Humphrey ( - )

1. Humphrey de Vielles married Albreda de la Haye Auberie.

 

Albreda de la Haye Auberie and Humphrey de Vielles had the following children:

 

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Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger (c. 1015-1094)

Second Generation

2. Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger, son of Humphrey de Vielles and Albreda de la Haye Auberie, was born circa 1015. He died on 29 November 1094. He married Adeline of Meulan.

 

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 forty-first 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.

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.

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.

 

Adeline of Meulan was the daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan ( - ) and Oda de Conteville ( - ). She and Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger had the following children:

 

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Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan (1049-1118)

Third Generation

3. Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan, son of Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger and Adeline of Meulan, was born in 1049. He died on 5 June 1118. He married Elizabeth de Vermandois.

 

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan (1049 – June 5, 1118) was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age. Chroniclers speak highly of his eloquence, his learning, and three kings of England valued his counsel.

He was the eldest son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan, daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan, and an older brother of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick. He accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066, where his service earned him more than 91 lordships and manors. When his mother died in 1081, Robert inherited the title of Count of Meulan in Normandy, also the title of Viscount Ivry and Lord of Norton. He did homage to Philip I of France for these estates and sat as French Peer in the Parliament held at Poissy.

At the Battle of Hastings Robert was appointed leader of the infantry on the right wing of the army.

He and his brother Henry were members of the Royal hunting party in the New Forest, when William Rufus received his mysterious death wound, 2 August 1100. He then pledged alligience to William Rufus' brother, Henry I of England, who created him Earl of Leicester in 1107.

On the death of William Rufus, William, Count of Evreux and Ralph de Conches made an incursion into Robert's Norman estates, on the pretence that they had suffered injury through some advice that Robert had given to the King; their raid was very successful for they collected a vast booty.

According to Henry of Huntingdon, Robert died of shame after "a certain earl carried off the lady he had espoused, either by some intrigue or by force and stratagem." His wife Isabella remarried in 1118 to William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey.

 

Elizabeth de Vermandois was the daughter of Hugh MAGNUS ( - ). She and Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Count of Meulan had the following children:

 

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Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1104-1168). Robert was born in 1104. He died on 5 April 1168.