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Birth:          ABT 1037 Mortaigne, Normandy
Death:          8 Dec 1090 France
Burial:         Grestain Abbey

Notes
was in command of the men at Cotentin
companion of his half-brother William the Conqueror at the Batlle of Hastings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert,_Count_of_Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (c.?1031–1090) was a Norman 
nobleman and the uterine half-brother of William the Conqueror. He was one of the 
very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings and as 
recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 was one of the greatest landholders in his 
half-brother's new Kingdom of England.
Life[edit]

Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and brother of Odo 
of Bayeux.[1] Robert was born c.?1031 in Normandy, a half-brother of William the 
Conqueror.[2] and was probably not more than a year or so younger than his brother 
Odo, born c.?1030.[1][3] About 1035, Herluin, as Vicomte of Conteville, along with his 
wife Herleva and Robert, founded Grestain Abbey.[4]

Count of Mortain[edit]

In c.?1049 his brother Duke William made him Count of Mortain,[5] in place of William 
Werlenc, who had been banished by Duke William; according to Orderic Vitalis, on a 
single word.[6] William Werlenc was a grandson of Duke Richard I[7] and therefore a 
cousin once removed to William, Duke of Normandy.[7] Securing the southern border 
of Normandy was critical to Duke William and Robert was entrusted with this key 
county which guarded the borders of Brittany and Bellême.[8]

Conquest of England[edit]

In early 1066, Robert was present at both the first council of Lillebonne, that of 
William's inner circle, and the second larger council held to discuss the Duke's 
planned conquest of England. Robert agreed to provide 120 ships to the invasion 
fleet,[9] which was more than any other of William's magnates.[10] Robert was one of 
those few known to have been at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.[11] He is pictured at 
a dinner at Pevensey on the Bayeux Tapestry, seated with his brothers William and 
Odo on the day of the landing in England.[10] When granting the monastery of St 
Michael's Mount to the Norman monastery on the Mont Saint-Michel Robert recorded 
that he had fought at the Battle of Hastings under the banner of St Michel (habens in 
bello Sancti Michaelis vexillum).[12][13]

Lands granted by William the Conqueror[edit]

Robert's contribution to the success of the invasion was clearly regarded as highly 
significant by the Conqueror, who awarded him a large share of the spoils; in total 797 
manors at the time of Domesday.[14] The greatest concentration of his honors lay in 
Cornwall where he held virtually all of that county and was considered by some the 
Earl of Cornwall.[a][14] While Robert held lands in twenty counties, the majority of his 
holdings in certain counties was as few as five manors. The overall worth of his 
estates was £2100.[15] He administered most of his southwestern holdings from 
Launceston, Cornwall, and Montacute in Somerset.[15] The holding of single greatest 
importance was the rape of Pevensey (east Sussex) which protected one of the more 
vulnerable parts of the south coast of England.[15]

Later life[edit]

In 1069, together with Robert of Eu, he led an army against a force of Danes in 
Lindsay and effected great slaughter against them.[14] After that there is little mention 
of Robert who appears to have been an absentee landholder spending the majority of 
his time in Normandy.[16] Along with his brother Odo he participated in a revolt in 
1088 against William II but afterwards he was pardoned.[14] On 8 December 1090 
Robert died and chose to be buried at the Abbey of Grestain,[14] near his father and 
next to his first wife Matilda.[16]

Character[edit]

He was described by William of Malmesbury in his Gesta Regum as a man of stupid 
dull disposition (crassi et hebetis ingenii).[17] William the Conqueror considered him 
one of his greatest supporters and trusted him with the important county of Mortain.
[17] Further clues to his character are found in the Vita of Vitalis of Savigny, a very 
wise monk who Robert sought out as his chaplain.[17] One incident tells of Robert 
beating his wife and Vital, intervening, threatened to end the marriage if Robert did 
not repent.[18] In still another entry Vital tells of his leaving Robert's service abruptly 
and after being escorted back to him, Robert begged for Vital's pardon for his 
actions.[18] Overall, Robert was proficient in every duty William assigned him, he was 
a religious man yet ill-tempered enough to beat his wife, but was not known as a man 
of great wisdom.[18]

Family[edit]

Robert was married to Matilda, daughter of Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of 
Shrewsbury, before 1066[14] and together they had:
William, Count of Mortain, who succeeded him.[1]
Agnes who married André de Vitré, seigneur of Vitré.[1]
Denise, married in 1078 to Guy, 3rd Sire de La Val.[1]
Emma of Mortain, the wife of William IV of Toulouse.[1]

After Matilda de Montgomery's death c.?1085[19] Robert secondly married Almodis.
[14] The couple had no children.

Portrayals on screen[edit]

On screen, Robert has been portrayed by Gordon Whiting in the two-part BBC TV play 
Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625, and by Richard Ireson in the TV 
drama Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990).

Parents
DE CONTEVILLE Herlevin (Harlevin) (ABT 1001 - ABT 1066)
DE FALAISE Herleve (Harlette) (Arlotta) (ABT 1003 - ABT 1050)

Siblings
____ Odo (ABT 1030 - Feb 1096)
DE CONTEVILLE Emma (ABT 1033 - )
DE CONTEVILLE Muriel (ABT 1034 - )
DE MORTAIGNE [DE CONTEVILLE] Robert (ABT 1037 - 8 Dec 1090)
DE CONTEVILLE ----- (ABT 1042 - )

Marriage To DE MONTGOMERY Maude (Matilda) (ABT 1041 - ABT 1085)
    m. ABT 1054 

Notes

Parents
DE MONTGOMERY Roger II (ABT 1024 - 27 Jul 1094)
TALVAS (DE ALENCON) Mabel (ABT 1024 - 2 Dec 1079)

Children by DE MONTGOMERY Maude (Matilda) ABT 1041 - ABT 1085
DE MORTAIGNE Agnes (ABT 1057 - )
DE MORTAIGNE Emma (ABT 1058 - AFT 1080)

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