Robert de Stafford

For other people named Robert Stafford, see Robert Stafford (disambiguation).

Robert de Stafford (c. 1039 – c. 1100) (alias Robert de Tosny/Toeni, etc.) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a member of the House of Tosny and the first feudal baron of Stafford^[1] in Staffordshire in England, where he probably built a baronial castle.^[2] His many landholdings are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.

He was the son of Roger I of Tosny and the brother of Raoul II of Tosny.^[2]

He seems to have been the sheriff of Staffordshire.^[2][3]

He was a big landholder in England, and there is no evidence of him inheriting land in Normandy. His property concentrated in Staffordshire and Warwickshire. An analysis of his holdings also shows a strong presence of non-Norman subtenants, with a significant presence of English and Breton ones.^[2]

Moreover, he patronized many religious institutions, among them Evesham and Conches, prioritizing the former, which shows the importance he assigned to his holdings in England over the ones in Normandy.^[2] He founded Stone Priory in Staffordshire, which became the burial place of many of his family.^[4]

The analysis of both his subtenants and his patronage point out to a strategy much less concentrated in Normandy than his brother Raoul II, and almost solely centered in England.^[2]

He died c. 1082 and was buried at Evesham.^[2]

Family and Descendants

Robert de Stafford married Avice de Clare,^[5] daughter of Richard fitz Gilbert (de Clare),^[2] by whom he had sons,

• Nicholas I de Stafford (d.circa 1138), eldest son and heir, 2nd feudal baron of Stafford.^[2][3]
• Alan de Stafford^{[citation needed]}
• Roger de Stafford^{[citation needed]}
• Jordan de Stafford^{[citation needed]}
• Nigel de Stafford^[6]
• Robert de Stafford^[6]

Notes

1. Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.81
2. Moore, James (2017). The Norman Aristocracy in the Long Eleventh Century: Three Case Studies (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
3. Traill, Vanessa Josephine (2013). The Social & Political Networks of the Anglo-Norman Aristocracy: The Clare, Giffeard & Tosny Kin-groups, c.940 to c.1200 (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow.
4. Wilhelmina, Duchess of Cleveland, The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages, 3 volumes, London, 1889, Vol.3, pp.171 et seq, re: Toesni, p.174
5. Sir William Dugdale - Monasticon Anglicanum, Volume VI, Part I, Priory of Stone, page 231
6. "Stafford". Tudor Place. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023.

External links

• JohnStafford.org: Searching For the First Stafford and his wife the Elusive Avice de Clare
• Stafford Family Genealogy Web Site: Robert de Toni (archived at Internet Archive)
• James Moore PhD thesis