4th Lord of Bramber William De Braose

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• Reference Number: 15930

Notes:

William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber (1144/1153 - 9 August 1211), court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick, Glamorgan, Skenfrith, Briouze in Normandy, Grosmont, and White Castle.

William was the most notable member of the de Braose dynasty and his steady rise and sudden fall at the hands of King John is often taken as an example of that king's arbitrary and capricious behaviour towards his barons.

William was the son of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber and his wife Bertha of Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres, (born 1130) daughter of Miles Fitz Walter, Earl of Hereford and his wife, Sibyl, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarche. From his father he inherited the Rape of Bramber, in Sussex, and through his mother he inherited a large estate in the Welsh Marches area of modern day Monmouthshire.

In 1175, William de Braose carried out the Abergavenny Massacre, luring three Welsh princes and other Welsh leaders to their deaths. His principal antagonist was a Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, of Castell Arnallt near Llanover in the valley of the River Usk near Abergavenny, whom he blamed for the death of his uncle Henry. After having invited the Welsh leaders to a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle under the pretence of peace and the start of a new era at the end of the year (a traditional time for settling outstanding differences amongst the Welsh), he had them murdered by his men. This resulted in great hostility against him among the Welsh, who named him the "Ogre of Abergavenny". Gerald of Wales exonerates him and emphasises the religious piety of de Braose and his wife and de Braose generosity to the priories of Abergavenny and Brecon. William de Braose did however reputedly hunt down and kill Seisyll ap Dyfnwal's surviving son, Cadwaladr, a boy of seven.

In 1192 William de Braose was made Sheriff of Hereford, a post he held until 1199. In 1196 he was made Justice Itinerant for Staffordshire. In 1195 he accompanied King Richard I of England to Normandy and in 1199, William de Braose fought beside Richard at Chalus, where the king was mortally wounded.

He then supported King John's claim to the throne of England, supported the new king in making various royal grants and was in attendance with John in Normandy at the time of Arthur of Brittany's death in 1203. Arthur was John's nephew and was seen by many as the rightful heir to the English throne.

De Braose served in the war of 1204 against King Philip II of France in France.

He was greatly favoured by King John early in his reign. John granted him all that he might conquer from the Welsh in Radnorshire, gave him lordship over Limerick in Ireland (save for the city itself), possession of Glamorgan castle, and the Lordship of Gower with its several castles.

In 1203, William de Braose was put in charge of Arthur of Brittany, whom he had personally captured the previous year at the Battle of Mirabeau. William was suspected of involvement in Arthur's disappearance and death, although no concrete evidence ever came to light. There is somewhat better evidence that he at least knew the truth of the matter.

In 1206 King John gave William de Braose the three great neighbouring trilateral castles of Gwent (Skenfrith Castle, Grosmont Castle, and White Castle). These have been interpreted as bribes encouraging silence on the demise of Arthur, seen by many as a rightful heir to the throne occupied by John of England.

At this point only an earldom separated him from the greatest in England.

But soon after this William de Braose fell out of favour with King John of England. The precise reasons remain obscure. King John cited overdue monies that de Braose owed the Crown from his estates. But the King's actions went far beyond what would be necessary to recover the debt. He distrained de Braose's English estates in Sussex and Devon and sent a force to invade Wales to seize the de Braose domains there. Beyond that, he sought de Braose's wife Maud who, the story goes, had made no secret of her belief that King John had murdered Arthur of Brittany. Gerald of Wales describes Maud de St. Valery, as a 'prudent and chaste woman' who bore her husband three sons William, Giles and Reginald de Braose.

De Braose fled to Ireland, then returned to Wales as King John had him hunted in Ireland. In Wales, William allied himself to the Welsh Prince Llywelyn the Great and helped him in rebellion against King John.

In 1210, William de Braose fled Wales in disguise as a beggar, to France. His wife and eldest son were captured, and he died the following year in August 1211 at Corbeil, France. He is buried in the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris by a fellow exile and vociferous opponent of John of England, Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. His hopes to return alive to Wales and a burial in Brecon were to be unfulfilled. William's wife, Maud, and eldest son, William, once captured were murdered by King John, possibly starved to death incarcerated in Windsor Castle and Corfe Castle in 1210.

While William had aroused the jealousy of the other Barons during his rise, the arbitrary and violent manner of his fall very likely discomfited them and played a role in the Baronial uprisings of the next decade. The historian Sidney Painter, in his biography of King John, called it "the greatest mistake John made during his reign, as the King revealed to his Barons once and for all his capacity for cruelty".

William de Braose' eldest son, William, although captured in hiding with his mother and starved to death in 1210, had fathered four sons. They were John, Giles, Phillip and Walter and although they were also held imprisoned they were granted release in 1218. John, the eldest, was said to have been brought up in secret, on Gower, by a Welsh ally or retainer. On release he came under the care of his uncle Giles de Braose. John made a claim to being rightful heir of the de Braose lands and titles and although the courts did not find for him, his other uncle Reginald de Braose was able to cede by a legal convention the Baronecies of both Gower and Bramber to him for a fee. Thus establishing the junior branch of the dynasty in its own right and further positioning the dynasty for survival at worst and at best opportunity, continued future power and influence.

The middle son, Giles de Braose, exiled in France until 1213, was Bishop of Hereford from 1200 until his death in 1215. He made peace with King John and agreed terms for regaining de Braose lands in 1215 but had also made alliances with the Welsh leader Llywelyn the Great. He died in 1215 before he could come into the lands.

William's third son, Reginald de Braose reacquired his father's lands and titles for himself through simply seizing them back by force following the death of Giles. Reginald did not actually come to terms with the Crown until 1217 and the new, young King Henry III of England, after the death of King John. This in turn aroused the anger of Llywelyn the Great who had an understanding with Giles de Braose and the seeming duplicity caused the Welsh to attack de Braose lands in Brecon and Abergavenny and Gower. Abergavenny Castle had to be rebuilt as a result. Reginald de Braose died in 1228.

William's eldest daughter Matilda (also called Maud) married a prominent Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Rhys II of Deheubarth. Another daughter, Margaret, married Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath in Ireland and himself another powerful Marcher Lord.

The story of the death of Maud de St. Valery and the conflict of her family with John Lackland is covered in several novels, notably Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine. Erskine describes the life of Maud by sending a woman of the 20th century by psychological regression back into the 12th century.

William married Maud De St. Valéry Abt 1166. Maud (daughter of Bernard De St. Valéry and Matilda) was born 1155, France; died 1210. [Group Sheet]

1. Reginald De Braose was born 1178; died Jun 1228, Brecon, Breconshire, Wales; was buried , Brecon, Breconshire, Wales.
2. William De Braose was born 1175; died 1210.
3. Giles De Braose was born 1180; died 11 Nov 1215.
4. Matilda De Braose was born 1172; died 29 Dec 1210.
5. Margaret De Braose was born 1177; died Aft 1255.
6. Annora De Braose was born 1190; died 1241.
7. John De Braose was born Abt 1180; died 1205.
8. Loretta De Braose
9. Flandrina De Braose

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• Reference Number: 15932

Notes:

William de Braose, Third Lord of Bramber (born 1112 in Brecon) (d. ca. 1192) was the eldest son of Philip de Braose, Second Lord of Bramber.

William was born into a second generation English Norman dynasty holding Lordships and land in Sussex at Bramber, also at Totnes in Devon and Radnor and Builth in the Welsh Marches of Wales. He maintained his Sussex lands and titles, extended St Mary de Haura Church in Shoreham and contributed to a priory at Sele, West Sussex. His mother was Aenor Fitz Judhel of Totnes.
He also inherited one half of the honour of Barnstaple in Devon, paying a fee of 1000 marks for the privilege.

William married Bertha de Pitres, also known as Bertha de Hereford, daughter of Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford. Through this marriage, William acquired lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny in 1166 because Bertha's four brothers all died young without heirs.

These vast land holdings greatly expanded the territorial power and income of the de Braose dynasty. They now held the Middle March with extensive interests in Sussex and Devon.
William's younger brother Phillip accompanied King Henry II to Ireland, receiving in 1172 the honour of Limerick.

In 1174, William became sheriff of Hereford. He died in about 1192 and was succeeded as Lord of Bramber by his son, William. He had also fathered two daughters, Maud and Sibilla, who married well and possibly a later son, named John.

William married Bertha De Pitres 1150. Bertha (daughter of Miles De Gloucester and Sibyl of Neufmarché) was born 1130, England. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Bertha of Hereford
• Reference Number: 15933

Notes:

Bertha of Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres (born c.1130), was the daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, and a wealthy heiress. She was the wife of William de Braose, Third Lord of Bramber to whom she brought many castles and Lordships, including Brecknock, Abergavenny, and Hay.

Bertha was born in England in about 1130. She was the second daughter of Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford (1097- 24 December 1143) and Sibyl of Neufmarche. She had two sisters, Margaret of Gloucester, who married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had issue, and Lucy of Gloucester, who married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, by whom she had issue. Her five brothers, included Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Walter de Hereford, Henry Fitzmiles, William de Hereford, and Mahel de Hereford.

Her paternal grandparents were Walter FitzRoger de Pitres, Sheriff of Gloucester and Bertha de Balun of Bateden, a descendant of Hamelin de Balun. Her maternal grandparents were Bernard de Neufmarche, Lord of Brecon, and Nesta ferch Osbern. The latter was a daughter of Osbern FitzRichard of Richard's Castle, and Nesta ferch Gruffydd.[3] Bertha was a direct descendant, in the maternal line, of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (1007- 5 August 1063) and Edith (Aldgyth), daughter of Elfgar, Earl of Mercia.

Her father Miles served as Constable to King Stephen of England. He later served in the same capacity to Empress Matilda after he'd transferred his allegiance. In 1141, she made him Earl of Hereford in gratitude for his loyalty. On 24 December 1143, he was killed whilst on a hunting expedition.

In 1150, she married William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber (1112- 1192), son of Philip de Braose, 2nd Lord of Bramber and Aenor, daughter of Judael of Totnes. William and Bertha had three daughters and two sons, including William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber.

In 1173, her brothers all having died without issue, she brought the Lordships and castles of Brecknock and Abergavenny, to her husband. Hay Castle had already passed to her from her mother, Sibyl of Neufmarche in 1165, whence it became part of the de Braose holdings.
In 1174, her husband became Sheriff of Hereford.
Her children include:
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, (1144/1153- 11 August 1211, Corbeil), married Maud de St. Valery, daughter of Bernard de St. Valery, by whom he had 16 children.
Roger de Braose
Bertha de Braose (born 1151), married c.1175, Walter de Beauchamp (died 1235), son of William de Beauchamp and Joan de Walerie, by whom she had issue, including Walcherine de Beauchamp who married Joane de Mortimer.
Sibylla de Braose (died after 5 February 1227), married William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby (1136- 21 October 1190 at Acre on crusade), son of Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby and Margaret Peverel, by whom she had issue.
Maud de Braose, married John de Brompton, by whom she had issue.

Bertha died on an unknown date. She is the ancestress of the families de Braose, de Beauchamp, and de Ferrers.

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• Reference Number: 15934

Notes:

Philip de Braose, 2nd Lord of Bramber was a Norman nobleman whose father, William de Braose (d.1093-1096) had participated in the victory over the English Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in support of William the Conqueror.

William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber had been rewarded with a Barony and lands in Sussex and the Welsh Marches of Wales. Philip was born about 1070 to 1073 in Bramber, his mother being Agnes de St. Clare (born 1048 to 1054) (died 1080) of Barnstaple in Devon. Philip's task as heir was to consolidate these lands and expand them wherever possible. In 1096 he confirmed his father's gifts to the Abbey of St. Florent. Through marriage to Aenor, daughter of Juhel of Totnes or Totenais (born 1084) he also acquired land in Totnes, Devon and held this valuable Lordship also.

It was Philip de Braose who conquered the Welsh borderlands at Builth and New Radnor and established new Norman Lordships over them as a Marcher Lord. He seems to have gone on the First Crusade in 1103. He was responsible for the building of St. Nicolas' Church, Old Shoreham in Sussex and founded the port at New Shoreham.

He supported King Henry I of England against Robert Curthose and then in 1110 revolted against King Henry I of England who confiscated his estates as a result.

He regained his Lordships and his lands in 1112 and was thereafter able to retain them, in 1130 passing them intact to his eldest son in turn, named William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber. He also fathered a second son, also called Philip and two daughters, Basilia and Gillian. It is thought that he died between 1131 and 1139, possibly 1134 on a crusade in the Holy Land.

Philip — Aenor of Totnes. Aenor (daughter of Juhel of Totnes) was born 1084. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15942

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• Reference Number: 15947

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Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Brecknock (1100-24 December 1143), was the son of Walter de Gloucester, who appears as sheriff of that county between 1104 and 1121.
Milo or Miles succeeded his father about the latter year.

He was high in the service of Henry I between 1130 and 1135, he was Constable of England and combined the hereditary office of Sheriff of Gloucester with that of local justiciar for Gloucestershire.

After the death of King Henry he declared for Stephen, at whose court he appears as constable in 1136. King Stephen granted him the honour of Gloucester and Brecknock. However, in 1139, when the empress Matilda appeared in England, he declared for her, and placed the city of Gloucester at her disposal; he was further distinguished by sacking the nearby royalist city of Worcester, attacking Stephen's siege works at Wallingford Castle and reducing the county of Hereford. He was retained as her Constable.

n 1141, he was rewarded with the earldom of Hereford when Matilda ruled the country. He remained loyal to the Empress after her defeat at Winchester the same year. John of Salisbury classes him with Geoffrey de Mandeville and others who were non tam comites regni quam hostes publici. The charge is justified by his public policy; but the materials for appraising his personal character do not exist.

He married Sybil de Neufmarche, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarche, Lord of Brecon and Nest, granddaughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, in 1121. Their children were:
Bertha of Hereford, married William de Braose before 1150, by whom she had issue.
Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford.
Walter de Hereford died after 1159 in the Holy Land. He was Sheriff of Gloucester in 1155-1157 and Sheriff of Hereford in 1155-1159.
Henry Fitzmiles Henry of Hereford, died 12 April 1165. He succeeded to the title of Baron Abergavenny in 1141/42.
William de Hereford. He died before 1160 without issue.
Mahel de Hereford, died October 1165 at Bronllys Castle, Breconshire, Wales, mortally hurt when a stone dropped from the tower during a fire; died without issue. Buried at Llanthony Priory.
Margaret de Gloucester, married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had issue.
Lucy of Gloucester, married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, Lord Chamberlain, by whom she had issue. Buried at Llanthony Priory.

Miles — Sibyl of Neufmarché. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15948

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• Reference Number: 15939

Notes:

William de Braose, First Lord of Bramber born 1049 in Briouze, Normandy (today part of the Argentan Arrondissement in the region of Basse-Normandie). (d. 1093/1096) was a Norman nobleman who participated in the victory at the Battle of Hastings over King Harold Godwinson in support of William the Conqueror as he and his followers invaded and controlled Saxon England. His name at this early stage would have been Guillaume de Briouze.

De Braose was given lands in Sussex, England at Bramber in 1073, where he was lord of the Rape of Bramberand where he built Bramber Castle. De Braose was also awarded lands in the Welsh Marches, and became one of the most powerful of the new Lords of the early Norman era.

He continued to bear arms alongside King William in campaigns in England, Normandy and Maine in France.

He was a pious man and made considerable grants to the Abbey of St, Florent, Samur and to endow the formation of a Priory at Sele, West Sussex near Bramber and a Priory at Briouze.

He was soon installed in a new Norman castle at Bramber, to guard the strategically important harbour at Steyning and so began a vigorous boundary dispute and power tussle with the monks from Fécamp, in Normandy to whom King William I had granted Steyning, brought to a head by the Domesday Book, completed in 1086.

It found that de Braose had built a bridge at Bramber and demanded tolls from ships travelling further along the river to the busy port at Steyning. The monks also challenged Bramber's right to bury people in the churchyard of William de Braose's new church of Saint Nicholas, and demanded the burial fees for themselves, despite it being built to serve the castle not the town. The monks then produced forged documents to defend their position and were unhappy with the failure of their claim on Hastings, which were very similar. The monks claimed the same freedoms and land tenure in Hastings as King Edward had given them at Steyning. Though on a technicality William was bound to uphold all aspects of the status quo before Edward's death, the monks had already been expelled 10 years before that death. King William wanted to hold Hastings for himself for strategic reasons and ignored the problem until 1085, when he confirmed their Steyning claims but swapped the Hastings claim for land in the manor of Bury (near Pulborough in Sussex). In 1086 the King William called his sons, Barons and Bishops to court (the last time an English king presided personally, with his full court, to decide a matter of law) to settle this. It took a full day, and the Abbey won over the baron, forcing William de Braose to curtail his bridge tolls, give up various encroachments onto the Abbey's lands, including a farmed rabbit warren, a park, eighteen burgage plots, a causeway, and a channel to fill his moat, and organise a mass exhumation and transfer of all Bramber's dead to the churchyard of Saint Cuthman's Church in Steyning.

William de Braose was succeeded as Lord of Bramber by his son, Philip. William de Braose was present for the consecration of a church in his hometown of Briouze, near Falaise in Normandy, France, whence the name de Braose originates, in 1093, so we know he was still alive in that year. However, his son Philip was issuing charters as Lord of Bramber in 1096, indicating that William de Braose died sometime between those dates probably at Bramber.

Birth:
Briouze, Normandy

William — Agnes De St. Clare. Agnes was born 1048, Barnstaple, Devon, England; died 1080. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15941

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• Reference Number: 15943

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• Name: Walter FitzRoger, Walter de Pitres
• Reference Number: 15956

Notes:

Walter de Gloucester (also Walter FitzRoger or Walter de Pitres) (1065 - 1129) was an early Norman official of the King of England during the early years of the Norman conquest of the South Welsh Marches.

He was the only son of Roger de Pitres and his wife, Eunice de Balun.

Walter de Gloucester was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire and lived in Gloucester Castle of which he was constable, making improvements to this early fortification.

He was married to Bertha, a relative of Hamelin de Balun. They were the parents of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford and a daughter, Maud, who married a Roger Fitz Pons.

Walter — Bertha De Balun. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15957

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• Reference Number: 15958

Notes:

Bernard of Neufmarché or Newmarket (c. 1050 - c. 1125) was "the first of the original conquerors of Wales." He was a minor Norman lord who rose to power in the Welsh Marches before successfully undertaking the invasion and conquest of the Kingdom of Brycheiniog between 1088 and 1095. Out of the ruins of the Welsh kingdom he created the Anglo-Norman lordship of Brecon.

Because Bernard's family had attachments to the monastery of Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche, the monkish chronicler Orderic Vitalis of that foundation had special knowledge of him and his family, though this still does not reduce the general obscurity of his origins or his life when compared to the richer Marcher lords, like the great Roger of Montgomery. Bernard was the son of the minor and incompetent Norman baron Geoffrey de Neufmarché and Ada de Hugleville and he was born at the castle of Le-Neuf-Marché-en-Lions on the frontier between Normandy and Beauvais. His ancestors on his mother's side had founded the town of Aufay south of Dieppe on the Sie, while his paternal grandfather, Turketil had served the young William II of Normandy as a guardian and was killed in that capacity. On his mother's side he also descended from Richard II of Normandy.

The question of Bernard's participation in the Battle of Hastings and therefore in the Norman Invasion is subject to debate. While Bernard had close family connexions to the port of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme from which William's invading fleet launched, Bernard himself was not the ruler of that city and need not have been in the fleet. He had later connexions with Battle Abbey: he established a cell of that abbey in Brecon, but that may have been an analogous foundation intended to mark his conquest of Brycheiniog. Bernard's peculiar absence from the Domesday Book more or less damns the case for his presence at Hastings, for it is impossible that a noble participant in the victorious battle should not have received land to be recorded in Domesday if he was still living in 1087.

Bernard was finally rewarded by the king, then William II of Normandy, in 1086 or 1087. He received lands in Herefordshire and lands which had devolved to the crown with the deaths of Gilbert fitz Thorold and Alfred of Marlborough. Gilbert's lands were concentrated in Herefordshire and included the manors of Bach, Middlewood, and Harewood in the Golden Valley and the castles of Dorstone, Snodhill, and Urishay connecting Clifford Castle to Ewyas Harold, which belonged to Alfred's lordship. Among Bernard's acquisitions from Gilbert was the domus defensabilis of Eardisley. From Alfred he received Pembridge, Burghill, and Brinsop. Of these it should be noted that Snodhill was not founded until the twelfth century and then became the caput of the honour of Chandos. Bernard was also established in Speen and Newbury in Berkshire and Brinsop and Burghill in Herefordshire sometime before 1079. Both these latter vills were held from his honour of Brecon in the twelfth century. Bernard's omission from Domesday is especially peculiar there. It is possible that he had some kind of exemption.

Probably as a consequence of his rapid rise in the marches, Bernard attracted the attention of Osbern fitz Richard, who gave him his daughter, Agnes (Nest), whose mother was the Welsh princess Nest, daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and Edith of Mercia, in marriage sometime before 1099. She brought with her a dowry of Berrington and Little Hereford.

All of Bernard's estates lay in the valley of the river Wye and along an old Roman road which led from Watling Street to Y Gaer and on into Brycheiniog. The military possibilities of that road could only have encouraged his subsequent ventures into Wales.

Bernard joined the rebellion of the marcher lords against William Rufus at Lent in 1088. Bernard escaped without recorded punishment and the king probably conceded the marcher lords the right to expand their lands by conquest at the expense of the Welsh buffer kingdoms of Brycheiniog, Morgannwg, and Gwynllwg. Shortly after the settlement with the king, Bernard spearheaded an invasion of Brycheiniog which was to lead eventually to its conquest. Before the end of the year, though, he had captured Glasbury, for he issued a charter for lands near that place to the abbey of Saint Peter's at Gloucester (Autumn 1088).

The chronology of events at this juncture is often confused. Bernard may well have already been in power in Brycheiniog by 1088 if he had already inherited a claim to it after the defeat of Roger de Breteuil, Earl of Hereford, in 1075. In 1088 the king, William Rufus, confirmed a previous charter of Bernard's stating that he had already made an exchange "within his lordship of Brycheiniog" at Glasbury. He also already held Castell Dinas which had probably been built by the Earl of Hereford before 1075.

After the initial conquest of 1088, Bernard continued warring with Brycheiniog until 1090, probably supported by Richard fitz Pons, the lord of Clifford. Talgarth was captured early and a castle was constructed at Bronllys where the rivers Dulais and Llynfi meet, a site probably central to the llys of the tywysog of the commote of Bronllys. By 1091 Bernard had reached the valley of the Usk, which was at the centre of the kingdom which was to become his own principality.

There is some discrepancy in this description of events also. Richard Fitz Pons was lord of Llandovery, which he had reached probably through Glamorgan, already by 1088. Bronllys Castle may not have been built until 1144, when Roger Fitzmiles, Earl of Hereford, is first recorded granting it as a five knights' fee mesne barony to Walter de Clifford, son of Richard Fitz Pons.

According to much later accounts and reconstructions, the accuracy of which is very dubious but which contain some references to verifiable history, the king of Brycheiniog, Bleddyn ap Maenarch, allied with the king of Deheubarth, Rhys ap Tewdwr, in 1093 (or perhaps 1094) and tried to attack the forces of Bernard which were building a castle at Brecon on the Usk and Honddu in the centre of a great plain in his kingdom where several Roman viae met. Bleddyn led a charge up the hill, but the Normans defeated the Welsh and Rhys was killed in battle. Brecknock Priory, which was later founded at the site of the battle, may have been built on the spot where Rhys supposedly fell. Bleddyn died not long after and Bernard was able to advance over the whole of Brycheiniog.

Reliable historical records refer to no king of Brycheiniog after a Tewdwr ab Elise who died after 934. Certainly there is no contemporary reference to a Bleddyn ap Maenarch. The Welsh Bruts simply state that "Rhys ap Tewdwr, king of Deheubarth, was slain by the Frenchmen who were inhabiting Brycheiniog." This passage lends evidence to the belief that the conquest of Brycheiniog was mostly finished by Eastertide 1093 and that the main effect of the battle of Brecon was to open the way to the conquest of Deheubarth.

He followed the Usk down to Ystradyw and took it, which incited the bishops of Llandaff to protest because the annexation of Ystradyw removed it from their diocese and brought it into the lordship of Brecon, which was under the episcopal authority of Saint David's. In Spring 1094, the southern Welsh rose in revolt against the Normans that had come to dominate them. Brycheiniog was unaffected and the Normans of that region launched a counterattack from Ystrad Tywy and Cantref Bychan which devastated Kidwelly and Gower but did not put down the revolt. In 1095 it spread to Brycheiniog and the Welsh of the countryside, allied with their compatriots of Gwynllwg and Gwent took back control of the province while the Normans were forced into their fortified centres.

Two expeditions from Glamorgan came to the rescue of the garrisons of Brycheiniog. The first was crushed in battle at Celli Carnant, but the second defeated the rebels at Aber Llech. What followed was the complete encastellation of Brycheiniog. Among the castles possibly built during Bernard's lordship to defend the entrances to Brycheiniog from the southeast were Tretower, Blaen Llyfni (not attested before 1207-1215), and Crickhowell.

Bernard also extensively enfeoffed his followers with Welsh land. Richard fitz Pons may have been enfeoffed at Cantref Selyff on the western border of Brycheiniog and immediately he began in miniature the process whereby Bernard had come to rule Brycheiniog. However, Richard's son Walter is the first recorded landholder at Cantref Selyff. Furthermore, Bernard enfeoffed the sons of the king he had displaced in the less habitable land, thereby creating a loyal Welsh aristocracy and extracting more out of his land than the Normans otherwise knew how to do. The Normans lived predominantly in the valleys and lowlands in an agrarian society while the Welsh kept to the hills and mountains living pastorally, thus creating an overall economic gain. Among Bleddyn's sons, Gwrgan received Blaen Llyfni and Aberllyfni while Caradog received an unnamed hill country, and Drymbenog, Bleddyn's brother, was given land neighbouring that of Richard fitz Pons.

By the time of his death around 1125, Bernard had established a flourishing borough around his castle of Brecon. Henry I had married Bernard's daughter Sybil to Miles Fitz Walter, the sheriff of Gloucestershire, in 1121 and passed a significant portion of Bernard's honour to him as a dowry, including Hay-on-Wye Castle. According to Giraldus Cambrensis this was because Mahel de Neufmarché the son and heir of Bernard had mutilated the paramour of his mother. In vengeance his mother, Princess Nesta, swore to King Henry I that her son was illegitimate. Henry was therefore able by law and custom to pass over Mahel and give the land to his friend and confident Miles Fitz Walter with Bernard's legal heiress in marriage.


Birth:
Castle of Le-Neuf-Marché-en-Lions

Bernard married Nesta Ferch Osbern Bef 1099. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15959