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William fitz Osbern , earl

Born: 1020s   Died: 1071   

William fitz Osbern was raised in the ducal household, where his father was steward, and became Duke William's oldest and closest friend. Following the Conquest of England in 1066 William I entrusted fitz Osbern with the care of the Welsh Marches and made him earl in 1067. His main base was in Winchester.

William and his wife, Adelise, founded two religious houses in Normandy, namely, Lyre, c. 1046, where Adelise was buried; and Cormeilles, c. 1060, where William was buried following his death at the Battle of Cassel (Flanders), in 1071.
William established castles throughout the region in Monmouth, Chepstow, Wigmore and Clifford.

Sites associated with this person

Chepstow Priory, Monmouthshire (founder)

Bibliographical sources

Printed sources

Burton, Janet, 'Transition and transformation: the Benedictine houses', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches, ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013) pp. 22, 25, 31

Hockey, S. F., 'William FitzOsbern and the endowment of his abbey at Lire', in Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, 3, ed. R. Allen Brown (Bury St Edmunds, 1981), pp. 96-105

Web links (open in new window)

Lewis, C. P., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online -William Fitz Osbern (View website) (Subscription reqd.)

Images of this person

Great Hall, Chepstow Castle

Tympanium, Great Hall, Chepstow Castle

Tympanium, Great Hall, Chepstow Castle