General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> Robert of /Meulan/
REFN: 3924AN
REFN: P3925
Robert I was 19 and commander of the 3rd division of William the Conqueror
's invading force composed of mercenaries hired by William.  The force con
sisted of Flemish, Frank, and German mercenaries for the right flank of t
he army.  The left flank was the army of the Celtic Bretons from Britta
ny and the center division was William and Normans.
The Conqueror and His Companions
by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald . London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
"Rogier li Veil, cil De Belmont, Assalt Engl eis el primier front." Rom
an De Rou, 1. 13,462. Thus sings the Prebend of Bayeux in direct contradic
tion, as I have already observed, of the Archdeacon o f Lisieux, who as di
stinctly asserts that Roger De Beaumont was left in Normandy, preside
nt of the council
appointed by the Duke to assist his Duchess in its government. There is
more reason, however, to discredit Wace in this inst ance than even in the
former one, as Orderic corroborates the statement of th e Archdeacon that
it was Robert, the eldest son of Roger De Beaumont, who was the companion
of the Conqueror in 1066, and whom he describes as "a novice i n arms."
Mr. Taylor, in his translation of the poem, has mentioned also that in
the MS. of Wace, in the British Museum, the name is Robert, though the
e pithet "le Viel" is not appropriate to his then age. Might not "le Viel"
be a clerical error for "De Vielles," the name of Roger's father, which
is latini zed into "De Vitulis"? Roger De Beaumont would of course have
been De Vielles as well as his father. The latinizing of proper names
cannot be too much dep lored and deprecated.
Of Roger, Count De Beaumont, it is unanimously recorded that he was the
noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Nor mandy, and
the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish family. Son of
Humphrey De Vielles, and grandson of Thorold De Pontaudemer, a descendant
o f the Kings of Denmark, through Bernard the Dane, a companion of the
first No rman Conqueror, Duke Rollo, illustrious as was such as origin in
the eyes of his countrymen, he considered his alliance with Adelina,
Countess of Meulent, sufficiently honorable and important to induce him
to adopt the title of her family in preference to that of his own.
We have already heard of his first g reat exploit, when, as a young man,
in the early years of Duke William, he De feated the turbulent Roger de
Toeni, who with his two sons were slain in that sanguinary conflict (vide
p. 19, ante). Towards the invading fleet he contri buted, according to
Taylor's List, sixty vessels, and being at that time adva nced in years,
and selected to superintend the affairs of the duchy, sent his young son
Robert to win his spurs at Senlac.
In that memorable battle he is said to have given proof of courage and
intelligence beyond his years, and p romise of the high reputation he
would eventually obtain, and which won for h im the surname of Prudhomme.
"A certain Norman young soldier," writes William of Poitou, "son of Roger
De Bellomont, and nephew and heir of Hugh, Count of Meulent, by Adelina,
his sister, making his first onset in that fight, did w hat deserves
lasting fame, boldly charging and breaking in upon the enemy wit h the
troops he commanded in the right wing of the army."
His services were rewarded by ninety manors in Warwickshire,
Leicestershire, Wiltshire, and Nor thamptonshire. In 1080 he, with his
brother Henry, afterwards Earl of Warwick , were amongst the barons who
exerted themselves to reconcile King William to his son Robert
Court-heuse, and in 1081 he subscribed a charter of confirmat ion in
favour of the Abbey of Fécamp. This was the last document he signed in
the name of Beaumont, for his mother dying in year, he thenceforth wrote
h imself Comte De Meulent, and did homage to Philip I, King of France, for
the lands to which he succeeded in that kingdom, and in 1082 sat