Sir Alain FITZFLAALD 'Dapifer' Sheriff of Shropshire [7053] ¹⁶⁶³

   FamilySearch ID: K2NQ-X1C. Find a Grave ID: 119018286.

  General Notes:

Alan FitzFlaald, son of Flaald, Seneschal of Dol. This is the name given by Marlyn Lewis and many other researchers.
Alan fitz Flaad Wikipedia, following Round uses the version of Flaad without the "l".
Alanus Senescallus or Alanus Dapifer Dolensis is the term used by Sir James Balfour Paul.
Parents
Alan was the son of Flaald or Fledaldus, Senescal of Dol who died between 1101 and 1106.

1055 Birth Year Estimation
When Flaald died about 1076, Alan assumed the role of Steward and his name soon appeared on charters. This suggests that Alan was aged 21 by 1076, placing his birth no later than 1055.

Since in Fox's version, Alan FitzFlaald was Alan who went on the First Crusade in 1097. this would make Alan aged 42 at the time, not unlikely for someone of senior status and rank who has been termed a leader in the Crusade, rather than a common fighter.

Because Round and Fox assign different events to different persons, their estimated dates are often different. See Space: Round and Fox and the Seneschals of Dol.

Wikipedia shows that Alan was active in the period 1090-1120. An estimated birth year of 1055 would make him aged 35-65 during these years.

1076 Alan, Steward of Dol, Signs Charters
Flaald, the first Steward of Dol, had died by 1076 and was succeeded by his eldest son Alan, while his younger son Flaald possibly occurs as the knight Flaald in the necrology of Mont-Saint-Michel.

In the period 1070-1082 Main, and his father Tehel, made a gift of the church at Cuguen, with the consent of Alan, son of Flaald, who shared the advowson, and was ratified by their lord, John of Dol. The Church at Cuguen was in the barony of Combourg, and the gift was directed to Marmoutiers.

In 1076 a coup occurred to overthrew Archbishop Juhel, who had been excommunicated, and relations with the Vatican were renewed.

Round agrees that Alan, Dapifer Dolensis occurs in Brittany ante 1080; Paul notes that in the Chartulary of the Abbey of St Florent we find in 1080 and again in 1086 'Alanus Senescallus' or "Alanus Dapifer Dolensis,' witnessing grants of land to the Abbey, of which he was himself a benefactor, as is proved by a deed (ante 1080), to which his brother Fledaldus consents, granting to the Abbey a site for a church.

In 1095 Alan the Steward witnessed a gift to the priory of Combourg by Hamo son of Main.

1086 The Mezuoit Charter
"Alan Dapifer" is found as a witness, in 1086, to a charter relating to mesuoit, a cell of St. Florent, near Dol.

After the events of 1076, a new abbey at Dol was approved. Alan, son of Flaald, who by this time had inherited the stewardship of Dol, witnessed various charters associated with the foundation, and himself donated his bakehouse and shop in the village of Mezvoit where the priory was to be built, with the consent of his brother Flaald (Fledald) on condition that his brother Rivallon was received into the monastery.

"Alan Dapifer" is found as a witness in 1086 to a charter relating to Mezuoit, a cell near Dol of the Abbey of Saint-Florent de Saumur. The area of Dol is near Mont-Saint-Michel and has figured in the history of the Duchy of Brittany since at least the rule of Nominoe.

1091 Alan's Friendship with Henry, who became Henry I of England
Alan Fitz Flaald became a close friend of Henry (c.1068-1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, later King Henry I of England, during the period when Henry controlled Mont Saint Michel as Count of the Contentin.

Henry was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, but Henry was left landless.

In 1088, Henry had purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy and the title of Count from his brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. Three years later, in 1091, Henry's brother reneged on the arrangement, and Henry fortified Mont-St-Michel. In March 1091 Henry was forced to flee the Mount via Dol but was able to re-establish his authority between 1092 and 1094, making a great impression on the local nobility. Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert.

Fox calls attention that Alan's and Henry's paths first crossed during this time when Henry's fortunes were low and Dol came to his assistance, a favor never forgotten.

Alan's First marriage
Based on the appearance of a Flaald, who was present at a ceremony at Monmouth Priory in England on 18 March 1101 or 1102, Fox suggests that Alan FitzFlaald had a marriage or relationship while in Dol prior to the Crusade, and that Flaald who was with him at Monmouth was his son by the earlier marriage.

For Round, it was Flaald the father of Alan, not Flaald the son, who was at Monmouth Priory that day.

1096 First Crusade
The First Crusade (1095\endash 1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called for by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095. Urban called for a military expedition to aid the Byzantine Empire, which had recently lost most of Anatolia to the Seljuq Turks. The resulting military expedition of primarily Frankish nobles, known as the Princes' Crusade not only re-captured Anatolia but went on to conquer the Holy Land (the Levant), which had fallen to Islamic expansion as early as in the 7th century, and culminated in July 1099 in the re-conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Round notes that Alan -- Alanus dapifer dolensis -- Alain, dapifer to the Ancient Diocese of Dol, (p. 120) with its see at Dol-de-Bretagne, took part in the First Crusade in 1097.) (p. 122)

Round believes that Alan the Crusader was the older brother of Flaald, and died in the Crusade, thus passing the Dol property and titles to Flaald and his descendants.

Fox believes that Alan the Crusader was one and the same as Alan FitzFlaald, son of Flaald, and that the Alan who fought in the Crusades returned and had a subsequent career in England.

After the capture of Jerusalem on 15 July 1099 many knights returned home, including Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. Curthose was still on his way back when Henry seized the throne.

1100 Alan FitzFlaald Joins Henry I in England
Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies.

The same year, Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a large number of mistresses by whom he had many illegitimate children.

Alan appears in England early in Henry's reign. Paul states that Alan accompanied King Henry I to England

Fox notes that following his surprise accession in August 1100 Henry very quickly invested Alan with a barony, the honour of Mileham in Norfolk, then in the king's hands.

What would cause such an honor to be quickly given to an obscure steward from Dol in Brittany? Following Round, Wikipedia observes that "Henry is known to have recruited Breton troops at that time and, after his surrender, left the scene via the adjoining regions of Brittany, where Dol is situated. This is a likely explanation for the Bretons in the military retinue he brought to England after the death of William Rufus.

Wikipedia, following Round, notes that "Flaad and his son Alan had come to the favourable notice of King Henry I of England who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin and Robert de Belleme.

Wikipedia also attributes the social skills of an otherwise little-known Alan in the court of Henry: "After Henry became King of England, Alan became an assiduous courtier and obtained large estates in Norfolk, Sussex, Shropshire, and elsewhere in the Midlands, including the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire."

Fox, by contrast, observes that the Breton connection surely dates back to Henry's memory of their help during his time of need in 1091. That Alan, who had helped Henry in 1091, was now also a veteran of the First Crusade, would have greatly enhanced Alan's standing, and Henry may even have conferred honor upon himself by honoring Alan. "These honors would not have been given by Henry to someone obscure, but they make sense given to someone who was both a crusader and a man of rank in his own country, and a man who as steward to the Archbishop of Dol had been well placed to aid Henry when he was beseiged by his brothers at Mont-St-Michel in 1091"

1101 Charters and Flaald son of Alan
Alan was involved, with King Henry I of England, in a number of of grants of property to religious institutions. Among others, Alan gave the manor of Eaton, near Norwich, and possibly the advowson of the church at Langham, Norfolk to Norwich Cathedral. The advowson of the church at Langham, Norfolk, which "had been Alan's", along with the tithes. It is possible this was a donation by himself. Alan also witnessed or participated in other property transfers, in service to the king.

At the great court held at Windsor on 3rd September 1101 Alan witnessed two charters of Henry I for Norwich Cathedral Priorty. The charters confirmed the foundation of Holy Trinity Priory,York, as a cell of Marmountier. Alan also founded Sporle Priory on land he held in Norfolk (probably at Sharrington), as another cell of St. Florent.

Fox notes that Flaald, son of Alan the Steward, was present at a ceremony on 18 March 1101 or 1102, in which Wihenoc and Abbot William visited Monmouth Priory for its dedication. Fox believes that Flaald was Alan's son and heir by his first marriage; Flaald came to England in his father's wake, but after visi

Alain married Avelina DE HESDIN [7054] [MRIN: 5544], daughter of Ernulf DE HESDIN [7061] and Ermeline DE BRETEUIL [7062], before 1105 in England.¹⁶⁶⁴ (Avelina DE HESDIN [7054] was born in 1075 in Vieil-Hesdin, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France ¹⁶⁶³, christened in 1075 in Dol-de-Bretagne, , Bretagne, France,¹⁶⁶³ died on 5 November 1126 in Castle-Pulverbatch, Shropshire, England ¹⁶⁶³ and was buried on 5 November 1126 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland ¹⁶⁶³.)