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Sybil (wife of Pain fitzJohn)

Sybilwas an Anglo-Norman noblewoman in 12th-century England. Her parentage is unclear, but her first marriage toPain fitzJohnis well-attested. Through her marriage, Sybil transferred lands in several shires to her husband, including lands aroundLudlow Castleand the castle itself. After Pain's death in 1137, Sybil attempted to retain control of Ludlow and her lands but in 1139 KingStephen of Englandmarried her toJosce de Dinan,who died in 1166. Sybil had two daughters with Pain and is probably the mother of Josce's two daughters also. Sybil's marriage to Josce, and his control of Ludlowin right ofhis wife forms the background to a medieval Welsh romance,Fouke le Fitz Waryn.

Parentage

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Historians disagree about Sybil's parentage. One theory, given in the entry for her first husband in theOxford Dictionary of National Biographystates that Sybil was the niece ofHugh de Lacy.[1]

Another theory, coming from theComplete Peerage,states that Sybil was the daughter ofGeoffrey Talbotand Talbot's wife Agnes, who was probably the daughter ofWalter de Lacy,Hugh's father.[2][a]Yet another theory, put forth by historianKatharine Keats-Rohan,states Sybil was the daughter of Hugh de Lacy.[6][b]

Marriage

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Sybil married, first,Pain fitzJohn,[11]a marriage that took place around 1115.[1]Through Sybil, Pain acquired a number of holdings aroundLudlow Castle,[12]as well as control of the castle itself.[13]Ludlow was an important strategic stronghold which controlled part of theWelsh Borders.[14]Sybil also brought her husband lands in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire.[10]

Both KingHenry Iand KingStephenrecognized Pain's right to his wife's lands. Sybil had inherited lands that originally had been held by her kinsmanRoger de Lacy,who had been banished from England in 1095 and his English estates confiscated; he had though retained his properties in Normandy. Roger's English possessions were given to his brother Hugh de Lacy, from whom Sybil had inherited them.[10]

On Roger's death his son Gilbert inherited the lands in Normandy, and pressed his claim to the family's former English estates. Coplestone-Crow notes that there was uncertainty hanging over the inheritance, and accounted for one reason why Sybil's husband worked to secure more lands around Ludlow.[12]

Sybil was not the only recipient of Hugh de Lacy's largesse; some went toJosce de Dinanand some toMiles of Gloucester.[9]

Widowhood

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Pain died on 10 July 1137 and was buried inGloucester Abbey.[1]Sybil retained control of Ludlow Castle until the middle of 1139, when she was forced to surrender it to King Stephen after a siege.[15]Stephen then married Sybil to Josce de Dinan,[16]probably because he felt that Josce trustworthy enough to control the castle.[15]

Dinan thus acquired control of Ludlow Castlein right ofhis wife, setting up the background to Gilbert de Lacy's attempts to seize Ludlow from Dinan on which the medieval WelshromanceworkFouke le Fitz Warynis based.[16]Josce, however, rebelled against Stephen and fortified Ludlow against the king.[17]Josce died in 1166.[18]

Children

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Sybil had two daughters, Cecily and Agnes, with Pain.[6]The two girls married five times in their lives;[1]Cecily's three marriages failed to produce any direct heirs.[19]Cecily was first married toRoger,the son of Miles of Gloucester.[1]This alliance had been arranged by Cecily's father and the marriage contract specified that Roger would inherit all of Pain's lands, but at Pain's death the marriage had still not been formally contracted. In December 1137, King Stephen confirmed the terms of the settlement.[3]Stephen also settled the bulk of Pain's lands on Cecily, which led to disturbances and a minor war among disappointed claimants.[20]

Agnes first marriedWarin de Munchensyand thenHaldenald de Bidun.She died sometime after 1185 when she was noted as a widow.[2]Presumably Sybil is the mother of Josce's two daughters – Sibil, who married Hugh de Pulgenet and died in 1212, and Hawise who marriedFulk FitzWarin,who died in 1197.[18]

In 1199, Sibil and Hawise petitioned the king regarding the ownership of the town and castle of Ludlow but were turned down.[21]

Notes

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  1. ^Other historians agreeing with this are Bruce Coplestone-Crow[3][4]andDavid Crouch.[5]
  2. ^Also shared by historiansJudith Green,[7]Paul Dalton,[8]Brock Holden,[9]and W. E. Wightman.[10]

Citations

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  1. ^abcdeMason "Pain fitz John (d. 1137)"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Accessed 28 December 2022.
  2. ^abCokayneComplete PeerageXII/2pp. 270–271
  3. ^abCoplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle"Shropshire History and Archaeologypp. 171–172
  4. ^Coplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle"Shropshire History and Archaeologyp. 179
  5. ^CrouchReign of King Stephenp. 79 footnote 21
  6. ^abKeats-RohanDomesday Descendantsp. 919
  7. ^GreenHenry Ip. 133
  8. ^Dalton "Eustace Fitz John"Speculump. 360
  9. ^abHoldenLords of the Central Marchespp. 17–18
  10. ^abcWightmanLacy Familyp. 175
  11. ^Keats-RohanDomesday Descendantsp. 538
  12. ^abCoplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle",Shropshire History and Archaeology,p. 178
  13. ^GreenHenry Ip. 174
  14. ^CrouchReign of King Stephenp. 102 and footnote 55
  15. ^abCrouchReign of King Stephenp. 102
  16. ^abCoplestone-Crow "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle"Shropshire History and Archaeologyp. 181
  17. ^ChibnallEmpress Matildapp. 123–124
  18. ^abKeats-RohanDomesday Descendantsp. 434
  19. ^NewmanAnglo-Norman Nobility,pp. 172–173
  20. ^GreenAristocracy of Norman England,p. 381
  21. ^Coplestone-Crow "The End of the Anarchy to the de Genevilles"Ludlow Castle: Its History & Buildings,pp. 36–37

References

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  • Chibnall, Marjorie(1991).The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English.Oxford, UK: Blackwell.ISBN0-631-19028-7.
  • Cokayne, George E.(1982) [1959].The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant.Vol. XII/2 (Microprint ed.). Gloucester, UK: A. Sutton.ISBN0-904387-82-8.
  • Coplestone-Crow, Bruce (2000). "The End of the Anarchy to the de Genevilles". In Shoesmith, Ron; Johnson, Andy (eds.).Ludlow Castle: Its History & Buildings.Woonton, UK: Logaston Press. pp. 35–44.ISBN1-873827-51-2.
  • Coplestone-Crow, B. (1995). "Payn fitzJohn and Ludlow Castle".Shropshire History and Archaeology Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society.LXX:171–183.
  • Crouch, David(2000).The Reign of King Stephen: 1135–1154.New York: Longman.ISBN0-582-22657-0.
  • Dalton, Paul (April 1996). "Eustace Fitz John and the Politics of Anglo-Norman England: The Rise and Survival of a Twelfth-Century Royal Servant".Speculum.71(2): 358–383.doi:10.2307/2865417.JSTOR2865417.S2CID155189020.
  • Green, Judith A.(1997).The Aristocracy of Norman England.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-52465-2.
  • Green, Judith A.(2006).Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-74452-2.
  • Holden, Brock W. (2008).Lords of the Central Marches: English Aristocracy and Frontier Society, 1087–1265.Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-954857-6.
  • Keats-Rohan, K. S. B.(1999).Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum.Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press.ISBN0-85115-863-3.
  • Mason, J. F. A. (2008)."Pain fitz John (d. 1137)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9615.Retrieved3 March2011.(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
  • Newman, Charlotte A. (1988).The Anglo-Norman Nobility in the Reign of Henry I: The Second Generation.Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN0-8122-8138-1.
  • Wightman, W. E. (1966).The Lacy Family in England and Normandy 1066–1194.Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.OCLC798626.


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