The Noble House of Brattleby presents
Living Portraits of Brattleby
Twenty-one Barons, Kings, and nobles who shaped a thousand years of English history — and every one of them speaks. Click on any portrait below; the ancestor will tell you, in their own voice, the story of their life.
Under the patronage of Lady Nicoleta Vasile, The 12th Baroness of Brattleby, Mihai-Alexandru Crăciun, The 13th Baron of Brattleby and Honorary Lord Răzvan Vasile (by marriage)
Fortitudine et Honore
Colswein of Lincoln
1st Baron of Brattleby · c.1030–1101
A rare survivor, I was an Anglo-Saxon town-reeve of Lincoln who successfully navigated the treacherous tides of the Norman Conquest. By showing fealty to William the Conqueror, I kept my life and was rewarded with vast lands, becoming the first Baron of Brattleby. The Domesday Book of 1086 is the testament to my good fortune, listing me as one of the great landowners in Lincolnshire.
Picot
2nd Baron of Brattleby · c.1070–1100
I was the son of Colswein, the Saxon who became a Norman lord. Raised to secure our family's new status, I inherited the great Barony of Brattleby, a legacy of my father's shrewd survival. Alas, my tenure was tragically brief; I died young and without an heir, leaving our hard-won future hanging by a thread.
Muriel
3rd Baron of Brattleby · c.1080–1140
As the daughter of Colswein and sister to the heirless Picot, the fate of our family rested upon my shoulders. When my brother died, I became the Baroness of Brattleby, and my inheritance was in peril. Through my marriage to the Norman knight Robert de la Haye, I saved my father's legacy from returning to the Crown and ensured the barony would pass to our son, Richard.
Richard de la Haye
4th Baron of Brattleby · c.1120–1170
Son of Muriel of Brattleby and Robert de la Haye, I was the living embodiment of the union of Saxon inheritance and Norman power. As the hereditary Constable of Lincoln Castle and Baron of Brattleby, I navigated the brutal civil war known as The Anarchy. I solidified my family's control over Lincolnshire, serving both King Stephen and Henry II.
Nichola de la Haye
5th Baron of Brattleby · c.1150–1230
In an age of men, I held power. As heiress to the Barony of Brattleby and hereditary Constable of Lincoln Castle, I was a force to be reckoned with. I served as Sheriff of Lincolnshire, defended my castle in two great sieges, and was one of the few people the infamous King John truly trusted.
Idoine de Camville
6th Baron of Brattleby · c.1210–1260
I was the granddaughter of the great Nichola de la Haye, and I inherited her formidable legacy, including the Barony of Brattleby. My life was defined by my marriage to the celebrated crusader knight, William de Longespée the younger. While he sought glory in the Holy Land, I managed our vast estates and endured the heartbreak of his heroic death at the Battle of Mansura.
William II de Longespée
Crusader Knight · c.1212–1250
A grandson of King Henry II, I was a celebrated English knight who married the heiress of Brattleby, Idoine de Camville. Renowned for my piety and martial skill, I took the cross and commanded the English forces during the Seventh Crusade. I met a martyr's death fighting alongside Saint Louis of France at the Battle of Mansura in Egypt in 1250.
Margaret de Longespée
8th Baron of Brattleby · c.1240–1310
I was the sole heiress of the heroic crusader, William de Longespée, and his wife Idoine. My immense inheritance, which included the Barony of Brattleby, made me one of the wealthiest women in England. My marriage to Henry de Lacy, the powerful Earl of Lincoln, created a vast accumulation of titles and estates.
Alice de Lacy
9th Baron of Brattleby · 1281–1348
The sole heiress to two earldoms and the Barony of Brattleby, my life was one of extraordinary wealth, drama, and trauma. I was Countess of Lincoln and Salisbury, wife to the King's cousin, Thomas of Lancaster. After my husband's execution for treason, I was abducted, assaulted, and forced to surrender my lands.
Henry of Grossmont
10th Baron, 1st Duke of Lancaster · 1310–1361
As a cousin and heir to Alice de Lacy, I inherited the Barony of Brattleby and the great Lancastrian estates. A founding Knight of the Order of the Garter, I was King Edward III's most trusted commander. My prowess in the Hundred Years' War earned me the title of the first non-royal Duke in England.
John of Gaunt
11th Baron, Duke of Lancaster · 1340–1399
A son of King Edward III, I became the wealthiest man in England through my marriage to Blanche of Lancaster, heiress to the Barony of Brattleby. As Duke of Lancaster, my power shaped English politics for decades. My son, Henry Bolingbroke, would seize the throne to become King Henry IV.
Alfred the Great
King of Wessex · 849–899
As King of the West Saxons, I faced the full fury of the Viking Great Heathen Army. Driven into the marshes of Somerset, I rallied my people to win a decisive victory at Edington and save my kingdom. I laid the foundations for a unified England, fostering learning and reforming the law.
Edward the Confessor
King of England · 1003–1066
Raised in exile in Normandy, I returned to England to become its last undisputed Anglo-Saxon king. Deeply pious, I focused on building my great abbey at Westminster, but my death without a clear heir plunged England into the crisis of 1066.
Harold II
Last Anglo-Saxon King · 1022–1066
As the powerful Earl of Wessex, I was elected king upon the death of Edward the Confessor. My brief, dramatic reign saw me defeat a Viking invasion at Stamford Bridge, only to be killed three weeks later at the Battle of Hastings. I was the last Anglo-Saxon king.
William the Conqueror
King of England · 1028–1087
As Duke of Normandy, I laid claim to the English throne. My victory at Hastings in 1066 ushered in a new era of Norman rule. I commissioned the Domesday Book, which records the creation of the Barony of Brattleby.
King John
King of England · 1166–1216
The youngest son of Henry II, I am remembered for losing Normandy, quarrelling with the Pope, and being forced to seal Magna Carta in 1215. In a world of traitors, I found unwavering loyalty in Nichola de la Haye, to whom I entrusted the vital castle of Lincoln.
Henry of Bolingbroke
Henry IV, King of England · 1367–1413
As the son of John of Gaunt, I was exiled by my cousin, King Richard II, who then seized my vast Lancastrian inheritance. I returned from exile, deposed the king, and claimed the throne as Henry IV, merging the Barony of Brattleby with the Crown.
King Henry V
King of England · 1386–1422
As the son of Henry IV, I inherited a kingdom and a crown still insecure. I united my nobles and renewed the war with France, winning the legendary Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The Barony of Brattleby, merged with the Crown by my father, helped fund these great campaigns.
Gerard de Camville
Baron by marriage to Nichola · c.1160–1215
A well-connected nobleman, I became a major power in Lincolnshire through my marriage to the great heiress, Nichola de la Haye. A staunch loyalist to King Richard I and then King John, my career was defined by fierce ambition and unshakeable loyalty to the Crown.
Henry de Lacy
Earl of Lincoln · 1249–1311
As the 3rd Earl of Lincoln and a powerful lord, my status was further enhanced by my marriage to Margaret de Longespée. I was a trusted counsellor to King Edward I, and one of the architects of the English conquest of Wales. My daughter Alice would inherit my vast estates.
Simon de Montfort
Earl of Leicester · 1208–1265
A French nobleman who became Earl of Leicester by marriage, I was initially a favourite of King Henry III before becoming his greatest enemy. I led a baronial rebellion and briefly ruled England, summoning the first representative Parliament in 1265. I was killed at the Battle of Evesham.
From the Press & Communications Office
Nicoleta Vasile
Lady Nicoleta Vasile
12th Baroness of Brattleby
Patroness
Răzvan Vasile
Honorary Lord Răzvan Vasile (by marriage)
Lord of Brattleby
Patron & Custodian
Mihai A. Crăciun
Baron Mihai Alexandru Crăciun
13th Baron of Brattleby
Head of House
Issued by
The Portrait Office of the House of Brattleby
The Noble House of Brattleby · London · United Kingdom
Dated this 26 September 2026.
The House of Brattleby is a private cultural and heritage initiative. This page is editorial in nature and is not an official governmental, royal, or ecclesiastical document.
Fortitudine et Honore