Baldwin FitzGilbert

Baldwin FitzGilbert (died 1086-1091) (alias Baldwin the Sheriff, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin de Meulles/Moels and Baldwin du Sap) was a Norman magnate and one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror, of whom he held the largest fiefdom in Devon, comprising 176 holdings or manors. He was feudal baron of Okehampton, seated at Okehampton Castle in Devon. Origins He was originally from Meulles or nearby Le Sap, in Calvados, Normandy. He was a younger son of Gilbert, Count of Brionne and of Eu, in Normandy. Career Together with his eldest brother Richard FitzGilbert, in 1066 Baldwin participated in the Norman Conquest of England. Following the successful siege of the Saxon city of Exeter, William the Conqueror appointed Baldwin castellan of the newly-built royal castle there, Rougemont Castle. He also appointed him hereditary Sheriff of Devon, a position he held until his death. Exeter Castle was thenceforth the official seat of the Sheriff of Devon. King William I also granted him the very large feudal barony of Okehampton in Devon, at the caput of which he built Okehampton Castle.