Elizabeth de Vermandois (d. 1131)
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth of Vermandois, or Elisabeth or Isabel de Vermandois (ca. 1081 – 13 February 1131), was a niece of Philip I of France
Philip I of France
Philip I , called the Amorous, was King of France from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early Direct Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time...

 who was twice married to influential Anglo-Norman magnates.

Family

Elizabeth of Vermandois was the third daughter of Hugh Magnus and Adelaide of Vermandois
Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois
Adelaide of Vermandois was suo jure Countess of Vermandois and Valois and the last member of the Carolingian dynasty.Adelaide was the daughter of Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois, and Adele of Valois and of the Vexin. Her younger brother Otto became Count of Vermandois upon their father's death in...

, and as such represented both the Capetian
Capetian
Capetian is an adjective, used to describe either:* The House of Capet, also called the Direct Capetians – the ruling family of France between 987 and 1328* The Capetian dynasty, a term applied to all direct descendants of Hugh Capet...

 line of her paternal grandfather Henry I of France
Henry I of France
Henry I was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians...

, and the Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...

 ancestry of her maternal grandfather Herbert IV of Vermandois
Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois
Herbert IV of Vermandois , Count of Vermandois, was the son of Otto of Vermandois and Pavia .-Family and children:He married Adele of Valois, daughter of Raoul III of Valois and Adele de Bar-sur-Aube, and had:...

. Her father was a younger brother of Philip I of France
Philip I of France
Philip I , called the Amorous, was King of France from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early Direct Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time...

.

Countess of Leicester

In 1096, at age 15, Elizabeth married Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age...

. The count was 46 at the time of the marriage, which was an unusual age difference even for the late 11th century. He was a nobleman of some significance in France, having inherited lands from his maternal uncle Henry, Count of Meulan, and had fought at the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...

 in 1066 under the command of his distant kinsman William the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...

. For this service, he was awarded English lands in addition to those in Meulan and Normandy he had inherited. However, at the time of the marriage, he held no earldom in England while his younger brother was already styled Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick was a Norman nobleman. Henry was the younger son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan, daughter of Waleran I, Count of Meulan. He was given by his father the modest lordship of Le Neubourg, in central Normandy...

. Meulan was a respected advisor to three reigning monarchs: William II of England
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...

, Robert Curthose of Normandy and Philip I of France
Philip I of France
Philip I , called the Amorous, was King of France from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early Direct Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time...

.

According to Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 custom, brides were often betrothed young - 8 being the legal age for betrothal and 12 for marriage (for women). The young betrothed wife would often go to her husband's castle to be raised by his parents or other relatives and to learn the customs and ways of her husband's family. The actual wedding would not take place until much later. Some genealogists speculate that the usual age at which a noble bride could expect the marriage to be consummated would be 14. This is consistent with the date of birth of Elizabeth's first child Emma in 1102 when she would be about 15 to 17.

The marriage produced several children, including most notably two twin sons (born 1104) who both become important noblemen. These men, known to historians of this period as the Beaumont twins, were Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan
Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester
Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...

 and his younger twin Robert Bossu (the Humpback) or Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert"...

. Another notable child of this marriage was Elisabeth or Isabel de Beaumont, one of the youngest mistresses of Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

 and later mother (by her first marriage) of Richard Strongbow
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...

.

William II of England died suddenly in a purported hunting accident, and was hastily succeeded not by the expected heir but by the youngest brother Henry
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

. This seizure of the throne led to an abortive invasion by the older brother Duke Robert of Normandy, followed by an uneasy truce between the brothers. The reprieve was only temporary, and there was unrest in both England and Normandy for some time (stirred up by Duke Robert, and by an exiled nobleman Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury
Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury
Robert de Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury , also spelled Belleme or Belesme, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, and one of the most prominent figures in the competition for the succession to England and Normandy between the sons of William the Conqueror...

). Finally, Henry invaded Normandy and in the Battle of Tinchebray
Battle of Tinchebray
The Battle of Tinchebray was fought 28 September 1106, in the town of Tinchebray , Normandy, between an invading force led by Henry I of England, and his older brother Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy...

 (September 28, 1106) destroyed organized opposition to his takeover of Normandy and imprisoned his ineffectual older brother for his lifetime. Meulan and his brother Warwick were apparently supporters of Henry during this entire period, and Meulan was rewarded with the earldom of Leicester in 1103. By 1107, Meulan was in possession of substantial lands in three domains. In 1111, he was able to revenge himself on the attack on his seat Meulan by Louis VI of France
Louis VI of France
Louis VI , called the Fat , was King of France from 1108 until his death . Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".-Reign:...

 by harrying Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Countess of Surrey

Elizabeth, Countess of Meulan apparently tired of her aging husband at some point during the marriage. The historian Planche says (1874) that the Countess was seduced by or fell in love with a younger nobleman, William de Warenne
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He is more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey....

 (c. 1071-11 May 1138) himself the thwarted suitor of Edith of Scotland
Edith of Scotland
Matilda of Scotland , born Edith, was the first wife and Queen consort of Henry I of England.-Early life:Matilda was born around 1080 in Dunfermline, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret. She was christened Edith, and Robert Curthose stood as godfather at the ceremony...

, Queen consort of Henry I of England. Warenne was said to want a royal bride, and Elizabeth fitted his requirements, even though she was also another man's wife.

In 1115, the Countess was apparently carried off or abducted by Warenne, which abduction apparently concealed a long-standing affair. There was some kind of separation or divorce between Meulan and his wife, which however did not permit her to marry her lover. The elderly Count of Meulan died, supposedly of chagrin and mortification in being thus publicly humiliated, in the Abbey of Preaux, Normandy on 5 June 1118, leaving his properties to his two elder sons whom he had carefully educated.

Elizabeth married, secondly, William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He is more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey....

, sometime after the death of her first husband. By him, it is alleged, she already had several children (all born during her marriage to Meulan). She also had at least one daughter born while she was living out of wedlock with Warenne (1115–1118). It is unclear whether this daughter was Ada de Warenne, wife of Henry of Scotland or Gundrede de Warenne, wife of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick
Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick
Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick was the elder son of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick and Marguerite, daughter of Geoffrey II of Perche and Beatrix of Montdidier...

 (her half-brothers' first cousin).

The later life of Elizabeth de Vermandois is not known. Her sons by her first marriage appear to have a good relationship with their half-brother William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey was the eldest son of the William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth de Vermandois.He was generally loyal to king Stephen...

 although on opposing sides for much of the wars between Stephen and Matilda. Her eldest son Waleran, Count of Meulan was active in supporting the disinherited heir William Clito
William Clito
William Clito was the son of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, by his marriage with Sibylla of Conversano...

, son of Robert Curthose until captured by King Henry. He was not released until Clito's death without issue in 1128. Her second son Robert inherited his father's English estates and the earldom of Leicester and married the heiress of the Fitzosbern counts of Breteuil. Her daughter Isabel however became a king's concubine or mistress at a young age; it is unclear whether her mother's own life or her eldest brother's political and personal travails in this period played any part in this decision. Before her mother died, Isabel had become wife of Gilbert de Clare
Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Gilbert fitz Gilbert de Clare , son of Gilbert Fitz Richard and Alice de Claremont, was sometimes referred to as "Strongbow", although his son is better remembered by this name, was the first Earl of Pembroke from 1138....

, later (1147) Earl of Pembroke, so had adopted a more conventional life like her mother.

Children and descendants

During her first marriage (1096–1115) to Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age...

 (d 5 June 1118), Elizabeth had 3 sons (including twin elder sons) and 6 daughters:
  • Emma de Beaumont (born 1102), was betrothed as an infant to Aumari, nephew of William, Count of Évreux, but the marriage never took place. She probably died young, or entered a convent.http://genealogy.patp.us/conq/beaumont.shtml
  • Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan
    Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester
    Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...

     (born 1104) married and left issue.
  • Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
    Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
    Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert"...

     (born 1104) married and left issue (his granddaughter Isabella of Gloucester was the unfortunate first wife of King John.
  • Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford
    Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford
    Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford was Earl of Bedford from 1137 to 1141. The grant of the earldom was by Stephen of England; this was the first of his numerous creations. Hugh was known as 'Hugh the Pauper' or 'Hugh the Poor'....

     (born c. 1106) lost his earldom, left issue
  • Adeline de Beaumont (b ca 1107), married two times:
    • Hugh IV, 4th Lord of Montfort-sur-Risle to whom she was married firstly by her brother Waleran;
    • Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147)
  • Aubree (or Alberee) de Beaumont (b ca 1109), married by her brother Waleran to Hugh II of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais
    Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais
    Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais is a commune Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.The commune was once an important stronghold reigning over the whole natural and historic province of Thymerais....

     (possibly son of Hugh I of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais and his wife Mabille de Montgomerie, 2nd daughter of Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
    Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
    Roger de Montgomerie , also known as Roger the Great de Montgomery, was the first Earl of Shrewsbury. His father was also Roger de Montgomerie, and was a relative, probably a grandnephew, of the Duchess Gunnor, wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy...

    )
  • Maud de Beaumont (b ca 1111), married by her brother Waleran to William Lovel, or Louvel or Lupel, son of Ascelin Goel, Lord of Ivri.
  • Isabel de Beaumont (b Aft. 1102), a mistress of King Henry I of England
    Henry I of England
    Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

    . Married two times:
    • Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke
      Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke
      Gilbert fitz Gilbert de Clare , son of Gilbert Fitz Richard and Alice de Claremont, was sometimes referred to as "Strongbow", although his son is better remembered by this name, was the first Earl of Pembroke from 1138....

       by whom she was mother of Richard Strongbow, who invaded Ireland 1170;
    • Hervé de Montmorency, Constable of Ireland (this marriage is not conclusively proven)


In her second marriage, to William de Warenne
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He is more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey....

, Elizabeth had three sons and two daughters (for a total of fourteen children - nine during her first marriage, and five during her second):
  • William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey
    William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey
    William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey was the eldest son of the William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth de Vermandois.He was generally loyal to king Stephen...

     and Warenne (b. 1119 dspm 1147) whose daughter Isabelle de Warenne, Countess of Surrey married 1stly
    • William, Count of Boulogne (dsp), yr son of King Stephen, and married 2ndly
    • Hamelin Plantagenet, an illegitimate half-brother of King Henry II of England
      Henry II of England
      Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

       by whom she had issue, later earls of Surrey and Warenne.

  • Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy. He married Adeline, daughter of William, lord of Wormgay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William, whose daughter and sole heir Beatrice married first Dodo, lord Bardolf, and secondly Hubert de Burgh;

  • Ralph de Warenne (dsp)

  • Gundrada de Warenne, (Gundred) who married first
    • Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick
      Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick
      Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick was the elder son of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick and Marguerite, daughter of Geoffrey II of Perche and Beatrix of Montdidier...

       and had issue; second (as his 2nd wife)
    • William de Lancaster
      William de Lancaster I
      William de Lancaster I, or William Fitz Gilbert, was a nobleman of the 12th century in Northwest England. According to a document some generations later, he was possibly also referred to as William de Tailboys when younger. He is the first person of whom there is any record to bear the name of...

       and is most remembered for expelling king Stephen's garrison from Warwick Castle
      Warwick Castle
      Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...

      ; and they had issue.

  • Ada de Warenne
    Ada de Warenne
    Ada de Warenne was the Anglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a great-granddaughter of Henry I of France...

     (d. ca. 1178), who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
    Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
    Henry of Scotland was a Prince of Scotland, heir-apparent to the Kingdom of Alba. He was also the 3rd Earl of Northumberland and the 3rd Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton....

    , younger son of King David I of Scotland
    David I of Scotland
    David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

    , Earl of Huntingdon by his marriage to the heiress Matilda or Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon
    Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon
    Maud of Northumbria , Countess of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton, was the daughter of Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria and Judith of Lens, the last of the major Anglo-Saxon earls to remain powerful after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.- Biography :Maud was married to Simon of...

     (herself great-niece of William I of England
    William I of England
    William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...

    ) and had issue. They were parents to Malcolm IV of Scotland
    Malcolm IV of Scotland
    Malcolm IV , nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" , King of Scots, was the eldest son of Earl Henry and Ada de Warenne...

     and William I of Scotland
    William I of Scotland
    William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...

     and their youngest son, David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
    David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
    David of Scotland was a Scottish prince and Earl of Huntingdon. He was a claimant to the Scottish throne.-Life:He was the youngest surviving son of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and Ada de Warenne, a daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Elizabeth of Vermandois. His...

    , who was ancestor of all Kings of Scotland since 1292.

External links


See also

  • Elizabeth de Vermandois is also the name of the daughter of Raoul I of Vermandois, brother to this Elisabeth or Elizabeth (d. 1131).
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