William de Braose (died 1230)

Arms attributed to William de Braose by Matthew Paris: Party per pale indented gules and azure. Marginal drawing of an inverted shield referring to his Nota impiam murthram ("impious murder")

William de Braose (c. 1197 – 2 May 1230) was the son of Reginald de Braose by his first wife, Grecia Briwere. He was an ill-fated member of the House of Braose, a powerful and long-lived dynasty of Marcher Lords.

Biography

William de Braose was born in Brecon, probably between 1197 and 1204. The Welsh, who detested him and his family name, called him Gwilym Ddu, Black William. He succeeded his father in his various lordships in 1227, including Abergavenny and Buellt.

William married Eva Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. They had four daughters:

• Isabella de Braose (born c. 1222 – 1248), wife of Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn
• Maud de Braose (born c. 1224 – 1301), wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer another very powerful Marcher dynasty.
• Eleanor de Braose (c. 1226 – 1251), wife of Humphrey (son of Humphrey de Bohun) and mother of Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford.
• Eva de Braose (c. 1227 – July 1255), wife of William de Cantilupe (died 1254).

He was captured by the Welsh forces of Prince Llywelyn the Great, in fighting in the commote of Ceri near Montgomery, in 1228. William was ransomed for the sum of £2,000 and then furthermore made an alliance with Llywelyn, arranging to marry his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn. However, it became known that William had committed adultery with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales, and Braose was taken at his own home and transported to Wales. The marriage planned between their two children did, however, take place.

The Chronicle of Ystrad Fflur's entry for 1230 reads:

"In this year William de Breos the Younger, lord of Brycheiniog, was hanged by the Lord Llywelyn in Gwynedd, after he had been caught in Llywelyn's chamber with the king of England's daughter, Llywelyn's wife".

Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on 2 May 1230, possibly at Crogen, near Bala, though others believe the hanging took place near Llywelyn's palace at Abergwyngregyn.

After William's death, his wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234–1237).

Legacy

With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, and the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose.

Literature

• Sion Eirian – The Royal Bed (play) 2015 adaptation and Siwan (play)
• Saunders Lewis – Siwan
• Thomas Parry – Llywelyn Fawr (play)
• Edith Pargeter – The Green Branch (novel)
• Sharon Penman – Here Be Dragons (novel)

Further reading

• Evans, Gwynfor (2001), Cymru O Hud Abergwyngregyn
• Evans, Gwynfor (2002), Eternal Wales Abergwyngregyn
• Fynes-Clinton, F.E. (1912), The Welsh Vocabulary of the Bangor District, Oxford
• Llyfrfa'r Methodistiaid Calfinaidd (1998), "Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn", Y Traethodydd, ISSN 0969-8930
• Lloyd, John Edward (1911), A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest, Longmans, Green & Company
• Martin, C. T., ed. (1882–1886), Registrum Epistolarum Fratis Johannis Peckham Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis (3 Vols ed.)
• Pierce, Professor T. Jones (1962), "Aber Gwyn Gregin", Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions

External links

• Eva Marshal page and pictures
• William de Braose page
• The Barons de Braose A history of the de Braose family in England