Robert II de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby (c. 1100 – 1162) was a younger, but eldest surviving son of Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby and his wife Hawise. He succeeded his father as Earl of Derby in 1139 (William, his elder brother, having been murdered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

sometime before). He was head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire including an area later known as Duffield Frith.

Life

Little is known of Robert's life, other than his generosity to the church. In 1148, he established Merevale Abbey in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

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, where he requested to be buried in an ox hide. He founded the Priory of Derby, which later moved to Darley Abbey, and its Abbot was granted many privileges in Duffield Forest and Chase. He continued his father's attempts to play a role in the civil war commonly called The Anarchy that arose because of the contesting claims of

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 ...

and

Stephen of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne '' jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 113 ...

. The family's support for Stephen led to him being awarded the revenues of the Borough of Derby in 1139, though in 1149 Stephen then granted the Borough to the Earl of Chester He finally threw in his lot with the future Henry II after Tutbury Castle was besieged in 1153.Michael Jones, 'Ferrers, Robert de, first Earl Ferrers (d. 1139)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 28 Oct 2007/ref> However, when Henry came to the throne in 1154, he withdrew de Ferrers' right to use the title of Earl or to receive the "third penny" on the profits of the county.

Family and death

Around 1135, he married Margaret Peverell, and had at least one son and one daughter. He died in 1162 and was succeeded by his son William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby.

References

1162 deaths Anglo-Normans People from Staffordshire People from Derbyshire Burials in Warwickshire Year of birth unknown 2 Year of birth uncertain {{England-earl-stub