Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester

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Depiction of Roberts after his funerary monument in the Priory Church of St. James, Bristol

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (* probably 1100 - 31 October 1147 ) was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England and one of the dominant personalities of the English Civil War from 1135 to 1154 . He was also known as Robert de Caen and Robert the Consul .

Life

Robert was believed to be one of the oldest of Heinrich's numerous illegitimate children. He was born in Caen in Normandy . Nothing is known for certain about his mother, although contemporary scholars assign her to the lower nobility of Oxfordshire . The "Compendium of Irish Biography" describes him as the son of Nest ferch Rhys . William of Malmesbury refers to Robert's "Norman, Flemish and French" ancestors, which presumably only refers to the paternal side. Heinrich recognized his son when he was born and had him educated at his court.

Robert became a patron of Malmesbury, as well as that of Geoffrey of Monmouth and of Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire , whose teaching activities had been initiated by his father-in-law.

In 1119 Robert fought at the Battle of Brémule as one of his father's most capable officers. In 1121 or 1122 he was made Earl of Gloucester .

In the dispute over the succession to the throne after the death of his father ( English Civil War from 1135 to 1154 ), he first sided with Stephan von Blois , but then switched to his half-sister, the former German Empress Matilda , who he continued to his Death remained loyal.

In the First Battle of Lincoln he succeeded in arresting Stephan, whom he then locked in prison under the supervision of his wife Mabel. This decisive advantage was lost when Robert fell into the hands of his opponents even in Winchester , where he covered Matilda's escape after a failed siege. Robert was so important to Matilda that she exchanged him for Stephan.

In 1142 she sent Robert to persuade her husband Gottfried V to join her cause. Gottfried refused to come to England before he had conquered Normandy , so Robert stayed with him in France until he learned that Matilda was being besieged at Oxford , after which he returned to England accompanied by Matilda's young son Heinrich .

In 1144 one of Robert's own sons, Philipp, joined Stephen's side, so that the rift now also ran through his own family.

Robert died of a fever in Bristol in 1147 and was buried in the church of the Benedictine priory of St. James in Bristol , which he himself founded in 1129 .

Marriage and offspring

Robert married in 1107 Mabel von Gloucester († 1157), daughter of Robert Fitzhamon and Sibyl de Montgomerie, whereby he acquired the dominions Tewkesbury and Glamorgan . Your children were:

literature

  • David Crouch: Robert of Gloucester's Mother and Sexual Politics in Norman Oxfordshire. In: Historical Research , 72 (1999) 323-332.
  • Chris Given-Wilson, Alice Curteis: The Royal Bastards of Medieval England. Routledge, London 1984, ISBN 0-7102-0025-0 .

Web links

Commons : Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 48  - Sources and full texts (English)

credentials

  1. ↑ http://www.libraryireland.com/biography/Nesta.php
predecessor Office successor
New title created Earl of Gloucester
1121-1147 		William FitzRobert
personal data
SURNAME Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robert de Caen; Robert the Consul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION illegitimate son of King Henry I of England
DATE OF BIRTH around 1100
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1147