William de Braose

William fought in the Welsh Wars of 1282, and against Scotland. He was at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298.

He died in 1326.

William appears in the following rolls:

The Falkirk Roll, H 31; and The Stirling Roll, ST 73.

In the Stirling Roll, he bears:

Azure crusilly or a lion rampant or

But in the Falkirk Roll, he bears:

Azure crusilly or a lion rampant double queued or

I believe that there was little significance in the lion double queued. The artist's flourishes led to the more complicated figure, and some cases this was then adopted, or not, as the bearer felt fit.

The two shields above also indicate that crusilly and crusilly of crosslets were often interchangeable. Although it is said that the early crusilly made use of the crosslets, the seal above shows the plain cross. The difficulties facing the die maker would presumably be a consideration.

William's father died in 1291, and appears in the following rolls...

Glover's Roll, B 55; The Camden Roll, D 148; St George's Roll, E 58, in which he is shown with the lion with the plain tail.

In all of the above rolls, the family is known as Breuse, Breouse, Brewose, and Brewes. The last of these has come to be be the accepted spelling.