offerings there during a mass celebrated in his presence, for the repose of his son's soul. (C.R. MSS.EB. 2033.)
The honours and estates of the Warennes were destined in the next century to be absorbed by the heirs of the Albinis, whose descendants still hold an eminent place in Sussex history. Deriving its origin from the village of St. Martin d'Aubigny, in the Norman district of Le Cotentin, the family early divided into two branches, the oldest of which became Earls of Arundel, holding the office of king's butler (pincerna) by the barony of Bekeman in Norfolk, and from the younger brother, Nigel, came the Mowbray branch. A golden lion is attributed to the shield of the former, and a silver one to the latter; but the seal of Bertrand d'Aubigny (de Albihneio) attached to a Norman deed of gift (c. 1150-1200) to the Abbey of Savigny "for the soul of his father Aleman d'Aubigny," bears "trois pots, deux et un." William d'Aubigny, pincerna, retained his Norman fiefs in Bougey and Dampvou under the Bishop of Bayeux, and confirmed the grants of his ancestors to the Abbey of Montebourg when his brother Humphrey became a monk there, but in the time of King Philip Augustus, the fiefs of the Albinis were held by the Counts de Ponthieu.[1]
The writer of the following letter was probably the son of the Earl of Arundel, third of the name of William, and became himself the fourth earl in 1221.
"To the noble man Ms Lord (nobili viro Domino suo) Henry, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, his in all things, William de Aubigny, son of the Earl of Arundell, greeting and all manner of reverence.
"May your Excellency know that I shall be in all things obedient to your injunctions as much as possible, and that according to your injunction neither I nor my knights will in any way approach the tournament, and have entirely remained away. Wherefore I beseech and most earnestly request your Excellency, that you will be pleased to signify your pleasure in all things to me, as to your servant prompt and ready to follow and perform all your commands. May the Lord alway preserve you."—Latin, Tower MSS. 67.
The prohibition to attend tournaments was very frequently, perhaps forty times, issued to the young knights during the
- ↑ See 'Recherches sur le Domesday,' p. 96; and 'Extrait des Chartes et autres Actes Normands ou Anglo-Normands,' Caen, 1835, pp. 160-427; both works by Léchaudé d'Ainsy.
