Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          1081 Vermandois, Normandy
Death:          Jul 1147 St. Nicaise, Meulan, France

Notes
d is prob also shown as 13 Feb 1131 in England with burial at Lewes, Sussex, England
also b c 1085 of Valois, France
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Vermandois,_Countess_of_Leicester
Elizabeth of Vermandois, or Elisabeth or Isabel de Vermandois (c. 1085 – 1131), was 
the third daughter of Hugh Magnus and Adelaide of Vermandois,[1] and as such 
represented both the Capetian line of her paternal grandfather Henry I of France, and 
the Carolingian ancestry of her maternal grandfather Herbert IV of Vermandois.[2] As 
the wife of two Anglo-Norman magnates, Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester 
and William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, she is the ancestress of hundreds of 
well-known families down to the present time.[3]
Life[edit]

Countess of Leicester[edit]

In 1096, Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan reputed to be "the wisest man in his 
time between London and Jerusalem" insisted, in defiance of the laws of the church, 
on marrying a very young Elizabeth, he being over fifty at the time.[4] In early 1096 
Bishop Ivo, on hearing of the proposed marriage, wrote a letter banning the marriage 
and preventing its celebration on the grounds the two were related within prohibited 
degrees. In April of that year Elizabeth's father count Hugh left on Crusade, his last 
act being to see his daughter married to count Robert. The crusader was able to 
convince Pope Urban to issue a dispensation for the marriage which then went 
forward.[2][4]

Her husband was a nobleman of some significance in France, having inherited lands 
from his maternal uncle Henry, Count of Meulan, and had fought at the Battle of 
Hastings as a known companion of William the Conqueror.[5][6] He was rewarded with 
ninety manors in the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and 
Wiltshire.[7] The count of Meulan was one of Henry I's "four wise counsellors and was 
one of the king's commanders at the Battle of Tinchebray 28 September 1106.[8] In 
1107 Robert became Earl of Leicester.[9]

Countess of Surrey[edit]

Elizabeth, Countess of Meulan is reputed to have had an affair and left her husband 
when he was near death. The historian James Planché claimed (1874) that the 
Countess was seduced by or fell in love with a younger nobleman, William de 
Warenne[10] There is no evidence that her second husband, William II de Warenne, 
second earl of Surrey, was that lover and only later rumors that she had a lover at all 
during her first marriage. William had sought a royal bride in 1093, but failed in his 
attempt to wed Matilda of Scotland also known as Edith, who later married Henry I,.
[11] He obtained a bride of royal blood when he married Elizabeth in 1118, very soon 
after the death of Earl Robert.[12] Elizabeth survived her second husband William to 
later die 1131.[1][13]

Family[edit]

By her first husband, Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, (d 5 June 1118), 
Elizabeth had three sons (including twin elder sons) and five or six daughters:[14]
Emma de Beaumont (born 1102),[10] was betrothed as an infant to Aumari, nephew of 
William, Count of Évreux, but the marriage never took place. She probably died young, 
or entered a convent.[15]
Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (born 1104) married and left issue.[14]
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (born 1104) married and left issue.[14]
Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford (born c. 1106) lost his earldom, left issue.[14]
Adeline de Beaumont (b ca 1107), married 1stly, Hugh IV, 4th Lord of Montfort-sur-
Risle, and 2ndly Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147).[14]
Aubree (or Alberee) de Beaumont (b ca 1109), married Hugh II of Châteauneuf-en-
Thimerais.[14]
Maud de Beaumont (b ca 1111), married William Lovel.[14]
Isabel de Beaumont (b Aft. 1102), a mistress of King Henry I of England.[16] She 
married 1stly Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke[14] and 2ndly Hervé de 
Montmorency, Constable of Ireland.[17]

By her second husband, William de Warenne, Elizabeth had three sons and two 
daughters:[18]
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey.[18]
Ralph de Warenne.[18]
Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy, 
including the castles of Bellencombre and Mortemer[19] He married Adeline, daughter 
of William, lord of Wormegay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William (founder of the 
priory of Wormegay),[19]
Gundrada de Warenne, (Gundred) who married 1stly Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of 
Warwick and had issue, and 2ndly William de Lancaster and had issue.[18]
Ada de Warenne (d. ca. 1178), who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of 
Huntingdon, younger son of King David I of Scotland and had issue.[20] She is known 
as the Queen mother of Scotland for her two sons Malcolm IV, King of Scotland and 
William I 'the Lion', King of Scotland as well as being the ancestor of numerous 
Scottish kings.[21]

Parents
DE FRANCE Hugh Magnus "le Grand" (1057 - 18 Oct 1101)
VERMANDOIS Adelaide (Adelle) (ABT 1060 - ABT 1122)

Siblings
DE VERMANDOIS Agnes (ABT 1077 - )
DE VERMANDOIS Maud (Matilda) (ABT 1080 - 1130)
DE VERMANDOIS Elizabeth (Isabel) (1081 - Jul 1147)

Marriage To DE BEAUMONT Robert (ABT 1046 - 5 Jun 1118)
    m. 1096 

Notes
her second

Parents
DE BEAUMONT Roger (ABT 1022 - ABT 1094)
DE MEULAN Adeline (Adeliza) (ABT 1014 - 1081)

Children by DE BEAUMONT Robert ABT 1046 - 5 Jun 1118
DE BEAUMONT Adeline (ABT 1097 - )
DE BEAUMONT Isabel (Elizabeth) (ABT 1101 - ABT 1147)
DE BEAUMONT Robert "Bossu" (1104 - 5 Apr 1168)
DE BEAUMONT Waleran (1104 - 9 Apr 1166)
DE BEAUMONT Maude (ABT 1116 - AFT 1189)

Marriage To DE WARENNE William II (1081 - 11 May 1138)
    m. 1115 

Notes
(her second)

Parents
DE WARENNE William I (ABT 1045 - 24 Jun 1088)
OF NORMANDY Gundrada (ABT 1060 - 27 May 1085)

Children by DE WARENNE William II 1081 - 11 May 1138
DE WARENNE William (1119 - 6 Jan 1148)
DE WARENNE Ada (ABT 1120 - 1178)
DE WARENNE Reginald (ABT 1123 - 1179)
DE WARENNE Gundred (ABT 1124 - AFT 1166)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017