Talk:William of Breteuil

Discussion at Talk:WikiProject Biography § William of Breteuil

 You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:WikiProject Biography § William of Breteuil. Ascelin Goel (talk) 10:04, 25 March 2021 (UTC) This article conflates two different people: William de Breteuil (who died c. 1103), son of William FitzOsbern, and an Abbot William who died in 1130.

This seems to be a common mistake (see e.g.: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2131) but these are two people.

William de Breteuil, son of William FitzOsbern, father of Eustace and Isabella de Breteuil, who had a long-drawn out feud with Ascelin Goel, died c. 1103.

David Crouch, The Beaumont Twins ( Cambridge, 1986), p. 108: In 1103 William II de Breteuil, son of William fitz Osbern died and left only Eustace, an illegitimate son.

Judith Green, 'Robert Curthose Reassessed', Anglo-Norman Studies 22 (2000), p. 106: When William of Breteuil died without a son of legitimate birth in 1103, the succession to Breteuil and also to Ivry were hotly contested.

C. Warren Hollister, Henry I ((New Haven and London, 2003), p. 178: It began with the death of William of Breteuil on 12 Januar 1103 without a direct legitimate male heir,...

I have not found any information about an Abbot William, except some webpages that do conflate the two men. Ascelin Goel (talk) 10:04, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Tried to find out more about William de Breteuil, son of William FitzOsbern. He married Adeline, sister of Hugh of Montfort. He participated in the rebellion of Robert Courthose against his father in 1078, remained one of his supporters and tried to stop Robert's brother Henry to take control of the royal treasure in Winchester after the death of William Rufus. No luck in finding out more about this Saint William. Ascelin Goel (talk) 12:52, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

And by the by, the William de Breteuil who was the son of William FitzOsbern had two illegitimate children named Eustace and Isabel. Ascelin Goel, the person I named myself after here, married the latter.Ascelin Goel (talk) 17:41, 1 May 2021 (UTC)

I just noticed that the date of death has been changed in the information box (but not in the categories). This does not make the rest of the article less problematical. I don't have William Aird's book about Robert Curthose to check (yet). The webpage on Saints is identical to the previous version of this article. Ascelin Goel (talk) 18:26, 9 January 2022 (UTC)

The more I look into this, the more I wonder whether there really was a Saint William of Breteuil. According to the French Wikipedia page about Breteuil Abbey, it was rebuilt in 1030 by Gilduin, 'le nouveau comte de Breteuil'. Ascelin Goel (talk) 12:19, 12 January 2022 (UTC)