Richard de Redvers
Encyclopedia
Richard de Redvers ( c. 1066 – 8 September 1107) 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. His origins are obscure, but after acting as one of the principal supporters of Henry I
in his struggle against his brother Robert Curthose for control of the English throne, de Redvers was rewarded with estates that made him one of the richest magnate
s in the country. He was once thought to have been created the first Earl of Devon
, but this theory is now discounted in favour of his son Baldwin
.
wrongly identified Richard de Redvers with Richard the son of Baldwin FitzGilbert
(also known as Baldwin de Meules) who was sheriff of Devon under William the Conqueror. This error was still being repeated in the late 19th century. In around 1890 The Complete Peerage
advanced the alternative theory that Richard de Redvers was the son of William de Vernon, but later research has cast doubt on this too, suggesting that all that can be said is that his father may have been Baldwin, one of three brothers named Redvers in Normandy in 1060; the other brothers being William, and Richard, who died in that year. Similarly nothing is known of Richard's early life. The Norman poet Wace
, writing c.1170, mentions a "sire de Reviers" as one of those who accompanied William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, but it is not known if this was Richard de Reviers.
The first clear references to Richard start to appear in the mid 1080s. In the Domesday Book (1086) he is recorded as holding one manor, that of Mosterton
in Dorset which he may have been given for serving in William the Conqueror's army of 1066. Mortestorne (as Mosterton was then known) was held by Almer before 1066. It had arable land, a mill, 30 acres of meadow and a large area of woodland and was valued at £12.
According to Wace, in 1089 de Redvers was in the service of Robert Curthose, but was allowed to join his younger brother Henry
's retinue at Henry's request. William the Conqueror had bequeathed Normandy to his eldest son Robert, but Henry had bought parts of it from him—including the Cotentin
where Néhou, the de Redvers principal possession, was located. Since de Redvers also owned land in the Vexin
which was retained by Robert, he had two lords, and evidently chose to support the one under whom his main property lay. From 1090 when Henry fell out with both his older brothers, Richard de Redvers was unswerving in his support of Henry, so much so that he was mentioned by both Orderic Vitalis
and William of Jumièges
in their chronicles.
Richard's manor at Mosterton does not appear in the Redvers family records after about 1090 and it may therefore have been forfeited due to his support of Henry against William II
. The manor passed to the Blount family which held it until the end of the 14th century.
s, in several different places, and sometimes as the only witness. After Richard's death his loyalty was remarked upon by Anselm of Canterbury
.
His continued allegiance resulted in Henry awarding him several large grants of land: these included the honours of Plympton
in Devon, Carisbrooke
on the Isle of Wight and Christchurch
in Hampshire (now in Dorset). In addition to these he still held his estates in Normandy in the Cotentin (at Néhou) and Vexin (at Vernon) and he had also acquired the manors of Crowell in Oxfordshire and Woolley in Berkshire on his marriage.
After the grants from the king, Richard's Devon estates probably consisted of around 180 Domesday manors, including Tiverton and Honiton, as well as the boroughs of Exeter and Plympton. The honour of Christchurch consisted of many widely-scattered manors in several counties. He held virtually all of the Isle of Wight (the exceptions being two manors held by the bishop of Winchester), and the island remained in his family until King Edward I
bought it from a dying Isabella de Fortibus
in 1293.
According to Robert Bearman, Richard de Redvers can confidently be rated among the twelve wealthiest barons of the time, with estates worth well over £750. It is notable, however, that less than one third of the value of the estates that the king bestowed on him were from ancient demesne (and hence deprived the king of income); the majority were from escheat
s, including the Isle of Wight which the king had confiscated after Roger de Breteul
's failed Revolt of the Earls
in 1075. It was probably in the king's interest to have the Isle of Wight under control of someone trustworthy as it was a prime target for further attack from abroad.
by Henry I. These documents include (1), the Chronicles of Ford Abbey, which have been shown to be unreliable in several matters relating to the de Redvers family; (2), the Cartulary of Twynham, which apparently follows (3), the rubric
appended by a later scribe to a charter issued by Richard himself; and (4), a copy of a charter issued by Richard's wife after his death, in which it is assumed that the transcriber has added the word "comitis" ("earl"); significantly the original charter is lost.
Set against these few documents is the abundant charter evidence that Richard never styled himself earl, nor did any of his children or grandchildren call him such, and neither did his wife after his death call herself Countess. Despite this, for many years the discrepancies caused disagreement over the numbering of the Devon earl
s. However since the early 20th century the matter appears to be settled, and it is now accepted that the first Earl of Devon was Richard's son, Baldwin
.
of Nottingham and his wife Adelina of Lancaster. They had five children:
Richard de Redvers died on 8 September 1107 and was buried in the Abbey of Montebourg
in Normandy, of which he was deemed the founder. It has been said that the top of his stone coffin with the word "Fundator" (founder) carved on it was found and preserved by a M. de Gerville. Richard's wife, Adeliza lived on until c.1160.
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
nobleman, from Reviers in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, who may have been one of the companions of William the Conqueror
Companions of William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror had men of diverse standing and origins in France, under his command at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, along with others completing his Norman conquest of England until after the Harrying of the North and before the Anarchy....
during the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
from 1066. His origins are obscure, but after acting as one of the principal supporters of Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
in his struggle against his brother Robert Curthose for control of the English throne, de Redvers was rewarded with estates that made him one of the richest 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...
s in the country. He was once thought to have been created the first Earl of Devon
Earl of Devon
The title of Earl of Devon was created several times in the Peerage of England, and was possessed first by the de Redvers family, and later by the Courtenays...
, but this theory is now discounted in favour of his son Baldwin
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel.He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magnate never to accept the new king. He seized Exeter, and was a pirate out of Carisbrooke, but he was driven out...
.
Life to 1100
Little is known for certain of the Redvers family before Richard. In his Baronage of England (1675–6), William DugdaleWilliam Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...
wrongly identified Richard de Redvers with Richard the son of Baldwin FitzGilbert
Baldwin FitzGilbert
Baldwin fitz Gilbert was a Norman nobleman, the son of Gilbert, Count of Brionne who, along with his brother Richard fitz Gilbert, accompanied William, Duke of Normandy and participated in the conquest of England in 1066. He was also known as Baldwin de Meules et du Sap, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin...
(also known as Baldwin de Meules) who was sheriff of Devon under William the Conqueror. This error was still being repeated in the late 19th century. In around 1890 The Complete Peerage
The Complete Peerage
The Complete Peerage The Complete Peerage The Complete Peerage (full title: The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition revised by the Hon...
advanced the alternative theory that Richard de Redvers was the son of William de Vernon, but later research has cast doubt on this too, suggesting that all that can be said is that his father may have been Baldwin, one of three brothers named Redvers in Normandy in 1060; the other brothers being William, and Richard, who died in that year. Similarly nothing is known of Richard's early life. The Norman poet Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
, writing c.1170, mentions a "sire de Reviers" as one of those who accompanied William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, but it is not known if this was Richard de Reviers.
The first clear references to Richard start to appear in the mid 1080s. In the Domesday Book (1086) he is recorded as holding one manor, that of Mosterton
Mosterton
Mosterton is a village in west Dorset, England, three miles south of Crewkerne. The village has a population of 626 .Home of the Admiral Hood pub, Eeles Pottery, Parrett and Axe Primary School and St...
in Dorset which he may have been given for serving in William the Conqueror's army of 1066. Mortestorne (as Mosterton was then known) was held by Almer before 1066. It had arable land, a mill, 30 acres of meadow and a large area of woodland and was valued at £12.
According to Wace, in 1089 de Redvers was in the service of Robert Curthose, but was allowed to join his younger brother Henry
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
's retinue at Henry's request. William the Conqueror had bequeathed Normandy to his eldest son Robert, but Henry had bought parts of it from him—including the Cotentin
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula, also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy, forming part of the north-western coast of France. It juts out north-westwards into the English Channel, towards Great Britain...
where Néhou, the de Redvers principal possession, was located. Since de Redvers also owned land in the Vexin
Vexin
The Vexin is a historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank of the Seine comprising an area east-to-west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle , and north-to-south between Auneuil and the Seine near Vernon...
which was retained by Robert, he had two lords, and evidently chose to support the one under whom his main property lay. From 1090 when Henry fell out with both his older brothers, Richard de Redvers was unswerving in his support of Henry, so much so that he was mentioned by both Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
and William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges was a contemporary of the events of 1066, and one of our earliest writers on the subject of the Norman Conquest. He is himself a "shadowy figure", only known by his dedicatory letter to King William as a monk of Jumièges...
in their chronicles.
Richard's manor at Mosterton does not appear in the Redvers family records after about 1090 and it may therefore have been forfeited due to his support of Henry against William II
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
. The manor passed to the Blount family which held it until the end of the 14th century.
Under Henry I
When William Rufus died suddenly in 1100 and Henry became king, Richard de Redvers quickly became one of his most trusted advisers. He witnessed more than 20 of Henry's charters & royal writWrit
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
s, in several different places, and sometimes as the only witness. After Richard's death his loyalty was remarked upon by Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
.
His continued allegiance resulted in Henry awarding him several large grants of land: these included the honours of Plympton
Plympton
Plympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
in Devon, Carisbrooke
Carisbrooke Castle
Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke, near Newport, Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial.-Early history:...
on the Isle of Wight and Christchurch
Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in...
in Hampshire (now in Dorset). In addition to these he still held his estates in Normandy in the Cotentin (at Néhou) and Vexin (at Vernon) and he had also acquired the manors of Crowell in Oxfordshire and Woolley in Berkshire on his marriage.
After the grants from the king, Richard's Devon estates probably consisted of around 180 Domesday manors, including Tiverton and Honiton, as well as the boroughs of Exeter and Plympton. The honour of Christchurch consisted of many widely-scattered manors in several counties. He held virtually all of the Isle of Wight (the exceptions being two manors held by the bishop of Winchester), and the island remained in his family until King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
bought it from a dying Isabella de Fortibus
Isabella de Fortibus
Isabella de Fortibus was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon. At the age of 11 or 12 she became the second wife of William de Fortibus who owned land in Yorkshire and Cumberland and was the count of Aumale in Normandy. When he died in 1260 part of his estates were...
in 1293.
According to Robert Bearman, Richard de Redvers can confidently be rated among the twelve wealthiest barons of the time, with estates worth well over £750. It is notable, however, that less than one third of the value of the estates that the king bestowed on him were from ancient demesne (and hence deprived the king of income); the majority were from escheat
Escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without recognised ownership...
s, including the Isle of Wight which the king had confiscated after Roger de Breteul
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford , succeeded to the earldom of Hereford and the English estate of William Fitz-Osbern in 1071.- Disobeying King William :...
's failed Revolt of the Earls
Revolt of the Earls
The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 was a rebellion of three earls against William I of England . It was the last serious act of resistance against William in the Norman Conquest.-Course:...
in 1075. It was probably in the king's interest to have the Isle of Wight under control of someone trustworthy as it was a prime target for further attack from abroad.
Was Richard the first Earl of Devon?
Some early documents suggest that Richard de Redvers was created the first Earl of DevonEarl of Devon
The title of Earl of Devon was created several times in the Peerage of England, and was possessed first by the de Redvers family, and later by the Courtenays...
by Henry I. These documents include (1), the Chronicles of Ford Abbey, which have been shown to be unreliable in several matters relating to the de Redvers family; (2), the Cartulary of Twynham, which apparently follows (3), the rubric
Rubric
A rubric is a word or section of text which is traditionally written or printed in red ink to highlight it. The word derives from the , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier...
appended by a later scribe to a charter issued by Richard himself; and (4), a copy of a charter issued by Richard's wife after his death, in which it is assumed that the transcriber has added the word "comitis" ("earl"); significantly the original charter is lost.
Set against these few documents is the abundant charter evidence that Richard never styled himself earl, nor did any of his children or grandchildren call him such, and neither did his wife after his death call herself Countess. Despite this, for many years the discrepancies caused disagreement over the numbering of the Devon earl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
s. However since the early 20th century the matter appears to be settled, and it is now accepted that the first Earl of Devon was Richard's son, Baldwin
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel.He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magnate never to accept the new king. He seized Exeter, and was a pirate out of Carisbrooke, but he was driven out...
.
Marriage, children and death
Richard had a sister, Adeliz, and may have had a brother named Hugh. Some time after 1086, possibly around 1094, he married Adeliza (or Adeliz), a daughter of William PeverelWilliam Peverel
William Peverell , was a Norman knight, and is shown in 'The Battle Abbey Roll' to have fought at the Battle of Hastings.-Biography:...
of Nottingham and his wife Adelina of Lancaster. They had five children:
- Baldwin de RedversBaldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of DevonBaldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel.He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magnate never to accept the new king. He seized Exeter, and was a pirate out of Carisbrooke, but he was driven out...
, created first Earl of Devon by MatildaEmpress MatildaEmpress 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...
during The AnarchyThe AnarchyThe Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
. He died in 1155. - William de Vernon, married Lucy de Tancarville, daughter of William de Tancarville and his wife Matilda d'Arques. Inherited Richard's lands in Normandy.
- Robert de Ste. Mère-Eglise.
- Hubert de Vernon.
- Hadewise de Redvers, married William de Roumare, Earl of LincolnWilliam de Roumare, Earl of LincolnWilliam de Romare , 1st Earl of Lincoln, 2nd Baron of Kendall, Lord of Bolingbroke....
, c.1127.
Richard de Redvers died on 8 September 1107 and was buried in the Abbey of Montebourg
Montebourg
Montebourg is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-Heraldry:...
in Normandy, of which he was deemed the founder. It has been said that the top of his stone coffin with the word "Fundator" (founder) carved on it was found and preserved by a M. de Gerville. Richard's wife, Adeliza lived on until c.1160.