A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



the devolution of their lands differed ; for those of Roger, from their 

 subsequent lords, came to be known as the Honour of St. Valery, while 

 Robert's became united with those of Miles Crispin in what was called 

 the Honour of Wallingford. 1 



As this Honour represented two such considerable fiefs, its descent 

 is of some importance for the feudal history of the county. The ac- 

 cepted version is that which is found in a return of the time of John, 

 which professes to trace that descent from Harold's days. 2 According to 

 this version Robert d'Ouilly married the daughter of Wigod of Wal- 

 lingford, who held great estates both before and after the Conquest, and 

 had by her a daughter Maud, who brought the whole inheritance to her 

 two husbands, Miles Crispin and Brian Fitz Count, in succession. It is 

 certain that Brian held the Honour in right of his wife, who is found 

 described as Maud ' de Walengeford ' 3 and also as Maud ' de Oylli ' ; * 

 but it is strange, on chronological grounds, that Maud's successive 

 husbands should have been living respectively under William I. and 

 under Stephen. It is also strange that Domesday shows us Miles Crispin 

 already in possession of portions of Wigod's lands even in the lifetime 

 of Robert d'Ouilly, 5 who ought to have been holding the whole of 

 them. In Buckinghamshire he had obtained two of Wigod's manors 

 and one which had been held by Ordwig, a ' man ' of Wigod, while 

 Robert is not mentioned once as succeeding to Wigod. 8 Iver, however, 

 which Robert had obtained by exchange, is spoken of as ' of his wife's 

 fee.' If we seek a common predecessor for Robert and Miles, we find 

 him, in this county, not in Wigod, but in Brihtric, a thegn of Queen 

 Edith. Robert had succeeded him at Wycombe and Masworth, 7 and 

 Miles at Waddesdon, Wingrave and another manor, 8 while Miles had 

 also obtained the lands of several of his men. Another English prede- 

 cessor of Miles here and in Gloucestershire was the thegn Haminc. 



Except for Amersham, Geoffrey de Mandeville owed his fief, in 

 this as in other counties, to his well-recognized succession to Ansgar ' the 

 staller,' while Bondig, another ' staller,' here disguised as ' Boding the 

 constable,' was succeeded, as elsewhere, in his two manors by that 

 Derbyshire magnate, Henry de Ferrers. The Buckinghamshire fief 

 which lingered the longest in the heirs of its Domesday holder was that 

 of Walter, son of Other, which was held for some centuries by his 

 descendants the family of Windsor. Walter the Fleming, a Bedford- 

 shire baron, was succeeded in his fief for many generations by his 

 descendants the Wahulls, but in this county he had but a trifling holding. 



1 For instance Iver, the first manor on Robert's fief in the record, is returned two centuries later 

 as held ' de honore Walingfordie ' (feudal Aids, i. 76). 



2 Testa de Nevill, p. 115. This return, though found under Berkshire, is of value for the 

 devolution of some Buckinghamshire lordships, such as Wycombe and Iver. 



V Ancient Charters (Pipe Roll Society), p. 43. 



* Bracton's Note Book (ed. Maitland), iii. 535. 



* Compare Mr. Freeman's Appendix on ' Wigod of Wallingford and Robert of Oily ' in Norman 

 Conquest, vol. iv. 



6 In Oxfordshire Miles had succeeded Wigod in three manors and Robert in one only. 



7 Alias Marsworth. 8 He is also found as a predecessor of Miles in cos. Beds and Oxon. 



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