Person Page - 1351

     William d'Aubigny or D'Aubeney or d'Albini, Lord of Belvoir (died 1 May 1236) was a prominent member of the baronial rebellions against King John of England.

William was the son of William d'Aubigny of Belvoir and grandson of William d'Aubigny (Brito), and was heir to Domesday Book landholder Robert de Todeni, who held many properties, possibly as many as eighty, among them was one in Leicestershire, where he built Belvoir Castle. This was his family's home for many generations.[1]

William stayed neutral at the beginning of the troubles of King John's reign, only joining the rebels after the early success in taking London in 1215. He was one of the twenty-five sureties or guarantors of the Magna Carta. In the war that followed the signing of the charter, he held Rochester Castle for the barons, and was imprisoned (and nearly hanged) after John captured it. He became a loyalist on the accession of Henry III, and was a commander at the Second Battle of Lincoln in 1217.

He died on 1 May 1236, at Offington, Leicestershire, and was buried at Newstead Abbey and "his heart under the wall, opposite the alter at Belvoir Castle".[1] He was succeeded by his son, another William d'Aubigny, who died in 1247 and left only daughters. One of them was Isabel, a co-heiress, who married Robert de Ros, 1st Baron de Ros (c. 1212-1301), thus adding the Aubigny co-guarantor of the Magna Carta to the pedigree of George Washington, 1st president of the USA.¹

     Hugh de Kevelioc, Earl of Chester (1147 – 30 June 1181) was the son of Ranulf de Gernon and Maud of Gloucester, daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (otherwise known as Robert de Caen, the illegitimate son of Henry I of England, making her Henry's granddaughter).

He is thought to have been born Kevelioc in Monmouth. But he may have taken the name of, the cwmwd of Cyfeiliog (in modern Powys) in the southern part of the Kingdom of Powys, Wales.

He was underage when his father's death in 1153 made him heir to his family's estates on both sides of the channel. He joined the baronial Revolt of 1173–1174 against King Henry II of England, and was influential in convincing the Bretons to revolt. After being captured and imprisoned after the Battle of Alnwick, he finally got his estates restored in 1177, and served in King Henry's Irish campaigns.

In 1169 he married Bertrade D'Evreux, daughter of Simon III de Montfort. She was the cousin of King Henry, who gave her away in marriage. Their children were:

Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester
Maud of Chester (1171–1233), married David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
Mabel of Chester, married William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel
Agnes of Chester (died 2 November 1247), married William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby
Hawise of Chester (1180–1242), married Robert II de Quincy
A daughter, name unknown, who was briefly married to Llywelyn Fawr
He also had an illegitimate daughter, Amice of Chester, who married Ralph de Mainwaring.

Hugh of Kevelioc died 30 June 1181 at Leek, Staffordshire, England.¹

     Ranulf II, also known as Ranulf le Meschin or Ranulf de Gernon inherited his palatine earldom in 1128 aged 28, upon the death of his father who was descended from the Counts of Bayeux, Calvados Normandy.

Ranulf was born at Gernon castle, Normandy around 1100 to Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (should be: Ranulf III, 1st Earl of Chester [of the second creation]) and Lucia Taillebois of Mercia, England. His parents were both significant landowners and he had considerable autonomy within the palatine. He married Maud, daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.¹

     Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147) was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England, and one of the dominant figures of the period of English history sometimes called The Anarchy. He is also known as Robert of Caen, and Robert "the Consul", though both names are used by later historians and have little contemporary justification, other than the fact that Robert's clerks made a practice of using the Latin word consul rather than the more common comes for his title of 'Earl'.

Robert was the eldest of Henry's many illegitimate children. He was born well before his father's accession to the English throne, probably in the late 1080s, as he had himself had a son by 1104. There are numerous references noting him to have been the son of Sybil Corbet, heiress to Robert Corbet, Lord of Alcester, whose family had land in both England and Normandy. He was born in Caen, Normandy and was the first of several children between Henry and his Mistress Sybil Corbet. [1]

Robert was acknowledged at birth, though in view of the vicissitudes of his father's career between 1087 and 1096 it is unlikely he was raised in his household. He was educated to a high standard, was literate in Latin and had a serious interest in both history and philosophy, which indicates that he was at least partly raised in a clerical household, a suggestion made all the more likely as his first known child, born around 1104, was born to a daughter of Samson, Bishop of Worcester (died 1112) who up till 1096 had been a Royal Chaplain and Treasurer of Bayeux. It may be significant that his next brother Richard was brought up in an episcopal household, that of Robert Bloet, bishop of Lincoln. Robert later received dedications from both Geoffrey of Monmouth and William of Malmesbury. William's 'Historia Novella' contains a flattering portrait of the Earl.

Robert appears at court in Normandy in 1113, and in 1107 he had married Mabel, eldest daughter and heir of Robert Fitzhamon, who brought him the substantial honour of Gloucester in England, Glamorgan in Wales and the honours of Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe and Évrecy in Normandy, as well as Creully. In 1121 or 1122 his father created him Earl of Gloucester. Through his marriage to Mabel he became second Lord of Glamorgan, and gained possession of Cardiff Castle, and was responsible for the building of the stone keep there, which remains as the best preserved Norman shell keep in Wales, and one of the best in the British Isles. Robert had considerable authority and autonomy, to the extent that he even minted his own coinage, today preserved in the British Museum.¹

     Lord of Alcester.

     Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester, Countess of Gloucester (1090- 29 September 1157[1]), was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, and a wealthy heiress who brought the lordship of Gloucester, among other prestigious honours to her husband, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester upon their marriage. He was the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. Her father was Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan. As she was the eldest daughter of four, and her younger sisters had become nuns, Mabel inherited all of his honours and properties upon his death in 1107.

Mabel was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1090, the eldest of the three daughters of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, and his wife, Sybil de Montgomery. Her three younger sisters, Hawise, Cecile and Amice[2] all became nuns, making Mabel the sole heiress to her father's lordships and vast estates in England, Wales, and Normandy.

Her paternal grandfather was Hamon, Sheriff of Kent. Her maternal grandparents were Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel Talvas of Belleme.

In March 1107, her father died in Normandy, leaving his lordships and estates to Mabel. Her mother married secondly Jean, Sire de Raimes.[3]

Cardiff Castle in Wales, was one of the properties Mabel brought her husband, Robert upon their marriage[edit] Marriage and children
In 1107, Mabel married Robert of Caen, an illegitimate son of King Henry I by his mistress Sybil Corbet. Their marriage is recorded by Orderic Vitalis who also names her parents.[4] He would later become an important figure during the turbulent period in English history known as The Anarchy which occurred in the reign of King Stephen of England. Throughout the civil war, he was a loyal supporter of his half-sister Empress Matilda who would make him the chief commander of her army. He had originally sworn fealty to King Stephen, but after quarrelling with him in 1137, his English and Welsh possessions were forfeited, and thus he joined forces with Matilda.[5]

Mabel brought to her husband, the honours of Gloucester in England, Glamorgan in Wales, Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe, Evrecy and Creully in Normandy. By right of his wife, he became the 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, and gained possession of her father's castle of Cardiff in Wales. In August 1122, he was created 1st Earl of Gloucester; henceforth, Mabel was styled as Countess of Gloucester.

Together Robert and Mabel had at least eight children.¹

     Robert Fitzhamon (died March 1107), or Robert FitzHamon, Sieur de Creully in the Calvados region and Torigny in the Manche region of Normandy, was Lord of Gloucester and the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan, southern Wales.

As a kinsman of the Conqueror and one of the few Anglo-Norman barons to remain loyal to the two successive kings William Rufus and Henry I of England, he was a prominent figure in England and Normandy.

Robert FitzHamon (born c. 1045-1055, d. March 1107 Falaise, Normandy) was the son of Haimo the Sheriff of Kent and grandson of Haimo Dentatus ('The Toothy', i.e., probably buck-toothed). His grand-father held the lordships of Torigny, Creully, Mézy, and Evrecy in Normandy, but following is death at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047, the family might have lost these lordships.

Robert probably did not fight at Hastings, and does not appear in the Domesday Book, although some relatives may. He first comes to prominence as a supporter of William Rufus during the Rebellion of 1088. After the revolt failed he was rewarded with great estates in Gloucestershire and elsewhere. Some of these had belonged to the late Queen Matilda, and were supposed to be inherited by Rufus's younger brother Henry (the future Henry I); nevertheless Fitzhamon remained on good terms with Henry.

The chronology of Fitzhamon's conquest of Glamorgan is uncertain, but it probably took place in the decades after he received Gloucester.

One explanation is the legend of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan, which dates from the 16th century, in which the Welsh Prince Iestyn ap Gwrgan (Jestin), prince or Lord of Glamorgan, supposedly called in the assistance of Robert Fitzhamon. Fitzhamon defeated the prince of South Wales Rhys ap Tewdwr in battle in 1090. With his Norman knights as reward he then took possession of Glamorgan, and "the French came into Dyned and Ceredigion, which they have still retained, and fortified the castles, and seized upon all the land of the Britons." Iestyn did not profit long by his involvement with the Normans. He was soon defeated and his lands taken in 1091.

Whether there is any truth in the legend or not Robert Fitzhamon seems to have seized control of the lowlands of Glamorgan and Gwynllwg sometime from around 1089 to 1094. His key strongholds were Cardiff Castle, which already may have been built, on the site of an old Roman fort, new castles at Newport, and at Kenfig. His descendants would inherit these castles and lands.

Rhys's daughter Nest became the mistress of King Henry I of England and allegedly was mother of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester who married Mabel, Fitzhamon's daughter and heiress and thus had legitimacy both among the Welsh and the Norman barons.[1] (Robert of Caen's mother is however unknown to historians and genealogists).

He also refounded Tewkesbury Abbey in 1092. The abbey's dimensions are almost the same as Westminster Abbey. The first abbot was Giraldus, Abbot of Cranborne (d. 1110) who died before the abbey was consecrated in October 1121. The abbey was apparently built under the influence of his wife Sybil de Montgomery. [1], said to be a beautiful and religious woman like her sisters.

Legend has it that Robert had ominous dreams in the days before Rufus' fatal hunting expedition, which postponed but did not prevent the outing. He was one of the first to gather in tears around Rufus' corpse, and he used his cloak to cover the late king's body on its journey to be buried in Winchester. How much of these stories are the invention of later days is unknown.

In any case Fitzhamon proved as loyal to Henry I as he had been to his predecessor, remaining on Henry's side in the several open conflicts with Henry's brother Robert Curthose. He was one of the three barons who negotiated the 1101 truce between Henry I and Robert Curthose.

In 1105 he went to Normandy and was captured while fighting near his ancestral estates near Bayeux. This was one of the reasons Henry crossed the channel with a substantial force later that year. Fitzhamon was freed, and joined Henry's campaign, which proceeded to besiege Falaise. There Fitzhamon was severely injured in the head; although he lived two more years he was never the same mentally. He was buried in the Chapter House at Tewkesbury Abbey, which he had founded and considerably enriched during his lifetime.

Fitzhamon married Sybil de Montgomery around 1087 to 1090, apparently the youngest daughter of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury by his first wife Mabel Talvas, daughter of William I Talvas, by whom he is said to have had four daughters. His eldest daughter Mabel inherited his great estates and married Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester around 1107. Fitzhamon's Gloucestershire property thus became the nucleus of the Earldom of Gloucester later given to his son-in-law. Fitzhamon is sometimes called Earl of Gloucester, but was never so created formally.

Another daughter Isabella (or Hawisa) is said to have been married to a count from Brittany, but no further details exist. His widow and two other daughters (unnamed) are reported to have entered a convent.

Robert fitzHamon's great granddaughter Isabel of Gloucester married John of England.¹

     Ranulf le Meschin, Ranulf de Briquessart or Ranulf I [Ranulph, Ralph] (died 1129) was a late 11th- and early 12th-century Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the earl of Chester, the patronage of kings William II Rufus and Henry I Beauclerc, and his marriage to Lucy, heiress of the Bolingbroke-Spalding estates in Lincolnshire.

Ranulf fought in Normandy on behalf of Henry I, and served the English king as a kind of semi-independent governor in the far north-west, in Cumberland and Westmorland, founding Wetheral Priory. After the death of his cousin Richard d'Avranches in the White Ship Disaster of November 1120, Ranulf became earl of the county of Chester on the Anglo-Welsh marches. He held this position for the remainder of his life, and passed the title on to his son.

Ranulf le Meschin's father and mother represented two different families of viscounts in Normandy, and both of them were strongly tied to Henry, third son of William the Conqueror.[2] His father was Ranulf de Briquessart, and likely for this reason the former Ranulf was styled le Meschin, "the younger".[3] Ranulf's father was viscount of the Bessin, the area around Bayeux.[4] Besides Odo, bishop of Bayeux, Ranulf the elder was the most powerful magnate in the Bessin region of Normandy.[5] Ranulf le Meschin's great-grandmother may even have been from the ducal family of Normandy, as le Meschin's paternal great-grandfather viscount Anschitil is known to have married a daughter of Duke Richard III.[6]

Ranulf le Meschin's mother was the daughter of Richard Goz.[2] Richard's father Thurstan Goz had become viscount of the Hiémois between 1017 and 1025,[7] while Richard himself became viscount of the Avranchin in either 1055 or 1056.[8] Her brother (Richard Goz's father) was Hugh d'Avranches "Lupus" ("the Wolf"), viscount of the Avranchin and Earl of Chester (from c. 1070).[9] Ranulf was thus, in addition to being heir to the Bessin, the nephew of one of Norman England's most powerful and prestigious families.[10]

We know from an entry in the Durham Liber Vitae, c. 1098 x 1120, that Ranulf le Meschin had an older brother named Richard (who died in youth), and a younger brother named William.[11] He had a sister called Agnes, who later married Robert de Grandmesnil (died 1136).[3]¹

     Ranulf de Briquessart[1] or Ranulf the Viscount (died c. 1089 or soon after) was an 11th century Norman magnate and viscount. Ranulf's family were connected to the House of Normandy by marriage, and, besides Odo, bishop of Bayeux, was the most powerful magnate in the Bessin region.[2] He married Margaret, daughter of Richard Goz, viscount of the Avranchin, whose son and successor Hugh d'Avranches became Earl of Chester in England c. 1070.[3]

Ranulf is probably the "Ranulf the viscount" who witnessed a charter of William, Duke of Normandy, at Caen on 17 June 1066.[4] Ranulf helped preside over a judgement in the curia of King William (as duke) in 1076 in which a disputed mill was awarded to the Abbey of Mont St. Michael.[5] On 14 July 1080 he witnessed a charter to the Abbey of Lessay (in the diocese of Coutances), another in the same year addressed to Remigius de Fécamp bishop of Lincoln in favour of the Abbey of Préaux.[6] and one more in the same period, 1079 x 1082, to the Abbey of St Stephen of Caen.[7] His name is attached to a memorandum in 1085, and on 24 April 1089 he witnessed a confirmation of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy and Count of Maine to St Mary of Bayeaux, where he appears below his son in the witness list.[8]

He probably died sometime after this. His son Ranulf le Meschin became ruler of Cumberland and later Earl of Chester.[9] The Durham Liber Vitae, c. 1098 x 1120, shows that his eldest son was one Richard, who died in youth, and that he had another son named William.[10] He also had a daughter called Agnes, who later married Robert de Grandmesnil (died 1136).[9]¹

     William I Talvas (c. 995–after 1030), seigneur of Alençon. He was a son of William of Bellême and Mathilde of Condé-sur-Noireau.

He assumed the Bellême estates upon the murder of his brother Robert, by the Sor family in revenge for the deaths of their father and brothers (Robert of Bellême had hanged them after their capture in battle). His reputation was that of a wicked man, "in all things worse than his brothers, and his wickedness has flourished to this day among his heirs."

He was married to Hildeburg, who was the mother of his son Arnulf and daughter Mabel. But his marriage was unsatisfying and he had his wife murdered on her way to church. He soon married the daughter of Rodulf the vicomte of Beaumont. Then he angered his neighbors by mutilating one William of Giroie: the Giroie family and their allies raided his lands then invested his castle in revenge. His son Arnulf quarreled with him, and he threw him out. His enemies challenged him to come out and fight, but Talvas' courage failed him and he surrendered and was exiled: the vicomte's daughter abandoned him at this point. Only his daughter Mabel stood by him. Although Arnulf got all his father's wealth and lands, it did him no good, and he was strangled one night in his sleep.

After years of wandering about, Talvas and Mabel finally were taken in by the Montgomery family. And Talvas offered his daughter to Roger of Montgomery in marriage. These were the parents of Robert of Bellême, and a numerous family of other sons and daughters (nine in all). The girls are recorded as being of high moral character, but the Bellême-Montgomery sons were "dangerous, greedy and like madmen they harmed the poor."¹

     Roger de Montgomerie, also known as Roger the Great de Montgomery (died 1094), was the first Earl of Shrewsbury. His father was also Roger de Montgomerie, and was a relative, probably a grandnephew, of the Duchess Gunnor, wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy. The elder Roger had large holdings in central Normandy, chiefly in the valley of the Dives, which the younger Roger inherited.

Roger was one of William the Conqueror's principal counsellors. He did not fight in the initial invasion of England in 1066, instead staying behind to help govern Normandy [Some controversy here- Neil Ludlow (Pembroke Castle) states the Earl led the Norman right flank at the Battle of Hastings]. Afterwards he was entrusted with land in two places critical for the defense of England, receiving the rape of Arundel at the end of 1067 (or in early 1068), and in November 1071 he was created Earl of Shrewsbury; a few historians believe that while he received the Shropshire territories in 1071 he was not created Earl until a few years later.

Roger was thus one of the half dozen greatest magnates in England during William the Conqueror's reign. In addition to the large part of Sussex included in the Rape of Arundel, and seven-eighths of Shropshire which were associated with the earldom of Shrewsbury, he had estates in Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire.

After William I's death in 1087, Roger joined with other rebels to overthrow the newly crowned King William II in the Rebellion of 1088. However, William was able to convince Roger to abandon the rebellion and side with him. This worked out favourably for Roger, as the rebels were beaten and lost their land holdings in England.

Roger first married Mabel of Bellême, who was heiress to a large territory on both sides of the border between Normandy and Maine. By her he had 10 children.¹

     Isabel of Gloucester (Isabel de Clare; c.1173 – 14 October 1217) was the first wife of King John of England. This historical figure is known by an exceptionally large number of alternative names: Hadwisa, Hawise, Joan, Eleanor, Avise and Avisa.

Isabel was the daughter of the William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and his wife, Hawise. Her paternal grandfather, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, was the illegitimate son of Henry I, King of England. Her father died in 1183 and, as he had no male heirs, his title merged in the Crown, but a new creation was granted to her in 1186 and she became Countess of Gloucester.

On 29 August 1189, she married John, Earl of Cornwall at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire and he assumed the title in her right. Shortly before or after John's accession as King in 1199, he had the marriage annulled[citation needed] on the grounds of consanguinity (they were second cousins as descendants of King Henry I). As a result, Isabel was never recognised as Queen of England and her former title merged in the Crown.

Isabel later married Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, the Earl of Essex, on 20 January 1214. He died in 1216. A year after Essex's demise she married Hugh de Burgh (later Earl of Kent) in September 1217.

Isabel died just a month later that year and was interred in Canterbury Cathedral.¹ The marriage of Isabel of Gloucester and King John of England was annulled in 1199.

     William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (died 1183) was the son and heir of Sir Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon.

His father was Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England, thus William was a nephew of the Empress Maud and a cousin of King Stephen, the principal combatants of the English Anarchy period.

In October 1141, William looked after the Baronial estates, when his father fell into the hands of partisans at Winchester. His father was exchanged for King Stephen, and during his father's absence in Normandy in 1144 he served as Governor of Wareham. In 1147, he overthrew Henry de Tracy at Castle Cary.

In 1154 he made an alliance with Roger de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford, by which they agreed to aid each other against all men except Henry II of England.

He was Lord of the manor of Glamorgan, as well as Caerleon, residing chiefly at Cardiff Castle. It was there that in 1158 he and his wife and son were captured by the Welsh Lord of Senghenydd, Ifor Bach ("Ivor the Little") and carried away into the woods, where they were held as prisoners until the Earl redressed Ivor's grievances.

In 1173 the earl took the King's part against his sons, but thereafter he appears to have fallen under suspicion, for the following year he submitted to the King, and in 1175 surrendered to him Bristol Castle. Because his only son and heir Robert died in 1166, Earl William made John, the younger son of King Henry II, heir to his earldom, in conformity with the King's promise that John should marry one of the Earl's daughters, if the Church would allow it, they being related in the third degree.

Earl William was present in March 1177 when the King arbitrated between the Kings of Castile and Navarre, and in 1178, he witnessed Henry's charter to Waltham Abbey. But during the King's struggles with his sons, when he imprisoned a number of magnates of whose loyalty he was doubtful, Earl William was among them.

He was married to Hawise de Beaumont of Leicester, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Amica de Gael and had 4 children.¹