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ALBINI, DE ALBINI, DE AUBIGNY

NIGEL DE AUBIGNY was a Domesday tenant-in-chief at Cainhoe and elsewhere in Bedfordshire. He probably derived his name from St. Martin de Aubigny and may have been a younger brother of Roger de Aubigny who was the father of:

WILLIAM DE AUBIGNY founder of the lineage of Arundel, d. 1139. William de Aubigny's lands were in Cotentin, Normandy. In 9/1107 William de Aubigny, the elder, and Cecily, his wife, witnessed a charter of Ralph de Raines and his brothers when they gave land to Belvoir priory. In the Sempringham charters printed by Major Poynton in the Genealogist, vols. xv there are several documents dating in 1150s of William de Reines granting land, havint the consent of his lord, William de Aubigny of Belvoir. Paid half a knight's fee in Kent, England to Richard de Costentin. Other fees were given to his son, William de Albini, the Earl of Arundel, to John, Count of Eu, in marriage with his daughter, Alice. Issue:

WILLIAM DE ALBINI b. Ca 1100 in Arundel Castle, Sussex, England, d. 1176 at Arundel Castle, Sussex, England m. (1) Maud, dau. Of Roger le Bigod and (2) 11/35/1139 Princess Adelicia Brabant b. Ca 1100 Brabant, Netherlands, d. 4/23/1151 Arundel, Sussex, England, a daughter of Godfrey I, Duke of Brabant andd wife, Ida of Namur. Adelicia, the Fair Maid of Brabant, was the widow of Henry I of England. William de Albini was her second husband. William de Albini was Lord of Buckenham, Norfolk, England. He is said to have been surnamed "with the strong hand." It was through the marriage with his second wife and her life interest in the castle of Arundel, that he became lord of that castle. Upon the accession of King Henry II in 1154 he was confirmed in his earldom of Sussex and was given in fee the honour of Arundel, which he had previously only held for his wife's life. In Nov. 1164 he was dispatched with other magnates on an embassy to Louis VII and to the pope with reference to Becket's appeal, and, in 1167 was selected by the king to escort his dau. Into Germany upon her marriage with Henry of Saxony in 1168. Issue:

ALICE DE ALBINI b. 1140 Arundel Castle, Sussex, England m. (1) John, Count of Eu (2) Alfred de Sancto Martino, founder of Robertsbridge abbey, Sussex. Issue:

WILLIAM DE ALBINI the second Earl of Arundel, was b. Cat Arundel Castle, Sussex, England, d. 1196 at Arundel Castle m. Maud Waltheof, daughter of Waltheof II, Earl of Northumberland and his wife, Judith. Maud was the widow of Roger de St. Hilliario, the third Earl of Hertford. Issue:

1. William Meschines de Albini d. 1222 in Belvoir Castle, England m. Mabel de Meschines, daughter of Hugh de Kyvelioc, Earl of Palatine and his wire, Lady Bertrand de Montfort. William was known as the "Lion Slayer", Lord of Buckingham in Norfolk, Earl of Arundel in 1139. William d. in 1222 at Belvoir Castle. He was the favorite of King John, witnessed John's concession of the kingdom to the pope 5/15/1213, and, accompanying him to Runnymede 6/15/1215, became one of the sureties for his faithful observance of the charter. When John abandoned Winchester, however, to Louis on 6/14/1216, he went over to the winning side. In 1218 he set sail for the East, took part in the siege of Damietta in 1219, and died in Italy on his way home, his son doing homage for his lands 4/12/1221. Issue:

(a) Mabel de Albini B. Arundel Castle, Sussex, England m. 119R at Arundel Castle, Robert Montalt or Robert Mohaut.

(b) Cecily de Albini b. at Arundel Castle, Sussex, England.

(c) Isabella de Albini b. at Arundel Castle, Sussex, England m. John FitzAlan.

(d) William de Albini, Lord of Belvoir Castle, b. Arundel Castle, Sussex, England, d. 5/1/1236 Arundel Castle, Sussex, England m. Lady Margery de Umfraville, dau. of Odonel de Umfraville. He was Sheriff of Rutland. In the year of 1215 he joined the barons at Runnymede and was elected one of the twenty-five barons of the Charter, but then withdrew to his castle at Belvoir, and,though included by name in the excommunication of the barons, refused to attend the Ilounslow tournament on 7/6. Issue:

1. William de Albini, Lord of of Belvoir Castle, third baron, d. 1285 Belvoir Castle, England m. (1) Albreda Biseth, dau. of Lord Henry Biseth (2) Lady Isabel. William was a Surety of the Magna Charta and when his father died, he was at ward of King Henry 11. In 1194 he was in the army of Richard I in Normandy. In 1201 when the barons refused to attend their sovereign into France, King John demanded that thei castles should be given up to him as security for their allegiance, beginning with William de Albini of whom he claimed Belvoir Castle. Instead, William de Albini gave him his son, William, as a hostage. Issue:

a. Lady Isabel de Albini who d. 1301 at Belvoir Castle, England rn. (1) 1244 st Belvoir Castle, Robert de Ros.

Lord of Hamelake. Isabel was a ward of the king and 5/17/1244 Dernard de Savoy and Hugh Gifford were commanded to deliver her to her husband, Robert de Ros, grandson of the Surety of that name. She m. (2) Marmaduke Thwens.

William de Albini, Lord of of Belvoir Castle, third baron, died in 1285 at Belvoir Castle.



Arundel Castle is located in Arundel, West Sussex, England and was founded in 1067 by Roger de Montgomery, the first earl of Arundel. The castle was damaged during the English civil war but restored during the 18th and 19th centuries. It has been the home of the Duke of Norfolk for over 400 years. The oldest feature in the castle is the the motte (an artificial mound, over 100 feet high from the dry moat) constructed in 1068: followed by the gatehouse in 1070. Under his will, King Henry I (1068-1135) settled the Castle and lands in dower to his second wife, Adeliza of Louvain. Three years after his death, she was married to William d'Albini II, who built the stone shell keep on the motte. King Henry II (1133-89) built much of the oldest part of the stone Castle, in 1155 and which time he confirmed William d'Albini II as Earl of Arundel, with the Honour and Castle of Arundel.

Sources: Americans of Royal Descent by Charles H. Browning. Dictionary of National Biography; The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families by Lewis C. Loyd; Dictionary of National Biography.