William Malet

- 1071

• Name	William Malet
  Birth	of Graville St Honorine, Seine Inferieure, Normandy, France   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	1071  [1, 2]
  Person ID	I2347	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of AP, Ancestor of DDB, Ancestor of DGH, Ancestor of DK, Ancestor of EK, Ancestor of JMF, Ancestor of JTS, Ancestor of LD, Ancestor of LDN, Ancestor of LMW, Ancestor of TNH
  Last Modified	6 Jan 2018

  
  

  Family	Hesilia Crispin
  Children	+ 1. Beatrice Malet + 2. Gilbert Malet
  Family ID	F1406	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 Nov 2014

  
  

• Notes

  Proven companion of William the Conqueror. Sheriff of York. Castellan of York. "Of unknown parentage, he was described by Guy d'Amiens as part Norman part English and as 'compater Heraldi', which indicates either spiritual affinity or close companionship with Harold Godwinsson (Carmen de Hastingae Proelio, 2nd, edn, p. 34). His father was probably his predecessor as lord of Graville and tenant of the Giffards in numerous other fiefs in the same region. Legends associating his son-in-law Turold the Sheriff with Godiva of Mercia, mother of Harold's wife, probably indicate a relationship between William's mother and the earls of Mercia or their wives. A strong association of William and his family with Lincolnshire suggest that his English roots lay there. Between 1060 and c. 1066 William occurs with William I in a number of charters relating to the abbeys of Montivilliers and Jumieges (Fauroux, 89; CDF 329). He was associated with the abbey of Preaux in the Lieuvin, of which he was given the fellowship by Abbot Ansfrid in 1060, and with the abbey of Bee, which later mistakenly identified him with his descendant, a monk of the same name. His interests in the region of Lisieux probably originated in his marriage to Esilia, daughter of Gilbert I Crispin, castellan of Tillieres in the Vexin. He fought at Hastings and was soon credited with having been ordered to bury Harold's body on the sea-shore; whether he had anything to do with Harold's burial is uncertain, but it now seems clear that the body was buried at the church Harold founded at Waltham. In 1068 William became castellan of the first castle at York and sheriff of Yorkshire. In September 1069 the city was attacked by Danes. Briefly held captive, William, his wife, and their younger children were among the few to escape alive (Ord. ViI. 2, 178, 222; Symeon of Durham, Opera Omnia, ii. 188). He lost the shrievalty of York and the land associated with it soon afterwards, and was thereafter occupied in suppressing the fenland revolt led by Hereward the Wake. Domesday Book makes it clear that he died in the campaign, probably in 107l. At his death, the bulk of his wealth lay in the vast lordship (the honour of Eye) granted to him in East Anglia, principally in Suffolk (where he had a castle and a market at Eye), but also in Norfolk, Essex, Surrey, Bedfordshire and Nottinghamshire." [Domesday Descendants, citation details below]

  
  

• Sources

  [S160] Wikipedia. [S145] Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis and Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr. 8th edition, William R. Beall & Kaleen E. Beall, eds. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004, 2006, 2008.