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Waltheof ("Waldeve") Flandrensis, de Biggar

b. circa 1145

Waltheof of Biggar

Waltheof ("Waldeve") Flandrensis, de Biggar, was born circa 1145.¹

Father	Baldwin Flandrensis, de Biggar (b. circa 1111, d. after 1174)
Mother	Widow of Reginald FitzAlan (b. circa 1115)

Son	Robert Flandrensis, de Strathgryffe+ (b. circa 1180, d. after 1250)

Waltheof ("Waldeve") Flandrensis, de Biggar, served in the military as was captured with King William I the Lion by the English at the siege of Alnwick Castle on 13 July 1174. William Hunter reports (in Biggar and the House of Fleming) that, in 1174, "William the Lion laid siege to Alnwick Castle ; but on the 13th of July, with a lamentable want of prudence and caution, separated himself from the main body of his army, and, attended by Valdeve of Biggar and about sixty horsemen, rode to some distance. The day was dark and misty, and, before they were aware, a body of four hundred English horsemen had approached within a few hundred yards of them. The King disdained to flee, but cried out, " Let it now appear who among you are good knights," and instantly charged against the foe. The King and his followers fought desperately, but, in the end, were overpowered by superiority of numbers ; and the king, Valdeve of Biggar, and others, were taken prisoners. They were conducted to the town of Northampton, where William, and most likely his fellow captives of note, were presented before King Henry, with their legs tied under their horses' bellies, as if they had been the most ignominious felons."
According the JAF, Waldeve and the other captives were detained in England for fifteen years!^2,1,3
After 1180 Waltheof ("Waldeve") Flandrensis, de Biggar, was occupied as Sheriff of Lanarkshire in Lanarkshire, Scotland.^1,2

[S34] J Arnold Fleming, Flemish Influence in Britain, vol 2, p13-19, Baldwin Fleming
[S5] William Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming, p 466
[S21] George Crawford, The Peerage of Scotland, p 491-499, Fleming, Earl of Wigtown

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Context	Ch forebears (#1) Ch forebears (#2) Ch forebears (#3) Ch forebears (#4) Ch forebears (#5) Ch forebears (#6)
Last Edited	11 July 2025