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DE MONTGOMERY Roger II
Birth:          ABT 1024 St. Germain-de-Montgomery, Normandy
Death:          27 Jul 1094 Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
Burial:         Abbey of St Peters, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Notes
other sites fairly consistent. Wife had kids over a long period of time. There are
other kids not listed b/c not in ancestry.
also Sire d'Alencon, Sees, Belleme, Trun, Saint Sylvin of Thuit Montagu-la-Brisette 
and Bernay, obtained Arundel and Chichester 25 Dec 1067
founded the Abbey of Shrewsbury 1053, Abbaye de Traorn
Regent of England and Normandy, Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_de_Montgomerie,_1st_Earl_of_Shrewsbury
Roger de Montgomerie (died 1094), also known as Roger the Great de Montgomery, 
was the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Earl of Arundel, Sussex. His father was Roger de 
Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery, and was a relative, probably a grandnephew, of 
the Duchess Gunnor, wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy. The elder Roger had large 
holdings in central Normandy, chiefly in the valley of the Dives, which the younger 
Roger inherited.
Life[edit]

Roger was one of William the Conqueror's principal counsellors, playing a major role in 
the Council of Lillebonne. He may not have fought in the initial invasion of England in 
1066, instead staying behind to help govern Normandy. According to Wace’s Roman 
de Rou, however, he commanded the Norman right flank at Hastings, returning to 
Normandy with King William in 1067.[1] Afterwards he was entrusted with land in two 
places critical for the defence of England, receiving the Rape of Arundel at the end of 
1067 (or in early 1068), and in November 1071 he was created Earl of Shrewsbury; a 
few historians believe that while he received the Shropshire territories in 1071 he was 
not created Earl until a few years later.

Roger was thus one of the half dozen greatest magnates in England during William the 
Conqueror's reign. William gave Earl Roger nearly all of what is now the county of 
West Sussex, which at the time of the Domesday Survey was the Rape of Arundel.[2] 
The Rape of Arundel was eventually split into two rapes, one continuing with the 
name Rape of Arundel and the other became the Rape of Chichester.[2] Besides the 
83 manors in Sussex, his possessions also included seven-eighths of Shropshire which 
was associated with the earldom of Shrewsbury, he had estates in Surrey (4 manors), 
Hampshire (9 manors), Wiltshire (3 manors), Middlesex (8 manors), Gloucestershire (1 
manor), Worcestershire (2 manors), Cambridgeshire (8 manors), Warwickshire (11 
manors) and Staffordshire (30 manors).[3] The income from Roger’s estates would 
amount to about £2000 per year, in 1086 the landed wealth for England was around 
£72,000, so it would have represented almost 3% of the nation’s GDP.[4][5]

After William I's death in 1087, Roger joined with other rebels to overthrow the newly 
crowned King William II in the Rebellion of 1088. However, William was able to 
convince Roger to abandon the rebellion and side with him. This worked out 
favourably for Roger, as the rebels were beaten and lost their land holdings in 
England.

Roger first married Mabel de Bellême, who was heiress to a large territory straddling 
the border between Normandy and Maine. The medieval chronicler Orderic Vitalis 
paints a picture of Mabel of Bellême being a scheming and cruel woman.[6] She was 
murdered by Hugh Bunel and his brothers, who in December 1077? rode into her 
castle of Bures-sur-Dive and cut off her head as she lay in bed.[6][7] Their motive for 
the murder was that Mabel had deprived them of their paternal inheritance.[8] Roger 
and Mabel had 10 children:
Robert de Bellême, Count of Alençon in 1082, he succeeded his younger brother Hugh 
as 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury. He married Agnes, Countess of Ponthieu and died in 1131.
[9]
Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, died without issue 1098.[10]
Roger the Poitevin, Vicomte d'Hiemois, married Adelmode de la Marche.[11]
Philip of Montgomery.[12]
Arnulf of Montgomery,[12] married Lafracota daughter of Muirchertach Ua Briain.[13]
Sibyl of Montgomory, she married Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Creully.[14]
Emma, abbess of Almenêches.[15]
Matilda (Maud) of Montgomery, she married Robert, Count of Mortain and died c. 
1085.[16]
Mabel of Montgomery, she married Hugh de Châteauneuf.[12]
Roger of Montgomery, died young.

Roger then married Adelaide du Puiset, by whom he had one son, Everard, who 
entered the Church.

After his death, Roger's estates were divided.[17] The eldest surviving son, Robert of 
Bellême, received the bulk of the Norman estates (as well as his mother's estates); the 
next son, Hugh, received the bulk of the English estates and the Earldom of 
Shrewsbury.[17] After Hugh's death the elder son Robert inherited the earldom.[17]
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I01255
Shrewsbury, Earldom of: In early December 1074 Roger de Montgomery was created 
Earl of Shropshire or Shrewsbury. As with other medieval earldoms, little distinction 
was then made between the county town and county proper when designating a 
specific name for a title, chiefly because an earl, who was then more or less and 
official, albeit often hereditary, was inconceivable except as earl of a county.

Roger was son of another Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of the Norman places (St 
Germain-de-Montgomery and Ste-Foy-de-Montgomery) of that name in the Calvados 
region. He was a prominent member of the nobles grouped around William (later 
William I of England, The Conqueror) of Normandy well before the 1066 invasion of 
England but stayed behind in Normandy during the actual enterprise. The year after 
Hastings he went to England and received land grants in Sussex. He is thought to 
have constructed the Castle of Montgomery (now in Powys, but formerly named 
Mongomeryshire after his family), doing so shortly before the Domesday Survey. 
[Burke's Peerage, p. 2604]

--------------------------------

EARLDOM OF SHREWSBURY (I) 1074

EARLDOM OF ARUNDEL (I) 1067

ROGER DE MONTGOMERY (who, in right of his 1st wife, Mabel de Bellême, daughter 
of William TALVAS, was LORD OF ALENCON, SEEZ, &c., in Normandy), having during 
the invasion of England, remained, as REGENT, in Normandy, came over thence, for 
the first time, with King William, in December 1067, and, at the Christmas festival, was 
created an EARL, receiving, among other large grants from the Conqueror, about one 
third of the county of Sussex, including the city of Chichester and the CASTLE OF 
ARUNDEL.(a) By this last grant he may be considered to have become EARL OF 
ARUNDEL, according to the remarkable admission(b) in 1433 on the claim to that 
Earldom. At all events he was frequently so styled, though, occasionally, he is styled 
EARL OF CHICHESTER. Dugdale and many later writers consider him to have been 
EARL OF SUSSEX. On the dismemberment of Mercia, in 1070, another Earldom was 
conferred on him, by the grant of nearly the whole of Shropshire (with, apparently, 
Palatine authority), together with the Castles of Shrewsbury and Montgomery, and the 
Lordship of the West Marches. He was thenceforth generally known as EARL OF 
SHREWSBURY, though occasionally (according to modern views, more correctly) as 
EARL OF SHROPSHIRE. He is the "COMES ROGIERUS " of the Domesday survey, 
where, of course, no local designation is attributed to him. He died 27 July 1094.

(a)This formed the Honour of Arundel, which consisted of the rapes of Arundel and 
Chichester, being two out of the six rapes into which Sussex is divided. It contained, 
besides the city of Chichester and the Castle of Arundel (as abovenamed), 84 1/2 
knights' fees, ten hundreds (with their forests, woods and chases), three lordships 
(Halnaker, Petworth and Midhurst) eighteen parks and seventy-seven manors. See 
Tierney's Hist. of Arundel, p. 12. G.E.C.

It is pointed out however to the Editor by J. H. Round that, according to the latest 
view of archeologists, the castle may have been erected by Roger of Montgomery 
himself, after obtaining possession of the Honour. V.G.

(b)The claim to the Earldom as being one by tenure of the Castle of Arundel was made 
by John Arundel, who had been sum. to Parl. in 1429, the writ being directed "Johanni 
ArundeIl' de Arundell' Chivaler." In I433 (II Hen. VI) he petitioned [as Earl of Arundel] 
to be sum. to Parl. and considered as Earl of Arundel, a dignity or name united and 
annexed to the Castle and Lordship of Arundel, for time whereof memory of man was 
not to the contrary--a peculiar and distinct claim (as stated in the First Report on the 
Dignity of a Peer, p. 406), " not connected with any general, but asserting a special 
right, and which being founded on prescription, was to be supported by evidence of 
constant and immemorial enjoyment of the asserted right, which right if not shown to 
have been so constantly enjoyed, the title by prescription failed. This claim, though 
opposed by John (Mowbray), Duke of Norfolk, was admitted by the Crown, 
notwithstanding that the assertion of the constant annexation of the title to the Castle 
of Arundel could not have been sustained, had it been (which it was not) made the 
subject of an enquiry." (Courthope, p. 30).

The claim then of 1433 was, as is stated above, "admitted by the Crown, or so far 
admitted as that the assertion in the petition is made the consideration (with others not 
connected with the question) for the King's acceding to it, with a saving, 
nevertheless, of the right of the King, of the Duke of Norfolk (who, being a coheir of 
the Earls of Arundel, had opposed the Earl's claim) and of every other person; which 
saving clause, as is remarked in the First Report on the Dignity of a Peer, was that 
species of saving which is deemed in law illusory operating nothing.' (Courthope, p. 
xx). See also Tierney's Historv of Arundel (vol. i, p. 106), where the judgment is set 
out, reciting "that Richard Fitz Alan was seized of the Castle, Honour and Lordship [of 
Arundel] in fee; that, by reason of his possession thereof, he was, without other 
reason or creation, EARL oF ARUNDEL, - &c."; and stating also, that "the King, 
contemplating the person of the present claimant, now Earl of Arundel, &c., has, with 
the advice and assent of the Prelates, Dukes, Earls and Barons in this present Parl. 
assembled, admitted John, now Earl of Arundel, to the place and seat anciently 
belonging to the Earls of Arundel in Parl. and council."

Almost similar words are used in the Act of Parl. obtained in 1627, which, in form of a 
petition to the King recites that the Earldom of Arundel had been real and local from 
the time whereof the memory of man was not to the contrary, and had, from the time 
aforesaid, been used and enjoyed bv the petitioner and such of his ancestors as had 
possessed the Castle of Arundel, &c. Now it is to be noted that the claimant of 1433 
alleged that his ancestors, the possessors of Arundel, were Earls of Arundel, both bs
(ore, as well as after, the Conquest. Fortunately, however King Harold and his father, 
Earl Godwin, have not to be included, and still less a long shadowy race of Earls 
extending upwards towards (even if not including) primeval man. The words "memory 
of man " must, of course, be read in their strict legal significance, as indicating the 
reign of Richard I, so that the Act of 1627 (and, possibly, the admission of 1433 also) 
would not apply to any Earl of Arundel, prior to I I 89.

The Redesdale Committee remarks on these proceedings that they "ought to be 
considered as an anomaly influenced by political views, and decided apparently 
without much discussion, and without the assistance of the judges." Moreover the 
assertion of fact by the claimant as to the Earldom having always depended on 
possession of the Castle in the past "seems not to have been true, and not to have 
been made the subject of enquiry when the question was decided." For a similar case 
of a charter creating a peerage, and setting out, as facts, unfounded statements of 
the grantee, see the Barony of LISLE, cr. 1444, in the same reign.

[Complete Peerage I:230-33, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

--------------------------------

He [Roger de Montgomery, probably 3rd but 1st surviving son and heir of Roger I de 
Montgomery by Josceline, a niece of the duchess Gunnor] m. 1stly, probably between 
1050 and 1054, Mabel, daughter and heir of William Talvas (5th son of William de 
Belleme, seigneur of Belleme and Alencon), by his 1st wife, Hildeburg, daughter of 
Arnulf, who has not been identified; she d. 2 Dec 1079, being murdered at Bures by 
Hugh Bunel, son of Robert de "Jalgeio", from whom she had taken the "castrum quod 
in rupe Jalgeii situm est", and was buried 5 Dec at Troarn. He m. 2ndly, Adelaide, 
daughter of Everard de Puiset. Roger d. 27 July 1094 at Shrewsbury and having been 
clothed as a monk three days before his death was buried there in the abbey which he 
had founded. [Complete Peerage XI:683-7, (above extracted starting in page 686)]

--------------------------------

The following additional information was supplied in a post-em by Curt Hofemann, 
curt_hofemann AT yahoo.com:

Seigneur of Montgomery and vicomte of the Heismois [Ref: CP XI:683]
Earl of Arundel or Earl of Chichester, Earl of Shropshire or Salop, called Earl of 
Montgomery, Seigneur de Bellesme et d'Alencon [Ref: Watney p696]

Seigneur de Montgomery, Vicomte of Heismois, Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, 
Regent of Normandy and England [Ref: Moriarty p44]

Viscount of the Hiemois, Lord of the West Marches, Earl of Chichester, Shropshire, 
and Sussex [Ref: Turton]
1048: accompanied Duke William on his expedition against Domfront and Alencon 
[Ref: CP XI:683]
1066: was with the Duke while preparations were in progress for the invasion of 
England, but did not accompany the expedition [Ref: CP XI:683]

Dec 1067: accompanied the King to England and thereupon received a grant of 
Arundel and Chichester [Ref: CP XI:683]
1086: 'Comtes Rogerus' at Domesday [Ref: Watney p696]
1st Earl of Shrewsbury [Ref: Doug Smith message to soc.genealogy.medieval 27 Apr 
2002]
Roger Earl of Shrewsbury. Also Roger of Montgomery. From Saint Germain de 
Montgomery, near Lisieux. Lord of Sussex rape of Arundel, with castle there; Earl of 
Shrewsbury from 1071-74 to death in 1094. Holdings in 12 counties in south, east and 
west. [Ref: Domesday Online]

Shropshire and the Domesday Book in 1086:
Roger de Montgomery II, better known as Earl Roger in the Domesday, but officially 
the seigneur of Montgomery, was the major recipient of Shropshire holdings. An old 
man of considerable wealth and power, he contributed 60 ships to the invasion fleet 
and was in command of a wing at the Battle of Hastings. He returned to Normandy 
with Queen Matilda, and the young Duke Robert as Duke William's representative in 
Normandy. He became head of the council that governed the Duchy of Normandy in 
Duke William's frequent absences in England. The Norman Montgomery family 
ancestry was closely interwoven either by blood or marriage with the Duchy of 
Normandy. However, the family history in Normandy was not without blemish. Roger 
had four brothers, Hugh, Robert, William and Gilbert. All four brothers were murdered 
in revenge for the murder of Osberne de Crepon, guardian of Duke William. Roger was 
the survivor. Continuing, Roger de Montgomery had four sons. Eldest was Robert, 
Count of Alencon, and successor in Normandy to his vast estates which he still held 
for his father Roger as his chief domain. He was followed by second son, Hugh, who 
inherited the Earldom of Arundel, Chichester and Shrewsbury, the life custodian of the 
main Montgomery family domains granted in England. These would eventually go to 
Robert in 1098, purchased from William Rufus for 3000 pounds. Next youngest was 
Count Roger de Poitou who was made the first Earl of Lancaster by Duke William of 
Normandy, a less maganamious grant which befitted the third youngest son. Philip, the 
youngest, remained in Normandy and accompanied Duke Robert on the first crusade 
to the Holy land, and died there in 1094.

Earl Roger was responsible to Duke William of Normandy as his chief architect in the 
defence of the middle marches of the border in his defence against the Welsh. He 
built many castles including Montgomery, Shrewsbury, Arundel, Ludlow, Clun, Hopton 
and Oswestry. His son, Robert, described at the Conquest as a 'novice in arms', but 
who might have been 40 by the Domesday, represented his father Earl Roger, and 
created some confusion in the records. Roger, the father, became the Earl of 
Shrewsbury and the Earl of Arundel in England, and retained his domains in Normandy 
at Bailleul (Kings of Scotland), Belmeis (Beaumais), Pantulf, Vimoutiers, Say and 
Tornai. However, Earl Roger also became confused with Roger de Beaumont in 
Normandy, who, it is claimed, was also head of the council in Normandy. [found this 
online but didn't cite URL, sorry. Try google: keywords: (title above)]

Earl Roger's Shropshire Land Holdings
Alveley, Baschurch, Berwick (Shrewsbury), Cheney Longville, Chetton, Chirbury, 
Claverley, Corfham, Culmington, Donington, Dudston, Eardington, Edenhope, 
Edgmond, Ellesmere, Fenemere, Ford, High Ercall, Hockleton, Hodnet, Kingsmordley, 
Leebotwood, Loppington, Lydham, Minsterley, Montford, Morville, Netley, Oswestry, 
Poynton, Pulley, Quatford, Quatt, Rhiston, Romsley, Rorrington, Rowton, Rudge, 
Ruyton, Shavington, Shawbury, Shifnall, Shipley, Shrewsbury, Siefton, Smethcott, 
Spoonley, Stottesdon, Stretton, The Marsh, Tong Tuange, Walcot, Wellington, 
Whittingslow, Whittington, Wilderley, Wistanstow, Withington, Woodcote(Newport), 
Wotherton, Wrockwardine, Ackley, Aston, Basley, Churchstoke

[Ref: http://www.genealogyweb.com/Shropshire.htm]

Regards,
Curt

Parents
DE MONTGOMERY Roger (or Hugh) (ABT 1000 - AFT 1040)
DE PONTEAUDEMER Josceline (ABT  989 - AFT 1068)

Siblings
DE MONTGOMERY Roger II (ABT 1024 - 27 Jul 1094)

Marriage To TALVAS (DE ALENCON) Mabel (ABT 1024 - 2 Dec 1079) m. Oct 1040 Notes his 1st Parents TALVAS DE BELLEME William II "de Alencon" (ABT 995 - ABT 1052) DE BEAUMONT Hildeburge () Children by TALVAS (DE ALENCON) Mabel ABT 1024 - 2 Dec 1079
DE MONTGOMERY Maude (Matilda) (ABT 1041 - ABT 1085) DE BELLEME (DE ALENCON) (MONTGOMERY) Robert II "Talvas" (ABT 1050 - 8 May 1131) MONTGOMERY Roger "the Poitevin" (ABT 1054 - 1123) DE MONTGOMERY Hugh (ABT 1055 - 31 Jul 1098) DE MONTGOMERY Sibyl (ABT 1058 - 1107) DE MONTGOMERY Arnulph (ABT 1066 - ABT 1120)
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