A Chronicle of England - Page 167 - Becket Forbids the Earl of Leceister to Pass Sentence on Him

Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1104 – 5 April 1168) was

Justiciar Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term or (meaning "judge" or "justice"). The Chief Justiciar was the king's chief minister, roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Justiciar of Ireland was ...

of England 1155–1168. The surname "de Beaumont" was given to him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert". Henry Knighton, a fourteenth-century chronicler, calls him Robert "Le Bossu" (meaning "Robert the Hunchback" in French). The manuscript ''Genelogies of the Erles of Lecestre and Chest

' states that he was "surnamed Boissu", and mentions him by the names Robert Boissu, Robert Beamond and Robert Beaumonde.

Early life and education

Robert was an English people, English nobleman of Norman-French ancestry. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and 1st Earl of Leicester, and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Waleran de Beaumont. It is not known whether they were identical or fraternal twins, but the fact that they are remarked on by contemporaries as twins probably indicates that they were identical. The two brothers, Robert and Waleran, were adopted into the royal household shortly after their father's death in June 1118 (upon which Robert inherited his father's second title of Earl of Leicester).J.H. Round, ''D.N.B.'', citing Ordericus Vitalis, Book XII Chapter 33: see Forrester (1854-1856), IV
pp. 58-60
(Hathi Trust). Their lands on either side of the Channel were committed to a group of guardians, led by their stepfather, William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. They accompanied

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Henry I to

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, to meet with

Pope Callixtus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy ...

in 1119, when the king incited them to debate philosophy with the

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

s. Both twins were literate, and

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey (formally Abbey of Saint Mary) was a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Abingdon-on-Thames in the modern county of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. Situated near to the River Thames, it was founded in 675 AD and was ...

later claimed to have been Robert's school, but though this is possible, its account is not entirely trustworthy. An early treatise on astronomy (the "Leicester ''Iudicia''") carries a dedication "to Earl Robert of Leicester, that man of affairs and profound learning, most accomplished in matters of law" who can only be this Robert. On his death he left his own

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...

to the abbey he founded at Leicester, which was still in its library in the late fifteenth century. The existence of this indicates that like many noblemen of his day, Robert followed the

canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

in his chapel.

Career at the Norman court

In 1120 Robert was declared of age and inherited most of his father's lands in England, while his twin brother took the French lands. However, in 1121 royal favor brought to Robert the great Norman Honors of Breteuil and

Pacy-sur-Eure Pacy-sur-Eure (, literally ''Pacy on Eure'') is a commune in the Eure department, Normandy, France. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Saint-Aquilin-de-Pacy was merged into Pacy-sur-Eure.Breton noble whom the king had imposed upon the Honor after the forfeiture of the Breteuil family in 1119. Robert spent a good deal of his time and resources over the next decade integrating the troublesome and independent barons of Breteuil into the greater complex of his estates. He did not join in his brother's great Norman rebellion against King Henry I in 1123–24. He appears fitfully at Henry I's royal court (despite his brother's imprisonment) until 1129, but thereafter the twins were frequently there together. Robert held lands throughout England. During the 1120s and 1130s, he tried to rationalize his estates in Leicestershire. Leicestershire estates of the See of Lincoln and the

Earl of Chester The Earldom of Chester () was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, ...

were seized by force. This helped to consolidate Robert's various estates in the central midlands, which were bounded by

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...

and

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

. In 1135, the twins were present at King Henry's deathbed. Robert's actions in the succession period are unknown, but he clearly supported his brother's decision to join the court of the new king

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

before Easter 1136. During the first two years of the reign, Robert is found in Normandy fighting rival claimants for his Honor of Breteuil. Military action allowed him to add the castle of Pont St-Pierre to his Norman estates in June 1136 at the expense of one of his rivals. From the end of 1137, Robert and his brother were increasingly caught up in the politics of the court of King Stephen in England, where Waleran secured an ascendancy that lasted until the beginning of 1141. Robert participated in his brother's political coup against the king's justiciar,

Roger of Salisbury Roger of Salisbury (died 1139), was a Norman medieval bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England. Life Roger was originally priest of a small chapel near Caen in Normandy. He was called "Roger, priest of t ...

(the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

Civil war in England

The outbreak of

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in England in September 1139 brought Robert into conflict with Earl Robert of Gloucester, the bastard son of Henry I and principal sponsor of the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda (10 September 1167), also known as Empress Maud, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of Henry I, king of England and ruler of Normandy, she went to ...

. His port of Wareham and estates in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

were seized by Gloucester in the first campaign of the war. In that campaign the king awarded Robert the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

of Hereford as a bid to establish the earl as his

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, which was in revolt. It is disputed by scholars whether this was an award of a second county to Earl Robert. Probably late in 1139, Earl Robert refounded his father's collegiate church of St Mary de Castro in Leicester as a major Augustinian

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

on the meadows outside the town's north gate, annexing the college's considerable endowment to the abbey. The battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141 saw the capture and imprisonment of King Stephen. Although Count Waleran valiantly continued the royalist fight in England into the summer, he eventually capitulated to the Empress and crossed back to Normandy to make his peace with the Empress's husband,

Geoffrey of Anjou Geoffrey V (24 August 1113 – 7 September 1151), called the Fair (), Plantagenet, and of Anjou, was the count of Anjou and Maine by inheritance from 1129, and also duke of Normandy by his marriage claim and conquest, from 1144. Geoffrey m ...

. Earl Robert had been in Normandy since 1140 attempting to stem the Angevin invasion, and negotiating the terms of his brother's surrender. He quit Normandy soon after and his Norman estates were confiscated and used to reward Norman followers of the Empress. Earl Robert remained on his estates in England for the remainder of King Stephen's reign. Although he was a nominal supporter of the king, there seems to have been little contact between him and Stephen, who did not confirm the foundation of Leicester Abbey till 1153. Earl Robert's principal activity between 1141 and 1149 was his private war with Ranulf II, Earl of Chester. Though details are obscure it seems clear enough that he waged a dogged war with his rival, which in the end secured his control of northern Leicestershire and the strategic

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

castle of Mountsorrel. When Earl Robert of Gloucester died in 1147, Robert of Leicester led the movement among the greater earls of England to negotiate private treaties to establish peace in their areas, a process hastened by the Empress's departure to Normandy, and completed by 1149. During this time the earl also exercised supervision over his twin brother's earldom of Worcester, and in 1151 he intervened to frustrate the king's attempts to seize the city.

Earl Robert and Henry Plantagenet

The arrival in England of Duke Henry, son of the Empress Matilda, in January 1153 was a great opportunity for Earl Robert. He was probably in negotiation with Henry in that spring, and reached an agreement under which he defected to him by May 1153, when the duke restored his Norman estates to the earl. The duke celebrated his Pentecost court at

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in June 1153, and he and the earl were constantly in company until the peace settlement between the duke and the king at Winchester in November 1153. Earl Robert crossed with the duke to Normandy in January 1154 and resumed his Norman castles and honours. As part of the settlement, his claim to be chief steward of England and Normandy was recognised by Henry. Earl Robert began his career as chief justiciar of England probably as soon as Duke Henry succeeded as King Henry II in October 1154.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 69 The office gave the earl supervision of the administration and legal process in England whether the king was present in, or absent from the realm. He appears in that capacity in numerous administrative acts, and had a junior colleague in the post in Richard de Luci, another former servant of King Stephen. The earl filled the office for nearly fourteen years until his death, and earned the respect of the emerging Angevin bureaucracy in England. His opinion was quoted by learned clerics, and his own learning was highly commended. He died on 5 April 1168, probably at his

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

castle of Brackley, for his entrails were buried at the hospital in the town. He was received as a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Leicester on his deathbed, and buried to the north of the high altar of the great abbey he had founded and built. He left a written testament of which his son the third earl was an executor, as we learn in a reference dating to 1174.

Church patronage

Robert founded and patronised many religious establishments. He founded Leicester Abbey (1144) and Garendon Abbey (1133) in Leicestershire, the Fontevraldine Nuneaton Priory in Warwickshire, Luffield Priory in Northamptonshire, and made endowments to the hospital of Brackley, Northamptonshire. He refounded the collegiate church of

St Mary de Castro, Leicester St Mary de Castro is an ancient, Grade I listed church in Leicester, England, located within the Motte-and-bailey castle#Bailey, bailey of Leicester Castle. It is a Church of England parish church in the Diocese of Leicester. ''De Castro'' is ...

, as a dependency of Leicester Abbey around 1164, after suppressing it in 1139. Around 1139 he refounded the collegiate church of Wareham as a priory of his Abbey of Lyre, in Eure, Normandy. His principal Norman foundations were the priory of Nôtre-Dame du Désert in the Forest of Breteuil, and a major hospital in Breteuil itself (Eure). He was a generous benefactor of the Benedictine Abbey of Lyre, the oldest monastic house in the Honour of Breteuil. He also donated land in Old Dalby, Leicestershire to the Knights Hospitallers who used it to found Dalby Preceptory. About the year 1150, Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester, gave to one Solomon, a clerk, an acre of land at Brackley on which to build a house of hospitality for the poor, together with a free chapel and graveyard.

Family and children

Robert married after 1120 Amice de Gael, daughter of Raoul II de Gael, himself a son of

Ralph de Gael Ralph de Gaël (otherwise Ralph de Guader, Ralph Wader or Radulf Waders or Ralf Waiet or Rodulfo de Waiet; before 1042 – 1100) was the Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk) and Lord of Gaël and Montfort-sur-Meu, Montfort (''Seigneur de Ga ...

, Earl of East Anglia and Emma Fitz Osborn Both families had lost their English inheritances through rebellion in 1075. They had four children: #Hawise de Beaumont, who married William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and had descendants. # Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester who married Petronilla de Grandmesnil and had descendants. #Isabel, who married Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Huntingdon and had descendants. She then remarried to baron Gervase Paganell.Hemingway, John (2006). An Illustrated Chronicle of the Castle and Barony of Dudley 1070-1757. Dudley: The Friends of Dudley Castle. pp. 21–28. #Margaret, who married Ralph IV de Toeni and had descendants through their daughter, Ida de Tosny.

Literary references

He is a major character in '' The Holy Thief'' and a minor character in '' Brother Cadfael's Penance'', of the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters. He is also a major character in Cecelia Holland's novel ''The Earl''.

References

Sources

* D. Crouch, ''The Beaumont Twins: the Roots and Branches of Power in the Twelfth Century'' (Cambridge 1986). * D. Crouch, ''The Reign of King Stephen, 1135-1154'' (London 2000). * E. King, "Mountsorrel and its region in King Stephen's Reign", ''Huntington Library Quarterly'', 44 (1980), 1–10. * J. Storey, J. Bourne and R. Buckley (eds), ''Leicester Abbey'' (Leicester 2006). * Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde, ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd edition (Royal Historical Society, London 1961). * British Library MS Royal 12.E.XXV. * U Penn Ms. Codex 1070: "Genelogies Of The Erles Of Lecestre And Chester" {{DEFAULTSORT:Leicester, Robert De Beaumont, 2nd Earl Of 1104 births 1168 deaths 12th-century English nobility Anglo-Normans 2nd Earl of Leicester Lord High Stewards Justiciars of England Beaumont

Robert 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 ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...