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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Biography of William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley 1285-1343

Paternal Family Tree: Ros

Around 1285 William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley was born to William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 30] and Maud Vaux Baroness Ros [aged 28].

On 13th May 1285 [his grandfather] Robert Ros [aged 49] died. His son [his father] William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 30] inherited Belvoir Castle [Map].

Before 1287 [his father] William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 31] and [his mother] Maud Vaux Baroness Ros [aged 29] were married.

On 6th August 1316 [his father] William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 61] died. He was buried at Kirkham Priory North Yorkshire [Map]. His son William [aged 31] succeeded 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley and inherited Belvoir Castle [Map].

Around 16th August 1316 [his mother] Maud Vaux Baroness Ros [aged 59] died.

Before 25th November 1316 William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 31] and Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley [aged 8] were married. She by marriage Baroness Ros Helmsley. The difference in their ages was 23 years.

After 1321 William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 36] was appointed Lord High Admiral.

Around 1323 [his daughter] Margaret Ros was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 38] and [his wife] Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley [aged 14] in Helmsley [Map]. She married 27th January 1332 her fourth cousin once removed Edward Bohun, son of Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex and Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland.

On 19th May 1329 [his son] William Ros 3rd Baron Ros Helmsley was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 44] and [his wife] Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley [aged 20]. He married his fourth cousin once removed Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville 2nd Baron Neville of Raby and Alice Audley Baroness Greystoke and Neville.

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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Before 15th October 1331 [his son-in-law] Nicholas Meinhill [aged 28] and [his daughter] Alice Ros were married.

On 27th January 1332 [his son-in-law] Edward Bohun [aged 22] and [his daughter] Margaret Ros [aged 9] were married. He the son of Humphrey Bohun 4th Earl Hereford 3rd Earl Essex and Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Countess Essex, Hereford and Holland. They were fourth cousin once removed. He a grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

Before 16th July 1334 [his son-in-law] William Zouche 2nd Baron Zouche Harringworth [aged 12] and [his daughter] Elizabeth Ros Baroness Zouche Harringworth were married. They were second cousin once removed. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

Around 1335 [his brother-in-law] Thomas Musgrave 1st Baron Musgrave [aged 33] and [his sister] Margaret Ros Baroness Musgrave [aged 37] were married. She by marriage Baroness Musgrave.

On 13th January 1335 [his son] Thomas Ros 4th Baron Ros Helmsley was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 50] and [his wife] Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley [aged 26]. He married 12th April 1363 his third cousin Beatrice Stafford Countess Desmond, daughter of Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford and Margaret Audley Countess Stafford, and had issue.

In 1336 John de Vere 7th Earl of Oxford [aged 23] and [his sister-in-law] Maud Badlesmere Countess of Oxford [aged 27] were married. She by marriage Countess of Oxford. They were third cousin twice removed. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England.

On 7th June 1338 [his brother-in-law] Giles Badlesmere 2nd Baron Badlesmere [aged 23] died. Baron Badlesmere abeyant between his sisters [his wife] Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley [aged 29], [his sister-in-law] Maud Badlesmere Countess of Oxford [aged 29], Elizabeth Badlesmere Countess Northampton [aged 25] and Margaret Badlesmere Baroness Tibetot [aged 23].

Calendar Inquitisitions Port Mortem Volume 8 Edward III 185. 185. [his brother-in-law] Giles De Badelesmere [deceased], Knight.

Writ to Henry Darcy, mayor of the city of London, and king's escheator there, 16 July [1338], 12 Edward III.

London.

Inq. Friday before St. Bartholomew, 12 Edward III.

Alegate. A tenement, 17 shops, and a garden adjacent, within Alegate, worth when let 9l.; out of which there are paid yearly to the lords of that fee for quit rent, 56s. 4d., and for repairs, 40s.

Lymstret lane. A tenement and a garden, worth 40s., out of which are paid yearly for repair of houses and walls and for enclosing of the said tenement and garden, 20s.

All held of the king in chief, as the whole of the city of London is.

Margery [aged 30] the wife of Sir William de Ros [aged 53], Maud [aged 30] the wife of the earl of Oxford [aged 26], Elizabeth [aged 25] the wife of the earl of Northampton [aged 28], and Margery [aged 23] (sic) the wife of Sir John Tipetoft [aged 24], are his sisters and co-heirs, and of full age.

John Tiptoft 2nd Baron Tibetot.

Continues.

In 1341 [his daughter] Margaret Ros [aged 18] died in Musgrave.

On 3rd February 1343 William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley [aged 58] died. He was buried at Kirkham Priory North Yorkshire [Map]. His son William [aged 13] succeeded 3rd Baron Ros Helmsley and inherited Belvoir Castle [Map]. Margaret Neville [aged 13] by marriage Baroness Ros Helmsley.

Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses

Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.

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On 18th October 1363 [his former wife] Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley [aged 55] died.

[his daughter] Maud Ros Baroness Welles was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley and Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley. She married 1345 John Welles 4th Baron Welles, son of Adam Welles 3rd Baron Welles and Margaret Bardolf Baroness Welles, and had issue.

[his daughter] Elizabeth Ros Baroness Zouche Harringworth was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley and Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley. She married before 16th July 1334 her second cousin once removed William Zouche 2nd Baron Zouche Harringworth and had issue.

[his daughter] Alice Ros was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley and Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley. She married before 15th October 1331 Nicholas Meinhill and had issue.

[his daughter] Milicent Ros was born to William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley and Margery Badlesmere Baroness Ros of Helmsley.

Royal Ancestors of William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley 1285-1343

Kings Wessex: Great x 8 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England

Kings Scotland: Great x 7 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland

Kings Franks: Great x 16 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor

Kings France: Great x 9 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks

Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 13 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine

Royal Descendants of William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley 1285-1343
Number after indicates the number of unique routes of descent. Descendants of Kings and Queens not included.

Queen Anne Boleyn of England [1]

Queen Jane Seymour [1]

Catherine Parr Queen Consort England [1]

Jane Grey I Queen England and Ireland [1]

George Wharton [6]

Brigadier-General Charles Fitz-Clarence [19]

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom [84]

Queen Consort Camilla Shand [38]

Diana Spencer Princess Wales [287]

Catherine Middleton Princess of Wales [1]

Ancestors of William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley 1285-1343

Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Ros

Great x 1 Grandfather: William Ros

Great x 2 Grandmother: Isabella Mac William Dunkeld

Great x 3 Grandmother: Isabel d'Avenel Abenel

GrandFather: Robert Ros

Great x 3 Grandfather: Herbert Fitzherbert

Great x 2 Grandfather: Piers Fitzherbert

Great x 1 Grandmother: Lucy Fitzpiers

Father: William Ros 1st Baron Ros Helmsley

Great x 4 Grandfather: William Brito de Albini

Great x 3 Grandfather: William Meschines Brito de Albini

Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Senlis

Great x 2 Grandfather: William de Albini

Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert de Clare

Great x 3 Grandmother: Maud de Clare

Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Senlis

Great x 1 Grandfather: William de Albini

Great x 3 Grandfather: William Trusbut

Great x 2 Grandmother: Agatha Trusbut

GrandMother: Isabel de Albini

William Ros 2nd Baron Ros Helmsley

Great x 1 Grandfather: Oliver Vaux

GrandFather: John Vaux

Mother: Maud Vaux Baroness Ros