Richard de Redvers

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Richard de Redvers (disambiguation) .

Richard de Redvers (also Reviers, Rivers or Ripariis; † September 8, 1107 ) was a Norman nobleman from Reviers near Caen. His origin is unclear, perhaps he was one of the participants in the Norman conquest of England . His rise began as one of the most important supporters of King Henry I in his fight against Duke Robert for the English throne. Richard de Redvers was rewarded with goods for his commitment, so that he became one of the richest magnates in the country. He was previously believed to have been named first Earl of Devon , but this is now being applied to his son Baldwin .

origin

Little is known about the Redvers family when it comes to pre-Richard times. William Dugdale (1605–1686) wrongly equated him with Richard, the son of Baldwin FitzGilbert (Baudouin de Meules), the sheriff of Devon at the time of William the Conqueror . This error was still rumored in the late 19th century. The Complete Peerage brings William de Vernon into play as the father around 1890, later research casts this view into doubt. On the other hand, three brothers "de Reviers" from the time around 1060 in Normandy are known, Baudouin, Guillaume and Richard, whose close relationship to Richard de Redvers can be assumed. Since Richard named his eldest son Baldwin, it is likely that his father's name was the same.

Similarly little is known about Richard's early years. The poet Wace mentions a "sire de Reviers" as a participant in the Battle of Hastings around 1170 , but it is not clear whether this is Richard. The first clear mention of Richard comes from the mid-1080s: in the Domesday Book of 1086 he is mentioned as the owner of Mosterton Manor in Dorset .

Heinrich's follower

According to Wace, Richard was in the service of Duke Robert II of Normandy in 1089, but was given permission to join Robert's younger brother Heinrich: William the Conqueror had given Normandy to his eldest son Robert, Heinrich had bought parts of it, including the Cotentin and with it the town of Néhou , the main property of the Redvers family; Since the family also had property in Roberts' domain, they now served two masters, between whom Richard probably wanted to choose. When Heinrich fell out with his older brothers, Richard stood by his side so steadfastly that Ordericus Vitalis and Wilhelm von Jumièges mention him in their chronicles. Since Mosterton is no longer mentioned as a family property at this time, it can be assumed that it was confiscated by King Wilhelm Rufus because of the support for Heinrich.

When Wilhelm Rufus died in 1100 and Heinrich succeeded him as King of England, Richard de Redvers quickly became one of his closest confidants. He appears as a witness in more than twenty documents from Heinrich, in various places and sometimes even as the only one. After Richard's death, his loyalty to Anselm of Canterbury was worthy of note.

His continued loyalty should pay off for him. Henry gave him large tracts of land, including the Honor of Plympton in Devon, Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight and Christchurch in Hampshire (now Dorset). In addition, he continued to own the estates on the continent, in the Cotentin (Néhou) and in the Vexin ( Vernon ) and acquired the manors Crowell ( Oxfordshire ) and Woolley ( Berkshire ) through his marriage. His property probably included around 180 goods mentioned in the Domesday Book in Devon alone, including Tiverton and Honiton, Exter and Plympton. The Honor of Christchurch consisted of many manors scattered across several counties. He owned most of the Isle of Wight, including two manors, owned by the Bishop of Winchester , and the island remained in the possession of his descendants until King Edward I gave them the last Redvers in 1293, the dying Isabel de Redvers, 8th Countess of Devon bought. Overall, Richard de Redvers can be counted among the twelve richest barons of the time. It should be noted that less than a third of the lands he received from the king come from the royal estate, the greater part (including the Isle of Wight) comes from the estates that after the failed uprising of the Counts in 1075 under Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford had been confiscated.

The first Earl of Devon?

Some early sources suggest that Richard de Redvers was made the first Earl of Devon by Henry I. Among these sources are

1. The Chronicle of Ford Abbey, which is considered unreliable when it comes to the Redvers family
2. The Twynham cartular which apparently follows (3)
3. An addition that a later scribe added to a Richard document
4. A copy of a Richard Richard document published by his widow which is believed to have included the word 'comitis' ("Graf") - the original document is lost.

Against these four documents are all other sources that Richard never refer to as a count, just as little as his children or grandchildren - or his widow, who never posed as a countess. Even so, there have been discrepancies in the numbering of the Earls of Devon for many years. Since the early 20th century, the prevailing opinion has been that Richard's son Baldwin was the first earl.

family

Richard had a sister, Adelisa, and presumably a brother, Hugo (Hugues / Hugh) A few years after 1086, possibly around 1094, he married Adelisa, daughter of William Peverel the Elder and Adleina of Lancaster. Five of the couple's children are known:

1. Baldwin († June 4, 1155), Earl of Devon probably 1141; ∞ Adelise
2. Guillaume de Vernon, heir to the property in Normandy; ∞ Lucy de Tancarville, daughter of Guillaume I. de Tancarville and Matilda d'Arques.
3. Robert de Sainte-Mère-Église
4. Hubert de Vernon
5. Hadewise de Redvers, ∞ William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln († before 1161)

Richard de Redvere died on September 8, 1107 and was buried in the Abbey of Montebourg in Normandy, of which he is considered to be the founder. His wife Adelisa lived until around 1160.

literature

• George Edward Cokayne , Vicary Gibbs et al: The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant . IV (new edition, 1916).
• Robert Bearman: Charters of the Redvers Family and the Earldom of Devon 1090-1217. Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society (1994). ISBN 0-901853-37-2 .
• Robert Bearman: Some aspects of a baronial career in the reign of King Stephen. In: Anglo-Norman Studies - Proceedings of the Battle Conference XVIII (1995).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See e.g. B. William Hunt, Baldwin of Moeles, in: Dictionary of National Biography (1885-1900), Volume 3, reproduced at Wikisource: Baldwin of Moeles (DNB00) (English).
2. ↑ Volume 4, p. 310.
3. ↑ Bearman 1994, pp. 1-2.
4. ↑ "He, who was then sire de Reviers, brought many knights with him, who led the attack and threw down the enemy with their steeds."
5. ↑ Bearman 1995, p. 18.
6. ↑ Bearman 1994, pp. 2-3.
7. ↑ Bearman 1994, p. 17.
8. ↑ Bearman 1994, p. 3.
9. ↑ Bearman 1994, pp. 17-18.
10. ↑ Bearman 1994, pp. 19-23.
11. ↑ Barbara English: Forz, Isabella de, suo jure countess of Devon, and countess of Aumale (1237-1293), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept. 2004; Online edition from Jan. 2008.
12. ↑ Bearman 1994, p. 24.
13. ↑ Bearman 1994, p. 22.
14. ↑ Example: The Book of Ford Abbey reports Richard's childless death in 1137, so that his sister Adeliza was the heiress (James Robinsin Planché: On the Lords of the Isle of Wight, in: The journal of the British Archaeological Association 11 (1855), p. 217).
15. ↑ ^{a b} The Complete Peerage, Volume 4, p. 310.
16. ↑ Compare The Conqueror and His Companions: Richard de Redvers. an extract from James Planchés: Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874, and The Complete Peerage, Volume 4, p. 310.
17. ↑ His sister is mentioned in a document from 1107 (Bearman 1994, p. 57), the brother as the earl's uncle in a document from around 1130 (Bearman 1994, pp. 158–159).
18. ↑ Bearman 1994, p. 3.
19. ↑ John Horace Round: Redvers, family of, in: Dictionary of National Biography (1885-1900).