2nd Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont

2nd Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont

Male 1104 - 1168  (64 years)

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  • Name Robert de Beaumont 
    Title 2nd Earl of Leicester 
    Born 1104  Eure, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 5 Apr 1168  Castle at Brackley, Northamptonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I4226  avefamily
    Last Modified 27 Nov 2018 

    Father Robert de Beaumont,   b. About 1046, Pont-Audemer, Beaumont, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 5 Jun 1118, Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 72 years) 
    Mother Isabel de Vermandois 
    Family ID F1390  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Amice de Gael,   b. 1108, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 Aug 1168, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, , England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 60 years) 
    Children 
    +1. Robert de Beaumont,   b. 1135, Beaumont, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 Aug 1190, Durazzo Province, West Albania Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 55 years)
    Last Modified 25 Nov 2018 
    Family ID F1389  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Coat of Arms: Earls of Leicester
    Coat of Arms: Earls of Leicester

  • Notes 
    • Robert "the Hunchback" de Beaumont

      2nd Earl of Leicester

      The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert". Henry Knighton, the fourteenth-century chronicler notes him as Robert "Le Bossu" (meaning "Robert the Hunchback" in French).
      Sir Robert II de Beaumont (2nd Earl of Leicester, see Complete Peerage)
      Birth: 1104 Normandy, France
      Death: 5 Apr 1168 Leicestershire, England
      Buried: Sainte-Marie de Pré
      Title

      Steward of England and Normandy 1154
      Viceroy of England 1158 - 1163 & in 1165
      2nd Earl of Leicester 1118
      Count of Meulan.
      Earl of Lancaster
      Seigneur de Beaumont, Vatteville and Brionne.
      Title: Knighted, 1122
      Birth

      1104 Pont Audemer, Eure, Normandy, France
      Christening

      1168
      Death

      5 APR 1168 Leicester Castle, Leicestershire, England
      Burial

      St Mary de Pre Priory, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England [citation needed]
      Leicester Abbey, Leicester, Leicestershire, England. Body buried at Leicestershire Abbey, (viscera burial) Hospital of St. James and St. John, Brackley, Northamptonshire, England [citation needed]
      Titles

      2nd Earl of Leicester
      Created Justiciar of England **In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the Justiciar) was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent
      Justiciar of England, 1155-1168
      Notes

      Knighted 1122[1]
      2nd Earl of Leicester
      Justiciar of England 1155-1168[1]
      From Some Descendants of Charlemagne
      Marriage and Children

      Marriage: AFT NOV 1120[1] Brittany, France [citation needed]
      Husband: Robert 'Bossu' de BEAUMONT
      Wife: Amice (Uta) de GAEL
      Child: Margaret de BEAUMONT[1]
      Child: Robert 'Blanchmains' Harcourt son and heir[1]
      Child: Isabel Or Elizabeth de BEAUMONT[1]
      Child: Hawise 'De Beaumont' de LEICESTER[1]
      Child: William de BEAUMONT [citation needed]
      Child: John de BEAUMONT[1]
      Child: Geoffrey de BEAUMONT[1]
      Child: Henry de BEAUMONT[1]
      Death 5 APR 1168 Leicester, Leicestershire, , England[2]
      The FMG shows only these four children as issue of Robert and Amice:
      ISABELLE de Beaumont d. aft. 1188, m. Simon de Senlis, Gervase Paynell aka (or Elizabeth) of Leicester RA III:559
      ROBERT de Beaumont "ès Blanchemains" d. Durazzo 1190, aka Robert de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Leicester, m. Pernel de Grandmesnil, RA III:559
      HAVISE de Beaumont d. 1197 m. William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, RA III:559
      MARGUERITE de Beaumont b. c. 1125 - d. aft. 1185 m. Ralph de Tony, RA III:559
      Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson, Vol III, page 559, shows the four children listed by FMG, plus three other sons: Henry, Geoffrey and John.
      Note

      His granddaughter Hawisa or Isabella of Gloucester was the unfortunate first wife of King John.
      Parents and Siblings

      Marriage of Robert's parents: 1096[3]France
      Husband: Robert de BEAUMONT
      Wife: Isabel Elizabeth de VERMANDOIS
      Child: Isabel (Elizabeth) de BEAUMONT
      Child: Aubreye de BEAUMONT
      Child: Robert 'Bossu' de BEAUMONT
      Child: Waleran UNKNOWN
      Child: Hugh de BEAUMONT
      Child: Havoise de BEAUMONT
      Child: Amicade de BEAUMONT
      Child: Maud de BEAUMONT
      Note

      On Leicester, Earldom of [Burke's Peerage, p. 1671]:
      Robert de Beaumont, a companion in arms of William I (The Conqueror) at Hastings was granted after the Conquest much land in the Midlands of England, but most of it was in Warwickshire rather than Leicestershire. Indeed his younger brother became Earl of Warwick. Robert also held territory in Normandy and is usually referred to as Count of Meulan. He was a leading political figure in the reigns of William II and Henry I and on the death of one Ives de Grandmesnil in the First Crusade, the funds for campaigning in which Ives had raised from Robert on the security of his estates, [Robert] came into full possession of them, including a sizeable part of Leicester. The rest of the town was granted him by Henry I and it is possible that he became Earl of Leicester. His son, another Robert, certainly called himself Earl of Leicester. [NOTE: According to Richardson, this Robert, " after obtaining the whole town of Leicester, he is said to have become the Earl of Leicester, but being already the Count of Meulan, he was never so styled."[1] This profile is "His son, another Robert, certainly called himself Earl of Leicester" -- definitely was granted the title and is this Robert in this profile, designated by Richardson "1st Earl of Leicester"]Dellinger-332
      ----------------------------
      EARLDOM OF LEICESTER (II) 1118
      ROBERT (a), EARL OF LEICESTER, younger son, being twin with Waleran, who succeeded his father as Count of Meulan, was born 1104, and was commonly called Le Bossu or Le Goczen. He styles himself Earl of Leicester in the confirmation of his charter on behalf of Bec and St. Nicaise-de-Meulan in 1119. He and his brother Waleran were brought up at the court of Henry I with great care on account of the King's gratitude to their father. They accompanied Henry when he interviewed Pope Calixtus at Gisors, November 1119 where they astonished the Cardinals by their learning. On 8 September 1131 Robert was one of the five Earls who witnessed Henry's charter to Salisbury at the Northampton Council, and both the brothers were present at the deathbed of Henry L In the anarchy which followed Stephen's accession he engaged in private warfare with his hereditary enemy, Roger de Tosny, whom he captured with the assistance of his brother Waleran. In 1137 the twins returned to England with Stephen. Meanwhile, during Robert's absence in England, his possessions in Normandy were overrun until he came to terms with Roger de Tosny. In June 1139 the two brothers took a leading part in the seizing of the Bishops o! Salisbury and Lincoln at Oxford. At about this time he received from Stephen a grant to him as Earl of Leicester and to his heirs of the town and castle of Hereford "et totum comitatum de Herefordisc.," excepting the lands of the Bishop, those of the Abbot of Reading and of other churches and abbeys holding in chief of the King, and excepting also the fees of Hugh de Mortemer, Osbert son of Hugh, and others, "cum aliis omnibus rebus et libertatibus quae ad omnia prefata pertinent cum quibus Gul. filius Osbern unquam melius vel liberius tenuit." This grant was made at Newton (probably near Leominster) at a time when Miles of Gloucester had already taken possession of the county for the Empress, and therefore cannot have been effectual to bestow either the lands or the Earldom of Hereford, if such was Stephen's intention. After the defeat of Stephen, 2 Feb. 1141, Robert appears to have made a truce with the Angevin party in Normandy until he should return from England, and devoted himself to his foundation of St. Mary de Pré at Leicester, which was accomplished in 1143. According to the narrative of St. Mary's, he became a canon regular there circa 1153, and so remained until his death, but the story conflicts with his known public career. In that year Henry, son of the Empress, anticipating his succession to the throne (which was agreed by the Treatyof Waningford in November 1153), gave Robert and his son Robert charters, dated at Bristol, "restoring" to them the lands then held by the elder, Robert, and granting them the Stewardship of England and of Normandy, whereby he doubtless secured their support of his claims to the crown. Robert was at the siege of Torigny in October 1154 with Henry II just before his accession, attended his Coronation in December 1154, and rapidly rose in the new King's favour. He received a confirmation charter of the grant made at Bristol and thus became Steward of England and of Nor:mandy. He was made Justiciar in the following year, and he acted as Viccroy part of the time with Richard de Luci during the King's absence from England from December 1158, after Eleanor left the country until his rcturn 25 January 1162/3. He was present at the Council of Clarendon, 13-28 January 1163/4, and was the first to attest the "Constitutions," to which he procured the assent of Thomas à Becket. He took part with the Crown in its struggle with Becket, but sought to reconcile the King and the Archbishop at the Council of Northampton in October 1164. As Justiciar he pronounced sentence on the Archbishop, who cutshort his address by denying the jurisdiction of the court. In 1165 he again acted as Viceroy on the King's departure. In the spring of 1166 he went to Normandy with the King, but was in England again in October, and retained the Justiciarship until his death two years later.
      He married, after November 1120, Amice, daughter of Ralph, SEIGNEUR OF GAEL AND MONTFORT in Brittany, who was son of Ralph, EARL OF NORFOLK, by Emma, daughter of William FITZOSBERN, 1st Earl of Hereford. By this marriage he acquired a large part of the FitzOsbern inheritance in Normandy and England. He died 5 April 1168, and was probably buried in St. Mary de Pré. Amice survived him, and is said to have entered the convent of Nuneaton. [Complete Peerage VII:527-30, XIV:429, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]
      [a] It has become the established usage to apply the name of Beaumont to the Earls of Leicester of the first line. Though doubtless a convenient form of nomenclature, it lacks contemporary authority. Roger, Seigneur of Beaumont-le-Roger, the contemporary of the Conqueror, is called Roger de Beaumont with good reason. Orderic speaks of his younger brother Robert as Robert de Beaumont, but in doing so is clearly transferring to him the style borne later by Roger, for Robert always appears in charters as Robertus flius Humphredi. Robert, son of Roger, was also styled de Beaumont until he became Count of Meulan, but his son Robert, 2nd Earl of Leicester, is never so styled. In the next generation the question does not arise, for there were no younger sons. In the last generation of these Earls, William, the eldest brother (who d. vp), is in charters always William de Bréteuil, and Robert, before he succeeded as Earl, figures as Robert de Bréteuil in two charters, and is also so styled in the Chron. de Mailros. There was no reason why this branch of the family should take its style from a place in which it had no interest. Hugh (said to have become Earl of Bedford), younger brother of Robert and Waleran, witnesses a charter circa 1123-38 as Hugone de Mellent. With respect to the elder branch, those who were not themselves Counts were called de Mellento, and this though the caput of their Norman honour was Beaumont, and this endured as the name of two branches of the family after the loss of the comti of Meulan.
      Notes

      1. Nichol's Lcstrs, vol 1 pt 1 p. 98 (GS #Q942.54 H2nic)
      2. Wurts' Magna Charta vol 1-2 p. 85 (GS #942 D22w)
      3. Dict of Nat'l Biog vol 4 p. 66-67 (GS # Ref 920.042 D561n)
      4. Plantagenet Ancestry p. 100, 117 (GS #940 D25)
      5. Baker's Nrthmp vol 1 p. 563 (GS #Q942.55 H2ba)
      6. The Battle Abbey Roll vol 1 p. 14, 148 (GS #942 D2bb)
      7. Complete Peerage vol 7 p. 520 (GS #942 D24c)
      8. Adjusted for Leland J. Hendrix (22 gg son to #1) 931 S. 100 E.
      Orem, Utah, 18 Apr 1968
      9. Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists 5563 (GS #974 D2w)
      10. Americans of Royal Descent p. 34, 83, 119 (GS #973 D2ba)
      11. Proving Your Pedigree p. 204 (GS #929.1 B439p)
      12. Royal Anc Levi Tenney (GS #929.6 T157K)
      Sources

      ? 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10
      ? Source: #S004330 Birth date: 1104 Birth place: Normandy, of Normandy, France Death date: 5 Apr 1168 Death place: St Mary's De Pre, Leicester, Leics, England
      ? Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol V, page 271, by Douglas Richardson, (2013)
      Richardson, Royal Ancestry (2013) Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), volume III, page 558-559, #6. "Robert of Meulan, Knt, nicknamed le Bossu"
      For parents of, see: Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. V. page 273
      Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, Wikipedia
      Davis, Henry. Regesta Regum Anglo Normannorum, 1066–1154 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1969) Vol. 4, Plate XXV
      Jennifer Newcomb. Madden/Grove Website (MyHeritage.com family tree) MyHeritage 090118: Robert "the Hunchback" de Beaumont
      Edward T. Beaumont, "The Beaumonts in History, A.D. 850-1850."
      Roderick W. Stuart, "Royalty for Commoners."