Alan fitzFlaald, Sheriff of Shropshire

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• (born c 1078, died in 1114) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

Alan fitz Flaad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

• Born Unknown
• Probably Dol-de-Bretagne
• Died Unknown
• Nationality Breton
• Occupation Medieval soldier and landowner. Sheriff of Shropshire
• Years active c. 1090 – c. 1120
• Known for Progenitor of Stewart Kings of Scotland and FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.

Alan fitz Flaad (c. 1078 – after 1121) was a Breton knight, probably recruited as a mercenary by Henry I, in his conflicts with his brothers.[1] After Henry became King of England, Alan became an assiduous courtier and obtained large estates in Norfolk, Sussex, Shropshire, and elsewhere in the Midlands, including the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire.[2][3][4] His duties included supervision of the Welsh border.[5] He is now noted as the progenitor of the FitzAlan family, the Earls of Arundel (1267–1580), and the House of Stuart,[6] although his family connections were long a matter of conjecture and controversy.

Family origins: a contested history

The controversy over Stewart ancestry===

Alan's role was formerly obscure because of the political implications of examining the origins of the Stewart dynasty. Holinshed, deriving his information from the work of Hector Boece, asserted that Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, was the ancestor of the Stewarts.[7] Distorting the role of Banquo, who is presented by Holinshed as Macbeth's chief accomplice in regicide,[8] William Shakespeare presented him flatteringly in Macbeth as a martyred ancestor of James VI of Scotland and I of England. These legends, accepted as history, became part of the foundation narrative of the Stewarts and forced later writers to trace the Stewart ancestry through Fleance, Banquo's son. David Symson, the Historiographer Royal of Scotland, in a work dedicated to Queen Anne, followed the chroniclers in having Fleance marry a daughter of the Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn,[9] and then introduced Walter as his son[10] and Alan fitz Walter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland as his grandson.[11] However, this greatly distorted the chronology, forcing Symson to transpose Alan fitz Walter, actually born around 1140, to about 1073. This created a gap in the record, which was filled by multiplying the Alans and Walters in the Stewart line.

David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, in his Annals of Scotland, published in the 1770s, went some way to establish a convincing chronology for Walter fitz Alan, who, he asserted, belonged to the reign of David I of Scotland (1124–53) and his successor, Malcolm IV. Moreover, he was the first of the Stewarts: there was none in the reign of Malcolm III (1058–93), as Symson had been forced to maintain.[12] He went on to demolish the legendary background to the Stewarts, which he described as "flattering and ignorant fictions". He showed that there was a need to distinguish the various Alans who were connected with the Stewart line, something he was unembarrassed to be unable to do:

Some of my readers may demand, "Who then was Alan the father of Walter, Stewart of Scotland in the reign of Malcolm IV?" ... In the reign of David I, before the middle of the twelfth century, the family of the Stewarts was opulent and powerful. It may, therefore, have subsisted for many ages previous to that time; but when, and what was its commencement, we cannot determine.[13]

Andrew Stuart, a notable Scottish MP, accepted Dalrymple's critical work on the legendary ancestors, although he included among these a crusader Alan who was subsequently to emerge as genuine.[14] He sought to establish a definite chronological framework, placing Walter fitz Alan's death in 1177.

Not until the first decade of the 19th century did George Chalmers definitely prove that Walter fitz Alan, an acknowledged link in the Stewart ancestry, came from Shropshire and was actually the son of Alan fitz Flaad. This finally established Alan fitz Flaad's existence and importance, and confirmed the kinship between the Stewarts and the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[4] Even then, the legendary background took almost a century to fade. In 1858, Robert William Eyton, the distinguished historian of Shropshire, while clarifying Alan fitz Flaad's connection with the county and details of his marriage, still tried to maintain a link with the legendary Banquo,[15] and even surmised that Flaad was actually Fleance.[16]

After an anonymous work of 1874 drew attention to a strong connection between Alan fitz Flaad and Brittany, and confirmed Flaad's relationship to Alan the Seneschal,[17] J. Horace Round definitively established and publicised Alan fitz Flaad's true Breton origins in 1901 in a collection of genealogical essays. Alan's father, Flaad (rendered in numerous ways, including Flaald and Flathald), was a son (or possibly a brother) of Alain, dapifer to the Ancient Diocese of Dol,[18] with its see at Dol-de-Bretagne, who had taken part in the First Crusade in 1097.[19] "Alan Dapifer" is found as a witness in 1086 to a charter relating to Mezuoit, a cell near Dol of the Abbey of Saint-Florent de Saumur. The area of Dol is near Mont-Saint-Michel and has figured in the history of the Duchy of Brittany since at least the rule of Nominoe. Round's genealogy was confirmed in 1904 by Sir James Balfour Paul, then Lord Lyon King of Arms, who, in a definitive work, The Scots Peerage, stated that "the Stewarts or Stuarts are of Breton origin, descended from a family which held the office of Senescal or Steward of Dol."[20] He then reinstated Alan fitz Flaad to his place in the ancestry of the Scottish royal family and gave a summary of what was known of his career.

Arrival in England

Henry's royal seal, showing the King on horseback and seated on his throne. The images reflect Henry's peripatetic kingship, with the court constantly mobile while transacting business.
Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, brought Flaad and Alan to England. Eyton, consistently following the theory of the Scottish origins of the Stewarts, thought this was because he was part of the entourage of the Queen, Matilda of Scotland,[22] but Round pointed out that Henry had been besieged in Mont St Michel during his struggle with his brothers,[1] an event which probably occurred in 1091. He is known to have recruited Breton troops at that time and, after his surrender, left the scene via the adjoining regions of Brittany, where Dol is situated. This is a likely explanation for the Bretons in the military retinue he brought to England after the death of William Rufus.

Alan's career in England can be traced largely through his presence as a witness to charters granted by the king during his travels in the first decade or more of his reign. Some of his activities were traced by Eyton, and his researches overlap with William Farrer's calendar of Henry I's travels. All of the business in which he took part was ecclesiastical, involving grants, sometimes disputed, to churches and monasteries.

Appearances at court

Miniature from illuminated Chronicle of Matthew Paris, showing Henry enthroned and symbolically holding a church. Alan fitz Flaad's business at court seems invariably to have involved donations to the church.
Alan appeared in Henry I's company at least as early as September 1101, probably at a court held in Windsor Castle,[23] when he witnessed important grants to Norwich Cathedral, confirming its foundation and various endowments.[24][25] Next, he appeared with the king at Canterbury in 1103,[26] where he witnessed the grant of a market to the nuns of Malling Abbey and land acquisitions by Rochester Cathedral, then in the process of rebuilding.[27]

Later that year[28] or early in the next,[29] Alan was with the king in the New Forest, where the business concerned Andover Priory, a daughter house of the great Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Florent de Saumur.[30] He was probably selected deliberately for this meeting because of his family's close connections with Saumur Abbey: one of his uncles was a monk there.[19] William Rufus had decreed that all chapels in the parish of Andover church should be handed over to the monks or destroyed.[31] One problem at issue revolved around Foxcote chapel, which was evidently being defended from destruction or annexation by Edward de Foscote, a local landowner. Another seems to have been the administration of justice in the monastic estates.[32] Wihenoc, a monk of St Florent, had initiated an action against the reeve of Andover to have these issues clarified and resolved. Alan fitz Flaad was called upon to witness a compromise, although Foxcote was among the properties confirmed to the priory by Pope Eugenius III in 1146.[33]

In the autumn of 1105 Alan was called to York to witness confirmation of Ralph Paynel's transfer of his refounded Holy Trinity Priory in York to Marmoutier Abbey, Tours[34][35] and his many endowments of the priory itself.[36][37] At some point he also witnessed the Roger de Nonant's gift of the church at Totnes and various tithes to the Abbey of SS Sergius and Bacchus at Angers, a gift which was earmarked as being for the souls of the royal family.[38]

In May 1110 Alan was at court at Windsor again to witness the king's settlement of a property dispute between Hervey le Breton, Bishop of Ely, and Ranulph Flambard, Bishop of Durham, resolved in favour of the former.[39]

Probably only later does he appear as a witness to a royal command issued to Richard de Belmeis I, the Bishop of London and the king's viceroy in Shropshire, to see that justice was done in the case of a disputed prebend at Morville.[40][41] The collegiate church there had been dissolved and replaced with a priory attached to Shrewsbury Abbey[42] and it seems that the son of one of the prebendaries was resisting the loss of what he regarded as his patrimony. Alan is listed among a group of Shropshire magnates, including Corbets and a Peverel, meeting perhaps during Henry I's 1114 military expedition into Wales. Johnson and Cronne tentatively place the meeting at Holdgate Castle in Shropshire. Eyton dates the event earlier, around the time of a royal expedition to Shropshire in 1109.[43] Whatever the date, it shows Alan as an important member of the Shropshire landowning class.

Territorial magnate

Alan's rapid ascent to wealth and power was a symptom of the troubled times. The abortive revolt of Robert de Belleme in 1102 had torn apart the Anglo-Norman system of governing the Welsh Marches. With other Breton friends, Alan had been given forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Robert de Belleme himself.[44] Robert had proved a threat to Henry in both the Welsh Marches and in Normandy, so the king was determined to insert reliable supporters to counterbalance or replace his network of supporters. Alan received more land as he proved his worth. A large portfolio of lands in Shropshire and around Peppering, near Arundel in Sussex, was taken from the holdings of Rainald de Bailleul,[45] ancestor of the House of Balliol, which was also later to provide a king of Scotland. These were lands granted to Rainald by William the Conqueror in recognition of his role as Sheriff of Shropshire. There is no evidence that Rainald or his successor, Hugh, were rebels, and it seems that their lands came to Alan as a consequence of his elevation to the shrievalty of the county.[43] He also gained a stake in the very large estates of Ernulf de Hesdin by marriage to his daughter, Avelina.[46]

Religious grants and foundations

The very long nave of Norwich Cathedral, a Norman foundation under construction in Alan's day. He both witnessed grants to the cathedral and made considerable donations of his own.
Alan was actively involved in a number of grants to religious institutions. One of the grants to Norwich Cathedral that he witnessed in 1101 concerned advowson of the church at Langham, Norfolk, which "had been Alan's", along with the tithes. It is possible this was a donation by himself.[23] At some point unknown he gave the manor of Eaton near Norwich, to Norwich Cathedral, a gift the king promised "to confirm when Alan comes to my court."[47][48] It is unclear whether this implied the king doubted the existence or the authenticity of the monks' charter:[49] it certainly implies that Alan's attendance at court was to be expected. He also made considerable grants of land to Castle Acre Priory,[50] which lay on the boundary of his Norfolk honour of Mileham.[51]

However, his most important grants in Norfolk were to Sporle Priory, another Benedictine house subject to St Florent de Saumur, which he founded.[52] He gave to the monks of St Florent the church at Sporle, its tithes, a man's landholding, a ploughland in Sporle and another in Mileham, firewood and building timber, and pasture for sheep.[53] The Liber Albus of St Florent mentions that one of the monks present when Alan made the gift was Wihenoc, who initiated the action at Andover.[54] Sporle was later endowed with property in Norfolk villages, including Great and Little Palgrave, where the priory had the church,[33] Great Dunham, Hunstanton and Holme-next-the-Sea.[28]

Alan acquired Upton Magna, the manor in Shropshire on which Haughmond Abbey was later built, as part of the group of estates that had belonged to earlier sheriffs.[55] A note at the beginning of the abbey's cartulary dates the foundation to 1100 but attributes it to Alan's son, William Fitz Alan,[56] which is impossible, as he was not yet born.[57] The existence of a religious community at Haughmond is not definitely attested before a grant of a fishery to what was still a priory by William, around 1135.[58] While Eyton assumed that William was the founder, although at a later date than suggested by the introductory note on the cartulary, the Victoria County History account leaves open the possibility that a small semi-eremetic community existed earlier at Haughmond under Alan's protection, without leaving a written trace.[45]

Alan probably gave many small grants of land or property rights. He gave land at his manor of Stretton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire to Burton Abbey.[59] He granted the tithes from his demesne at Burton on Trent to the monks of Léhon in Brittany, where there was a priory subject to the Abbey of Marmoutier: this is known from its confirmation some decades later by his grandson, Alan fitz Jordan.[60] Alan fitz Jordan also confirmed his grandfather's grant to Marmoutier of property at Cuguen,[61] in Brittany, and confirmed or restored Alan fitz Flaad's gift of a mill at Burton to Sele Priory, a small Sussex monastery subordinate to St Florent de Saumur.[28]

Marriage and family

Alan fitz Flaad married Avelina de Hesdin, daughter of Ernulf de Hesdin, a tenant-in-chief in ten counties at the time of Domesday,[62] who was killed on crusade at Antioch.[63][64] The Burkes' Royal Families of 1848 was one of the sources that asserted Alan's wife was the "dau(ghter) and heir of Warine, Sheriff of Shropshire, temp. William the Conqueror."[2] The underlying reasoning seems to be that Alan held the lands formerly held by the sheriffs of the county and goes back at least as far as William Dugdale, but it was rejected by Eyton,[65] not least because of lack of any evidence. He noted that

William fitz Alan, in grants of his Sussex estates to Haughmond Abbey, referred to his mother as Adelina
in the account by Orderic Vitalis of the siege of Shrewsbury in 1138, the defender "Ernulf de Hesding" is referred to as the avunculus or maternal uncle of William fitz Alan.[46]

By deduction, this Ernulf, who shared his father's name and byname, was the brother of Avelina. Round traced the elder Ernulf's activities in Picardy and confirmed that he had a daughter, called Ava in this context, who was named as one of those consenting to a charter granting family holdings at Hesdin to the Priory of St George, a Benedictine house subject to Anchin Abbey[66] and located by Vieil-Hesdin, the original site of the town of Hesdin. The priory's record of the grant makes clear that Ernulf was riding in the entourage of William Rufus and returning to England at the time.

The issue of Alan and Avelina was:

• William fitz Alan, eldest son (d. 1160), made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen of England in 1137. He married a niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.[67] His son William (d. c1210) acquired by marriage the Lordship of Clun and he became designated "Lord of Clun and Oswestry".[68] William is ancestor of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[69]
• Walter fitz Alan, second son, became first hereditary High Steward of Scotland,[67] and ancestor of the Stewart Kings of Scotland.[6]
• Jordan fitz Alan, of Burton, who inherited lands in Brittany, and restored to the Priory of St. Florent at Sele, West Sussex, the mill at Burton given it by his father.[70]
• Simon fitz Alan, brother of Walter, who also went to Scotland and witnessed his brother's Foundation Charter of Paisley Abbey.[71] Round suggests he may have been either a uterine brother or even a bastard brother.[72]

After Alan's death, Avelina married Robert fitz Walter, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, as shown in a grant, dated no earlier than 1126, of their church at Chipping Norton to Gloucester Abbey.[73]

Death: a contested date

Alan's death, when dated at all, is generally said to have been in or by 1114. This is based on reasoning set out by Eyton. He read in Dugdale's History of Warwickshire that Sybil of Wolston had confirmed a gift of land made by her mother, Adeliza, to Burton Abbey.[59] He was convinced the land in question had belonged to Alan and that Adeliza was the same as Avelina, his wife. As Adeliza would not have been able to grant the land until it passed into her control on his death, and the Abbey was known to have had the land by 1114, it followed that Alan could not have lived beyond 1114. However, Round's researches established the reasoning was based on a false premise. Eyton had conflated three distinct but neighbouring Warwickshire manors, all belonging at one time to Rainald de Bailleul. One of the charters he collected, in which Sybil confirms a land grant to the Benedictine abbey at Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, showed clearly that Sybil was not the daughter of Avelina and Alan fitz Flaad, but of one Hubert Baldram, a vassal of Rainald.[74] Round thus concluded:

Thus Adeliza, mother of Sybil, and wife of Hubert Baldran, was quite distinct from Avelina, wife of Alan Fitz Flaald, with whom Mr. Eyton rashly identified her. Alan may have lived, and probably did, beyond 1114...[75]

However the date stuck and appears in the 1973 Victoria County History account of Haughmond Abbey, it appears as a terminus ante quem for events in Alan's life.[45] It is known that Avelina de Hesdin, as a widow, made a claim for her dower, relating to Eaton manor, against Everard of Calne, Bishop of Norwich. She obtained 100 shillings-worth of land in the manor for life, an award that Henry I confirmed in April/May 1121 at his court in Winchester.[76] Alan's death must have pre-dated this award, but not necessarily by more than a few months.

Notes

1. Round (1901), p. 124
2. Burke, John and John Bernard, Volume 2, p. xl
3. Cokayne, G. E., edited by Vicary Gibbs & H. A. Doubleday, The Complete Peerage, London, 1926, vol. v., p. 391
4. Chalmers, Volume 2, p. 572-3
5. Ritchie, R. L. Graeme, The Normans in Scotland, Edinburgh University Press, 1954, p. 280-81
6. Barrow, G. W. S. "Stewart family". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49411. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
7. Holinshed, Volume 5, p. 265
8. Holished, Volume 5, p. 269
9. Sym, p.16-7
10. Sym, p.18
11. Sym, p.22-3
12. Dalrymple, p. 57
13. Dalrymple, p. 53-4
14. Stuart, p. 1-2
15. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 215-6
16. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 227
17. The Norman People, p. 408
18. Round (1901), p. 120
19. Round (1901), p. 122
20. Paul, p. 9
21. Round (1901), p. 129
22. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 230
23. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 217
24. Johnson and Cronne, p. 13-4, no. 547-8
25. Farrer, p. 10, nos. 25-6
26. Farrer, p. 19, nos. 68-9
27. Johnson and Cronne, p. 30, nos. 634, 636.
28. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 219
29. Farrer, p. 19, no. 80
30. Alien houses: Priory of Andover in Doubleday and Page, p.219-21.
31. Round (1899), p. 415, no. 1150.
32. Johnson and Cronne, p. 41, no. 687.
33. Round (1899), p. 402, no. 1126.
34. Round (1899), p. 442, no. 1225.
35. Johnson and Cronne, p. 45, no. 714.
36. Farrer, p. 30, nos. 121C. and 121D.
37. Johnson and Cronne, p. 45, no. 715.
38. Johnson and Cronne, p. 50, no. 735a.
39. Johnson and Cronne, p. 51, no. 945.
40. Farrer, p. 70, no. 326
41. Johnson and Cronne, p. 51, no. 1051.
42. M J Angold, G C Baugh, Marjorie M Chibnall, D C Cox, D T W Price, Margaret Tomlinson and B S Trinder. Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville in Gaydon and Pugh, p. 62-70.
43. Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, Volume 7, p. 220
44. Ritchie (1954) p.280-1
45. A T Gaydon, R B Pugh (Editors), M J Angold, G C Baugh, Marjorie M Chibnall, D C Cox, Revd D T W Price, Margaret Tomlinson, B S Trinder: Victoria County History: Shropshire, Volume 2, Chapter 9: the Abbey of Haughmond
46. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 222
47. Farrer, p. 54, no. 243
48. Johnson and Cronne, p. 55, no. 762
49. Johnson and Cronne, p. xxviii
50. Johnson and Cronne, p. 144, no. 1194
51. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 218
52. Round (1901), p. 123
53. Alien houses: The priory of Sporle in Page, p. 463-4
54. Round (1899), p. 414, no. 1149.
55. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 211
56. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 283
57. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 284
58. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 285
59. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 221
60. Round (1899), p. 441, no. 1221.
61. Round (1901), p. 127
62. Round (1899), p. xlvii
63. Round (1901), p. 116
64. Ritchie (1954) p. 98n
65. Eyton, Volume 7, p. 213
66. Round (1899), p. 481, no. 1326.
67. Ritchie (1954) p.281
68. Cokayne et al. (1926), vol. v, p. 392
69. Round (1901), p. 125
70. Round (1901), p. 126
71. Ritchie (1954) p.348n
72. Round (1901), p. 125, fn. 3
73. Johnson and Cronne, p. 296, no. 1940.
74. Round (1899), p. 202, no. 579.
75. Round (1901), p. 130-1
76. Johnson and Cronne, p. 163, no. 1284.

References

• Anonymous (1874). The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States of America. Henry S. King. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Barrow, G. W. S. "Stewart family". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49411. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Burke, John; Burke, John Bernard (1851). The royal families of England, Scotland, and Wales : with their descendants, sovereigns and subjects. E. Churton. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Chalmers, George (1807). Caledonia. 2 (New edition, 1887 ed.). Alexander Gardner. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
• Dalrymple, David (1776). Genealogical history of the Stewarts. 3 (1797 ed.). Creech et al. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Doubleday, H. Arthur; Page, William, eds. (1903). A History of the County of Hampshire. 2. Institute for Historical Research. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Eyton, Robert William (1858). The Antiquities of Shropshire. 7. John Russell Smith, London. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Farrer, William (1920). An Outline Itinerary of King Henry the First. Oxford. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Holinshed, Raphael (1587). Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland. 5 Scotland (1808 ed.). Johnson et al. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Johnson, Charles; Cronne, H. A., eds. (1956). Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum,. 2. Oxford. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
• Page, William, ed. (1906). A History of the County of Norfolk. 2. Institute for Historical Research. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
• Paul, James Balfour (1904). The Scots Peerage. David Douglas. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Ritchie, Robert Lindsay Graeme (1954). The Normans in Scotland. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0404187835.
• Round, J. Horace (1899). Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland. 1. HMSO. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
• Also available at Round, J. Horace. "Calendar of Documents Preserved in France 918-1206". Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
• Round, J. Horace (1901). Studies in Peerage and Family History. Constable. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Stuart, Andrew (1798). Genealogical history of the Stewarts. Strahan et al. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
• Symson, David (1712). A genealogical and historical account of the illustrious name of Stuart. Freebairn, Knox. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

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Alan fitzFlaad (d. after 1114) was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man"[5] included supervision of the Welsh border.

Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.[9]

"Flaad filius Alani dapiferi" was present at the dedication of Monmouth Priory in 1101/2, and his son Alan was a witness to two charters of Henry I confirming the foundation of Holy Trinity Priory, York, as a cell of Marmoutier. Alan also founded Sporle Priory on land he held in Norfolk (probably at Sharrington), as another cell of St. Florent.[9][10]

Alan FitzFlaad married Ada (or Avelina), daughter of Ernoulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch).[11][12] Their issue was:

   * William, eldest son (d. 1160), made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen of England in 1137. He married a niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.[13] His son William (d. c1210) acquired by marriage the Lordship of Clun and he became designated "Lord of Clun and Oswestry".[14] William is ancestor of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[15]

* Walter Fitzalan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland.[13]
* Simon Fitzalan, who also went to Scotland and witnessed his brother's Foundation Charter of Paisley Abbey.[16] Round suggests he may have been either a uterine or even a bastard brother.[17]
* Jordan Fitzalan, of Burton, who inherited lands in Brittany, and restored to the Priory of St. Florent at Sele, West Sussex, the mill at Burton given it by his father.[18]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitzFlaad

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Received the Barony of Swaldestre from William the Conpueror for participation in the Conquest.

Acceded: ABT 1070, Oswestry, Shropshire, England

Notes: having participated in the Conquest, obtained by the gift of King William the Conqueror, the barony and castle of Oswaldestre, Salop, and Milcham, Norfolk, some of which belonged to Meredith, Prince of Powys ap Bleddyn, King of Powys. He received the shreivalty of Shropshire from King Henry I. While his parentage is more or less obscure, there is evidence to show that Flaald, his father, lived in Brittany and was a brother of Alain, seneschal of Dol, descended from the old Armonican counts of Dol and Dinan. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father or grandfather of William Fitzalan, steward to David I, King of Scotland, ancestor of the Stuarts, kings of that country. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father of William Fitzalan, to whom Henry II gave in second marriage Isabel De Say, baroness of Clun, the greatest heiress of Shropshire. He was ancestor of John Fitzalan, who married Isabel, sister and co-heiress of Hugh d'Albigny. Upon a division of Hugh's property at his death in 1243, the castle of Arundel was assigned to John, son of the aforementioned John and Isabel, who thus became the first Earl of eventually passed to Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, who carried it, together Arundel of the Fitzalan line. This property with the earldom and the barony of Maltravers, to her husband Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, in which family it still remains. Alain Fitz Flaald and his wife Adeline were benefactors to priory of Castle Acre, early in the reign of Henry I. The Complete Peerage vol.V,pp.391-392.

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Feudal Lord of Oswestry. Sometimes incorrectly identified as the fictional 'Fleance,' son of Banquo by Stewart genealogists.

Alan fitz Flaad (d. after 1114) was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man" included supervision of the Welsh border.

Alan was the son of Flaad, who was in turn a son of an Alain who had been the crusader (in 1097) who was Seneschal to the Archbishop of Dol, which is situated near Mont-Saint-Michel. 

Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.

Alan fitz Flaad married Ada (or Avelina), daughter of Ernoulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch). Walter fitz Alan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland, and ancestor of the Stuart Kings of Scotland.

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Alan FitzFlaad, who died after 1114, was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man" included supervision of the Welsh border.

Alan had come to the favorable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitzFlaad for more information.

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Notes: having participated in the Conquest, obtained by the gift of King William the Conqueror, the barony and castle of Oswaldestre, Salop, and Milcham, Norfolk, some of which belonged to Meredith, Prince of Powys ap Bleddyn, King of Powys. He received the shreivalty of Shropshire from King Henry I. While his parentage is more or less obscure, there is evidence to show that Flaald, his father, lived in Brittany and was a brother of Alain, seneschal of Dol, descended from the old Armonican counts of Dol and Dinan. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father or grandfather of William Fitzalan, steward to David I, King of Scotland, ancestor of the Stuarts, kings of that country. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father of William Fitzalan, to whom Henry II gave in second marriage Isabel De Say, baroness of Clun, the greatest heiress of Shropshire. He was ancestor of John Fitzalan, who married Isabel, sister and co-heiress of Hugh d'Albigny. Upon a division of Hugh's property at his death in 1243, the castle of Arundel was assigned to John, son of the aforementioned John and Isabel, who thus became the first Earl of eventually passed to Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, who carried it, together Arundel of the Fitzalan line. This property with the earldom and the barony of Maltravers, to her husband Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, in which family it still remains. Alain Fitz Flaald and his wife Adeline were benefactors to priory of Castle Acre, early in the reign of Henry I. The Complete Peerage vol.V,pp.391-392.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

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Generation Three Alan FitzFlaald obtained a grant of the castle of Oswestry in Shropshire and was Sheriff of Shropshire. Born circa 1078 at Dol-de-Bretagne, Normandy, France and christened at Shropshire, England Died circa 1114 Alan FitzFlaald married Adeliza de Hesding, a younger daughter of Aurnulf, Signor de Hesding in Picardy who held great estates in England at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. Alan and Adeliza had the following children: William FitzAlan, born circa 1105, died on Easter, 1160. Walter FitzAlan Simon (Jordon) FitzAlan, hereditary Steward or Dapifer of Dol, is sometimes described as the eldest son, and sometimes as the youngest. Sybil FitzAlan who married circa 1132 to Roger de Freville

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Birth ca. 1075 Dol, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France

Death ca. 1114 Norfolk, England / (Option A) Death Aft. 1122 Shropshire, England / Oswesty Castle (Option B) Age at death Est.39

Other Facts Misc Alan FitzFlaald married Adeliza de Hesding, a younger daughter of Aurnulf, Signor de Hesding in Picardy who held great estates in England at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. Misc 1100 Went to England with Princess Matilda of Scotland, who married King Henry I Misc 1102 Became Sheriff of Shropshire

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Alan fitz Flaad married Adeline de Hesdin, daughter of Arnulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch).[11][12] Their issue was:

William fitz Alan, eldest son (d. 1160), made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen of England in 1137. He married a niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.[13] His son William (d. c1210) acquired by marriage the Lordship of Clun and he became designated "Lord of Clun and Oswestry".[14] William is ancestor of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[15]

Walter fitz Alan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland,[13] and ancestor of the Stewart Kings of Scotland.

Jordan fitz Alan, of Burton, who inherited lands in Brittany, and restored to the Priory of St. Florent at Sele, West Sussex, the mill at Burton given it by his father.[16]

Simon fitz Alan, brother of Walter, who also went to Scotland and witnessed his brother's Foundation Charter of Paisley Abbey.[17] Round suggests he may have been either a uterine brother or even a bastard brother.[18]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

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• http://www.thepeerage.com/p511.htm#i5101
• http://knight-france.com/geneal/names/1464.htm

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

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Alan fitz Flaald (c1020-after 1080) is now known to have scion of the Stewards of Brittany, but he was traditionally thought to have been a son of Fleance MacAlpin, Thane of Lochaber. In MacBeth, Shakespeare has the witches tell Banquo, "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none." The play was written for James I (VI) of England and Scotland, who as a descendant of Alan Dapifer was thought to have been a descendant of Banquo. Some spurious genealogies call him a son of Fratmaldus the Seneschal.

Alan fitz Flaald was the son of Flaald fitz Flaald, Seneschal de Dol en Bretagne. He died before 1114.

Children of Alan fitz Flaald and Aveline de Hesdin

• Walter fitz Alan, 1st Great Steward of Scotland+ d. c 1177
• William Fitzalan+
• Jordan FitzFlaald

http://www.thepeerage.com/p511.htm#i5101

Alan fitzFlaad (d. after 1114) was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man"[5] included supervision of the Welsh border.

Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.[9]

"Flaad filius Alani dapiferi" was present at the dedication of Monmouth Priory in 1101/2, and his son Alan was a witness to two charters of Henry I confirming the foundation of Holy Trinity Priory, York, as a cell of Marmoutier. Alan also founded Sporle Priory on land he held in Norfolk (probably at Sharrington), as another cell of St. Florent.[9][10]

Alan FitzFlaad married Ada (or Avelina), daughter of Ernoulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch).[11][12] Their issue was:

• William, eldest son (d. 1160), made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen of England in 1137. He married a niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.[13] His son William (d. c1210) acquired by marriage the Lordship of Clun and he became designated "Lord of Clun and Oswestry".[14] William is ancestor of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[15]
• Walter Fitzalan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland.[13]
• Simon Fitzalan, who also went to Scotland and witnessed his brother's Foundation Charter of Paisley Abbey.[16] Round suggests he may have been either a uterine or even a bastard brother.[17]
• Jordan Fitzalan, of Burton, who inherited lands in Brittany, and restored to the Priory of St. Florent at Sele, West Sussex, the mill at Burton given it by his father.[18]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitzFlaad

Received the Barony of Swaldestre from William the Conpueror for participation in the Conquest.

Acceded: ABT 1070, Oswestry, Shropshire, England

Notes: having participated in the Conquest, obtained by the gift of King William the Conqueror, the barony and castle of Oswaldestre, Salop, and Milcham, Norfolk, some of which belonged to Meredith, Prince of Powys ap Bleddyn, King of Powys. He received the shreivalty of Shropshire from King Henry I. While his parentage is more or less obscure, there is evidence to show that Flaald, his father, lived in Brittany and was a brother of Alain, seneschal of Dol, descended from the old Armonican counts of Dol and Dinan. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father or grandfather of William Fitzalan, steward to David I, King of Scotland, ancestor of the Stuarts, kings of that country. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father of William Fitzalan, to whom Henry II gave in second marriage Isabel De Say, baroness of Clun, the greatest heiress of Shropshire. He was ancestor of John Fitzalan, who married Isabel, sister and co-heiress of Hugh d'Albigny. Upon a division of Hugh's property at his death in 1243, the castle of Arundel was assigned to John, son of the aforementioned John and Isabel, who thus became the first Earl of eventually passed to Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, who carried it, together Arundel of the Fitzalan line. This property with the earldom and the barony of Maltravers, to her husband Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, in which family it still remains. Alain Fitz Flaald and his wife Adeline were benefactors to priory of Castle Acre, early in the reign of Henry I. The Complete Peerage vol.V,pp.391-392.

Feudal Lord of Oswestry. Sometimes incorrectly identified as the fictional 'Fleance,' son of Banquo by Stewart genealogists.

Alan fitz Flaad (d. after 1114) was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man" included supervision of the Welsh border.

Alan was the son of Flaad, who was in turn a son of an Alain who had been the crusader (in 1097) who was Seneschal to the Archbishop of Dol, which is situated near Mont-Saint-Michel.

Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.

Alan fitz Flaad married Ada (or Avelina), daughter of Ernoulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch). Walter fitz Alan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland, and ancestor of the Stuart Kings of Scotland.

Alan FitzFlaad, who died after 1114, was a Breton knight who held the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire. His duties as a "valiant and illustrious man" included supervision of the Welsh border.

Alan had come to the favorable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitzFlaad for more information.

Notes: having participated in the Conquest, obtained by the gift of King William the Conqueror, the barony and castle of Oswaldestre, Salop, and Milcham, Norfolk, some of which belonged to Meredith, Prince of Powys ap Bleddyn, King of Powys. He received the shreivalty of Shropshire from King Henry I. While his parentage is more or less obscure, there is evidence to show that Flaald, his father, lived in Brittany and was a brother of Alain, seneschal of Dol, descended from the old Armonican counts of Dol and Dinan. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father or grandfather of William Fitzalan, steward to David I, King of Scotland, ancestor of the Stuarts, kings of that country. Alain Fitz Flaald was also the father of William Fitzalan, to whom Henry II gave in second marriage Isabel De Say, baroness of Clun, the greatest heiress of Shropshire. He was ancestor of John Fitzalan, who married Isabel, sister and co-heiress of Hugh d'Albigny. Upon a division of Hugh's property at his death in 1243, the castle of Arundel was assigned to John, son of the aforementioned John and Isabel, who thus became the first Earl of eventually passed to Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, who carried it, together Arundel of the Fitzalan line. This property with the earldom and the barony of Maltravers, to her husband Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, in which family it still remains. Alain Fitz Flaald and his wife Adeline were benefactors to priory of Castle Acre, early in the reign of Henry I. The Complete Peerage vol.V,pp.391-392. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad Generation Three Alan FitzFlaald obtained a grant of the castle of Oswestry in Shropshire and was Sheriff of Shropshire. Born circa 1078 at Dol-de-Bretagne, Normandy, France and christened at Shropshire, England Died circa 1114 Alan FitzFlaald married Adeliza de Hesding, a younger daughter of Aurnulf, Signor de Hesding in Picardy who held great estates in England at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. Alan and Adeliza had the following children: William FitzAlan, born circa 1105, died on Easter, 1160. Walter FitzAlan Simon (Jordon) FitzAlan, hereditary Steward or Dapifer of Dol, is sometimes described as the eldest son, and sometimes as the youngest. Sybil FitzAlan who married circa 1132 to Roger de Freville Birth ca. 1075 Dol, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France

Death ca. 1114 Norfolk, England / (Option A) Death Aft. 1122 Shropshire, England / Oswesty Castle (Option B) Age at death Est.39

Other Facts Misc Alan FitzFlaald married Adeliza de Hesding, a younger daughter of Aurnulf, Signor de Hesding in Picardy who held great estates in England at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. Misc 1100 Went to England with Princess Matilda of Scotland, who married King Henry I Misc 1102 Became Sheriff of Shropshire

Alan fitz Flaad married Adeline de Hesdin, daughter of Arnulf de Hesdin (killed on crusade at Antioch).[11][12] Their issue was:

William fitz Alan, eldest son (d. 1160), made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen of England in 1137. He married a niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.[13] His son William (d. c1210) acquired by marriage the Lordship of Clun and he became designated "Lord of Clun and Oswestry".[14] William is ancestor of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel.[15]

Walter fitz Alan, second son, became 1st hereditary High Steward of Scotland,[13] and ancestor of the Stewart Kings of Scotland.

Jordan fitz Alan, of Burton, who inherited lands in Brittany, and restored to the Priory of St. Florent at Sele, West Sussex, the mill at Burton given it by his father.[16]

Simon fitz Alan, brother of Walter, who also went to Scotland and witnessed his brother's Foundation Charter of Paisley Abbey.[17] Round suggests he may have been either a uterine brother or even a bastard brother.[18]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

•http://www.thepeerage.com/p511.htm#i5101 •http://knight-france.com/geneal/names/1464.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_fitz_Flaad

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• This is a Pedigree for the Archbishops of Dol in Brittany France 'The earliest known person the lineage traces back to be a man named Hamo I, Viscount of Alet, France' who was born between 963-1023 AD.
• This show that Caradoc de la Boussac parents re unknown and the family of his son Withenoc wife's family.
• Reference: http://fmg.ac/phocadownload/userupload/foundations3/JN-03-01/061Dol...

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• The Origin of the Stewarts: Part 1
• 123
• Brother, not a son, of the crusader. This assumption is based upon the facts that the crusader's gift at Mezuoit was 'conceded' by his brother 'Fledald,'
• who was, therefore, his heir at the time, and that his office of "dapifer" at Dol was afterwards held -- a fact hitherto unsuspected -- by descendants of Alan fitz Flaald.
• The crusader, it must therefore be inferred, left no heir.
• The sudden rise of Alan fitz Flaald and his evident enjoyment of Henry's favour from the early years of the reign, were thought by Mr. Eyton to be due to his (fabulous) Scottish origin.
• But it might, with some probability, be suggested that his Breton origin accounts for the facts.
• When Henry was besieged in Mont St. Michel, he is known to have had Breton followers ("aggregatis Britonibus") and, after his surrender,
• "per Britanniam transiit, Britonibus qui sibi solummodo adminiculum contulerant, gratias reddidit" (Ordericus)
• 1. Dol was his nearest town in Britanny, and Alan may thus, like Richard de Réviers, have served him across the sea, when he was but a younger son.
• It would seem, indeed, although the fact has been hitherto overlooked, that a group of families whom Henry had known when lord of the Côtentin were endowed by him when king with fiefs in England.
• In addition to 'Alan fitz Flaald', founder of the house of Stewart, and to Richard de
• 1 Elsewhere, Orderic observes that Henry, "dum esset junior ... ut externus, exterorum, id est Francorum et Britonum auxilia quaerere coactus est."
• Reference

http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/sources/round/stewarts1.shtml

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Please see Darrell Wolcott: Welsh Origins of the Peverel Family; http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id50.html. (Steven Ferry, April 15, 2020.)

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FITZALAN (of Oswestry)

https://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cp/fitzalanofoswestry.shtml

Volume 5, page 391
:
The castle of Oswaldestre (Oswestry), co. Salop, was obtained, with an extensive fief in Shropshire, early in the reign of Hen. I by (1) ALAN FITZFLEALD, a Breton,(h) whose s. and h. (2) WILLIAM FITZALAN, of Oswestry, d. 1160, and was suc. by his s. and h. (3) WILLIAM FITZALAN, …

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In the following summary, I have included references to source material only for points omitted or contradicted by the later writers (and in one case for an addition to Eyton's account).

1. Alan FitzFleald, who married Aveline de Hesding.
2. William FitzAlan, their son and heir, who married 1stly Christiana, neptis (niece or kinswoman) of Robert Earl of Gloucester, and 2ndly Isabel, daughter and heir of Elias de Say, lord of Clun [Isabel is described as the daughter of Elias in a 12th-century narrative from the cartulary of Lilleshall Abbey, printed by Dugdale, Monasticon, vol.6, p.262, cited by Eyton, vol.9, p.358]. After William's death in 1160, Isabel remarried, before 1166, to Geoffrey de Vere (d. 1170) and, before 1188, to William Boterel; she died probably in 1199, and was survived by her third husband.
3. William FitzAlan, the son and heir of William by Isabel, who succeeded as a minor and apparently came of age in 1175. …