the research is ongoing

Just over half-way through August.
The Domesday Book information is here on Grafton, useful background. The Grafton Regis CD had a 4 page item on the Earl, very good stuff, I knew 98% of it but can always use the additional 2%, thank you, people.
I have an unofficial translation of the motto, deeply religious if it is right, The Grave Is Empty, or The Grave Is No More. I have asked another translation firm to have a go at it.
The two-day duel is extremely important, it has been carefully detailed in writing, but of course it is archaic. I am translating it into modern English for the modern reader, but keep running up against words I don’t recognise. Like, outrequedaunce, for a start. Having an hour to kill this Saturday afternoon, I visited the library’s reference section and consulted the Oxford Shorter English Dictionary. Outrecuidance, the modern spelling, is in there, it means excessive self-esteem, or over-weening self confidence, presumption. It also meant I came home and looked up the SOED on line and ordered a copy from Amazon. I can’t keep going to the library to look up all these ancient words! Amazon had it $50 cheaper than anyone else. I’m going for it. Time I had a decent dictionary here, one that goes back to 1700 at least. Many of the words I need will surely be in there. I am translating ‘emprise’ as enterprise at the moment, as that seems to be in context, but will check it in the dictionary when it arrives. I will be putting the original medieval transcript of the duel in the book as an Appendix so people can read it in the original, or check my interpretation, as it suits them. Words such as outrequedaunce also make me realise how educated these knights were, standards way beyond what we achieve in our day to day living now. The language has changed, got simpler to some degree. What is a problem is the constant changing of spelling, as nothing was ‘set in stone’ and it seemed to be as the mood took them.
The opening paragraph of the biography has been written. The book on writing biography said to avoid starting with ‘John Smith was born on’, which is old-fashioned. As with any book it needed a hook to drag the reader in. I think we have done that.