William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey

For other people of the same name, see William de Warenne (disambiguation).

William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey (died 6 January 1148, Battle of Mount Cadmus) was the eldest son of the William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth de Vermandois. He was generally loyal to king Stephen. He fought at the Battle of Lincoln (1141), and was one of the leaders of the army that pursued the empress Matilda in her flight from Winchester, and which captured Robert of Gloucester. Battle of Mount Cadmus took place near Laodicea on January 6, 1148, during the Second Crusade.

Crusader Knight (1146–48)

He was one of the nobles that, along with Louis VII of France, took crusading vows at Vezelay in 1146, and he accompanied the initial army of the Second Crusade the next year. He was killed at the Battle of Mount Cadmus while the crusader army was marching across Anatolia (modern day Turkey) on their way to the Holy Land.

In December 1147 the French-Norman force reached Ephesus. They were joined by remnants of the army of the Holy Roman Empire, which had previously taken heavy losses at Dorylaeum. They marched across southwest Turkey and fought an unsuccessful battle at Laodicea on the border between Byzantine Empire and Seljuks of Rum (3-4 January 1148). On 8 January they battled again in the area of Mount Cadmus, where Turks ambushed the infantry and non-combatants only, because they had become separated from the rest of the army. King Louis and his bodyguard of Knights Templar and noblemen recklessly charged the Turks. Most of the knights were killed, including William, and Louis barely escaped with his life. His army arrived later at the coastal city of Adalia. The battle is recorded by Odo of Deuil, personal chaplain to Louis, in his book De Profectione on pages 68 through 127.

Family

He was a great-grandson of Henry I of France, and half-brother to Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, and Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford.

William married Adela (or Ela), daughter of William Talvas, count of Ponthieu, who was the son of Robert of Bellême.

They had one child, a daughter, Isabel, who was his heir. She married first William of Blois, second son of king Stephen, and who became earl of Warenne or Surrey. After he died without children in October 1159, she married Hamelin, half-brother of Henry II, who also became Earl of Warenne or Surrey. He took the de Warenne surname^{[citation needed]}, and their descendants carried on the earldom.

Sources

• William de Warenne Genealogy Wikia
• The battle is recorded by Odo de Deuil, personal chaplain to Louis, in his book De Profectione - pp 68–127.
• Warren Family History Project

Peerage of England
Preceded by William de Warenne	Earl of Surrey (1st creation) 1138–1148	Succeeded by Isabel de Warenne