Urse D'Abetot - Service To William II and Henry I

Service To William II and Henry I

After the death of King William I of England, Urse continued to serve William's sons and successors, Kings William II Rufus and Henry I. While William I granted the duchy of Normandy to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, England went to his second surviving son, William Rufus. Henry (later Henry I), the youngest son, was given a sum of money. In 1088, shortly after William Rufus became king, Urse was present at the trial of William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham, and is mentioned in De Iniusta Vexacione Willelmi Episcopi Primi, a contemporary account of the trial. During William I's reign, Urse had served the king mainly as a regional official, but during William II's reign Urse began to take a broader role in the kingdom as a whole. Urse became a constable in the king's household for both William II and Henry I, and under William II, he ascended to the office of marshal.

Urse was an assistant to William II's main minister, Ranulf Flambard, and frequently served as a royal judge. The historian Emma Mason argues that Urse, along with Flambard, Robert Fitzhamon, Roger Bigod, Haimo the dapifer, or seneschal, and Eudo, another dapifer, were the first recognizable barons of the Exchequer. During his absence from England, the king addressed a number of writs to Urse, along with Haimo, Eudo, and Robert Bloet, ordering them to enforce William's decisions in England. The historian Francis West, who studied the office of the justiciarship, asserts that Haimo, Eudo, and Urse, along with Flambard, could be considered the first English justiciars.

Urse's estates grew under William II, partly as a result of the inheritance of some of the lands of his brother, Robert Despenser, who died about 1097. Later, Urse consolidated his holdings by exchanging some of Robert's lands in Lincolnshire with Robert de Lacy for lands closer to his base in Worcestershire. Urse d'Abetot gained and passed to his heirs an estate that later became the Barony of Salwarpe, Worcestershire.

William II died in a hunting accident on 2 August 1100. His younger brother Henry immediately rode to Winchester and had himself crowned king before his elder brother, Robert Curthose, could claim the throne. Although Urse did not attest the charter Henry issued after he seized the throne, Urse was at court shortly afterwards. When Robert Curthose invaded England in 1101 in an attempt to take the English throne, Urse supported Henry. Urse was present at the court held at Winchester on 2 August 1101, when a peace treaty was ratified between the brothers. During Henry's reign, the king regranted Urse's lands to him, with some of them now granted as a tenant-in-chief when previously Urse had held those lands as an under-tenant, and not directly from the king. Urse's lands at Salwarpe were previously held by Roger of Montgomery, but were granted to Urse as a direct tenant of the king when Roger's son, Robert of Belesme, was outlawed in 1102. Urse continued to attest many of Henry's charters until 1108, although he did not use the title of "constable" in those charters.

Sometime between May and July 1108, Henry addressed a writ to Urse and the Bishop of Worcester from Reading. The royal document commanded the sheriff not summon the shire and hundred courts to locations different than customary nor that he summon them on dates other than those normal for such courts. From this, the historian Judith Green speculates that Urse had been summoning these courts at unusual times and then fining those who did not attend. The king specifically commanded that this procedure stop and then went on to detail the various courts which would hear what types of cases and the type of procedure that could be used in what type of case.