William de Forz
(a.k.a. Fortibus, de Fortz)
Count of Aumale and Lord of Skipton (by right of his wife), a renowned knight, and commander of one of King Richard's crusading fleets.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
De Forz hailed from the Atlantic island of Oleron in Poitou, one of the provinces Richard inherited as a teenager from his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Richard of Devizes describes de Forz as "a knight a thousand times approved in arms". He was an old ally of Richard I of England, who rewarded him with the hand of the heiress Hawise of Skipton, Countess of Aumale, following the death of her first husband, William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex.
Hawise initially refused Richard's order to marry de Forz, but capitulated after Richard confiscated revenues from her estates. The marriage on 3 July 1190 made de Forz earl of Aumale by right of his wife.
De Forz commanded 30 of the ships Richard prepared for his crusade, a third of the total fleet. De Forz was delayed in rendezvousing with the other two fleets at the mouth of the River Tagus, delaying the entire fleet's rendezvous with Richard at Marseille. BY the time the arrived, Richard hired alternative vessels. His own fleet met him in Messina, Sicily.
William had incurred a debt of £106 to Aaron of Lincoln, who died in 1186; the debt was passed to his heirs, but was forgiven after 1202.
Relationships
Date of Death
1195
Year of Birth
1155 AD
37 Years old
Spouses
Hawise of Aumâle
(wife)
Siblings
Children
Comments