Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (died 4 June 1155) was the son of Richard de Redvers

Richard de Redvers

Richard de Redvers was a Norman nobleman, from Reviers in Normandy, who may have been one of the companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England from 1066...

 and his wife Adeline Peverel.

He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen

Stephen of England

Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...

, and was the only first rank magnate

Magnate

Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

 never to accept the new king. He seized Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, and was a pirate out of Carisbrooke

Carisbrooke

Carisbrooke is a village on the south western outskirts of Newport, Isle of Wight. It is best known as the site of Carisbrooke Castle. It also has a medieval parish church. St. Mary's Church , began life as part of a Benedictine priory, established by French monks about 1150...

, but he was driven out of England to Anjou

Anjou

Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...

, where he joined the Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...

. She made him Earl of Devon after she established herself in England, probably in early 1141.

He founded several monasteries, notably those of Quarr Abbey

Quarr Abbey

Quarr Abbey is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kor" . It belongs to the Order of St Benedict. The present imposing brick construction was completed in 1912. A community of about a dozen monks maintains...

 (1131), in the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

, a priory at Breamore

Breamore Priory

Breamore Priory was a priory of Austin canons in Breamore, Hampshire, England.-Foundation:The priory was founded some time towards the end of the reign of Henry I by Baldwin de Redvers and his uncle Hugh de Redvers.-Dissolution:...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, and the Priory of St James, at Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

. Some monastic chronicles call his father also Earl of Devon, but no contemporary record uses the title, including the monastic charters.

Family and children

He was married to Adeliz Baluun (d. circa 1146) and had children:

1. Richard de Redvers, 2nd Earl of Devon
   Richard de Redvers, 2nd Earl of Devon
   Richard de Redvers, 2nd Earl of Devon was Earl of Devon from 1155 until his death. He married Denise, one of the daughters and coheiresses of Reginald, Earl of Cornwall. He was High Sheriff of Devon from 1154–1157....
   
   . Married Denise de Dunstanville.
2. Henry de Redvers
3. William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon
   William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon
   William de Reviers, 5th Earl of Devon was the son of Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon and Adelise Baluun. William de Redvers is also William de Vernon, because he was brought up at Vernon Castle, in Normandy, the seat of his grandfather.He took part in Richard the Lion-Hearted's second...
   
   . Married Mabel de Beaumont.
4. Matilda de Redvers, married to Anschetil de Greye.
5. Maud de Redvers, married Ralph de Avenel.
6. Alice de Redvers, married Roger II de Nonant.
7. Hawise de Redvers, married Robert Castellan.
8. Eva de Redvers, married Robert d' Oyly.

Between 1151 and 1155 he married Lucy, who was the widow of Gilbert de Clare, earl of Hertford

Hertford

Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...

which gilbert de clare [born and died].

The name de Redvers can also be found as de Reviers or Revières.

Sources

• Frederick Lewis Weis Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700; Line 50-27
• G. E. Cokayne Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom; vol. IV, pp. 311-12
• Charles Mosley, editor-in-chief Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 1999, Page: 832
• Robert Bearman, ‘Revières , Baldwin de, earl of Devon (c.1095–1155)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1163