Robert_de_Beaumont,_4th_Earl_of_Leicester Robert_de_Beaumont,_4th_Earl_of_Leicester

Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester - Definition and Overview

Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died 1204) was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPernel.

He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, and Petronilla, who was either a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of Hugh de Grandmesnil.

As a young man Robert accompanied king Richard I on the Third Crusade, and it was while the crusading forces rested at Messina in Sicily that Robert was invested with his earldom, in early 1191.

Robert's property included a large part of central Normandy, and so on his return from the crusade he turned his attentions to the defense of Normandy from the French. In this effort he was captured in 1193 while defending Rouen. He remained inprisoned for 3 years.

Sometime after his release in 1196 he married Loretta, daughter of William de Braose, Fourth Lord of Bramber. They had no children, and Robert's death in 1204 brought the end of the Beaumont male line.

In the year of his death Normandy was lost to the French, but Robert's great English estates were divided between the heirs of his two sisters. The eldest sister, Amicia, had married the French baron Simon de Montfort, and their son, another Simon de Montfort, inherited half the estate as well as the title of Earl of Leicester. The younger sister, Margaret, had married Saer de Quincy, and they inherited the other half. Three years later Saer was created Earl of Winchester.


Preceded by:
Robert Blanchemains
Lord High Steward
1190–1204
Succeeded by:
Simon de Montfort
Earl of Leicester


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