 = Josce de Dinan = 
 
 Josce de Dinan ( sometimes <unk> de Dinan , <unk> de Dinan , <unk> de <unk> ; <unk> de Dinan , Joyce de Dinan , or <unk> de Dinan ; died 1166 ) was an Anglo @-@ Norman nobleman who lived during and after the civil war between King Stephen of England and his cousin Matilda over the throne of England . He was a <unk> in the Welsh Marches when he was married by Stephen to the widow of Pain fitzJohn , a union that gave Josce control of Ludlow Castle . Control of the castle was contested by other noblemen , and the resulting warfare between the nobles forms the background to a late medieval romance known as Fouke le Fitz Waryn , which is mainly concerned with the actions of Josce 's grandson , but also includes some material on Josce 's lifetime . Josce eventually lost control of Ludlow and was granted lands in compensation by Matilda and her son , King Henry II of England , who succeeded Stephen in 1154 . 
 
 = = Background and early life = = 
 
 Following King Henry I 's death in 1135 , the succession was disputed between the king 's nephews — Stephen and his elder brother , Theobald II , Count of Champagne — and Henry 's surviving legitimate child Matilda , usually known as the Empress Matilda because of her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor , Henry V. King Henry 's only legitimate son , William , had died in 1120 . After Matilda was widowed in 1125 , she returned to her father , who married her to Geoffrey , Count of <unk> . All the magnates of England and Normandy were required to declare <unk> to Matilda as Henry 's heir , but after the king 's death in 1135 Stephen rushed to England and had himself crowned before either Theobald or Matilda could react . The Norman barons accepted Stephen as Duke of Normandy , and Theobald <unk> himself with his possessions in France . But Matilda was less <unk> , and secured the support of her maternal uncle , the Scottish king David I , and in 1138 also that of her half @-@ brother Robert , Earl of Gloucester , an illegitimate son of Henry I. <unk> in the Welsh Marches <unk> against Stephen in 1136 , but the revolt was not settled until 1138 . In 1139 , Matilda invaded southern England with her half @-@ brother 's support and the period of civil war began . 
 Josce was the youngest son of Geoffrey de Dinan and <unk> <unk> , and had two older brothers , Oliver of Dinan and Alan of <unk> . Josce 's family was from Brittany , and he was described by the historian Marjorie <unk> as an " obscure Breton adventurer " . Josce moved from Devon in southern England to the Welsh Marches , the border between England and Wales , because the lords of Monmouth were also of Breton extraction . While in the Marches he joined King Stephen 's household . 
 
 = = Ludlow Castle = = 
 
 Josce was married to Sybil , the widow of Pain fitzJohn , who died in 1137 . Sybil had held Ludlow Castle against Stephen in 1139 , but surrendered after a siege . Ludlow was an important strategic stronghold for control of the Welsh Borders , and Stephen decided to marry Pain 's widow to someone he felt was trustworthy . Upon his marriage Josce also acquired control of the castle , built in the late 11th century . Josce probably also received many of the de Lacy family 's holdings in southern Shropshire , but he rebelled against Stephen and fortified Ludlow against the king . Josce 's position was so strong that when Stephen granted much of the surrounding lands to Robert de Beaumont , Earl of Leicester , Ludlow was specifically <unk> . Stephen told Robert that he would have a royal grant of the castle if he could secure Josce 's submission as a vassal . 
 <unk> of Ludlow was contested not only by Stephen but also by Gilbert de Lacy , whose efforts to <unk> the castle from Josce are the background to the medieval romance Fouke le Fitz Waryn ; the extant prose version dates from the 14th century , but it was originally a 13th @-@ century poem , now lost . Gilbert claimed the castle through his familial link with Sybil , fitzJohn 's widow , who was a member of the de Lacy family . Others trying to take Ludlow were Hugh de Mortimer and Gilbert de Lacy . According to the Chronicle of Wigmore Abbey , some time after September <unk> Mortimer and Josce became embroiled in a private war , during which Josce seized Mortimer while the latter was travelling . Josce imprisoned his captive in Ludlow and demanded a ransom of 3 @,@ 000 silver marks , as well as , according to the Chronicle , Mortimer 's " plate , his horses , and his birds " . <unk> , Mortimer met the ransom , as he is later known to have been a free man . 
 While Josce was absent from Ludlow , Gilbert de Lacy was able to take the castle . Josce laid siege to the castle but was unsuccessful in his attempt to retake it , and retreated to Lambourn with his military forces . Although the exact date of this event is unknown , it appears to have been some time about 1150 or shortly before . Matilda gave Josce some lands around Lambourn after Ludlow 's fall as compensation . Later he was given land in Berkshire by King Henry II ( became king in 1154 ) , Matilda 's son , as further <unk> for the loss of Ludlow . In <unk> Josce held lands in Berkshire , Wiltshire , Hampshire , Devonshire and Somerset . These holdings included the manor of Lambourn , worth £ 76 in income per year , as well as the manor of Stanton ( now known as Stanton <unk> in Wiltshire ) in addition to the lands scattered in other counties . 
 Josce 's grandson Fulk fitzWarin , who died in <unk> , is ostensibly the hero of a lost romantic poem called Fouke le Fitz Waryn . The work survives as French prose in a loose corpus of medieval literature known as the <unk> of England . However , it appears to confuse events of Fulk fitzWarin 's lifetime with those of his grandfather 's . Other errors in the work include <unk> some of the Welsh <unk> barons of King Henry I of England 's reign into nobles of William the <unk> 's time , and <unk> an entire generation of <unk> . Although scholars believe Fouke le Fitz Waryn draws on genuine tradition , the difficulty in separating the fitzWarin biographies makes it a problematic source . 
 
 = = Family = = 
 
 Josce died in 1166 . He was survived by two daughters : <unk> , who married Hugh de <unk> and died in 1212 , and <unk> who married Fulk <unk> , who died in <unk> . In <unk> his two daughters petitioned the king regarding the ownership of the town and castle of Ludlow but were turned down . 
 
 