Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died circa 21 October 1204) (Latinized to de Bellomonte ("from the beautiful mountain")) was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPernel.
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died circa 21 October 1204) (Latinized to de Bellomonte ("from the beautiful mountain")) was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPernel.
Robert was the eldest surviving son of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Petronilla de Grandmesnil, [1] who was either a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of Hugh de Grandmesnil. Robert's older brother died in 1189. [1] As a young man, he accompanied King Richard I of England on the Third Crusade, and it was while the crusading forces rested at Messina, Sicily that Robert was invested with the Earldom of Leicester on 2 February 1191, following the death of his father in 1190 at Durazzo while on his way to the Holy Land. [1]
Robert's newly gained estates included a large part of central Normandy. He held castles at Pacy, Pont-Saint-Pierre and Grandmesnil. Earl Robert also was lord of the vast honour of Breteuil, but the family castle there had been dismantled after the 1173-1174 War. On his return from the crusade, he turned his attention to the defence of Normandy from the French. After defending Rouen from the advances of Philip II of France, he attempted to retake his castle of Pacy. He was captured by forces of the French king and remained imprisoned for 3 years. Later, King John would bestow the new fortress and lordship of Radepont (the land of Radepont was traded to King John by the seigneur du Neubourg for lands and revenues in the pays de Caux) upon the earl.
Sometime after his release in 1196, he married Loretta de Braose, daughter of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. They had no children, and Robert's death in 1204 brought the end of the Beaumont male line.
In the year of his death, Normandy was lost to the French; Earl Robert attempted to come to an independent arrangement with King Philip of France, in which he would hold his land in Normandy as a liege-vassal of the Kings of France, and his lands in England as a liege-vassal of the Kings of England. In any event, Robert died on 20 or 21 October 1204, and his large English estates were divided between the heirs of his two sisters. The eldest sister, Amice, had married the French baron Simon de Montfort, and their son, also named Simon de Montfort, inherited half the estate as well as the title of Earl of Leicester. The younger sister, Margaret, had married Saer de Quincy, and they inherited the other half. Three years later Saer was created Earl of Winchester.
Hugh de Grandmesnil, , is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Subsequently, he became a great landowner in England.
Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837.
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, known as Simon IVde Montfort and as Simon de Montfort the Elder, was a French nobleman and knight of the early 13th century. He is widely regarded as one of the great military commanders of the Middle Ages. He took part in the Fourth Crusade and was one of the prominent figures of the Albigensian Crusade. Montfort is mostly noted for his campaigns in the latter, notably for his triumph at Muret. He died at the Siege of Toulouse in 1218. He was Seigneur of Montfort from 1188 to his death and Earl of Leicester in England from 1204. He was also Viscount of Albi, Béziers and Carcassonne from 1213, as well as Count of Toulouse from 1215.
Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester was an English nobleman, one of the principal followers of Henry the Young King in the Revolt of 1173–1174 against his father King Henry II. He is also called Robert Blanchemains.
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against John, King of England, and a major figure in both the kingdoms of Scotland and England in the decades around the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.
Emma Fitz-Osborn or Emma de Breteuil, and later Emma de Guader, was a Norman noblewoman, the wife of Ralph de Guader and the daughter of William FitzOsbern, Lord of Breteuil and later first Earl of Hereford of a new creation, who was a cousin and close adviser of William the Conqueror. William's opposition to their marriage led to the unsuccessful Revolt of the Earls.
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln, known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester, was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours. He has been described as "almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest".
Ralph de Gaël was the Earl of East Anglia and Lord of Gaël and Montfort. He was the leading figure in the Revolt of the Earls, the last serious revolt against William the Conqueror.
Ivo de Grandmesnil, son of Hugh de Grandmesnil, was a Norman magnate in England and a participant in the First Crusade, in 1096.
Waleran de Beaumont (1104–1166) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. In his early adulthood, he was a member of the conspiracy of Amaury III of Montfort; later in his career, he participated in the Anarchy and the Second Crusade. During the reign of Henry II of England, Waleran's close ties to Louis VII of France caused him to fall out of grace.
Raoul II de Tosny, lord of Conches-en-Ouche, was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny and older brother of Robert de Stafford / Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales.
The House of Tosny was an important noble family in 10th and 11th century Normandy, though it did not include any comtes or vicomtes. Its founder was Raoul I of Tosny.
Raoul III of Tosny (1079-1126), Lord of Conches-en-Ouche, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny.
Loretta de Braose, Countess of Leicester was one of at least five daughters and four sons who survived to adulthood of William de Braose, lord of Bramber in Sussex and Radnor, Abergavenny and Brecon in Wales and his wife, Maud de St. Valery.
Petronilla de Grandmesnil, Countess of Leicester was the wife of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, known as "Blanchmains". After a long widowhood, she was buried in Leicester Abbey after her death on 1 April 1212.
St William of Breteuil or William de Breteuil was a Norman abbot and magnate who held extensive lands in central Normandy as the lord of Breteuil at the end of the reign of King William I and during the chaotic period afterwards when William's eldest son Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, contested with his younger brother William Rufus, king of England. Upon the death of William Rufus while hunting in the New Forest, Lord William attempted—but failed—to block Prince Henry seizing the crown jewels from the Winchester treasury and declaring himself king in preference to the crusading Robert. Lord William was later abducted and tortured by a French noble who wanted to marry his illegitimate daughter Isabel. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Battle of Fornham was fought during the Revolt of 1173–1174.
Juliane (Juliana) de Fontevrault, was a French noble, the illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England. She is notorious for attempting to murder her father. An account of these events can be found in the Historia Ecclesiastica by Orderic Vitalis.
Amice was a Countess of Rochefort and suo jure countess of Leicester. She is associated with England but is thought to have spent most of her life in France.