Sheriff of Kent Haimo Dapifer

Other Events:

• Name: Haimo
• Reference Number: 37274

Notes:

Haimo or Hamo (died around 1100) (sometimes Haimo Dapifer or Hamo Dapifer) was an Anglo-Norman royal official under both King William I of England and King William II of England. He held the office of dapifer, or seneschal, as well as the office of Sheriff of Kent.

Haimo was the son of Haimo Dentatus, a Norman lord who held Torigny-sur-Vire near Manche in Normandy. The elder Haimo rebelled against Duke William, later King William I, and died about 1047.

Haimo was steward to both King William I and William II. He was in the office of steward by 1069. Haimo was appointed to the office of Sheriff of Kent in 1077, and held it until his death. During William II's reign, Haimo was one of five known stewards, the others were Eudo, Eudo's brother Hubert of Ryes, Roger Bigod, and Ivo Taillebois.

The historian Emma Mason argues that Haimo, along with Ranulf Flambard, Urse d'Abetot, Robert Fitzhamon (Haimo's son), Roger Bigod, and Eudo Dapifer, were the first recognizable barons of the Exchequer, during King William II's reign. These men were often associated in government together, witnessing documents and being used by William II as officials.Haimo witnessed six of William II's writs. Haimo's involvement in the higher levels of government dates especially from William II's absence from England in the late 1090s. In 1099, when William was in Normandy, Haimo was one of the main assistants to Flambard, who was left in charge of England in the king's absence.

According to Domesday Book, Haimo held lands in Kent, Surrey, and Essex, with the estates in Essex being larger than the other two counties.

Haimo was still witnessing royal documents in September 1099, and was one of the witnesses to the letter that King Henry I, William's brother and successor, wrote to Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, shortly after Henry's accession to the throne after William II's death in a hunting accident.

Haimo died at some point shortly after this. He had two sons, Haimo, who became sheriff after him, and Robert fitz Haimo. Robert was probably the elder, as he received his father's lands in Normandy after Haimo's death. The younger Haimo received the English lands.

Haimo — . Unknown [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Robert FitzHamon, Sieur de Creully
• Reference Number: 37272

Notes:

Robert Fitzhamon (died March 1107), or Robert FitzHamon, Sieur de Creully in the Calvados region and Torigny in the Manche region of Normandy, was Lord of Gloucester and the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan, southern Wales. He became the leader of Glamorgan in 1075.

As a kinsman of the Conqueror and one of the few Anglo-Norman barons to remain loyal to the two successive kings William Rufus and Henry I of England, he was a prominent figure in England and Normandy.

Not much is known about his earlier life, or his precise relationship to William I of England.

Robert FitzHamon (born c. 1045-1055, d. March 1107 Falaise, Normandy) was the son of Haimo the Sheriff of Kent and grandson of Haimo Dentatus ('The Toothy', i.e., probably buck-toothed). His grand-father held the lordships of Torigny, Creully, Mézy, and Evrecy in Normandy, but following his death at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047, the family might have lost these lordships.

Few details of Robert's career prior to 1087 are available.

Robert probably did not fight at Hastings, and does not appear in the Domesday Book, although some relatives may. He first comes to prominence as a supporter of William Rufus during the Rebellion of 1088. After the revolt failed he was rewarded with great estates in Gloucestershire and elsewhere. Some of these had belonged to the late Queen Matilda, and were supposed to be inherited by Rufus's younger brother Henry (the future Henry I); nevertheless Fitzhamon remained on good terms with Henry.

The chronology of Fitzhamon's conquest of Glamorgan is uncertain, but it probably took place in the decades after he received Gloucester.

The Twelve Knights of Glamorgan

One explanation is the legend of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan, which dates from the 16th century, in which the Welsh Prince Iestyn ap Gwrgan (Jestin), prince or Lord of Glamorgan, supposedly called in the assistance of Robert Fitzhamon. Fitzhamon defeated the prince of South Wales Rhys ap Tewdwr in battle in 1090. With his Norman knights as reward he then took possession of Glamorgan, and "the French came into Dyned and Ceredigion, which they have still retained, and fortified the castles, and seized upon all the land of the Britons." Iestyn did not profit long by his involvement with the Normans. He was soon defeated and his lands taken in 1091.

Whether there is any truth in the legend or not Robert Fitzhamon seems to have seized control of the lowlands of Glamorgan and Gwynllwg sometime from around 1089 to 1094. His key strongholds were Cardiff Castle, which already may have been built, on the site of an old Roman fort, new castles at Newport, and at Kenfig. His descendants would inherit these castles and lands.

Rhys's daughter Nest became the mistress of King Henry I of England and allegedly was mother of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester who married Mabel, Fitzhamon's daughter and heiress and thus had legitimacy both among the Welsh and the Norman barons.[1] (Robert of Caen's mother is however unknown to historians and genealogists).

Founder of Tewkesbury Abbey (1092)

He also refounded Tewkesbury Abbey in 1092. The abbey's dimensions are almost the same as Westminster Abbey. The first abbot was Giraldus, Abbot of Cranborne (d. 1110) who died before the abbey was consecrated in October 1121. The abbey was apparently built under the influence of his wife Sybil de Montgomery., said to be a beautiful and religious woman like her sisters.

Fitzhamon and His Kings

Legend has it that Robert had ominous dreams in the days before Rufus' fatal hunting expedition, which postponed but did not prevent the outing. He was one of the first to gather in tears around Rufus' corpse, and he used his cloak to cover the late king's body on its journey to be buried in Winchester. How much of these stories are the invention of later days is unknown.

In any case Fitzhamon proved as loyal to Henry I as he had been to his predecessor, remaining on Henry's side in the several open conflicts with Henry's brother Robert Curthose. He was one of the three barons who negotiated the 1101 truce between Henry I and Robert Curthose.

In 1105 he went to Normandy and was captured while fighting near his ancestral estates near Bayeux. This was one of the reasons Henry crossed the channel with a substantial force later that year. Fitzhamon was freed, and joined Henry's campaign, which proceeded to besiege Falaise. There Fitzhamon was severely injured in the head; although he lived two more years he was never the same mentally. He was buried in the Chapter House at Tewkesbury Abbey, which he had founded and considerably enriched during his lifetime.

Marriage and children

Fitzhamon married Sybil de Montgomery around 1087 to 1090, apparently the youngest daughter of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury by his first wife Mabel Talvas, daughter of William I Talvas, by whom he is said to have had four daughters. His eldest daughter Mabel inherited his great estates and married Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester around 1107. Fitzhamon's Gloucestershire property thus became the nucleus of the Earldom of Gloucester later given to his son-in-law. Fitzhamon is sometimes called Earl of Gloucester, but was never so created formally.

Another daughter Isabella (or Hawisa) is said to have been married to a count from Brittany, but no further details exist. His widow and two other daughters (unnamed) are reported to have entered a convent.

Robert Fitzhamon's great granddaughter Isabel of Gloucester married John of England.

Robert — Sybil De Montgomery. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15922

Notes:

Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester, Countess of Gloucester (1090 - 29 September 1157) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, and a wealthy heiress who brought the lordship of Gloucester, among other prestigious honours to her husband, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester upon their marriage. He was the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England.

Her own father was Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan. As she was the eldest daughter of four, and her younger sisters had become nuns, Mabel inherited all of his honours and properties upon his death in 1107.

As Countess of Gloucester, Mabel was significant politically and she exercised an important administrative role in the lordship.

Mabel was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1090, the eldest of the four daughters of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, and his wife, Sybil de Montgomery. Her three younger sisters, Hawise, Cecile and Amice all became nuns, making Mabel the sole heiress to her father's lordships and vast estates in England, Wales, and Normandy.

Her paternal grandfather was Hamon, Sheriff of Kent, and her maternal grandparents were Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel Talvas of Belleme.

In March 1107, her father died in Normandy, leaving his lordships and estates to Mabel. Her mother married secondly Jean, Sire de Raimes.

In 1107, Mabel married Robert of Caen, an illegitimate son of King Henry I by his mistress Sybil Corbet. Their marriage is recorded by Orderic Vitalis who also names her parents. He would later become an important figure during the turbulent period in English history known as The Anarchy which occurred in the reign of King Stephen of England. Throughout the civil war, he was a loyal supporter of his half-sister Empress Matilda who would make him the chief commander of her army. He had originally sworn fealty to King Stephen, but after quarrelling with him in 1137, his English and Welsh possessions were forfeited, and thus he joined forces with Matilda.

Mabel brought to her husband, the honours of Gloucester in England, Glamorgan in Wales, Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe, Evrecy and Creully in Normandy. By right of his wife, he became the 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, and gained possession of her father's castle of Cardiff in Wales. In August 1122, he was created 1st Earl of Gloucester; henceforth, Mabel was styled as Countess of Gloucester.

As countess, Mabel exercised a prominent administrative role in the Gloucester lordship. Her political importance was evident when she was made responsible for seeing that her husband upheld his side of the agreement in the treaty he made with Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford. She also witnessed four of Robert's charters; as well as giving her personal consent for his foundation of the Abbey of Margam, whose endowment came from her own lands. Later, after Robert's death, Mabel assumed control of the honour of Gloucester's Norman lands on behalf of her eldest son William.

Together Robert and Mabel had at least eight children:

William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (23 November 1112- 23 November 1183), married Hawise de Beaumont by whom he had five children, including Isabella of Gloucester, the first wife of King John of England, and Amice FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester.
Roger, Bishop of Worcester (died 9 August 1179)
Hamon FitzRobert, (died 1159), killed in the Siege of Toulouse.
Robert FitzRobert of Ilchester (died before 1157), married Hawise de Redvers, by whom he had a daughter Mabel who in her turn married Jordan de Cambernon.
Richard FitzRobert, Sire de Creully (died 1175), inherited the seigneury of Creully from Mabel, and became the ancestor of the Sires de Creully. He married the daughter of Hughes de Montfort by whom he had five children.
Philip FitzRobert, (died after 1147), Castellan of Cricklade. He took part in the Second Crusade.
Maud FitzRobert (died 29 July 1190), married Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester by whom she had three children.
Mabel FitzRobert, married Aubrey de Vere
Robert also sired an illegitimate son, Richard, Bishop of Bayeux by Isabel de Douvres.

Mabel's husband died on 31 October 1147. Mabel herself died on 29 September 1157 in Bristol at the age of sixty-seven years.

Mabel — Robert Fitzroy. Robert (son of Henry I of England and Edith of Scotland) was born Bef 1100; died 31 Oct 1147, Bristol, Somerset, England; was buried , Bristol, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maud of Gloucester
• Reference Number: 5315

Maud married Ranulph De Gernon Abt 1141, Gloucestershire, England. Ranulph (son of Ranulf Le Meschin and Lucy of Bolingbroke) was born 1099, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; died 16 Dec 1153, Cheshire, England; was buried , Chester, Cheshire, England. [Group Sheet]