were mined or waste, the result of misfortune, poverty and fire. The early castle, which existed before 1086, was important during the civil wars of Stephen’s reign; in 1142 Robert, earl of Gloucester, on his departure for France, committed it to his son’s charge, Stephen, however, surprised and took it, but it surrendered to the earl in the same year on the king’s refusal to send it aid. John fortified it against Louis of France in 1216, and during the civil wars it was the scene of much fighting, being stormed by the parliamentary forces in 1644. Wareham was accounted a borough in Domesday Book, and the burgesses in 1176 paid 20 marks for a default. In 1180–1181 they rendered account of 5 marks for erecting a gild without licence. The fee-farm of the borough was obtained in 1211, on a fine of 100 marks. The constitution of Wareham underwent a change during the years 1326–1335, when the governing body of the bailiffs and commonalty were replaced by the mayor and bailiffs. In 1587 Elizabeth granted certain privileges to Wareham, but it was not incorporated until 1703, when the existing fairs for April 6 and August 23 were granted. The port was important throughout the middle ages, and was required to furnish four ships for the French war in 1334. Considerable trade was carried on with France and Spain, cloth, Purbeck stone and, later, clay being largely exported.
WARENNE, EARLS, The Warennes derived their surname
from the river of Guarenne or Varenne and the little town of the
same name near Arques in Normandy. William de Warenne,
who crossed with William I. in 1066, was a distant cousin of the
Conqueror, his grandmother having been the sister of Gunnora,
wife of Richard I. of Normandy. De Warenne received as his
share of English spoil some 300 manors in Yorkshire, Norfolk,
Surrey and Sussex, including Lewes Castle. He was wounded
at the siege of Pevensey and died in 1089, a year after he had
received the title of earl of Surrey. Both he and his successors
were more commonly styled Earl Warenne than earl of Surrey.
His wife Gundrada, described on her monument as stirps ducum,[1]
appears to have been a sister of Gharbod, earl of Chester.
Their son William, 2nd earl (c. 1071–1138), was a suitor for the hand of Matilda of Scotland, afterwards queen of Henry I. He was temporarily deprived of his earldom in 1101 for his support of Robert, duke of Normandy, but he commanded at the battle of Tenchebrai (1106), and was governor of Rouen in 1135. He carried off Elizabeth of Vermandois, granddaughter of Henry I. of France, and wife of Robert, count of Meulan, and married her in 1118 after her husband’s death.
William de Warenne, 3rd earl (d. 1148), was, with his half-brother, Robert de Beaumont, early of Leicester, present at the battle of Lincoln, where his flight early in the day contributed to Stephen’s defeat. He remained faithful to the queen during Stephen’s imprisonment, and in 1146 he took the cross, and was killed near Laodicea in January 1148.
His daughter and heiress, Isabel, married in 1153 William de Blois, second son of King Stephen and Matilda of Boulogne, and in 1163 Hamelin Plantagenet, natural son of Geoffrey, count of Anjou. Both Isabel’s husbands appear to have borne the title of Earl Warenne. Earl Hamelin was one of those who at the council of Northampton denounced Becket as a traitor; he remained faithful to his half-brother, Henry II., during the trouble with the king’s sons, and in Richard I.’s absence on the crusade he supported the government against the intrigues of Prince John.
William de Warenne (d. 1240), son of Isabel and Hamehn, who succeeded to the earldom in 1202, enjoyed the special confidence of King John. In 1212, when a general rebellion was apprehended, John committed to him the custody of the northern shires; and he remained faithful to his master throughout the troubles which preceded the signing of the Charter. In 1216, as the king’s situation became desperate, the earl repented of his loyalty, and, shortly before the death of John, made terms with Prince Louis. He returned, however, to his lawful allegiance immediately upon the accession of Henry III., and was, during his minority, a loyal supporter of the crown. He disliked, however, the royal favourites who came into power after 1227, and used his influence to protect Hubert de Burgh when the latter had been removed from office by their efforts (1232). Warenne’s relations with the king became strained in course of time. In 1238 he was evidently regarded as a leader of the baronial opposition, for the great council appointed him as one of the treasurers who were to prevent the king from squandering the subsidy voted in that year. His son John de Warenne (c. 1231–1304) succeeded in 1240, and at a later date bore the style of earl of Surrey and Sussex. In the battle of Lewes (1264) he fought under Prince Edward, and on the defeat of the royal army fled with the queen to France. His estates were confiscated but were subsequently restored. He served in Edward I.’s Welsh campaigns, and took a still more prominent part in Scottish affairs, being the king’s lieutenant in Scotland in 1296–1297. In September 1297 he advanced to Stirling, and, giving way to the clamour of his soldiers, was defeated by William Wallace on the 11th. He invaded Scotland early the next year with a fresh army, and, joining Edward in the second expedition of that year, commanded the rear at Falkirk
By his first wife, Alice of Lusignan, half-sister of Henry III., Earl Warenne had three children—Alice, who married Henry Percy, father of the 1st baron Percy; Isabella, who married John Baliol, afterwards king of Scots; and William, who predeceased his father, leaving a son John.
John de Warenne (1286–1347) succeeded his grandfather in 1304, and was knighted along with the prince of Wales in 1306, two days after his marriage with the prince’s niece, Joanna, daughter of Eleanor of England, countess of Bar. From that time onwards he was much engaged in the Scottish wars, in which he had a personal interest, since John Baliol was his cousin and at one time his ward. As there were no children of his marriage, his nephew, Richard Fitzalan II., earl of Arundel (c. 1307–1376), became heir to his estates and the earldom of Surrey. His northern estates reverted to the crown, and the southern estates held by Joanna of Bar during her lifetime passed to Fitzalan. The Warrens of Poynton, barons of Stockport, descended from one of Earl Warenne’s illegitimate sons by Isabella de Holland. Earl Warenne had received from Edward Baliol the Scottish earldom of Strathearn, but seems never to have established effective possession.
See G. E. C(okayne), Complete Peerage, vol. vii. (1896); and John Watson, Memoirs of the Ancient Earls of Warren or Surrey (2 vols., Warrington, 1782).
WAR GAME, or (in its German form) Kriegspiel, a scientific
game, played by representing the positions and movements
of troops on a map. Kriegspiel is, as the name indicates, of
German origin. A form of it, invented by Marshal Keith, and
called Kriegs-schachsspiel (War Chess), was in vogue in the
18th century. In its present form it was invented by von
Reisswitz (1794–1827), a Prussian officer, in 1824. As a game
it quickly became fashionable at the German courts, and as a
means of instruction it was promptly introduced into the Prussian
army, whence it has spread to all the armies of the world. The
idea of it has been applied also to naval warfare in recent times,
the most usual form of naval war game being that designed by F. T. Jane about 1898.
In the military game the positions of troops are marked on maps, movements are made under regulations and the whole or portions of past campaigns can be reproduced in outline of fair accuracy, or more usually hypothetical manœuvres may be formulated for study and instruction. The materials required are at least three copies of the same map, drawn to such scale as may be suitable to the magnitude of the operations to be represented. If the scheme is one for small numbers of troops, maps of large scale are essential, as small features of the ground largely influence the action of small bodies, and it is only on large-scale maps that the real influence of small features can readily be appreciated. Conversely, with large bodies, maps on a diminished scale are convenient. A great amount of detail is necessary in all, maps drawn for military purposes; heights, roads, buildings, water-courses, fences and the nature of the
- ↑ See R. E . Chester Watson, “Gundrada,” in the Jnl. of the Arch. Inst, xli. p . 108.
