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- BIOGRAPHY
Urse was a native of Normandy, born about 1040, who came to England shortly after the Norman Conquest. Little is known of his family in Normandy, who were not prominent. Although Urse's lord in Normandy was present at the Battle of Hastings, there is no evidence that Urse took part in the invasion of England in 1066.
Urse was appointed sheriff of Worcestershire in about 1068 by William the Conqueror, who appointed him constable of its royal castles and granted him forty hides, or 4000 acres, in Worcestershire. Urse built a castle in the town of Worcester, which encroached on the cathedral cemetery there. This, and his fraudulent acquisition of other lands, particularly some belonging to the Convent of St. Mary in Worcester, earned him this curse from Eldred, archbishop of York: 'Have thou God's curse, and mine, and that of all holy men, unless thou removest thy castle; and know assuredly that thy posterity shall not inherit the patrimony of St.Mary.'
Urse helped to put down a rebellion against William the Conqueror in 1075, and quarrelled with the Church in his county over the jurisdiction of the sheriffs. He continued in the service of William's sons after the king's death, and was appointed constable under William II and marshal under Henry. Urse was known for his acquisitiveness, and during William II's reign he was considered second only to Ranulf Flambard, another royal official, in his rapacity. Urse's son Roger succeeded him as sheriff but was subsequently exiled, thus forfeiting the office. Through his daughter Emmeline, who married Walter de Beauchamp, of Elmley Castle, Urse is an ancestor of the Beauchamp family, who eventually became earls of Warwick.
Urse died about 1108.
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