Constable of Beaumaris Castle, Captain of Beaumaris Castle and Town, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Wales
Born	1471/4 Brittany; under Francis II, a duchy of France (per Beauclerk-Dewar et al., granted Letters of Denization, 1512)
Died	25 June 1535 Beaumaris Castle, Wales
Buried	Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Beaumaris Castle
Spouse(s)	Agnes Griffith
Issue Grace de Velville Jane de Velville (m. Robert Thomas ap Robert of Berain)
Father	Henry VII of England, presumed
Mother	unknown to historians (per Beauclerk-Dewar et al., Sir Roland's heraldry reflected known parentage)

Francis II of France was the eldest son of King Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici. He was a sickly child with stunted growth. His father got him betrothed to Mary, Queen of Scots, when he was 4 years old. This gave him the right to the throne of Scotland and assured. Francis II of France was the eldest son of King Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici. He was a sickly child with stunted growth. His father got him betrothed to Mary, Queen of Scots, when he was 4 years old. This gave him the right to the throne of Scotland and assured the Scots protection of the French against the British.

Sir Roland de Velville (1471/4 - 25 June 1535, also Vielleville, Veleville, or Vieilleville)^[1] is alternatively presented as the clear 'illegitimate issue' (son) of King Henry VII of England by 'a Breton lady whose name is not known',^[2] or as a favoured member of the court of Henry VII and later recipient of beneficences, brought home to England with 28-year-old Henry after his exile in Brittany, an adolescent 'of unknown parentage', and so a possible or likely illegitimate son, with formal historical opinion undecided.^[3]

Birth and origins[edit]

Athelstan, his acknowledged illegitimate son, succeeded as king in 924.
Sebastian de Poitiers was the illegitimate son of King Henry II of France and his mistress Diane de Poitiers, and he was raised at the French court with his younger half-brother Francis and Francis' fiancee Mary, Queen of Scots. He became known as a flirtatious womanizer at court, as well as becoming known as a great warrior and France's fastest horseman.

It appears that Velville is a French translation of the Breton name, Cosquer (sa maison appellée en langue bretonne du Cosquer, ou de la Vieuxville en langue françoise, Archives Départementales des Côtes d'Armor - 2 E 422 Famille Lanloup, Kerbouric (de), p. 2). The Breton for 'old' ('vieille' or 'vieux' in French) is 'cos' or 'coz' and the Breton for 'village manor' or 'village' ('ville' in French) is 'ker' - sometimes spelled 'quer' or 'kaer' historically. The Cosquer (also sometimes Coasker or variants of) family lived at the Château de Rosanbo, near Lanvellec, Brittany, and their descendants in the female line, the Marquises of Rosanbo, still live there today.^[4]^{[circular reference]} The coat of arms of this family is D'or au sanglier passant de sable (Or [gold], a boar passant sable [black]), which were contemporaneously attributed to Roland de Velville.^[5]

A Roland de Cosquer was recorded in Caouënnec-Lanvézéac in 1426.^[6] This says that in 1476 the manor of Cosquer was held by Yvon de Quélen, who was probably the daughter of Typhaine de Quélenec, daughter of the viscount of Fou en Rosnoën. In his 'Henry VII: The Maligned Tudor King' (Amberley Publishing, 2016), Tony Breverton notes that Henry Tudor, when he first arrived in Brittany, was in the care of Jean de Quélenec, Viscount of Faou. This points to a possible derivation of the name Velville; namely, that Roland de Velville's mother was a relation of the Jean de Quélenec, Viscount of Faou, and took his name from their manor of Cosquer. Thus, this circumstantial evidence points to a possible relationship with the de Quélen and de Quélenec families, whereas the heraldic evidence (the boar passant sable) points to the family of Cosquer of Rosanbo (see above), but these families might have been connected.

Velville's quartering (per Siddons) of Argent, a lion rampant gules, crowned or appears to be the arms of the family of Goyon or Gouyon,^[7]^{[circular reference]} a very distinguished family that eventually succeeded to the Principality of Monaco.^[8]^{[circular reference]} His quartering of Argent three chevrons sable might be the family of Comenan (or Comelan). His quartering of Argent three bars gules might be the family of Trogoff, or possibly Kerautem. His quartering of Argent three bars sable might be the family of Kerimel. His quartering of Argent a lion rampant gules might be the family of Testard or Coëtredrez. These are all Breton families.^[9]^{[circular reference]}

Les chevaliers bannerets du duché de Bretagne au XVème siècle^[10] also refers to other families of the name:

On voit aussi Pierre de la Vieuville qualifié chevalier banneret dans une montre du 14 septembre 1413. Nous ne croyons pas que ce seigneur appartienne à la famille de la Vieuville de Bretagne, ancienne, il est vrai, mais peu richement possessionnée. Il est plus sûr de l'attribuer à une famille du même nom et considérable de l'Artois, dont les armes sont fascées d'or et d'azur, et à laquelle appartenaient Jean et André de la Vieuville, chevaliers en 1377, et peut-être aussi Jean de la Vieuville, chevalier de l'ordre du roi et bailli de Gisors en 1498. La famille de la Vieuville de Bretagne est distincte de celle du Cosquer ou du Coskaër, qui, à la fin du XVème siècle, francisa son nom en le changeant en celui de la Vieuville. - Il a existé en Bourgogne, selon Olivier de La Marche, une ancienne famille de bannerets, appelée de la Vieuville. Pierre de la Vieuville aurait pu aussi appartenir à une famille de Bourgogne du même nom, qui possédait au XVème siècle le fief de bannière de la Vieuville.

See also Etienne Pattou, Guillaume de La Vieu(x)ville & autres familles de La Vieuville, La Viefville, etc. (racineshistoire.free.fr/LGN/PDF/La-Vieuville.pdf, accessed 7/3/2018).

Peter Beauclerk-Dewar and Roger Powell note that while not having official position or office, de Velville was a courtier and 'favourite of the king, participating in numerous jousts and accompanying the king out hunting.'^[1] He saw military service in Brittany in 1489, and likely in France with the King in 1492, was knighted in 1497 after the Battle of Blackheath, and was one of a small group of knights individually rewarded for their efforts by Henry VII.^[1]

Beauclerk-Dewar and Powell further state that historical records regularly place de Velville at royal tournaments marking significant royal events (marriages, visits of foreign monarchs) of the Court of Henry VII, in particular his jousts, from 1494-1507; in May 1509 he was appointed to attend Henry VII's funeral as a knight of the Royal Household, and in June to participate in the royal jousts in celebration of the accession of Henry VIII. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Constable and Captain of Beaumaris Castle, Anglesey (Ynys Môn, in Wales) in 1509,^[2] a position he held until his death.^[1]

Marriage, family and death[edit]

Historian Alison Weir notes 'he married a Welshwoman, and had issue' [i.e., a child or children].^[2] His wife Agnes (née Griffith), was widow of Robert Dowdyng and daughter in the powerful Welsh family of William (Gwilym) Griffith Fychan and so brother to Sir William Griffith, a Chamberlain of North Wales;^[1] Agnes gave him two daughters, Grace and Jane, the latter who, in marriage to Tudor ap Robert Vychan, gave birth to Katherine Tudor, in Welsh Catrin o Ferain (who is sometimes referred to as 'the mother of Wales').^[11] de Velville died on 25 June 1535, cause unknown, and was buried in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Beaumaris.^[1]

Poems about de Velville[edit]

The Welsh bards referred to Velville as follows:

1) Robert Evans (undated poem in Christ Church MS. 184, f.74t in praise of Sir John Salisbury of Lleweni, Catherine of Berain's son and Velville's great-grandson):

'Orwyr

King Henry 2 Of France Illegitimate Son