Editing Bideford (section)

===Early history===
[[Ubba|Hubba the Dane]] was said to have attacked Devon in the area around Bideford near [[Northam, Devon|Northam]] or near Kenwith Castle, and was repelled either by [[Alfred the Great]] (849–899) or by the Saxon [[Earl of Devon]].
[[File:Bideford Devon DomesdayBook.png|thumb|400px|[[Domesday Book]] entry for ''Bedeford'']]
The [[Manorialism|manor]] of Bideford was recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as held at some time [[tenant in chief|in chief]] from [[William the Conqueror]] by the great Saxon nobleman [[Brictric son of Algar|Brictric]], but later held by the king's wife [[Matilda of Flanders]] (c. 1031–1083).<ref>Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 1:60 (Bideford). In the Domesday Book a heading above the entry for Northlew, three entries above the entry for Bideford, states: ''Infra scriptas terras tenuit Brictric post regina Mathildis'' ("Brictric held the undermentioned lands and later Queen Matilda")</ref> There were then 30 villagers, 8 smallholders and 14 slaves in Bideford,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SS4526/bideford/ |title=Bideford &#124; Domesday Book |publisher=Domesdaymap.co.uk |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213094023/http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SS4526/bideford/ |url-status=live }}</ref> within the ancient [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of [[Shebbear Hundred|Merton]] in Devon.<ref>[https://opendomesday.org/place/SS4526/bideford/ Open Domesday: Bideford, Devon]. Accessed 25 Dec 2021.</ref> According to the account by the ''Continuator of [[Wace]]'' and others,<ref>Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2 (notes), 24, 21, quoting "Freeman, E.A., [[The History of the Norman Conquest of England]], 6 vols., Oxford, 1867–1879, vol. 4, Appendix, note 0"</ref> in his youth Brictric declined the romantic advances of Matilda and his great fiefdom was thereupon seized by her. Whatever the truth of the matter, years later, when she was acting as [[regent]] in England for William the Conqueror, she used her authority to confiscate Brictric's lands and threw him into prison, where he died.<ref>Edward Augustus Freeman, ''The History of the Norman Conquest of England'', Vol. IV (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871), pp. 761–64</ref> The [[Exon Domesday]]<ref>Thorn & Thorn, Part I, 1;61, small type at bottom of entry, denoting additional text in Exon Domesday not present in Exchequer Domesday</ref> notes that Bideford and nearby [[Littleham]] were [[Feudal land tenure in England|held]] at [[Farm (revenue leasing)|fee farm]] from the king by Gotshelm, a [[Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief|Devonshire tenant-in-chief]] of 28 manors and brother of [[Walter de Claville]].<ref>Thorn & Thorn, chapter 25:1–28</ref> Gotshelm's 28 manors descended to the [[Honour of Gloucester]],<ref>Thorn & Thorn, Part 2 (notes), chapter 25</ref> as did most of Brictric's.

After the death of Matilda in 1083, Brictric's lands were granted by her eldest son King [[William Rufus]] (1087–1100) to [[Robert FitzHamon]] (died 1107),<ref name=Round>[[J. Horace Round|Round, J. Horace]] (1930) ''Family Origins and Other Studies'', London, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp. 137–139</ref> the conqueror of [[Glamorgan]], whose daughter and sole heiress [[Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester|Maud (or Mabel) FitzHamon]] brought them to her husband [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester|Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester]] (pre-1100 – 1147), an [[illegitimate]] son of Matilda's younger son [[Henry I of England|King Henry I]] (reigned 1100–1135). Thus Brictric's fiefdom became the [[feudal barony of Gloucester]].<ref>Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327, Oxford, 1960, p.6, Barony of Gloucester</ref> The Grenville family held Bideford for many centuries under the overlordship of the feudal barons of Gloucester, which barony was soon absorbed into the Crown, when they became [[tenant in chief|tenants in chief]].

[[File:RobertFitzHamon &RichardDeGrenville 1860Window Kilkhampton.JPG|thumb|1860 imaginary depiction of Robert FitzHamon (died 1107) (left) and his younger brother [[Richard I de Grenville]] (d.post 1142) (right), Church of St James the Great, [[Kilkhampton]], Cornwall]]
[[File:GrenvilleArms.svg|thumb|Arms of Grenville, as visible sculpted on the monument to [[Thomas Grenville (died 1513)|Sir Thomas Grenville]] (died 1513) in [[Church of St Mary, Bideford|St Mary's Church]], Bideford: ''Gules, three [[Clarion (heraldry)|clarions]] or''. These are the [[canting arms]] of the ''de Clare'' family, Earls of Gloucester, heirs of FitzHamon and overlords of the Grenvilles]]
Sir [[Richard I de Grenville]] (d. after 1142) (''alias'' de Grainvilla, de Greinvill, etc.) was one of the [[Twelve Knights of Glamorgan]] who served in the Norman Conquest of [[Glamorgan]] under his elder brother [[Robert FitzHamon]] (died 1107), the first Norman [[Feudal barony of Gloucester|feudal baron of Gloucester]] and [[Lord of Glamorgan]] from 1075. He obtained from FitzHamon the lordship of [[Neath]], Glamorgan, where he built [[Neath Castle]] and in 1129 founded [[Neath Abbey]]. Richard de Grenville was one of three (or four<ref>Round, p. 137: his charter granting ''Litaham'' ([[Littleham]] near Bideford, Devon) to Neath Abbey mentions his wife Constance and his brother William and two nephews</ref>) known sons of [[Hamo Dapifer]] (died around 1100) [[High Sheriff of Kent|Sheriff of Kent]], an [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] royal official under both King [[William I of England|William the Conqueror]] (1066–1087) and his son King [[William II of England|William Rufus]] (1087–1100). He is by tradition the founder and ancestor of the prominent [[Westcountry]] Grenville family of [[Stowe, Kilkhampton|Stowe]] in the parish of [[Kilkhampton]] in Cornwall and of Bideford in Devon.

By tradition Richard de Grenville is said by [[John Prince (biographer)|Prince]] (died 1723),<ref>[[John Prince (biographer)|Prince, John]] (1643–1723) ''The Worthies of Devon'', 1810 edition, p. 440, biography of Sir Theobald Grenvil</ref> (apparently following ''[[Fuller's Worthies]]''<ref name=Round/>) to have founded Neath Abbey and bestowed upon it all his military acquisitions for its maintenance, and to have
:''"returned to his patrimony at Bideford where he lived in great honour and reputation the rest of his days"''.

However, according to [[J. Horace Round|Round]] (died 1928) "no proof exists that Richard I de Grenville ever held the manor of Bideford, which was later one of the principal seats of the [[West Country]] Grenville family. It was however certainly one of the constituent manors of the [[Honour of Gloucester]] granted by King William Rufus to Robert FitzHamon."<ref name=Round/> Richard de Grenville is known to have held seven [[knight's fee]]s from the Honour of Gloucester, granted to him either by his brother FitzHamon or by the latter's son-in-law and heir [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester]] (1100–1147). Round supposes instead that the Grenvilles of Bideford and Stowe were descended from a certain "Robert de Grenville" (''alias'' de Grainville, de Grainavilla, etc.) who was a junior witness to Richard's foundation charter of Neath Abbey, and who in the 1166 [[Cartae Baronum]] return was listed as holding one knight's fee from the Earl of Gloucester, feudal baron of Gloucester. Robert's familial relationship, if any, to Richard is unknown.

A charter was granted in 1272 to Richard V de Grenville by [[Henry III of England|King Henry III]], which created the town's first council.<ref name="devon1">{{cite web |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/historicbideford |title=Bideford |publisher=Devon.gov.uk |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617195300/http://www.devon.gov.uk/historicbideford |archive-date=17 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In ancient records Bideford was recorded as a [[borough]]; but it only returned [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|members]] to Parliament during the reigns of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] (1272–1307) and [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] (1307–1327).