Reginald_de_Dunstanville,_1st_Earl_of_Cornwall

Reginald de Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall

Reginald de Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall

12th-century illegitimate son of King Henry I of England


Reginald de Dunstanville (c. 1110 – 1 July 1175) (alias Reginald FitzRoy, Reginald FitzHenry, Rainald, etc., French: Renaud de Donstanville or de Dénestanville) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and an illegitimate son of King Henry I (1100–1135). He became Earl of Cornwall and High Sheriff of Devon.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Origins

Reginald was born in Dénestanville in the Duchy of Normandy, an illegitimate son of King Henry I (1100–1135) by his mistress Sybilla Corbet,[1] who was a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Corbet, lord of the manor of Alcester, Warwickshire, and wife (at some point) of "Herbert the King's Chamberlain".

Career

Antiquaries Carew and Williams refer to Reginald as the Earl of Bristol, and with Hals report that he married Agnes (sometimes called Avicia, or Beatrix), granddaughter of Condor of Cornwall (the Earl of Cornwall at the time of the Conquest), and in her right was made Earl of Cornwall.[2][3][4] According to Carew William Camden gave an alternative account, with Henry I investing Reginald as earl of Cornwall, after taking it from William, Count of Mortain who rebelled against him in 1104; however, Camden's own account has Henry II advancing Reginald to the position, while making preparations to fight Stephen.[2][5]

During the war between Matilda and Stephen, Reginald, who supported Matilda, was in control of Cornwall. Subsequently, forced out of Cornwall by Stephen's forces, Reginald lost the earldom to Alan of Richmond.[6] By 1141, Stephen's forces had been beaten and Reginald was invested with the Earldom of Cornwall by his half-sister Matilda in 1141.[lower-alpha 1][7] In about 1173 he granted a charter to his free burgesses of Truro in Cornwall and addressed his meetings at Truro to "All men both Cornish and English," suggesting a differentiation of nations. He served as Sheriff of Devon from 1173 to 1174.

Marriage and progeny

Reginald married Mabel FitzWilliam, daughter of William FitzRichard, a substantial landholder in Cornwall, by whom he had the following progeny:

Illegitimate progeny

Reginald also had illegitimate children by his mistress Beatrice de Vaux (also known as de Valle), the daughter of Hubert I de Vaux and later the wife of William Brewer:

Death and burial

Reginald died at Chertsey, Surrey, and was buried in Reading Abbey.[10]


Notes and references

Notes

Explanatory

  1. Malmesbury states Robert of Gloucester invested Reginald as Earl of Cornwall.[6]

Citation

  1. Clark 1995, p. 122.
  2. Richard Carew (1769) [1602]. The Survey of Cornwall. And An Epistle concerning the Excellencies of the English Tongue. E. Law and J. Hewett.
  3. Camden, William (1722). "Cornwall". Britannia: or a Chorographical Description of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 1. Translated by Gibson, Edmund (2nd ed.). London: Awnsham Churchill. cols. 26–27.
  4. Powicke 1933, p. 260.

Sources

  • Baxter, Ron (2016). The Royal Abbey of Reading. The Boydell Press.
  • Chibnall, Marjorie (1991). The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English. Basil Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-15737-3.
  • Clark, Cecily (1995). Jackson, Peter (ed.). Words, Names, and History: Selected Writings of Cecily Clark. D.S. Brewer.
  • Matthew, Donald (2002). King Stephen. Hambledon and London.
  • de Pontfarcy, Yolande (1 October – 31 December 1995). "Si Marie de France était Marie de Meulan". Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale (in French). 38 (152): 353–361. doi:10.3406/ccmed.1995.2630. ISSN 0007-9731. Retrieved 27 January 2022 via Persée.
  • Powicke, F.M. (1933). "Loretta, Countess of Leicester". In Tait, James (ed.). Historical Essays in Honour of James Tait. Manchester University Press.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Reginald_de_Dunstanville,_1st_Earl_of_Cornwall, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.