Knights

Knights were once elite warriors with high social status whose lives were dedicated to fighting. Knights were part of the ruling class in Europe. They were considered nobles and eventually land holding became a requirement to be a knight. Estates were often castles which gave the lineage its surname and it became the unit of social power.

The first family member on record according to my research was not a Brereton at all. His name was Gilbert de Venables because in those early days people were identified by the place they were from. The word de in the french language means "of". Gilbert de Venables was from the town of Venables in France. He changed his name to Gilbert de Brereton when he took over the land during the Norman Conquest in England.

The family name is therefore derived from a place and not a person. When doing searches on the family name for genealogical purposes it is important to remember that some people with the last name de Brereton are not actually from the same family tree but are actually people who just lived in Brereton.

Knights were often rewarded for their service through the granting of more land known as a fief. The knights were known for their bravery, honor, loyalty and service to women known as chivalry which attracted the aristocracy into also defining themselves as knights by the late 1200’s. Even kings began to refer to themselves as knights and by the 1300’s had founded a formal order of knighthood.

These changes raised the cost of becoming a knight as well as the social and military obligations causing the decline of the knights by the 1500’s. The Brereton family had knights in the family following this period which was indicative of great wealth. I have an account of the land holdings recorded in a will of one of the Brereton family members which I will share with you at a later date to give you some sense of their wealth. The family held thousands of acres of land in England and other parts of the United Kingdom.

A true knight had to also be a good Christian. Part of the knight’s education involved learning to read Latin. The knights were often called upon to read the liturgy at church. The Brereton family motto is “Opitulante Deo” which means “God Assisting Us” or “With the aid of God”.

The Christian roots have remained in the family. The lost branch of the Brereton family had several generations of Reverends. One of the members of this branch also went on to influence great Christian men like A.W. Tozer and set up a camp for pastors in the United States in the early 1800's.

I have given several clues through this blog and if you follow the blog closely you may be able to figure out the members of the lost branch.