Robert de Comines (died 28 January 1069) (also Robert de Comines, Robert de Comyn) was briefly

Earl of Northumbria Earl of Northumbria or Ealdorman of Northumbria was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian people, Anglo-Scandinavian and early Anglo-Norman England, Anglo-Norman period in England. The ealdordom was a successor of the ...

Life

His name suggests that he originally came from Comines, then in the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

, and entered the following of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. He was sent to the north as earl from 1068 to 1069 after the deposition of Gospatric. He reached Durham with 700 men, where the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, Æthelwine, warned him that an army was mobilised against him. He ignored the warning and, on 28 January 1069, the rebels converged on Durham and killed many of his men in the streets, eventually setting fire to the bishop's house in which Robert had taken refuge and Robert died. After this attack, Æthelwine turned against the Normans and gathered an army in Durham before marching on

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, leading to the

Harrying of the North The Harrying of the North was a series of military campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate Northern England, where the presence of the last House of Wessex, Wessex claimant, Edgar Ætheling, had encour ...

in retaliation by King William's army.

Issue

Robert de Comines could be the father of: * John de Comyn (died c. 1135), killed during

The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Duchy of Normandy, Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adel ...

, married the daughter and co-heiress of Adam Giffard of Fonthill, had issue, and; * William de Comyn (Cumin) (died c. 1158),

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...

, disputed

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

(1141–1143) and Archdeacon of Worcester in 1125 and 1157.

Notes

Sources

* * Stenton, Frank M. ''Anglo-Saxon England''. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1971. 1069 deaths 11th-century English nobility Anglo-Normans

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

People from the county of Flanders Year of birth unknown Earls of Northumbria (Peerage of England) {{England-earl-stub