[310] Robert Malet also was a west-country baron. He figures in connection with Warminster in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I., and is among the witnesses to the Westminster charters (1136), being there styled "Dapifer" (see Appendix C.). The carta of the Abbot of Glastonbury (1166) proves that he was the predecessor of William Malet, dapifer to Henry II.
[311] Another west-country baron. He was one of the rebels of 1138, when he held Castle Carey against the king (Hen. Hunt., p. 261; Ord. Vit., v. 310; Gesta, p. 43). According to Mr. Yeatman, he was son of "William Gouel de Percival, called Lovel," Lord of Ivry (History of the House of Arundel, p. 136). He is however wrongly termed by him "Robert (sic) Lovel" on p. 268. He witnessed an early charter of the Empress to Glastonbury (Journ. B. A. A., xxxi. 390).
[312] Ralph Paynell had instigated the Earl of Gloucester's raid on Nottingham the previous September (Cont. Flor. Wig., 128), and was one of the rebels in 1138, when he held Dudley against the king (ibid., 110). He was presumably identical with the "Rad[ulfus] Paen[ellus]" of 1130 (Rot. Pip, 31 Hen. I.). He witnessed the charter to Roger de Valoines (see p. 286), and three other charters of the Empress (Journ. B. A. A., xxxi. 391, 395, 398), including the creation of the earldom of Hereford (25 July, 1141).
[313] Walchelin Maminot had been among the witnesses to the above Westminster charters of (Easter) 1136, but had held Dover against the king in 1138 (Ord. Vit., v. 310). when Ordericus (v. 111, 112) speaks of him as a son-in-law of Robert de Ferrers (Earl of Derby). He witnessed the charter to Roger de Valoines (see p. 286), and five other charters of the Empress (Journ. B. A. A., xxxi. 388, 391, 394 bis, 398), including the creation of the earldom of Hereford (25 July 1141), and he appears in the Pipe-Rolls and other records under Henry II. from 1155 to 1170.
[314] Robert, natural son of Henry I. by Edith (afterwards married to Robert d'Oilli of Oxford), and uterine brother, as Mr. Eyton observes (Addl. MSS., 31,943, fol. 115), "to Henry d'Oilli of Hook-Norton." He appears in connection with Devonshire in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I., and is probably identical with Robert "brother" of Earl Reginald of Cornwall (vide ante, p. 82). He is mentioned as present (as "Robert fitz Edith") at the siege of Winchester, a few weeks later (Sym. Dun., ii. 310), and he was among the witnesses to the Empress's charters (Oxford, 1142) to the earls of Oxford and of Essex, and to her charter (Devizes) to Geoffrey de Mandeville the younger (vide post). He subsequently witnessed Henry II.'s charter (? 1156) to Henry de Oxenford (Cart. Ant. D., No. 42). See also Liber Niger. Working from misleading copies, Mr. Eyton wrongly identifies this Robert "filius Regis," as a witness to three charters of the Empress, with a Robert fitz Reginald (de Dunstanville) (History of Shropshire, ii. 271).
[315] Robert fitz Martin occurs in the Pipe-Roll of 31 Hen. I. in connection with Dorset. Dugdale and Mr. Eyton (Addl. MSS., 31,943, fol. 90) affiliate him as son of a Martin of Tours, who had established himself in Wales. He witnessed two other charters of the Empress (Journ. B. A. A., xxxi. 391, 395), both of them at Oxford. A son of his (filius Roberti filii Martini) held five knights' fees of Glastonbury Abbey in 1166.
[316] Robert fitz Hildebrand witnessed the Empress's second charter to Geoffrey with that to the Earl of Oxford (vide post). See for his adultery, treason, and shocking death (? 1143), Gesta Stephani, pp. 95, 96, where he is described as "virum plebeium quidem, sed militari virtute approbatum." He is also spoken of as "vir infimi generis, sed summæ semper malitiæ machinator" (ibid., p. 93). He is affiliated by the editors of Ordericus (Société de l'Histoire de France) as "Robert fils de Herbrand de Sauqueville" (iii. 45, iv. 420), where also we learn that he had refused to embark upon the White Ship. He was perhaps a brother of Richard fitz Hildebrand, who held five fees from the Abbot of Sherborne and five from the Bishop of Salisbury in 1166.
[317] As the closing names vary somewhat in the two transcripts, I give both versions:—
| Dugdale MS. | Ashmole MS. |
|---|---|
| "Rad Lond' et Rad' painel et W. Maminot et Rob' fil. R. et Rob' fil. Martin et Rob' fil Heldebrand' apud Westmonasterium." | "Rad lovell et Rad Painell et W.
Maminot et Roberto filio R. et Roberto filio Martin Roberto filio
Haidebrandi apud Oxford." The three last words are added in a different hand, and "Oxford" appears to have been substituted for "Westmr" by yet another hand. |
[318] William de Moiun (Mohun) had attested eo nomine the charter to Glastonbury (Journ. B. A. A., xxxi. 389; Adam de Domerham) which probably passed soon after the election of the Empress (April 8) at Winchester (see p. 83). He now attests, among the earls, as "Comite Willelmo de Moion." This fixes his Creation as April-June, 1141. Courthope gives no date for the creation, and no authority but his foundation charter to Bruton, in which he styles himself "Comes Somersetensis." Dr. Stubbs, following him, gives (under "dates and authorities for the empress's earldoms") no date and no further authority (Const. Hist., i. 362). Mr. Maxwell Lyte, in his learned and valuable monograph on Dunster and its Lords (1882), quotes the Gesta Stephani for the fact "that at the siege of Winchester, in 1140, the empress bestowed on William de Mohun the title of Earl of Dorset" (p. 6). But Winchester was besieged in (August-September) 1141, not in 1140, and though the writer does speak of "Willelmus de Mohun, quem comitem ibi statuit Dorsetiæ" (p. 81), this charter proves that he postdates the creation, as he also does that of Hereford, which he assigns to the same siege (cf. pp. 125, n., 194). Mr. Doyle, with his usual painstaking care, places the creation (on the same authority) "before September, 1141" (which happens, it will be seen, to be quite correct), and assigns his use of the above style ("comes Somersetensis") to 1142. See also, on this point, p. 277 infra.