William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey facts for kids

William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey (born 1119, died 1148) was an important nobleman from the Anglo-Norman family of Warenne. He lived in England during a difficult time called the Anarchy, a civil war. William usually stayed loyal to King Stephen. He also joined the Second Crusade and sadly died during it.

Who Was William de Warenne?

William was the oldest son of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (who died in 1138) and his wife, Elizabeth de Vermandois. His great-grandfather was King Henry I of France. He also had several half-brothers, including Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Waleran IV de Beaumont.

William's Life and Loyalty

In 1137, when William was still young, he served King Stephen in Normandy. He was one of the young nobles who ran away from a battle. King Stephen caught them and tried to make them fight, but they didn't.

When his father died in 1138, William became the 3rd Earl of Surrey. In the spring of 1138, he went with his half-brother Waleran to Paris. Their mission was to agree to a peace treaty between the English and French kings.

On February 2, 1141, William and Waleran were with King Stephen again. This was at the Battle of Lincoln. They both ran away when the enemy first attacked. After this, they joined Queen Matilda, who was fighting King Stephen. But when King Stephen was set free, William and Waleran went back to support him. William even signed a royal document, called a charter, in Canterbury in late 1141. This shows his loyalty to King Stephen.

Important Gifts and Charters

William often gave gifts along with his brother Ralph and his parents. These gifts were recorded in official documents called charters. Many of these gifts went to a church called Longueville Priory in Rouen, Normandy, between 1130 and 1138. They also gave gifts to the priory of Bellencombre in 1135.

After his father died, William became the main person giving gifts in many charters between 1138 and 1147. One special event happened in 1147. William gave a very large gift to the Lewes Priory. To make this gift extra special, Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester, cut a lock of hair from William's head and from his brother Ralph's head. This happened in front of the altar at the priory church. William's grandparents, William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, and his wife Gundrada, had founded Lewes Priory around 1081.

William's Family

William married a woman named Adela, also known as Ela. She was the daughter of Count William III of Ponthieu. William and Adela had one child, a daughter named Isabel de Warenne. She became the 4th Countess of Surrey.

Isabel first married William of Blois. He was the second son of King Stephen. He also became Earl Warenne, or Earl of Surrey. After he died without children in 1159, Isabel married again. Her second husband was Hamelin, who was the half-brother of King Henry II. Hamelin also became Earl Warenne. He took the last name "de Warenne," and the earldom continued through his family.

Death on the Second Crusade

In 1146, William was one of the nobles who promised to go on a holy war, called a crusade. He made this promise with his cousin, King Louis VII of France, at the Council of Vézelay. The next year, he joined the army of the Second Crusade.

William was killed in a battle at Battle of Mount Cadmus on January 6, 1148. This happened while the crusader army was marching across Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) on their way to the Holy Land.

In December 1147, the French and Norman crusaders reached Ephesus. They were joined by the remaining soldiers from the Holy Roman Empire's army. This army had lost many men in another battle earlier in 1147. The crusaders marched through southwest Turkey. They fought a battle at Laodicea (January 3-4, 1148), but they did not win.

On January 6, 1148, they fought again near Mount Cadmus. Turkish soldiers ambushed the foot soldiers and people who were not fighting. These groups had become separated from the main army. King Louis VII and his special guards, the Knights Templars, bravely charged the Turks. Many knights were killed, including William. King Louis barely escaped with his life. His army later arrived at the coastal city of Adalia. A chaplain named Odo of Deuil, who was with King Louis, wrote about this battle in his book, De Profectione.

Sources

• The battle is recorded by Odo de Deuil, personal chaplain to Louis, in his book De Profectione, pp. 68–127.
• Warren Family History Project