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Name:
Robert FitzHamon
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Birth:
ABT 1042 of Torigny-sur-Vire, Normandy
Father:
H FitzHaimo
Mother:
Married:
Sybil de Montgomery
Children:
Mabel FitzHamon
Born: ABT 1090
Died: 1157
Death:
MAR 1106/1107 England aged 64
Remarks:

Seigneur of Creully, Normandy; lord of Thorigny; lord of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. He was a member of a powerful Norman family who traced its lineage from a close relative of Rollo, the original duke of Normandy. Since the tenth century this family had held the extensive lordships of Thorigny, Creully, Mezy, and Evrecy in lower Normandy. It seems clear that he was not present in the Norman expedition that conquered England, but this is disputed. Some time after Domesday, he acquired the great expanses of land which formed the honor of Gloucester, which had lain for some time in the hands of Henry, the Conqueror's son. He conquered Glamorgan, Wales, and eventually organized it into a marcher lordship. In the struggle between Henry I and Robert Curthose, FitzHamon took an active part on behalf of the former. He engineered a truce between the two; but it failed, and armed conflict broke out. He gathered followers from his paternal estate in Normandy and attacked the nearby town of Bayeux, held by duke Robert's supporters. The attack failed, and FitzHamon himself was led captive into the town. This defeat stung Henry into action, and he attacked Bayeux. He forced the liberation of FitzHamon and then devastated the town. FitzHamon accompanied Henry in his successful attack on Caen, and was active during the subsequent siege of Falaise. In this last struggle, he suffered an injury which deprived him of his reason and forced his withdrawal from active life. He was returned to England, where he lingered for a time, before dying in March of 1107, without male issue. His body was then interred at Tewkesbury, the abbey which he had done so much to enrich and glorify. He was a favorite of William II, who gave him the lands of Queen Matilda, which had been sought by WilliamÕs younger brother, Henry, later Henry I. He was a benefactor of Caen, Sees, and Mont-Saint-Michel.

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