This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------70F1885FAE9BEAF61EBE857E Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --------------70F1885FAE9BEAF61EBE857E Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-ID: <37D5A716.90465D4B@home.com> Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 17:00:22 -0700 From: John Carpenter <jrcrin001@home.com> Organization: @Home Network X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en]C-AtHome0404 (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "CARPENTER-L@rootsweb.com" <CARPENTER-L@rootsweb.com> CC: Chuck Carpenter <chuck@mlsphotos.com>, Bette Butcher Topp <toppline@cet.com>, Jerry Carpenter <jcarp@ccstrat.com>, John E Proctor <jpgeno3@juno.com>, "John L. Carpenter" <familysearcher@mailcity.com>, "Richard (Rich) W. Carpenter" <adoptahighway@home.com>, Tony Carpenter <chipps@chipps.screaming.net>, Terry Lee Carpenter <diluvius@flash.net> Subject: Part 3 of Tony Carpenter in the UK Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is Part 3 of the History of the Carpenter Family from Tony Carpenter in the UK. continued from part 2 ... Descendants of Josselin I DE Melun 1. JOSSELIN I DE1 MELUN was born Abt. 920 in of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France, and died March 19, 998/99 in Ile De France, France. Child of JOSSELIN I DE MELUN is: 2. i. HERVE DE2 MELUN, b. of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. Ile De France, France. 2. HERVE DE2 MELUN (JOSSELIN I DE1) was born in of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France, and died in Ile De France, France. He married VENDOME. Children of HERVE MELUN and VENDOME are: i. MANASSES DE3 MELUN, b. of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France. 3. ii. URSION I DE MELUN, b. Abt. 995, of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. 1084, France. 3. URSION I DE3 MELUN (HERVE DE2, JOSSELIN I DE1) was born Abt. 995 in of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France, and died 1084 in France. Children of URSION I DE MELUN are: i. AGNET DE4 MELUN, b. Abt. 1038, of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France. 4. ii. WILLIAM "THE CARPENTER" DE MELUN, b. Abt. 1042, of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. Ile De France, France. 4. WILLIAM "THE CARPENTER" DE4 MELUN (URSION I DE3, HERVE DE2, JOSSELIN I DE1) was born Abt. 1042 in of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France, and died in Ile De France, France. Children of WILLIAM "THE CARPENTER" DE MELUN are: 5. i. URISON II DE5 MELUN, b. of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France. 6. ii. WILLIAM CARPENTER, b. of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. Ypres, West Vlaanderen, Flanders, France. iii. RAYNER CARPENTER, b. Abt. 1060, of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. of, Herefordshire, England. iv. STEPHEN CARPENTER, b. Abt. 1062, of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. of, Wiltshire, England. v. DURAND CARPENTER, b. Abt. 1064, of Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Ile De France, France; d. of, Dorsetshire, England. William The Carpenter What does history tell of our William? We know that he went on the Crusades, and William fought at the Battle of Hastings, 1066 and all that. First let us look the arms granted to William, they are described as a Pally of six, argent and gules, with three cross crosslets or. Others have traced these arms off and on from the 1100's to the church of Westbury on Trym 1443 placed there by "our" Bishop, John Carpenter. There are many Carpenter's crests and arms shown in records and these will be illustrated throughout this book. The first record of these which I have found are shown in a 13th century Spanish manuscript of a painting of a scene of the war between the Christians and the Muslims. It shows a banner of red with three cross crosslets. [see illustration] I believe this is a record of the third crusade, as the picture shows of six panels depicting a Meeting of King Richard with the Saladin, the famous Muslim leader, possibly when they agreed on a truce for three years in 1193. Modern heraldry has been defined as "true heraldry as a systematic use of hereditary devices centered on a shield". The earliest known decorated shield which fits this definition is dated 1127, on the occasion of the knighting of Geoffrey of Anjou by King Henry I. We know that heraldic arms were carried, as far back as 924, as means of identification in battle and banners were used for a marshaling point of the troops of knights under one commander. This is so in today's army, identification of one's own members of a platoon in a battle is essential. Heraldry was also used to identify families before the use of individual surnames were common. William de Melun the fighter BATTLE OF HASTINGS: On 20th October 1066, at about 10 to 11 o'clock in the morning, William the Conqueror and his forces commenced Battle against King Harold's English army. It is highly likely that this (our) William fought aged about 24 years under Robert De Beaumont who was in charge of the Norman Knights. We can only visualise that our Knight William was dressed as any good Norman Knight would be during that time period. He wore a helmet of metal with a protective nose piece. His main weapon was a lance (a long spear), he also carried a long sword. He was armoured and protected from the cuts and thrusts of his enemies by a leather jerkin, with chain mail from his neck to his knees. He rode into battle with a horse that was unprotected. The Bayeux tapestry, representing the battle, shows the favourite weapon of the English, the Battleaxe, being used in disabling the horses of the Norman knights. It is believed that, during the fighting, William's horse was crippled and he was forced to fight on foot. In the heat of the battle he could well have lost his sword and grabbed an enemies' Battleaxe, then in his desperate attempt to survive, began swinging with all his might. This type of unthinking fighting is sometimes called "Beserking." A Beserker fights any enemy until he is killed or exhausted. We do not know if, or how many times, he was wounded, but he survived the battle. His comrades rewarded his efforts with the title "le charpentier." His strength and ability with the English Battleaxe was associated with the great strength and precision of the carpenter's trade. So William the Knight of Melun became known as William the Carpenter. His descendants became known as of "The Carpenter" and later shortened to the surname of CARPENTER. . Of the names of the Norman Chieftains who survived the Battle we find "Melun" This form of Berserking happened to me when I was involved in a fight with my late brother. I was 14 years old and he was 24 and on leave from the army before the D-day landings of the Second World War. We had a disagreement and fought in the back yard for over two hours. I took a terrible beating but I would not, or could not, stop. When my mother came home and found us still fighting, she had to call in some others members of the family to part us. We both needed hospital treatment. Many years later my brother told me I was like a wild animal he could not get away from me he believed I would have killed him if I could. He said "you went berserk", his very words. While in this state you gain terrific strength and feel no pain. So what happened to our William the Carpenter after the battle of Hastings? As he had fought beside William "The Conqueror" he received his reward, as promised by the King, by the granting of land. The rules of feudalism dictated that the lords knights did not have provide him with military support outside the boundaries of his lands. William persuaded knights to cross the English Channel to fight on his behalf by promising to reward them well. He kept his promise to his knights after the Battle of Hastings by staking claim to all of England, then dividing out English land to his knights as payment for their military service. The list is as follows-: Alan of Brittany Robert of Mortain Hugh of Avranches William of Percy Gilbert de Gand Roger of Poitou William of Wareene Roger de Busli Willaim Peverel Ivo Tailebios Henry de Ferrers Roger de Montgomery Thorkill of Arden - Count of Melan Countess Judith Roger Bigod Richard of Clare Aubrey de Vere Then came the Bishops Archbishop of York Bishop of Durham Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances Bishop of Winchester Odo, Bishop of Bayeux 33 Castles were built by William I, or with his sanction. A chronicler of the invasion described how a prefabricated castle was brought over by the Normans "Then the carpenters landed, who had great axes in their hands and planes and axes hung at their sides. They deliberated and looked for a good spot to place a castle. They had with them in the fleet three wooden castles from Normandy in pieces, ready for framing together, and they took the materials of one of these out of the ships, all shaped and bored to receive the pins that they had brought cut and ready in large barrels. Before evening, they had finished a fine fort on English ground". While it is hard to imagine that the castle described in the chronicle of the Battle of Hastings was as imposing as some more solid castles, it was part of a systematic strategy on William's part to maintain his control over England. It gave the invaders a base, a statement that they intended to stay. This was just the start, there were many imposing Norman castles [See illustration] built in England, not of wood but of local stone. Some remain to this day along with churches and religious houses. Once he had his knights in place William I turned to the Church, Replacing the Anglo Saxon bishops by his Norman kinsmen, he started by replacing Archbishop Aldred of York, who died in 1069. This practice carried on until 1103, the Bishop of Exeter was the last. The English Bishop of Worcester survived until 1095. Records show that William (Giulaume in French) the Carpenter was fighting with the Christians of France against the Moors at Toledo in 1084-1086, then aged about 42, and then again in the first crusade starting in late 1096. It was in 1084 the William became "Guilaume the 1st, Lord of Melun." William the Survivor "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day" The Siege of Antioch, in Syria, took place about February 1098. William the Carpenter was taking part. There seemed to be no end to the siege, it wore interminably on, conditions worsened, and as the expectation and threat of another relieving army under the powerful Kerbogha, 'atabeg' of Mosul, increased, morale began to crack in certain quarters and divisions appeared amongst the Christian leaders. There were desertions, real and suspected, both before and after the battle of the Lake of Antioch. Among those to leave were Peter the Hermit (of all people) and William 'the Carpenter' They had deserted in the January and were found, captured and brought back by Tancred, Bohemond's nephew. It is said that the wretched William stood in Bohemond'd tent at first light, to have strip after strip torn off him by his commanding officer - "You wretched disgrace to the whole Frankish army -- you dishonourable blot on all the people of Gaul. You most loathsome of all men whom the earth has to bear" and so on. William had evidently deserted once before, on an expedition against the Moors in Spain, an incident of which he was now forcefully reminded by the outraged Bohemond." William the Carpenter later fought at the Battle of Lake Antioch and survived the religious Crusade. Records have been found indicating he was alive on 17 July 1100, when he was granted lands for his "efforts" during the First Crusade. Those lands were contested by claims he deserted. Yet is honour was still intact because on the debt owed about two years earlier. William the Carpenter was a co-leader of a force which rescued Bohemond and Tancred in the plains of Turkey when the were surrounded and facing annihilation by a superior force. William's force came smashing through the enemy's rear sending it in a panic. The Crusade would have ended if not for this gallant attack. Several records descibe William the Carpenter (GuillaumeI., of name, Viscount of Melun, was named, the Carpenter, because no weapon (opponents weapons that is) could be found that could resist the power his strikes. The heaviness of his (weapons) resulted in him being feared in combat. He was, of that time, one of the most "well build" people. It is not known where William the Carpenter died. We know he survived the fighting and returned to France. It is assumed he died about 1104/1109 in the Isle de France region. Land Rewards in England after Hastings It is important that we know what lands were given to William, Records show the King was generous. William de Melun and Thorkill of Arden are showing as being given Warwick. Who was Thorkill? Can we assume that he was an Anglo-Saxon Knight who fought on the King's side, or a Saxon Thane? Was William given Thorkill's land to oversee, as the forest of Arden in that period must have been very close to Warwick Castle which William occupied. What a delight it must have been to him, he had been born close to the forest of Fontainebleau, so this must have been like home from home. Who were Williams neighbours? To the West was Roger de Montgomery in Shrewsbury Castle, William Peveral and Countess Judith to the East, Northampton, and Henry de Ferrers to the North. What did this mean to William the Carpenter and his family? It made him a very rich man, and being close to the port of Bristol allowed him to trade. He needed to move his produce to other outlets and of course he knew the French markets, and must have had connections to trade. The area was famous for the quality of its wool. Bristol was as important a centre of commerce and trade as London, if not more so. They had everything at hand to succeed, the Romans had mined coal in the area, so there was a cheap supply of fuel needed for production of commodities. It is said that most of the citizens of Bristol were involved in soap making, used in the production of cloth. Wool, hides, fur, skins, iron, Mendip lead, fish, dairy products, live animals, woad, honey and cloth. All came to Bristol from the surrounding countryside, and of course all of these products were taxed so the city of Bristol had a constant source of revenue. There was a flourishing import trade too. All ships had a duty to pay of 6d, French wine was imported, duty on this was 1d a tun. The King's Royal Wine was imported through the port and stored at Bristol Castle. You can thus imagine William sailing up the Severn to his new home, seeing all this commercial bustle going on, eager to become part of the prosperity of the region. So our ancestor, about 1104 to 1109 AD, who gave the name Carpenter to our family from the French family passed on to the great battlefield in the sky. What had he been doing between fighting? It would seem he sp