Roger I de Montgomery

Roger I de Montgomery, was the seigneur (lord) of Montgomery and vicomte of the Hiesmois in Normandy.

Map and location of the Hiémois in medieval Normandy

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Career

Roger was the son of Hugh de Montgomery and his wife Josceline.^[1] She was the niece of Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy.^[2] Roger held the lands of Saint-Germain-de-Montgommery and Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery. Both had traces of early castles.^[3] He became the Viscount of the Heismois about the same time Robert I of Normandy became Duke in 1027.^[4] But as the viscount he witnessed a royal charter to the abbey of St. Wandrille c. 1031–1032.^[5] Like Duke Robert, Roger began taking properties that belonged to the church.^{[lower-alpha 1]} These included (c. 1025–27) half the town of Bernay.^[8] He took over a woodland at 'Crispus Fagidus' which belonged to Jumièges Abbey.^[8] He put an end to a market^{[lower-alpha 2]} held by the same abbey and took it into his own domain.^[10] Later he seemed to have a change of heart. He returned the market to the abbey and paid restitution for their losses.^[10]

After 1035 Roger seems to have lost favor with the young duke William. He signed an early charter of Duke William simply as 'Roger of Montgomery'.^[11] He apparently was no longer the viscount. In 1037 when rebellions broke out, Roger was one of the rebels. When he was defeated he fled to the court of Henry I of France.^[12] Roger was forced into exile by Osbern the Steward. Osbern was later killed by William de Montgomery, Roger's son.^[13] Where and when Roger died is unknown.^[14] In 1068 his wife was still holding lands at Bures and Saint-Pair.

Family

The name of Roger's wife is unknown but he had five sons:^[15]

• Hugh de Montgomery^[15]
• Robert de Montgomery^[15]
• Roger II de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.^[15]
• William de Montgomery^[15] killed during the minority of duke William^[15]
• Gilbert de Montgomery^[15] who in 1063 supposedly poisoned by Mabel de Bellême^[15]

Notes

1. Duke Robert I had rebelled against his brother Duke Richard III. After Robert succeeded Richard as duke, the civil war Robert I had started continued during his reign.^[6] There were still many feuds which had started between neighboring barons. at this same time time many of the lesser nobility left Normandy to seek their fortunes in southern Italyd.^[6] Possibly in revenge for supporting his brother, Duke Robert I gathered an army and began raiding the lands of his uncle, Robert II, Archbishop of Rouen.^[7] Roger and other followers of Duke Robert began following his example.
2. Markets were a source of income for monasteries, abbeys and towns. The right to hold markets was usually granted by the king or suzerain.^[9]

References

1. K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, 'Aspects of Torigny's Genealogy', Nottingham Medieval Studies, Vol. 37 (1993), p. 24
2. Kathleen Thompson, 'The Norman Aristocracy before 1066; The Example of the Montgomerys', Historical research; the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Vol. 60, Issue 123 (October 1987), p. 254
3. George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times, Volume XI, ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1949), p. 682, n. (b)
4. Kathleen Thompson, 'The Norman Aristocracy before 1066; The Example of the Montgomerys', Historical research; the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Vol. 60, Issue 123 (October 1987), p. 256
5. David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1964), p. 94
6. David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1964), p. 32
7. David Crouch, The Normans, The History of a Dynasty (Hambledon Continuum, London, New York, 2002), p. 48
8. Kathleen Thompson, 'The Norman Aristocracy before 1066; The Example of the Montgomerys', Historical research; the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Vol. 60, Issue 123 (October 1987), p. 255
9. Maurice Warwick Beresford, John Kenneth Sinclair St. Joseph, Medieval England: An Aerial Survey (), p. 179
10. Cassandra Potts, Monastic revival and regional identity in early Normandy (Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press, 1997), p. 121
11. Kathleen Thompson, 'The Norman Aristocracy before 1066; The Example of the Montgomerys', Historical research; the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Vol. 60, Issue 123 (October 1987), p. 257
12. François Neveux, The Normans; The Conquests that Changed the Face of Europe, trans. Howard Curtis (London: Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2008), p. 112
13. Kathleen Thompson, 'The Norman Aristocracy before 1066; The Example of the Montgomerys', Historical research; the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Vol. 60, Issue 123 (October 1987), pp. 257-58
14. George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times, Volume XI, ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1949), p. 683
15. George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and all its Members from the Earliest Times, Volume XI, ed. Geoffrey H. White ( London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1949), pp. 683-84 n. (d)