Baron William (I) De Courcy of Stogursey

   Other names for William were Sir Jordan and Baron William De Stoke Courcy.

  General Notes:

Information Source: http://www.geneal.net/7670.htm.
aka Baron William De STOKE COURCY

According to the Conqueror and His Companions this William's line led to John DeCourcy Earl of Ulster.

Apparently he inherited English lands from father Richard and additional lands upon his marriage to Emma de Falaise including significant properties in Stoke Somerset, all of which then took on the name Stoke Curcy (Stoke Courcy or Stogursey).

The castle at Stoke Courcy was likely buit by William as it did not exist in 1086 (http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/3281.html)

Assessed for 29+ knight's fees
Source: Honors and knights' fees by William Farrer
This was the initial "Honor" of Curcy (Stoke Courcy). It would grow substantially in later years.

http://www.alienteacher.com/clayton.htm

Made a Royal Dapifer by Henry I approximately 1100. Granted land at Northamptonshire (Flanders)

Jordan family history see doc

As mentioned earlier, it was William (I) de Courcy who distinguished himself in battle during the Crusade, and was given the name “Sir Jordan de Courcy”. The story is told and re-told many times. In honor of this, he not only named his second son Jordan de Courcy,
who in turn also named his second son Jordan, but William’s first son and namesake also named his second son Jordan. Eventually, the decedents of William (I) de Courcy’s son Jordan took this name as their surname and the family motto “Percussa Resurgo” (Though beaten down, I rise again) also in honor of this story. The lion rampant in the family crest is evidence of his knighthood, and the nine crosses are said to signify battles that William (Sir Jordan) fought in.

After marrying Emma de Falaise, William increased his lands
and prestiege. He became very powerful in England, and was
appointed a royal dapifer by Henry I. All of this
power, prestiege, land, and wealth was passed on to his firstborn
son, William (II) de Courcy.

William (I)’s other son Jordan was merely a powerless steward
of his brother’s lands for a short time after William (II)’s death,
and eventually that stewardship was taken away from him by the
King, thus leaving his sons John and Jordan landless and in
search of their own power. Both were soldiers for England’s king
and it would be William (I)’s grandson John de Courcy that
would carve out a name and an Earldom in Ireland for himself.

Also see: The Government of England Under Henry I by Judith Green regarding Williams appointment as steward and his later acts as guarantor for the king.

From: The History of the County of Oxford:
According to Domesday Book a Dane called Hacon held NUNEHAM in 1066, (fn. 91) but the property must have passed within a short time to an English nobleman Leofwine. The Abingdon Chronicle relates that Leofwine sold the village to Athelhelm, Abbot of Abingdon (1041–84), when King William was out of England; and that although the sale was confirmed by the Bishop of Bayeux the king later revoked it, and gave the estate to another. (fn. 92) This new owner must have been the Norman baron Richard de Courcy, who was holding 10 hides in Nuneham in 1086. (fn. 93)

Richard's English estates passed to his younger son William (I), (fn. 94) the king's Steward and an admirer and benefactor of Abbot Faritius and his monastery at Abingdon. (fn. 95) By his marriage with Emma, the daughter and coheir of William de Falaise of Stogursey (Som.), William acquired large estates in several counties and an important position in the feudal hierarchy: he held his honor of Stogursey by the service of 25¼ knights. (fn. 96) He was dead by 1130 and had been succeeded by his son William (II) de Courcy, who was probably dead by 1155, and by his grandson William (III) de Courcy, whose younger brother John conquered Ulster. (fn. 97)

William (III) de Courcy's second wife, Gundreda de Warenne, had Nuneham as her dower, and she probably lived there after her husband's death in 1176. (fn. 98) It was the enjoyment of this estate, presumably, which enabled her third husband, Geoffrey Huse, a Wiltshire man, to be appointed Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1179. By 1199 he too was dead and the marriage of Gundreda was again in the king's gift. (fn. 99) She died in 1224.


WILLIAM [I] de Courcy, son of RICHARD [I] de Courcy & his wife --- (-[1114]). "Richard de Curciaco" donated land at “Brenarie [Bernières] which his mother Hebrea had left them at her death”, with the consent of “his wife Wandelmode and his sons Robert and William”, by charter dated 1076[2799]. "Richard de Courci" donated property to Marmoutier, for the benefit of “his wife Gandelmodis and his sons Robert and William”, by charter dated to [1077/79][2800]. "Willelmus de Curceio regis dapifer" donated "villa…Niweham" to Abingdon monastery, with the advice of "fratris mei Roberti", confirmed by Henry I King of England[2801].

m William as her second husband, EMMA de Falaise, widow of WILLIAM FitzHumphrey, daughter of WILLIAM de Falaise of Stogursey & his wife Geva de Burcy (-after 1129). The primary source which confirms her family origin and marriage has not yet been identified. The 1130 Pipe Roll records "Emme de Falesia" in Wiltshire[2802].

William & his wife had two children: William (II) and Robert (IV)
- http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISHNOBILITYMEDIEVAL3.htm#WilliamCourcydied1114A

William married Emma De Falaise, daughter of William De Falaise and Geva de Burcy, in 1094 in Somersetshire, England. (Emma De Falaise was born in 1076 and died in 1129.)