Galeran IV de Beaumont, Count de Mélan

Youth and Rebellion in Normandy

Galerand de Beaumont was the eldest of two twin brothers, the sons of Robert de Beaumont , Count de Mélan and 1st Earl of Leicester , and Elizabeth de Vermandois . After the death of his father in 1118, Galeran and his younger brother Robert were under the care of the English king Henry I until they came of age . In 1120, custody was removed, which allowed the brothers to inherit. The vast estates of their father, located on both sides of the English Channel , were divided between Galerand and Robert in accordance with the will of his father. Galerand as an elder brother received the Beaumont possessions in Normandy ( Beaumont-le-Roger , Port Audemar , Brionne , Watteville and Rumua ) and Ile de France ( county of Mélan ). Thus, Galerand was simultaneously a vassal of the king of England ( Duke of Normandy ) and the king of France . In addition, Galeran inherited the lands of his father in Dorset . The younger brother Robert inherited the remaining possessions in England and the title of Earl of Leicester .

Thanks to its possessions in Upper Normandy and Ile de France, Galerand was one of the largest landowners of the Norman Duchy . In 1122, he became close to Amory de Montfort , Count of d'Evreux , together with whom they plotted to transfer the Norman throne to William Cliton , son of Robert III Kurtges , defeated and captured by Henry I in 1106 . The conspiracy, however, became known to the king, who delivered a preemptive strike by attacking the castle of Montfort-sur-Riesl. Galeran managed to escape to Brionne and raise an uprising of the upper Norman barons . The rebellion, however, was not successful. In October 1123, the army of Henry I captured Port Odemar, and then besieged Watteville. At the beginning of next year, Galeran’s detachment, which came to the aid of Watteville, was defeated by the royal troops near Boissy-le-Chatel , and he himself was captured. However, the remaining castles of Galeran continued to resist until April 16, 1124 , when the count was forced to submit to the king and give the order to surrender the castles. The lands of Galeran in Normandy were confiscated, and he was placed under arrest first in Rouen , then in Bridgnorth in Shropshire and, finally, in Wallingford Castle.

In prison, Galerand de Beaumont remained until 1129 , when for unknown reasons he received freedom. He regained the position of Henry I and over the following years the de Beaumont brothers played a prominent role in the court of the king, and in 1135 were present at the deathbed of Henry I.

Normandy Lieutenant

When, after the death of Henry I, Stephen of Blois was proclaimed king of England and the duke of Normandy, Galerand de Beaumont immediately swore allegiance to him. At the solemn Easter Great Royal Council in early 1136 , Galerand was engaged to King Stephen Matilda, the young daughter of King, and received the city of Worcester and land in Worcestershire as a dowry. Matilda, however, passed away at the age of six the following year. In the middle of 1136, Galerand returned to the continent, being appointed Royal Lieutenant of Normandy. He undertook the organization of the defense of the duchy and in September 1136, at the head of the army of Norman barons, he repelled the invasion of Geoffrey Plantagenet , the wife of Empress Matilda , daughter of Henry I, who claimed the English throne. Galeran also managed to capture Roger de Tosni, one of the leaders of the party of supporters of Matilda in Normandy.

At the beginning of 1137 , Galerand de Beaumont went to England, and in the middle of the year returned to Normandy, accompanied by Stephen Blois. The Norman expedition of the king, however, was not successful and significantly weakened his influence in the duchy. Meanwhile, the influence of the de Beaumont family at the royal court was steadily increasing. Galeran and Robert managed to achieve the fall and arrest of Roger of Salisbury , which deprived Stephen of the support of the higher English clergy ^[3] . At the same time, the power of the Beaumons caused discontent of other aristocratic families, especially Count Robert of Gloucester . The latter in 1138 went over to the side of the empress, which sharply strengthened the party of supporters of Matilda in England and led to the outbreak of civil war .

England Civil War

In 1138, Galerand de Beaumont returned to Normandy to organize resistance to the ongoing attacks of the Angevins, who captured Bessen , Caen and infiltrated Cotantin . Around the same time, Stefan Bloisky granted him the title of Earl of Worcester . Galerand tried to use his influence as Count de Melan at the court of the French king to obtain additional military forces against the supporters of Matilda and Geoffroy Plantagenet. At the beginning of 1139 , the count visited Paris , where he met with Louis VII . However, French assistance was not significant. The Anjouites again went on the offensive and by 1140 subjugated Lower Normandy .

Meanwhile, in the fall of 1139 , the actions of Matilda's supporters in England intensified. Robert of Gloucester attacked and captured Worcester, possession of Galerand de Beaumont , on November 7 . He in response made a predatory raid on Tewkesbury , controlled by the Empress. At the beginning of 1141 , Galeran took part in the battle of Lincoln , however, he was among those five counts who fled the battlefield after the first fierce attack of the Knights of Robert of Gloucester. King Stephen was captured, but Galeran continued to resist, apparently making Worcester the base of his military operations. But having received news of the seizure by Geoffrey Plantagenet of the Beaumont possessions in Normandy, Galerand was forced to stop the struggle and submit to the Empress Matilda. He took the oath of allegiance to her and returned to Normandy, where he received his lands back, as well as Elbeuf , the former possession of his mother, who died in 1139. Around 1142 , Galerand married Agnesse de Montfort, daughter of Amory de Montfort , count d'Evreux , and as a dowry he received land in Co and the seigneur de Gourne-sur-Marne in Ильle-de-France .

Taking the side of the Anjou, Galerand took part in the siege of Geoffrey Plantagenet Rouen , which ended in the fall of the capital of Normandy in January 1144. Moreover, during the siege, the count captured and burned the Rouen suburb of Emandreville and the Church of the Holy North, in which many people died. Galeran’s position as one of the largest feudal lords of Normandy was further strengthened after he concluded an agreement with his cousin Robert de Nevbur , Seneschal of the Norman Duchy.

Rapprochement with the King of France and the fall

Galerand de Beaumont also spent considerable time in his Vexen possessions and at the court of the French king, his overlord in the county of Mélan. In 1146 , he participated in the meetings of the Grand Royal Council in Paris, the negotiations of Louis VII and the Pope , and then he accepted the cross and, at the head of the Anglo-Norman crusaders, went to the Second Crusade to Syria . The campaign, however, failed under the walls of Damascus , and the Count de Mélan was soon returned to France.

The rapprochement of Galeran with the French king in the 1140s, on the one hand, significantly increased his wealth and influence, especially after the transfer of the vast county of Vermandois to the care of Galeran during the minority of his heir, Count Raul II . However, on the other hand, this significantly weakened the position of Count de Mélan in Normandy, which in 1151 passed under the rule of Heinrich Plantagenet , the implacable opponent of the French king. In 1153 , Galerand was captured by his nephew Robert de Montfort, and his possessions in England and Normandy were occupied by the associates of Henry Plantagenet. The title of Earl of Worcester was abolished. Although Galerand soon gained freedom, his influence in Normandy was finally undermined. Unlike his younger brother, Count de Mélan was not received at the court of the king of England, and for his support of Louis VII against Henry II in 1160 - 1162 , he was deprived of his Norman possessions and castles.

Galerand de Beaumont died on April 9 or 10, 1166 in the monastery of Saint-Pierre-des-Près south of Port Audemar , the family abbey of Beaumont, where he was buried.

Education and Charity

Galerand de Beaumont gained fame among his contemporaries not only thanks to his military enterprises and political influence. Together with his brother Robert, he was considered one of the most educated people of that time. Apparently, King Henry I , famous for his scholarship, was engaged in the training of brothers in his youth. Galeran was well versed in fine arts and philosophy. According to Etienne de Rouen, a monk of Beck Abbey and author of an elegy dedicated to Count de Mélan, Galerand wrote poetry in Latin . This is also mentioned by William of Malmesbury . Obviously, the count also actively patronized literature, since the early edition of the History of the Kings of Britain by Galfrid of Monmouth , dated 1136 , is also devoted to Galeran.

The Count de Mélan founded several monasteries (Bordesley in Worcestershire (1139), Le Valass, Beaumont-le-Roger and Gourne-sur-Marne in Normandy ), and also donated a lot to the already existing Benedictine abbeys of Saint-Pierre-des-Prés and Sen Léger-des-Prés, Beck monastery and hospital in Pont-Audemar.

Galerand de Beaumont was married with his first marriage (1136) to Matilda de Blois (d. 1140 at the age of six), the daughter of Stephen Blois , king of England , and Matilda of Bois , and his second marriage (1141 or 1142) to Agnes de Montfort (1123— 1181), the daughter of Amory III de Montfort , count d'Evreux , and Agnes de Garland. Their kids:

• Robert II de Beaumont (d. 1204), Count de Mélan , married (1175) to Mary Fitz Roy, daughter of Reginald of Dunstanville , Earl of Cornwall ;
• Isabella de Beaumont (d. May 10, 1220), married the first marriage (1161) to Geoffrey de Mayenne , the second marriage (1170) to Maurice II de Craon ;
• Amory de Beaumont (d. 1196), seigneur de Gourne-sur-Marne , married to Adele de Luzars, widow of Mathieu II , count de Beaumont-sur-Oise ;
• Roger de Beaumont , Viscount d'Evreux , married to Elizabeth d'Oberganville;
• Galerand de Beaumont , seigneur de Montfort ;
• Etienne de Beaumont ;
• Hugo de Beaumont , seigneur de Blinschfeld;
• Marie de Beaumont , married to Hugo Talbot, Baron de Clefville;
• Amicia de Beaumont , married to Henry, seigneur de Ferriere;
• Here de Beaumont , married to Guillaume de Moline.

• Biography and Genealogy at ThePeerage.com
• Genealogy of the House de Beaumont (English)
• Counts de Molan (fr.)
• Beaumont in the history of England

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