Ansculf de Picquigny
11th Century French Baron

Ansculf de Picquigny (c. 1014 – c. 1084) was a French baron who followed William the Conqueror to England.
Biography
Ansculf, born around 1014, was the son of Guermond de Picquigny, Picquigny being a village near Amiens in Picardy. Ansculf must have played a significant role in the invasion as he was awarded some 80 manors spread over 11 counties (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Staffordshire, Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire).
Ansculf was sheriff of Surrey and Buckinghamshire, occurring both counties between 1066 and 1086.
After Earl Edwin's abortive revolt in 1070, Ansculf was granted some of Edwin's lands in the West Midlands, including Dudley. It was there that he built Dudley Castle, a Norman motte-and-bailey, which formed a part of a defensive chain protecting the Midlands from the Welsh, and the caput of his barony of Dudley.
Ansculf before 1086, and was succeeded by his son William Fitz-Ansculf. The Pinckney family is their present-day descendants.
The public source identifies “Ansculf de Picquigny” as 11th Century French Baron. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ansculf, Picquigny and 11th.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ansculf de Picquigny”, the useful work is to connect “11th Century French Baron” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4770542. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1014, 1084, 1066 and 1086.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ansculf de Picquigny”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ansculf de Picquigny primary sources, Ansculf de Picquigny archive and Ansculf research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ansculf de Picquigny”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ansculf de Picquigny” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.