The Battle Abbey Roll. Vol. III.
by
The Duchess of Cleveland.

Prepared by Michael A. Linton
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Veniels : perhaps Venile. "And here must not be forgotten," writes Sir Richard Baker in his Chronicle (3 Ed. III.) "Robert Venile, knight, a Norfolk man, who, when the Scots and English were ready to give battle, a certain stout champion of great stature, commonly called Tournboll, coming out of the Scots army, and challenging any Englishman to meet him in a single combate; this Robert Venile accepted the challenge, and marching towards the champion, and meeting by the way a certain black mastife dog, which waited on the champion, he suddenly, with his sword, cut him off at the loyns, and afterwards did more to the champion himself, cutting his head from off his shoulders."

Fuller, quoting this passage, adds: "This put me with blushing enough (that one so eminent himself should be altogether to me obscure) upon the inquiry after this valiant Knight: but all my industry could not retrieve him in any Author, so that he seems to me akin to those Spirits who appear but once, and finally vanish away." I have looked for him in vain in Blomfield's list of Lords of manors in Norfolk.

An Alan de Wanile, of Huntingdonshire, and Gilbert de la Venele, of Oxfordshire, are found in the Rotuli Hundredorum of the reign of Edward I. If, as I imagine, the name is identical with Venell, Venella, and Venello, it is very numerously represented in the former county, where we find Hugh en la Venele, Ralph en le Venele, Walter ad Venelf, Alexander in Venella, Gilbert, Eusebius, Galfrid, and Thomasin entered in the above record; besides John, Peter, and Nicholas de Venele in Kent.