The fortunes of a Norman family

The de Verduns in England, Ireland and Wales, 1066–1316

Mark S. Hagger

Nowadays, Alton Towers is a well-known amusement park, but from c.1066–1316 it belonged to the de Verdun family who, from humble origins in Normandy, came to rule estates stretching from Buckinghamshire to the Welsh march, and from the eastern counties of Louth and Meath to the Shannon in Ireland.

This study examines the growth of the family power, through service to the crown and military strength, which culminated in the appointment of Theobald II de Verdun as justicar of Ireland in 1312. It also considers how a tradition of royal service was gradually diluted by the disturbed politics of the late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth centuries and by a pressing need for money.

A study of the members of the family, their estates and their identity provides an insight into the problems that holding lands over such a wide area presented, and how they dealt with these problems. It also offers an opportunity to examine how the economies of the estates in England, Ireland and Wales differed, and to suggest the reasons for those differences.

Mark Hagger studied medieval history at the University of St Andrews between 1990 and 1998. Following a Law conversion course, he now works with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the City of London.