Biographies: Robert, Earl of Gloucester

• Robert of Gloucester, Earl - Mabel of Glamorgan

Robert of Gloucester
Birth: -
Death: 1147
Burial: The Priory Church of St James, Bristol
Father: Henry I Beauclerc, King of England
Mother: uncertain, possibly Sybil Corbet
Marriage: c.1107 - Mabel FitzHamon, Countess of Gloucester
Children:
William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester
Roger, Bishop of Worcester
Hamon
Robert
Richard
Maud, m. Ranulf, Earl of Chester
Philip, Castellan of Cricklade
Mabel

Robert also had an illegitimate son with Isabel de Douvres: Richard, Bishop of Bayeux 1135–1142.

NOTES: Robert, the eldest of Henry I's many illegitimate children, would become an important figure during the The Anarchy in the reign of King Stephen. He was a loyal supporter of his half sister Empress Matilda who made him the chief commander of her army. He was highly educated and literate in Latin, and was one of his father's principal aides. Robert was both highly esteemed and rewarded at court. He fought at the Battle of Bremule in 1119, and in 1122 his father created him 1st Earl of Gloucester. His marriage to Mabel, the wealthy heiress and daughter of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, had brought him the honours of Gloucester, Glamorgan in Wales, and Evrecy and Creully in Normandy. By right of his wife, he became the 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, and gained possession of Cardiff castle in Wales. Robert Curthose, the elder brother Henry had defeated and deposed as Duke of Normandy in the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106, was confined at Cardiff under Robert's custody in 1126 and remained there until his death in 1134. In 1126 Robert was one of the first magnates to swear an oath to recognise Matilda as queen after Henry's death. Robert was also at Henry's side when he fell ill and died in December 1135, and was also one of the magnates who swore to stay with the King's body until it was buried at Reading Abbey. Lots more information to follow on Robert in the forthcoming posts about the civil war and disputed succession between Matilda and Stephen.