Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury (died 1098), was an
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
*Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
*Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...
aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient R ...
and member of the
House of Bellême
House of Bellême also referred to as the Family of Bellême was an important seigneurial family during the 10th through the 12th centuries. Members of this family held the important castles of Bellême, Alençon, Domfront and Sées as well a ...
. He was also known as Hugh the Red.
Life
He was the second surviving son of
Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
Roger de Montgomery (died 1094), also known as Roger the Great, was the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Earl of Arundel, in Sussex. His father was Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery, a member of the House of Montgomerie, and was probably ...
of the
House of Montgomerie, and
Mabel de Bellême of the
House of Belleme
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...
.
[George Edward Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times'', Vol. XI, Ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1949), p. 688] As was typical of the first post-
Conquest
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...
generation,
[This concerns the laws of inheritance and ]primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
, prevalent in the Pays de Caux
The Pays de Caux (, , literally ''Land of Caux'') is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French ''département'' of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs o ...
at the time of the Conquest but the remainder of Normandy still partitioned inheritance between sons (familial paréage
In Medieval France a ''paréage'' or pariage was a feudal treaty recognising joint sovereignty over a territory by two rulers, who were on an equal footing, '' pari passu''; compare peer. On a familial scale, ''paréage'' could also refer to the ...
). This allowed the father to determine which son was to receive what portion, typically by seniority. But this was changing at the time allowing some flexibility. In Normandy the law distinguished between acquisitions and inheritances. Acquisitions were those lands obtained by conquest or purchase while his Norman ancestral lands were heritable by the eldest son. This was later codified in the '' Leges Henrici Primi'' which stated: "The Ancestral fee of the father is to go to the first-born son; but he may give his purchases or later acquisitions to whomsoever he prefers". For a time after the Conquest this took the form of the eldest son inheriting the Norman lands of his ancestors while the second son was given the English honors
Honour (or honor in American English) is the quality of being honorable.
Honor or Honour may also refer to:
People
* Honor (given name), a unisex given name
* Brian Honour (born 1964), English footballer and manager
* Gareth Honor (born 1979 ...
his father had acquired. See: James Clarke Holt, ''Colonial England, 1066-1215'' (The Hambledon Press, London, 1997) pp. 116-121 (& notes); also C. Warren Hollister, ''Henry I'' (Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2003), p. 47 & n. he inherited most of his father's English possessions while his older brother
Robert of Bellême
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
inherited the vast lordship of Bellême. He was at the castle of Bures-sur-Dives in December 1079 when his mother was murdered
and pursued the perpetrators but was unable to overtake them.
[K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, ''Domesday People, A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166'', Volume I; Domesday Book (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, 1999), p. 266] In the summer of 1080,
along with his brothers he attested a charter for the
abbey of Troarn (Diocese of Bayeux) by their father "for the redemption of his soul and
hose
A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called '' pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally ...
of his relatives, and especially of his wife Mabel lately deceased; and of his sons".
In 1094 at his father's death he succeeded to his father's English titles and honors as well as his Welsh lands, as
Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...
.
In 1095 he joined in the conspiracy of those supporting
Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray (died 1125), a Norman, was Earl of Northumbria from 1086 until 1095. Robert joined the 1088 rebellion against King William II on behalf of Robert Curthose, but was pardoned and later led the army that killed Malcolm III of S ...
against
William Rufus
William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
.
In 1096 he was pardoned by William Rufus after a fine of £3,000. During his four years as earl, he spent most of his time in the
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches ( cy, Y Mers) is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods.
The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ...
fighting against the Welsh. In 1098, he joined forces with
Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.
Early life and career
Hugh d'Avra ...
in an attempt to recover
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
, which had been lost in the Welsh revolt of 1094.
On or about 31 July 1098 Hugh was killed at the
Battle of Anglesey Sound
The Battle of Anglesey Sound was fought in June or July 1098 on the Menai Strait ("Anglesey Sound"), separating the island of Anglesey from mainland Wales. The battle was fought between Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, and the Anglo-Norman earls ...
while fighting against a raid by King
Magnus Barefoot
Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Olavsson''; 1073 – 24 August 1103), better known as Magnus Barefoot (Old Norse: ''Magnús berfœttr'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Berrføtt''), was King of Norway (being Ma ...
of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
at
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
,
[For more information see the article ]Battle of Anglesey Sound
The Battle of Anglesey Sound was fought in June or July 1098 on the Menai Strait ("Anglesey Sound"), separating the island of Anglesey from mainland Wales. The battle was fought between Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, and the Anglo-Norman earls ...
. being shot dead by an arrow and falling into the sea.
[George Edward Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and All Its Members from the Earliest Times'', Vol. XI, Ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1949), p. 688–689, 688 n. (l), 689 n. (a)] Among those in Magnus' party were
Harold Haroldson
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts ...
, son of
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the ...
King of England. Several sources agree that it was Magnus himself who shot the arrow hitting Hugh through the eye slit in his armor while the earl was riding carelessly through the shallows.
[Rosemary Power, "Magnus Barelegs' Expeditions to the West", ''The Scottish Historical Review'', Vol. 65, No. 180 (Oct. 1986), pp. 119–120]
Succession
Hugh died unmarried, and his English lands and titles passed to his older brother
Robert of Bellême
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
, who became the
3rd Earl of Shrewsbury.
Notes
References
Additional references
*
"Hugh (d. 1098)", in ''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1885–1900, Volume 28.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrewsbury, Hugh Of Montgomery, 2nd Earl Of
11th-century births
1098 deaths
11th-century English nobility
Anglo-Normans in Wales
Normans killed in battle
Earls of Shrewsbury
Clan Montgomery