Robert, earl of Gloucester

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Robert, earl of Gloucester (c.1090–1147), was Henry I's favourite from among his many illegitimate sons and was advanced by him to be one of the leading magnates of the Anglo-Norman realm. In 1135 Robert apparently accepted King Stephen's succession, but in 1138 he declared his support for his half-sister Matilda, and was thereafter the empress's most powerful supporter. His large estates in the west of England and Normandy provided a base for her campaigns. His importance to her cause is illustrated by the way in which he was exchanged in 1142 after his capture at Stockbridge for the captive King Stephen, himself taken at the battle of Lincoln in 1141, and by the fact that Matilda left England very soon after his death. In 1142 he brought the future Henry II to England for the first time.

David Richard Bates

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Robert earl of Gloucester

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