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The Briouze family in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries: inheritance strategies, lordship and identity

This article places the history of Swansea and the lordship of Gower within their broader aristocratic context in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, namely the history of the Briouze family. The lordship of Gower was the most important possession of the senior branch of the Briouze dynasty, but the family's other important landed interests included the barony of Bramber (Sussex) and the manors of Tetbury (Gloucs.) and Buckingham. Within their far-flung interests the Briouze dynasty faced both internal and external pressures: these included the need to provide for younger sons and to reward followers, as well as the challenges from neighbours (both Welsh and English), dependants and the Crown. Their response to these pressures can be seen in a selection of charters issued by or for William V de Briouze (d. 1291) and his son William VI, the last Briouze lord of Gower, which are analysed here and published in an appendix. Together these provide a strong impression of the landed and political concerns of the Briouzes at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The article concludes by considering the identity and family memory that these conditions nurtured within this leading Marcher family.