probably not long after autumn 1144, perhaps on 11 January 1145 location uncertain
Buried:
unknown
134503952William de Say is mentioned in:
(1)
Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013), volume IV, page 561;
(2)
G. H. White, ed., The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, 2nd edition, volume XI (1949), pages 464-465; and
(3)
K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166: II, Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum (The Boydell Press, 2002), page 681.
Problem:Unresolved Who are 134503952William's parents?
William Farrer's and Charles Travis Clay's book Early Yorkshire Chapters, Volume VII: The Honour of Skipton on pages 32-35 presents some evidence that 134503952William's parents were probably Jordan de Sai and Lucy de Rumilly. However, this hypothesis is complicated by another, somewhat conflicting record. See the relevant pages in Farrer's and Clay's book for a more thorough discussion.
Although Keats-Rohan accepts this hypothesis in Domesday Descendants, I prefer to consider the question unresolved.
Although this profile is ultimately about 134503952William, let's begin with some historical context: England's King Henry I had chosen his daughter Matilda to be the next regent, but she was unpopular. After Henry's death, a quick coup made Stephen the new king, but Stephen struggled to consolidate power, and Matilda remained a serious threat. King Stephen, hoping to strengthen his support among the barons and calm the pro-Matilda faction, appointed Geoffrey de Mandeville to be the earl of Essex. Despite this favor, Geoffrey later sided with Matilda, who allowed him to hold immense, king-like power over his area.
134503952William de Say was probably closely associated with Geoffrey around this time. Around early 1142 Matilda granted 134503952William his father's former lands.1 (Unfortunately, 134503952William's father's name is not stated.)
Soon, however, Geoffrey switched sides again—back to King Stephen—yet Stephen hadn't forgotten Geoffrey's earlier treachery. Once it became safe to do so, Stephen had Geoffrey arrested without warning and seized vast amounts of his property. This enraged Geoffrey, who plotted his retribution, and this is also when 134503952William is first mentioned in a chronicle that describes the rebellion, written by a monk about sixty years after the events in question. The monk writes:
Vir autem iste magnanimus subdola malignantium fraude, ut iam
dictum est, delusus, statim milites numero plures in armis potentes
donis ac promissis sibi illiciens, associauit sagittarios insuper ac ceteros
huiusmodi seruientes in malefactis famosos undecumque collectos
aggregare maturauit. Quo facto, uelut equus ualidus et infrenis,
morsibus et calcibus quoslibet obuios dilaniare non cessauit, maneria,
uillas, ceteraque proprietatem regiam contingentia primitus inuasit,
igni combussit, predasque cum rapinis non minimas inde sublatas
commilitonibus suis larga manu distribuit.
In illis itaque diebus sororem suam nomine Beatricem in Normania Hugoni Talebot matronam nuptam, diurtio prius facto, in Angliam transtulit, eamque Willelmo de Say, ferocis animi uiro et bellicoso, nuptiali federe coniunxit, cuius deinceps auxilio fretus, ac
militum suorum numerositate immanior factus, per totam circumcirca
discurrendo prouinciam nulli cuicumque pecuniam possidenti parcere uouit. Locis sacris uel etiam ipsis de ecclesiis nullam deferendo
exhibuit reuerentiam. Exploratores uero illius, habitu mutato, more
egenorum ostiatim oberrantes, uillanis et ceteris huiusmodi hominibus pecunia a Deo data abundantibus insidiabantur. Quibus taliter
compertis in intempeste noctis silentio, tempore tamen primitus
considerato, Sathane satellites a comite transmittebantur, qui uiros
innocuos alto sopore quandoque detentos raperent, raptos uero quasi
pro magno munere ei presentarent. Qui mox immani supplicio, per
interualla tamen uexabantur, et tamdiu per tormenta uaria uicissim sibi
succedentia torquebantur, donec pecunie eis imposite ultimum soluerent quadrantem.2
This high-spirited man [i.e., Geoffrey] [...] immediately enticed to join [to] him[self], by gifts and promises, a considerable number of
battle-hardened knights; he added archers, and hastened to gather together from wherever he could other retainers of the same kind notorious for their crimes. Whereupon, like a strong, unbridled horse
ready to maim with teeth and hooves any who stood in its way, he first assailed manors, villages, and other things belonging to the king’s estates, set them on fire, and then he lavishly distributed amongst
his fellow-knights the not inconsiderable plunder stolen during his pillaging.
At that time he brought over to England his sister Beatrice, who had been married in Normandy to Hugh Talbot but was now divorced, and joined her in a marriage contract to William de Say, a man of fierce, warlike temperament, upon whose aid he relied thereafter, and
having become all the more terrible because of the large number of his
knights, and rampaging everywhere throughout the whole area he
vowed to spare nobody at all who was wealthy. He showed no respect or
reverence for holy places, not even for churches themselves. His spies,
disguising themselves, went around like beggars from door to door
and observed villeins and other men of that kind who had been blessed
by God with wealth. Once they had found out about them in this way,
in the silence of dead of night, at a time previously arranged, these
disciples of Satan were dispatched by the earl to seize innocent men at a
time when they were fast asleep, and when seized to bring them to him
with a view to obtaining a large reward. Then these men were soon
severely ill-treated and tortured for some long time: the tortures were
of various kinds, one after another, and went on for as long as it took for
them to pay up the last farthing of the money demanded from them.
2
134503952William's marriage to 134503953Beatrice is also attested elsewhere in the monk's account3 and in later charters involving 134503953Beatrice.4,5
With encouragement from his new brother-in-law 134503952William, Geoffrey next took over Ramsey Abbey, fortified it, and used it as a base from which to plunder the surrounding area. The monk writes:
Inter hec autem ira humanum excedente modum, ita efferatus est, ut
procurantibus Willelmo de Say et Daniele, quodam falsi nominis ac
tonsure monacho, nauigio cum suis subuectus Ramesiam peteret.
Ecclesiam Deo ac beato patri Benedicto dicatam summo mane ausu
temerario primitus inuadendo subintraret, monachosque omnes post
diuinum nocturnale officium sopori deditos comprehenderet, et uix
habitu simplici indutos expellendo statim perturbaret, nullaque
interueniente mora, ecclesiam illam satis pulcherrimam non ut Dei
castrum sed sicut castellum, superius ac inferius, intus et extra, fortiter
muniuit. Vasa autem altaris aurea et argentea Deo sacrata, cappas etiam
cantorum lapidibus pretiosis ac opere mirifico contextas, casulas cum
albis et ceteris ecclesiastici decoris ornamentis rapuit, et quibuslibet
emere uolentibus uili satis pretio distraxit, unde militibus et satellitibus
suis debita largitus est stipendia.2
While Geoffrey was thus engaged his anger exceeded human
bounds, and he was so enraged that at the instigation of William de
Say and a monk called Daniel, of false name and tonsure, he made for
Ramsey by boat with his men. There in the early morning with careles
audacity he first entered by stealth, and then invaded the church
dedicated to God and the Blessed Father Benedict. He seized all the
monks who were asleep after the night office, and though they were
wearing only their plain habits, he immediately drove them out in
confusion. Without delay he strongly fortified that most beautiful
church, above and below, inside and out, not as a fortress for God but
as a castle. He seized gold and silver altar vessels which had been
consecrated to God, copes of the cantors interwoven with precious
stones and of wonderful workmanship, chasubles with albs and other
ornaments that adorn a church, and sold them off at a very low price to
any who were willing to buy them, from which he paid the wages due to
his knights and retainers.2
Ramsey Abbey was at coordinates N52.4484 E0.1004, although little trace of it remains. Archaeologists have done a few surveys:
A ditch in this area may have been built as a defensive measure during Geoffrey de Manderville's occupation of the abbey, according to the OAE report.6
To deter Geoffrey's raids, King Stephen built castles in the area. While attacking one of these castles, specifically Burwell castle, in August 1144, Geoffrey was mortally wounded and died a few weeks later.7 An early chronicler states that 134503952William likewise died during this attack,8 and Douglas Richardson repeats this claim in his book Royal Ancestry (See above.), but two pieces of evidence suggest that 134503952William survived for at least a few months after the attack:
(1)
In an undated charter, 134503952William, his wife 134503953Beatrice, and their son William granted to St. Neot's Priory some woodland in Eaton for the soul of Earl Geoffrey (de Mandeville) and for their own salvation.9 The language strongly implies that Geoffrey was already dead.
(2)
A short, undated document states that "Gul de Say"—presumably 134503952William—died on January 11th but doesn't specify a year. The document is peculiar and also includes the death dates of much earlier figures in English history, e.g. King Edgar and Æthelflæd, who died centuries earlier. Therefore, the document is somewhat unreliable, but it suggests that 134503952William may have survived Geoffrey by at least a few months.
Burwell Castle, which was at coordinates N52.2704 E0.3244, now consists of little more than earthworks. A 1935 archaeological excavation uncovered a portion of a wall, but it has since been destroyed.
The remains of a Burwell Castle wall, uncovered in 1935 but since destroyed.11
Sources Cited:
1: J. H. Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville: A Study of the Anarchy (London, 1892), page 169
2: J. W. Binns et al., The Book of the Foundation of Walden Monastery (Clarendon Press, 1999), pages 14-17
3: ibid., page 87
4: Sir William Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, Volume IV (London, 1846), page 149, charter number VI. Notice these phrases: "Beatricia de Say [...] pro anima Galfridi comitis Essexiæ, fratris mei, et Willielmi de Say, sponsi mei, et Willielmi filii mei."
5: ibid., page 150, charter number IX. Notice these phrases: "Beatricia de Say [...] pro anima domini mei Willielmi de Say, et Williel. de Say filii mei [...] pro anima Gaufridi comitis fratris mei."
6: Oxford Archaeology East, "Ramsey Abbey College: Excavation Summary Report," (September 2018) (OAE report #2244). The image shown is plate 1 in the report.
7: John Horace Round, "Geoffrey de Mandeville," Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 36, page 23
8: W. Dunn Macray, ed., Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis [...] (London, 1886), page 347
9: G. Herbert Fowler, "The Beauchamps, Barons of Eaton," The Publications of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, Volume II (1914), pages 64-65. Fowler in turn is describing a charter that Complete Peerage states is Cotton MS Faustina A iv, folio 54.
10: Monasticon Anglicanum, Volume II, page 566, number XXV. Notice the phrase, "GUL. de Say obiit 3 id. Januarii."
11: Duncan Wright et al., "Burwell Castle, Cambridgeshire: Geophysical and Topographical Survey Report" (December 2014), University of Exeter. Semantic Scholar, <https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:208051624>, accessed 20 October 2022. The image is figure #3.
