William Paynel in Yorkshire. Other lands held by Ralph and William were Hooton Pagnell also in Yorkshire. The lands at Drax, combined with those at Hooton Pagnell, are considered a barony under the name of Hooton Pagnell, and passed to William from his father. In September 1136, Paynel's castle at Les Moutiers-Hubert was attacked by Count Geoffrey of Anjou, husband of Empress Matilda. Matilda was the only surviving legitimate child of King Henry I of England, but at Henry's death in 1135, her cousin Stephen of Blois had seized the throne of England and secured Normandy as well. In 1136 Matilda and
Treaty of Alton Treaty of Alton The Treaty of Alton was an agreement signed in 1101 between Henry I of England and his older brother Robert, Duke of Normandy in which Robert agreed to recognize Henry as king of England in exchange for a yearly stipend and other concessions. The agreement temporarily ended a crisis in the succession of the Anglo-Norman kings. The previous year, Henry had seized the throne on the death of his brother William II, even though Robert had been William's acknowledged heir. Robert's absence in the First Crusade at the time of William's death, as well as his poor