Robert Bossu
| Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester | |
|---|---|
| Chief Justiciar of England | |
|
In office October 1155 – 5 April 1168 |
|
| Monarch | Henry II |
| Preceded by | Roger, Bishop of Salisbury |
| Succeeded by | Richard de Luci |
| Lord High Steward | |
|
In office 1154–1168 |
|
| Monarch | Henry II |
| Succeeded by | The 3rd Earl of Leicester |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1104 |
| Died | 5 April 1168 Brackley |
| Nationality | Norman-French |
| Spouse(s) | Amice de Gael |
| Relations |
Waleran de Beaumont, twin brother Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and 1st Earl of Leicester, and Elizabeth de Vermandois, parents |
| Children | Hawise, Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, Isabel, Margaret |
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1104 – 5 April 1168) was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.
The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert". Henry Knighton, the fourteenth-century chronicler notes him as Robert "Le Bossu" (meaning "Robert the Hunchback" in French).
Robert was an English nobleman of Norman-French ancestry. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and 1st Earl of Leicester, and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Waleran de Beaumont. It is not known whether they were identical or fraternal twins, but the fact that they are remarked on by contemporaries as twins indicates that they were probably identical.
The two brothers, Robert and Waleran, were adopted into the royal household shortly after their father's death in June 1118 (upon which Robert inherited his father's second titles of Earl of Leicester). Their lands on either side of the Channel were committed to a group of guardians, led by their stepfather, William, Earl of Warenne or Surrey. They accompanied King Henry I to Normandy, to meet with Pope Callixtus II in 1119, when the king incited them to debate philosophy with the cardinals. Both twins were literate, and Abingdon Abbey later claimed to have been Robert's school, but though this is possible, its account is not entirely trustworthy. A surviving treatise on astronomy (British Library ms Royal E xxv) carries a dedication "to Earl Robert of Leicester, that man of affairs and profound learning, most accomplished in matters of law" who can only be this Robert. On his death he left his own psalter to the abbey he founded at Leicester, which was still in its library in the late fifteenth century. The existence of this indicates that like many noblemen of his day, Robert followed the canonical hours in his chapel.
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