Individual Details

William de Mowbray

( - Bef Mar 1224)

thePeerage.com

William de Mowbray1
M, #658163, d. before March 1223/24
Last Edited=10 Mar 2015
William de Mowbray was the son of Nele de Mowbray and Mabel (?).1 He married Avice (?).1 He died before March 1223/24.1
In 1204/5 he was a supporter of King John at the time of his loss of Normandy to the French, whereby the original Montbrai posessions were alienated.1 In 1210 he accompanied King John to Ireland.1 In 1215 he joined the baronial opposition to King John over the Mgna Carta.1 He was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III at King John's request.1 He fought in the Battle of Lincoln in May 1217, where he was captured.1 In October 1217 he submitted to King Henry III and regained his estates.1
Children of William de Mowbray and Avice (?)

Roger de Mowbray+1 d. c Nov 1266
Nele de Mowbray1 d. 1230

Citations

[S37] BP2003 volume 2, page 2820. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
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From the British Library/Magna Carta Trust list; By Professor Nigel Saul, Royal Holloway, University of London. http://magnacarta800th.com/schools/biographies/the-25-barons-of-magna-carta/

William de Mowbray (c. 1173-c. 1224), a landowner with Yorkshire estates centring on Thirsk and Lincolnshire lands in the Isle of Axholme, was son of Nigel de Mowbray and his wife Mabel, probably the daughter of William de Patri.  In the Histoire des Ducs de Normandie he is described as being as small as a dwarf, but very generous and valiant.
There was much in William’s background and personal circumstances that can be seen, with hindsight, as pointing the way to his involvement in the rebellion against King John.  His forebear, Roger de Mowbray, had taken part in the great uprising against Henry II in 1173-4, which had convulsed the whole Angevin world.  He himself had become entangled in financial dealings with King John which were to cost him dearly.  His problems lay in his family’s early rise to power, specifically in their acquisition from Henry I a century before of the lands of Robert de Stuteville, a supporter of Henry’s brother Robert Curthose in his failed bid for the English crown, and who had forfeited his property to Henry.  In 1200 Robert’s descendant, William, reactivated his family’s claim against the Mowbrays, and in that year William offered the sum of 2000 marks (over £1300) to John to secure a judgement in the matter.  When the case was brought before the king’s justices, however, it ended in a compromise, and one highly favourable to Stuteville.  William was nonetheless still under obligation to pay and, like others before him, had little alternative but to borrow from the Jews.  William had gambled everything on the favourable outcome of a risky legal action and had failed.  It is clear that, when he embarked on rebellion against John, he had nothing to lose.
Mowbray was taken prisoner at the battle of Lincoln in May 1217, and had to surrender the manor of Banstead in Surrey, which had formed his mother’s marriage portion, to Hubert de Burgh as the price of redemption.  His family never succeeded in recovering the estate.
Mowbray founded the chapel of St Nicholas at Thirsk, and was a benefactor of his father’s foundation, Newburgh priory, where, on his death at Axholme around 1224, he was buried.
Mowbray was typical those lords, particularly in northern England, who had suffered at the hands of John, felt a burning sense of grievance, and were longing for the opportunity to get their own back.

Events

Title (Nobility)1215Magna Carta Surety; Council of 25 Barons
DeathBef Mar 1224

Families

SpouseAvice (?) ( - )
ChildRoger de Mowbray ( - 1266)
FatherNele de Mowbray ( - 1191)
MotherMabel (?) ( - )