William Pantulf

Pantulf was from Normandy.Loyd Origins p. 76 His family had lived there since at least around 1030, as a charter of Jumièges Abbey shows the family as vassals of the House of Montgomery in the Montgomery lands near Sées.{{efn|The charter was granted by Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery and was witnessed by a William Pantulf, but whether the William the witness and the later William were the same person is not known.Douglas William the Conqueror p. 95}} Pantulf's mother was named Beatrice, and his sister was named Helwise, but his father's name and other siblings are not known.

After the Norman Conquest of England, Pantulf held lands in Shropshire from Earl Roger de Montgomery. The earl settled a number of his Norman vassals, including Pantulf, on his new lands in Sussex and Shropshire.Green Aristocracy p. 46 Pantulf was probably not present at the Battle of Hastings, likely due to Earl Roger's lack of participation in the campaign of conquest.Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 23 Pantulf's grants totalled eleven manors located in Hodnet Hundred.Bateson "Pantulf, William" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Pantulf's lands in England were centered on Wem, and are considered a feudal barony, making Pantulf the first Baron of Wem. Although he had substantial lands in England, Pantulf continued to spend most of his time on the continent.

Pantulf was present at the consecration of the church at Bec Abbey on 23 October 1077, along with King William the Conqueror of England. Pantulf lost his lands temporarily because he was suspected of murdering Roger's wife Mabel de Bellême, around 1077.Bates Normandy Before 1066 p. 161{{efn|The actual murderer was Hugh Bunel, sometimes known as Hugh d'Igle.}} Pantulf came under suspicion because Mabel had seized a castle at Peray en Saonnais held by Pantulf. When he was accused of the murder,Chibnall World of Orderic Vitalis pp. 14–15 Pantulf was in southern Italy, which had also been conquered by Normans.Bates Normandy Before 1066 p. 243 Pantulf sought refuge at the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in Normandy while he was under suspicion; he and his family were under the protection of the abbot.

Pantulf regained his lands after he cleared himself of the charge,Keats-Rohan Domesday People pp. 493–494 through the mechanism of a trial by ordeal.{{efn|One source gives the type of ordeal as being that of the hot iron.}} It is not clear why the ordeal was required, with the historian David Bates speculating that either the evidence of Pantulf's involvement was not conclusive or that murder victim's family demanded the ordeal because they suspected any evidence pointing to Pantulf's innocence. Pantulf gave Saint-Evroul four altar frontals for the abbey's help after he was cleared of the charges.Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 24

By 1086 Pantulf held 29 manors in Shropshire, along with other lands in Staffordshire and Warwickshire. When Roger's son Robert de Bellême became Earl of Shrewsbury in 1098, Pantulf was once more deprived of those lands he held as a vassal of the Earl.

In 1102 Robert de Bellême rebelled against King Henry I of England. Although Pantulf was still deprived of his previous holdings, he offered to support Robert but was rebuffed and instead supported the king. Henry placed Stafford Castle in Pantulf's custody.Douglas Norman Achievement p. 116 Besides controlling Stafford Castle, Pantulf mediated between Henry and some of the Welsh princes, who had previously sided with Robert, and helped secure their support for the king.Hollister Henry I p. 159 Later Pantulf again acted as an envoy for the king, being sent to secure the switch of sides of Robert's men who were holding Bridgnorth. Pantulf won their change of sides by offering the men lands worth 100 pounds on the king's behalf.Green Henry I p. 71 His services to the king earned Pantulf the restoration of his confiscated estates as well as the grant of further lands—including the fief of Roger de Courcelles.

Pantulf married Lescelina{{efn|Her name is sometimes spelled Lesceline.Mesier Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 26}} and they had four sons – Philip, Ivo, Arnald, and Robert. He and his wife founded Noron Priory, in 1073. This was located in Normandy and was founded as a small dependent priory of Saint Evroul. Besides Noron, Pantulf was also a benefactor of the Saint-Evroul. In 1092 Pantulf journeyed to southern Italy again, this time to secure a relic of Saint Nicholas for his foundation at Noron.{{efn|The exact relic was a tooth,Chibnall World of Orderic Vitalis p. 106 and Pantulf also brought back a piece of the saint's tomb.Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 25}} During this visit, he was offered extensive lands in Apulia by Robert Guiscard, but declined the offer and returned to the north. Pantulf died on 16 April, probably in 1112, when his English lands were transferred to his second son Robert. The Norman lands went to the eldest son, Philip.Sanders English Baronies pp. 94–95 Pantulf and his wife were buried at Noron in the cloister of his priory there.

Orderic Vitalis described Pantulf as "kind to the poor, to whom he was liberal in alms, he was firm in prosperity and adversity, put down all his enemies, and exercised great power through his wealth and possessions".Quoted in Meiser Barons of the Welsh Frontier p. 26

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• {{cite book |author=Bates, David |title=Normandy Before 1066 |authorlink=David Bates (historian) |publisher=Longman |location=London |year=1982 |isbn=0-582-48492-8 }}
• {{cite encyclopedia |author1=Bateson, Mary |author2=Suppe, Frederick (revisor) |title=Pantulf, William (d. 1112?) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21242 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/21242 |url-access=subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}
• {{cite book |author=Chibnall, Marjorie |title=The World of Orderic Vitalis |authorlink=Marjorie Chibnall |year=1984 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn= 0-19-821937-7 }}
• {{cite book |author=Douglas, David C. |title= The Norman Achievement 1050–1100 |authorlink=David C. Douglas |year=1969 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=0-520-01383-2 }}
• {{cite book |author=Douglas, David C. |title=William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England |authorlink=David C. Douglas |year=1964 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |oclc=399137 }}
• {{cite book |author=Green, Judith A. |title=The Aristocracy of Norman England |authorlink=Judith Green (historian) |year=1997 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=0-521-52465-2 }}
• {{cite book |author=Green, Judith A. |title=Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy |authorlink=Judith Green (historian) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-74452-2}}
• {{cite book |author=Hollister, C. Warren |title=Henry I |authorlink=C. Warren Hollister |editor=Frost, Amanda Clark |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |year=2001 |isbn=0-300-08858-2 }}
• {{cite book |author=Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. |title=Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Domesday Book |authorlink= Katharine Keats-Rohan |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Ipswich, UK |year=1999 |isbn=0-85115-722-X }}
• {{cite book |author=Loyd, Lewis Christopher |title=The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company |location=Baltimore, MD |year=1975 |isbn=0-8063-0649-1 |edition=Reprint |orig-date=1951 }}
• {{cite book |author=Meisel, Janet |title=Barons of the Welsh Frontier: The Corbet, Pantulf, and Fitz Warin Families 1066-1272 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln, NE |year=1980 |isbn=0-8032-3064-8 }}
• {{cite book |author=Sanders, I. J. |title=English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=1960 |oclc=931660 }}

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Category:Anglo-Normans

Category:Norman warriors

Category:Trials by combat

Category:1110s deaths

Category:Feudal barons of Wem

Category:People from Orne

Category:12th-century English nobility

Category:12th-century Normans