Manasser Biset

Manasser Biset (sometimes Bisset[1] or Manasseh Biset;[2] died 1177) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and royal official during the reign of King Henry II of England.

Manasser Biset
Died	1177
Spouse(s)	Alice
Parents	William Biset Hawisa

Life

Biset was the son of William Biset and Hawisa. The elder Biset held lands in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as the tenant of Stephen, Count of Aumale. Besides Manasser, William and Hawisa had another son named Henry.[3]

Biset was a follower of Henry fitzEmpress and was a witness to charters of Henry's issued in France in the period 1151 to 1153.[4] Biset obtained the office of dapifer, or steward, to Henry II shortly before Henry became king of England.[3] Biset was with Henry in England in 1153, as he was a witness on documents drawn up for Henry in England during the early part of 1153. In April through December 1154, Bisset only witnessed Henry's documents that were drawn up in France.[5] The king gave lands in Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire to Biset.[3] These lands came to be considered the feudal barony of Biset, and Biset as the first baron.[6] Besides the steward's office, Biset was also a baron of the exchequer and a royal justice.[7] He was one of the most frequent witnesses on Henry's documents.[4]

Before 1164, Biset founded a hospital for leper women at Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, and gave it lands including the manor of Bradley, which had come to him through his wife.[8]

Family and death

Biset married Alice, who was the sister of Gilbert de Falaise, lord of Cany in France. Alice was the heiress of her brother. Biset's son was Henry Biset, who was still underage at his father's death in 1177.[3] The administration of the lands and the custody of the heirs was given to Biset's nephew.[1] Besides his son, Biset also had a daughter, Margaret.[8]

Citations

1. Waugh "Reluctant Knights and Jurors" Speculum p. 980 footnote 150
2. Friend "Master Odo" Speculum p. 642
3. Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 177
4. Loyd Origins of some Anglo-Norman Families pp. 15-16
5. White "End of Stephen's Reign" History p. 17 footnote 54
6. Sanders English Baronies pp. 5–6
7. Warren Henry II p. 309
8. Pugh and Crittall (ed.) "Houses of Augustinian Canons" History of the County of Wiltshire

References

• Friend, Albert C. (October 1948). "Master Odo of Cheriton". Speculum. 23 (4): 641–658. doi:10.2307/2850446. JSTOR 2850446.
• Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-863-3.
• Loyd, Lewis Christopher (1975) [1951]. The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Reprint ed.). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8063-0649-1.
• Pugh, R B; Crittall, Elizabeth, eds. (1956). "Houses of Augustinian canons: Priory of Maiden Bradley". A History of the County of Wiltshire. 3. London: Victoria County History. pp. 295–302. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
• Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC 931660.
• Warren, W. L. (1973). Henry II. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03494-5.
• Waugh, Scott L. (October 1983). "Reluctant Knights and Jurors: Respites, Exemptions, and Public Obligations in the Reign of Henry III". Speculum. 58 (4): 937–986. JSTOR 2853791.
• White, Graeme J. (January 1990). "The End of Stephen's Reign". History. 75 (243): 3–22. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1990.tb01507.x. JSTOR 24420362.

Further reading

• Douglas, D. C. (1932). Feudal Documents from Bury St Edmonds. London. – specifically numbers 227 and 230