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Birth:          1090 of Caen, Normandy
Death:          31 Oct 1147 Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Burial:         St. James Priory, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert,_1st_Earl_of_Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (before 1100 – 31 October 1147[1]) (alias Robert 
Rufus, Robert de Caen, Robert Consul[2][3]) was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of 
England. He was the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, and her chief military 
supporter during the civil war known as The Anarchy, in which she vied with Stephen 
of Blois for the throne of England.
Early life[edit]

Robert was probably the eldest of Henry's many illegitimate children.[1] He was born 
before his father's accession to the English throne, either during the reign of his 
grandfather William the Conqueror or his uncle William Rufus.[4] He is sometimes and 
erroneously designated as a son of Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last king of 
Deheubarth, although his mother has been identified as a member of "the Gay or Gayt 
family of north Oxfordshire",[5] possibly a daughter of Rainald Gay (fl. 1086) of 
Hampton Gay and Northbrook Gay in Oxfordshire. Rainald had known issue Robert 
Gay of Hampton (died c. 1138) and Stephen Gay of Northbrook (died after 1154). A 
number of Oxfordshire women feature as the mothers of Robert's siblings.[5][6]

He may have been a native of Caen[1][7] or he may have been only Constable and 
Governor of that city, jure uxoris.[2]

His father had contracted him in marriage to Mabel FitzHamon, daughter and heir of 
Robert Fitzhamon, but the marriage was not solemnized until June 1119 at Lisieux.[1]
[8] His wife brought him the substantial honours of Gloucester in England and 
Glamorgan in Wales, and the honours of Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe and Évrecy in 
Normandy, as well as Creully. After the White Ship disaster late in 1120, and probably 
because of this marriage,[9] in 1121 or 1122 his father created him Earl of 
Gloucester.[10]

Family[edit]

Robert and his wife Mabel FitzHamon had seven children:[11]
William FitzRobert (111?–1183): succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Gloucester
Roger FitzRobert (died 1179): Bishop of Worcester
Hamon FitzRobert (died 1159): killed at the siege of Toulouse.
Philip FitzRobert (died after 1147): lord of Cricklade
Matilda FitzRobert (died 1190): married in 1141 Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester.
Mabel FitzRobert: married Aubrey de Vere
Richard FitzRobert (1120/35-1175): succeeded his mother as Sire de Creully.

He also had four illegitimate children:
Richard FitzRobert (died 1142): Bishop of Bayeux [mother: Isabel de Douvres, sister of 
Richard de Douvres, bishop of Bayeux (1107–1133)]
Robert FitzRobert (died 1170): Castellan of Gloucester, married in 1147 Hawise de 
Reviers (daughter of Baldwin de Reviers, 1st Earl of Devon and his first wife Adelisa), 
had daughter Mabel FitzRobert (married firstly Jordan de Chambernon and secondly 
William de Soliers)
Mabel FitzRobert: married Gruffud, Lord of Senghenydd, son of Ifor Bach. This couple 
were ancestors of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the U.S.A.[12]
Father of Thomas
Relationship with King Stephen[edit]

There is evidence in the contemporary source, the Gesta Stephani, that Robert was 
proposed by some as a candidate for the throne, but his illegitimacy ruled him out:
"Among others came Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of King Henry, but a bastard, a 
man of proved talent and admirable wisdom. When he was advised, as the story went, 
to claim the throne on his father's death, deterred by sounder advice he by no means 
assented, saying it was fairer to yield it to his sister's son (the future Henry II of 
England), than presumptuously to arrogate it to himself."
This suggestion cannot have led to any idea that he and Stephen were rivals for the 
Crown, as Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136 referred to Robert as one of the 'pillars' of 
the new King's rule.

The capture of King Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141 gave the 
Empress Matilda the upper hand in her battle for the throne, but by alienating the 
citizens of London she failed to be crowned Queen. Her forces were defeated at the 
Rout of Winchester on 14 September 1141, and Robert of Gloucester was captured 
nearby at Stockbridge.

The two prisoners, King Stephen and Robert of Gloucester, were then exchanged, but 
by freeing Stephen, the Empress Matilda had given up her best chance of becoming 
queen. She later returned to France, where she died in 1167, though her son 
succeeded Stephen as King Henry II in 1154.

Robert of Gloucester died in 1147 at Bristol Castle, where he had previously 
imprisoned King Stephen, and was buried at St James' Priory, Bristol, which he had 
founded.

In popular culture[edit]

Robert of Gloucester is a figure in many of the novels by Ellis Peters in the Cadfael 
Chronicles (written between 1977 and 1994) where he is seen as a strong moderating 
force to his half-sister (see Saint Peter's Fair). His efforts to gain the crown for his 
sister by capturing King Stephen and her own actions in London are part of the plot in 
The Pilgrim of Hate. His capture by Stephen's wife Queen Mathilda is in the 
background of the plot of An Excellent Mystery. The exchange of the imprisoned 
Robert for the imprisoned Stephen is in the background of the plot of The Raven in 
the Foregate. Robert's travels to persuade his brother-in-law to aid Empress Maud 
militarily in England is in the background of the novel The Rose Rent. His return to 
England when Empress Maud is trapped in Oxford Castle figures in The Hermit of 
Eyton Forest. Robert's return to England with his young nephew Henry, years later the 
king succeeding Stephen, is in the background of the plot of The Confession of 
Brother Haluin, as the battles begin anew with Robert's military guidance. Robert's 
success in the Battle of Wilton (1143) leads to the death of a fictional character, part 
of the plot of The Potter's Field. In the last novel, he is a father who can disagree with 
then forgive his son Philip (see the last novel, Brother Cadfael's Penance). In that last 
novel, Brother Cadfael speculates on the possibly different path for England if the first 
son of old King Henry, the illegitimate Robert of Gloucester, had been recognised and 
accepted. In Wales of that era, a son was not illegitimate if recognized by his father, 
and to many in the novels, Robert of Gloucester seemed the best of the contenders to 
succeed his father.

Robert is also a central character in Sharon Penman's 1995 novel When Christ and 
His Saints Slept. He was also central in the struggle during The Anarchy as portrayed 
in Ken Follet's 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth and in the 2010 mini-series of the 
same name.

Parents
____ Henry I "Beauclerc" (1070 - 1 Dec 1135)
----- ----- (concubine) ()

Siblings
DE CAEN Robert "The King's Son" (1090 - 31 Oct 1147)

Marriage To FITZ HAMON Maud (Mabel) (Sibyl) (1090 - 29 Sep 1157)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
FITZ HAMON Robert (ABT 1064 - 10 Mar 1107)
DE MONTGOMERY Sibyl (ABT 1058 - 1107)

Children by FITZ HAMON Maud (Mabel) (Sibyl) 1090 - 29 Sep 1157
FITZ ROBERT William "Mafonache" (ABT 23 Nov 1116 - 23 Nov 1183)
OF GLOUCESTER Christiana (ABT 1118 - )
FITZ ROBERT Maud (1120 - 29 Jul 1189)

Marriage To ----- ----- (unknown mistress) ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- (unknown mistress) 
CASTELLAN OF GLOUCESTER Robert (ABT 1120 - AFT 1160)

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