Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (15 page)

Robert married, before 1066:

Matilda

She was the daughter of Roger of Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, by Mabel, daughter of William, Seigneur of Alençon-Bellême. The date of her death is not known; she was buried in the Abbey of St Grestain in France.

Issue of marriage:

  (i)  
William

He was born before 1084. He succeeded his father as Count of Mortain on 8 December, 1090/1, and married a lady called Adelaide, of whom nothing more is known. He died after 1140.

 (ii)  
Emma

She married William IV, Count of Toulouse (
d.
1094), and had issue.

2  
Odo

He was born between
c
.1031 and 1035. He entered the Church and was consecrated Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy around 1049 and before 23 April 1050. He was created Earl of Kent in 1066/7; he was deprived of this earldom, which was not forfeited, in 1082, but restored in 1087. He was again deprived of the earldom of Kent in 1088, and this time it was declared forfeit, Odo being banished from England. He died in February, 1097, at Palermo, Sicily, and
was buried in Palermo Cathedral.

1  John.

3  
Emma
(?)

Historians now think she was probably fictitious. She is said to have married Richard of Goz, Viscount of Avranches (
d.c.
1082), and had issue:

1  Hugh, Viscount of Avranches, Earl of Chester (
c
.1047–1101), who married Ermentrude, daughter of Hugh, Count of Clermont, and had issue. Hugh died a monk.

4  
Muriel

She married either William, Count of La Ferté-Macé, or, more probably, Eudo de Capello, Viscount of the Côtentin (it is possible that she had an unnamed sister who married William, Count of La Ferté-Macé –
below). Muriel perhaps had issue by Eudo:

1  Muriel; she is said to have married Robert de la Haia (although there is no firm evidence for this).

Muriel’s date of death is not known; she was buried in the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

5  
Sister
(?)

Her existence is uncertain and her name unknown. She was possibly the sister who married William, Count of La Ferté-Macé.

6  
Isabella

She married Henry, Count of Séez, and had issue:

1 St Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury (
d
.1099).

1  
Robert

Known as ‘Curthose’, he was born in
c
.1052/4 in Normandy. He succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy on 9 September, 1087, but was deprived of the dukedom by his brother Henry I on 28 September, 1106, after losing the Battle of Tinchebrai in Normandy. Robert was henceforth a prisoner in England for the rest of his life. He died on 3, 10 or 15 February, 1134/5, still in captivity, at Cardiff Castle, and was buried in Gloucester Cathedral.

Sybilla

She was the daughter of Geoffrey, Count of Conversano. She died around February or March, 1103, at Rouen in Normandy, probably in childbed, although one chronicler states she was poisoned by a rival for her husband’s affections. She was either buried at Caen in Normandy, or in Rouen Cathedral, Normandy.

Issue of marriage:

  (i)
  
William

Known as ‘Clito’, he was born in 1101 at Rouen in Normandy. In the Spring of 1127, he was created Count of Flanders by right of inheritance through his grandmother Matilda of Flanders. He died on 27 July, 1128, at the Abbey of St Bertin, St Omer, France, of wounds received at the Battle of Alost, and was buried in the Abbey of St Bertin, St Omer, France.

William married firstly, in 1123 (although no record exists
as to where):

Sybilla

She was the daughter of Fulk V, Count of Anjou, by Aremburga, daughter of Hélias I, Count of Maine. She was born between 1112 and 1116. Her marriage to William Clito was annulled in 1124. She married secondly, Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders (
d
.1168), in 1134, and had issue, including:

1  Matthew I, Count of Flanders and Boulogne (
d
.1173), who married Mary, daughter of King Stephen, and had issue.

Sybilla retired in middle age to the Abbey of St Lazarus in Bethlethem, where she became a nun. She died and was buried there in 1165.

William married secondly, in January, 1128 (although no record exists as to where):

Joan
(or Giovanna)

She was the daughter of Ranieri, Marquess of Montferrat, by Gisla, daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy. No dates are recorded.

(ii)
   
Henry

He was born in 1102. He was killed whilst hunting in the New Forest in Hampshire; the year is not known.

Robert also had the following
illegitimate issue
:

By a priest’s wife or mistress:

1  Richard (killed in the New Forest in 1100).

2  William (killed
c.
1110 at the Battle of Jerusalem, fighting the Infidel). He was Lord of Tortosa.

By an unknown woman:

3  Daughter (name not known); she married Hélias of Saint-Saëns, Count of Arques.

2  
Richard

He was born before 1054 (or 1056?) in Normandy, and is said to have been created Duke of Bernay in Normandy. He was gored to death by a stag in 1075 or 1081, whilst hunting in the New Forest, Hampshire, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

3  
Cecilia

She was born in
c.
1054/5 in Normandy, and entered the novitiate at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity, Caen, her mother’s foundation, on 18 June, 1066. She was professed there as a nun on 5 April, 1075,
and was elected Abbess of Caen in 1112. She died on 3 July, 1126, at Caen, where she was buried in the Abbey of the Holy Trinity.

4  
Adeliza

She was possibly born in 1055. Ordericus Vitalis states that she took religious vows early in life. Robert of Torigny states that she was at one time betrothed to Harold II when he was Earl of Wessex. She was probably dead by 5 January, 1066.

5  
William II
(
see here
).

6  
Constance

She was born in
c
.1057 or
c.
1061 in Normandy. She married Alan IV Fergant, Duke of Brittany (
d
.1119), at Caen, Normandy, in
c
.1086. She died on 13 August, 1090, perhaps poisoned by her servants, and was buried in the Church of St Melans, near Rhedon, Brittany. Sandford, writing in the 17th century, perpetrated the myth that she was married 25 years and was buried in the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

7  
Adela
(
see here
, under
King Stephen
).

8  
Henry I
(
see here
).