William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester

William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester

William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester ( 23 November 1116 - 23 November 1183 ) was an English peer .

He was the son and heir of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester and Mabel of Gloucester, daughter of Robert FitzHamon . His father was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England , and William was consequently a nephew of Empress Matildas and a cousin of King Stephen , who was an opponent in the civil war over the successor to Henry . During the Civil War, he and his father were temporarily held captive at Rochester Castle by King Stephen's troops in October 1141 .

While his father was in Normandy in 1144 , he held the post of governor of Wareham . When his father died on October 31, 1147 he inherited his title as 2nd Earl of Cloucester . In 1147 he subjugated Henry de Tracy at Castle Cary. In 1154 he concluded a defensive alliance with Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford , which was directed against all attackers with the exception of the king. He was Lord of Glamorgan and Caerleon and resided mostly in Cardiff . Here he, his wife and his son were kidnapped in 1158 by the Welsh chief Ifor Bach , where they were held captive until William returned some of the territories he had occupied.

In 1173 he was on the side of the king against his sons, but later seems to have come under suspicion because he submitted to the king the following year and delivered Bristol Castle to him in 1176 . Since his only son had died in 1166, William made Johann Ohneland , the king's youngest son, his heir with the agreement that he should marry one of William's daughters, provided that the church allows this due to the close relationship, which then happened.

William was present when the king mediated between the King of Castile and the King of Navarre in 1177 and when he witnessed Henry's charter to Waltham Abbey in 1178 . During Henry's struggles with his sons, when he imprisoned a number of noblemen whose loyalty seemed doubtful to him, William was among those affected. He died on his birthday in 1183. He was buried in Keynsham Abbey in Somerset , which he had donated on the occasion of the death of his only son in 1166.

progeny

William married Hawise de Beaumont, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Amica de Gael; The couple's children were:

• Robert FitzWilliam (* 1151 Cardiff , Glamorganshire , † 1166 Unmd Vp , Cardiff, Glamorganshire).
• Mabel FitzWilliam of Gloucester (* 1155); she married Amaury V. de Montfort , Count of Évreux .
• Amicia FitzWilliam , Countess of Gloucester (* around 1170–1225) ∞ Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford - her descendants are (from 1218) the other Earls of Gloucester.
• Isabel of Gloucester (* around 1160; † 1217, Gloucester); she was married three times:

1. Johann Ohneland (divorced 1199)
2. Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex
3. Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent .

Since the couple's only son died before his father, his three daughters inherited his property together. His earl title was initially suspended and was confirmed from her right to this when his daughter Isabel married Prnizen Johann in 1189.

Web links

• William FitzRobert at fmg.ac (English)
• William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, on thepeerage.com , accessed September 10, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert de Caen	Earl of Gloucester 1147-1183	Johann Ohneland (de iure uxoris)