William de Moyon facts for kids
William I de Moyon (also known as de Moion or de Mohun) was an important Norman lord. He lived a long time ago, after the year 1090. He was the first feudal baron of Dunster in Somerset, England. This meant he was a powerful landowner who held his lands directly from the king. He was also the lord of Moyon in Normandy, France.
In 1086, William became the Sheriff of Somerset. He started the English de Mohun family in the west of England. William is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. This was a big survey ordered by William the Conqueror to record who owned what in England. The Domesday Book shows William as a direct tenant of the King, meaning he held land straight from William the Conqueror. He owned many estates, called manors, in Somerset. His main base, or caput, was at Dunster Castle.
William's Life and Work
William came from Moyon, a place near Saint-Lô in Normandy. He was called "the elder" (le Viel or le Vieux) by the Norman writer Wace. This was to tell him apart from his son, William II de Mohun.
William I de Moyon took part in the Norman conquest of England. Because of this, he was given many manors in England. He received fifty-five manors in Somerset, one in Wiltshire, and one in Dorset. He built Dunster Castle on a site where an old West Saxon fort used to be.
He ended up owning sixty-eight manors in the west of England. This included one in Devon, one in Wiltshire, and eleven in Dorset. One of these Dorset manors was called Ham. His family later inherited it, and it became known as Ham-Mohun, or Hammoon. He also owned fifty-five manors in Somerset.
The land around his main castle at Dunster was quite large. It included the old areas of Cutcombe and Minehead.
William was also involved in breeding horses. He had places for horses at Cutcombe and at Nunney, near Frome. These places kept mares for breeding.
He served as the Sheriff of Somerset from 1083 to 1086. One of his manors, Brompton-Ralph, was even called Brunetone Vicecomitis in old records. This means "Brompton of the Sheriff."
Dunster Priory
William de Moion is known for founding Dunster Priory. A priory is a type of monastery.
Between 1090 and 1100, he gave the Church of St. George at Dunster some land and money. Part of the old Norman building of this church still stands today. William gave a tenth of his mares to the Abbey of St. Peter at Bath and to Bishop John de Villula. He wanted them to "build and exalt" the church.
Bath Abbey then set up a smaller monastery, called a cell, at Dunster. This cell followed the rules of Bath Abbey and was led by a prior. One of William's official papers is kept in a manuscript at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In this paper, William stated that he wished to be buried at Bath Abbey, not at Dunster.
William's Landholdings
Some of the important manors he owned included Minehead, West Quantoxhead, and Combe Sydenham.
Family
William I de Moyon married a woman named Adelisa. They had three sons, all of whom were alive when William made his gift to Bath Abbey:
- William II de Mohun, 1st Earl of Somerset (died around 1155). He was the oldest son and inherited his father's lands. He was made an Earl of Somerset in 1141.
- Geoffrey de Mohun
- Robert de Mohun
