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The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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Paternal Family Tree: Brandon
Around 1425 William Brandon was born to [his father] Robert Brandon (age 15) and [his mother] Ada Calthorpe at Wangford Brandon, Suffolk.
Around 1455 William Brandon (age 30) and Elizabeth Wingfield were married.
In 1456 [his son] William Brandon was born to William Brandon (age 31) and [his wife] Elizabeth Wingfield at Soham. He married 4th November 1475 Elizabeth Bruyn and had issue.
Around 1460 [his son] Robert Brandon was born to William Brandon (age 35). He married after 1528 Katherine Zouche, daughter of John Zouche 7th Baron Zouche Harringworth and Joan Dynham Baroness Zouche Harringworth.
In 1468 William Brandon (age 43) was elected MP North Shoreham.
On 4th May 1471 King Edward IV of England (age 29) was victorious at the 4th May 1471 Battle of Tewkesbury. His brother Richard (age 18), Richard Beauchamp 2nd Baron Beauchamp Powick (age 36), John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk (age 46), George Neville 4th and 2nd Baron Abergavenny (age 31), John Savage (age 49), John Savage (age 27), Thomas St Leger (age 31), John Tuchet 6th Baron Audley, 3rd Baron Tuchet (age 45), Thomas Burgh 1st Baron Burgh of Gainsborough (age 40) fought. William Brandon (age 46), George Browne (age 31), Ralph Hastings, Richard Hastings Baron Willoughby (age 38), James Tyrrell (age 16), Roger Kynaston of Myddle and Hordley (age 38) were knighted. William Hastings 1st Baron Hastings (age 40) commanded.
Margaret of Anjou (age 41) was captured. Her son Edward of Westminster Prince of Wales (age 17) was killed. He was the last of the Lancastrian line excluding the illegitmate Charles Somerset 1st Earl of Worcester (age 11) whose line continues to the present.
John Courtenay 7th or 15th Earl Devon (age 36) was killed and attainted. Earl Devon forfeit. Some sources refer to these titles as being abeyant?
John Wenlock 1st Baron Wenlock (age 71) was killed. Baron Wenlock extinct.
John Delves (age 49), John Beaufort (age 30), William Vaux of Harrowden (age 35) and Robert Whittingham (age 42) were killed.
Edmund Beaufort (age 32), Humphrey Tuchet (age 37) and Hugh Courtenay (age 44) were captured.
Henry Roos fought and escaped to Tewkesbury Abbey [Map] where he sought sanctuary. He was subsequently pardoned.
William Carey (age 34) was killed.
On 4th November 1475 [his son] William Brandon (age 19) and [his daughter-in-law] Elizabeth Bruyn (age 30) were married at Bishop's Lynn, Norfolk.
On 30th June 1480 [his daughter] Eleanor Brandon died.
On 6th July 1483 King Richard III of England (age 30) and his wife Anne Neville (age 27) at Westminster Abbey [Map]. Duke Gloucester, Earl Richmond forfeit merged with the Crown. Cardinal Thomas Bourchier (age 65) officiated. Anne Neville Queen Consort England by marriage Queen Consort England.
John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk (age 58) was appointed Lord High Steward. William Brandon (age 58), Thomas Fitzalan 10th or 17th Earl of Arundel (age 33), Thomas St Leger (age 43), Richard Hastings Baron Willoughby (age 50), Elizabeth Woodville Queen Consort England (age 46), Elizabeth York Duchess Suffolk (age 39), Giles Daubeney 1st Baron Daubeney (age 32) and Humphrey Dacre 1st Baron Dacre Gilsland (age 59) attended.
Robert Dymoke (age 22) attended as the Kings' Champion.
Edmund Grey 1st Earl Kent (age 66) carried The Pointed Sword of Justice. Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 40) carried the Crown. Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell (age 27) carried the Third Sword of State. John de la Pole 2nd Duke of Suffolk (age 40) carried the Sceptre. John de la Pole Earl Lincoln 1st (age 21) carried the Cross and Ball. Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham (age 28) carried the king's train. Edward Stafford 2nd Earl Wiltshire (age 13) bore the Queen's Crown.
Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby (age 48) carried the Lord High Constable's Mace. Margaret Beaufort Countess Richmond (age 40) held Queen Anne's train. Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland (age 34) carried The Blunt Sword of Mercy. Christopher Willoughby 10th Baron Willoughby (age 30) was appointed Knight of the Bath.
Humphrey Dacre 1st Baron Dacre Gilsland attended.
Cecily "Rose of Raby" Neville Duchess York (age 68) refused to attend the Coronation of King Richard III. History doesn't record her reason.
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On 22nd August 1485 King Richard III of England (age 32) was killed during the Battle of Bosworth. His second cousin once removed Henry Tudor (age 28) succeeded VII King of England.
Humphrey Cotes (age 35) died. It isn't clear on which side he was fighting.
Those supporting Henry Tudor included:
John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy (age 35).
John Cheney 1st Baron Cheyne (age 43).
Richard Guildford (age 35).
Walter Hungerford (age 21).
Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby (age 50).
Edward Woodville Lord Scales (age 29).
Edward Courtenay 1st Earl Devon (age 26).
Rhys ap Thomas Deheubarth (age 36).
Jasper Tudor 1st Duke Bedford (age 53).
William Beaumont 2nd Viscount Beaumont (age 47).
Giles Daubeney 1st Baron Daubeney (age 34).
William Stanley (age 50).
Roger Kynaston of Myddle and Hordley (age 52).
Henry Marney 1st Baron Marney (age 38).
[his son] William Brandon (age 29) was killed.
James Harrington (age 55) was killed.
John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk (age 60) was killed and attainted. He was buried firstly at Thetford Priory, Norfolk [Map] and therafter at Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham [Map]. Duke Norfolk, Baron Mowbray, Baron Segrave, Baron Howard forfeit.
John Sacheverell (age 85) was killed.
Philibert Chandee 1st Earl Bath
William Norreys (age 44), Gilbert Talbot (age 33), John de Vere 13th Earl of Oxford (age 42) and John Savage (age 41) commanded,.
Robert Poyntz (age 35) was knighted.
Those who fought for Richard III included:
John Bourchier 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby (age 47).
John Conyers (age 74).
Thomas Dacre 2nd Baron Dacre Gilsland (age 17).
William Berkeley 1st Marquess Berkeley (age 59).
Richard Fitzhugh 6th Baron Fitzhugh (age 28).
John Scrope 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton (age 48).
Thomas Scrope 6th Baron Scrope of Masham (age 26).
Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor (age 50).
Edmund Grey 1st Earl Kent (age 68).
Ralph Neville 3rd Earl of Westmoreland (age 29).
John de la Pole Earl Lincoln 1st (age 23).
Humphrey Stafford (age 59).
George Talbot 4th Earl of Shrewsbury (age 17).
Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 42) was wounded, captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map] for three years. He was attainted; Earl Surrey forfeit.
Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell (age 29) fought and escaped.
John Zouche 7th Baron Zouche Harringworth (age 26) was captured.
John Babington (age 62), William Alington (age 65), Robert Mortimer (age 43), Robert Brackenbury, Richard Ratclyffe (age 55) and Richard Bagot (age 73) were killed
Walter Devereux Baron Ferrers of Chartley (age 53) was killed.
William Catesby (age 35) was executed at Leicester, Leicestershire [Map] after the battle.
George Stanley 9th Baron Strange Knockin 5th Baron Mohun Dunster (age 25) held as a hostage by Richard III before the Battle of Bosworth.
Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland (age 36) betrayed King Richard III of England by not committing his forces at the Battle of Bosworth.
John Iwardby (age 35) was killed.
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William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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On 22nd August 1485 [his father] Robert Brandon (age 75) died at North Cray, Bromley.
On 4th March 1491 William Brandon (age 66) died at Boughton Monchelsea, Kent.
On 28th April 1497 [his former wife] Elizabeth Wingfield died.
[his daughter] Elizabeth Brandon was born to William Brandon. She married Augustin Cavendish.
[his daughter] Anne Brandon was born to William Brandon. She married Nicholas Sidney and had issue.
[his daughter] Eleanor Brandon was born to William Brandon.
[his daughter] Margaret "The Elder" Brandon was born to William Brandon.
[his daughter] Catherine Brandon was born to William Brandon.
[his daughter] Mary Brandon was born to William Brandon. She married John Reading.
[his son] Thomas Brandon was born to William Brandon. He married (1) after 14th February 1492 Anne Fiennes Marchioness Berkeley (2) after 10th September 1497 Elizabeth Dynham Baroness Fitzwarin.
Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
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[his father] Robert Brandon and [his mother] Ada Calthorpe were married.
[his daughter] Margaret "The Younger" Brandon was born to William Brandon.