Richard I de Grenville

1860 imaginary stained-glass depiction of Richard de Grenville (died post1142), inscribed: Ric de Granville, Earl of Corboyle. He holds in his right hand the church of his foundation of Neath Abbey. The attributed arms below show: Gules, three clarions or with an inescutcheon of pretence of Gules, three lions passant argent. Church of St James the Great, Kilkhampton, Cornwall
Historic seats of the Grenville family (spelled "Granville" after 1661[1]) in Normandy (Granville, Manche), Glamorgan (Neath Castle), Devon (Bideford) & Cornwall (Stowe, Kilkhampton)

Sir Richard I de Grenville (died post1142) (alias de Grainvilla, de Greinvill, etc.) was one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan who served under his elder brother Robert FitzHamon (died 1107) in the conquest of Glamorgan in Wales. He obtained from FitzHamon the lordship of Neath in which he built Neath Castle and in 1129 founded Neath Abbey. He is by tradition the founder and ancestor of the prominent Westcountry Grenville family of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton in Cornwall and of Bideford in Devon, the later head of which family was John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701). The surname of his supposed descendants the Westcountry Grenville family was spelled by tradition "Grenville" until 1661 when it was altered to "Granville".[2]

Origins

He was one of three (or four[3]) known sons of Hamo Dapifer (died circa 1100) Sheriff of Kent, an Anglo-Norman royal official under both King William the Conqueror (1066-1087) and his son King William Rufus (1087-1100).

Lord of Neath

River Neath at Neath Castle, looking upstream

As his reward for his services during the conquest of Glamorgan his brother Robert FitzHamon allotted him the lordship of Neath, where Richard built Neath Castle. He is styled in one Glamorgan charter as "Constable of the Earl of Gloucester",[4] thus of Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (d.1147), his brother's son-in-law and heir.

Founds Neath Abbey

In 1129[5] Richard de Grenville founded Neath Abbey within his lordship as a daughter-house of the Benedictine Savigny Abbey[6] near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux in western Normandy. Following the assumption of the Savigniac order into the Cistercian order in 1147 Neath Abbey also became a Cistercian house. To it he donated many of his lands, both in Wales and in Devon which he held from the Honour of Gloucester, including Littleham, near Bideford in North Devon.[7] A later confirmation charter granted in 1207 by King John (1199-1216) to Neath Abbey confirmed to the monks the former grants of Richard de Grenville:[8]

Johannes Deo Gratia etc. Sciatis nos dedisse et concessisse et presenti carta nostra confirmasse Deo et ecclesie sancte Trinitatis de Neth et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus locum ubi castellum Ricardi de Granavilla quondam fuit cum omnibus pertinentiis suis et totam terram quam idem Ricardus habuit inter Thawy et Neth, in bosco et plano cum omnibus partinentiis suis; habenda et tenenda in liberam puram et perpetuara elemosinam, quieta ab omni servicio sicut predictus Ricardus ea illis prius dedit et carta sua confirmavit. Salvis tenementis burgensium nostrorum de Neth...Datum per manum W. de Gray cancellarii nostri apud Wudestock, v. die Augusti, anno regni nostri ix. (John by the grace of God (king of England...other titles and styles)...Know ye all that we have given and conceded and by our present charter confirmed to God and to the Church of the Holy Trinity of Neath and to the monks there serving God the place where the castle of Richard de Grenville once was with all its appurtenances and all the land which the same Richard held between the (Rivers) Thawy and Neath, in wood and plain with all appurtenances. To have and to hold in pure and perpetual frankalmoinage, free from all service just as the foresaid Richard gave to them before and as his charter confirmed. Excepting our own burgage tenements in Neath. Given by the hand of W. de Gray our chancellor at Woodstock on the 5th day of August in our regnal year 9")

Marriages & progeny

Richard de Grenville is thought to have married twice:

Progeny (actual)

No surviving charter of his mentions any children and the fact that the lordship and castle of Neath escheated to the overlord the Earl of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan, the son-in-law and heir of Robert FitzHamon, suggested to Round that he left no children to inherit his possessions.[17] Likewise, he held a few manors in Devon from the feudal barony of Gloucester, one of these being Naissa (Ash Reigny) which was re-granted after his death by the overlord to the de Reigny family.[18] This evidence of no descent of the lands of the Westcountry Grenville family from Richard I de Grenville's lands suggested to Round that the latter family was not in fact descended from the lord of Neath, as the family pedigrees and tradition suggest.[19]

Progeny (traditional)

Arms of the Grenville family of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton in Devon and of Bideford in Devon: Gules, three clarions or. These were the early canting arms or heraldic badge adopted at the start of the age of Heraldry in about 1200 by the de Clare family, feudal barons of Clare in Suffolk, which inherited the Earldom of Gloucester, the feudal barony of Gloucester, and the Lordship of Glamorgan, who were overlords of the Grenvilles at Bideford. They feature in the mediaeval armorial tiles of Neath Abbey and Margam Abbey in Glamorgan and Keynsham Abbey in Somerset, all of which escheated to or were founded by the Earls of Gloucester.[20] Of all the tenants and followers of the de Clares, only the Grenville family adopted their arms[21]

Despite the opinion of Round that no evidence exists to prove that Richard de Grenville left progeny, he is firmly established by tradition, by various pedigrees and indeed by a royal warrant of King Charles II, as the founder and ancestor of the prominent Westcountry Grenville family of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton in Devon and of Bideford in Devon, created in 1661 Earl of Bath, after which date the family changed the spelling of their name to "Granville".[22] John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701) played an important role in the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 to King Charles II (1660-1685) and by that king he was elevated to the peerage as Earl of Bath with several subsidiary titles. In the royal warrant conferring these dignities on John Granville the king acknowledged a common descent with him from Rollo, 1st Duke of Normandy:[23]

"Whereas it appears unto us that our right trusty and right well-beloved cousin John Earl of Bath, Our Grome of the Stole and First Gentleman of the Bedchamber derives his title in a direct line as heir male unto Robert FitzHamon Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan in the reignes of King William the Conqueror, King William Rufus and King Henry the First, and who was the son and heir of the Lord Hamon Dentatus, Earl of Corboile and Lord of Thorigny and Granville in Normandy, whereby he justly claims his descent from the younger son as we ourself do from the eldest, of Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, our com'on ancestor".

Supposed titles

According to tradition and as confirmed retrospectively by the 1661 warrant of King Charles II, Richard de Grenville was deemed to be the heir male of his elder brother Robert FitzHamon, who was supposed to have been Earl of Corboile and Lord of Thorigny and Granville in Normandy. Although FitzHamon's lands passed via his daughter Mabel FitzHamon (1090-1157) to her husband Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (d.1147) and to their descendants, FitzHamon's Norman titles were inexplicably deemed to have passed to his brother Richard de Grenville as his heir male; Round points out that in fact, under ancient Norman law, titles could indeed be inherited via female lines.[24] It was from the 1661 royal warrant that the Granville family of Stowe and Bideford were granted licence to use these titles, even retrospectively on monuments they later erected to their ancestors. The titles were mere historical curiosities and carried no rights in the Peerage of Great Britain.

Retirement and death

According to Round, Richard I de Grenville died after June 1142.[25] This deduction follows from his last being recorded as having signed (as Richard de Greinvill) a charter dated "probably June 1142" as a sworn pledge giver to Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester in his treaty of alliance with Miles Earl of Hereford.

By tradition Richard de Grenville is said by Prince (d.1723),[26] (apparently following Fuller's Worthies)[27]) after he had founded Neath Abbey and bestowed upon it all his military acquisitions for its maintenance, to have "returned to his patrimony at Bideford where he lived in great honour and reputation the rest of his days". However, according to Round no proof exists that Richard I de Grenville ever held the manor of Bideford, which was later one of the principal seats of the Westcountry Grenville family. It was however certainly one of the constituent manors of the Honour of Gloucester granted by King William Rufus to Robert FitzHamon."[28] Richard de Grenville is known to have held seven knight's fees from the Honour of Gloucester, either granted to him by his brother FitzHamon or the latter's son-in-law and heir Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (1100–1147). Round supposes instead that the Grenvilles of Bideford and Stowe were descended from a certain "Robert de Grenville" (alias de Grainville, de Grainavilla, etc.) who was a junior witness to Richard's foundation charter of Neath Abbey and who in the 1166 Cartae Baronum return was listed as holding one knight's fee from the Earl of Gloucester, feudal baron of Gloucester. Robert's familial relationship, if any, to Richard is unknown.

A Grenville family pedigree dated 1639 stated that in his old age Richard undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in which city he died.[29] This story appears to derive from the Gwentian Chronicle or Aberporgwm Brut, which adds that he brought back from the land of Canaan a man named Lalys who was "well-versed in the science of architecture, who erected monasteries, castles and churches" and who afterwards went to London as architect to King Henry I.[30]

1860 Depiction at Kilkhampton

1860 imaginary depiction of Richard de Grenville (d. post 1142) (right) and his elder brother Robert FitzHamon (d.1107) (left), Church of St James the Great, Kilkhampton, Cornwall

An imaginary depiction of Richard I de Grenville (d. post 1142) and his elder brother Robert FitzHamon (d.1107)[31]) is contained within one of the two Granville windows by Clayton and Bell[32] erected in 1860 by supposed descendants of the former within the Granville Chapel of the Church of St James the Great, Kilkhampton, Cornwall. The seat of the Grenville family ("Granville" after 1661 when elevated to the Earldom of Bath[33]) was Stowe within the parish of Kilkhampton. Below the left-hand figure is inscribed: "Rob. FitzHamon Earl of Corboyle", with attributed arms under showing: Azure, a lion rampant guardant or impaling Azure, a lion rampant or a bordure of the last. The right hand figure is of Richard de Granville, the younger brother of Robert FitzHamon and one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan who followed his brother in effecting the conquest of Glamorgan. He holds in his hands the church of his foundation of Neath Abbey, Glamorgan. Below is inscribed: "Ric. de Granville Earl of Corboyle" with attributed arms under showing: Gules, three clarions or (the arms of the Grenvilles' later overlord and Robert FitzHamon's heir in the feudal barony of Gloucester,[34] Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, which arms were later adopted by the Grenvilles[35]) with an inescutcheon of pretence of Gules, three lions passant argent. The Granvilles claimed in the 17th century to have been the heirs male of Robert FitzHamon (who left only a daughter as his sole heiress) in his supposed Earldom of Corboil.[36] The windows were erected in 1860 by the heirs of the Grenville family: George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland KG (1786-1861); John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831–1896); George Granville Francis Egerton, 2nd Earl of Ellesmere (1823–1862); Lord John Thynne (1798-1881), DD, Canon of Westminster, a younger son of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837), KG.[37]

Sources

References

  1. Round, p.130
  2. Round, p.130
  3. Round, p.137: his charter granting Litaham (Littleham near Bideford, Devon) to Neath Abbey mentions his wife Constance and his brother William and two nephews
  4. Round, p.136
  5. Round, p.136
  6. Round, p.136
  7. Round, p.137
  8. Clark, G.T. Cartae et Alia Munimenta Quae ad Dominium de Glamorgancia Pertinent, vol.2, p.309, Charter CCCVII
  9. Granville, 1895, p.26
  10. Granville, 1895, p.26
  11. Granville, 1895, pp.30-1
  12. Granville, 1895, p.26
  13. Granville, 1895, p.29
  14. Granville, 1895, p.30
  15. Round, p.136
  16. Granville, 1895, p.26
  17. Round, p.138
  18. Round, p.138
  19. Round, p.138: "That Neath did not pass to his alleged descendants is an awkward fact". He calls the Grenville pedigree "a mendacious story" (p.137)
  20. Round, p.152
  21. Round, p.152
  22. Round, p.130
  23. Quoted by Round. pp.140-141, document dated 26 April 1661 under the royal sign manual. Published in Collectanea Topog. et Gen., vol.vii, pp.193-4
  24. Round, p.153, note 71
  25. Round, p.137
  26. Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, p.440, biography of Sir Theobald Grenvil
  27. Round, p.138
  28. Round, p.139
  29. Round, p.137
  30. Round, p.137, note 23
  31. Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169, p.137
  32. Church Guidebook, St James the Great Kilkhampton, 2012, p.11
  33. Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169
  34. Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.6, Barony of Gloucester
  35. Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169
  36. Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169
  37. Per brass plaque below easternmost window
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