Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 5.djvu/44

 42|LEICESTER. Montfort(a) in Britanny. son. by Emma, da. of William (Frrz Osbohn), Earl of Hereford. of Ralph (de Gael), sometime Earl. or Norfolk. In consequence of thia alliance (his wife's grandmother, the aliove mentioned Emma, being sister of William de Brettonil (who. d. 1102 ) aa also of Roger (de Breteuil). Earl. of Herefor, who incurred foiffiturw in 1074] he became Seigneur of Breteuil, &c. in Normandy : was cr. about 1138 by King Stephen EARL OF HEREFORD (which Earldom, how- ever, he held but for a short time) and not improbably obtained the post of Steward of England(b) He subserqeuntly took the part of Henry (afterwards Henry II ) against King Stephen and was a witness to the compromise between them in 1153. From that date till his death he is said to have become a "Canon regular"(c) in Leicester Abbey but this seems incredible as from 1165–67 he was Chief Justiciar, and was Vice Regent of the Kingdom. 1158–1163. as also 1165–67(d) He d. 5 April 1168, and was bur. in Leicester Abbey. His wife or widow d. 1 Sep. (in what year is uncertain) in the convent at Nuneaton.

III. 1168 ? Robert (de Beaumont), Earl of Leicester, Seigneur of Breteuil ans Racy in Normandy, Steward of England called "Blanchemains" (White hands).(e) s. and h. By charter, dat. at Bristol, from Henry. Duke of Normandy (afterwards King Henry II, he as " Robert, son Of the

Comti Legreeistriæ. filio Roberti, Ciuniu's Mellenti, unde factum est lit Lire, Glos., Britollium et plurimam partem terræ, quam Willeimus films Oxberni, avns ?xoris suæ, idem Comes haberet; genuit autem ex eâ unnm lilinm et plures filias.' Earl Ralph, of Norfolk, was married, as is well known, in 1071, so that, Orderic's version is more likely chronoligially; further he is extremely circumstantial. There is, moreover, a charter of Robert III. (aux blanches-Maus) which decides the matter in Oderic's favour. In it he positively calls William Fitz Osbern his ;;ataxus'' [great-great-grand-father] and is if to show the word is not used at random he further specifies Hugh de Grentemesnil (the founder of St. Evroult) as being the proarus. [great-grandfather] of his wife, Petronilla." Ex. inform. G. W. Watson. The insue of Earl Ralph (or Raoul) of Norfolk by Emma. his wife, was, according to the version adopted by Planché, " two surviving sons one of whom, Raoul the second, was the father of Amicia. Countess of Leicester."

(a) "From the fact that the family of Pe Gael were Lords of Montfort-sur-Rille, Ralph de Gael is sometimes called Ralph de Montfort by contemporary writers." [Planché.] "Sur-Rille" should, however, he omitted, as the De Gaels were Lords of Motitfort near Rennes, in Britany, while "Montfort-sur-Rile " is in Normandy.

(b) The important office of Steward of England is said to have been held by William (Fitz Osborne). Earl of Hereford, who undoubtedly was Steward of Normandy. It is, also, generally (tho' apparently without any conclusive evidence) considered to have been attached to the Barony of Hinckley, co. Leicester, and, with it to have been brought into the Beaumont family from that of Gretitmesnil by the marriage of the 3d Earl of Leicester with Perniile, but, says Mr. Planché, " Mr. Nichols has shewn that the honour of Hinckley and the consequent Stewardship of England were previously [to this match] in the family of De Beaumont, having come to them, he says, in the same manner as the Lordship of Breteuil, or, may we not suggest, as the Earldom of Hereford, for William Fitz Osborne held that high office [i.e., the Stewardship] in the time of the Conqueror." The Stewardship of England and Normandy was included in a grant of Henry, Duke of Normandy (afterwards King Henry II.), to Robert, son of Robert, Earl of Leicester, which somewhat militates against the Hinckley theory.

(c) "The Canons regular were perhaps the least ascetic of the monastic orders." See full description of these in Cutts's " Middle Ages" pp. 18-21.

(d) "The Monks' genealogy says that Earl Robert 'de consensu Amiciæ, uxoris suæ, sumpsit in Abbatia ista [tie Pratis Leicestriæ] habitum nostræ religionis, vivens juste et sancte quindecim annos et amplius; ipsa qnoque Amicia uxor sua, Sanctimonialis apud Eton est effect*, ' This statement that Earl Robert was a monk at Leicester from 1153 must, he received with some reservations, for we know that he was Chief Justice of all England in 1155, and in that capacity acted as Viceroy during the absences of King Henry from England in 1158-62 and 1165-67." Ex inform. G. W. Watson. See also p. 43, note " b."

(e) Doubtless "as it has been shrewdly suggested from the effects of a fearful malady with which another of his family [his son, William de Breteuil, the leper], appears to have been afflicted."