Joscelin of Louvain


Joscelin of Louvain, also spelled Jocelin de Louvain and Jocelyn of Leuven, was a nobleman from the Duchy of Brabant who settled in England after his half-sister Adeliza of Louvain married King Henry I. There Joscelin married an English heiress, and through his son, the House of Percy—as the Earls and later the Dukes of Northumberland—became the most powerful family in Northern England.

Origins

He was a son of Godfrey I, Count of Louvain by an unnamed mistress

Petworth

Joscelin was granted the manor of Petworth, in Sussex, by his half-sister Adeliza of Louvain, the widow of King Henry I of England. His descendants were seated at Petworth House for many centuries.
Though they originally intended Petworth to be their southern home, the Earls of Northumberland were confined to Sussex by Elizabeth I in the late 16th century, when she grew suspicious of Percy allegiance to her rival, Mary, Queen of Scots. Petworth then became their permanent home.

Marriage and progeny

He married Agnes de Percy, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of
William de Percy, 3rd feudal baron of Topcliffe, Yorkshire. and Alice de Clare, descendant of Richard I of Normandy.
Upon his marriage, he adopted the Percy surname. By his wife he had at least seven children: