William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber
| William de Braose | |
|---|---|
| Lord of Bramber | |
| Spouse(s) | Agnes de St. Clare |
| Issue | |
| Titles and styles | |
| Noble family | House of Braose |
| Died | 1093-1096 |
William de Braose (or William de Briouze), First Lord of Bramber (died 1093/1096) was previously lord of Briouze, Normandy. He was granted lands in England by William the Conqueror soon after he and his followers had invaded and controlled Saxon England.
Braose had been given extensive lands in Sussex by 1073. He became feudal baron of the Rape of Bramber where he built Bramber Castle. Braose was also awarded lands around Wareham and Corfe in Dorset, two manors in Surrey, Southcote in Berkshire and Downton in Wiltshire and became one of the most powerful of the new feudal barons of the early Norman era.
He continued to bear arms alongside King William in campaigns in England, Normandy and Maine in France.
He was a pious man and made considerable grants to the Abbey of Saint Florent, in Saumur, and endowed the foundation of priories at Sele near Bramber and at Briouze.
He was soon occupying a new Norman castle at Bramber, guarding the strategically important harbour at Steyning, and began a vigorous boundary dispute and power struggle with the monks of Fécamp Abbey in Normandy, to whom William the Conqueror had granted Steyning, brought to a head by the Domesday Book, completed in 1086.
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