Robert de Grantmesnil
Encyclopedia
Robert de Grantmesnil (also known as Grandmesnil), son of Robert I of Grantmesnil and Hawisa d'Échauffour, was the abbot of Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche
Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche
The Abbey of Saint-Evroul or Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche is a former Benedictine abbey in Normandy, located in the present commune of Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, Orne, Basse-Normandie...

 in Normandy, which he helped restore in 1050, and later Bishop of Troina and subsequently Archbishop of Messina in Italy. He was the younger son of Robert de Grandmesnil and Hawise d'Echaffour, and the younger brother of Hugh de Grandmesnil
Hugh de Grandmesnil
Hugh de Grandmesnil , also known as Hugh or Hugo de Grentmesnil or Grentemesnil, is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Subsequently he became a great landowner in England.He was the elder son of Robert of...

. He became a monk at Saint-Evroul, and subsequently its abbot.

After entering into a violent quarrel with William II of Normandy, he was forced to flee to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 in January 1061 and thence to the court of Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...

 in Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

, taking with him eleven of his monks, including his nephew Berengar
Berengar, Bishop of Venosa
Berengar was the Bishop of Venosa. He is mentioned for the last time at Christmas 1096.The son of Arnaud d'Échauffour, he became a monk in Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche as a youth. He was a student of Abbot Thierri....

. In his time, Saint-Evroul was famed for its musical programme and these eleven monks brought its musical traditions to the abbey of Sant'Eufemia in Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

, a foundation of the Guiscard's, of which Robert became abbot. After his establishment in Italy, his two half-sisters joined him there. One of them, Judith, soon married Roger I of Sicily
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I , called Bosso and the Great Count, was the Norman Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was the last great leader of the Norman conquest of southern Italy.-Conquest of Calabria and Sicily:...

. The newly famous singers of Sant'Eufemia performed at the wedding ceremony of Judith and Roger late in 1061. In his later career, Robert was Bishop of Troina
Troina
Troina is a town and comune in the province of Enna, Sicily, Italy. It is located in the Nebrodi Park.-History:...

 and subsequently Archbishop of Messina.

Sources

Primary sources
The chief primary sources for his life is the chronicle of William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges was a contemporary of the events of 1066, and one of our earliest writers on the subject of the Norman Conquest. He is himself a "shadowy figure", only known by his dedicatory letter to King William as a monk of Jumièges...

, Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...

, and Robert de Torigny. This chronicle is known by various names (Gesta Normannorum Ducum etc.). Torigny also mentions Robert in his De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum.
  • The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni. Edited and translated by Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts. Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1995.
  • The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy by Orderic Vitalis. Two translations are available: the 1853 translation of Thomas Forester, and the translation by Majorie Chibnall.


Secondary sources
  • Norwich, John Julius
    John Julius Norwich
    John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...

    . The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
  • Chalandon, Ferdinand
    Ferdinand Chalandon
    Ferdinand Chalandon was a French medievalist and Byzantinist.Chalandon’s work remains the most substantial study of the Normans in Italy and though the details of what he wrote a hundred years ago have in places been modified, it remains the single most important work available to historians.Being...

    . Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile. Paris, 1907.
  • Joranson, Einar. "The Inception of the Career of the Normans in Italy — Legend and History." Speculum
    Speculum (journal)
    Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies is a quarterly academic journal published by the Medieval Academy of America. It was established in 1926. The journal's primary focus is on the time period from 500-1500 in Western Europe, but also on related subjects such as Byzantine, Hebrew, Arabic, and...

    , Vol. 23, No. 3. (Jul., 1948), pp 353–396.


Notes
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