William Peverel
William Peverell (c. 1040-c. 1115, Latinised to William Piperellus), was a Norman knight, and is shown in 'The Battle Abbey Roll' to have fought at the Battle of Hastings.
Biography
William Peverell the Elder was probably the legitimate son of William the Conqueror and a Saxon princess named Maud Ingelrica (daughter of the noble Ingelric) although this cannot be supported by the historical record.[1] Maud Ingelrica was later married to Ranulph Peverell, from whom William took his surname. William married Adelina of Lancaster, who bore him a daughter Adeliza, born adelaide, 1075, and a son, also named William, born circa 1080.
Etymology
There exist two possible etymological explanations, J.R. Planché who sources it from the Latin Puerulus, a "boy" or "child", and the Latin noun piper, meaning "pepper".
Puerulus
J.R. Planché derives the name as follows:[2] "The name of Peverel ... was not derived from a fief or a locality ... the name was Peverell or Piperell, and in Domesday we find it continually spelt Piperellus (as in) Terra Ranulphi Pipperelli (i.e. "The lands of Ralph Pipperellus"). This, however, does not illustrate its derivation, and the detestable practice of Latinising proper names only tends to confuse and mislead us, as they become in turn translated or corrupted till the original is either lost or rendered hopelessly inexplicable. It may be that like Mesquin lesser, or junior, translated into Mischinus, and distorted into de Micenis, "Peverel" is the Norman form of Peuerellus, as we find it written in the Anglo-Norman Pipe and Plea Rolls. The "u" being pronounced "v" in Normandy, and Peuerellus being simply a misspelling of the Latin Puerulus, a boy or child, naturally applied to the son to distinguish him from his father. William Peverel was therefore, literally, "boy-" or "child-William". We see in the instance of the descendants of Richard d'Avranches how Mesquin, used to distinguish a younger son, became the name of a family, and so it may have been with Peverel, which, originally applied to William, was afterwards borne by so many of his relations in England."
Piper
The Norman name Peverel was commonly Latinised by mediaeval scribes as Piperellus, apparently derived from the diminutive of the Latin noun piper, meaning "pepper",[3] thus "little pepper". Derived from the Latin word pǐpĕr is the Old-Norman French word peivre in , in modern French poivre,[4] meaning "pepper". In slang the meaning then as now was "angry, irascible, aggressive, atrabilarious, angry, fulminant, furious, fractious, anxious, irritable, stormy, touchy", which produced such ancient surnames as Peiverel, Pevrel and Peivrel. In French, this may give Poivret and Poivrot). (See also Placenames)
Lands in England
Whatever his paternity, William Peverel was a favourite of the Conqueror. He was greatly honoured after the Norman Conquest, receiving over a hundred holdings in central England from the king. In 1086, the Domesday Book records William as holding substantial land (162 lordships), collectively called the Honour of Peverel, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including Nottingham Castle.[5] He also built Peveril Castle, Castleton, Derbyshire. Peverel is one of people explicitly recorded in the Domesday Book as having built castles.[6]
Family
Maud and Ranulph's known legitimate son, also Ranulph, was almost as well favoured by the king as William was. He was granted 64 manors in Nottingham, although these were later taken from his family by Henry II for their support of Stephen against the Empress Matilda. The baronial family of the Peverels descend from Ranulph, not William.
After his first wife had died, William's son, William Peverel the Younger, married Avice de Lancaster, daughter of Roger of Poitou, Earl of Lancaster.
Beryl Platts has suggested that the Peverels in Normandy derive in fact from Flanders.[7]
Placenames
The Peverell name was later spelled "Peverel", and it appears in both forms in town names across England, e.g., Peverell, Sampford Peverell, Hatfield Peverel, etc.
The name is also known in the Isle of Man as "Peveril", e.g. Peveril Avenue / Road / Terrace, Peel, and Peveril Hotel / Buildings / Road / Square / Street / Street Lane / Terrace, Douglas. This association derives from Sir Walter Scott's novel "Peveril of the Peak" (1822) in which the character Fenella (Manx Gaelic female name meaning 'white shoulder, Irish "fionnghuala") features, as part of the story centres around Peel Castle, Peel, Isle of Man. The names "Peveril" and "Fenella" have also been used on freight and passenger steamers of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. Ltd. (George Broderick, Mannheim). In addition the IOMRLy Company names a number of its locomotives after Characters from the Novel such as No8 Fenella, No 6 Peveril (Various sources including Boyd, Preston & Powell Hendry).
References
- ^ See, e.g., The Complete Peerage, Vol IV, App. I, pp 761–770, "Peverel Family"
- ^ http://patp.us/genealogy/conq/peverel.aspx
- ^ Cassell's Latin Dictionary
- ^ Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise
- ^ A description of holdings in Derbyshire, from the Domesday Book (http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Derbyshire.htm). A local history of Duston, Northampton (http://www.duston.org.uk/peverel.htm).
- ^ Harfield 1991, p. 391
- ^ A history of Langar Hall (http://www.baronage.co.uk/langar/langar-1.html)
- Bibliography