Pierre I de Grandson and His Family — Part 2

by David Williams ^{^[1]}

Abstract

Very little has been written about Pierre I de Grandson (d.1258), and yet he was one of the most important members of the Vaudois nobility during the first half of the 13th century as the counts of Savoy began their dominance of the Pays de Vaud. From widely scattered data the author presents in this two-part article a study of Pierre and his immediate descendants, whose brilliant careers, wealth and prestige both in Vaud and in England were enabled by a policy of realistic and interested co-operation with the house of Savoy developed by Pierre and his brother Henri de Champvent, and continued by Pierre's famous son Othon I de Grandson. Evidence from English and Swiss sources shows that Pierre fathered at least six sons and probably some nine daughters, most of whom can be identified as Othon's sisters.

Part 2 of the article surveys the lives and marriages of Pierre's known and probable daughters, and biographies are provided for several of his grandchildren. Connections with the noble families of Bonvillars, Cicon, Cossonay, Cusance, Estavayer, Gruyère, Oron, Strätlingen, Tour de Châtillon-en-Valais, Thoire-Villars, and Vuippens are explored; and the careers of some Grandson/Grandison bastards of the period are outlined.

Foundations (2022) 15: 2-63 © Copyright FMG and the author

Continued from Foundations Vol. 14 (2022) pp. 3–56.

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The Common Norman Ancestor to the Verdun, Haviland and Battaglia Families

by Dominic Gagnon,^{^[1]} Philip Beddows, Bertram de Verdun, Steve Gilbert, Christopher Haviland, Iain McDonald

Abstract

This study began in 2018 when a French descendant of the Verdun family sought to prove genetically his direct link to Bertram de Verdun, born around 1040 and a contemporary of William the Conqueror. In addition to achieving this, the analysis of the phylogenetic tree and the study of historical documents preserved in England and Normandy revealed a common and unsuspected kinship with the Haviland family of Guernsey, two American Battaglia families whose ancestry originated from Sicily, and the Fauchon from Quebec, who trace their ancestry from Avranchin in Normandy. The same markers on the Y chromosome shared by the descendants of these families allow us to confirm a thousand-year-old common origin and trace their multiple migratory routes.

This article was originally published in French in the Revue de l’Avranchin, Normandie, and in L’Ancêtre, a quarterly of the Société de généalogie de Québec, both in June 2022.

Foundations (2022) 15: 64-85 © Copyright FMG and the authors

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by Hillary Lowden and Michael Andrews-Reading[1]

Abstract

Many authoritative publications purport to provide information about the immediate family of Sir Thomas Wauton (Waweton), Speaker of the House of Commons in 1425. This article examines a wide variety of primary sources, including heraldic evidence, which together demonstrate that much of the accepted ‘fact’ about Sir Thomas and his ancestry is seriously flawed, and offers instead a detailed reconstruction of both his biography and the wider Wauton family from the 13th to the 16th centuries.

Foundations (2022) 15: 86-121 © Copyright FMG and the authors

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by David Williams [1]

Abstract

A black lion rampant, crowned or uncrowned, single or double-tailed, was used as coat-armour by the Morleys, the Burnells, and the Cressys from the 13th century. This led to a dispute during the 14th century between the Morleys and the Burnells, and the latter's relatives the Lovells, as to who had the right to use the arms Argent, a lion sable crowned or. This paper explores the background to the controversy; examines recorded variations to the disputed arms; and reviews the conflicting narratives and evidence presented to the Court of Chivalry in the causes of Burnell v. Morley (1347) and Lovell v. Morley (1385–1391). Differencing of the disputed arms by the Burnells with a bordure azure raises the question as to whether this was for cadency or for another purpose. Although the genealogies of some families with which both the Morleys and the Burnells had links do reveal relationships, nothing points to them having a common interest in the disputed arms by virtue of a descent in blood and arms from a common ancestor. Lack of evidence precludes a firm conclusion being reached, but it seems more likely that the differencing was for non-relationship, and took the form of and was meant as a change in the Burnell arms.

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by Michael Andrews-Reading [1]

Abstract

Heraldic and other contemporary evidence shows that Anne, the wife of Sir John Colshull of Cornwall (d.1419) and Anne, the wife of John Yarde of Surrey (d.1450) were the same person.

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Foundations Volume 15