objected: she did not consider Ireland worth conquering. Henry did, however, and he made William one of the richest men in England, granting him seven manors (Maldon in Essex; Dartford, Hoo, and Shorne in Kent; Aylsham and Cawston in Norfolk; and Hintlesham in Suffolk). He also had land surrounding Dieppe, Normandy, of which he was made vicomte. Obstruction In 1162, William was to marry Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey, one of the great heiresses in England. Their prohibited degree of affinity was counted from her as widow through her deceased husband William of Blois, a double second cousin of William's. The men's maternal grandmothers were siblings and FitzEmpress's maternal grandfather was the sibling of Blois's paternal grandmother. Because of this relationship, the marriage required a dispensation from affinity; such dispensations were usually granted without difficulty. However Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to support the request for a dispensation and it was not granted because of that. (Isabel would marry William's half brother Hamelin of Anjou). Death William died suddenly shortly thereafter, it was said of a broken heart, and was buried in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Rouen. His brother Henry blamed Becket for William's death, and this might well have been the beginning of the great conflict between them. When Becket was murdered 29 December 1170, one of the assailants was Richard le Breton who had been a knight in William's employ. When Breton delivered his fatal blow he shouted, "Take that, for the love of my lord William, the king's brother!" Possible marriage According to some French genealogies, William FitzEmpress was also called William Touremine and married to Constance of Penthièvre, a sister of the Duke of Brittany Conan IV. They claim him as founder of the House of Tournemine as father of Oliver I and Geoffrey of Tournemine. However, there is no evidence for this marriage, and no evidence of William Tournemine's identity either. Ancestry Notes References External links William FitzEmpress 1136 births 1164 deaths People from Argentan 12th-century English nobility Children of Empress Matilda Anglo-Normans