Robert de Bellême ( – after 1130), seigneur de Bellême (or Belèsme), seigneur de Montgomery, viscount of the Hiémois, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Count of Ponthieu, 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. He was a member of the powerful House of Bellême.
Robert became notorious for his alleged cruelty. Referring to his activities in the rebellion against Henry I of 1110–1112, the chronicler Orderic Vitalis, in Book XI of his Historia Ecclesiastica, calls Robert "grasping and cruel, an implacable persecutor of the Church of God and the poor ... unequalled for his iniquity in the whole Christian era", as well as "the tyrant who had disturbed the land and was preparing to add still worse crimes to his many offences of plundering and burning". The stories of his brutality may have inspired the legend of Robert the Devil.
Early life
Robert was the oldest surviving son of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême, born probably between 1052 and 1056. In 1070 after the death of his great-uncle Yves Bishop of Séez his parents brought him to Bellême, which at that time became his mother's inheritance, and as the oldest surviving son it would eventually be his.
In 1073 when the Conqueror invaded Maine, Robert was knighted by William at the siege of Fresnay castle. By now, probably of age and independent of his father, he took part in the 1077 revolt of the young Robert Curthose against Duke William. but at this point Duke William took the added precaution of garrisoning the Bellême castles with his own soldiers, which was his ducal right. On hearing the news of William the Conqueror's death in 1087, Robert's first act was to expel the ducal garrisons from all his castles. Robert de Bellême, his brother Hugh de Montgomery and a third brother, either Roger or Arnulf, participated in this rebellion. The main conspirators, however, were Odo of Bayeux, Eustace III, Count of Boulogne, Robert de Mowbray, Geoffrey de Montbray, Earl Roger de Montgomery and other disaffected Magnates. At some point Roger of Montgomery detached himself from supporting Robert Curthose through negotiations with the king. Finally Robert de Bellême was among the rebels who found themselves defending Rochester Castle. When William Rufus blockaded the town and built two counter-castles, the garrison began negotiating for surrender under honourable terms, being allowed to keep their lands and serve the king. Roger of Montgomery and other great barons interceded with the King, Earl Roger on behalf of his sons, until finally in July a semi-honorable surrender was negotiated between the king and the rebels.
Return to Normandy
Coincidentally Robert sailed back to Normandy in the company of Count Henry (later king Henry I), who had not been part of the conspiracy against his brother William Rufus. However well they got along on the voyage, they were destined to become bitter enemies. At this point the Montgomery family was in a state of rebellion against Robert Curthose. Bishop Odo now instigated Duke Robert to take all the castles of Robert de Bellême by force and the duke gathered an army and proceeded against them. Duke Robert first attacked Ballon and after losses on both sides, the castle surrendered. Moving on to the castle of Saint-Céneri where the family of Robert de Bellême was residing, Robert Quarrel had been told by Earl Roger to resist the duke at all costs and this was done until the provisions eventually failed. Duke Robert was so enraged at such resistance he blinded Robert Quarrel and mutilated the castle defenders. The price of his son's release, however, was the castle of Saint-Céneri which Duke Robert gave to Robert Giroie as castellan. The Giroies had long held the castle until, as punishment for their rebellion in the 1060s, William the Conqueror gave this castle and other Giroie lands to Roger de Montgomery, who as a member of the Bellême family was also considered their nemesis. He supported Curthose in putting down a revolt by the citizens of Rouen, in 1090, and took considerable numbers of the citizens captive throwing them into dungeons. According to Robert of Torigni in 1092 the inhabitants of Domfront, long a Bellême-Montgomery stronghold, invited Henry, the duke's younger brother to take possession of Domfront. Apparently they had grown weary of Robert's oppressive and abusive style of lordship. Robert's younger brother Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury inherited the English lands and titles, while Robert inherited his father's Norman properties, which included good part of central and southern Normandy, in part adjacent to the Bellême territories he had already inherited from his mother.
William Rufus (1096–1100)
In 1096, Robert Curthose took up the cross on the First Crusade and left the custody of the duchy to his brother William Rufus, King of England. Robert Bellême regained the favour of Rufus and both he and his brothers were in his service on several occasions.
In 1098 Robert's younger brother Hugh died, and Robert inherited, on payment of £3,000 in relief, the English properties that had been their father's, including the Rape of Arundel and the Earldom of Shrewsbury. Robert had also acquired the countship of Ponthieu jure uxoris and the honour of Tickhill; all of which combined made him the wealthiest magnate in both England and Normandy. While Robert rushed to England to pay homage to Henry, he and his brothers must have seen this as the end of royal favour for the Montgomerys.
Anglo-Norman Civil War 1101
Robert Curthose returned from the First Crusade in triumph. According to Orderic, Curthose was being encouraged to attack Henry by his barons but he remained indecisive until Ranulf Flambard, having escaped from the Tower of London, fled to Normandy where he appears to have influenced Duke Robert to go ahead with his invasion of England and depose his brother Henry. Robert de Bellême was one of the great magnates who joined Robert Curthose's 1101 invasion of England, along with his brothers Roger the Poitevin and Arnulf of Montgomery and his nephew William, Count of Mortain. This invasion, however, which aimed to depose Henry I, ended bloodlessly in the Treaty of Alton which called for amnesty for the participants but allowed traitors to be punished. It quickly became evident that Henry I had no intentions of abiding by the treaty of Alton; 'Soothe them with promises' advised Robert Count of Meulan just before the battle, then they can be 'driven into exile'.
Henry I took a year compiling charges against Robert and his brothers and Robert's unlicensed castle building and specifically Bridgnorth Castle may have been the last straw for Henry. Henry had a series of charges drawn up against Robert in 1102, and when Robert refused to answer for them, gathered his forces and besieged and captured Robert's English castles. Robert lost his English lands and titles (as did his brothers), was banished from England, and returned to Normandy.
In 1105 he was warring with Rotrou III, Count of Perche over a large portion of his Bellême lands and lost.
However, Henry was still wary of Robert and placed his followers in key positions in Normandy. In the rebellion of 1110–12 barons on the frontier of Normandy were disgruntled over Henry's policies and especially his attempt to take custody of William Clito, son of Robert Curthose. Apparently Henry had charges already prepared; failing to attend Henry at his court after being summoned three times, of failing to render accounts, and of acting against his lord's interests. Technically Robert may have been guilty but arguably it was not safe for him to attend Henry, he may have regarded the revenues as gifts and it is also arguable whether the charge of acting against Henry's interests warranted the severity of the punishment. This gave the act international implications but at the time Louis VI of France and Henry I were intriguing against each other so the breach of protocol went unpunished,
Historical portrayal
Orderic Vitalis portrays Robert de Bellême as a villain, especially when compared to Henry I, whose misdemeanours the chronicler felt were excusable. Orderic calls Robert "Grasping and cruel, an implacable persecutor of the Church of God and the poor... unequalled for his iniquity in the whole Christian era." To quote David C. Douglas, "Ordericus, if credulous, was neither malicious nor a liar; and these accounts concerned people of whom he had special knowledge" [referring to the Bellême-Montgomery family] but he may have been strongly biased against Robert de Bellême and his treatment of that magnate belies a moral interpretation of his actions. He did at times appropriate church properties and was not a major donor to any ecclesiastical house but Robert's attitudes toward the church are typical of many of his contemporaries; certainly no worse than the secular rulers and other magnates of his day. The assessment of William II Rufus by R.W. Southern could well apply to Robert de Bellême as well: "His life was given over to military designs, and to the raising of money to make them possible; for everything that did not minister to those ends he showed a supreme contempt".
Family and children
Robert married Agnes of Ponthieu, before 9 September 1087, and they had one child:
- William III of Ponthieu, who via his mother inherited the county of Ponthieu.
Fictional references
Robert appears as the principal antagonist throughout George Shipway's The Paladin (1973), a fictionalized account of the life of Walter Tirel.
Robert appears as the primary antagonist "Robert of Belesme" in the period romance novels Lady of Fire (1987) and Fire and Steel (1988) by Anita Mills, which take place during the rise of Henry I of England and the events during and after the Battle of Tinchebray, respectively.
He is also portrayed in The Wild Hunt (1990) and The Winter Mantle (2003) by Elizabeth Chadwick.
Robert de Bellême also appears as the protagonist, 'Bellême the Norman Warrior', in a fictionalized account of his life by Roy Stedall-Humphryes, 'Kindle Direct Publishing' 2012.