William de Warenne

Who was William de Warenne?

William de Warenne or William de Warenne of Wormgay was a royal justice under King Richard I of England and King John as well as lord of a barony in Norfolk.

Warenne was the son of another royal justice, Reginald de Warenne. Reginald de Warenne was also Sheriff of Sussex from 1170 to 1176. Reginald acquired the barony of Wormegay in Norfolk through his wife, Alice. Warenne inherited the barony when his father died in 1179.

Warenne was one of a group of justices – including Richard Barre, Ralph Foliot, Richard Herriard, and William of Sainte-Mère-Église – who were appointed in 1194 by the Lord Chancellor Hubert Walter as justices for a new general eyre, to relieve the Barons of the Exchequer of some of their judicial duties. In 1195 Warenne served as a royal justice at Oxford with Hubert Walter, William Briewerre and Geoffrey of Buckland. Warenne served again as a justice in 1198–1199 and then again during the first two years of the reign of King John. His last service as a justice was in 1200. In 1200, John removed Warenne as a royal justice and instead appointed him as one of the four justices for the Jews, replacing Simon of Pattishall.