Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby

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Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby † ( 1139 ) (also Earl Ferrers or Earl of Nottingham ) was an Anglo- Norman magnate .

Origin and heritage

Robert de Ferrers was the third son of the Norman magnate Henry de Ferrers and his wife Bertha. Robert is first mentioned after his older brothers Engenulph and William in the charter of Tutbury Priory , which his father had donated between 1087 and 1100. His father died between 1093 and September 1100, his mother inherited the barony of Tutbury in Staffordshire . Robert's eldest brother William inherited the Normandy possessions, he supported Robert Curthose's claim to the throne and was captured in 1106 at the Battle of Tinchebray . His brother Engenulph, who inherited the property in England, is mentioned for the last time in 1100. Apparently, after Robert's death, he inherited his father's estates in England, which included around 210 estates. Over half of these possessions were in Derbyshire .

Magnate under Heinrich I.

In contrast to his brother William, Robert supported Henry I's claim to the throne early on , whom he served as administrator in Derbyshire and other counties . He was mainly active in the Midlands . Intermittently he is also mentioned as a witness in royal documents, namely 1107 in Westminster , 1122 in Nottingham , 1123 in Winchester and 1131 in Northampton . There is no evidence that Ferrers accompanied the king on his visits to his French possessions. In 1129 or 1130 he was given the management of Wirksworth in Derbyshire. There were prolific lead mines in this region, from which he received an annual income of about £ 80. Around this time he donated the Church of Potterspury , Northamptonshire, to Bernard the Scribe .

Supporter of Stephan von Blois

After King Henry I died in 1135 without male heirs, Ferrers became one of the leading supporters of Heinrich's nephew Stephan von Blois , who claimed the throne in place of Heinrich's daughter Matilda . Ferrers was part of Stephen's entourage in Reading in January 1136 , in York in February and at Easter on April 7 in Westminster and then in Oxford . Ferrers testified to numerous documents that Stephan issued as king, including the document in which the king confirmed the privileges of the Church in England. When the open war of succession to the throne, the so-called anarchy , broke out between King Stephen and Heinrich's daughter Matilda , Ferrers remained an important supporter of Stephan. He was able to pull his son-in-law Walkelin Maminot to the side of Stephen and could have participated in the siege of Shrewsbury as early as August 1138 . His most important military action during the War of Succession, however, was the Battle of the Standards , in which on August 22, 1138 he defeated the Scottish King David I and his allies together with Count Wilhelm von Aumale , William Peverel , Geoffrey Aiselin , Walter Espec and Gilbert de Lacy hit. Out of gratitude, King Stephan elevated Ferrers to Earl. From now on he was referred to differently in the next documents as Earl Ferrers, Earl of Derby or Earl of Nottingham. However, he died the following year.

Marriage and offspring

Allegedly Ferrers Hawise (also Havisa ), a daughter of the Breton baron André de Vitré ( House Vitré ) married, for which there is no convincing evidence. With her he had at least one son and several daughters, including:

Ferrers was a generous sponsor of Tutbury Priory, he also sponsored Nostell Priory and settled a dispute with the Abbey of St Modwin in Burton-upon-Trent . His son Robert became his heir.

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predecessor Office successor
New title created Earl of Derby
1138-1139 		Robert de Ferrers
personal data
SURNAME Ferrers, Robert de, 1st Earl of Derby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ferrers, Robert de Ferrers, Earl of; Nottingham, Robert de Ferrers, Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Norman magnate
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH 1139