Robert I de Beaumont Comte de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester ^{2 3 4 5}

   Another name for Robert was 1st Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont.

  General Notes:

ROBERT de Beaumont-le-Roger, son of ROGER de Vieilles Seigneur de Beaumont-le-Roger & his wife Adeline de Meulan ([1046]-5 or 6 Jun 1118, bur Préaux, monastery of Saint-Pierre). Guillaume of Jumièges records that"Rogerius de Bellomonte" married "Adelinam, Waleranni comitis Mellenti filiam", by whom he had "duos filios Robertum et Henricum...postea comites", and that Robert succeeded "post Hugonem avunculum suum comes Mellentis". Orderic Vitalis names "...Rodbertus tiro Rogerii de Bellomonte filius..."among those who took part in the battle of Hastings. He was rewarded by William I King of England with the grant of lands, mainly in Warwickshire and Leicestershire. He succeeded his mother's family in 1081 as Comte de Meulan. Orderic Vitalis names "Rodbertum et Henricum" as the heirs of "Rogerius...de Bellomonte", adding that Robert inherited "comitatum de Mellento in pago Vilcasino hereditario jure post Hugonem Adelinæ matris suæ fratrem" and possessed "in Anglia comitatum Legecestriæ" which he was granted by King Henry I. "Rogerius et filii mei Robertus et Henricus" donated "decimam tocius Brotonie" to Saint-Wandrille by charter dated 13 Jan 1086. Domesday Book records "the count of Meulan" holding numerous properties in Warwickshire. "Rogerus de Bellomonte" founded la Sainte-Trinité de Beaumont-le-Roger, with the consent of "liberis meis Roberto comite Mellentensi et Henrico comite de Warwic", by charter dated [1088/89]. Orderic Vitalis records that "Rodbertus comes Mellenti" demanded "arcem Ibreii" from Duke Robert who said that he had given "Brioniam...castrum"to Robert´s father in exchange for Ivry, that the duke imprisoned Robert and entrusted Brionne to "Rodberto Balduini filio", dated to [1090]. He succeeded his father in [1090] as Seigneur de Beaumont-le-Roger, de Vieilles et de Pont-Audemer. In [before 1094], he was imprisoned by Robert III Duke of Normandy after challenging the exchange of Ivry for Brionne agreed by his father, the Duke confiscating Brionne. He was released after the intervention of his father, and Brionne was restored to his father after being recaptured]. He was granted the town of Leicester by Henry I King of England, and is thereby said to have become Earl of Leicester but there is no record of his having used this title. The Chronicon Rotomagensi records the death in 1118 of "Robertus comes de Mellent". The necrology of Saint-Père-en-Vallée records the death "VIII Id Jun" of "Robertus comes Mellentensis". The necrology of Lyre monastery records the death "5 Jun" of "Robertus comes Mellenti".

[m firstly [as her first husband,] GODECHILDE de Tosny, daughter of RAOUL [III] de Tosny Seigneur de Conches & his wife Isabel de Montfort l'Amaury (-Germanicea, Cilicia Oct 1097). Orderic Vitalis names "Godehildem" as the daughter of "Radulfus...de Conchis filius Rogerii de Toenia" and his wife "filiam...Simonis [de Montefort]...Isabel", recording that she married firstly "Rodberto...Mellentensium comiti" and secondly "Balduino filio Boloniensium consulis Eustachii". The Complete Peerage says that this first marriage is "highly improbable" as Godechilde was still a young girl when she married Baudouin de Boulogne in 1096, although infant marriages were by no means unknown at the time. Orderic Vitalis makes no mention of any annulment of her alleged first marriage. The first "marriage" may have merely been a contract of betrothal. She married [secondly] ([1090/1096]) as his second wife, Baudouin de Boulogne, who was chosen in 1100 to succeed as Baudouin I King of Jerusalem.]

m [secondly] ([1096], divorced 1115) as her first husband, ISABELLE [Elisabeth] de Vermandois , daughter of HUGUES I "le Maisné" Comte de Vermandois et de Valois [Capet] & his wife Adelais Ctss de Vermandois [Carolingian] ([before 1088]-17 Feb 1131, bur Lewes). Orderic Vitalis records that in 1096 "Hugo Crispeii comes" placed "Radulfo et Henrico filiis suis" in charge of his land, married "Ysabel filiam suam" to "Rodberto de Mellento comiti", and left on pilgrimage taking "secum nobile agmen Francorum". Guillaume of Jumièges records that "secundus Willelmus de Warenna comes Surreiæ...tertius Willelmus filius eius" was born to "Elizabeth filia Hugonis Magni comitis Viromandorum", who had first married "Roberto comiti Mellenti" by whom she had "tres filios et totidem filias". She married secondly (1118) William de Warenne Earl of Surrey. The necrology of Saint-Nicaise de Meulan records the death "XIII Kal Mar" of "Isabel comitissa Mellenti". There appears to be no other "Isabelle Ctss de Melun" to whom this can refer apart from Isabelle de Vermandois. However, it is surprising that she is not referred to by the title of her second husband.

Comte Robert & his [second] wife had [nine] children:




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Robert de Beaumont; allegedly 1st Earl of Leicester of the c1102 creation. [Burke's Peerage]

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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.

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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. ¹

  Events

• Alt. Birth, Abt 1049. ²

• Title: Comte de Meulan, 1081.

• Title: Seigneur de Beaumont-le-Roger, de Vieilles et de Pont-Audemer, 1090. ¹

• Title: Earl of Leicester, 1107.

Robert married Isabelle de Vermandois, daughter of Hugues I de France Comte de Vermandois and Adélaïde de Vermandois Comtesse de Vermandois, de Valois et de Crépy, about 1096.^{1 2 3} (Isabelle de Vermandois was born before 1088 ¹ and died on 17 Feb 1131 in Lewes Priory (Priory of St. Pancras), Lewes, East Sussex, BN7, GB ^{1 2}.)