The Hissem-Montague Family

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The family name stems from the small village of Montbray in Normandy.

He became the Bishop of Coutances and accompanied Duke William to England in 1066. A fighting bishop, for his support he was granted some 280 English manors. In 1088 he sided with Robert over William Rufus in the battle for the crown of the recently deceased Conqueror. Though he burned the town of Bath and ravaged the county of Wiltshire, he escaped punishment and lived quietly until his death in 1093/4.

The brother of Bishop Geoffrey. He accompanied the Conqueror to the Battle of Hastings.

Or Mowbray. The son of Roger and the nephew and heir to Geoffrey. He became the Earl of Northumberland [comes de Northumberlant] in about 1080 [31 May 1081] after de Coucy resigned the position. He defended the earldom against the Scots under King Malcolm when they invaded in 1091, defeating them at Chester-le-Street. When they invaded again in 1093 he defeated them at Alnwick, killing both Malcolm and his eldest son.

He married Maud de Laigle, the sisiter of Gilbert de Laigle.

When the Conqueror died he joined with his uncle, Bishop Geoffrey, to support Robert over William Rufus in the battle for the crown. This was a costly mistake. Then in 1095 Earl Robert rebelled against William Rufus as part of a conspiracy to put a foreign Count on the throne. He was besieged in his castle at Bamborough and eventually captured. William Rufus imprisoned him in Windsor castle for thirty years until his death and this Montbray line ends here. His lands were confiscated and given to his cousin, Nigel d'Aubigny.

The Aubigny name stems from another small village, Saint Martin d'Aubigny, near Periers, in the Contentin, in Normandy where the family originated. The chronicler, Wace, mentions `li boteillier d'Aubigny.'

"The Dane." Vicomte de Contentin. He possessed half of the Isles of Manche. He died after 933.

Vicomte de Contentin. He died after 972.

Vicomte de Contentin. His sons were Hammon and Nigel.

He married Godchilde. His son was Richard de Belfoi, Lord of Glanville. By the way, the diminutive of Hammon is Hamlet.

Vicomte de Contentin. His sons were,
(-1) William d'Aubigny (de Albini) (c1015)
(-1) Nigel de St. Sauveur (c1016)

Vicomte de Contentin. Of Belvoir and Doi. He married the sister of Grimoult du Plessis. Grimoult was a traitor who had taken a key role in the uprising against the young Duke William of Normandy. William may have gained some of his confiscated properties as well as his sister. He second married Adela de Belvoir,

William had another son, in addition to Roger, below. This was William Jr. who was in disgrace in Normandy at the time of the Conquest. He was not restored to favour or allowed to enter England until the reign of William Rufus. Might he have had a third, Hamon?

A "lesser lord from the Cotentin." He held the Norman honour of St. Martin d'Aubigny. He was born in about 1040 in Saint-Martin-d'Aubigne, Normandy. He married Amicia de Montbray, the sister of Geoffrey and Roger de Montbray, making the Aubigny/Albini family part of the Mowbray clan through the maternal line. The family obtained large possessions after the Battle of Hastings. Second he married Adeliza de Grantmesmil, perhaps.

Roger had five sons,
(2) William "Pincerna" d'Aubigny (c1070), butler to Henry I
(2) Nigel d'Aubigny (c1080), who gained the lands of Robert de Montbray
Richard, the Abbot of St. Albans
Humphrey
Ralph

The younger son of Roger. His brother, William, was butler to the King. Some sources refer to him as "the landless younger brother of a minor Norman aristocrat." He was bow-bearer to the king in the reign of William Rufus and was knighted by Henry I. Nigel fought with Henry against Duke Robert of Normandy. Nigel slew Robert's horse and brought the Duke to the King. For this, Henry gave him the lands of Robert, Baron of Frontebeof. Henry I later also gave Nigel the forfeited lands of his maternal uncle, Robert de Montbray. He had lands in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

After the rebellion of Robert de Montbray (Mowbray) William Rufus had taken all of Robert's lands into his own hands. Later, during the reign of Henry I, these lands and titles were given to Nigel. The King gave him Robert's wife as well, but consanguinity was involved and the marriage was later annulled. Another source claims that the real reason for the annulment was Maud's inability to bear a child for Nigel. The King, perhaps in a final bit of pique against Robert, required Nigel to give the Mowbray name and coat of arms to his eldest son, thus taking away from Robert everything but his life. Nigel next married Gundreda de Gournay in 1118. This was by special advice of Henry I. With her he had two sons, Roger and Henry.

Nigel became one of the greatest landowners in England and was the only member of the family recorded in the Domesday book, having received grants of several lordships in Buckingham, Leicester, Bedford, and Warwick, as he also succeeded to the estates of his father and grandfather. He was reputed to have possessed 120 manors in Normandy and as many in England, including the great domain of the Earl of Mowbray. Nigel lived to a very great age and died in 1138.

Henry held the lordship and barony of Camho and was ancestor of the Albini feudal lords of that place.

The Earl of Northumberland. His name was changed to de Montbray (Mowbray) by order of Henry I. He married Alice de Gant [Gaunt]. He apparently sided with Stephen in his battles with Maud, the daughter and heir of Henry I. After this time he went on crusade where his services were highly regarded by the Knights Hospitallers. In 1174 he was back in England and joined in the rebellion of Henry II's sons, but was conciliated with the King. In 1186 he went on crusade again. He died in Palestine, nearly 70 years old, in about 1188. His sons were Nigel, Robert of Easby and William.

Mowbray Arms - Gules, a lion rampant, argent.

He lived in the shadow of his great father and little is known of his life. He took over his father's estates in 1189 and attended the coronation of Richard I. In 1191 he went off on crusade but died on the journey and was buried at sea. Other sources claim he made it to Palestine and was killed at the Siege of Acre. He married Mabel FitzPatrick de Clare in about 1170. His sons were William, Philip, Robert and Roger.

Nigel's heir and the ancestor of the Dukes of Norfolk. He married Agnes [or Avice d' Albini]. He was one of the principals pressing for the creation of the Magna Carta, being in the list of 25 barons at the signing at Runnymede. As one of those appointed as executor of the Magna Carta he was named amongst those excommunicated by the Pope, King John's ally at the time. He died in 1222. His sons were Nigel, who died childless during an invasion of France, and Roger, who inherited from his brother.

Nigel's second son who, not inheriting, married Galiena, the daughter and sole heir of Waldeve, the Earl of Dunbar in Scotland. Now a Scottish Laird, Nigel became the ambassador to England in 1215-1220. The Scottish line of the family became known as the Moubray's and have survived to modern times. They have their own Tartan and a descendent of Philip's fought alongside William Wallace (Mel Gibson) and figured in the Battle of Bannockburn. His English cousins fought on the other side at this battle.

Scottish Moubray Arms (at least in recent times) - Gules, a lion rampant, argent, charged with a bordure, engrailed of the last.

Ancestor of the Mowbrays of Kirlington.

The English line of the Mowbray family flourished until the reign of Richard II, the son of the Black Prince, when the current Baron, Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, backed the wrong horse. He was famously involved in a contest of arms with Henry Bolingbroke, the Earl of Hertford, who later became King Henry IV. They were to meet in the lists to settle a quarrel when Richard intervened and banished them both. This scene is reenacted in Shakespeare's play 'King Richard II.' The line died out in 1475 with a young heiress and was absorbed, like so many others, into the great Howard family, the Dukes of Norfolk, that survives to this day.

Known as the Breton. Earl of Albemarle and Lord of Buckenham. He was Roger's son and brother to Nigel d'Aubigny (Mowbray). This branch of the family maintained the d'Aubigny name. He was born about 1070 in Aubigny, Normandy and died in 1139. He held the Honor of Belvoir, Leicesterhire, and was granted Old Buckenham, which was held by the service of being Butler to the Kings of England on the day of their coronation and in consequence we find this William styled "Pincerna Henrici Regis Anglorum," gaining him the nickname of William de Pincerna, or William the Butler. He fought with Henry on the battlefield of Tichebrai, when Duke Robert of Normandy was finally crushed.

The d'Aubigny Arms were unlike those of Mowbray : Gules, a fesse (a broad stripe across the center of the shield) engrailed (the edge cut into small semicircular indents), argent. - "The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales"

He married Maud (Mary) Bigod, the daughter of Roger Bigod [Bigot]. He also married Cecily, grand-daughter and heiress of Robert de Todeni of Belvoir. William may have later married Cecily Bigod, who must have been Maud's sister.

Third Earl of Arundel. He was born in about 1100 in St. Sauveur, Manche, Normandy. He was surnamed "William with the strong hand." He established a truce between Stephen and Henry II gaining him so much favor that he was given the hand of Adeliza of Lorraine in 1138. She was late the Queen of England and widow of Henry I, and the daughter of Godfrey [Geoffrey?], Duke of Lorraine. Through her he obtained the castle and honor of Arundel and the Earldom of Sussex as well. He became the Earl of Arundel. The Earldom of Arundel is the oldest in England.

"Since William rose and Harold fell
there's been an Earl in Arundel"

William died on 12 October 1176. Upon his death the castle returned to the Crown under Henry II, but was given to the family again in the reign of Richard I.

The Fourth Earl of Arundel and Sussex. He married Maud de Saint Hillary, the daughter of James de Saint Hillary and Aveline, in 1164. He died in 1193.

The Fifth Earl of Arundel. He married Mabel de Meschines, the daughter of Hugh De Meschines, the Earl of Chester and Beatrice De Montfort. He died in 1221 in Norfolk.

The Sixth Earl of Arundel. He died without issue in 1224 or 1233.

The Seventh Earl of Arundel. He succeeded his brother while still a minor. He was born in about 1215 in Arundel Castle, Sussex. He died young on 7 May 1243 in Spain [campaigning with John of Gaunt or the Black Prince?]. He married Isabel de Warenne in 1234.

Hugh de Aubigny's Arms : Gules, a lion rampant, or.

Hugh's sister and heir, she married John Fitzalan, the Lord of Cluny. He died in 1239. The family of FitzAlan continued to hold the Earldom until 1555 when Mary FitzAlan, last of the family, married Thomas Howard, the Fourth Duke of Norfolk. The Howards rule to this day.

Possibly the father of Baldwin. At the court of Henry I the following were listed,

"Henri, roi, Ranulfe, chancelier, Willaume de Warenne, Eustache de Breteuil, Neel d'Aubigny, Hamon, pannetier [supervised the bakery], Willaume d'Aubigny, grand echanson du Roy [cup-bearer, or butler, to the King] . . ." - from "Histoire de la congregation de Savigny" by Claude Auvry

Lord of Montgomery. de Aubigny. He married Sybil de Falaise.

Bollers, Boulers. She married Richard Fitzurse.

Steve Hissem
San Diego, California