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ALBEMARLE, EARLS AND DUKES OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 492 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ALBEMARLE, EARLS AND See also:DUKES OF . The name Albemarle, which now forms the See also:title of the earldom held by the See also:English See also:family of See also:Keppel, is an See also:early variant of the See also:French See also:Aumale (See also:Lat. See also:Alba Marla), other forms being Aubemarle and Aumerle, and is described in the patent of See also:nobility granted in 1696-1697 by See also:William III. to See also:Arnold Joost See also:van Keppel as " a See also:town and territory in the dukedom of See also:Normandy." The See also:fief of Aumale (q. v.) was granted by the See also:archbishop of See also:Rouen to See also:Odo of See also:Champagne, See also:brother-in-See also:law :of William the Conqueror, who erected it into a countship. On Odo's See also:death his son See also:Stephen succeeded not only to the countship of Aumale, but to the lordships of Holderness, of Bytham in See also:Lincolnshire, &c., which were subsequently known as the " See also:Fee and Honor of Albemarle." Stephen, who as a crusader had fought valiantly-. at See also:Antioch, died about 1127, leaving by his wife Hawise, daughter of See also:Ralph de See also:Mortimer, a son—William of See also:Blois, known as " le See also:Gros." William, who distinguished himself at the See also:battle of the See also:Standard (1138), and shared with See also:King Stephen in the defeat of See also:Lincoln (1141), married See also:Cicely, daughter of William Fitz-See also:Duncan, See also:grandson of See also:Malcolm, king of See also:Scotland, who as " See also:lady of Harewood " brought him vast estates. He founded abbeys at See also:Meaux in Holderness and at See also:Thornton, and died in 1179. His See also:elder daughter and heiress Hawise married (1) William de See also:Mandeville, 3rd See also:earl of See also:Essex (d. 1189), (2) William de Fortibus (de Fors, de Fortz or See also:des Forts 1), (3) See also:Baldwin de Betun or See also:Bethune, all of whom See also:bore the title of earls of Albemarle. Soon after the death of Baldwin (See also:October 13, 1213), William de For tibus, Hawise's son by her second See also:husband, was established by King See also:John in the territories of the countship of Albemarle, and in 1215 the whole of his See also:mother's estates were formally confirmed to him. He is described by See also:Bishop See also:Stubbs as " a feudal adventurer of the worst type," and for some See also:time was actively engaged in the struggles of the See also:Norman barons against John and See also:Henry III. He was one of the twenty-five executors of the See also:Great See also:Charter; but in the See also:war that followed sided with John, subsequently changing sides as often as it suited his policy. His See also:object was to revive the See also:independent See also:power of the feudal barons, and he co-operated to this end with Falkes de See also:Breaute (q.v.) and other See also:foreign adventurers established in the See also:country by John. This brought him into conflict with the great See also:justiciar, See also:Hubert de See also:Burgh, and in 1219 he was declared a See also:rebel and ex-communicated for attending a forbidden See also:tournament.

In 1220 matters were brought to a crisis by his refusal to surrender the two royal castles of See also:

Rockingham and Sauvey of which- he had been made See also:constable in 1216. Henry III. marched against theni in See also:person, the garrisons fled, and they See also:fell without a See also:blow. In the following See also:year, however, Albemarle, in See also:face of further efforts to reduce his power, See also:rose in revolt. He was now again excommunicated by the See also:legate See also:Pandulph at a See also:solemn See also:council held in St See also:Paul's, and the whole force of the See also:kingdom was set in See also:motion against him, a See also:special scutage—the " scutagium de Bihan "—being voted for this purpose by the Great Council. The See also:capture of his See also:castle of Bytham See also:broke his power; he sought See also:sanctuary and, at Pandulph's intercession, was pardoned on See also:condition of going for six years to the See also:Holy See also:Land. He remained in See also:England, however, and in 1223 was once more in revolt with Falkes de Breaute, the earl of See also:Chester and other turbulent See also:spirits. A reconciliation was once more patched up; but it was not 1 The name was derived from Fors, a See also:commune in the See also:canton of Prahecq in See also:Poitou. It is spelt Forz in a See also:deed of 1233, and the best See also:vernacular See also:form is, according to See also:Thomas Stapleton (See also:Preface to the See also:Liber de Antiquitate, See also:Camden See also:Soc., 1846, p. xxxiv. See also:note), de Fortz..until the fall of Falkes de Breaute that Albemarle finally settled down as an English See also:noble. In 1225 he witnessed Henry's third re-issue of the Great Charter; in 1227 he went as. See also:ambassador to See also:Antwerp; and in 1230 he accompanied Henry on his expedition to See also:Brittany. In 1241 he set out for the Holy Land, but died at See also:sea, on his way there, on the 26th of See also:March 1242. By his wife Avelina of Montfichet, William See also:left a- son, also named William, who married (1) See also:Christina (d. 1246), daughter and, co-heiress of Alan, See also:lord of See also:Galloway, (2) in 1248 See also:Isabella de Redvers (1237-'1292-3), daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, earl of See also:Devon and lord of the Isle of See also:Wight.

He played a conspicuous See also:

part in the reign of Henry III., notably in the, Mad See also:Parliament of ,z58, and died-at See also:Amiens in 126o.. His widow, Isabella, on the death of her brother Baldwin, 8th earl of Devon, in 1261, called herself countess of Devon.- She had two See also:children, Thomas, who died in 1269 unmarried, and Avelina, who married (1269) See also:Edmund See also:Plantagenet, earl of See also:Lancaster, and died: without issue in 1274.-' The " Honor of Albemarle ' was claimed, in 1278, by John de See also:Eston, or See also:Aston, as See also:heir of Arnicia, younger daughter of William le. Gros;; but he released his right to the earldom of Albemarle to the See also:crown in See also:exchange for certain lands in Thornton. The title of Albemarle, thus extinguished, was several times revived before it 'became attached to the family of its See also:present holders. In 1385, Thomas of -See also:Woodstock, See also:duke of See also:Gloucester; was; summoned to parliament as "duke of Albemarle," but ,he Seems never subsequently to have used the title. In any See also:case this creation became See also:extinct with the death of .his son See also:Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, in 1399. In 1411 Thomas Plantagenet, second son of.Henry IV., was created earl of Albemarle and duke of See also:Clarence, but at his death at the battle of Beauge (March 22, 1421) these honours became extinct. That of Albemarle was, however, soon revived (c. 1423) in favour of See also:Richard de See also:Beauchamp, earl of See also:Warwick, whose title of earl of Aumerle, however, died with him. In 166o See also:Charles II. bestowed the title of duke of Albemarle on See also:General See also:Monk (q.v.). Monk's hereditary claim tothissemiroyal See also:peerage was a very shadowy one, being based—as was also his subordinate See also:style of See also:Baron Beauchamp—on his descent from the youngest of the three co-heiresses of Richard, earl of Warwick, and, with yet more remote applicability, on that from See also:Arthur Plantagenet, a natural son of See also:Edward IV. The title became extinct in 1688, on the death of See also:Christopher, 2nd duke of Albemarle.

Finally, as mentioned above, the title of earl of Albemarle was bestowed by William III., without any. See also:

shadow ofhereditary claim, on his Dutch favourite Arnold joost van Keppel (see below), by whose descendants it is still held. The See also:motive for choosing this title was probably that, apart from its dignified traditions, it avoided the difficulty created by the fact that the Keppels had as yet no territorial possessions in the See also:British Islands.

End of Article: ALBEMARLE, EARLS AND DUKES OF

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