William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey, was the eldest son of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth de Vermandois.
In April 1124, he married Eva Talvas, the daughter of William III of Ponthieude Montgomerie Talvas and Helie of Burgundy. They had one child, a daughter, Isabel, who was his heir. She married first William of Blois, second son of king Stephen, and who became earl of Warenne or Surrey. After he died without children in October 1159, she married Hamelin, half-brother of Henry II, who also became Earl of Warenne or Surrey. He took the de Warenne surname and their descendants carried on the earldom.
William was generally loyal to king Stephen. He fought at the Battle of Lincoln (1141)and was one of the leaders of the army that pursued the empress Matilda in her flight from Winchester, and which captured Robert of Gloucester.
He was one of the nobles that, along with Louis VII of France, took crusading vows at Vezelay in 1146, and he accompanied the initial army of the Second Crusade the next year. He was killed by a Turkish attack while the army was marching across Anatolia (modern day Turkey) on their way to the Holy Land.
In Dec 1147 the French-Norman force reached the Biblical town of Ephesus on the west coast of Turkey. They were joined by remnants of the German army which had previously taken heavy losses at Dorylaeum. Marching across Southwest Turkey, they fought an unsuccessful battle against the Turks at Laodicea. This was on the border between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuks of Rum (3-4 Jan 1148).
On 8-Jan they battled again in the area of Mount Cadmus, where Turks ambushed the main train of infantry and non-combatants because the main force was too far forward. King Louis and his bodyguard of Templar Knights and Noblemen sallied forth in a classic example of chivalry to protect the poor and valiantly charged the Turks. Most of the knights were killed, including William, and Louis barely escaped with his life. His army arrived later at the coastal city of Adalia. The battle is recorded by Odo de Deuil, personal chaplain to Louis, in his book De Profectione - pp 68-127.
Bio by Audrey DeCamp Hoffman. Source: Wikipedia.
Family links:
Parents:
William II de Warenne (1065 - 1138)
Isabel Vermandois Beaumont de Warenne (1081 - 1131)
Spouse:
Ela Talvas FitzWalter (1118 - 1174)
Siblings:
Waleran de Beaumont (1104 - 1166)**
Robert de Beaumont (1104 - 1168)**
Reginald de Warenne (1113 - 1179)*
William de Warenne (1118 - 1148)
Ada De Warenne De Huntingdon (1120 - 1178)*
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