Roger de Montgomery (died 1094), also known as Roger the Great, was the first

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...

, and

Earl of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and it is used (along with the earldom of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title ...

, in Sussex. His father was Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery, a member of the House of Montgomery, and was probably a grandnephew of the Duchess Gunnor, wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy, the great-grandfather of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. The elder Roger had large landholdings in central

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 ...

, chiefly in the valley of the River Dives, which the younger Roger inherited.

Life

Roger inherited his father’s estates in 1055. By the time of the Council of Lillebonne, which took place in about January of 1066, he was one of William the Conqueror's principal counsellors, playing a major role at the Council. He may not have fought in the initial invasion of England in 1066, instead staying behind to help govern Normandy. According to

Wace Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his car ...

's ''Roman de Rou'', however, he commanded the Norman right flank at Hastings, returning to Normandy with King William in 1067. Afterward, he was entrusted with land in two regions critical for the defence of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

. At the end of 1067 or early in 1068, William gave Roger nearly all of what is now the county of

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, a total of 83 manors, which at the time of the Domesday Survey (1086) was an area known as the

Rape of Arundel The Rape of Arundel (also known as Arundel Rape) is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. The population of the rape of Arundel was 22,478 in 1801, falling to 24,276 in 1811. Locat ...

; and about 1071 Roger was granted estates in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

which amounted to some seven-eighths of the whole county; he was also made

, but it is uncertain that the earldom came to him at the same time as the land, and it may have been a few years later. In 1083, Roger founded

Shrewsbury Abbey The Abbey Church of the Holy Cross (commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey) is an ancient foundation in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England. The Abbey was founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery by the Normans, Norman Earl of Shre ...

. Roger was one of the half-dozen greatest magnates in England during William the Conqueror's reign.Salzmann, "The rape of Chichester: Introduction", ''A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 4: The Rape of Chichester'' (1953)
pp. 1-2
Accessed 8 August 2010. The Rape of Arundel was eventually split into two "rapes", one keeping the name of Arundel, the other being called the Rape of Chichester. Besides his estates in Sussex and Shropshire, Roger had others in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

(four manors),

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

(nine manors),

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

(three manors),

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

(eight manors),

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

(one manor),

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

(two manors),

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

(eight manors),

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 ...

(eleven manors), and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

(thirty manors).Horsfield. ''History of Sussex''. pp. 76–77. The income from Roger's estates amounted to about £2,000 per year, and in 1086 the income of all the land in England was around £72,000. The £2,000 (equivalent to several million in 2022) was almost 3 per cent of the nation's GDP. After William I's death in 1087, Roger joined with other rebels to overthrow the newly crowned king, William II, in the

Rebellion of 1088 The Rebellion of 1088 occurred after the death of William the Conqueror and concerned the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between his two sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose. Hostilities lasted from thre ...

. However, William was able to convince Roger to abandon the rebellion and to side with him. This worked out favourably for Roger, as the rebels were beaten and lost their land holdings in England."Conquest and Resistance England: 1066 TO 1088", britannia.com. Accessed 14 September 2012.

Family

Roger married Mabel de Bellême, who was heiress to a large territory straddling the border between Normandy and

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. The medieval chronicler

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...

paints a picture of Mabel of Bellême being a scheming and cruel woman.Orderic Vitalis. ''The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis'', Volume 2, Book 3. pp. 49–55 She was murdered by Hugh Bunel and his brothers who, possibly in December 1077, rode into her castle of Bures-sur-Dive and cut off her head as she lay in bed.Orderic Vitalis. ''The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis'', Volume 2, Book 3. Footnote pp. 54–55. Discussion on date of death of Mabel of Bellême, 1077 and 1079 being the most likely. Their motive for the murder was that Mabel had deprived them of their paternal inheritance.Allen Brown. ''Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman studies'': 1978. p.41. Roger and Mabel had 10 children: * Robert de Bellême, Count of Alençon in 1082, he succeeded his younger brother Hugh as 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury. He married Agnes, Countess of Ponthieu and died in 1131. *

Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury (died 1098), was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat and member of the House of Bellême. He was also known as Hugh the Red. Life He was the second surviving son of Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbu ...

, died without issue 1098. * Roger the Poitevin, Vicomte d'Hiemois, married Adelmode de la Marche. * Philip 'the Grammarian'.K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, ''Domesday People, Vol. I Domesday Book'' (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK, 1999), p. 399 *

Arnulf of Montgomery Arnulf de Montgomery (born 1066; died 1118/1122) was an Anglo-Norman magnate. He was a younger son of Roger de Montgomery and Mabel de Bellême. Arnulf's father was a leading magnate in Normandy and England, and played an active part in the ...

, married Lafracota, daughter of King

Muirchertach Ua Briain Muirchertach Ua Briain (anglicised as Murtaugh O'Brien; c. 1050 – c. 10 March 1119), son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain and great-grandson of Brian Boru, was King of Munster and later self-declared High King of Ireland. Background and early career ...

. * Sibyl of Montgomery, she married Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Creully. * Emma, abbess of Almenêches. * Matilda (Maud) of Montgomery, she married Robert, Count of Mortain and died c. 1085. He was a half-brother of William the Conqueror.K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, ''Domesday People, Vol. I Domesday Book'' (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK, 1999), p. 372 * Mabel of Montgomery, she married Hugh de Châteauneuf. * Roger of Montgomery, died young. Roger then married Adelaide du Puiset, by whom he had one son, Everard, who entered the Church. After his death in 1094, Roger's estates were divided.George Edward Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times'', Vol XI, Ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1949), pp. 688, 689-92 His eldest surviving son, Robert of Bellême, received the bulk of the Norman estates (as well as his mother's estates); the next son, Hugh, received the bulk of the English estates and the Earldom of Shrewsbury. After Hugh's death, the elder son Robert inherited the earldom.

References

Sources

* *J. F. A. Mason, "Roger de Montgomery and His Sons (1067–1102)", ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', 5th series vol. 13 (1963) 1-28 *Kathleen Thompson, "The Norman Aristocracy before 1066: the Example of the Montgomerys", ''Historical Research'' 60 (1987) 251-263
Stirnet: Montgomery01

External links

* * * VIMOUTIERS Heart of the Pays d'Auge in Normandy

(scroll down to On Roger de Mont Gommeri's lands section)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Roger 1030s births 1094 deaths 11th-century English nobility Anglo-Normans in Wales 11th-century Normans 11th-century French nobility Earls of Shrewsbury Clan Montgomery