William Peverel

William Peverell (c. 1040 – c. 1115, Latinised to Gulielmus Piperellus), was a Norman knight granted lands in England following the Norman Conquest.

Origins

Little is known of the origin of the William Peverell the Elder. Of his immediate family, only the name of a brother, Robert, is known.[1] J. R. Planché derives the surname from the Latin puerulus, the diminutive form of puer (a boy), thus "a small boy", or from the Latin noun piper, meaning "pepper".[2]

Lands held in England

William Peverel was a favourite of William the Conqueror. He was greatly honoured after the Norman Conquest, and received as his reward over a hundred manors in central England from the king. In 1086, the Domesday Book records William as holding the substantial number of 162 manors, forming collectively the Honour of Peverel, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including Nottingham Castle.[3] He also built Peveril Castle, Castleton, Derbyshire. William Peverel is amongst the people explicitly recorded in the Domesday Book as having built castles.[4]

Marriage & progeny

William married Adeline, who bore him four children: two sons both named William, one dying without issue, the other often called William Peverel the Younger, born circa 1080, and two daughters, Maud and Adeliza, who married Richard de Redvers.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 The Complete Peerage, Vol IV, App. I, pp 761–770, "Peverel Family". This also dismisses the Tudor-era genealogical invention that made him illegitimate son of William the Conqueror (after William Camden, Britain or a chorographicall description... (1637) p.550-551)
  2. ↑ http://patp.us/genealogy/conq/peverel.aspx
  3. ↑ A description of holdings in Derbyshire, from the Domesday Book (http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Derbyshire.htm). A local history of Duston, Northampton (http://www.duston.org.uk/peverel.htm).
  4. ↑ Harfield 1991, p. 391
Bibliography

  • Harfield, C. G. (1991), "A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book", English Historical Review, 106: 371–392, doi:10.1093/ehr/CVI.CCCCXIX.371, JSTOR 573107
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