Robert of Caen, Count of Gloucester (c. 1090-1147)

William of Malmesbury and Geoffrey of Monmouth paint a picture of Robert of Caen, Count of Gloucester, as an educated and erudite prince, but also as a great warrior who was very involved in the affairs of the Anglo-Norman kingdom. As the son of Henry I and a daughter of a citizen of Caen, his illegitimate birth ruled him out of the right to succession, unlike his grandfather William the Conqueror. Robert was made Count of Gloucester (1122) and in Normandy held significant domains in Creully, Thaon, Evrecy, and Torigni-sur-Vire which gave him a direct influence over the bishopric of Bayeux. Before the succession crisis he intervened frequently in Normandy, especially at Brémule (1119) alongside his father Henry I.. In 1135, on the death of Henry I, he swore allegiance to King Stephen, but in 1138 he took the side of his half-sister, the Empress Matilda, and supported the invasion of Normandy by Geoffrey of Anjou. He escorted Matilda on her landing in England, at Arundel, in 1139, and led the struggle on his own account from the fortress of Bristol. In 1141, Robert, at the height of his power, captured Stephen at Lincoln; but was taken prisoner in September in Winchester while covering the flight of Matilda and was exchanged for Stephen. On the death of her half-brother in 1147, Matilda left England. Her son Henry II Plantagenet was to resume the struggle and was crowned king in 1154.