Walter Espec (died 1155Truax, Jean, (2017), Aelred the Peacemaker. The Public Life of a Cistercian Abbot, Liturgical Press, p. 137.) was a prominent military and judicial figure of the reign of Henry I of England.
Espec's father was probably William Speche (William Espec), who joined William the Conqueror in the Norman conquest of England. The senior Speche is believed to have become the feudal baron of Old Warden by 1086.
In the years up to 1120, Espec controlled northern England, alongside Eustace fitz John.Dalton, Paul, Conquest, Anarchy and Lordship: Yorkshire, 1066–1154 (2002), p. 105. He was the builder of Helmsley Castle; he built also Wark Castle.Wark Castle As an old man, when High Sheriff of Yorkshire, he fought against the Scots at the Battle of the Standard in 1138.Barlow, Frank, The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042–1216 (4th edition), p. 211. He was the founder of Kirkham Priory (Augustinians) and later Rievaulx Abbey (Cistercians).People Kirkham Priory was founded around 1130.Houses of Austin canons – Priory of Kirkham | British History Online He then donated to Rievaulx, where building started in 1132, and is largely credited for the arrival of the Cistercians in England. By 1135 he also founded Warden AbbeyBedfordshire County Council: Warden Abbey (Wardon) in Bedfordshire, a daughter house of Rievaulx. Walter Espec later became a Cistercian monk himself.
Notes
References Burton, Janet E., The Monastic order in Yorkshire, 1069–1215, Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought, Cambridge University Press, 1999. . Concise Dictionary of National Biography Dalton, Paul, "Espec, Walter (d. 1147x58)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Grandsen, A., Historical Writing in England c. 550–c.1307, 1974. Tyerman, Christopher, " Walter Espec", in Who's Who in Early Medieval England, 1066–1272, Shepheard-Walwyn (editor), 1996, p. 113–114. ().
External links Four Great Abbeys and Priories of Yorkshire Walter Espec, founder of Rievaulx abbey.