The house was associated with the Braose family from its foundation, and continued to receive gifts from members of the family, including the founder of the family, William de Braose, his son Philip de Braose, and their descendents John de Braose and William de Braose, 1st Baron Braose.
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Loretta de Braose, Countess of Leicester, (c. 1185-c. 1266) was a daughter of William de Braose, lord of Bramber in Sussex and Radnor, Abergavenny and Brecon in Wales (d. 1211) and his wife, Maud de St. Valery.
The castle is believed to have been built as a ringwork castle with wooden palisades but subsequently rebuilt in locally quarried limestone and reddish sandstone during the late 13th or early 14th century probably by de Braoses who held the castle for part of the 13th century.
William de Braose was the patron when the foundation was confirmed c.1200 by Seffrid II, Bishop of Chichester.
Seisyll ap Dyfnwal is best known for being an unwitting victim of the Norman Baron, William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, who had him murdered in cold blood on or very near Christmas Day 1175 at Abergavenny Castle.
He was a pious man and made considerable grants to the Abbey of St, Florent, Saumur and endowed the formation of priories at Sele near Bramber and at Briouze.
William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber (fl. 1135–1179) was a 12th-century Marcher lord who secured a foundation for the dominant position later held by the Braose family in the Welsh Marches.
In 1195 he accompanied King Richard I of England to Normandy and in 1199, William de Braose fought beside Richard at Chalus, where the king was mortally wounded.
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The story of the death of Maud de St. Valery and the conflict of her family with John Lackland is covered in several novels, notably Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine.
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William de Braose, (or William de Briouze), 4th Lord of Bramber (1144/1153 – 9 August 1211), court favourite of King John of England, at the peak of his power, was also Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington, Limerick, Glamorgan, Skenfrith, Briouze in Normandy, Grosmont, and White Castle.
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William's wife, Maud, and eldest son, William, once captured, were allegedly murdered by King John, possibly starved to death while incarcerated at Windsor Castle and Corfe Castle in 1210.
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William died the following year in August 1211 at Corbeil, France.