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Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, (before 1125 – 1155) was an English noble who played an active and influential part in the wars between Empress Matilda and King Stephen (a civil war known as the Anarchy).
Biography
Roger was the son of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford and Sibyl, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarché.[1] the heiress of Brecon.
In 1136, Roger married Cecilia, daughter of Pain fitzJohn,[2] In December of the next year King Stephen confirmed Cecilia's inheritance of all her father's lands.[1] During the Anarchy Roger acted as an auxiliary to his father's activities, and his consent and support was written into a treaty (1143) between his father and Robert, Earl of Gloucester.[1]
Roger succeeded his father after Miles died in a hunting accident on 24 December 1143 while under excommunication by the church in an edict issued by the Bishop of Hereford.[3] Roger, who bore hatred to the church for his father's excommunication, and compelled the prior of Llanthony, as a friend of the Bishop of Hereford, to resign.[4] He even troubled his kinsman, Gilbert Foliot, on his becoming Bishop of Hereford,[5] and was by him, after three warnings, formally excommunicated.[6] Subsequently, however,[7] he founded Flaxley Abbey, a Cistercian house, within the Forest of Dean,[8] possibly on the spot of his father's death.[9][a]
In the early part of 1144 Roger was at Devizes with Empress Matilda,[10] and he is again found there with her son in 1149,[11] with whom he marched northwards to Carlisle.[12][b]
Initially, Roger was dominated by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, but gradually the balance of power shifted and when Robert died, Roger became the leader of the Angevin party in England, a point recognised by the terms of a new treaty (1147) between himself and William Fitz Robert (son of Robert) and the 2nd Earl of Gloucester.[1]
On the accession of Henry (1154) he resisted his authority, but was persuaded around March 1155 by the Bishop of Hereford to surrender his castles,[12] and thereupon received a charter confirming him in almost all his father's possessions.[13] He was with the king at Bridgnorth in July,[14] and at Salisbury soon after.[15]
Roger died without issue in the same year (1155). The Earldom of Hereford became extinct, but the shrievalty of Hereford and Gloucester passed to his brother Walter. On the death of the latter and two other brothers without issue the family possessions passed to their sisters, Bertha through her marriage bringing Abergavenny to Braose, but Margaret, the eldest sister, taking the bulk to the Bohuns afterwards (1199),[16] in recognition of their descent from Miles, earl of Hereford, and constable of England.[17]
Assessment
David Crouch who wrote Roger's biography in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography stated "Earl Roger's achievements were transitory, but there is no doubting his central position in English history between 1147 and 1155".[1]
Family
Roger married Cecily Fitz John, the daughter of Pain fitzJohn in January 1138, who inherited the bulk of her father's possessions.[18] She remained Countess of Hereford in right of her dower until 1199. She died after 1204.[citation needed]
The earldom of Hereford remained in abeyance from the death of Roger until 28 April 1199 when King John of England recreated it for Henry de Bohun, the grandson of Earl Roger's sister Margaret.[19]
etc.
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fitzmiles,_2nd_Earl_of_Hereford
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Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford (died 24 December 1143) (alias Miles of Gloucester[1]%29 was a great magnate based in the west of England. He was hereditary Constable of England[a] and Sheriff of Gloucestershire.
He inherited vast landholdings in Wales from his wife Sibyl de Neufmarché (whose father had conquered the independent kingdom of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, modern: Breconshire) in South Wales, which became the Lordship of Brecknock, and other lands in Gloucestershire from his father (the nucleus of which were the Domesday Book holdings of his great-uncle Durand of Gloucester)[2] and acquired other large landholdings himself, including the extensive Lordship of Abergavennny in South Wales, and St Briavel's Castle and the Forest of Dean in the west of Gloucestershire. These combined lands became a feudal barony, now known as the "Barony of Miles of Gloucester".[1]
By his three daughters and eventual co-heiresses his barony was split between the families of de Bohun, which inherited the fiefdom of Durand of Gloucester (Miles's great-uncle),[3] the hereditary Constabulary of England and was re-created Earl of Hereford in 1200; de Braose, which inherited the Lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny; and FitzHerbert, which inherited Blaen Llyfni.
In 1136 he founded Llanthony Secunda Priory half a mile south of Gloucester Castle, in the chapter house of which he and many of his de Bohun descendants were buried.[4] John of Salisbury classed him with Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex and others as non tam comites regni quam hostes publici ("not so much earls of the kingdom as public enemies"). The charge is justified by his public policy, but the materials for appraising his personal character do not exist.[5]
Origins
He was the son and heir of Walter of Gloucester (d. 1129), hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1097 and in 1105–1106,[6] and Castellan of Gloucester Castle. Walter was also seemingly Constable of England under King Henry I (1100-1135), as he is described in an annal of Llanthony Secunda Priory (transcribed by Dugdale[7]%29 as Constabularius, princeps militiae domus regiae, vir magnus et potens et inter primos regni praecipue honoratus ("Constable, chief of the royal military household, a great and powerful man and amongst the first of the kingdom especially honoured"). Some sources, however, suggest that Walter was merely the Constable of Gloucester Castle.[8] Walter's wife (and Miles's mother) was a certain Berta.[9] Walter was in favour with King Henry I (1100-1135), three of whose charters to him are extant.[10]
Walter's father was Roger de Pitres, Sheriff of Gloucestershire from about 1071, who at some time before 1083 was succeeded by his brother Durand of Gloucester (d. circa 1096), Sheriff of Gloucestershire at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, who made Walter his heir.[6]
Career
Early in 1121 Miles married Sibyl de Neufmarché, daughter and heiress of Bernard de Neufmarché, the conqueror of Brycheiniog, which brought him her father's possessions (such as the new Lordship of Brecknock).[10] In the Pipe Roll of 1130 Walter is found to have been succeeded by his son,[11] having died in or around 1126.[12]
Miles was (from 1128 at least) sheriff of Gloucestershire, a justice itinerant, and a justice of the forest,[13] and by 1130 was sheriff of Staffordshire.[12] He had also (though the fact has been doubted) been granted his father's office of constable by a special charter.[14] In conjunction with Pain fitzJohn, sheriff of Herefordshire and Shropshire, he ruled the whole Welsh border "from the Severn to the sea".[15]
On his accession, King Stephen set himself to secure the allegiance of these two lords-marchers, who at length, on receiving a safe conduct and obtaining all they asked for, did him homage.[15] It was at Reading that they met the king early in 1136.[b] Miles is next found attending the Easter court at Westminster as one of the royal constables,[16] and, shortly after, the Oxford council in the same capacity.[17] He was then despatched to the aid of the widow of Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare, who was beleaguered in her castle by the Welsh and whom he rescued.[18]
Meanwhile, Miles had married his son and heir, Roger, to Cecily, daughter of fitzJohn, who inherited the bulk of her father's possessions.[19] In the same year 1136 Miles transferred the original house of Augustinian canons at Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire to a site on the south side of Gloucester, which they named Llanthony Secunda.[20][21]
Two years later (1138) Miles received, in his official capacity, Stephen at Gloucester in May.[22] He has been said to have renounced his allegiance a few weeks later,[23] but he was with Stephen in August (1138) at the siege of Shrewsbury, and his defection did not take place till 1139.[24]
In February 1139 Stephen gave Gloucester Abbey to Miles's kinsman Gilbert Foliot at his request.[25] In the summer of 1139, however, he joined his lord, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, in inviting Empress Matilda to England.[26] On her arrival Miles met her at Bristol, welcomed her to Gloucester, recognised her as his rightful sovereign, and became thenceforth her ardent supporter. She at once gave him St. Briavels Castle and the Forest of Dean.[24]
Miles's first achievement on behalf of Matilda was to relieve Brian Fitz Count who was blockaded in Wallingford Castle.[27] In November (1139) he again advanced from Gloucester and attacked and burnt Worcester.[28] He also captured the castles of Winchcombe, Cerne, and Hereford.[29] Meanwhile, he was deprived by Stephen of his office of constable.[30] He took part in the victory at Lincoln (2 February 1141),[31] and on the consequent triumph of the empress, he accompanied her in her progress, and was one of her three chief followers on her entry (2 March) into Winchester.[32] He was with her at Reading when she advanced on London,[33] and on reaching St. Albans Matilda bestowed on him a house at Westminster.[34] He was among those who fled with her from London shortly after, and it was on his advice, when they reached Gloucester, that she ventured back to Oxford.[35] There, on 25 July 1141, she bestowed on him the town and castle of Hereford and made him earl of that shire,[36] as well as the forests of the Hay of Hereford and Trinela[37] in avowed consideration of his faithful service. With singular unanimity, hostile chroniclers testify to his devotion to her cause.[29] He even boasted that she had lived at his expense throughout her stay in England.[38]
As "Earl Miles", he now accompanied her to Winchester,[39] and on the rout of her forces on 14 September 1141 he escaped to Gloucester, where he arrived "exhausted, alone, and with scarcely a rag to his back".[40] Towards the end of the year he was in Bristol making a grant to Llanthony Priory in the presence of the Empress Matilda and the Robert, Earl of Gloucester.[41] In 1142 he is proved by charters to have been with the Empress at Oxford and to have received her permission to hold Abergavenny Castle of Brian Fitz Count.[42] It is probably to the summer of this year that he made a formal deed of alliance with the Earl of Gloucester, and as a hostage, he gave the Earl his son Mahel.[24]
In 1143 Miles's pressing want of money to pay his troops led him to demand large sums from the church lands. Robert de Bethune, Bishop of Hereford, withstood his demands, and, on the Earl invading his lands, excommunicated him and his followers, and laid the diocese under interdict.[43] The Earl's kinsman, Gilbert Foliot (Abbot of Gloucester),[44] appealed to the legate on his behalf against the bishop's severity.[45]
Death and burial
On Christmas-eve of 1143 he was slain while hunting by a stray arrow shot at a deer.[46] A dispute at once arose for possession of his body between the canons of Llanthony Secunda, his own foundation, and the monks of Gloucester. The case was heard before the bishops of Worcester, Hereford, and St. David's, and was terminated by a compromise on 28 December. The Earl was then buried in the chapter house at Llanthony.[47]
Succession
Miles was succeeded by his eldest son and heir, Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, [24] who died without an heir twelve years later in 1155, when the Earldom of Hereford became extinct. The shrievalty of Hereford and Gloucester passed to his younger brother Walter de Hereford. On the death of the latter and two other brothers with no children the family possessions passed to their sisters and their descendants, namely Bertha of Hereford who through her marriage brought Abergavenny to William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, and Margaret of Hereford, the eldest sister, taking the bulk (Liber Niger) to Humphrey II de Bohun, later (1199) Earls of Hereford, and Constables of England, in recognition of their descent from Miles.[48]
Marriage and children
In 1121 he married Sibyl de Neufmarché, daughter and heiress of Bernard de Neufmarché (d.1125), Lord of Brecon, and Agnes or Nest, daughter of Osbern fitzRichard by his wife Nest, a daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales. By Sibyl he had issue including:[49]
Sons
Daughters and eventual co-heiresses
Further reading
George Roberts, Some Account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire, London, 1847, pp. 63 et seq, Appendix, "Genealogy of the Founders"[4]
etc.
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_of_Gloucester,_1st_Earl_of_Here...
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MILES of Gloucester, son of WALTER of Gloucester & his wife Berthe --- (-24 Dec 1143, bur Lanthony Priory, Gloucester). The Historia fundationis cum fundatoris genealogia of the priory of Abergavenny names “Milonem” as son of “Waltero constabulatio totius Angliæ”[347]. "Walterus de Gloucestria, assensu Milonis filii mei et Berthæ uxoris meæ" donated "ecclesiam de Cernay…ecclesiam… Sanctæ Helenæ de Halgestane…terram…de Westwode in Herchenefelde" to Gloucester St Peter by undated charter[348]. "Walter de Gloecestria, Milo fili ei…" witnessed the charter dated to [1127] which records that "Ricard Puncii filii" granted Aston, Gloucestershire ("Hestoniam") to "Mathilli uxori mee"[349]. Henry I King of England appointed him Constable of England in succession to his father[350]. The 1130 Pipe Roll records "Miloni Gloec" in Wiltshire (two entries)[351]. Stephen King of England granted him the honour of Gloucester and Brecknock in [1136] and appointed him Constable of Gloucester Castle. “Mylo constabularius de Gloucestria” donated property to Lanthony abbey, naming “antecessores mei Rogerus de Gloecestria et Walterus constabularius”, by charter dated 1137, supplemented by another later donation (undated) jointly with "uxor mea Sibilla et filii mei Rogerus et Walterus atque Henricus" in the presence of "…Roberto Corbet…"[352]. He joined Empress Matilda on her arrival in England in 1139, acting as her Constable. She created him Earl of Hereford at Oxford 25 Jul 1141, and granted him the castle of Abergavenny[353]. Brien FitzCount, illegitimate son of Alain IV "Fergant" Duke of Brittany, and his wife transferred the honour of Abergavenny to Earl Miles in [1141/42][354]. The Gesta Stephani Regis records that "Paganus filius Joannis…et Milo" of Gloucester were killed, dated to [1137/40][355]. It is unclear why the two deaths are reported at the same time as a later passage in the Gesta records that "comes…Herefordiæ, Milo" was killed by arrow, and in a third passage that he was killed while hunting, dated from the context to [1142/43][356]. A manuscript in Aske’s collections names “Milo…Erle of Herforde, Lord of Bricone and of all the Forest of Done, and also Constable of England…” among those buried at Lanthony Priory[357].
m ([Apr/May] 1121) SIBYLLE de Neufmarché, daughter and heiress of BERNARD de Neufmarché Lord of Brecknock & his wife Nesta [Agnes] --- (-bur Lanthony Prior, Gloucester). A manuscript narrating the history of Brecknock priory records that the founder “Bernard de Nefmarche, Norman” married “Neste qe fut apele Agnes, la file Griffin le fiz Lewelin…cruel tyrant de Gales” by whom he fathered “Mael…noble chevalier” whom it was claimed was not his son and who was deprived of Brecknock in favour of “la file [de] Neste, Sibile” wife of “Miles…fiz Watir le conestable de Gloucestre e de Hereford”[358]. The Historia fundationis cum fundatoris genealogia of the priory of Abergavenny names “Sibillam, legitimam hæredem totius terræ Breconiæ…Bernardi et Agnetis de Novo-Mercato” as wife of “Milonem”, son of “Waltero constabulatio totius Angliæ”[359]. A charter dated to [10 Apr/29 May] 1121 records the arrangements for the marriage of "Miloni de Gloec" and "Sibilia filia Beorndi de Novo Mercato", the dowry being all the possessions of her father and of her mother[360]. “Mylo constabularius de Gloucestria” donated property to Lanthony abbey, naming “antecessores mei Rogerus de Gloecestria et Walterus constabularius”, by charter dated 1137, supplemented by another later donation (undated) jointly with "uxor mea Sibilla et filii mei Rogerus et Walterus atque Henricus"[361]. A manuscript in Aske’s collections names “Milo…Erle of Herforde, Lord of Bricone and of all the Forest of Done, and also Constable of England…Sibbill wiff of the seid Milo…” among those buried at Lanthony Priory[362].
Earl Miles & his wife had eight children:
From: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm#...
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John & his wife had five children:
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISHNOBILITYMEDIEVAL3T-Z.htm#Joh...
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1118 |
1118
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Gloucester, Gloucester, England
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1155 |
September 22, 1155
Age 37
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England
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1155
Age 37
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Llanthony, Priory, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
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1934 |
June 23, 1934
Age 37
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June 23, 1934
Age 37
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September 17, 1934
Age 37
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Salt Lake City Utah Temple, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
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September 17, 1934
Age 37
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1959 |
June 30, 1959
Age 37
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June 30, 1959
Age 37
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Salt Lake City Utah Temple, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
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