Re: Gilbert fitzReinfrid son and heir..Further..

Dear Todd,

It is possible to construct a documented timeframe for both the line of
Ethelred and also of Ivo Taillebois but there is no definite proof that I have
ever seen making Beatrix Taillebois the mother of Ketel. She was definitely the
wife of Ribald of Middleham as a charter cited in Dugdale's Monasticon Ivo
Taillebois refers to Ribald as his son-in-law.

The theory that Beatrix was the mother of Ketel seems to be created to
explain the descent of the lands of Kendal. What is known about Kendal is that it
belonged to Ivo Taillebois and that later Henry I gave large amounts of land
in Kendal to Ketel.

At this period land many times did not descend in families and it is
entirely possible that the land in Kendal could have been a gift from Henry I to
ensure loyalty from Ketel to both himself and Ketel's overlord Rannulf le
Meschin. Though Normans were the majority landholders in most of England this does
not hold true for Northumberland and Cumberland in the eleventh and early
twelfth centuries. The land in these two counties was in dispute with Scotland
throughout the reign of Henry I and into the reign of Stephen which made it
advantageous to the monarch to give land to loyal native families [e.g.
Waldeve, lord of Allerton].

As the chronology is so unusual in this case it seems appropriate to
eliminate Beatrix Taillebois as the mother of Ketel until other documentation can be
found to substantiate the relationship.

Todd A. Farmerie...

Perhaps this is getting a little ahead of the game, but as I think about
the consequence, would this bear on Beatrice's maternity - IIRC, it was
concluded that she could not be daughter of Lucy because Lucy could not
have been grandmother of Ketel. If Beatrice was not mother of Ketel,
could she then have been Lucy's daughter?

Best regards,
MichaelAnne