William I (Willame) de Percy (d. 1096/9), 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe in North Yorkshire, known as Willame als gernons ( Old French , meaning 'with whiskers'), was a Norman nobleman who arrived in England immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066. He was the founder via an early 13th-century female line of the powerful English House of Percy , Earls of Northumberland , and via an 18th-century female line of the Dukes of Northumberland .
18-573: William Percy may refer to: William de Percy (d.c. 1096/9), Anglo-Norman nobleman, crusader and founder of Whitby Abbey William Percy (c.1337-1407) , MP for Sussex William Percy (bishop) (1428–1462), British bishop William Percy (writer) (1574–1648), English poet and playwright William Percy (portrait artist) (1820–1903), of Manchester, England William Henry Percy (1788–1855), British naval officer William Alexander Percy (politician) , (1834–1888) American politician and grandfather of
36-512: A Saxon lady, whom, "as very heire to them, in discharging of his conscience," he afterwards married. Hugh Lupus, on becoming Earl of Chester , transferred to him his great estate of Whitby in the North Riding of Yorkshire, where he re-founded the Abbey of St. Hilda's, and appointed his brother Serlo de Percy the first prior. Following the rebellion of Gospatric Earl of Northumbria , and
54-411: A great historical house of England "that, like Caesar 's, has been artificially preserved (twice) to the present time". Earl of Chester The Earldom of Chester ( Welsh : Iarllaeth Caer ) was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England , extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire . Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to
72-612: A once thriving manor in North Yorkshire. Possibly, the lands granted to Percy by the king were jure uxoris . By Emma de Porte, Percy had four sons: Percy accompanied Robert Curthose , Duke of Normandy , on the First Crusade , where he died within sight of Jerusalem. His body was buried at Antioch , and his heart was returned to England and was buried in Whitby Abbey. William's male line ended in 1174/5 on
90-618: A vital part as a supply base during the Welsh Wars (1275–84) , so the separate organisation of a county palatine was preserved. This continued until the time of King Henry VIII . Since 1301, the Earldom of Chester has always been conferred on the Princes of Wales. Briefly promoted to a principality in 1398 by King Richard II , who titled himself "Prince of Chester", it was reduced to an earldom again in 1399 by King Henry IV . Whereas
108-724: The Norman Conquest . It is possible that Percy had been one of the Normans to whom King Edward the Confessor had given lands, but who were later expelled by King Harold Godwinson (d. 1066). This may explain Percy's unusual Norman epithet , Als gernons ('bewhiskered'), as the Normans were generally clean-shaven, unlike the English, and possibly Percy had assimilated the local custom. Later generations of Percys would use
126-782: The North Riding of Yorkshire , with further lands in Essex and Hampshire . Percy set about fortifying his landholdings, constructing motte and bailey castles at Spofforth and at Topcliffe , where was situated the caput of his feudal barony. He granted land to the Benedictine order and financed the construction of the new Whitby Abbey from amongst the ruins of the Anglo-Saxon Abbey of Streoneshalh. Percy married an English noblewoman called Emma de Porte, her epithet presumably came from her landholdings at Seamer ,
144-533: The County Palatinate of Chester is shown by the survival of Chester Herald in the College of Arms for some six hundred years. The office has anciently been nominally under the jurisdiction of Norroy King of Arms . In the year 1377, the revenues of the Earldom were recorded as follows: Total income was £418 1 2 3/4 from Cheshire and £181 6 0 from Flintshire. (dates above are approximate) (There
162-530: The English throne, and after 1707 the British throne. From the late 14th century, it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales . The County of Cheshire was held by the powerful Earls (or "Counts" from the Norman-French) of Chester from the late eleventh century, and they held land all over England, comprising "the honour of Chester". By the late twelfth century (if not earlier)
180-624: The Scot, Earl of Huntingdon , seventh and last of the Earls. William III de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle , claimed the earldom as husband of Christina, the senior co-heir, but the king persuaded them to quitclaim their rights in 1241 in exchange for modest lands elsewhere. The other co-heiresses did likewise. It was annexed to the Crown in 1246. King Henry III then passed the Lordship of Chester, but not
198-480: The Sovereign's eldest son is automatically Duke of Cornwall , he must be made or created Earl of Chester as well as Prince of Wales. The independent palatinate jurisdiction of Chester survived until the time of King Henry VIII (1536), when the earldom was brought more directly under the control of the Crown. The palatinate courts of Great Sessions and Exchequer survived until the reforms of 1830. The importance of
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#1732779924286216-406: The below William Alexander Percy (1885–1942), American lawyer, planter and poet William Armstrong Percy III (born 1933), American historian and gay activist See also [ edit ] William Percy Carpmael (1864–1936), founder of The Barbarians football club Percy [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with
234-514: The death without male progeny of his grandson William II de Percy, but the surname "Percy" was re-adopted by the latter's grandson Richard de Louvain (d.1244), whose own "Percy" descendants again failed in the male line in 1670 on the death of Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland . The surname was again re-adopted by the latter's great-granddaughter's husband Sir Hugh Smithson, 4th Baronet (c.1714-1786), created Duke of Northumberland , whose descendants survive today. William's family were thus
252-466: The earls had established a position of power as quasi -princely rulers of Cheshire that led to the later establishment of the County Palatine of Chester and Flint . Such was their power that Magna Carta set down by King John did not apply to Cheshire and the sixth earl was compelled to issue his own version . The earldom passed to the Crown by escheat in 1237 on the death of John
270-675: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Percy&oldid=1099115445 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages William de Percy The Cartulary of Whitby Abbey states that Hugh d'Avranches (later 1st Earl of Chester ) and William de Percy arrived in England in 1067, one year after
288-726: The sobriquet in the form of the first name " Algernon ". The name was taken from Percy , a fief near Villedieu in the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. This suggests either of today's villages of Villedieu-lès-Bailleul , in the Orne département or Villedieu-les-Poêles , in the Manche département . He appears in Domesday as a great landowner, holding 30 knight's fees , including some lands which had belonged to
306-646: The subsequent Harrying of the North , much territory in northern England and the Earldom of Chester were granted to Hugh d'Avranches, who had been instrumental in the devastation. Percy in turn was granted territory by d'Avranches, in addition to those already held by him in-chief from the king. At the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, Percy held as a tenant-in-chief 118 manors in Lincolnshire and
324-489: The title of Earl, to his son, the Lord Edward, in 1254; as King Edward I , this son in turn conferred the title and lands of the Earldom on his son, Edward, the first English Prince of Wales . By that time, the Earldom of Chester consisted of two counties: Cheshire and Flintshire . The establishment of royal control of the Earldom of Chester made possible King Edward I's conquest of north Wales , and Chester played
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