View source for Gerald de Windsor

{{Short description|Cambro-Norman nobleman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox nobility|name=Gerald de Windsor|birth_date=c.1075|death_date=1135|spouse=[[Nest ferch Rhys]]|noble family=[[FitzGerald dynasty]]|issue=William FitzGerald<br>[[Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan|Maurice FitzGerald]]<br>[[David FitzGerald]]<br>Angharad<br>Gwladys|father=[[Walter FitzOther]]|mother=Beatrice|title=[[Castellan]] of [[Pembroke Castle]]}}

'''Gerald de Windsor''' ({{c.}}1075 – 1135), ''alias'' '''Gerald FitzWalter''', was an Cymro-Norman lord who was the first [[Castellan]] of [[Pembroke Castle]] in Pembrokeshire (formerly part of the Kingdom of [[Deheubarth]]). Son of the first Norman-French [[Constable of Windsor Castle]], and married to a Welsh Princess daughter of the King of [[Deheubarth]], he was in charge of the [[Cambro-Normans|Norman forces in south-west Wales]]. He was also [[Steward (office)|steward]] and governor for the Norman [[magnate]] [[Arnulf de Montgomery]]. His descendants were the [[FitzGerald dynasty]], as well as the [[Fitzmaurice|FitzMaurice]], [[De Barry]], and [[Keating (surname)|Keating]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Amyot Padjan |title=The Tuscan Origin of the Geraldines|year=2015|pages=51|url=https://www.josephamyotpadjan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-Tuscan-Origin-of-the-Geraldines.pdf|access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref> dynasties of Ireland, who were elevated to the [[Peerage of Ireland]] in the 14th century. He was also the ancestor of the prominent Carew family, of [[Moulsford]] in Berkshire, the owners of [[Carew Castle]] in Pembrokeshire (in the Kingdom of [[Deheubarth]]) and of [[Mohuns Ottery]] in Devon (see [[Baron Carew]], [[Earl of Totnes]] and [[Carew baronets]]).<ref>[[John Lambrick Vivian|Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L.]], (Ed.) ''The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the [[Heraldic visitation|Heralds' Visitations]] of 1531, 1564 & 1620'', Exeter, 1895, pp.133-145, pedigree of Carew</ref>[[File:Pembrokecastle 2006.jpg|thumb|270px|right|[[Pembroke Castle]] today. The original castle, of which no above-ground trace remains, was built by [[Arnulf of Montgomery]] ({{c.}}1066 – 1118/22), the Anglo-Norman conqueror of South Wales and contemporary of Gerald de Windsor]]
==Origins==
===Father===
Gerald may have been born at [[Windsor Castle]] in Berkshire, then a strategically placed [[Motte-and-bailey castle|motte-and-bailey]] royal fortress and a principal royal residence, hence his sobriquet "de Windsor", although may have simply taken the name of the family seat as per tradition demonstrated by the [[De Barry family|de Barri]]s of south Wales . He was a younger son of [[Walter FitzOther]] ({{fl.}}1086; died after 1099), [[English feudal barony|feudal baron]] of [[Eton, Berkshire|Eton]]<ref>Sanders, I.J. ''English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327'', Oxford, 1960, p.116-17</ref> in [[Buckinghamshire]] (now in [[Berkshire]]) who was the first [[Constables and Governors of Windsor Castle|Constable of Windsor Castle]]<ref name="Vivian133">[[John Lambrick Vivian|Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L.]], (Ed.) ''The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the [[Heraldic visitation|Heralds' Visitations]] of 1531, 1564 & 1620'', Exeter, 1895, p. 133, pedigree of Carew</ref> in Berkshire (directly across the [[River Thames]] from Eton), a principal royal residence of King [[William the Conqueror]], and was a [[tenant-in-chief]] of that king of 21 [[Manorialism|manors]] in the counties of [[Berkshire]], Buckinghamshire, [[Surrey]], Hampshire and [[Middlesex]], as well as [[Feudal land tenure in England|holding]] a further 17 manors as a mesne tenant in the same counties.<ref name=Domesday>[http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/index.html The Domesday Book Online]. Accessed 9 January 2023.</ref> 

[[Walter FitzOther]], as his surname [[Fitz]] asserts, was the son of [[Gherardini family|Otto Gherardini]] (Latinized to ''Otheus''),<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25506713.pdf Fitzgibbon, A. "Appendix to the Unpublished Geraldine Documents: The Gherardini of Tuscany"], ''The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland'', Fourth Series, Vol. 4, No. 29, 1877.</ref> who had been Constable of Windsor Castle during the reign of King [[Edward the Confessor]] ({{r.}}1042–1066).<ref name="Vivian133"/><ref>Sanford, John Langton and Meredith Townsend. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xVEBAAAAQAAJ&dq=Gerald+Fitz+Walter&pg=PA134 The Great Governing Families of England]. 2v. Blackwood & Sons, 1865 (Books for Libraries Press, 1972), p. 133-134</ref> [[Walter FitzOther]] became a follower of the Norman invader King William the Conqueror ({{r.}}1066–1087), who appointed him as his first [[castellan]] of [[Windsor Castle]] and Keeper of the [[Windsor Great Park|Forest of Windsor]], an important royal hunting ground.

Upon his father's death after 1100, Gerald's oldest brother William inherited the office of Constable of Windsor Castle; his second-oldest brother Robert inherited the nearby manor of Eton in Berkshire.<ref>Rev. E. Barry, ''Records of the Barrys of County Cork from the earliest to the present time.'', Cork, 1902, p.3; Vivian, p.133: Robert of Easton (sic), co. Bucks, quoting ''The Life of Sir Peter Carew, of Mohun Ottery, co. Devon.'', by [[John Hooker (English constitutionalist)|John Hooker]] ({{c.}}1527 – 1601), edited by Sir [[Thomas Phillipps]], 1st Baronet (1792–1872), published 1840 in [[Society of Antiquaries of London#Publications|''Archaeologia'']], the journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London</ref> Gerald's family was one of the "service families" on whom King William the Conqueror relied for his survival.<ref name=Maund>{{cite book|last1=Maund|first1=Keri|title=Princess Nest of Wales|date=2007|publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd|location=Stroud|isbn=9780752437712}}<!--|accessdate=31 August 2014--></ref>

===Mother and siblings===
Gerald's mother was named Beatrice.<ref name=Weis>Weis, Frederick Lewis, ''Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonies Who Came to America before 1700'', 2002, p. 153</ref> Gerald had three known siblings: William, Robert, and Maurice.

== Career ==
[[File:The East Tower of Cilgerran Castle, Pembrokeshire - geograph.org.uk - 1874948.jpg|240px|thumb|right|[[Cilgerran Castle]], the possible site of Princess [[Nest ferch Rhys|Nest]]'s abduction. The first castle on this site is thought to have been built by Gerald of Windsor during the 12th century]]
The death in battle of Gerald's father-in-law, [[Rhys ap Tewdwr]], Prince of Wales,<ref name=Vivian>"Vivian, p.133"</ref> and the last king of [[Deheubarth]]<ref>VCH</ref> in [[Wales]] ("last [[king of the Britons]]"), was the opportunity for a general Norman invasion of [[South Wales]] during which [[Arnulf of Montgomery|Arnulf de Montgomery]], youngest son of the powerful [[Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury]], swept out from Shrewsbury and ravaged south into [[Dyfed]], where he built [[Pembroke Castle]], in the form of a rudimentary fortress later described by [[Giraldus Cambrensis]] ({{c.}}1146 – {{c.}}1223) (Gerald's grandson) as a "slender fortress of turf and stakes. When he went back to England, Arnulf left the fortress and a small garrison in the charge of Gerald of Windsor, a stalwart, cunning man, his constable and lieutenant".<ref name=Giraldus1>Giraldus Cambrensis. ''Journey Through Wales'' I.xii.ii</ref> The first Pembroke Castle was not very strong and offered little resistance.<ref name=Giraldus1/>

In 1096, two or three years after the establishment of Norman [[Pembroke, Pembrokeshire|Pembrokeshire]], a general uprising occurred in Wales against the Norman invasion during which Gerald's defence of Pembroke Castle excited the admiration of his contemporaries, all the more for his unique stratagems during the desperate stance. While fortress after fortress fell to the Welsh onslaught, Pembroke Castle held out, despite the rigours of a lengthy siege by Uchtryd ab Edwin and Hywel ap Goronwy, which greatly reduced Gerald's forces. Fifteen of Gerald's knights deserted at night and left by boat,<ref name=Giraldus1/> on the discovery of which Gerald confiscated their estates and re-granted them to the deserters' followers whom he created knights. Giraldus Cambrensis described the events as follows:
{{blockquote|When they had hardly any provisions left, Gerald, who, as I have said, was a cunning man, created the impression that they were still well supplied and were expecting reinforcement at any moment. He took four hogs, which was about all they had, cut them into sections, and hurled them off over the palisades at the besiegers. The following day he thought of an even more ingenious strategism. He signed a letter with his own seal and had it placed just outside the lodgings of Wilfred, Bishop of St David's, who chanced to be in the neighbourhood. There it would be picked up almost immediately and the finder would imagine that it had been dropped accidentally by one of Gerald's messengers. The purport of the letter was that Gerald would have no need of reinforcements from Arnulf for a good four months. When this despatch was read to the Welsh, they immediately abandoned the siege and went off home.}}

In 1094(?) in recognition of Gerald's successful defence of Pembroke, King [[William II of England|William II]] rewarded Arnulf, Gerald's overlord, with the lordship of [[Demetia]], and created him [[Earl of Pembroke]].

In 1102, before the revolt of the Montgomery faction against King [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] ({{r.}}1100–1135), Gerald went to Ireland, where he negotiated the marriage of his overlord Arnulf de Montgomery with Lafracoth, daughter of the Irish king [[Muircheartach Ua Briain]], [[King of Munster]].

Gerald de Windsor held the office of Constable of [[Pembroke Castle]] from 1102. In 1108 Gerald built the castle of [[Little Cenarth]] (Cenarth Bychan) which is probably [[Cilgerran Castle]].

==Landholdings==
Gerald received the [[Manorialism|manor]] of [[Moulsford]] then in Berkshire (since 1974 in [[Oxfordshire]]), by grant of King Henry I.<ref>[[Victoria County History]]: ''A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3'', Page, William & Ditchfield, P.H. (eds.), 1923, pp.504–7 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3/pp504-507]</ref> Moulsford descended to the Carew family of [[Carew Castle]] in Pembrokeshire, descended from Odo de Carrio, a son of William FitzGerald, son of Gerald de Windsor.<ref name=Vivian/>

==Marriage and progeny==
[[File:Carew Castle - geograph.org.uk - 2676698.jpg|240px|thumb|[[Carew Castle]], estate part of Princess Nest dowry, castle built by Gerald of Windsor]]
Gerald married [[Nest ferch Rhys]] ("Nesta") a Welsh princess, daughter of [[Rhys ap Tewdwr]], the last king of [[Deheubarth]] in Wales. Nest brought the manor of Carew as part of her dowry, and Gerald cleared the existing fort to build his own castle along Norman lines.<ref>[http://www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/default.asp?PID=297 "Gerald De Windsor and Princess Nest", Pembrokeshire Coast National Park]</ref> They had five children:
* William FitzGerald, Lord of Carew and Emlyn
* [[Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan]]
* [[David FitzGerald]], Bishop of St David's
* Angharad
* Gwladys

In 1109 his wife Nest was abducted by her second cousin [[Owain ap Cadwgan]]. According to the ''[[Brut y Tywysogion]]'', Owain and his men entered the couple's home (assumed by historians to have been either [[Cilgerran Castle]] or Little Cenarch) and set fire to the buildings. When Gerald was awoken by the noise, Nest urged him to escape by climbing out through the drain-hole of the [[garderobe]]. Owain then seized Nest and her children and carried her off. Some sources, however, suggest that she went with him willingly.

Gerald's influence was such that due to Nest's abduction Owain and his father soon lost much of their territory of [[Powys]]. Owain himself was obliged to go into exile in Ireland and when he returned in 1116, he was killed when his retinue of fifty men at arms was cunningly attacked by Gerald and his large cohort as they both traveled to aid the king of England.<ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-OWAI-APC-1116 |title=Owain ap Cadwgn (died 1116), prince of Powys}}</ref>

Gerald's son William had a daughter named Isabella Le Gros,{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} who married [[William De Haya Walensis]], by whom she had sons [[David Walensis]] and [[Philip Walensis]]. David and Philip were surnamed in Latin ''Walensis'' ("of Wales"), and were the founders of the widespread family surnamed ''Welsh'' or ''[[Walsh (surname)|Walsh]]'' or ''[[Wallace (surname)|Wallace]]''. Philip Walensis had a son named Howell of Welsh Walensis.

Nest is the female progenitor of the Fitzgerald Dynasty, and through her the Fitzgeralds are related to Welsh royalty and to the [[Tudors]] (Tewdwrs). The Tudors are descended from Nest's father Rhys ap Tewdwr (Anglicized to "Tudor"). [[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]], King of England, was a patrilineal descendant of Rhys ap Tewdwr. Consequently, Gerald and Nest's offspring, the Fitzgeralds, are distant cousins to the English Tudors.

==Death==
The ''[[Annals of Cambria]]'' record the date of Owain's death as 1116. As Gerald de Windsor makes no further appearance to that date in the "Annals" or in the "Chronicles of the Princes", the presumption is that he did not long survive his enemy, Owain ab Cadwgan, and that the [[Earl of Kildare]]'s ''Addenda'' is erroneous in putting his death as late as 1135.<ref>Rev. E. Barry, ''Records of the Barrys of County Cork from the earliest to the present time''., Cork, 1902, pg 4.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor, Gerald de}}
[[Category:Anglo-Normans in Wales]]
[[Category:Normans in Ireland]]
[[Category:People from Moulsford]]
[[Category:People from Windsor, Berkshire]]
[[Category:FitzGerald dynasty|Gerald]]
[[Category:People from Pembrokeshire]]
[[Category:1070s births]]
[[Category:1136 deaths]]