Sir Fulk Fitz Warine Knight

  Information about this person:

• Legend: The history of Fulk Fitswarine .
This link is to a .pdf file of the translation of the medieval manuscript The History of Fulk Fitswarine which resides in the British Museum and which explains the link of Fulk Fitz Warine III to Robin Hood.

• Background Information. ⁹⁴⁰
Fulk had six sons, of whom the eldest, Fulk III, in the year ending Michaelmas 1200, was fined 100l, with King John to have judgment concerning Witinton Castle and its appurtenances as his right, which had been adjudged to him by consideration of the curia regis' [Eyton, Antiquities, vii. 72]. The king was bribed by Meuric de Powys to confirm the latter in the possession of Whittington, whereupon in 1201, Fulk, his brothers, and friends rebelled. The traditional story of the rebellion may be seen in the romance mentioned later. The outlawry was revoked by patent dated from Rouen, 11 Nov. 1203 [Rot. Patent, 1835, i. 36]. In the next year John restored Whittington [ib. i. 46].

Probably before 1 Oct. 1207 Fulk, married Matilda, daughter of Robert le Vavasour, and widow of Theobald Walter. He received several marks of favor from the king [Rot. Litt. Claus. an. 9_o et an. 14s_o Joannis, 1833, i. 92, 126, 129], and was with him in 1212 at Allerton and Durham [Rot. Chart. in turri Lond. asserv. 1837, i. pt. i. 187, 188], and at Bere Regis in 1213 [ib. pp. 193, 199]. In 1215 he was making war upon his neighbors, had lost the royal favor, and had been despoiled of fiefs [Rot. Litt. Claus. i. 270]. He was one of the malcontent barons who met at Stamford and Brackley in 1215 [Matt. Paris, Chronica, 1874, ii. 585], and was among those specially excommunicated in the bull of Innocent II of 16 Dec. [Rymer, Fœdera, 1816, i. 139]. Henry III bestowed some of the lands of the rebellious barons upon his own adherents [Testa de Nevill, pp. 45, 48, 49, 55, 56]. The king styles him 'manifestus inimicus notster' in 1217 [Rot. Litt. Claus. i. 321]. Fulk made his peace in the following year [ib. pp. 352, 276]. Some time between 1220 and 1230 he founded Alderbury Priory. In 1221 and 1222 sufficient confidence was not placed in him to be permitted to strengthen Whittington without giving security for loyal behavior [ib. i. 460, 520]. Full Seisin was granted to him by writs of 11 July and 9 Oct. 1223 [ib. pp. 554, 565]. On 30 June 1245 an assembly of the barons sent him as their representative to order the papal nuncio to quit the country [Matt. Paris, Chronica, iv. 420]. His first wife having died he married Clarice de Auberville [Excerpta e Rot. Fin. 1836, ii. 89]. He probably died about 1256-1257.

The romance states that he was blind during the last seven years of his life. He died before August 1260, and his affairs were managed for some time before his death by his son, Fulk IV, who was drowned at the battle of Lewes in 1264. By the death of an infant in 1420 the elder male line of this family became extinct. Eleven Fulk Fitz Warines in succession bore the same Christian name.

In the traditional history Fulk I is omitted, and the career of his two successors combined as that of 'Fouke de Brun,' the outlaw and popular hero. We are told how he roamed through the country with his brothers (recalling the 'Quatre Fils Aimon'), cousins, and friends, and the nimble-witted jongleur, John de Rampayne, seeking forest adventures of the Robin Hood type, spoiling the king, and succoring the poor, and how he was twice compelled to quit England and encounter sea perils from the Orkneys to Barbary. The story is preserved in a single manuscript in French in the British Museum [Reg. 12. c. xii.], first printed privately by Sir T. Duffus Hardy, and then published as 'Histoire de Folques Fitz-Warin, par Francisque Michel,' Paris, 1840, large 8v0, and with an English translation and notes by Thomas Wright for the Warton Club in 1855. It is included by L. Moland and C. d'Héricault in 'Nouvelles Françoises en prose du xiv_e siècle, Paris, 1858, 12mo. The text and a new translation are given in J. Stevenson's edition of Radulphi de Coggeshall Chronicon' [Rolls Series, 1875]. The manuscript was transcribed before 1320, and is evidently paraphrased from and earlier record written before the end of the thirteenth century in octosyllabic verses, some of which remain unaltered. An English version in alliterative verse was seen by Leland, who reproduces 'Thinges excerptid owte of an old Englisch boke yn Ryme of the Gestes of Guarine' [Collectanea, 1774, i. 230-7]. Pierre de Langtoft of Bridlington [Cottonian MS. Julius A. v.], writing probably before 1320, refers to the romance, and Robert de Brunne, writing about the same period, says:

'Thus of dan Waryn in his boke men rede.'

It is a compilation from family records and traditions first put into shape by 'an Anglo-Norman trouvère in the service of that great and powerful family, and displays an extraordinary minute knowledge of the topography of the borders of Wales, and more especially of Ludlow and its immediate neighborhood' [T. Wright's ed. 1855, p. xv]. There are historical anachronisms and other inaccuracies. As a story it is full of interest.

[Eyton's Antiquities of Shropshire, ii. 2-12, vii. 66-69, xi. 29-42; T. Wright's Sketch of Ludlow Castle, 2nd ed. 1856, and Essays on the Middle Ages, 1846, ii. 147-63; Frère's Bibliographe Normand, 1860, ii. 616, 619; Histoire Littéaire de la France, 1877, xxv i. 164-86; Revue Contempraine, 1858, iii. 308-17; Ward's Cat. of Romances in the British Museum, 1883, i. 501-8. The account of the Fitzwarines by Dugdale (Baronage, 1675, pp. 443, &c.) is full of errors.]

~ H.R. Tedder, The Dictionary of National Biography, pp. 223-224

• Background Information. ⁷³³
This Fulk Fitz Warine was fined 100£ for what his father had been fined 40 merks, by King John for Witington Castle. King John was motivated by a bribe offered by Meuric de Powis. It is evident that this was the reason that Fulk Fitz Warin and his friends rebelled in 1201.

Fulk Fitz Warine's outlawry was revoked by a Patent, 15 Nov 1203. Among his associates involved with his rebellion were William Fitz Fulk, Philip fit Guarin, and Ivo fitz Guarin. possibly his brothers; as well as Roger de Preston, Henry de Pontesbury, William Malveissin, John and Richard Preston, Philip de Hanewude, Homo de Wikefeld and Philip de Wemm. Fulk's mother, Hawise de Dinan, too had been associated in her son's forfeiture, for the Writ which orders the Justiciar of England to restore Fulk's lands, also calls for a similar reinstatement of his mother's lands. [Rot. Liberate, p.74]

The Fitz-Warin Chronicle, which is a romantic tale of a "Robin Hood-like" charater of Fulk Fitz Warine is more myth than reality, and it is full of inaccuracies. Some of these inaccuracies have to do with his marriage. Robert William Eyton, compared the Chronicle with records, and says that he doesn't find documentation for the earlier parts of the Chronicle, but that the part that deals with the later years of his life are much closer to the documentation.

Theobald Walter, Butler of Ireland, was living in August 1205, but deceased on 8 Oct 1205. Theobald's widow was Matilda, a daughter of Robert le Vavasour, to whom, King John, 19 Feb 1206, made agrant empowering Robert le Vassour to take possion of all his widowed daughter's estates, except Amunderness, and to hold them until Midlent. These lands were Mitilda's dower, and her future marriage was in the hand of her Father. She married Fulk Fitz Warine before 1 Oct 1207 but after 22 Jul 1207.

In Sep 1212, Fulk accompanied King John on his Northern Journey into Ireland, and attested to Charters at Allerton and Durham. On 12 Apr 1213, the King gave him materials out of Leicestershire Forests, wherewith to build at Norbourough, an estate of his wife's. In May 1214, he had letters of exemption from the scutage of Poitou, and 2 Jun, he was in King John's Court at Roche aux Moins, in Anjou. In 1215, Fulk fitz Warine was enfeoffed by Hugh Bigot, in the Berkshire Manor of Wantage. This was a grante for his military services. Afterwards, Fitz Warine's heirs held Wantage under Marshall, Earl of Pembroke.

Fullk was among the malcontent Barons who met at Brackley, 27 Apr 1215, and his name appears among the Barons who were excommunicated by Bull of Pope Innocent III, 16 Dec 1215. On 10 Sep 1217, a Writ of young King Henry declares Fulk Fitz Warine to be an open enemy to the Crown, and consigns his Leicestershire Manor of Norborough to the Earl of Warwick, under whom it was held. Fulk made peace with the King, and on 4 Nov 1217, his lands in Leicestershire, Shropshire, Lancashire, Norfol and Suffolk are returned to him.

From lawsuits between the half siblings of Hawise in 1208 and 1226, we find that Maud le Vavasour was deceased in 1226. on 3 Oct 1229, Fulk Fitz Warine was in the King's Court at Westminster. On 20 Apr 1230, he was at Portsmouth. On 26 July 1236, Fulk Fitz Warine was in North wales, and William Fitz Warine was in South Wales. They were appointed standing Arbitrators of the truce then excisting between King Henry and Lewellyn. [Testa de Nevill, p.45]

The King, on 6 Nov 1245, by Patent dated at Lilleshall, orders Fulk Fitz Warine, John le Strange and Henry de Audley to put an end to a quarrel, about land in Dendover, bwtween Griffin ap Madoc, Griffin ap Wenhunwen and Roger de Montalt. Fulk Fitz Warine appears throughout the records from this point on until 1255.
In October 1250, Fulco Fitz Warine and his wife Clarice, were fined ome merk for a writ in Kentish Lawsuit. [Rot. Fin., II. 89, 138] The Clarice is undoubtable Clarice de Auberville.

~The Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. VII, p. 71-79

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
Fulk Fitz Warin of Whittington, living Oct. 1250, married as his 1^st wife, Maud, widow Theobald Walter, and daughter of Robert le Vasasur. He married, as his 2^nd wife, Clarice Dauberbille.

This Fulk had been outlawed, but was pardoned 15 Nov 1203, his castle of Whittington being restored to him 17 Oct 1204. He was the son and heir of Fulk Fitz Warin, living in Nov. 1194, and Hawise, daughter and coheir of Josce de Dinan. The last named Fulk, was son and heir of Fulk Fitz Warin, of Whittington and Alveston, who died in 1170/1, son of the shadowy or mythical Warin, of Metz in Lorraine.

~ Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, Vol. V., (Fitz Warren), p. 495, footnote (c)

• Background Information. ¹⁸³
William Pantulf's name appears in the records up to 4 Feb 1223, the time of his death, when it appears that Fulk Fitz Warin, the grandfather of Matilda Pantulf, gave the King 600 merks for custody of his land and heirs. These heirs were two daughters, Matilda and Elizabeth. Elizabeth most likely died unmarried soon after her father. Matilda (Maud) married Ralph Pincernator or le Botiler, sometime before 1243 and Wem passed to Matilda and Ralph.

~Antiquites of Shropshire, Vol. IX, p. 169

Fulk married Clarice d’Auberville, daughter of Robert d’Auberville and Unknown ⁹⁴⁰.^,941 (Clarice d’Auberville was born of Langdon, Kent, England and died after 8 Oct 1250 in England ¹⁹³.)

Fulk next married Maud le Vavasour, daughter of Sir Robert le Vavasour Knight and Juliana de Multon ¹⁴¹. (Maud le Vavasour was born in 1183 in Edlington, West Riding, Yorkshire, England and died before 1226 in Whittington, Shropshire, England.)