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Robert fitzRoger
Robert fitzRoger
Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk
	In office; Michaelmas 1190 – Easter 1194
Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk
	In office; Michaelmas 1197 – Easter 1200
Personal details
Died	1214
Spouse	Margaret de Chesney
Children	John FitzRobert; Alice
Parent(s)	Roger fitz Richard; Adelisa de Vere

Robert fitzRoger (died 1214) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk and Northumberland. He was a son of Roger fitzRichard and Adelisa de Vere. FitzRoger owed some of his early offices to William Longchamp, but continued in royal service even after the fall of Longchamp. His marriage to an heiress brought him more lands, which were extensive enough for him to be ranked as a baron. FitzRoger founded Langley Abbey in Norfolk in 1195.

Life

FitzRoger was the son of the Anglo-Norman nobleman Roger fitzRichard, who held Warkworth Castle in Northumberland. FitzRoger was sheriff of Norfolk from Michaelmas^[a] in 1190 to Easter 1194 and then again from Michaelmas 1197 to Easter 1200.^[2] FitzRoger's first appointment as sheriff was due to the influence of William de Longchamp, who was Lord Chancellor. Longchamp's influence also secured custody of Orford Castle in Suffolk for fitzRoger.^[3] Longchamp also arranged for fitzRoger to have custody of Eye Castle in Suffolk.^[4] When Longchamp fell from royal favour and was replaced by Walter of Coutances, fitzRoger was one of the few of Longchamp's appointments to retain his office of sheriff.^[5]

FitzRoger founded the monastery of Langley Abbey in Norfolk in 1195 for Premonstratensian canons.^[6] He purchased royal confirmation of his ownership of Warkworth in 1199^[7] and in 1205 was granted Newburn and the barony of Whalton in Northumberland. Warkworth and Newburn occasionally were considered baronies, but not consistently.^[8] FitzRoger also held Clavering from Henry of Essex for one knight's fee.^[9]^[b] FitzRoger's holdings were extensive enough that he was considered a baron during the reigns of King Richard I^[10] and King John of England.^[11] He was one of John's favourites and received the king at Warkworth in 1213.^[7]

FitzRoger married Margaret,^[12] one of the daughters and heiresses of William de Chesney, the founder of Sibton Abbey.^[13] Margaret was one of three daughters, but she inherited the bulk of her father's estates.^[14] Margaret was the widow of Hugh de Cressy.^[c] Through Margaret, Roger gained the barony of Blythburgh in Suffolk.^[16] He also acquired lands at Rottingdean in Sussex from Margaret.^[17]

FitzRoger died in 1214, and his heir was his son by his wife Margaret, John fitzRobert.^[8]^[16] Margaret survived fitzRoger and paid a fine of a thousand pounds to the king for the right to administer her lands and dower properties herself.^[2] His daughter Alice married Peter FitzHerbert of Blewleveny.^[18]

Notes

^ Michaelmas was the feast day of the Archangel Michael on 29 September. In England, it was one of the four days of the year when accounts were settled.^[1]
^ Robert fitzRoger who held Clavering should not be confused with a separate Robert fitzRoger who held lands around Calthorpe in Norfolk.^[9]
^ Although Margaret was the eldest daughter, she received the bulk of her father's estates as a reward for de Cressy from King Henry II of England. The King arranged Margaret's first marriage as well as ensuring that most of her father's lands went to her.^[15]

Citations

^ Coredon Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases p. 192
^ ^a ^b Round "Early Sheriffs of Norfolk" English Historical Review pp. 491–494
^ Turner and Heiser Reign of Richard Lionheart p. 116
^ Heiser "Castles, Constables, and Politics" Albion p. 34
^ Turner and Heiser Reign of Richard Lionheart p. 132
^ Olivia Convent and the Community in Late Medieval England p. 16
^ ^a ^b Goodall, John (2006), Warkworth Castle and Hermitage, English Heritage, p.35, ISBN 9781850749233
^ ^a ^b Sanders English Baronies p. 150
^ ^a ^b Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 953
^ Turner and Heiser Reign of Richard Lionheart p. 103
^ Russell "Social Status" Speculum p. 324
^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 416
^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 370
^ Green Aristocracy of Norman England p. 380
^ Waugh "Women's Inheritance" Nottingham Medieval Studies p. 82
^ ^a ^b Sanders English Baronies p. 16
^ Loyd Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families p. 35
^ Cokayne Complete Peerage Vol. 5 p. 465

References

Cokayne, George Edward. (1926). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. Vol. 5. London: St. Catherine Press.
Coredon, Christopher (2007). A Dictionary of Medieval Terms & Phrases (Reprint ed.). Woodbridge, UK: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-138-8.
Green, Judith A. (1997). The Aristocracy of Norman England. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52465-2.
Heiser, Richard R. (Spring 2000). "Castles, Constables, and Politics in Late Twelfth-Century English Governance". Albion. 32 (1): 19–36. doi:10.2307/4053985. JSTOR 4053985. S2CID 197767892.
Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (2002). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-863-3.
Loyd, Lewis Christopher (1975) [1951]. The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Reprint ed.). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8063-0649-1.
Olivia, Marilyn (1998). The Convent and the Community in Late Medieval England: Female Monasteries in the Diocese of Norwich, 1350-1540, Volume 12 of Studies in the history of medieval religion. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85115-576-0.
Round, J. H. (1920). "The Early Sheriffs of Norfolk". The English Historical Review. 35 (140): 481–496. doi:10.1093/ehr/xxxv.cxl.481. JSTOR 552094. S2CID 159668286.
Russell, Josiah Cox (July 1937). "Social Status at the Court of King John". Speculum. 12 (3): 319–329. doi:10.2307/2848628. JSTOR 2848628. S2CID 145495766.
Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC 931660.
Turner, Ralph V.; Heiser, Richard R. (2000). The Reign of Richard Lionheart: Ruler of the Angevin Empire 1189–1199. The Medieval World. Harlow, UK: Longman. ISBN 0-582-25660-7.
Waugh, Scott L. (1990). "Women's Inheritance and the Growth of Bureaucratic Monarchy in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century England". Nottingham Medieval Studies. 34: 71–92. doi:10.1484/J.NMS.3.182. S2CID 159876299.