Withenoc
| Withenoc | |
|---|---|
| Born | c 1035? possibly La Boussac, Brittany |
| Died | after 1101 possibly Saumur |
| Nationality | Breton |
| Other names |
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| Occupation |
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| Known for | Lord of Monmouth 1075-1082 |
Withenoc or Guihenoc de La Boussac (also spelled in other ways, including Wihenoc, Gwethenoc, Withenock, etc.) (c. 1035 - after 1101) was a nobleman and monk of Breton origin, who was lord of Monmouth between 1075 and 1082 and was responsible for founding the Priory at Monmouth.
Withenoc was the son of Caradoc de La Boussac, a nobleman with estates near Dol in Brittany. He first appears in the records as an adult in 1055. He married a daughter of the Archbishop of Dol, and had a younger brother, Baderon, and a son, Ratier (or Raterius), who both became monks.
Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William fitzOsbern was appointed Earl of Hereford, and established the first castle at Monmouth, overlooking the rivers Wye and Monnow at the southernmost tip of the area then known as Archenfield in the Welsh Marches. William fitzOsbern was killed in battle in 1071, and his son Roger was disgraced in 1075. King William then gave the lordship of Monmouth to Withenoc. It has been suggested that Bretons who supported the Normans in their conquest were given responsibility for areas in the borders of Wales because, at that time, the two Brythonic languages of Breton and Welsh were sufficiently mutually comprehensible to allow communication with the Welsh people to take place.
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