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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Paternal Family Tree: Seymour
Edward Seymour and Margaret Walshe were married. He the son of Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and Catherine Filliol.
In or before 1527 Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 26] and [his mother] Catherine Filliol [aged 19] were married.
In 1529 Edward Seymour was born to Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 29] and Catherine Filliol [aged 22] at Wulf aka Wolf Hall, Wiltshire [Map]. Paternity was questioned by Edward after it was alleged that Catherine had had an affair with her father-in-law John Seymour 1474-1536. He and his brother were excluded in 1540 from their paternal and maternal inheritances and all their claims to their father's dignities being postponed to his children by his second wife.
Around 1535 [his mother] Catherine Filliol [aged 28] died.
In April 1536 Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 36] and Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 39] were married.
In 1540 Edward Seymour [aged 11] disinherited.
After 16th February 1547. The date uncertain but likely to be after the funeral of Henry VIII [deceased] King Edward VI of England and Ireland [aged 9] made a number of new appointments although given King Edward VI of England and Ireland was only nine years old at the time, the titles were, in effect, bestowed by Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 47].
William Parr 1st Marquess Northampton [aged 35] was created 1st Marquess Northampton.
Thomas Seymour 1st Baron Seymour [aged 39] was created 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and appointed Lord High Admiral.
New Garter Knights:
318th Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 30].
319th Edward Stanley 3rd Earl of Derby [aged 37].
320th Thomas Seymour 1st Baron Seymour.
321st William Paget 1st Baron Paget Beaudasert [aged 41].
John Carey [aged 56] and Henry Huberthorne were knighted by King Edward VI of England and Ireland.
On 10th September 1547 an English army commanded by Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 47] defeated a Scottish army commanded by James Hamilton 2nd Earl Arran [aged 31] and Archibald Douglas 6th Earl Angus [aged 58] at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh at Musselburgh.
The English army included John Dudley 1st Duke Northumberland [aged 43], Francis Talbot 5th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 47], Miles Partridge and Thomas Wentworth 2nd Baron Wentworth [aged 22]. John Thynne [aged 32] and Edmund Brydges 2nd Baron Chandos [aged 25] were knighted.
William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 26] accompanied Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset.
Edward Shelley of Worminghurst Park [aged 44] was killed.
John Forbes 6th Lord Forbes [aged 82], Christopher Coningsby [aged 31] and Edward Clere were killed.
John Thynne was knighted after the battle.
George Sandes [aged 29] was killed.
The Scottish army included John Gordon 11th Earl Sutherland [aged 22] who commanded the Rearguard and Gilbert Kennedy 3rd Earl Cassilis [aged 32]. John Stewart, Robert Douglas [aged 41], John Livingston, Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield and Hugh Montgomerie were killed. John Hay 4th Lord Hay was captured but soon released.
Malcolm Fleming 3rd Lord Fleming [aged 53] was killed. His son James [aged 13] succeeded 4th Lord Fleming. Barbara Hamilton Lady Fleming by marriage Lord Fleming.
Robert Graham Master of Montrose and James Gordon of Lochinvar were killed.

On 1st December 1547 Thomas Pomeroy 18th Baron Pomeroy [aged 44] sold the castle, park and manor of Berry Pomeroy to Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 47] who gave it to his son Edward Seymour [aged 18]. It isn't clear whether the Barony of Berry Pomeroy was part of the transaction.
On 3rd June 1550 John Dudley 2nd Earl Warwick [aged 23] and Anne Seymour Countess of Warwick [aged 12] were married at Sheen Palace [Map]. She the daughter of [his father] Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 50] and [his step-mother] Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 53]. He the son of John Dudley 1st Duke Northumberland [aged 46] and Jane Guildford Duchess Northumberland [aged 41]. They were fifth cousin once removed. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
Diary of Edward VI. 3rd June 1550. The King came to Schein, wher was a mariag mad(e) betwen the lord Lisle [aged 23], th'erle of Warwic's [aged 46] sone, and the ladi Anne [aged 12], daughter to the duke of Somerset [aged 50]3, wich don and a faire diner made, and daunsing finished, the King and the ladies went into tow chamhers mad of bowis, wher first he saw six gentlemen of on(e) side and six of another rune the course of the field, twis over, Ther names hiere do folow:
The lord Edward [aged 21].1a
Sir Jhon Aplebey.
(The rest omitted.)
And afterward cam three mascers of one side and tow of another, wich rane fowre courses apece. Ther names be (left blank).
Last of al came the count of Ragonne,2a with 3 Italians, who ran with al the gentlemen fowre courses, and afterward fought at tornay. And so, after souper, he (the King) retorned to Whestmuster.
Note 3. On this occasion Dudley must have held out a brother's hand to Seymour, and hopes must have been entertained that the alliance would cement their future friendship, and secure the position of both parties. The result, as is well known, was otherwise. Little is on record of the history, and less of the character, of the bridegroom. When earl of Warwick, he was condemned with his father the duke of Northumberland in 1553, and he died without children in 1554, within ten days after his release from the Tower. The bride — one of the "trois belles chanteresses "(as they were styled by the poet Ronsard) who under the guidance of their tutor Denisot celebrated in French verse the death and virtues of Marguerite de Valois, queen of Navarre — suffered severely from the miseries to which her high birth subjected her. After losing her father by decapitation in 1552, and having her husband condemned to the like fate in the following year, — after attending him in the Tower, and losing him (probably from the effects of his confinement), — the countess was remarried on the 29th April, 1555, to Edward Unton [aged 16], a Berkshire squire, afterwards a knight of the Bath. By an inquisition taken many years after, it was found that she had been a lunatic from the year 1566. She was however the mother of seven children by sir Edward Unton, and the younger surviving son was the celebrated sir Henry Unton, ambassador in France, whose dispatches have been edited for the Roxburghe Club by Mr. Stevenson. For more minute particulars relative to the countess see the memoir of the Unton Family, by the present Editor, prefixed to the Unton Inventories, printed for the Berkshire Ashmolean Society in 1841.
Note 1a. Lord Edward Seymour, the duke of Somerset's eldest son. [Note. In 1550 the Duke's eldest son John Seymour [aged 23] was alive; he would die in 1552.]
Note 2a. On the 20th April, in the year before us, the council had issued a "warrant to (blank) to pay cxxvli. to the young conte Rangone for the half-yeres pension of one thousand crownes by the yere assigned to him during his abode in the King's majesties service, as well in respect of the young gentleman's good will and towardnesse, as for the love of his father, being a nobleman of Italie, and one that hath alwaies borne unto the King's majestic and his most noble father a singuler afiection: for a token whereof he sent this his eldest sonne hither to serve his highnesse." (Council Book.) This annuity of 250l. to Pallavicino Eangoni, during pleasure, was confirmed by letters patent dated the 20th Jan. 4 Edw. VI. 1550-1, printed in Rymer, xv. 252.
In 1551 Edward Seymour [aged 22] was imprisoned at Tower of London [Map].
On 22nd January 1552 Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 52] was beheaded at Tower Hill [Map]. He was buried at St Peter ad Vincula Church, Tower of London [Map]. Duke Somerset, Earl Hertford, Viscount Beauchamp forfeit. His great-grandson William Seymour 2nd Duke of Somerset was restored to the titles in 1660.
In January 1553 John Dudley 2nd Earl Warwick [aged 26] by writ of acceleration 2nd Earl Warwick through a summons to Parliament. Anne Seymour Countess of Warwick [aged 15] by marriage Countess Warwick.
On 29th April 1555 Edward Unton [aged 21] and Anne Seymour Countess of Warwick [aged 17] were married. They had seven children. She the daughter of [his father] Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and [his step-mother] Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 58].
In 1559 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 19] was created 1st Earl Hertford, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset.
Before 25th December 1560 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 21] and Catherine Grey Countess Hertford [aged 20] were married in secret by an anonymous clergyman at Hertford House Canon Row. She by marriage Countess Hertford. She the daughter of Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk and Frances Brandon Duchess of Suffolk. He the son of [his father] Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and [his step-mother] Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 63]. They were sixth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great granddaughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.
Around 1563 [his son] Edward Seymour 1st Baronet was born to Edward Seymour [aged 34] and Margaret Walshe at Berry Pomeroy Castle [Map]. He married 19th September 1576 Elizabeth Champernowne Baroness Seymour and had issue.
On 1st December 1566 Thomas Pomeroy 18th Baron Pomeroy [aged 63] died. Baron Pomeroy Feudal extinct. It may possibly have been sold with the manor of Berry Pomeroy in 1547 in which case it descends through Edward Seymour [aged 37].
On 19th September 1576 [his son] Edward Seymour 1st Baronet [aged 13] and [his daughter-in-law] Elizabeth Champernowne Baroness Seymour were married.
In 1582 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 42] and [his sister-in-law] Frances Howard Countess Hertford [aged 28] were married. She by marriage Countess Hertford. He the son of [his father] Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and [his step-mother] Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 85]. They were half sixth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England.
In 1588 Anne Seymour Countess of Warwick [aged 50] died.
In 1593 Edward Seymour [aged 64] died at Tower of London [Map].
Tudor Tracts Chapter 4. My Lord Marshal, Edward Shelley, little Preston, Brampton, and Gerningham, Boulogners; Ratcliffe, the Lord Fitzwalter's brother; Sir John Clere's son and heir; Digges of Kent; Ellerker, a Pensioner; Segrave. Of my Lord Protector's band, my Lord Edward, his Grace's son, Captain of the same band; Stanley, Woodhouse, Coonisby, Horqill, Morris, Dennis, Arthur, and Atkinson; with others in the forerank, not being able, in this earnest assault, both to tend [attend] to their fight afore, and to the retire behind: the Scots, again (well considering hereby how weak they remained) caught courage afresh, ran sharply for* ward upon them, and, without any mercy, slew every man of our men that abode furthest in press; a six more, of Boulogners and others, than I have here named: in all. to the number of twenty-six, and the most part, gentlemen.
Kings Wessex: Great x 15 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 12 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 18 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 13 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 17 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 7 Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 11 Grand Son of King William I of Scotland
Kings France: Great x 9 Grand Son of King Philip IV of France
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 20 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Kings Spain: Great x 12 Grand Son of Alfonso II King Aragon
Great x 4 Grandfather: Roger Seymour
9 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Seymour
10 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Sturmey
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Seymour
11 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Isabel Williams
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Seymour
12 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Coker
Grandfather: John Seymour
9 x Great Grandson of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Darrell
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Darrell
Great x 2 Grandfather: George Darrell of Littlecote
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Darrell 8 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Stourton
5 x Great Grandson of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Stourton 1st Baron Stourton
6 x Great Grandson of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Stourtron
7 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Father: Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset 6 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Wentworth
Great x 3 Grandfather: Roger Wentworth
Great x 4 Grandmother: Agnes Dronsfield
Great x 2 Grandfather: Philip Wentworth
8 x Great Grandson of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Philip Despencer 2nd Baron Despencer
8 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margery Despencer 3rd Baroness Despencer, Baroness Ros
7 x Great Granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Tiptoft Baroness Despencer
6 x Great Granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Wentworth 4th Baron Despencer
4 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Clifford 6th Baron Clifford
5 x Great Grandson of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Clifford 7th Baron Clifford
4 x Great Grandson of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Ros Baroness Clifford
3 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Clifford Baroness Despencer
3 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry "Hotspur" Percy 3 x Great Grandson of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Percy Countess of Westmoreland 2 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Mortimer Baroness Camoys
Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England
Grandmother: Margery Wentworth
5 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Saye
7 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Saye
7 x Great Grandson of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Boteler Baroness Ferrers Wem 6 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Saye
8 x Great Grandson of King John of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Saye Baroness Despencer
8 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Cheney
Great x 3 Grandfather: Lawrence Cheney
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Cheney 7 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Cockayne
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Cockayne
6 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Ida Grey
5 x Great Granddaughter of King John of England
Edward Seymour
7 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Filiol
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Filiol
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Filiol
Grandfather: William Filiol of Woodlands and Filiols Hall
Mother: Catherine Filliol