William (Longspee) (Plantagenet) ante 1170 - 1226
William (Longspee) (Plantagenet) , Issue. Tim Powys-Lybbe wrote: The British Dictionary of National Biography has this on Rosamund de Clifford: "Rosamond is commonly reported to have had two sons by Henry II, viz. Geoffrey, archbishop of York, and William Longsword, earl of Salisbury. This statement does not seem to reach further back than the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century. Apparently it is unknown to any English chronicler or historian before the publication of Speed's History of Great Britain` in 1611. It has since been accepted by both Carte and Eyton. That Geoffrey and William cannot both have been sons of Fair Rosamond is plain from the fact that the former was born in 1151-2 (Gir. Cambr. iv. 384), whereas Rosamond is spoken of as a girl` (puellam) more than twenty years later (Gir. Cambr. De Instit. Princ. p. 91). We also know from Walter Map that Geoffrey's mother was called Ykenai or Hikenai (De Nug. Curial. pp. 228, 235); and it is worth notice that, according to Dr. Stubbs, William Longsword laid claim to the inheritance of a Sir Roger de Akeny, a name which bears a close resemblance to Walter Map's Ykenai (Gir. Cambr., ed. Dimock, vii. p. xxxvii). There is moreover no positive evidence in favour of William Longsword's being the son of Rosamond. In 1607, when Margaret, wife of George Clifford, third earl of Cumberland [q.v.], claimed the Clifford estates for her daughter Anne, and instituted proceedings against her brother-in-law Francis, another claimant, the Clifford genealogy was investigated, and the theory that William Longsword was the son of Rosamond Clifford was adopted. It is true that William Longsword first appears in history in 1196, when a son of Henry by Rosamond would come of age. The manor of Appleby in Lincolnshire was granted to one William Longsword (who proves to be the brother, and not the son, of Henry II) before 1200; the manor of Appleby in Westmoreland belonged to the Cliffords of the fourteenth century. A confusion between these two properties may well have led the suitors of 1607 to associate Longsword with the Clifford genealogy, and to support the former's suggested parentage." On the other hand Ray Phair is to be found as the author of an article on the soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup in July 2002 (poss 3rd July) in which he quoted a charter that said that William Longspee was the brother of the earl of Norfolk whose mother was definitely Ida. Ida is thought by some to be Ida de Tone but the evidence is not yet cast iron. Ray's account is accepted without question these days and all sources stating that William's mother was Rosamund are rubbish! You will find thousands of articles discussing this in the archives for the above s.g.m newsgroup. See its FAQ on: http://users.erols.com/wrei/faqs/medieval.html
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| Born: ante 1170 | Baptised:
| | Died: 7th Mar 1226 | Buried:
| | Family: Plantagenet |
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