THE BARONAGE

The greater men who had accompanied the Conqueror looked upon themselves more as his allies than as his subjects, and resenting his determination and that of his sons to rule as national sovereigns, were from the first in opposition to the Crown, trying to establish that feudal independence which triumphed for a time under Stephen. They were from the beginning weakened by a distribution of their manors about England and were steadily depressed in the course of the next two hundred years.

In 1075 William I. began the confiscation of the lands of Norman barons, when he put down the insurrection called the Bridal of Norwich. In 1082 he seized the estates of his brother Odo In 1088 William Rufus confiscated the estates of the nobles who supported Robert but they some were restored in 1091. In 1102 Henry I. confiscated the great possessions of Robert of Belesme. In 1176 Henry II destroyed some of the castles of the greater disaffected barons others into royal keeping. In 1206 the Beaumonts, Leicester became extinct in the male line. In 1228 Mandevilles, Earls of Essex; became extinct in the male line. In 1242 William Longue Epee, grandson of Henry II , to whose family the earldom of Salisbury had passed by marriage with the heiress of D'Evreux, died without heirs. In 1242 the De Newburghs, Earls of Warwick, became extinct in the male line. In 1243 the D'Albinis, Earls of Arundel, became extinct in the male line. In 1245 the earldom of Chester lapsed to the crown. In 1245 the Marshalls, Earls of Pembroke, became extinct. In 1260 the line of the Earls of Albemarle and Holderness became extinct.
The De Quincys, Earls of Winchester in 1207, became extinct in the male line in 1264.
In 1267 the earldom of Ferrers, Earl of Derby, was granted to Edmund, son of Henry III., in whose favour the new earldom of Lancaster was erected.
The heiress of the Beaumonts of Leicester had married the elder Simon de Montfort, who became Earl of Leicester, and after the battle of Evesham, the earldom of Leicester also was bestowed upon Edmund, son of the king.
The more important baronage existing in Henry III's reign, who continued to hold their earldoms or lordships later, were as follows:
De Warennes, Earls of Surrey, till 1347.
De Bohuns, Earls of Hereford, Essex; and later of Northampton, till 1371
De Clares, Earls of Gloucester and Hertford, till 1314
Lacys, Earls of Lincoln, till 1312.
By the marriage of Thomas second Earl of Lancaster, with the heiress of the Lacys, this earldom was also merged in the great earldom of Lancaster.
De Dreux, Earls of Richmond, till 1235, again from 1268 till 1330.
The earldom of Richmond was bestowed upon the Duke of Britany by William I. It was held by the successive husbands of Constance, was forfeited in 1235 and restored in 1268, and was held by two De Montforts after the extinction of the house of De Dreux, from 1341 .to 1345 ad 1872 to 1384, when it was forfeited. The second De Montfort was restored in 1398, but died 1399, when the earldom passed first to the Earl of Westmoreland, and on his. death to the royal family.
De Valences, Earls of Pembroke, till 1323.
Bigods, Earls of Norfolk till 1305.
De Veres, Earls of Oxford, till 1703.
Beauchamps, Earls of Warwick, till 1449.
De Vescis, Lords of Alnwick, till 1297.
Fitzwalters, till 1432.
De Ros, fell into abeyance in 1508.
Mortimers, Lords of Chirk and Wigmore, Earls of March in 1327 till 1424.
Baliols, Lords of Biwell in Northumberland, and of many other lordships in England, and Lords of Galloway in Scotland, till 1363.
Bruces, Lords of Skelton and Gisburn, and Earls of Carrick in Scotland. Merged in the Scotch Royal Family.
Hastings, Lords of Abergavenny, Earls of Pembroke in 1339 till 1390.
In the reign of Edward I, and in the next century, the Fitz-Alans became Earls of Arundel from 1289 - 1579.
Montacutes, Earls of Salisbury, 1333 - 1428.
Courtenays, Earls of Devon, 1335 -1556.
Staffords, Earls of Stafford, 1351 - 1521, and Dukes of Buckingham, 1444 - 1521.
Hollands, Earls of Kent, 1353 - 1407.
Percys, Earls of Northumberland, 1377.
Mowbrays, Earls of Nottingham, 1377, and Dukes of Norfolk,1397- 1475.
De la Poles, Earls, afterwards Dukes of Suffolk, 1385 - 1513. Hollands, Earls of Huntingdon, afterwards Dukes of Exeter,1388 - 1461.
Beauforts Earls, afterwards Dukes of Somerset 1396 - 1471.
Nevilles, Earls of Westmoreland, 1398-1569
Beaufort, Earl of Dorset and Duke of Exeter, 1412 - 1417
To thus may be added as being almost as closely connected with English history -
Dunbars, Earls of March and Dunbar, 1068 - 1434.
Douglasses, Earls of Douglas, 1356 - 1455, and, a younger branch, Earls of Angus, 1389 - 1761.

The manors and castles of an earl are not by any means to be certainly found in the county from which his title is taken, though this is more generally the case the earlier the date of his title.

Two great groups of territorial distribution, however, may be noticed, the northern Barons Mowbray, Lacy, be Vesci, De Ros, Percy, Neville, Baliol, Bruce; the Lords on the Welsh Marches, Chester; De Clare, Marshall, De Bohun, Mortimer, Hastings.
Many Barons in the North held land in England and Scotland, and it was almost accidental that Bruce, Baliol, Douglas, Dunbar, became names connected specially with Scotland, while Percy and De Vesci became English entirely.