Background
Robert Earl of Gloucester was born before 1100 probably in Caen, Normandy, before his father's accession to the throne.
Robert Earl of Gloucester was born before 1100 probably in Caen, Normandy, before his father's accession to the throne.
Between 1121 and 1123 he was created an earl. At the death of Henry in 1135, the succession came into dispute, but Robert submitted to the king's nephew, Stephen, on condition that he be left in possession of all his honors and dignities.
In 1137, however, they quarreled, and the next year Stephen took Robert's estates in Wales and England. In 1139 Robert crossed over to England with his half-sister, the Empress Matilda, Henry's only surviving lawful child and heiress to England and Normandy, and for eight years he fought against Stephen's claim to the royal title.
Robert defeated Stephen at Lincoln Castle in 1141 and took him prisoner, thus winning the kingdom for Matilda, but later in the year Robert was himself taken prisoner at Stockbridge, after the siege of Winchester, and was exchanged for Stephen.
The following year he joined Geoffrey of Anjou in the campaign in Normandy, after which he hurried back to England and defeated Stephen at Wilton (1143). He was unable to press his victory.
The Angevin party in England disintegrated and Robert died at Bristol on October 31, 1147.
Quotes from others about the person
There is evidence in the contemporary source, the Gesta Stephani, that Robert was proposed by some as a candidate for the throne, but his illegitimacy ruled him out:
"Among others came Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of King Henry, but a bastard, a man of proved talent and admirable wisdom. When he was advised, as the story went, to claim the throne on his father's death, deterred by sounder advice he by no means assented, saying it was fairer to yield it to his sister's son (the future Henry II of England), than presumptuously to arrogate it to himself. "
His father had contracted him in marriage to Mabel FitzHamon, daughter and heir of Robert Fitzhamon, but the marriage was not solemnized until June 1119 at Lisieux.
His marriage to Matilda, or Mabel, the daughter of Robert Fitz Hamon, brought him large estates in Normandy, Wales, and England. Robert and his wife Mabel FitzHamon had seven children.