William de Warenne (died 1209), the feudal baron of Wormegay, served as a royal justice under King Richard I and his brother King John. Warenne also served in financial matters, being one of those responsible for collecting taxes, and later overseeing debts from Christians to Jews. His career was closely tied to that of Hubert Walter, who employed Warenne as a judge in some ecclesiastical matters. He also founded a priory, and gave other gifts to religious houses. The historian Ralph V. Turner said of Warenne that "although he was a longtime official under King John, he did not quite fit into the inner corps of royal counselors".Turner "Religious Patronage" Albion p. 2
Early life William was the son of Reginald de Warenne, a royal justice and Sheriff of Sussex.Turner English Judiciary p. 90 and footnote 6 His mother Alice had been heiress to the feudal baron of Wormegay in Norfolk, and it passed to William following his father's death.
Royal service Warenne was one of a group of justices – including Richard Barre, Ralph Foliot, Richard Herriard, and William of Sainte-Mère-Église – who were appointed in 1194 by the Lord Chancellor Hubert Walter as justices for a new general eyre, to relieve the Barons of the Exchequer of some of their judicial duties.Turner English Judiciary p. 73 In 1195 Warenne served as a royal justice at Oxford with Hubert Walter, William Brewer and Geoffrey of Buckland.West Justiciarship p. 94 Warenne served again as a justice in 1198–1199 and then again during the first two years of the reign of John. His last service as a justice was in 1200.Turner English Judiciary p. 80 In 1200 John removed Warenne as a royal justice and appointed him as one of the four Justices for the Jews, replacing Simon of Pattishall. These officials had been created in 1194 and were not concerned with judicial matters concerning Jews, but rather with the collection of debts owed to Jews by Christians.Turner "Simon of Pattishall" Albion p. 118 Warenne continued in that office until 1209.Turner English Judiciary pp. 86–87 Besides judicial duties, Warenne also served in other capacities, working with Barre and Osbert fitzHervey to collect the carucage in 1194 in eastern England.Appleby England without Richard p. 217 In 1199 he again served with Barre and fitzHervey to impose amercements in the counties of Cambridge, Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.West Justiciarship p. 163
As a reward for his service, Warenne was given custody of a number of lands confiscated from Prince John, including the Honour of Gloucester, which Warenne administered for the royal government from 1194 to 1196 during the captivity of King Richard I. He also received as a further mark of royal favour the wardships of various minor heirs. In 1194 Warenne was given custody of the heir of Hugh de Chandos, in return for which he gave the king 40 marks.Turner English Judiciary p. 115 footnote 36 Warenne's career was closely tied to Hubert Walter's, who promoted his career as a justice. Besides his royal service, Walter employed Warenne as a justice on ecclesiastical matters and sent him in 1194 to York to deal with complaints by the cathedral chapter of York Minster against their archbishop, Geoffrey. A sign of further ties between the two was that Warenne served as a witness on Walter's charters founding a monastery at West Dereham.Turner English Judiciary p. 105
Marriage and family Warenne offered King John 500 marks for licence to marry Melisent, the widow of Richard de Montfichet and mother of Richard de Montfichet, lord of the manor of Stansted in Essex.Turner English Judiciary p. 113 Warenne's only surviving child and sole-heiress was his daughter, Beatrice, whom he married to Doun Bardolf, the holder of a one-half moiety of the feudal barony of Shelford in Nottinghamshire. Beatrice married secondly Ralph,Saunders English Baronies pp. 76, 101 and thirdly Hubert de Burgh.Turner English Judiciary pp. 119–120 Beatrice had a son, William Bardolf, by her first marriage, who became the eventual heir of his maternal grandfather. Bardolf's rights to the barony were controlled by Beatrice's third husband, who did not relinquish them until his death in 1243.
Death and legacy Warenne died in 1209Saunders English Baronies p. 101 and was buried in St Mary Overy Priory (now Southwark Cathedral) in Southwark, Surrey. Warenne also founded Wormegay Priory, Norfolk, a house of Augustinian monks.Turner English Judiciary p. 263 footnote 22 He gave gifts to the priory of St Mary Overy,Turner English Judiciary p. 265 footnote 20 to Carrow Abbey where one of his sisters was a nun, and to Lewes Priory, where his father had become a monk shortly before his death.Turner "Religious Patronage" Albion p. 8 and footnote 33
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