Biography of William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford 1020-1071

History of the Dukes of Normandy by William of Jumieges. Afterward, in opposition to the castle of Tillières, which the king had formerly taken from him, the duke built another stronghold no less formidable, which to this day is called Bréteuil, and he entrusted it to William (age 51), the son of Osbern, to guard against all who might oppose him. This William was a noble and generous man, and he had in marriage Adeline, the daughter of Roger of Tosny, by whom he fathered two sons, William and Roger¹, named "the Defiant", and one daughter², who later married Ralph, a count of Breton lineage, and journeyed with him to Jerusalem in the days of Pope Urban. This eminent man founded two monasteries of monks in honour of Saint Mary, Queen of Heaven: one at Lyre, where he buried his wife Adeline, and the other at Cormeilles, where he himself rests, and where his son Ralph, who from boyhood had become a monk, long served God. He also, together with Duke William, most strongly subdued the English, and by his wisdom and force held the county of Hereford with a great part of the kingdom. Finally, in the year of the Lord 1070, he went with Philip, King of the Franks (age 18), into Flanders, wishing to assist Baldwin, nephew of Queen Matilda. But Robert the Frisian (age 38), supported by the army of Emperor Henry, attacked with his forces³ at dawn on the tenth day before the Kalends of March [20th February 1071], on Septuagesima Sunday, catching them unprepared; and while Philip fled with the French, he slew Baldwin (age 16)⁴, his nephew, and Count William with his own men’s weapons. Now let us return to the course of our history.

Postea dux contra Tegulense castrum, quod rex illi dudum abstulerat, aliud oppidum non deterius, quod Bretolium usque hodie vocatur, instaurat, et Willelmo Osberni filio ad custodiendum contra cunctos sibi adversantes commendat. Hic legitimus et liberalis vir Adelisam Rogerii Toenit æ filiam in conjugio habuit, ex qua duos filios, Willelmum et Rogerium Contumacem procreavit et unam filiam, quæ postea Rodulfo comiti genere Britoni nupsit, atque cum codem in diebus Urbani papæ Hierusalem perrexit. Præfatus heros duo coenobia monachorum Sanctæ Mariæ cœli reginæ condidit. Unum apud Liram, ubi Adelisam conjugem suam sepelivit; et alterum apud Cormelias, ubi ipse quiescit et Rodulphus filius ejus a pueritia monachus Deo diu militavit. Ipse quoque cum Willelmo duce Anglos maxime perdomuit et comitatum Herfordiæ cum magna parte regni sensu et viribus obtinuit. Denique anno ab Incarnatione Domini 1070 cum Philippo rege Francorum Flandriam perrexit, volens Balduino Mathildis reginæ nepoti subvenire. Robertus autem Frisio cum exercitu Henrici imperatoris sociato cuneis suis, x Kal. Martii, Dominico Septuagesimæ imparatos mane præoccupavit et Philippo cum Francis fugiente, Balduinum nepotem suum, et Willelmum comitem telis suorum occidit. Postea Flandriæ ducatum diu tenuit, moriensque filiis suis, Roberto Hierosolymitano et Philippo dereliquit. Nunc ad ordinem historiæ redeamus.

Note 1. [his son] Roger de Bretuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, ~1056-1087+. In 1075 Roger rebelled against King William in a rebellion known as The Revolt of the Earls. He was imprisoned for life.

Note 2. Emma, married in 1075, against the wishes of King William, Ralph de Gaël, Earl of East Anglia, ~1042–1100, who fought at the Battle of Hastings. Ralph and Emma's brother Roger, were leading figures in the The Revolt of the Earls in 1075. Ralph and Emma escaped to his estates around Gaël in Brittany.

Note 3. William was killed at the Battle of Cassel.

Note 4. Arnulf rather than Baldwin, III, Count of Flanders, eldest son of Baldwin VI, brother of Robert the Frisian who he fought at the Battle of Cassel.