William Peverel

William Peverel (c. 1050-c. 1115, also William de Peverel), was a Norman knight said to have fought in the Battle of Hastings.

Biography

William's mother seems to have been a Saxon named Maud, daughter of the noble Ingelric. She was married to one Ranulph Peverel, from whom William took his name. Historically, it had been claimed that he was actually the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror, but this cannot be supported by the historical record.ref|peerage

William married Adelina of Lancaster, who bore him a daughter Adeliza, born circa 1075, and a son, also named William, born circa 1080.

Etymology

"Peverel" which comes from the latin name "Piperellus" derived from the diminutive latin "piper" which means "pepper". Starting from the Latin root "pǐpĕr" is the word "peivre" in Old Normand, also means "pepper", but there is also the form slang that means "angry, irascible, aggressive, atrabilarious, angry, fulminant, furious, fractious, anxious, irritable, stormy, touchy", which gave, the surnames following "Peiverel, Pevrel, Peivrel" (in french, this may give "Poivret and Poivrot"). [For more ample information, see Placenames]

Lands in England

Whatever his paternity, William Peverel was a favourite of the Conqueror. He was greatly honoured after the Norman Conquest, receiving over a hundred holdings in central England from the king. In 1086, the Domesday Book records William as holding substantial land (162 lordships), collectively called the "Honour of Peverel", in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including Nottingham Castle.ref|derbyshireref|duston

Family

Maud and Ranulph's known legitimate son, also Ranulph, was almost as well favoured by the king as William was. He was granted 64 manors in Nottingham, although these were later taken from his family by Henry II for their support of Stephen against the Empress Matilda. The baronial family of the Peverels descend from Ranulph, not William.

After his first wife had died. William's son, William Peverel the Younger, married Avice de Lancaster, daughter of Roger of Poitou, Earl of Lancaster.

Beryl Platts has suggested that the Peverels in Normandy derive in fact from Flanders.ref|langar

Placenames

The Peverel name was later spelled "Peverell", and it appears in both forms in town names across England, e.g., Peverell, Sampford Peverell, Hatfield Peverel, etc.

The name is also known in the Isle of Man as "Peveril", e.g. Peveril Avenue / Road / Terrace, Peel, and Peveril Hotel / Buildings / Road / Square / Street / Street Lane / Terrace, Douglas. This association derives from Sir Walter Scott's novel "Peveril of the Peak" (1822) (in which the character Fenella (Manx Gaelic female name meaning 'white shoulder, Irish "fionnghuala") features), as part of the story centres around Peel Castle, Peel, Isle of Man. The names "Peveril" and "Fenella" have also been used on freight and passenger steamers of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. Ltd.(George Broderick, Mannheim).

Trivia

In the "Harry Potter" series, Marvolo Gaunt claims to have a ring which is a family heirloom with the Peverell coat of arms on it, in the 7th book the Peverells were said to be one of the first names to die out, extinct in the male line,the three brothes were called Antioch,Cadmus and Ignotus they were the ones who The Tale of the Three Brothers were based on.

References

# See, e.g., "The Complete Peerage", Vol IV, App. I, pp 761-770, "Peverel Family"
# A description of holdings in Derbyshire, from the Domesday Book (http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Derbyshire.htm)
# A local history of Duston, Northampton (http://www.duston.org.uk/peverel.htm)
# A history of Langar Hall (http://www.baronage.co.uk/langar/langar-1.html)