Biography of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury -1094

Paternal Family Tree: Montgomery

Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury was born to [his father] Roger Montgomery.

Around 1044 Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême (age 9) were married.

On 7th February 1055 [his father] Roger Montgomery died.

Around 1056 [his son] Robert II Belleme 2nd Count Ponthieu 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 21). He married before 9th September 1087 Agnes Ponthieu Countess Ponthieu and Shrewsbury, daughter of Guy aka Wido I Count of Ponthieu, and had issue.

In or after 1057 [his son] Hugh Montgomery 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 22).

Around 1065 [his son] Roger "The Poitevin" Montgomery Viscount Hiemois was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 30). He married before 1086 Almodis La Marche, daughter of Aldebert La Marche II Count La Marche, and had issue.

Before 1066 [his son-in-law] Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall (age 34) and [his daughter] Matilda or Maud Montgomery were married. She the daughter of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 30).

Around 1066 [his son] Arnulf Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 31). He married 1100 Lafracota Munster and had issue.

Council of Lillebonne

After 5th January 1066 King William "Conqueror" I of England (age 38) convened the Council of Lillebonne at Lillebonne to raise support for his claim to the English throne. The attendees are not known but likely to have included his companions at the subsequent 14th October 1066 Battle of Hastings including Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Bishop Odo of Bayeux.

14th October 1066 Battle of Hastings

                    On 14th October 1066 the Norman army led by King William "Conqueror" I of England (age 38) defeated the English army of King Harold II of England (age 44) at the 14th October 1066 Battle of Hastings fought at Senlac Hill Hastings. Aimery Thouars (age 42), Ralph de Gael 2nd Earl East Anglia (age 24), Eustace II Count Boulogne (age 51), William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford (age 46), Geoffrey Chateaudun II Count Mortain III Count Perche, William Warenne 1st Earl of Surrey, Raoul Tosny, Robert Beaumont 1st Earl of Leicester Count Meulan (age 26), Hugh Grandesmil (age 34), Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (possibly), [his son-in-law] Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall (age 35) and Bishop Odo of Bayeux fought for William.
                
                    King Harold II of England was killed. Earl Wessex, Earl Hereford extinct.
                
                    Leofwine Godwinson 2nd Earl Kent (age 31) was killed. Earl Kent extinct.
                
                    His brothers Gyrth Godwinson Earl East Anglia (age 34) and Engenulphe Aigle (age 56) were killed.

The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy

The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.

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In November 1071 Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury was created 1st Earl of Shrewsbury 1C 1071. [his future wife] Adelaide du Puiset Countess Shrewsbury by marriage Countess of Shrewsbury.

Before 1079 [his daughter] Sibyl Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 43). She married before 1090 Robert Fitzhamon and had issue.

After 1079 Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Adelaide du Puiset Countess Shrewsbury were married.

On 2nd December 1079 [his wife] Mabel de Bellême (age 44) was murdered.

Around 1085 [his daughter] Matilda or Maud Montgomery died.

Before 1086 [his son] Roger "The Poitevin" Montgomery Viscount Hiemois (age 20) and [his daughter-in-law] Almodis La Marche were married at Poitou. She the daughter of Aldebert La Marche II Count La Marche. He the son of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his former wife] Mabel de Bellême.

Before 9th September 1087 [his son] Robert II Belleme 2nd Count Ponthieu 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury (age 31) and [his daughter-in-law] Agnes Ponthieu Countess Ponthieu and Shrewsbury (age 7) were married. The difference in their ages was 24 years. She the daughter of Guy aka Wido I Count of Ponthieu (age 67). He the son of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his former wife] Mabel de Bellême.

Before 1090 [his son-in-law] Robert Fitzhamon and [his daughter] Sibyl Montgomery (age 11) were married. She the daughter of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and [his former wife] Mabel de Bellême.

In 1094 Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury died. His son Hugh (age 36) succeeded 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury 1C 1071. His son Robert (age 38) succeeded 2nd Count Ponthieu. [his daughter-in-law] Agnes Ponthieu Countess Ponthieu and Shrewsbury (age 14) by marriage Countess Ponthieu.

Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans

Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.

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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1095. Among these things it was made known to the king (age 39), that the Welshmen in Wales had broken into a castle called Montgomery [Map], and slain the men of Earl Hugo, that should have held it. He therefore gave orders to levy another force immediately, and after Michaelmas went into Wales, and shifted his forces, and went through all that land, so that the army came all together by All Saints to Snowdon. But the Welsh always went before into the mountains and the moors, that no man could come to them.

                    Time Team Series 1 Episode 3: The New Town of a Norman Prince was filmed between 9th April 1993 and 11th April 1993. It was originally shown on 30th January 1994.
                
                    Location: Much Wenlock, Shropshire [Map], Wenlock Priory, Shropshire [Map].
                
                    Category: Time Team Late Medieval.
                
                    Time Team:
                
                    Tony Robinson (age 47), Presenter
                
                    Mick Aston (age 47), Bristol University Landscape Archaeologist
                
                    Carenza Lewis (age 30), Royal Commission on Historic Monuments
                
                    Phil Harding (age 44), Wessex Archaeological Trust Field Archaeologist
                
                    Gerry Barber, Bristol University Environmental Archaeologist
                
                    Robin Bush (age 50), Archivist.
                
                    Victor Ambrus (age 58), Historical Illustrator
                
                    Oliver Butler, Geophysics Specialist
                
                    Mark Horton, Local Archaeologist
                
                    Dan Miles, Dendrochronologist
                
                    Bob Milligan, Geophysics Specialist
                
                    Techniques: Excavations, Dendrochronology, Radar Scan.
                
                    Historical Figures: Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.
                
                    Sources. Charter of King Stephen granting a three day fair, Domedays Book [Map], Document stating in 1231 King Henry III visited Much Wenlock.
                
                    Outcomes. Location of Great Hall, burbage plots, 1254-1299 Dendrochronology date, 12th-13th Century Pottery.
                
                    Channel 4 Episode

[his daughter] Matilda or Maud Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême. She married before 1066 Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall and had issue.

The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy. Meanwhile William Talvas, after he had been driven out of his land by his son, as we have related above, wandered for a long time in wretched and despised by all through the houses of others. At length he sought out Roger of Montgomery and willingly offered him his daughter, named Mabel, and granted to him all the lordship which he himself had lost through his wickedness and sloth. Roger, who was strong and noble, and prudent in counsel, seeing that this agreement would be advantageous to him, assented to him in all things. He received the wandering Talvas into his own house and lawfully took his daughter in marriage. The woman in question was small in body, very talkative, exceedingly ready and clever for evil, witty, and exceedingly cruel and bold. In due time she bore five sons and four daughters, whose names are these: Robert and Hugh, Roger the Poitevin, Philip, and Arnulf; Emma, Matilda, Mabel, and Sibyl. These daughters surpassed their brothers in their character; for they were generous and honourable, and kindly toward the poor, monks, and other servants of God. But the sons were savage and greedy, and fierce oppressors of the poor. How cunning, or warlike, or treacherous they were, and how greatly they rose above their neighbours and equals, and how again they later fell because of their own crimes, is not ours to relate in this place, since we have undertaken to set forth the deeds of the great Duke William. Therefore, leaving them aside, let our pen now be fixed upon the appointed course of the narrative.

Interea Willelmus Talavatius, postquam a filio suo, ut supra retulimus, de terra sua expulsus est, miser et despicabilis omnibus per aliorum domos diu pervagatus est. Ad extremum, Rogerium de Monte Gummeri expetiit, eique filiam suam nomine Mabiliam sponte obtulit, et omnem quem ipse pro nequitia segnitieque sua perdiderat, honorem concessit. At illi, qui fortis erat et probus, consilioque maturus, hoc placitum sibi profuturum cernens ei acquievit in omnibus. Ipsum namque errabundum in domo sua suscepit, ejusque natam sibi legitime copulavit. Præfata vero mulier erat corpore parva, multumque loquax, ad malum satis prompta et sagax atque faceta nimiumque crudelis et audax.Quæ succedenti tempore quinque filios et quatuor filias peperit quorum nomina hæc sunt: Robertus et Hugo, Rogerius Pictavinus, Philippus et Arnulfus; Emma, Mathildis, Mabilia et Sybilla. Hæ siquidem fratres suos moribus præcesserunt. Nam dapsiles et honestæ, ac affabiles pauperibus et monachis, aliisque servis Dei fuerunt. Illi vero ferales et cupidi, ac inopum rabidi oppressores exstiterunt. Quam callidi, vel militares, seu perfidi fuerint, aut quantum super vicinos paresque suos excreverint, iterumque sub eis pro facinoribus suis deciderint, non est nostrum in hoc loco enararre, qui decrivimus Willelmi ducis magni gesta propalare. Quapropter, illis relictis, nunc stylus figatur in præfixa serie narrationis.

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The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy. William, named Talvas, after the head of his brother Robert [of Bellême] had been shattered with axes in prison, gained, with the help of his followers, and especially of William, son of Giroie, of all his father's estates. But he in no way turned his steps away from the wickedness of his parents. For he had as his wife Hildeburg, the daughter of a certain most noble man named Arnulf; by her he begot Arnulf and Mabel¹, who afterwards became the mother of a most cruel offspring. But because that woman was well-conducted and fervently loved God, she would not consent to the villainous deeds of her husband. Therefore he greatly abhorred her. At length, one morning, while she was going to church to pray to God, he caused her suddenly to be strangled on the road by two of his attendants.

Willelmus, cognomento Talavatius, postquam Roberti fratris sui caput carcere securibus comminutum est, auxilio suorum et maxime Willelmi filii Geroii, omnem patris sui fundum adeptus est. Hic vero a parentum suorum perfidia nequaquam sua retorsit vestigia, Hildeburgem quippe filiam Arnulfi cujusdam nobilissimi viri in conjugio habuit, ex qua Arnulfum et Mabiliam crudelissimæ sobolis postea matrem genuit. Sed quoniam mulier prædicta bene morigerata erat et Deum ferventer amabat, diris mariti factionibus non consentiebat. Qua propter ipse eam abominatus est vehementer. Denique quo dam mane, dum ipsa ecclesiam adiret Deum deprecari, a duobus parasitis suis in via fecit eam subito strangulari.

Note 1. Mabel de Bellême, around 1035-1079, married Roger de Montgomery, later 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, with whom she had ten or more children. She is described further in Chapter 7.16. She was, probably in 1079, murdered by Hugh Bunel; Orderic Vitalis, Book 5, Chapter 13: "In the extremity of his [Hugh Bunel's] distress, he undertook a most audacious enterprise; for with the assistance of his three brothers, who were men of undaunted courage, he forced an entry by night into the chamber of the countess at a place called Bures on the Dive, and there, in revenge for the loss of his inheritance, cut off her [Mabel's] head, as she lay in bed just after enjoying the pleasures of a bath. The death of this cruel lady caused much joy to many persons; and the perpetrators of the bold deed instantly took the road for Apulia. Hugh de Montgomery, who was then in the place with sixteen men-at-arms, on hearing of his mother's murder, instantly pursued the assassins, but was unable to come up with them, as they had taken the precaution to break down behind them the bridges over which they crossed the rivers, to prevent their falling into the hands of Mabel's avengers. It was the winter season, the night was dark, and the streams being flooded, there were such obstacles in the way of pursuit, that the assassins, having satiated their revenge, were able to escape out of Normandy."

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[his son] Everard Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Adelaide du Puiset Countess Shrewsbury.

[his son] Philip Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême.

[his son] Roger Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough

A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'

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[his daughter] Mabel Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême.

[his daughter] Emma Abbess Montgomery was born to Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de Bellême.

Biography of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury -1094

Royal Descendants of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury -1094Number after indicates the number of unique routes of descent. Descendants of Kings and Queens not included.

Royal Descendants of Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury -1094
Number after indicates the number of unique routes of descent. Descendants of Kings and Queens not included.