Joscelin of Louvain, also spelled Jocelin de Louvain and Jocelyn of Leuven, (1121/36–1180) was a nobleman from the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

who settled in England after his half-sister

Adeliza of Louvain Adeliza of Louvain (also Adelicia, Adela, Adelais, and Aleidis; c. 1103 – March/April 1151) was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135 as the second wife of King Henry I. Adeliza was the eldest child of Godfrey I, Count of Louvain, and Ida ...

married King Henry I. There Joscelin married an English heiress, and through his son, the

House of Percy The Percy family is an old English nobility, English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Nev ...

—as the Earls and later the

Dukes of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of N ...

—became the most powerful family in Northern England.

Origins

He was a son of

Godfrey I, Count of Louvain Godfrey I (, 1060 – 25 January 1139), called the Bearded, the Courageous, or the Great, was the Landgrave of Brabant, Count of Brussels and Leuven (Louvain) from 1095 to his death and Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1106 to 1129. He was also Marg ...

by an unnamed mistress

Petworth

Joscelin was granted the manor of

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

, in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, by his half-sister

, the widow of King Henry I of England. His descendants were seated at

Petworth House Petworth House is a late 17th-century Grade I listed English country house, country house in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England. It was built in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the desi ...

for many centuries. Though they originally intended Petworth to be their southern home, the Earls of Northumberland were confined to Sussex by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

in the late 16th century, when she grew suspicious of Percy allegiance to her rival,

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

. Petworth then became their permanent home.

Marriage and progeny

He married Agnes de Percy (d.1203), one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of William de Percy (d.1174/5), 3rd

feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely be ...

of Topcliffe, Yorkshire.Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.148 and Alice de Clare, descendant of

Richard I of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln, Europäische S ...

. Upon his marriage, he adopted the Percy surname. By his wife he had at least seven children: * Henry de Percy (d.1190/98), eldest son, who predeceased his mother and married Isabel de Brus, daughter of Adam II de Brus (d.1196), grandson of

Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale Robert I de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale and 1st Lord of Skelton (–1141), was an early-12th-century Anglo-Norman lord and the first of the Clan Bruce, Bruce dynasty to hold lands in Scotland. A monastic patron, he is remembered as the founder of ...

. He was survived by a son William III de Percy (1197-1245), who inherited from his uncle

Richard de Percy Sir Richard de Percy (c. 1170–1244), 5th Baron Percy, was a Magnate from the North of England, and a participant in the First Barons' War. He was the son of Agnes de Perci, ''suo jure'' Baroness Percy, the heiress of the Percy estates, and her ...

(d.1244) his grandmother's moiety of the barony of Topcliffe. His descendants were later created

Earls of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and Peerage of Great Britain, of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Per ...

. *

(d.1244), younger son, who inherited from his mother her moiety of the barony of Topcliffe. He himself died without issue when his heir was his brother's son William III de Percy (1197-1245), who thus regained the whole of the Percy barony of Topcliffe, having inherited the other moiety from his great-aunt Maud de Percy (d.1204), sister of Agnes. He was a

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

surety. * Joscelin * Radulph, went to France * Eleanor married William Pantulf * Maud (Matilda) (born c. 1164) married John D’Eiville * Lucy Nun at Stixwould.

References

{{reflist Nobility of the Duchy of Brabant 1180 deaths Percy family