor of Mun∣sterton, unto Sir Rauf de Stanlow, and of oneyard Land in Lutterworth, which his Mother Maud de Colville

3. ↑ Dugdale

   Memorandum, quod Galfridus Comes Hapspurgicus, propter oppressio∣nes sibi illatas à Comite Rodolpho, qui postea elec∣tus erat Imperator, ad summam paupertatem re∣dactus; unus ex filiis suis, nomine Galfridus, mi∣litavit in Angliâ sub Rege Henrico tertio. Et quia pater ejus Galfridus Comes, •abuit praetensiones ad certa dominia in Lauffenburg, & Rinfelden, retinuit sibi nomen de Felden Anglicè Fielding. Et reliquit, ex Matildâ de Colevile, uxore su•, Galfridum, Johannem, & Thomam, tunc pu•∣ros. Galfridus Filding, duxit in uxorem Agne∣tem, Filiam Johannis de Napton, qui fuit frater Roberti de Napton militis...

4. ↑ see for example Nichols, (1745-1826) History and Antiquities of Leicestershire, Volume 4, p 251[Hathi Books]
5. ↑ William Camden, Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 [archive books]
6. ↑ J. Horace Round, Our English Hapsburghs : A great Delusion, in Studies in peerage and family history ' (London 1901) ' chapter 5 pp 216-219 [Archive books]

See also

• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_I._(Habsburg-Laufenburg)

This person was created on 19 May 2010 through the import of My Family File.ged.

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