See also
| Partner: | Robert + FITZWIMARC (1015-1075) | |
| Partner: | (unknown) | |
| Children: | OF ESSEX (1035- ) | |
| Name: | Robert + FITZWIMARC | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | Ansfrid + of NORMANDIE (977- ) | |
| Mother: | Wimarc + (990-1016) | |
| Birth | 1015 | Moyaux. Calvados, Normandy, France |
| Occupation | Sheriff of Essex | |
| Title | Sheriff of Essex | |
| Death | 1075 (age 59-60) | Theydon Mount, Ongar, Essex, England |
Spouse: Richard +* FITZSCROB
| Name: | OF ESSEX | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Richard +* FITZSCROB (1030-1067) | |
| Birth | 1035 | Essex, England |
Robert FitzWimarc (c.1015, Moyaux, Calvados, Normandy - before 1075, Theydon Mount, Ongar, Essex) was a kinsman of both Edward the Confessor and William of Normandy, and was present at Edward's death bed.
Born in Normandy, his mother Wimarc (c.990-c.1016) was a well-connected noblewoman and his father, Ansfrid de Normandy (born c.987), a rising noble. Brought to England by Edward he had a successful career and was rewarded with numerous lands in various parts of the country.. He had a special interest in Essex and set up his main base at Clavering. It was to Clavering that many of Edward's Norman favourites fled when they were ousted from political power in 1052, before taking ship into exile.Despite being a Norman, Robert stayed in England and found further favour with Edward, and possibly with Harold Godwinson after him.
Robert was later made Sheriff of Essex and was described as regalia palatil stabilitor - high officer or sometimes staller - of the royal palace. When Edward died in January 1066, Robert was one of the four inner councillors present at his death bed, along with the Queen, Edith of Wessex, Earl Harold Godwinson and Archbishop Stigand, an event captured on the Bayeux Tapestry.
Robert seems to have acquiesced with Harold's succession to the throne, but also seems to have kept in touch with his homeland. When William landed at Pevensey it was Robert who contacted him to advise a retreat back to France. The advice was, apparently, that William had neither the strength or numbers to win a battle against Harold, particularly as Harold was buoyed by his victory against the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge.
Robert clearly remained in favour with William after his victory at Hastings, and subsequent succession, as he retained his estates, and was further rewarded with others. He left his extensive estates to his son Suen, who went on to build Rayleigh Castle.
Robert FitzWimarc seems to have been a prudent man, with a fair degree of wisdom who helped to ease the transition from Saxon to Norman England..
He is remembered in Rayleigh, Essex, where one of the town's secondary schools is named The FitzWimarc School.
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From: Chris Phillips (cgp AT medievalgenealogy.org.uk)
Subject: Re: Matilda a dau of Adam fitz Swain
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Date: 2003-07-21 00:32:14 PST
Actually, this is a rare example of a matronymic, as discussed byKeats-Rohan in the introduction to Domesday People (p. 19). Apparently,J. H. Round originally pointed out that 'Wimarc' was a woman (as statedexplicitly by William of Poitiers), but suggested that her name indicatedshe was a Breton (in 'Feudal England', pp. 256, 257). But Keats-Rohanpoints to statements by Vita AEdwardi Regis that Robert was a kinsman ofEdward the Confessor, and by William of Poitiers that he was related toWilliam the Conqueror. She suggests that as he was identified by hismother, she 'was surely a high-born Norman', related to the ducal house.
She goes on to cite references from charters of the abbey ofMontivilliers, near Le Havre, which mention a nun Vuimardis/Wimardis,widow of Ansfrid the steward, and her apparent son Robert de Moyaux(Calvados, cant. Lisieux-1, who gave land formerly held by Ansfrid.
Chris Phillips
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From VCH-Essex:
Before 1066 THEYDON MOUNT was held by Godric as a manor and as 3 hidesand 80 acres. After the Conquest it was given by William I to Robert FitzWimarc, who was still alive in 1069 but had been succeeded in or before1075 by his son Swein. Robert was Sheriff of Essex and the office waslater held by Swein. Swein made his castle at Rayleigh, which became thehead of his honor and from that time the manor of Theydon Mount wasalways held of the Honor of Rayleigh. In 1086 the manor was held of Sweinby one Robert. Swein was succeeded by his son Robert of Essex, thefounder of Prittlewell Priory, and Robert of Essex was succeeded by hisson Henry of Essex.
In 1163 Henry of Essex, then Constable of England, failed to clearhimself of a charge of cowardice during a war against the Welsh, and wasdeprived of all his lands.
[From: 'Theydon Mount: Manors', A History of the County of Essex: Volume4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 276-81. URL:http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=15710&strquery=fitz%20wimarc. Date accessed: 27 August 2005]
Also:
In 1066 STAPLEFORD TAWNEY was held by Godric as 1 manor and as 5 hides.Of these 5 hides he 'gave to his 10 free men freely 4 hides, retaining 1hide in demesne'. After the Conquest Robert Fitz Wimarc had the 1 hide bythe king's gift and his son Swein of Essex added the 4 hides to it afterhis father's death. In 1086 the manor was held of Swein by Siric. At thattime the manor, which had been worth £8 before 1066, was worth £10. In1086 Swein of Essex held the honor of Rayleigh, and the manor ofStapleford Tawney continued to be held of that honor, which escheated tothe Crown in the 12th century, until after 1550.
[From: 'Stapleford Tawney: Manors', A History of the County of Essex:Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 234-36. URL:http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=15681&strquery=fitz%20wimarc. Date accessed: 27 August 2005]
Child of Robert FitzWimarc
Miss de Essex+ b. c 1037
Citations
[S235] Newsgroup: soc.genealogy.medieval, at groups - google.com, online google.com, Chris Phillips, 21 Jul 2003.
[S277] Unknown author, Victoria County History of Essex, Volume IV, 1956, online at www.british-history.ac.uk, Stapleford Tawney Manor, see notes under Anne de Drokensford, b. 1357.
[S277] Unknown author, Victoria County History of Essex, Volume IV, 1956, online at www.british-history.ac.uk, Theydon Mount Manors.
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Rayleigh Castle was a masonry and timber castle built near the town of Rayleigh in Essex, England in the 11th century shortly after the Norman conquest. All that exists today are the earthwork remains of its large motte-and-bailey.
The castle was built by Swein (c.1045, Theydon Mount, Ongar, Essex - after 1086, Rayleigh, Essex) (other spellings are Sweyn, Sweyne, Suen), son of Robert FitzWimarc and a wealthy landowner, sometime between the Norman conquest of 1066 and the completion of the Domesday Book in 1086. It is one of the few castles mentioned in the book and as such considered one of the earliest Norman castles in England. It may have been built on the site of an earlier Roman fortification since fragments of Roman bricks have been found on the site. On his death it passed to his son Robert de Essex (c.1085, Rayleigh, Essex - before 1159, Theydon Mount, Ongar, Essex) and thence to his grandson Henry d'Essex. Around 1140 the motte was covered in stone rubble.
Henry was accused of cowardice in battle in 1163 and subject to a trial by combat which he lost. The castle and its estates were confiscated to become the property of the king, Richard I. Extensive alterations were made to it in 1172 and in 1183-4, and the property given by King John to Hubert de Burgh in around 1200 who probably used it as a source of building materials for the castle which he started building in 1230 5 km away at Hadleigh.
On the death of Hubert's son in the latter half of the 13th century, ownership of the castle reverted to the monarch. Documents dating between 1279 and 1303 refer to the motte as being used for pasture, which probably means that the castle was no longer used as a fortification. In 1394 King Richard II gave permission for the townspeople of Rayleigh to use the foundations of the castle as a source of stone. Since the foundations are explicitly mentioned in the document giving permission, it is unlikely that any other masonry structures remained by then.
The site of the castle was used for grazing sheep after it fell into disuse. Photos taken in the 1920's show the mount free from any large trees or shrubs as the grazing prevented their growth, however since the grazing stopped, large trees have grown on the site. The National trust has no plans to remove them for fear of disturbing any potential archeology below.
The castle is known now as Rayleigh Mount and is managed by the National Trust.
The Second World War Convoy rescue ship Empire Rest was originally laid down as a Castle class corvette to have been named HMS Rayleigh Castle after the ruins.
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The following excerpt is from an article which contains a wealth of information about Robert FitzWimarc, as well as his son, Swein de Essex who was the great grandfather of Henry de Essex. Please see the link below for the full story and credits.
http://www.archive.org/stream/trialbycombatofh00hurruoft/trialbycombatofh00hurr uoft_djvu.txt
Henry de Essex was a man " held in high esteem amongst the great men of the realm, a man of much account, of noble birth, conspicuous by deeds of arms, the King's standard- bearer, and feared by all on account of his power." Such is the description given by Jocelin of Brakelond in his famous " Chronicle." ' The founder of the family of de Essex was Robert Fitz-Wimark a Norman noble who settled in England in the days of Edward the Confessor. He was a great favourite of the King, who died supported in his arms, in the presence of the Queen " the Lady Eadgyth," Dux Haraldus (afterwards King Harold) and Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury, a group which appears in the Bayeux Tapestry. 2 His common title was Robert the Staller (Regalis Palatii Stabilitor), and he held the office of Sheriff of Essex. Just before the battle of Hastings Robert Fitz-Wimark despatched a message to William of Normandy, urging the folly of risking a pitched battle with Harold who was advancing to meet him at the head of 100,000 men. Had the advice of Robert Fitz-Wimark been followed the whole history of England might have been changed. At the death of Robert, his son Sweyne assumed the affix " de Essex," and is so styled again and again in the Essex Domesday. Sweyne was a great landowner and according to Domesday held fifty-five lordships in Essex, apart from properties in Suffolk and Hants. He built the castle of THE TRIAL BY COMBAT AT READING ABBEY Rayleigh, called in Domesday Riganea? and was succeeded by his son Robert de Essex who founded Prittlewell Priory, near Southend.
Henry de Essex, son and heir of Robert de Essex, survived
combatants form the dramatis personce of the famous " trial by combat " which forms the subject of this Essay. The scanty details of their history that have survived may be gathered together in brief biographical sketches. 1
| 1 | "Trial by Combat of Henry de Essex and Robert Montfort" (http://www.archive.org/stream/trialbycombatofh00hurruoft/trialbycombatofh00hurr uoft_djvu.txt). |