right|thumb|alt=photograph|the early norman church at bramber was at the centre of a dispute between william de braose and fÃ©camp abbey.william de braose (or william de briouze), first lord of bramber (died 1093/1096) was previously lord of briouze, normandy. he was granted lands in england by william the conqueror soon after he and his followers had invaded and controlled saxon england. == norman victor == de braose was given extensive lands in sussex by 1073. he became feudal baron of the rape of bramberthe origins of some anglo-norman families, lewis christopher loyd, david c. douglas, the harleian society, leeds, reprinted by genealogical publishing company, 1975, isbn 0-8063-0649-1, isbn 978-0-8063-0649-0 where he built bramber castle. de braose was also awarded lands around wareham and corfe in dorset, two manors in surrey, southcote in berkshire and downton in wiltshire. he became one of the most powerful of the new feudal barons of the early norman era. he continued to bear arms alongside king william in campaigns in england, normandy and maine in france. he was a pious man and made considerable grants to the abbey of st, florent, saumur and endowed the formation of priories at sele near bramber and at briouze. he was soon installed in a new norman castle at bramber, to guard the strategically important harbour at steyning and so began a vigorous boundary dispute and power tussle with the monks from fÃ©camp abbey, in normandy to whom king william i had granted steyning, brought to a head by the domesday book, completed in 1086. == domesday squabble == it found that de braose had built a bridge at bramber and demanded tolls from ships travelling further along the river to the busy port at steyning. the monks also challenged bramber's right to bury people in the churchyard of william de braose's new church of saint nicholas, and demanded the burial fees for themselves, despite it being built to serve the castle not the town. the monks then produced forged documents to defend their position and were unhappy with the failure of their claim on hastings, which was very similar. the monks claimed the same freedoms and land tenure in hastings as king edward had given them at steyning. though on a
1096_deaths Anglo-Normans Normans