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Carol E. Harding, Dating Gui De Warewic: A Re-Evaluation, Notes and Queries, Volume 56, Issue 3, September 2009, Pages 333–335, https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjp097
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Extract
PRIOR to 1975, the accepted date of composition for the Anglo-Norman Gui de Warewic was 1232–1242, using the dates between Thomas, 6th Earl of Warwick's inheritance of Osney Abbey and his death.1 Osney's tie to the earldom of Warwick at this time has never been in dispute; records clearly show Thomas inherited the abbey—founded in 1129 by his d’Oilly ancestors—in 1232. Equally important, several scholars have suggested the composition of Gui de Warewic itself can be tied to the abbey's inhabitants.2
However, Jeanne Wathelet-Willem3 and later Emma Mason4 raised questions with this dating, citing evidence concerning the marriage of Thomas's father Henry. Put briefly, they contended the text is more likely to date from before 1220 (Wathelet-Willem) or even before 1205 (Mason), because, they said, it celebrates the return of Warwick lands to the d’Oilly family, from whom they had been taken to bestow upon the first earl. Both scholars connected Henry's marriage to Margery d’Oilly with this celebration. Wathelet-Willem placed Margery with Henry about 1205–20, but Mason suggested Margery had to die prior to 1205, because Thomas Basset paid the crown for Henry's wardship and marriage rights in 1205. The romance, both maintained, must predate any Basset marriage since it celebrates the first wife's family.
