William Pantulf

William Pantulf (died 16 April probably in 1112) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and Baron of Wem. He was born in Hiémois, a county of Normandy, where his family had lived since around 1030. Pantulf held lands in Shropshire following the Norman Conquest of England. A vassal of Roger of Montgomery, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Pantulf was accused of murdering Roger's wife but proved his innocence of the charge by a trial by ordeal. When Roger's son Robert of Belleme rebelled against King Henry I of England, Pantulf did not take part and sided with the king. Upon his death, which most likely occurred in 1112, William's eldest son Philip inherited his Norman lands, and his second son Robert received the English lands.

William Pantulf
Died16 April, probably in 1112
Resting placeNoron Priory
NationalityAnglo-Norman
Occupationbaron
Spouse(s)Lescelina
Children
Parent(s)Beatrice

Background and family

Pantulf was from Normandy.[1] He originated probably to Aubry-le-Panthou in the traditional district Hiémois,[2] today in the Orne département. The place name element Panthou refers to him. His family had lived there since at least around 1030, as a charter of Jumièges Abbey shows the family as vassals of the House of Montgomery in the Montgomery lands near Sées.[3][lower-alpha 1] Pantulf's mother was named Beatrice, and his sister was named Helwise, but his father's name and other siblings are not known.[5]

After the Conquest

After the Norman Conquest of England, Pantulf held lands in Shropshire from Earl Roger de Montgomery.[5] The earl settled a number of his Norman vassals, including Pantulf, on his new lands in Sussex and Shropshire.[6] Pantulf was probably not present at the Battle of Hastings, likely due to Earl Roger's lack of participation in the campaign of conquest.[7] Pantulf's grants totalled eleven manors located in Hodnet Hundred.[8] Pantulf's lands in England were centered on Wem, and are considered a feudal barony, making Pantulf the first Baron of Wem.[9] Although he had substantial lands in England, Pantulf continued to spend most of his time on the continent.[7]

Pantulf was present at the consecration of the church at Bec Abbey on 23 October 1077, along with King William the Conqueror of England.[8] Pantulf lost his lands temporarily because he was suspected of murdering Roger's wife Mabel de Bellême,[5] around 1077.[10][lower-alpha 2] Pantulf came under suspicion because Mabel had seized a castle at Peray en Saonnais held by Pantulf.[8] When he was accused of the murder,[12] Pantulf was in southern Italy, which had also been conquered by Normans.[11] Pantulf sought refuge at the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in Normandy while he was under suspicion; he and his family were under the protection of the abbot.[12]

Pantulf regained his lands after he cleared himself of the charge,[5] through the mechanism of a trial by ordeal.[lower-alpha 3] It is not clear why the ordeal was required, with the historian David Bates speculating that either the evidence of Pantulf's involvement was not conclusive or that murder victim's family demanded the ordeal because they suspected any evidence pointing to Pantulf's innocence.[10] Pantulf gave Saint-Evroul four altar frontals for the abbey's help after he was cleared of the charges.[13]

By 1086 Pantulf held 29 manors in Shropshire, along with other lands in Staffordshire and Warwickshire.[8] When Roger's son Robert de Bellême became Earl of Shrewsbury in 1098, Pantulf was once more deprived of those lands he held as a vassal of the Earl.[8]

Role in rebellion

In 1102 Robert de Bellême rebelled against King Henry I of England. Although Pantulf was still deprived of his previous holdings, he offered to support Robert, but was rebuffed and instead supported the king.[8] Henry placed Stafford Castle in Pantulf's custody.[3] Besides controlling Stafford Castle, Pantulf mediated between Henry and some of the Welsh princes, who had previously sided with Robert, and helped secure their support for the king.[14] Later Pantulf again acted as an envoy for the king, being sent to secure the switch of sides of Robert's men who were holding Bridgnorth. Pantulf won their change of sides by offering the men lands worth a 100 pounds on the king's behalf.[15] His services to the king earned Pantulf the restoration of his confiscated estates as well as the grant of further lands—including the fief of Roger de Courcelles.[8]

Death and legacy

Pantulf married Lescelina[lower-alpha 4] and they had four sons – Philip, Ivo, Arnald and Robert. He and his wife founded Noron Priory,[5] in 1073. This was located in Normandy and was founded as a small dependent priory of Saint Evroul.[12] Besides Noron, Pantulf was also a benefactor of the Saint-Evroul.[1] In 1092 Pantulf journeyed to southern Italy again, this time to secure a relic of Saint Nicholas for his foundation at Noron.[11][lower-alpha 5] During this visit, he was offered extensive lands in Apulia by Robert Guiscard, but declined the offer and returned to the north.[3] Pantulf died on 16 April, probably in 1112,[8] when his English lands were transferred to his second son Robert. The Norman lands went to the eldest son, Philip.[9] Pantulf and his wife were buried at Noron in the cloister of his priory there.[8]

Orderic Vitalis described Pantulf as "kind to the poor, to whom he was liberal in alms, he was firm in prosperity and adversity, put down all his enemies, and exercised great power through his wealth and possessions".[19]

Notes
  1. The charter was granted by Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery and was witnessed by a William Pantulf, but whether the William the witness and the later William were the same person is not known.[4]
  2. The actual murderer was Hugh Bunel,[11] sometimes known as Hugh d'Igle.[8]
  3. One source gives the type of ordeal as being that of the hot iron.[12]
  4. Her name is sometimes spelled Lesceline.[16]
  5. The exact relic was a tooth,[17] and Pantulf also brought back a piece of the saint's tomb.[18]

Citations
  1. Loyd Origins p. 76
  2. Gaston Le Hardy, Un gentilhomme normand au XIe siècle, Caen, 1869, p. 4 (French)
  3. Douglas Norman Achievement p. 116
  4. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 95
  5. Keats-Rohan Domesday People pp. 493–494
  6. Green Aristocracy p. 46
  7. Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 23
  8. Bateson "Pantulf, William" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  9. Sanders English Baronies pp. 94–95
  10. Bates Normandy Before 1066 p. 161
  11. Bates Normandy Before 1066 p. 243
  12. Chibnall World of Orderic Vitalis pp. 14–15
  13. Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 24
  14. Hollister Henry I p. 159
  15. Green Henry I p. 71
  16. Mesier Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 26
  17. Chibnall World of Orderic Vitalis p. 106
  18. Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 25
  19. Quoted in Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 26

References
  • Bates, David (1982). Normandy Before 1066. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-48492-8.
  • Bateson, Mary; Suppe, Frederick (revisor) (2004). "Pantulf, William (d. 1112?)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21242.
  • Chibnall, Marjorie (1984). The World of Orderic Vitalis. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-821937-7.
  • Douglas, David C. (1969). The Norman Achievement 1050–1100. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01383-2.
  • Douglas, David C. (1964). William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. OCLC 399137.
  • Green, Judith A. (1997). The Aristocracy of Norman England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52465-2.
  • Green, Judith A. (2006). Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-74452-2.
  • Hollister, C. Warren (2001). Frost, Amanda Clark (ed.). Henry I. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08858-2.
  • Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Domesday Book. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-722-X.
  • Loyd, Lewis Christopher (1975) [1951]. The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Reprint ed.). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8063-0649-1.
  • Meisel, Janet (1980). Barons of the Welshe Frontier: The Corbet, Pantulf, and Fitz Warin Families 1066-1272. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3064-8.
  • Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC 931660.

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