Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville in Normandy, 1st Earl of Buckingham (died 1102) was an Anglo-Norman magnate.
He was the son of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville (one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066) [1] and Ermengarde daughter of Gerald Flaitel.[2] His father had been given 107 lordships, 48 of which were in Buckinghamshire which Giffard inherited by 1085.[3] The caput of his feudal honor was at Crendon, Buckinghamshire.[4]
He held an important castle at Longueville overlooking the River Scie as well as vast estates in Buckinghamshire.[5] As he held lands in both England and Normandy he was a vassal to both Robert Curthose and William Rufus.[5] But Rufus purchased his loyalty along with several other key cross-Channel barons and fortified Giffard's and the other castles, garrisoning them with knights in the king's employ who could now ravage northeastern Normandy.[5] Giffard also served Rufus as Justiciar of England,[3] and it was probably Rufus who created him Earl of Buckingham in 1097.[3] Giffard was one of the great magnates who joined Robert Curthose's 1101 invasion of England against Henry I of England.[6] He died 15 July 1102 in England and his body was returned to Normandy,[2] where it was interred at St. Mary's Church at Longueville-sur-Scie, the caput of his Norman honors.[7]
Giffard was married to Agnes de Ribemont, sister of Anselm of Ribemont.[3] His heir was his son, Walter Giffard, 2nd Earl of Buckingham.[2]