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DE VIPONT [DE VIEUXPONT] Robert
Birth: ABT 1164 Brougham Castle, Westmorland, England
Death: 1227
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Vieuxpont
Robert de Vieuxpont (died 1227/8) (alias Vipont, also Veteripont Latinized to de
Vetere Ponte ("from the Old Bridge")) was an Anglo-Norman landowner and
administrator in the north of England.
Origins[edit]
He was born the younger son of William de Vieuxpont and his wife Maud de Morville.
Career[edit]
He entered royal service and was initially employed in Normandy as a paymaster of
troops and director of military works, including those on Rouen Castle. He was
rewarded in February 1203 by being given custody of Appleby Castle and Brough
Castle, to which the lordship of Westmorland was added a month later, together with
the office of Sheriff of Westmorland, to be held in perpetuity by his heirs.
After returning from Normandy with King John in late 1203 Vieuxpont became
increasingly involved in northern administration. In October 1204 he became High
Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests including control of
Nottingham Castle, an important power base and store of the royal treasury. In 1206
he was a justice and assessor of tallage in the northern counties, in 1207 he was
given custody of the See of York, and in April 1208 custody of the See of Durham.
From 1210 to 1216 he was Sheriff of Devon and from 1210-1213 Sheriff of Wiltshire.
He was highly trusted by King John, who put in his care both his treasury, his son
Richard and his niece Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany. In 1216 he was also entrusted
with the custody of Cumberland Castle and Carlisle Castle and from 1217 to 1222 was
appointed made Sheriff of Cumberland. He successfully defended his extensive
landholdings from Scottish depredation, and built Brougham Castle in the process.
Marriage and children[edit]
In 1213 he married Idonea de Builli, the daughter of John de Builli, a descendant of
Roger de Busli, which match brought him more land and honours. By Idonea he had
children:
John Vipont (died 1242), who left children: John Vipont (died 1241)
Robert de Vieuxpont (died 1264), who died from wounds received at the Battle of
Lewes (1264) fighting on the side of Simon de Montfort. Following the defeat of de
Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 and the return of King Henry III to power,
Robert II's estate was seized by the Crown, but was later returned as part of a
settlement with the reform leaders, and the Vieuxpont inheritance was divided in
moieties between the daughters and co-heiresses of Robert II, Isabella and Idonea.
On the death of Idonea Vipont her moiety was regained by Isabella's husband Roger
de Clifford, who thenceforth held one of the greatest northern lordships, ancestor of
Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford (c. 1274 – 1314), Feudal baron of Skipton.
Christiana Vipont, whom her father married off to his ward Thomas de Greystoke, son
and heir of William de Greystoke, baron of Greystoke in Cumberland.
Death[edit]
In 1227 he bequeathed his body and his estate at Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, to
the Knights Templar, and died at some time before 1 February 1228.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I07526
Thanks to Curt Hofemann for the following information:
Robert de VIPONT, of Appleby
Lord of Appleby, Westmoreland. Sheriff of Caen in Normandy, and of many English
counties, and for 24 years Sheriff of Westmoreland [Ref: Watney p1011]
1203-4: custody of Appleby and Brough, co Westmorland, was granted for the service
of 4 knights fees. [Ref: Sanders p103] entrusted with the education and custody of
the King's son, Richard, afterwards Earl of Cornwall [Ref: Watney p. 1011] had the
custody of the castles of Windsor, Bowes, Salisbury, and Carlisle [Ref: Watney p.
1011] Robert de VIPONT, of Appleby, Westmorland ( - 1228) m. Idonea de BUILLI ( - ?
1240) dau. & heir of John de Builli by Cecily de Bussy [Ref: Richard Borthwick 12 Mar
1998 msg to SGM citing: Sanders 1963, 103-04, 133] Robert de Veteri Ponte has
Thomas son of William son of Randulf and his land in ward (custodia) by King John;
and to the same Thomas he married his daughter; and his land is worth 50£ a year.
[Ref: Patricia Junkin 11 Jan 2004 msg to SGM citing: Victoria History of the Counties
of England: Cumberland]
VETERI PONTE, ROBERT DE. Just. Itin. 1218.
The ancestor of Robert de Veteri Ponte (Vieuxpont, or Vipont) was of the same name,
and flourished in the reign of the Conqueror. Being killed in battle in 1085, another
Robert, supposed to be his son, is introduced in 1107, 7 Henry I., as present at the
raising of the siege of Antioch. In the same reign, 31 Henry I.(4-496), a William de
Vipont occurs in a contest for certain lands in Devonshire, to be determined by battle.
Whether he was the son of Robert is not stated; but in 4 John, as full possession of
the lordship of Vipont in Normandy was given to him, as his brother Robert had when
he went into France after the war. Of the last-mentioned Robert it is said that in 5
Henry II., 1159, he paid twenty marks to have a trial of his lands in Devonshire; and
that in 12 Henry II., 1166, he had eight knights' fees of the honour of Totness. So far
the story is told from Dugdale's Baronage, (vol. i. p. 347). But when he proceeds to
relate of this same Robert the facts that apply to Robert de Veteri Ponte, the subject
of this notice, some doubt may be entertained whether they are not different
individuals; inasmuch as, considering that the death of the latter did not occur till
1228, the interval appears too long from 1159, when he was old enough to contest the
possession of his lands, to warrant a presumption that they were identical.
Be this as it may, there is no doubt that this Robert held an office in the Treasury at
the beginning of the reign of King John, and probably at the end of that of Richard I.
The Rotulus Cancellarius of 3 John makes him account for several ferms in
Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, for the 9 and 10 Richard I. In 2 John he
obtained the custody of the land and heir of Richard de Scirington, in
Buckinghamshire(1-497); and in the same year the necessaries for the queen and her
company, at Marlborough, were ordered to be provided "per testimonium Roberti de
Veteri Ponte." Similar entries are recorded in 3 and 5 John.(2-497) From this time the
rolls contain numerous orders to him to pay money from the treasury, showing his
connection with that department. They evidence also his continual attendance on the
king, and that prisoners taken in the French war were in his custody.(3-497)
That his services were at this time highly appreciated by his royal master, ample proof
is given by the grant he received, in 4 John, of the castles of Appleby and Burgh, with
the barony of the former, including divers manors and castles, among which was
Brougham Castle. To these was added the sheriffwick of the county of Westmoreland
(4-497), which remained in his family long after the male branch of it became extinct.
In 5 John the castle of Bowes, in Richmondshire, was committed to him, and was
delivered to his nephew Eudo to keep(5-497); and various other evidences are
recorded of the favour which he then enjoyed. In that year, also, the bailiwick of
Caen, in Normandy, was committed to his charge, as that of Rouen had been in the
previous year.(1-498) In the following year he was appointed constable of Nottingham
Castle, with the sheriffalty of that county and of Derby(2-498), in which he continued
till 11 John.
Up to this period he does not appear to have acted in a judicial capacity: but in 8
John, Mr. Hunter introduces him into his list of justiciers before whom fines were
acknowledged. As his name does not occur in any of the fines of the counties hitherto
published, it is uncertain whether they were levied at Westminster or in the country. It
is not improbable that he performed this duty in one of his journeys with the king, who
frequently was himself present on these occasions. This, however, was the sole year
in John's reign in which he is so noticed. During the remainder of it, he was actively
engaged in many responsible and important trusts.
In 9 John, he had the custody of the bishoprick of Durham; and had a patent of
approval and confirmation of the sale he had made of the woods, and the terms on
which he had let the lands, of the Archbishop of York.(3-498) From 12 to 17 John, he
held the sheriffalty of Devonshire; and from 12 to 15 John, that of Wiltshire. He
accompanied the king to Ireland and Wales in 12 John(4-498); and adhered to him
both during the interdict, and in his subsequent wars against the barons.(5-497) The
king's son, Richard, was committed to his charge, to be taken to his father(6-498);
and in 17 John he was entrusted with the custody of the castles of Carlisle and
Durham, together with the county of Cumberland, and all the manors on the Tyne and
the Tees(7-498); and, with Brian de Insula and Geoffrey de Luci, was appointed the
king's lieutenant of all the castles and other royal possessions in Yorkshire.(1-499)
The first notice under the reign of Henry III. is a grant to him of the manor of
Hardingesthorn in Northamptonshire, which belonged to his brother Yvo, who had
joined the insurgent barons(2-499): a grant probably made with a view to its ulterior
restoration to his brother. He was among the loyal barons at the siege of the castle of
Montsorel, and assisted in the relief of Lincoln(3-499); receiving in reward the forfeited
possessions of several of the rebels. In 3 Henry III. he was made Sheriff of
Cumberland; and was also selected as one of the justices itinerant in the counties of
York and Northumberland; and again performed the same duty in 10 Hen. III. in
Yorkshire. Dugdale adds that fines were levied before him in the following year. Roger
de Wendover states that he was one of the barons who continued to plunder after the
termination of the war with Louis of France; and that after some resistance, he was
obliged, in 1224, to deliver up to the king the castles !
he had in his custody.(4-499) The above appointments, however, as justice itinerant,
with several instances of favours and employments conferred upon him about the
same time, manifest no great animosity on the part of the government. Thus, in 7
Henry III., 1222, five bucks and fifteen does were given to him from the forest of Clive
for his park at Isenden; two years afterwards, his debts to the king were respited from
February to Michaelmas; and in the ensuing May, the quinzime of Westmoreland and
of the bishoprick of Carlisle was directed to be collected under his conduct.(5-499)
He died in 12 Henry III., previous to March 2, 1228, leaving his wife surviving, who
was Idonea, the daughter of John de Builly, Lord of Tickhill, and who lived till
October, 1242. By her he had a son named John, a minor at his father's death, who
died a few months before his mother, leaving a son Robert, on whose death, without
male issue, in 49 Henry III., at the battle of Evesham, his possessions, though seized
by the king, were regranted to his two daughters, one of whom, Isabel, married Roger
de Clifford, a justice itinerant in this reign, ancestor of the present Baroness de
Clifford, and of Lord Clifford of Chudleigh; and the other, Idonea, married first Roger
de Leyburn, and secondly John de Cromwell.(1-500)
(4-496) Dugdale places this fact in the reign of Stephen, quoting Rot. Pip. 5 Steph.
That record, however, has been subsequently proved to belong to 31 Henry I. See
ante, vol. i. p. 76.
(1-497) Rot. de Oblatis, 2 John, 129.
(2-497) Rot. de Liber. 2 John, 7. 15.; Rot. Cancell. 3 John, 306.
(3-497) Rot. Pat. 4 John, 9. 12, 13, 14, 15. 21. 23.
(4-497) Rot. Pat. 4 John, 25. 27.
(5-497) Rot. de Liber. 5 John, 63.
(1-498) Rot Pat. 4 John, 26., 5 John, 33.
(2-498) Ibid. 6 John, 46.
(3-498) Ibid. 9 John, 76. 81.
(4-498) Rot. Misae, 141-231.
(5-498) Roger de Wendover, iii. 237. 301.
(6-498) Rot. Pat . 15 John, 104.
(7-498) Rot. Claus. i. 225.; Rot. Pat. 152. 163.
(1-499) Roger de Wendover, iii. 353.
(2-499) Rot. Claus. 1 Henry III., i. 299.
(3-499) Roger de Wendover, iv. 15. 19.
(4-499) Ibid. 34. 93.
(5-499) Rot. Claus. i. 518., ii. 15. 75.
(1-500) Dugdale's Baron. i. 347.; Nicolas's Synopsis. [Ref: Edward Foss, _Judges of
England_, II:495-500]
******
VIEUXPONT or VIPONT (de Veteri Ponte), ROBERT de (d. 1228), baron of
Westmorland, was son of William de Vieuxpont, who was lord of Hardingstone, near
Northampton, in 1199, and also held Alston and other places in Cumberland by grant
of William, king of Scotland. His mother was Matilda, who is said by Dugdale to have
been the daughter of Hugh de Morville of Oswaldkirk (_Baronage_, i. 348, but
compare _ib._ p. 612); she was perhaps connected with the house of Thomas
FitzGospatric (see _Monasticon_, v. 870). Robert was of the house of Robert de
Vieuxpont of Vieuxpont in Auge, or Eu, Normandy, who was sent by William the
Conqueror to defend La Flèche in 1073 and was killed in the war against the Viscount
Hubert in 1085 (Orderic, pp. 533, 649). William, Robert's father, was the brother of
another Robert, lord of Courville and Chailloué, near Vieuxpont, and perhaps the
Robert de Vieuxpont who in 1168 held eight knights' fees of the honour of Totnes,
Devon (_Liber Niger_, i. 125; Dugdale makes this Robert the same with the Robert
who died in 1228, which seems unlikely). On 15 June 1202 John ordered the
seneschal of Normandy to give William possession of the lands of his brother Robert in
Normandy (_Rot. Norm._ p. 49).
Robert the younger has been supposed to have held some office in the treasury under
Richard I (Foss). Like other men of rank at the time, he was no doubt a good man of
business, and had many money transactions with the crown, accounting in 1197 for
the ferm of the honour of Tickhill in the West Riding. He was with John in Normandy in
1201, and paid him 20_l_. and a palfrey to have the custody of the lands of Richard of
Scirinton, or Sherrington, Buckinghamshire (_Rot. de Oblatis. 106), and had custody
of Guy of Chatillon, afterwards count of St. Pol. In August 1202 he was present at the
relief of Mirebeau, and received charge of several prisoners, whom he afterwards at
the king's order delivered to Hugh de Gurnay (_Rot. Pat._ p. 15). When Arthur (1187-
1203) of Brittany was removed from Falaise in 1203, John committed him to Robert's
custody at Rouen (Ralph Coggeshall, p. 143). As a reward for his services the king in
1202 gave him the castles of Appleby and Burgh, with the whole bailiwick of
Westmoreland during pleasure, and in 1203 by another grant gave him the above to
hold to him and his heirs by his then wife, thus passing over to him the barony of
Westmoreland or Appleby. He further gave him the castles of Bowes and Richmond,
Yorkshire, and sold to him for a hundred marks the custody of the heirs, land, and
widow of Hugh Gernegan, remitting to him a debt of the same amount (_Rot. de
Liberate_, p. 66). In that year he was also bailiff of Caen and the Rumois, and the
king by a writ addressed to John Marshal ordered that he should have the lordship of
Vieuxpont beforetime held by Robert [his uncle], then deceased (_Rot. Pat._; _Rot. de
Liberate_; Stapleton). He had the custodv of Nottingham Castle, and in 7 and 8 John
(May 1205-May 1207) was custos of the counties of Nottingham and Derby, and sheriff
in 9 and 10 John (1207-9). From 12 to 17 John (1210-16) he was sheriff of Devonshire,
and in 12 John (1210-11) was joint, and in 13 and 14 John (1211-13) sole, sheriff of
Wiltshire (_Deputy-Keeper of Public Records_, 31st Rep. pp. 279, 324, 356). He
acted as a judge, for fines were levied before him in 1200. In 1208 he received the
custody of the bishopric of Durham. The king gave him many marks of his favour; he
was with John at Carrickfergus and Dublin in 1210, and, along with his brother Ivo, is
reckoned among his evil counsellors in the list given by Roger of Wendover under
1211. He took part in the war against the Welsh, and in 1212 caused the young Rhys
ap Maelgon to be hanged at Shrewsbury (Caradoc, ed. Powel, p. 233). In 1213 he
received livery of all the lands of his late father-in-law, John de Builli or Buisli (d.
1212), lord of the honour of Tickhill, and gave the king four palfreys that he might
have a fair at his lordship of Bawtry in the West Riding during four days in Whitsun
week (_Rot. de Oblatis_, p. 495).
Vieuxpont did not join the confederate barons in 1214, and was among those who,
after the confederates were received in London on 24 May 1215, were forced by
threats to desert the king, though he still belonged to his party, and was soon active
in supporting him. He received from John the custody of the castle of Carlisle and of
the county of Cumberland, held the castle of Durham, had grants of the lands of the
insurgents, and in 1216 was one of three lords appointed by the king to hold the
castles and all else that belonged to the crown in Yorkshire (_Cal. Rot. Pat. pp.
152,163; Rog. Wend. sub an.) In compliance with a summons from William Marshal (d.
1219), as regent for Henry III, he joined the Earl of Chester at the siege of Mountsorrel
Castle in April 1217, and on 20 May took part in the battle of Lincoln. His brother Ivo
being on the side of the king's enemies, a writ was issued to the sheriff of
Northamptonshire on the 12th to put Robert in possession of Hardin!
gstone and the rest of Ivo's lands. He was one of the witnesses of the treaty of
Lambeth on 11 Sept., and is said to have been among the barons who, contrary to the
orders of the government, kept possession of the castles and lands of the magnates of
the other side (Matt. Paris, _Chronica Majora, iii. 33); but his relations with the
government during the next few years seem to have been friendly. He was sheriff of
Cumberland and a justice itinerant for Northumberland and Yorkshire in 1219 (Foss). A
case was pending in the king's court between him and the Countess of Eu in 1220, in
which year he attended the second coronation of the king on 17 May (_Royal
Letters_, i. 112, 118). He appears to have disobeyed the order for the surrender of the
royal castles, and in 1223 joined the Earl of Chester [see Blundevill, Randulph de] and
the malcontents, but made submission with the rest of the party at Northampton, and
on 30 Dec. surrendered the castles that he held. He was one of the witnesses to the
reissue of the Great Charter on 11 Feb. 1225, was collector of the fifteenth in
Westmoreland and the bishopric of Carlisle, and had the custody of the castles of
Nottingham, Bolsover, and the Peak. In 1226 he was again a justice itinerant for
Northumberland and Yorkshire, and fines were levied before him in 1227 (Foss). He
died in 1228, being then in debt to the crown over 1,997_l_. (Dugdale, Baronage).
He gave lands at Rockley in Wiltshire to the Templars (_Monasticon_, vi. 834), and,
by a charter dated 24 April 1210, Reagill and Milbourne Grange in Westmoreland to
the Præmonstratensian abbey of Hepp or Shap in that county (_ib._ p. 869). His wife
Idonea, who was daughter of John de Builly, and died in 1241, confirmed a donation
made by her father, and gave a further grant, to the priory of Blythe, Nottinghamshire
(_ib._ iv. 623), granted her manor of Sandbeck in the West Riding to the Cistercian
abbey of Roche (_ib._ v. 503-4), where she desired to be buried, and near which she
appears to have resided in widowhood, and founded a chantry in the New Temple,
London, for the souls of herself and her husband. His son John, a minor at the time of
his father's death, died in 1242, leaving a son, Robert de Vipont, who joined the party
of Simon de Montfort (Wykes), and died in 1265, being apparently slain in the battle of
Evesham, leaving two daughters coheiresses: Isabella, who married Roger de Clifford,
and Idónea, who married Roger, son of Roger de Leybourne.
[Stapleton's Rot. Normann. Scacc., Observations, i. (R. Soc. Antiqq.); Dugdale's
Baronage; Foss's Judges; Rot. Litt. Pat., Rot. Litt. Claus., Rot. de Oblatis, Rot.
Normano., Rot. de Liberate (these five ed. Hardy), Excerpt, e rot. finium, ed. Roberts,
Thirty-first Rep. of Dep. K????? of Records (these seven Record Publ.); Rog. Wend.
(Engl. Hist. Soc.); R. Coggeshall, Matt. Parie's Chronica Majora, Royal Letters, Hen.
III (all three Rolls Ser.)] W. H.* [Ref: DNB, Editor, Sidney Lee, MacMillan Co, London
& Smith, Elder & Co., NY, 1909, vol. xx, pp. 304-5]
* The Rev. William Hunt, D.Litt., author of this article.
*****
Research note 1: Robert who married Idonea de Busli/Builly and perhaps Hellen of
Allerston [Ref: Patricia Junkin 4 Jan 2003 msg to SGM] Research note 2: In 1214
Robert de Veteriponte [iv] has "livery" of the honour of Tickhill and this Robert was
the son of William and Maud de Morville and grandson of Maude, Lady of Curveville.
He had married Idonea de Busli. 1244, June. Alice, Countess of Eu, grants to others
lands in Tykehill (Tickhill south of Doncaster) which she held "by reason of the heirs"
of John de Vet. 1272 Ivo de V. [a], uncle to named Robert, confirms grant of his
mother, Maude, Lady of Curveville, of demesne in Castillon. Maude (as on the seal,
not Mary, as in the extract), lady of Curveville, and widow of Robert de Vieux-Pont, by
deed without a date confirmed a grant of the demesne of Castillon, holden of her son
Ivo de Vieuxpont. There is a seal dated 1272 of a Lady of Curveville namely Isabel de
Rochfort. [Ref: Patricia Junkin 29 May 2003 msg to SGM] Note: this indicates Robert's
ancestry as:
Robert Vipont/Veteriponte m. Idonea Busli. Robert was son of William Veteriponte &
Maud de Moreville. William was son of Robert de Vieux-Pont & Maud, Lady of
Curveville (who also had a son Ivo & possibly a dau Isabel who married a de Rochfort)
Note: I have the Dugdale article in MS Word, but have not vetted it enough to offer it
here. Per the above articles it is at best, erroneous in several aspects. If you want it
(warts & all), let me know.
Regards,
Curt
NOTE: In an update, 30 May 2003, Patricia Junkin stated that William Veteriponte, b.
c1110, m. 1) Emma St. Hilarie & 2) Maud Morville. My source (see my notes under
William de Vipont, b. c1110) indicate that that William m. 1) Emma St. Hilary & 2) Maud
de St. Andrew based on several documents of the period (and did not have a son
named Robert). Therefore I have placed the William who m. Maud de Morveville as
son of William & Emma St. Hilary. The dates seem to work out well in this scheme,
satisfying all sources.
Parents
DE VIPONT [DE VIEUXPONT] William (ABT 1140 - 1202)
DE MORVILLE Maud (ABT 1140 - )
Siblings
DE VIPONT [DE VIEUXPONT] Robert (ABT 1164 - 1227)
Marriage To DE BUSLI Idonea (ABT 1175 - Oct 1242)
m.
Notes
Parents
DE BUSLI John (1145 - 1213)
DE BUSSEY Cecily (ABT 1150 - )
Children by DE BUSLI Idonea ABT 1175 - Oct 1242
DE VIPONT Christian (ABT 1203 - )
DE VIPONT John (1210 - 1241)
Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017