Capet

Epistola de Contemptu Mundi
Fuit igitur and Robertus consul de Mellend in rebus sæcularibus sapientissimus omnium hinc usque in Jerusalem degentium. Fuit scientia clarus, eloquio blandus, astutia perspicax, providentia sagax, ingenio versipellis, prudentia insuperabilis, consilio profundus, sapientia magnus. Possessiones igitur magnas et varias, quas vulgo vocant honores, et urbes et castella, vicos et villas, flumina et silvas, prædictis acquisierat instrumentis. Erant autem honores ejus non solum in Anglia, sed etiam in Normannia et Francia. Pro libitu suo igitur reges Francorum et Anglorum nunc concordes uniebantur, nunc discordes præliabantur^a. Si adversus aliquem insurgebat, contritus humiliabatur. Si prodesse volebat, gloriosus exaltabatur. Hinc thesauri copia, scilicet auri et argenti, gemmarum et palliorum, incredibiliter ei confluxit.
§ 8. Cum igitur in summo statu gloriæ suæ degeret, contigit quemdam alium consulem sponsam ei tam factione quam dolosis viribus arripuisse. Unde in senectute sua mente turbatus et angaria obnubilatus, in tenebras mœroris incidit; nec usque ad mortem se lætum vel hilarem sensit. Cum igitur post dies dolori dedicatos in infirmitatem mortis prænuntiam incidisset, rogatus est ab archiepiscopo et sacerdotibus, cum ei confessionis purgatorium impenderent officium, ut terras quas vi vel arte multis abstulerat, pœnitens redderet, et erratum lacrymis lavaret. Quibus respondens ait: “Si terras quas aggregavi multifariam divisero, quid miser filiis meis relinquam?” Cui contra ministri Domini: “Sufficient filiis tuis hæreditates pristinæ, et quas juste terras acquisisti. Cætera redde. Alioquin animam devovisti gehennæ.” Respondit autem consul: “Filiis omnia tradam; ipsi pro salute defuncti misericorditer agant.” Eo autem defuncto, filii ejus magis injuste congregata injuste studuerunt augere, quam aliquid pro salute paterna distribuere. Liquet igitur summam viri sapientiam in fine, quod laus canitur, non solum in summam stultitiam, sed in cœcam devenisse insaniam.
^a For a remarkable illustration of the influence possessed by the count of Mellent over the mind of William Rufus, see Ordericus, x., ch. 7. The character given to him by Malmesbury, except that he says nothing in his dispraise, is in close agreement with that drawn by Henry. Mellent died in 1118: (Ord. Vit., xii. 1).

A Letter on Contempt for the World
There was, therefore, Robert, Count of Meulan, who in secular affairs was the wisest of all those living between here and Jerusalem. He was renowned for his knowledge, smooth in speech, sharp in cunning, shrewd in foresight, versatile in talent, insuperable in prudence, profound in counsel, and great in wisdom. By these aforementioned means, he had acquired great and varied possessions—which are commonly called "honors"—as well as cities and castles, towns and manors, rivers and forests. Moreover, his honors were not only in England, but also in Normandy and France. At his pleasure, the kings of the Franks and the English were at one moment united in peace, and at the next, clashing in discord. If he rose up against anyone, they were crushed and humbled; if he wished to benefit someone, they were gloriously exalted. Because of this, an incredible abundance of treasure—namely gold and silver, gems and fine silks—flowed to him.
§ 8. Thus, while he was living at the very peak of his glory, it happened that a certain other count snatched away his wife, both by intrigue and by deceitful force. Because of this, in his old age, troubled in mind and clouded by anguish, he fell into the darkness of sorrow; nor did he feel glad or cheerful again until the day of his death. Therefore, when after days dedicated to grief he had fallen into the sickness that heralded death, he was asked by the archbishop and priests (as they were performing the office of confession to purge his soul) that he should penitently return the lands which he had taken from many by force or craft, and wash away his error with tears. Answering them, he said: "If I divide up the lands I have gathered in so many ways, what, wretched man that I am, shall I leave to my sons?" To him the ministers of the Lord countered: "The ancient inheritances and the lands you acquired justly will suffice for your sons. Return the rest; otherwise, you have devoted your soul to Gehenna (Hell)." But the Count replied: "I will hand over everything to my sons; let them act mercifully for the salvation of my departed soul." However, once he was dead, his sons strove to unjustly increase what had been unjustly gathered, rather than distribute anything for their father's salvation. It is clear, therefore, that in the end—where the final praise is sung—the man's great wisdom turned out to be not only great folly, but blind madness.

EARLDOM.
I. 1107?.
1. ROBERT DE BEAUMONT, SEIGNEUR OF BEAUMONT, PONT-AUDEMER, BRIONNE AND VATTEVILLE in Normandy, and from 1081 COUNT OF MEULAN in the French Vexin, s. and h., b. circa 1046. When very young he accompanied Duke William to England and distinguished himself at the battle of Hastings, and received large grants of lands in co. Warwick, with smaller holdings in cos. Leicester, Northants, and Wilts. (^g) On 14 July 1080, as Robert de Bellomonte, he witnessed the foundation charter of Lessay, and next year he inherited from his mother’s family the comté of Meulan. (^b) Thereafter he is continuously styled Count (Comes) of Meulan. After the death of the Conqueror he adhered to William Rufus, and was high in favour at his court. He quarrelled with Robert of Normandy about the castellanship of Brionne, in consequence of the exchange of Brionne for Ivry made by his father. He was imprisoned, but was released at the intercession of his father Roger, who eventually succeeded in obtaining Brionne in fee. He succeeded to the greater part of his father’s lands in Normandy, including Beaumont, Pont- Audemer, Vatteville and Brionne. This paternal inheritance, added to his French comté and his great possessions in cos. Warwick and Leicester, made him one of the most powerful vassals of the Crown. He became one of the chief lay ministers of William Rufus, with whom he sided against Robert Courtheuse in 1098, and when William invaded the French Vexin in 1097 he received his troops in his fortresses of the comté of Meulan. After the death of William Rufus he became one of the chief advisers of Henry I. On the death of Ives de Grandmesnil on Crusade, Robert retained his estates, which Ives had mortgaged to him circa 1102. Thereby he acquired one-quarter of the town of Leicester, the whole of which was later granted to him by the King. Robert thus added largely to his already vast possessions. In 1104 he was one of the Norman barons who adhered to Henry on his arrival in Normandy. He was present in the King’s army at Tenchebrai, 28 Sep. 1106. In 1110 he was besieged at Meulan by Louis VI, who took the castle by storm, but in the following year he retaliated by a raid on Paris, which he plundered. After obtaining the whole town of Leicester he is said to have become EARL OF LEICESTER, but, being already Count of Meulan, was never so styled. There is no contemporary record that he had the third penny of the pleas of the county, but he doubtless acquired, with the Grandmesnil fief, the third penny of the issues of the Mint at Leicester. He m., in 1096, (^a) Isabel, called also Elizabeth, da. of Hugh DE CRÉPI, called Hugh “le Grand,” COUNT OF VERMANDOIS. (^b) He d. 5 June 1118, and was bur. with his ancestors in the chapter house of Préaux.(^c) His widow m., very shortly after his death, William (DE WARENNE), EARL OF SURREY.(^d)
(^g) At the time of Domesday (1086) his holding in co. Warwick was very large. It was combined not long after with that of Turchil of Warwick, and acquired by Robert’s younger brother Henry, who was created Earl of Warwick (Round, Intro. to Warwickshire Domesday, V.C.H. Warwick, vol. i). In co. Leicester Robert’s holding was small, and he had nothing in the town of Leicester, but he held in demesne Aylestone (just outside the walls, now part of the city); and Frolesworth, Huncote, Cosby and 6 carucates in Market Bosworth (Domesday Book, fol. 231 d.). He is the first lay tenant named under Leicester in the Survey.

(^a) Orderic (vol. ii, p. 404) states that he m., 1stly, Godechilde, da. of Ralph de Tosny, and that she married, 2ndly, Baldwin of Boulogne, afterwards King of Jerusalem. This latter marriage, which took place in 1096, when she was still a young girl, is attested by two writers—namely, Albert of Aix and William of Tyre (Genealogist, N.S., vol. x, p. 2). The marriage with Robert is therefore highly improbable, and, moreover, Orderic does not suggest that it was annulled on the ground of impediment, which would have been necessary to enable her to marry Baldwin.
(^b) Orderic, vol. iii, p. 480; vol. iv, p. 169. Ives, Bishop of Chartres, wrote to the clergy of Meulan prohibiting the solemnisation of the marriage on the ground of consanguinity (see G. W. Watson, Genealogist, N.S., vol. x, where Ives’s letter is printed at p. 11). At this time the names of Isabel and Elizabeth were synonymous. The identity of the wife of Robert Count of Meulan with the wife of William de Warenne is proved by the following charters: “Ego Willielmus de Warenna et Ysabella Comitissa uxor mea et filii nostri Willielmus scilicet et Radulfus damus etc. Deo et ecclesiae omnium Sanctorum Belencombris et infirmis fratribus in ea servientibus etc. culturas nostras de Sancto Martino etc. et ego Isabella Comitissa do et concedo supradictis fratribus de haereditate et patrimonio meo de Wellebosc c sol. Rothomagenses per annum concessu Waleranni Comitis Mellenti filii mei …” (Mon., vol. vi, p. 1113); “Testibus his … Gualeranno comite Mellenti, Willelmo comite Warenne fratre eius …” (Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 92). Compare also the Continuation of William of Jumièges by Robert de Torigni, bk. viii, c. 40, 41; Robert de Torigni (ed. Delisle), vol. i, pp. 273, 274; Orderic, vol. v, p. 128.
(^c) Orderic, vol. iv, p. 313; cf. Round, Cal. Docs., no. 331; Hist. de l’Abbaye de Lyre, par l’abbé Ch. Guéry, p. 411; H.F., vol. xxiii, p. 487. Robert had three sons and (according to Orderic, vol. iv, p. 169) five daughters. The sons were Waleran and Robert, twins born in 1104, and Hugh. Waleran, the eldest, succeeded to the Norman and French fiefs, and the English lands held by his grandfather Roger de Beaumont in 1086. See for him and his successors Appendix I in this volume. Robert succeeded his father as Earl of Leicester, and Hugh is said to have been cr. Earl of Bedford. The names of only four of the daughters appear to be known—Adeline, Aubreye, Maud and Isabel or Elizabeth. Adeline m. Hugh IV, Seigneur of Montfort-sur-Risle (Orderic, vol. iv, pp. 441, 444). Aubreye m. Hugh II, Seigneur of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais (Orderic, vol. iv, p. 441). Maud m. William Louvel, Seigneur of Ivri and Breval (Orderic, vol. iv, p. 441). Isabel, also called Elizabeth, was mistress of Henry I, and m. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Pembroke. See PEMBROKE.
(^d) Her obit was observed at St. Nicaise-de-Meulan on 17 Feb. (H.F., Quarto, Obituaires de la Prov. de Sens, vol. ii, p. 238 E). Henry of Huntingdon in his epistle to Walter, “De Contemptu Mundi,” states that she eloped with a certain earl during Robert’s lifetime, which may refer to some scandal, but the whole trend of the letter does not inspire confidence in the facts stated therein.

WARENNE or WARREN, WILLIAM DE, second EARL OF SURREY (d. 1138), … married the beautiful Elizabeth, or Isabel, daughter of Hugh the Great, count of Vermandois, a son of Henry I of France, and widow of Robert de Beaumont (d. 1118) [q. v.], count of Meulan, from whom he carried her off while Robert was still living, though she was the mother of eight children (HEN. HUNT. De Contemptu Mundi, sect. 8). She died on 13 Feb. 1131, and was buried at Lewes. By her he had three sons and two daughters, William de Warenne (d. 1148) [q. v.], Reginald, and Ralph (for Ralph see Monasticon, v. 15; the editors are mistaken in heading Charter No. xi., in which the grantor speaks of Ralph ‘frater meus,’ as given by William de Warenne (d. 1138), as may be seen by the teste, one of the witnesses being Ascelin, bishop of Rochester, who was not consecrated until 1142; the charter was therefore given by William de Warenne (d. 1148), and Ralph was his brother). Reginald was assured in the possession of the castles of Bellencombre and Mortemer by the agreement made between Stephen and Duke Henry (Henry II) in 1153, the rest of the Warenne inheritance passing to Stephen’s son William (d. 1159) (Fœdera, i. 18); Reginald was one of the persecutors of Archbishop Thomas in 1170, and became a wealthy baron by his marriage with Adeline or Alice, daughter and sole heir of William de Wormegay in Norfolk (WATSON, i. 67, following CAMDEN, Britannia, col. 393, ed. Gibson, maintains that the lord of Wormegay was Reginald, son of William de Warenne, d. 1088, because in Reginald’s charter to St. Mary Overy, Southwark—Monasticon, vi. 171— he speaks of ‘Isabella comitissa domina mea’ as a different person from his mother, but the Isabella of the charter was doubtless the grantor’s niece, the daughter of William de Warenne, d. 1148). By Adeline Reginald had a son William, who founded the priory of Wormegay (ib. vi. 591), and left as his sole heir his daughter Beatrice, who married (1) Dodo, lord Bardolf, and (2) Hubert de Burgh [q. v.], earl of Kent. Earl William’s two daughters were Gundrada, who married (1) Roger de Beaumont, earl of Warwick, and in 1153 expelled Stephen’s garrison from the castle of Warwick and surrendered it to Henry; and (2) William, called Lancaster, baron of Kendal, and, it is said, a third husband: and Ada or Adeline, who in 1139 married Henry of Scotland [q.v.], son of David I.

[William de Warenne] married shortly after the death of her first husband on 5 June 1118 Isabel, called also Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh count of Vermandois, younger son of king Henry I of France. Her first husband was Robert de Beaumont, count of Meulan, lord of Beaumont-le-Roger and Pont Audemer in Normandy and of lands in England chiefly in cos. Warwick and Leicester;⁶ and by him she was the mother of three sons and four or five daughters.⁷ The two eldest sons, twins born in 1104, were Waleran, count of Meulan and earl of Worcester,⁸ and Robert earl of Leicester. She survived her second husband, William de Warenne; and after his death, with the consent of her son the third earl, gave the church of Dorking to Lewes priory.⁹ The terms of a charter issued by the third earl suggest that she died in his lifetime.¹⁰
⁶ Complete Peerage, new ed., vii, pp. 523-6. He is said to have become earl of Leicester, but was never so styled.
⁷ Ibid., p. 526n.
⁸ For him and his descendants see ibid., p. 737 (App. I); and for his career in greater detail Mr. G. H. White in R. Hist. Soc. Transactions, 4th ser., xvii, pp. 19-48.
⁹ Lewes Chartulary, f. 18^v (S.R.S., i, 29). In one of the narrative accounts in the same (ii, 18) it is stated that she died 13 Feb. 1131 in the seventh year before her husband. More trustworthy evidence from another source shows that her obit was observed on 17 Feb. (Complete Peerage, new ed., vii, 526n); and the year 1131 is clearly wrong. Cf. also charter no, 35 below.
¹⁰ Charter no. 41.

EARLDOM.
II. 1088.
2. WILLIAM (DE WARENNE) II, EARL OF SURREY … eventually m. Isabel (or Elizabeth), widow of Robert (DE BEAUMONT), COUNT OF MEULAN and 1st EARL OF LEICESTER (d. 5 June 1118),(^c) da. of Hugh DE CRÉPI (styled “the Great”), COUNT OF VERMANDOIS(^d) (yr. s. of HENRY I, KING OF FRANCE), by Adelaide, da. and h. of Herbert, COUNT OF VERMANDOIS and VALOIS. He d. probably 11 May 1138(^e) and was bur. at his father’s feet in the chapter-house at Lewes.(^f) Isabel surv. him and with the consent of her s. the 3rd Earl gave the church of Dorking to Lewes priory.(^g) She d. probably before July 1147.(^h)
(^c) According to Henry of Huntingdon, De Contemptu Mundi (Rolls Ser., p. 307), the death of Isabel’s 1st husband was hastened by an (unnamed) Earl carrying her off, by force or fraud. The truth of this story is open to question, cf. ante, vol. vii, p. 526, note “d.”
(^d) Will. de Juinieges, ed. Marx (Soc. de l’Hist. de Normandie), p. 332—additions by R. de Torigny; Orderic, vol. iii, p. 480; vol. iv, p. 169; cf. ante, vol. vii, p. 526, note “b.”
(^e) See the discussion on this date in E.Y.C., vol. viii, p. 8, note (7).
(^f) Idem, p. 8, citing the Lewes Chartulary.
(^g) Idem, p. 9. He left 3 sons: William, 3rd Earl, Ralph, and Rainald, ancestor of the Warennes of Wormegay (Idem, pp. 26-35); and 2 daughters: (1) Gundred, who m., 1stly, Roger (de Beaumont), 2nd Earl of Warwick; 2ndly, (as his 2nd wife), William de Lancaster; (2) Ada, who m. Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, s. of David I, King of Scotland, by whom she was mother of Malcolm IV and William the Lion, Kings of Scotland.
(^h) I.e. before her s. William, 3rd Earl, went on crusade in June 1147; see E.Y.C., vol. viii, pp. 9, 91. On 17 Feb., according to the Obituary of St. Nicaise (Recueil der Chartes de Saint-Nicoise de Meulan, ed. Houth, p. 192).

House of Capet

Isabel de Vermandois