Robert, Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings (d. between 1089-1093), son of
William I, Count of Eu
William I, Count of Eu (978 – after 1057), illegitimate son of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, was Count of Eu and Count of Hiémois. William succeeded his nephew, Gilbert, as Count of Eu and Hiémois after his murder in 1040.
William rebelled ...
, and his wife Lesceline.
Count of Eu
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
and Lord of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
.
Robert commanded 60 ships in the fleet supporting the landing of
William I of England
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...
and the Norman conquest of England. Around 1068, Robert was given the
Hastings Castle
Hastings Castle is a keep and bailey castle ruin situated in the town of Hastings, East Sussex. It overlooks the English Channel, into which large parts of the castle have fallen over the years.
History
Immediately after landing in England ...
and the adjacent territories previously owned by Onfroy du Tilleul. According to the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, Robert and his son William each possessed lands in separate counties. The sum of the annual income generated by the lands of the two men amounted to about 690 pounds sterling.
In 1069 he was charged by the king to support
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastin ...
, to monitor the Danes, whose fleet moored in the mouth of the
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
, while the latter was to repress the revolt initiated by
Eadric the Wild
Eadric ''the Wild'' (or Eadric ''Silvaticus''), also known as Wild Edric, Eadric ''Cild'' (or ''Child'') and Edric ''the Forester'', was an Anglo-Saxon magnate of Shropshire and Herefordshire who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest, acti ...
the west. When the Danes left their sanctuary to plunder the neighbourhood, the two commanders and their army fell upon them unexpectedly, crushing them, and forcing them to flee by sea.
After the death of King William, Robert followed the party of
Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. Dismayed by his softness and debauchery, he turned, along with several other Norman lords, towards the king
William II the Red, from whom he received several garrisons for his castles. During the attempted intervention of the English king in Normandy in February 1091, he was one of his supporters. He died after this episode and his son William II succeeded him as count.
Robert married first Beatrix de Falaise, sister of
Arlette de Falaise. Robert and Beatrix had six children:
* Raoul d'Eu (d. after 1036)
* Robert d'Eu (d. 1149)
* Condoha (Condor) (d. after 1087) married in 1058 to Fulk
d'Angoulême, and was mother of
William V d'Angoulême and grandmother of
Wulgrin II d'Angoulême.
*
William II, who succeeded his father as Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings
*
Eremburga of Mortain Eremburga of Mortain (Eremburge de Mortain) was the second wife of Count Roger I of Sicily and thus the second Sicilian countess. She is very obscure and details of her life are almost unknown to us today.
Her father was either William, Count of ...
(possible), the second wife of
Roger i, Count of Sicily
Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the H ...
.
* Armand of Mortain (possible), married to Beatrix, daughter of
Tancred of Hauteville
Tancred of Hauteville (c. 980 – 1041) was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. He was a minor noble near Coutances in the Cotentin. Tancred is also known by the achievements of his twelve sons.
Various legends arose ...
.
Very devout, he made numerous donations to the Church, notably lands at Fécamp Abbey of Rouen in 1051. After being widowed, he remarried, to Mathilde de Hauteville, daughter of
Roger I, Count of Sicily
Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the H ...
, and
Judith of Evreux, a second cousin of William the Conqueror. He repudiated her, however, and in 1080 she was married to
Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence.
He was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Michel du Tréport, which he had founded in Tréport, near the town of Eu, between 1057 and 1066, in memory of his first wife. Robert was assisted by the council of Duke William and
Maurilius
Maurilius (–1067) was a Norman Archbishop of Rouen from 1055 to 1067.
Maurilius was originally from Reims, and was born about 1000. He trained as a priest at Liege and became a member of the cathedral chapter of Halberstadt.Douglas ''William ...
,
archbishop of Rouen
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...
.
Robert was succeeded as Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings by his son William.
Sources
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References
{{Reflist, 2
Eu