Sybil DE NEUFMARCHE

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Countess of Hereford, Lady of Brecknock

Notes:

Name:
Sibyl de Neufmarché, Countess of Hereford, suo jure Lady of Brecknock (c. 1100 ? after 1143), was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, heiress to one of the most substantial fiefs in the Welsh Marches. The great-granddaughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, king of Wales, Sibyl was also connected to the nobility of England and Normandy. Sibyl inherited the titles and lands of her father, Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon, after her mother, Nest ferch Osbern, had declared her brother Mahel to have been illegitimate. Most of these estates passed to Sibyl's husband, Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, as her dowry. Their marriage had been arranged personally by King Henry I of England in the spring of 1121. Sibyl, with her extensive lands, was central to the King's plans of consolidating Anglo-Norman power in south-east Wales by the merging of her estates with those of Miles, his loyal subject on whom he relied to implement Crown policy.
As an adult, Sibyl lived through King Stephen's turbulent reign, known to history as the Anarchy, in which her husband played a pivotal role. Following Miles' accidental death in 1143, Sibyl entered a religious life at Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucestershire, England, which she had endowed up to six years previously. Sibyl is buried at the priory, founded by Miles in 1136.

Sybil married Miles EARL Of GLOUCESTER in 1121. Miles (son of Walter FITZ ROGER and Berthe FITZ-ROGER) was born about 1097 in Gloucestershire, England; died on 24 Dec 1143 in Llanthony Inn, Glucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Margaret Of HEREFORD was born in 1122/1123 in Gloucestershire, England; died on 6 Apr 1197.
2. Roger FITZMILES was born before 1125 in Gloucestershire, England; died on 22 Sept 1155.
3. Walter DE HEREFORD was born in Gloucestershire, England; died between 1159 and 1160 in England.
4. Henry FITZMILES was born in Gloucestershire, England; died in 1162 in England.
5. Mahel DE HEREFORD was born in Gloucestershire, England; died in 1164.
6. William DE HEREFORD was born in Gloucestershire, England; died in 1166 in England.
7. Bertha Of HEREFORD was born about 1130 in Gloucester, England.
8. Lucy Of HEREFORD was born in England; died after 1219/20.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Lord of Brecon

Bernard married Nesta Verch OSBORN. Nesta (daughter of Osbern FITZRICHARD and Nesta Verch GRUFFYDD) was born about 1079 in Herefordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]