Count of Meulan Waleran De Beaumont, IV

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15776

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• Reference Number: 15743

Robert married Elizabeth of Vermandois 1096. Elizabeth (daughter of I Hugh and Adelaide of Vermandois) was born 1081; died 13 Feb 1131. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Isabel de Vermandois
• Reference Number: 15744

Notes:

Elizabeth of Vermandois, or Elisabeth or Isabel de Vermandois (ca. 1081 - 13 February 1131), was a niece of Philip I of France who was twice married to influential Anglo-Norman magnates.

Family

Elizabeth of Vermandois was the third daughter of Hugh Magnus and Adelaide of Vermandois, 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. Her father was a younger brother of Philip I of France.
[edit]Countess of Leicester

In 1096, while under age (and probably aged 9 or 11), Elizabeth married Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester. Meulan was over 35 years her senior, which was an unusual age difference even for this time period. He 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 in 1066 under the command of his distant kinsman William the Conqueror. For this service, he was awarded English lands in addition to those in Meulan and Normandy he had inherited. However, at the time of the marriage, he held no earldom in England while his younger brother was already styled Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick. Meulan was a respected advisor to three reigning monarchs: William II of England, Robert Curthose of Normandy and Philip I of France.
According to Middle Ages custom, brides were often betrothed young - 8 being the legal age for betrothal and 12 for marriage (for women). The young betrothed wife would often go to her husband's castle to be raised by his parents or other relatives and to learn the customs and ways of her husband's family. The actual wedding would not take place until much later. Some genealogists speculate that the usual age at which a noble bride could expect the marriage to be consummated would be 14. This is consistent with the date of birth of Elizabeth's first child Emma in 1102 when she would be about 15 to 17.
The marriage produced several children, including most notably two twin sons (born 1104) who both become important noblemen. These men, known to historians of this period as the Beaumont twins, were Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and his younger twin Robert Bossu (the Humpback) or Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Another notable child of this marriage was Elisabeth or Isabel de Beaumont, one of the youngest mistresses of Henry I of England and later mother (by her first marriage) of Richard Strongbow.
William II of England died suddenly in a purported hunting accident, and was hastily succeeded not by the expected heir but by the youngest brother Henry. This seizure of the throne led to an abortive invasion by the older brother Duke Robert of Normandy, followed by an uneasy truce between the brothers. The reprieve was only temporary, and there was unrest in both England and Normandy for some time (stirred up by Duke Robert, and by an exiled nobleman Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury). Finally, Henry invaded Normandy and in the Battle of Tinchebray (September 28, 1106) destroyed organized opposition to his takeover of Normandy and imprisoned his ineffectual older brother for his lifetime. Meulan and his brother Warwick were apparently supporters of Henry during this entire period, and Meulan was rewarded with the earldom of Leicester in 1103. By 1107, Meulan was in possession of substantial lands in three domains. In 1111, he was able to revenge himself on the attack on his seat Meulan by Louis VI of France by harrying Paris.
[edit]Countess of Surrey

Elizabeth, Countess of Meulan apparently tired of her aging husband at some point during the marriage. The historian Planche says (1874) that the Countess was seduced by or fell in love with a younger nobleman, William de Warenne (c. 1071-11 May 1138) himself the thwarted suitor of Edith of Scotland, Queen consort of Henry I of England. Warenne was said to want a royal bride, and Elizabeth fitted his requirements, even though she was also another man's wife.
In 1115, the Countess was apparently carried off or abducted by Warenne, which abduction apparently concealed a long-standing affair. There was some kind of separation or divorce between Meulan and his wife, which however did not permit her to marry her lover. The elderly Count of Meulan died, supposedly of chagrin and mortification in being thus publicly humiliated, in the Abbey of Preaux, Normandy on 5 June 1118, leaving his properties to his two elder sons whom he had carefully educated.
Elizabeth married, secondly, William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, sometime after the death of her first husband. By him, it is alleged, she already had several children (all born during her marriage to Meulan). She also had at least one daughter born while she was living out of wedlock with Warenne (1115-1118). It is unclear whether this daughter was Ada de Warenne, wife of Henry of Scotland or Gundrede de Warenne, wife of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick (her half-brothers' first cousin).
The later life of Elizabeth de Vermandois is not known. Her sons by her first marriage appear to have a good relationship with their half-brother William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey although on opposing sides for much of the wars between Stephen and Matilda. Her eldest son Waleran, Count of Meulan was active in supporting the disinherited heir William Clito, son of Robert Curthose until captured by King Henry. He was not released until Clito's death without issue in 1128. Her second son Robert inherited his father's English estates and the earldom of Leicester and married the heiress of the Fitzosbern counts of Breteuil. Her daughter Isabel however became a king's concubine or mistress at a young age; it is unclear whether her mother's own life or her eldest brother's political and personal travails in this period played any part in this decision. Before her mother died, Isabel had become wife of Gilbert de Clare, later (1147) Earl of Pembroke, so had adopted a more conventional life like her mother.
[edit]Children and descendants

During her first marriage (1096-1115) to Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (d 5 June 1118), Elizabeth had 3 sons (including twin elder sons) and 6 daughters:
Emma de Beaumont (born 1102), was betrothed as an infant to Aumari, nephew of William, Count of Evreux, but the marriage never took place. She probably died young, or entered a convent.[1]
Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (born 1104) married and left issue.
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (born 1104) married and left issue (his granddaughter Isabella of Gloucester was the unfortunate first wife of King John.
Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford (born c. 1106) lost his earldom, left issue
Adeline de Beaumont (b ca 1107), married two times:
Hugh IV, 4th Lord of Montfort-sur-Risle to whom she was married firstly by her brother Waleran;
Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147)
Aubree (or Alberee) de Beaumont (b ca 1109), married by her brother Waleran to Hugh II of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais (possibly son of Hugh I of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais and his wife Mabille de Montgomerie, 2nd daughter of Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury)
Maud de Beaumont (b ca 1111), married by her brother Waleran to William Lovel, or Louvel or Lupel, son of Ascelin Goel, Lord of Ivri.
Isabel de Beaumont (b Aft. 1102), a mistress of King Henry I of England. Married two times:
Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke by whom she was mother of Richard Strongbow, who invaded Ireland 1170;
Hervé de Montmorency, Constable of Ireland (this marriage is not conclusively proven)
In her second marriage, to William de Warenne, Elizabeth had three sons and two daughters (for a total of fourteen children - nine during her first marriage, and five during her second):
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey and Warenne (b. 1119 dspm 1147) whose daughter Isabelle de Warenne, Countess of Surrey married 1stly
William, Count of Boulogne (dsp), yr son of King Stephen, and married 2ndly
Hamelin Plantagenet, an illegitimate half-brother of King Henry II of England by whom she had issue, later earls of Surrey and Warenne.
Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy. He married Adeline, daughter of William, lord of Wormgay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William, whose daughter and sole heir Beatrice married first Dodo, lord Bardolf, and secondly Hubert de Burgh;
Ralph de Warenne (dsp)
Gundrada de Warenne, (Gundred) who married first
Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick and had issue; second (as his 2nd wife)
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Warenne and Surrey and is most remembered for expelling king Stephen's garrison from Warwick Castle; and they had issue.
Ada de Warenne (d. ca. 1178), who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, younger son of King David I of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon by his marriage to the heiress Matilda or Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon (herself great-niece of William I of England) and had issue. They were parents to Malcolm IV of Scotland and William I of Scotland and their youngest son, David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, who was ancestor of all Kings of Scotland since 1292.

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• Name: Barbatus or La Barbe
• Reference Number: 15770

Notes:

Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger (c. 1015 - 29 November 1094) was son of Humphrey de Vielles (himself a great-nephew of the Duchess Gunnora of Normandy) and his wife Albreda de la Haye Auberie. Roger de Beaumont, Lord of Beaumont-le-Roger and Pont-Audemer, Viscount of Hiesmes, was thus a second cousin once removed of the Conqueror.

Life

Roger was nicknamed Barbatus or La Barbe because he wore a moustache and beard while the Normans usually were clean shaven. This peculiarity is recognized in the thirty-second panel of the Bayeux Tapestry where he is depicted sitting at a feast with Duke William on his left hand, Odo, brother of William and Bishop of Bayeux, in the centre.
Planché tells us that "he was the noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Normandy, and the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish family." There is an explanation for this - as an older cousin who had never rebelled against the young Duke, he was part of the kinship group of noblemen that William relied upon in governing Normandy and fighting off frequent rebellion and invasions. The historian Frank McLynn notes that William relied on relatives descended via his mother (namely his half-brothers and brothers-in-law) and on relatives descended from the Duchess Gunnora's sisters, since his own paternal kin had proved unreliable.
Wace, the 12th century historian, says that "at the time of the invasion of England, Roger was summoned to the great council at Lillebonne, on account of his wisdom; but that he did not join in the expedition as he was too far advanced in years." Although Roger could not fight, he did not hesitate in contributing his share of the cost, for he provided at his own expense sixty vessels for the conveyance of the troops across the channel. Furthermore, his eldest son and heir fought bravely at Hastings as noted in several contemporary records. As a result, Roger's elder sons were awarded rich lands in England, and both eventually were made English earls by the sons of the Conqueror.
[edit]Family and children

He married circa 1048 or earlier Adeline of Meulan (ca. 1014-1020 - 1081), daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan and Oda de Conteville, and sister and heiress of a childless Count of Meulan. Meulan eventually passed to their elder son who became Count of Meulan in 1081. Their surviving children were:
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (b ca 1049 - 1118) who succeeded his father in the major part of his lands, and who fought in his first battle at Hastings.
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick, overshadowed by his elder brother, but who established a more enduring line of Beaumont earls at Warwick Castle.
William de Beaumont (not mentioned in most sources).
Alberee de Beaumont, Abbess of Eton.
[edit]Roger de Beaumont in Literature

Roger de Beaumont appears as a minor character (the overlord of the secondary hero) in Georgette Heyer's historical novel The Conqueror. His family appears little in the book, but reference is made to Roger's wife and daughters and his eldest son.

Roger — Adeline of Meulan. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15771

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• Name: Magnus (the Great)
• Reference Number: 15774

Notes:

Hugh I (1053 - October 18, 1101), called Magnus or the Great, was a younger son of Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev and younger brother of Philip I. He was in his own right Count of Vermandois, but an ineffectual leader and soldier, great only in his boasting. Indeed, Steven Runciman is certain that his nickname Magnus (greater or elder), applied to him by William of Tyre, is a copyist's error, and should be Minus (younger), referring to Hugh as younger brother of the King of France.
In early 1096 Hugh and Philip began discussing the First Crusade after news of the Council of Clermont reached them in Paris. Although Philip could not participate, as he had been excommunicated, Hugh was said to have been influenced to join the Crusade after an eclipse of the moon on February 11, 1096.
That summer Hugh's army left France for Italy, where they would cross the Adriatic Sea into territory of the Byzantine Empire, unlike the other Crusader armies who were travelling by land. On the way, many of the soldiers led by fellow Crusader Emicho joined Hugh's army after Emicho was defeated by the Hungarians, whose land he had been pillaging. Hugh crossed the Adriatic from Bari in Southern Italy, but many of his ships were destroyed in a storm off the Byzantine port of Dyrrhachium.
Hugh and most of his army was rescued and escorted to Constantinople, where they arrived in November of 1096. Prior to his arrival, Hugh sent an arrogant, insulting letter to Eastern Roman Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, according to the Emperor's biography by his daughter (the Alexiad), demanding that Alexius meet with him:
"Know, O King, that I am King of Kings, and superior to all, who are under the sky. You are now permitted to greet me, on my arrival, and to receive me with magnificence, as befits my nobility."[1]
Alexius was already wary of the armies about to arrive, after the unruly mob led by Peter the Hermit had passed through earlier in the year. Alexius kept Hugh in custody in a monastery until Hugh swore an oath of vassalage to him.
After the Crusaders had successfully made their way across Seljuk territory and, in 1098, captured Antioch, Hugh was sent back to Constantinople to appeal for reinforcements from Alexius. Alexius was uninterested, however, and Hugh, instead of returning to Antioch to help plan the siege of Jerusalem, went back to France. There he was scorned for not having fulfilled his vow as a Crusader to complete a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and Pope Paschal II threatened to excommunicate him. He joined the minor Crusade of 1101, but was wounded in battle with the Turks in September, and died of his wounds in October in Tarsus.

Family and children

He married Adele of Vermandois, the daughter of Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois and Alice, Countess of Valois. They had nine children:
Matilda(1080-1130), married Ralph I of Beaugency
Beatrice (1082-after1144), married Hugh III of Gournay
Ralph I (1085-1152)
Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester (1085-1131)
Constance (1086-??), married Godfrey de la Ferté-Gaucher
Agnes (1090-1125), married Boniface of Savone
Henry (1091-1130), Lord of Chaumont en Vexin
Simon (1093-1148)
William (c. 1094-c.1096)

I — Adelaide of Vermandois. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15786

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• Reference Number: 15782

Notes:

Humphrey (or Onfroi or Umfrid) of Vieilles[1] (died c. 1050) was the first holder of the "grand honneur" of Beaumont-le-Roger, one of the most important groups of domains in eastern Normandy[2] and the founder of the House of Beaumont.
His early life and origins are the subject of much discussion. He was the grandson of Torf (or Turolf), who some historians identify with Turstin le Riche, the father-in-law of Robert the Dane, and by others with an ancestor of the lords of Harcourt[3]. Whichever is the better hypothesis, we can be sure Humphrey descended from a Scandinavian Viking family.
Besides Beaumont-le-Roger, he had lands dispersed through the whole of Normandy, in Cotentin, in Hiémois, in the Pays d'Auge, in Basse Seine (Vatteville-la-Rue), in Évrecin (Normanville) and in Vexin normand (Bouafles). These lands originated in the favour of the dukes Richard II and Robert II, from confiscated church lands. The "honneur" of Beaumont was, for example, constituted from the remains of the lands of the abbey of Bernay[4]. On the other hand, the possessions around Pont-Audemer came to him by family inheritance.
In 1034, he 'founded' (or, rather, restored) the monastery at Préaux, a few kilometres from Pont-Audemer, with monks from the Saint-Wandrille.
During the minority of Duke William the Bastard, Roger I of Tosny, holder of the "honneur" of Conches, attacked Humphrey's domains. But around 1040, Humphrey's son, Roger de Beumont, met and defeated Roger in battle, during which Roger was killed.
[edit]Family and descendants

His known children:
Robert, the elder, assassinated by Roger de Clères[5]?;
Roger de Beaumont, known as le Barbu († 1094), who succeeded his father.
Two other possible children?:
Guillaume de Beaumont, monk at the abbaye Saint-Pierre de Préaux
Dumelme de Vieilles, monk at the abbaye Saint-Léger de Préaux.
[edit]Notes and references

^ Vieilles is the name of a former village, now merged with Beaumont-le-Roger
^ Pierre Bauduin, La première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles), Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2004, p.216-217. Among the other grands honneurs of the Pays d'Ouche, were those of Breteuil and of Conches
^ William of Jumièges reports that this Turolf was the brother of Turquetil, the first lord of Harcourt, and the uncle of Ansketil de Harcourt. The archaeologist Jacques Le Maho supports Torf's identification with Turstin
^ Veronica Gazeau, Monachisme et aristocratie au XIe siècle : l'exemple de la famille de Beaumont,, PhD thesis, University of Caen, 1986-1987 (dactyl.), p.67-73. The abbot of Bernay, Raoul, parent of Humphrey, would have entrusted to him between 1027 and 1040, part of the heritage of his monastery. Like other lords of the beginning of the 11th century, like the family of Bellême, he increased the family's power by recovering or winning of ecclesiastical lands
^ Orderic Vitalis, History of Normandy, Éd. Guizot, 1826, vol. III, livre VIII, p. 373. Charpillon et Caresme, Dictionnaire historique des communes de l'Eure, vol I, 1879, art. Beaumont-le-Roger
[edit]Sources

(French) Pierre Bauduin, La première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles), Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2004
(French) Véronique Gazeau, Monachisme et aristocratie au XIe siècle : l'exemple de la famille de Beaumont, doctoral thesis, Université de Caen, 1986-1987 (dactyl.)
Seigneurs de Beaumont-le-Roger on Medieval Lands

Humphrey — Albreda De La Haye Auberie. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15783

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• Reference Number: 15772

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• Reference Number: 15795

Notes:

Henry I (4 May 1008 - 4 August 1060) was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. This is not entirely agreed upon, however, as other historians regard him as a strong but realistic king, who was forced to conduct a policy mindful of the limitations of the French monarchy.

Reign:

A member of the House of Capet, Henry was born in Reims, the son of King Robert II (972-1031) and Constance of Arles (986-1034). He was crowned King of France at the Cathedral in Reims on 14 May 1027, in the Capetian tradition, while his father still lived. He had little influence and power until he became sole ruler on his father's death.

The reign of Henry I, like those of his predecessors, was marked by territorial struggles. Initially, he joined his brother Robert, with the support of their mother, in a revolt against his father (1025). His mother, however, supported Robert as heir to the old king, on whose death Henry was left to deal with his rebel sibling. In 1032, he placated his brother by giving him the duchy of Burgundy which his father had given him in 1016.
In an early strategic move, Henry came to the rescue of his very young nephew-in-law, the newly appointed Duke William of Normandy (who would go on to become William the Conqueror), to suppress a revolt by William's vassals. In 1047, Henry secured the dukedom for William in their decisive victory over the vassals at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes near Caen.

A few years later, when William married Matilda, the daughter of the count of Flanders, Henry feared William's potential power. In 1054, and again in 1057, Henry went to war to try to conquer Normandy from William, but on both occasions he was defeated. Despite his efforts, Henry I's twenty-nine-year reign saw feudal power in France reach its pinnacle.

Henry had three meetings with Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor-all at Ivois. In early 1043, he met him to discuss the marriage of the emperor with Agnes of Poitou, the daughter of Henry's vassal. In October 1048, the two Henries met again, but the subject of this meeting eludes us. The final meeting took place in May 1056. It concerned disputes over Lorraine. The debate over the duchy became so heated that the king of France challenged his German counterpart to single combat. The emperor, however, was not so much a warrior and he fled in the night; despite this, Henry did not get Lorraine.

King Henry I died on 4 August 1060 in Vitry-en-Brie, France, and was interred in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded by his son, Philip I of France, who was 7 at the time of his death; for six years Henry I's Queen, Anne of Kiev, ruled as regent.

He was also Duke of Burgundy from 1016 to 1032, when he abdicated the duchy to his brother Robert Capet.

Henry married Anne of Kiev 19 May 1051. Anne (daughter of I Yaroslav and Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden) was born Abt 1024; died 1075; was buried , La-Ferte-Alais, Essonne, France. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Yaroslavna
• Reference Number: 15798

Notes:

Anne of Kiev or Anna Yaroslavna (between 1024 and 1032 - 1075), daughter of Yaroslav I of Kiev and his wife Princess Ingegerd of Sweden, was the queen consort of France as the wife of Henry I, and regent for her son Philip I.

Marriage

After the death of his first wife, Matilda, King Henry searched the courts of Europe for a suitable bride, but could not locate a princess who was not related to him within illegal degrees of kinship. At last he sent an embassy to distant Kiev, which returned with Anne (also called Agnes or Anna). Anne and Henry were married at the cathedral of Reims on 19 May 1051.
[edit]Children

With Henry I of France:
Philip (23 May 1052 - 30 July 1108) - Anne is credited with bringing the name Philip to Western Europe. She imported this Greek name (Philippos, from philos (love) and hippos (horse), meaning "the one that love horses") from her Eastern Orthodox culture.
Hugh (1057 - 18 October 1102) - called the Great or Magnus, later Count of Crépi, who married the heiress of Vermandois and died on crusade in Tarsus, Cilicia.
Robert (c. 1055-c. 1060)
[edit]Regency

For six years after Henry's death in 1060, she served as regent for Philip, who was only seven at the time. She was the first queen of France to serve as regent. Her co-regent was Count Baldwin V of Flanders. Anne was a literate woman, rare for the time, but there was some opposition to her as regent on the grounds that her mastery of French was less than fluent.
A year after the king's death, Anne, acting as regent, took a passionate fancy for Count Ralph III of Valois, a man whose political ambition encouraged him to repudiate his wife to marry Anne in 1062. Accused of adultery, Ralph's wife appealed to Pope Alexander II, who excommunicated the couple. The young king Philip forgave his mother, which was just as well, since he was to find himself in a very similar predicament in the 1090s. Ralph died in September 1074, at which time Anne returned to the French court. She died in 1075, was buried at Villiers Abbey, La-Ferte-Alais, Essonne and her obits were celebrated on 5 September.
[edit]Ancestry

Ancestors of Anne of Kiev[show]
[edit]Note

11th-century fresco of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev representing the daughters of Yaroslav I, with Anna probably being the youngest. Other daughters were Anastasia wife of Andrew I of Hungary, Elizabeth wife of Harald III of Norway, and Agatha wife of Edward the Exile.
In 1717, Tsar Peter the Great stopped in the cathedral in Reims where the French monarchs were crowned. He was shown the missal on which all French kings since the 11th century swore their coronation oaths. To everyone's surprise, he began reading from the missal which was written in Old Church Slavonic, the ancestor of all literary Slavonic languages, and used in Christian Orthodox Churches during the services; its function was the same as Latin in Western Europe.
Anna had brought the missal with her from Kiev to the Church where she and Henry had taken their vows. All French monarchs, save the Bonapartes, were crowned after swearing their oaths on it.
[edit]Sources

Bauthier, Robert-Henri. Anne de Kiev reine de France et la politique royale au Xe siècle, revue des Etudes Slaves, Vol. 57, 1985

Buried:
Villiers Abbey