to the lordship, were conferred by King Henry the First. This portion of the honours and vast estates of the Earls of Moreton then took the name of the "Honor of the Eagle," from the Norman title (de Aquila) of its new possessor. In addition to the slight notice of some members of this family, given at p. 42, vol. IV, of the Sussex Arch. Coll. I may here, succinctly state the little that is known of them in connection with the early history of England. The first who, to his cost, took part in our affairs was
Engenulf,[1] a companion of the Conqueror in his invasion, who perished in the fight at Hastings, a.d. 1066.
Richer, his son, taking part with William against his rebellious subjects of Maine, was slain by an arrow from the bow of a boy, concealed in some bushes by the wayside, the weapon striking him just under the eye, Nov. 18, 1085.
Gilbert, his son, and the first lord of Pevensey of the De Aquila family, engaged actively in the opposition to Robert de Belesme in Normandy, and stood high in the favour of Henry I. He married Juliana, daughter of Geffrey Earl of Mauritane; lost two sons, Engenulf and Geffrey, in the wreck of the "White Ship;" and was succeeded about a.d. 1113 by his eldest son,
Richer II, a great benefactor to the Priory of Wilmington, who, after a long and troubled life, died in 1176; being succeeded by his son,
Gilbert II, who confirmed the grants of Ralph de Dene to the canons of St. Laurence of Otteham, and added others of his own (Sussex Arch. Coll. V, 158). His brother Nicolas was dean, and afterwards (there is some reason to think) Bishop of Chichester, 1210-15.[2] He died in 1205, leaving a son and successor,
Gilbert III, the founder of Michelham, and last lord of Pevensey of his race; all his lands and honours being forfeited in 1235, upon his passing into Normandy without the king's
- ↑ The Anglo-Norman poet, Robert Wace, calls him Engerran de l'Aigle, and says, in his Rom. de Rou, "Engerran de l'Aigle came also, with shield slung at his neck; and, gallantly handling his spear, struck down many English. He strove hard to serve the duke well, for the sake of the lands he had promised him." Mr. Taylor, in his edition of Wace (Pickering, 1837), in a note (p. 218), supposes this Engenulf or Engerran to have been the son of Fulbert, founder of the Castle de l'Aigle, on the Rille, arrondisement of Mortagne; and affirms that he was killed in the pursuit, after the battle was over.
- ↑ Dallaway, i, 43.
