William Fitz-Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester

William Fitz-Robert belonged to a side branch of the English royal house: his father Robert was the illegitimate son of King Henry I of Bocklerc , from whom he received the title of Earl of Gloucester and extensive land holdings. William, as the eldest of at least five sons, inherited all this in 1147; in addition, through his mother, Mabel Fitz-Robert, the county of Glamorgan in Wales and the lands in Gloucestershire passed to him. All this made William one of the richest and most powerful nobles of England: his annual income reached 700 pounds, he could call 300 knights to arms. William enjoyed virtually unlimited power in his Welsh possessions.

William was born in the reign of his grandfather - Heinrich Bocklerk . During the war for the throne between his aunt Matilda and his cousin Uncle Stephen, William, like his father, was on the side of Matilda. According to some sources, he, like his father, was captured at the Battle of Winchester in 1141 and was detained for some time in Rochester Castle ^[3] . After the death of Robert in 1147, William became the Earl of Gloucester and, under conditions of feudal anarchy, conducted virtually independent politics from his residence in Cardiff . So, he subordinated Henry de Tracy (1147), entered into an alliance of mutual assistance with Roger de Claire (1154), expanded his possessions in Wales. But in 1158, one of the Welsh princes Ifar Bach captured William, his wife and son, and released only after returning to him the lands conquered by the Earl of Gloucester earlier.

The relationship between William and his cousin Heinrich Plantagenet (the son of Matilda) was good time. However, after Henry ascended the throne in 1154, mutual estrangement began: the count of Gloucester appeared less and less at court. In 1173, the count supported the king against his rebellious sons, but later Henry suspected him of involvement in the rebellion. William could justify himself only by expressing humility, surrendering Bristol Castle and making his heir to the youngest son of Henry II - Prince John . William's only son died very young, so the Earl agreed to leave his lands and titles to the Prince, provided that he would marry his daughter (and if the church would allow the marriage between his second cousins ​​and his sister).

William attended the mediation of Henry II between the kings of Castile and Navarre in March 1177 . He died in 1183 , on the day of his 67th birthday, leaving Prince John as his heir.

Wife and children

William Fitz-Robert was married to Geviz de Beaumont, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Leicester . Four children were born from this marriage:

• Robert Fitz-William (1151–1166)
• Mabel, wife of Amory V de Montfort
• Amicia , Countess of Gloucester, wife of Richard de Claire
• Isabella , was married three times. First husband - John Landless , king of England; second husband - Geoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex ; the third husband is Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent .

Ancestors

• Robert B. Patterson, "William, second earl of Gloucester (d. 1183)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, septembre 2004; online edn, janvier 2008.
• D. Crouch, "Earl William of Gloucester and the end of the anarchy: new evidence relating to the honor of Eudo Dapifer", The English Historical Review, vol. 103 (1988), p. 69-75.