Jean de Gisors
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Jean de Gisors was a Norman lord of the fortress of Gisors in Normandy - where meetings were traditionally convened between English and French kings and where, in 1188, a curious squabble did occur that involved the cutting of an elm. Until 1193 Jean was a vassal of the king of England - Henry II, and then Richard I. He also possessed property in England, in Sussex, and the manor of Titchfield in Hampshire.
In the decade between 1170 and 1180 Jean de Gisors purchased the manor of Buckland, Hampshire from the de Porte family. Acknowledged as the founder of what was to become the city of Portsmouth, in southern England, it was his authority and ambition that drove the construction of the early town. Old Portsmouth is clearly a planned town and much of what has survived was probably designed by Gisors himself using the standard medieval grid pattern, which can also be seen in towns such as Salisbury.
One of the first constructions ordered by de Gisors was the Chapel of St. Thomas, which he had dedicated to St Thomas à Becket who had spent much of his life in Gisors. Jean gave land in his new town of Portsmouth to the Augustinian canons of Southwick Priory so that they could build a chapel "to the glorious honour of the martyr Thomas of Canterbury, one time Archbishop, on (my) land which is called Sudewede, the island of Portsea". This foundation became what is today Portsmouth Cathedral.
However the patronage of Jean de Gisors was not to last, as after his support for an unsuccessful rebellion in Normandy he paid the price by forfeiting all his lands, including Portsmouth, to Richard I of England.
According to the "Prieuré" documents Jean de Gisors was the eleventh grand master of the Priory of Sion, assuming his position after the "Cutting of the elm" and the separation from the Knights Templar in 1188. According to the "Prieuré" documents he met with Thomas à Becket in 1169. No independent record of this meeting survives, but Becket was at Gisors in 1169 and would likely have had some contact with the lord of the fortress.
See also
External links
- The Founding of Portsmouth (http://www.portsmouth.history.cwc.net/Founding.htm)
- Origins of Old Portsmouth (http://www.paintedships.com/docks.asp)