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Braose - Lords of Bramber and Gower

17/7/2025

The family of Braose were a Norman family from Braose, a village not far from Falaise. They were granted estates following the conquest and became powerful through their Welsh lordships which included the Gower Peninsular. In 1203, King John, in part settlement of a debt owed to him by Waleran de Baumont, granted the Lordship of Gower to William Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. However, by 1206, Braose had fallen from the king's favour and his lands were forfeited to the crown. In 1220, Henry III returned the barony to John Braose.

By the end of the 13th century the Braose family had rebuilt Swansea and Oystermouth castles. As part of the extensive landholdings, they also held several English estates including Bramber in West Sussex and the Gloucestershire manor of Tetbury.

William Braose, 4th Baron Braose was the most famous of the family. He had been one of King John's most loyal supporters and was charged, in 1201, with the capture of John's nephew, Arthur of Brittany. This action, and the fact he owed money to the king, would be William's downfall - Arthur disappeared never to be seen again, and William suspected that John had ordered the fifteen year old boys death.

King John, in turn, was also suspicious of William, and became increasingly concerned about his loyalty. Within five years of the disappearance of Arthur, John's paranoia grew to the point that he ruthlessly hounded the family. History doesn't say whether William used his inside knowledge of the situation with Arthur to his advantage, but it is thought that his wife Maud Valery may have said too much about what she knew. Whoever said what to whom, the king took it out on Maud, imprisoning her, along with her eldest son in a cell either at Windsor or Corfe castles, where they were left to starve to death. William had previously fled and died in exile in France.

The last of the Braoses’ was William, Baron Braose, the great grandson of William, 4th Baron Braose whose daughter's Aline and Joan were his heirs. On their marriages, the land of their forefathers passed to the Mowbray family.

William Braose, Ist Baron Braose feature in the life of my ancestor John Umfreville

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The Braose family of Tetbury, their Charters and their Confirmations

10/7/2025

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The arms of William Braose, 4th Baron Braose inverted to signify his death.

Medieval grants were often documented through charters, which required confirmation. The confirmation process involved witnesses and seals to make the grant official. Confirmation grants, such as those issued by the Braose family in the 13th century, served to officially recognise and legitimise ownership, rights and privileges. They served to maintain the social order and prevent future disputes.

It was at this time that freehold estates turned into what we now know as parishes, and along with the development of these parishes new towns appeared, and this in turn heralded the arrival of the borough - places where tenements created by rural lords were to be held in burgage - that is, buildings/land held by payment of rent. The burgage system originated before the time of the conquest and had a real impact on English towns and cities. The growth and prosperity of the town of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, can be credited to William Braose, 4th Baron Braose, who relinquished his feudal rights in his manor and established ten burgages. The merchants who held them are named in his charter.

Example of the burgage system

The family of Valery held Tetbury from 1148 until they were deprived of it in 1197 during the tenure of Thomas Valery. It was then granted to William Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, probably on his marriage, c1166, to Maud Valery. (1) However, Tetbury was confiscated in 1208 following a major fall out with King John which resulted in the cruel deaths, in 1211, of Maud and her eldest son William, (2) In October 1216, Margaret Braose (3) was granted (4) ‘three carucates of land by King John, to be cleared and cultivated, in the forest of Aconbury, to found a religious house there for the salvation of the souls of her father, her mother and her brother' (5) and from which the nuns received rent from the Tetbury burgages at a rate of £148d annually.

St John the Baptist Church on the site of Aconbury Abbey by Philip Parkhurst

The family's holdings were restored to them following the king’s death in 1216, and the ownership of Tetbury ping ponged between members of the Braose family and several other nobles until 1226 when it was granted to John Braose, the grandson of the 4th Lord of Bramber. John held the manor until his death in 1232 when it reverted to the crown during the minority of his son William, later 1st Baron Braose. William came of age in 1254; he held the manor until his death in 1291 after which it passed to Peter, his son by his third wife Mary Roos.

Effergy likey to be Peter Braose at Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tetbury - Image Alan Murry-Rust

The original charter of William Braose was first confirmed by his brother Reginald. In 1230, it was confirmed (6) by William’s son John. In 1268, a further grant was made, possibly by William’s stepmother, to the Tetbury burgesses - "to hold to them also y liberties and ffiree customes contained in the Britain Law, in a ample manner as the burgesses of Hereford had or used." (7) John Braose died in a riding accident on his estate at Bramber in 1232, leaving William, 1st Baron Braose as his heir. He had married the daughter of Llywelyn the Great and had served under both Henry III and his son Edward I.

Charters of Reginald Braose and John Broase confirming William Braose's original charter via http://archive.muradjames.com/tetburyhistory3/ShowImage.aspx?itemref=D68

One of the first things Edward did when he became king in 1272, was to make sure that the crown profited from growing trade. In 1278, he ordered an enquiry examining liberties within his realm. Under the Statue of Gloucester, he declared ‘We must find out what is ours, and due to us, and others what is theirs, and due to them.’ It was under this statue that in 1287, he brought a Writ of Quo Warranto (8) (by what warrant) against William ‘for the liberties he claimed in Tetbury.’ William’s case was brought under a Court Leet ‘where upon it was found that Tetbury was an ancient borough town and that in the same he had a market and fair’ (9)

18th century deptiction of Tetbury market place

On the 20th January 1290, a year before his death, William inspected the charter made by his father to the nuns of Aconbury Abbey, and two days later, in London he confirmed and put his seal to it. (10)

‘...In that village which lies in the village of Tetbury, the burgage of Reginald Palmer (11) is ten and eight pence, and a stipend. Of the burgage of Richard Hiredmon twelve pence, Of the burgage of William the Hunter ten and eight pence: Of the burgage of John Cooper twelve pence: Of the burgage of William Rufus two pence: Of the relict of John Godin twelve pence: Of the burgage of Richard de Themeld five pence: Of the burgage of Thomas five pence: Of the burgage of the relict of Rad. five pence; of the burgage of John de Machim five pence: And of the two forelands, fifteen pence; namely, of the foreland of John W..., which lies before the church land, eight pence; and of the foreland of Roger Brumier, which lies behind his burgage, eight pence; to be received from the hands of the aforesaid and their heirs on the day of the blessed Andrew the Apostle, so that all these priests Burghs and their heirs, are all intending to answer the priests of the house of the Hospital of Aconbury by reason of the priests of the burgages and the liberties granted in my town of Tetbury from all the zeal of the church, and from all the exactions, and from the demands; and they have full liberties in my town of Tetbury, and in the common pastures fruitful tenor of the privileges of the house of the Hospital of John, of the land of Jerusalem, ,......’ I desire that these donations of mine, ratified and valid, may remain, having confirmed my charter to the above; and I have confirmed by my signature; these witnesses are John de Umfreville; (12) then steward; Magistrate Richard de Burleia; Geoffrey de Chaplain, then procurator of the House of Comeberi; Stephen Chaplain of the same place; Allan Chaplain of Tettebiria; Roger de Wathtiam; Philip de Tettebiria; William de Redmerton; Walter de Upton; Joanna Deacon who wrote this Charter and many others.’ (13)

Effigies of the town's sheep farmers. Tetbury was at the centre wool production.

Today, the town of Tetbury still maintains its links to the Braose charters, you can read about this here:

Feoffees of Tetbury

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Braose - Lords of Bramber and Gower

The Braose family of Tetbury, their Charters and their Confirmations

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