Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (died 4 June 1155), feudal baron of Plympton in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel. He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

never to accept the new king. He seized

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

, and was a pirate out of Carisbrooke, but he was driven out of England to Anjou, where he joined the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

. She made him Earl of Devon after she established herself in England, probably in early 1141. He founded several monasteries, notably those of Quarr Abbey (1131), in the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, a priory at Breamore,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, and the Priory of St James, at

. Some monastic chronicles call his father also Earl of Devon, but no contemporary record uses the title, including the monastic charters.

Family and children

He married Adelize De Baalun (d. circa 1146).Bearman, R. (1994).''Charters of The Redvers Family and the Earldom of Devon 1090–1217''. p. 9. They had children: # Richard de Redvers, 2nd Earl of Devon. Married Denise de Dunstanville, the daughter of Reginald the first Earl of Cornwall. # Henry de Redvers #

William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (died 10 September 1217) (or de Reviers), of Tiverton Castle and Plympton Castle, both in Devon, was feudal baron of Plympton in Devon. Origins He was the son of Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon by hi ...

. Married Mabel de Beaumont. # Matilda de Redvers, married to Anschetil de Greye. # Maud de Redvers, married Ralph de Avenel. # Alice de Redvers, married Roger II de Nonant. # Hawise de Redvers, by 1147 married Robert FitzRobert, Castellan of Gloucester. Robert was an illegitimate son of

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. c. 1090, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200Retrieved ...

. # Eva de Redvers, married Robert d' Oyly. Between 1151 and his death in 1155, Baldwin married Lucy de Clare. Lucy was assumed to have been the widow of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford and a daughter of Ranulf earl of Chester. However, Gilbert de Clare died unmarried and without issue in 1152. One source states that Lucy was the daughter of

Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare (died 15 April 1136) 3rd feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. A marcher lord in Wales, he was also the founder of Tonbridge Priory in Kent. Life Richard was the eldest son of Gilbert Fitz ...

and Adelisa of Chester. They were the parents of Gilbert de Clare, who died in 1152. Therefore, Lucy was a sister of Gilbert de Clare. A charter mentioning her late brother Gilbert de Clare, and her late husband Baldwin was given shortly after Baldwin's death.Keats-Rohan,K.S.B. (2002).''Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066–1166 : II Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum''.p. 658 and 245. The name ''de Redvers'' can also be found as ''de Reviers'' or ''Revières''.

Footnotes

References

*Frederick Lewis Weis ''Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700''; Line 50-27 * *Charles Mosley, editor-in-chief ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 106th edition, 1999, Page: 832 *Robert Bearman, 'Revières, Baldwin de, earl of Devon (c.1095–1155)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devon, Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of 1155 deaths Anglo-Normans 1 Norman warriors Peers created by Empress Matilda Redvers, Baldwin de, 1st Earl of Devon B Year of birth unknown