Eleanor of Aquitaine and the brother that never was
I was interested in the relationship between Eleanor and her brothers, because writing a novel about Eleanor, I need to know about her childhood experiences with these aforementioned brothers, and how much a part of a household they were prior to her coming to England. I wanted to see if I could find any primary source evidence and since Alison Weir had directed me to the pipe Rolls I thought I’d have a look there first. Since the mention of them by we are was in the Pipe Rolls 1154 to 58, I went to have a look for myself to see if I could glean anything else about this elusive pair. As it happens, our pipe role of my own for the dates 1176-1177 and here I turned up ‘Regina Ioscelinusum frater ejus in the index. Heading to the referenced page, I came across this entry for Sussex. ‘Iosecelinus, frater regine debet .cc. m. pro fine facto cum uxore Willelmi de Perci. Now my Latin is rubbish, but I think I understand that ‘Joscelin the brother of the queen renders 200 marks in a fine and that it is something to do with the wife of William de Perci. The salient points to note are his name, the county, and the de Perci name.
“Although William X had to illegitimate sons, William and Joscelin, he now resolved beget a male child to inherit his Duchy.” – Marion Meade in Eleanor of Aquitaine a Biography.
“The Pipe Rolls show that the Queen was paid allowances for the two boys, and also record that she was supporting in her household her sister Petronella and their two bastard Bros William and Joscelin.” – Alison Weir in Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the wrath of God, Queen of England.
“William X, Eleanor’s father… Had two bastard sons.” – Elizabeth Brown: Eleanor of Aquitaine Reconsidered: the Woman and her Seasons: Eleanor of Aquitaine Lord and Lady edited by Bonnie Wheeler and John C Parsons.
In the Pipe roll for the 4th year of Henry II we have an earlier reference to this Joscelin the brother of the queen, again in the Sussex Pipe Roll. ‘Et Josc, Fri Regine – IX Li Xiiis. Or again in the 2nd year and again in Sussex. ‘Et Joscel fri Regine XLVI s. The text of the sum is difficult to read, but it doesn’t matter. Again the pertinent thing is the identification of Joscelin as the brother of the queen in the accounting for Sussex).
Right. So the queen has a proven brother Joscelin who is active in Sussex. But now we come to the kicker which seems to have been overlooked along the way. The Pipe Rolls don’t say which queen, they just say ‘Regine’.
A previous queen of England, who went by her title of ‘queen’ long after she gave up her regnal position and married royal steward William D’Albini, was Adeliza of Louvain. And guess what. She had an illegitimate brother called Joscelin; he was her constable at Arundel in Sussex, and she gave him lands in Sussex at Petworth. She also sorted him out a rather lucrative marriage with Agnes, heiress of William de Percy. So how likely is it that the Joscelin in question is actually Joscelin of Louvain, (d.circa 1180) half-brother of former Queen Adeliza and NOT a half-brother of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
The clincher that definitely puts Adeliza of Louvain’s brother in the frame was given to me by fellow blogger Danielle from The Romantic Armchair Traveller who checked the Pipe Roll of 1180 and showed me this from the honour of Petworth, which was property of Joscelin of Louvain, brother to Queen Eleanor. He was dead at this stage, but notice the mention, highlighted in bold. Goscelini fratris Regine. Joscelin, brother of the Queen.
Nailed, signed, sealed and delivered.
HEN. II.
“HONOR DE PVETTEWURDA
Idem episcopus redd. comp. de .xxx. l. et .xiij. s. et .iiij. rf. de veteri firma honoris de Petewurda. In thesauro liberavit.
[Et quietus est.]
Et idem de x. et .xxxij. l. et .viij. s. et .vj. rf. de nova firma. In thesauro quater .xx. et .xvj. l. et .xvj. s. et .ix. rf. Et in elemosina constituta incluse cle Stodehain .viij. s. et .viij. rf. Et in terris datis canonicis de Mereton’ .xx. s. in secundo molendino de Duneketon’. Et debet .xxxiiij. l. et .iij. s. et .j. rf. que remanent super terras hominum quamdiu regi placuerit. Et de tribus annis preteritis x. l. et .xlix. s. et .iij. rf. que remanent.”
Eleanor’s brother William is another story, and may well prove to have existed as the Pipe Roll suggests that he came from Poitiers. Et fr Regine. Will de Pciters.
I am still chasing that one up, but will report further if anything significant comes to light!