Hamelin de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey
Hamelin de Warenne (d. April, 1202) was an English nobleman who was prominent at the courts of the Angevin kings of England, Henry II, Richard I, and John. He was an illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou, and thus a half-brother of Henry II, and an uncle of Richard I and John. Henry married him, in 1163/4, to Isabella de Warenne, in her own right Countess of Surrey. After the marriage he was recognized as Earl of Warenne, that being the customary designation for what more technically should be Earl of Surrey. In consequence of the marriage Hamelin took the de Warenne name, as did his descendents.
Children:
- William (IV) de Warenne, who succeeded to the earldom and married Matilda, daughter of William Marshal (d. 1219) and widow of Hugh Bigod (d. 1225).
- Ela married Robert of Naburn and then William Fitzilliam (d. 1219)
- Isabel married first, Robert de Lacy and later Gilbert de l'Aigle, Lord of Pevensey
- Matilda married Henry, Count of Eu (d. 1190/91) and later Henry de Stuteville
Hamelin joined in the denunciations of Thomas Becket in 1164, although after Becket's death he became a great believer in Becket's sainthood, having, the story goes, been cured of blindness by the saint's help.
He remained loyal to Henry through all the problems of the later part of the king's reign when many nobles deserted him, and continued as a close supporter of his nephew Richard I. During Richard's absence on crusade he took the side of the regent William Longchamp.
.Isabella de Warenne
She was the daughter and only surviving heir of William (III) de Warenne, earl of Surrey (c.1119–1148), and Ela (d. 1174), daughter of Guillaume Talvas, count of Ponthieu. This position ensured her matches of considerable importance. In 1148, the year of her father's death, and at a critical moment in the civil war, she married William of Blois (d. 1159), the younger son of King Stephen, as part of the king's attempt to ensure control of the Warenne estates. About 1162–3, in what may have been a love match, William FitzEmpress, the brother of Henry II, sought her hand in marriage. However, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, objected. In April 1164, with a valuable trousseau worth £41. 10s. 8d., she married Hamelin of Anjou (d. 1202), the half-brother of Henry II, who by this marriage came to be known as Hamelin de Warenne.By the first marriage of her daughter Matilda to Count of Eu, Isabel became grandmother of the powerful Alice, countess of Eu (died 1246).
As a countess and great heiress Isabel was involved in the secular and religious patronage of the Warenne estates. Of particular interest is her patronage during both marriages, and as a widow, of the chief English Cluniac house, Lewes Priory, Sussex, founded by her grandparents. She was present at Lambeth when a long-standing dispute between the great abbey of Cluny and her husband was resolved on 10 June 1201. She and Earl Hamelin also patronized St Mary's Abbey and West Dereham Abbey, Norfolk; St Katherine's Priory, Lincoln (c.1198–1202); and the chapel of St Philip and St James in their castle at Conisbrough (1180–89). In 1202–3, as a widow, she confirmed various grants to these houses, and was involved in pleas in her Yorkshire estates. Isabel died on 12 July 1203 and was buried alongside Earl Hamelin in the chapter house at Lewes, the traditional Warenne resting place. She was commemorated by the monks of Beauchief Abbey on 12 July.