| Notes |
- Robert de Beaumont; allegedly 1st Earl of Leicester of the c1102 creation. [Burke's Peerage]
------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------
EARLDOM OF LEICESTER (I) 1107 ?
ROBERT DE BEAUMONT, SEIGNEUR OF BEAUMONT, PONT-AUDEMER, BRIONNE AND VATTEVILLE in Normandy, and from 1081 COUNT OF MEULAN in the French Vexin, son and heir, born circa 1046. When very young he accompanied Duke William to England and distinguished himself at the battle of Hastings, and received large grants of lands in co. Warwick, with smaller holdings in cos. Leicester, Northants, and Wilts. On 14 July 080, as Robert de Bellomonte, he witnessed the foundation charter of Lessay, and next year he inherited from his mother's family the comté of Meulan. Thereafter he is continuously styled Count (Comes) of Meulan. After the death of the Conqueror he adhered to William Rufus, and was high in favour at his court. He quarrelled with Robert of Normandy about the castellanship of Brionne, in consequence of the exchange of Brionne for Ivry made by his father. He was imprisoned, but was released at the intercession of his father Roger, who eventually succeeded in obtaining Brionne in fee. He succeeded to the greater part of his father's lands in Normandy, including Beaumont, Pont-Audemer, Vatteville and Brionne. This paternal inheritance, added to his French comté and his great possessions in cos. Warwick and Leicester, made him one of the most powerful vassals of the Crown. He became one of the chief lay ministers of William Rufus, with whom he sided against Robert Courtheuse in 1098, and when William invaded the French Vexin in 1097 he received his troops in his fortresses of the comté of Meulan. After the death of William Rufus he became one of the chief advisers of Henry I. On the death of Ives de Grandmesnil on Crusade, Robert retained his estates, which Ives had mortgaged to him circa 1102. Thereby he acquired one-quarter of the town of Leicester, the whole of which was later granted to him by the King. Robert thus added largely to his already vast possessions. In 1104 he was one of the Norman barons who adhered to Henry on his arrival in Normandy. He was present in the King's army at Tenchebrai, 28 September 1106. In 1110 he was besieged at Meulan by Louis VI, who took the castle by storm, but in the following year he retaliated by a raid on Paris, which he plundered. After obtaining the whole town of Leicester he is said to have become EARL OF LEICESTER, but, being already Count of Meulan, was never so styled. There is no contemporary record that he had the third penny of the pleas of the county, but he doubtless acquired, with the Grandmesnil fief, the third penny of the issues of the Mint at Leicester.
He married, in 1096, Isabel, called also Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh DE CREPl, called Hug "le Grand," COUNT OF VERMANDOIS. He died 5 June 1118, and was buried with his ancestors in the chapter house of Préaux (c). His widow married, very shortly after his death, William (DE WARINNE), EARL OF SURREY. [Complete Peerage VII:523-6, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]
(c) Robert had three sons and five daughters. The sons were Waleran and Robert, twins born in 1104, and Hugh. Waleran, the eldest, succeeded to the Norman and French fiefs, and the English lands held by his grandfather, Roger de Beaumont in 1086. Robert succeeded his father as Earl of Leicester and Hugh is said to have been created Earl of Bedford. The names of only four of the daughter appear to be known--Adeline, Aubreye, Maud and Isabel or Elizabeth. Adeline m. Hugh IV Seigneur of Montfort-sur-Risle. Aubreye m. Hugh II Seigneur of Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais. Maud m. William Louvel, Seigneur of Ivri and Breval. Isabel, also called Elizabeth, was mistress of Henry I, and m. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Pembroke.
Royal Ancestors of Some LDS Families, by Michael Call, Chart 356 - # 26
Sources:
Jim Weber , WorldConnect at Rootsweb:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jweber&id=I11952
Jim Weber , WorldConnect at Rootsweb:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jweber&id=I26146
Brent Ruesch , (WorldConnect at Rootsweb)
Jim Weber , WorldConnect at Rootsweb:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jweber&id=I12010&style=TABLE
(Research): Alt. Birth; Abt 1049
SURNAME: Also shown as De Beaumont
DEATH: Also shown as Died , , Leicestershire, England.
BURIAL: Also shown as Buried , Preaux, Normandy, France.
|
Abt 1046 - 1118 (~ 72 years)