Robert de Todeni was a Norman nobleman who held lands in England after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

Background

Robert held lands in Guerny and Vesly in Normandy.Keats-Rohan ''Domesday People'' pp. 380–381 The family was probably a branch of the Tosny family that originated near Eure in Normandy.Loyd ''Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families'' p. 104

Life

In 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 manus ...

of 1086, Robert is listed as the lord of Belvoir,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. This lordship is considered a

feudal barony A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely been ...

, making Robert the first baron of Belvoir. Besides the lands around Belvoir, Robert also received lands in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and Leicestershire. These lands had been held prior to the Conquest by Thorgautr Lagr and others. Robert's son Berengar was given Thorgautr's lands in Oxfordshire and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, which he may have held from his father.Fleming ''Kings & Lords'' p. 167 and footnote120 Robert also had lands in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, located south of Rockingham. Three of these manors were previously owned by Oswulf, probably Oswulf son of Fran.Green ''Aristocracy of Norman England'' pp. 86–87 Robert may have been the first castellan of

Rockingham Castle Rockingham Castle is a former royal castle and hunting lodge in Rockingham Forest approximately two miles north from the town centre of Corby, Northamptonshire. History 11th – 14th centuries The site on which the castle stands was used in th ...

. Robert and his wife founded

Belvoir Priory Belvoir Priory (pronounced ''Beaver'') was a Benedictine priory near to Belvoir Castle. Although once described as within Lincolnshire, it is currently located in Leicestershire, near the present Belvoir Lodge. History The priory was estab ...

, sometime between 1076 and 1088 as a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

of St Albans Abbey.Knowles, et al. ''Heads of Religious Houses'' p. 85 The choice to make Belvoir a dependent priory of St Albans may have been because Oswulf, previous owner of some of his lands, had also given lands to St Albans.Green ''Aristocracy of Norman England'' p. 397

Death and legacy

Robert married Adelais. They had three sons – Berengar, William, and Geoffrey – as well as Albreda, Adelisa, and Agnes. Berengar inherited the Norman lands and William inherited the English lands. All three sons died without offspring, leaving their sisters as the eventual heiresses. Albreda was the eldest daughter and married Robert de Insula and died before 1129 without issue. Adelisa married Roger Bigod,Keats-Roham ''Domesday People'' pp. 396–398 and died after August 1127. Agnes, the youngest daughter, married first Ralph de Beaufour and second Hubert de Ryes. Belvoir eventually went to Cecilia Bigod, the youngest daughter of Adelisa and Roger and the Norman lands going to Hugh Bigod, son of Adelisa and Roger. Agnes is not recorded as having inherited any of lands connected with the barony of Belvoir. The historian Judith Green speculates that because Berengar did not inherit any of the English lands, he may have been the son of an earlier marriage of Robert's.Green ''Aristocracy of Norman England'' pp. 374–375 footnote 63 Robert died around 1093, although some older sources give a date of 1088.Sanders ''English Baronies'' p. 12 He was buried at Belvoir Priory,Fleming ''Kings & Lords'' pp. 172–173 according to the priory's own history.Green ''Aristocracy of Norman England'' p. 425

Citations

References

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External links

Robert of Tosny's holdings in Open Domesday Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todeni, Robert de 1090s deaths Normans in England English feudal barons