Robert de Thweng (c. 1205 – c. 1268) was a noble who rebelled against the church authorities in Yorkshire, England.*

Life

Robert de Thweng gained ownership of the Castle of Kilton through his marriage to Matilda, niece of Sir William de Kylton and widow of Richard de Autrey, in 1222. He thus inherited a dispute with the Prior of Gisborough, concerning the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...

of the parish priest at

Kirkleatham Kirkleatham is an area of Redcar in the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-northwest of Guisborough, and south of Redcar centre. It was listed in the Domesday Book. The area has a collectio ...

, particularly that the Prior had tried to gain control of the parish whilst Sir William was infirm. He was angered by what he saw as the imposition of foreign (Italian) priests. When Robert had exhausted all the ecclesiastical routes of appeal, he turned to rebellion (around Easter 1232), and raided church properties, especially those belonging to foreign churchmen, under the sobriquet Will Wither (literally ‘William the Angry’), and he distributed the spoils to the poor. He was excommunicated by the Papal Legate in England, Cardinal Otto. He was given support by the great northern Magnate families:

Percy The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...

, Neville, Fitz-Randolph, de Vesci, de Maulay, de Menyll, de Roos and de Brus. He presented his case to

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

who, rather than punish him, gave him letters of recommendation to take to

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

. The Pope ruled in his favour, bringing the rebellion of Will Wither to an end. Biographies suggest that the influence of

Richard of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of Po ...

may have been decisive in this case. In 1240 Robert set out with Richard on

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

, but he probably never reached

The Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy L ...

, as he was dispatched as an envoy to Frederick II. In 1244 he was charged with assaulting the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

Walter de Gray Walter de Gray (died 1 May 1255) was an English prelate and statesman who was Archbishop of York from 1215 to 1255 and Lord Chancellor from 1205 to 1214. His uncle was John de Gray, who was a bishop and royal servant to King John of England. Af ...

, and his lands were seized, but later returned to him. His later life is unclear. He may have been alive during the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III, led initially by the king himself and later by his son, the fut ...

, and one biography suggests he took Henry's side, although there is evidence he may have been dead by 1257, when his son Marmaduke was apparently in control of the major Thweng estates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thweng, Robert de 13th-century English people 13th-century births 13th-century deaths People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church People of the Barons' Wars English rebels People from Redcar and Cleveland History of North Yorkshire