Roger Corbet (abt. 1050 - aft. 1122)

Born about 1050 in Pays De Caux, Normandie, France

Descendants

Died after Jan 1122 after about age 72 in Forden, Shropshire, England

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Biography

Roger Corbet was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

Corbet: ^[1]

Shropshire: ^[2]

Name

• Rogerus Corbet son of Corbet nobiliis Normannus, (witnessed charter of Henry I to Abbey of Shrewsbury 1121; held 25 manors in Salop. ^[3]
• Roger FitzCorbet. Domesday Baron of Caus, formerly Alretone in Shropshire. ^[4]
• Roger Corbet, Lord of Worthen. ^[5]
• Roger Corbet, son of Hugh Corbet. However, "Blakeway questions the naming of the father as Hugh, c. 1040 in Normandy, and the use of Corbet as a surname at so early a date. Surviving documents refer to Corbet and to Roger and Robert as sons of Corbet." ^[6]

1050 Birth

No records have been found to identify a birth date or place for Roger Corbet. He appears in England after the Battle of Hastings as the son of a man identified as Corbet, noble of Normandy.

Boyer shows him born 1050 to 1056. ^[4].

His place of birth therefore would be Normandy. Many sources suggest the Pays de Caux area of Normandy, based on Roger's later naming his castle in Shropshire as Caux castle. Coulton reports that "most accounts of the family follow R.W.Eyton in locating the family in the Pays de Caux. Eyton asserts this as a fact, without citing original sources. He was following an idea of J.B.Blakeway, but Blakeway was by no means so definite: "what seems nearly certain is, that the family settled in the Pais de Caux." He gives no references for this supposition. The source he uses for an early Corbet lineage, the Histoire du Cambray et du Cambresis par Jean le Carpentier, Leyden 1664, deals with another branch of the family, and there is no reference to the Pays de Caux.^[7]

Others have suggested Pays d'Auge, Calvados, Normandy, as the place of birth and/or family association. ^[5] Documents testify to the presence of the family in that area: holding land at Crocy in Calvados; donating land to the abbey of St-Martin and Ste Barbara at Ste-Barbe-en-Auge. ^[8] Later documents testify to the presence of the family in that area: holding land at Crocy in Calvados; donating land to the abbey of St-Martin and Ste Barbara at Ste-Barbe-en-Auge. ^[9]

Wherever in Normandy he was born, he arrived in England as a young man at or after the Battle of Hastings, accompanying his father, a man of vigor but mature years. If the father was born, say, 1020, he would have been aged 46 at the Battle of Hastings. Assume the father married at age 21, or 1041, and had his sons in the years immediately following. Assume also that Robert is the oldest: a birth year of 1042 would be the most appropriate guess.

Birth years for Roger have been reported as early as 1033; if Roger's father was 25 years older, it would make him in his upper and less vigorous 50's rather than 40's at the time of the Battle. Birth years for Roger have been reported as late as 1058; this would make Roger only aged 8 at the time of the Battle, and suggest a much later arrival in England as a young man. Weber estimates births about 1050 to 1056^[5]

1050 appears to be a good compromise for an estimated birth year; Roger would have been aged 16 at the time of the Battle, but his brothers would have been younger, and this favors those who suggest the Corbets arrived after the Battle of Hastings and did not participate in it.

Eldest Son of Corbet

Boyer shows Roger FitzCorbet as the second son of Hugo le Corbeau or Le Corbet. ^[4]

Janet Meisel asserts that "most probably, it was Roger, not Robert, who was the elder son and heir of Corbet. Roger's name regularly precedes Robert's in the charters which they both witness, and Roger's holdings in Shropshire in 1086 are considerably greater than Robert's (Roger is listed as holding some thirty-five manors containing more than 140 hides while Robert has only fifteen manors containing approximately 22 hides).^[10] "_Rogerio Chorbet_" and "_Roberto Chorbet_" witness a charter of Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, between 1085 and 1094 (CSPS, no. 2). Note: CSPS=Cartulary of Saint Peter's of Shrewsbury (NLW MS 7851D [Phillipps MS 3516]) & NLW=National Library of Wales. "_Rogerius Corbet_" and "_Roberto frater eius" were present at a royal court which decided a dispute over the Shropshire manor of _Fertecote_ between 1107 and 1113 (ibid., no. 1.). "_Rogerius filius Corbet_" and "_Robertus frater eius" also witnessed a charter of Henry I between January 1121 and October 1122 (ibid., no. 35.). ^[11] and Roger's holdings in Shropshire in 1086 are considerably greater that Robert's (Roger is listed as holding some thirty-five manors containing more than 140 hides, while Robert has only fifteen manors containing 22 hides). ^[12]

Le Carpentier stated, however, that Roger and Robert were the second and fourth sons of Corbet. ^[6]

Marriage

"We do not know whom they married, nor when, nor the dates of birth of their children. This is not surprising for most of the evidence comes from witness-lists to charters." ^[6]

Boyer states that he married the heiress of Tasley. ^[13]

Migration from Normandy to Shropshire

As noted above, the best estimation of birth years suggests they were two young to have participated in the 1066 Battle of Hastings and came from Normandy later. Coulton observes that "they must have been young men when they were brought to Shropshire to serve Earl Roger; they were still alive fifty years later. ^[6]

1077 Worthen Mannor

Roger fitz Corbet's largest manor was Worthen, north of Rea Brook: its 14½ hides supported men-at-arms as well as villagers. His other twenty-four manors included Yockleton, Westbury and Wattlesborough to the north and Pontesbury to the east of Worthen; further east lay his brother's chief manor of Longden.11 ^[14]

It might be better to think of Roger fitz Corbet as baron or lord of Worthen (rather than Caus) , which supported four of his militis; Alretune was also important, supporting five milities - its is now identified as Trewern in Montgomeryshire. ^[15]

Caus Castle

Soon after Domesday, building himself a castle at Alreton, Roger named it Caus in honour of his birthplace. ^[16]

The site which later became the caput of the Corbet barony is not mentioned in early records, but it will be as well to review at this point what has been written of Cause - the first known reference to which occurs some fifty years after the Domesday Survey. ^[6]

"Roger Corbet built a border fortress at his Castle at Alfreton which he named Caux Castle after his home domain in Normandy. It was later spelt Cause." ^[17]

In any event, it is clear that it was Roger, not Robert, who was the founder of the barony of Caus, not only because the manor of Caus (_Alretone_) was held by Roger, in Domesday Book, ^[18] but because Robert died without legitimate male heirs. ^[5]

"Caus Castle is situated high up on the eastern foothills of the Long Mountain, guarding the route from Shrewsbury to Montgomery in the valley below.

Caus Castle was built by Roger FitzCorbet in the late 11th century and named after his Normandy estate in Pays de Caux. The castle was so important that the Crown took an interest in its maintenance. Henry II had it garrisoned in 1165 and a grant was made towards building work (carried out) by Robert Corbet in 1198. During the late 12th century a town was founded in the large outer bailey. It flourished for a while but later decayed and was deserted by the early 17th century. On the death of Beatrice Corbet in 1347, Caus passed to the Staffords." ^[19]

The site which later became the caput of the Corbet barony is not mentioned in early records, but it will be as well to review at this point what has been written of Cause - the first known reference to which occurs some fifty years after the Domesday Survey. ^[6]

The original site was not the present ruinous stone castle but another, identified as Hawcock's Mount: "it probably lay within one of the 13 unnamed berewicks of the Domesday manor of Worthen." ^[15]

Barons of Caus

We learn from Ordericus that Earl Roger of Montgomery, who probably organised the frontier defenses of Shropshire, was ably seconded in the government of his province by Corbet and his sons Roger and Rodbert. ^[2]

Roger the first of nine barons of Caus. The relationships between some of them are not completely clear:

1. Roger Fitz Corbet, First Baron of Caus
2. William Corbet, son of Roger, Baron of Caus
3. Ebrard Corbet, brother of William, Baron of Caus
4. Roger Corbet, who may be the son of William, Baron of Caus
5. Robert Corbet, son of Roger, Baron of Caus or perhaps Simon
6. Thomas Corbet, son of Robert, Baron of Caus
7. Peter Corbet, son of Thomas, Baron of Caus
8. Peter Corbet, son of Peter, Baron of Caus
9. John Corbet, brother of Peter, Last Baron of Caus

1083 Witness to Shrewsbury Abbey Charter

He witnessed a charter by Roger de Montgomery to Shrewsbury Abbey by 1086 (according to AEC, 18, the date was 1083). ^[4].

1086 Charter of Quatford

Roger was one of the witnesses to the charter to the earl's church of Quatford on 22 July 1086, when the bishops of Worcester, Hereford and Chester were also present. ^[20]

"[Earl] Roger founded a new borough on a well-chosen site at Quatford, where he may have sought to set up a new market." ^[21]

Neighboring Nobility

While the Corbets, like Picot de Sai and William Pantolf, were leading tenants of Earl Roger, Richard de Belmeis and Rainald de Baillol were among his officers and clerks. Richard de Belmeis was from Beaumais-sur-Dive in the Hi‚mois, an able man who later became a royal servant and bishop of London. Rainald, the sheriff of Shropshire, had more estates than the Corbets and Picot combined. He may have had a deputy, Fulk, who had manors at Withington and Little Withyford. The earl's steward may have been Ralf de Mortimer of Cleobury, holder of nearly twenty manors and related to William of Warenne, another of the earl's tenants in Shropshire. ^[22] These men formed the society of which the Corbets were part, perhaps marrying into such families. The grant of land at Impney in Worcestershire to Worcester Cathedral by Roger Corbet and Hugh de Sai and his wife Margaret may indicate some relationship. ^[23]

1086 Death of his Father; Domesday Survey

"Corbet the Norman was dead before 1086: for his son, Roger Fitz Corbet, is the Domesday baron, and built a castle at Alfreton as the head of his honour, which he names Caux, from Pays de Caux, his former home in Normandy.

"This was one of the Border castles which, for two centuries after Domesday, served its continuous purposes of aggression and defence." [Eyton's Shropshire.] It stood in a strong position, commanding the pass called the Valley of the Rea; for, as a former marcher fortress, "it was exposed to all the turmoil of a hostile frontier"; and was taken and burnt by the Welsh in the time of his successor. [Ref: Corbet citing: Battle Abbey Roll & Eyton's Shropshire] ^[5]

By the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 the Corbet estates were divided between Roger, the greater share, and his brother Robert. Their place in the list of the earl's tenants, immediately after the sheriff, "corresponds to the extent of their combined estate and their responsible position on an exposed part of the frontier towards Wales." ^[24]

Curt Hofemann states that between them, they were granted 38 lordships in Shropshire where they assisted Earl Roger (de Montgomery) in the administration of his domains in that county. ^[25]

Curt Hofemann states that Roger Corbet built a border fortress at his Castle at Alfreton which he named Caux Castle after his home domain in Normandy. It was later spelt Cause. ^[25]

The holdings in Derbyshire of the father, called Norman, Roger the second eldest son and Robert the youngest son, both sons sometimes listed as FitzCorbet, are listed together as family domains. They were under-tenants of Earl Roger in Shropshire. Edderton, Forden, Mellington, Hem, Hopton, Thornbury, Hyssington, Leighton, Weston ^[25]

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Roger FitzCorbet and his brother Robert were listed as some of the most important tenants-in-chief of the king and also of the powerful Marcher Lord Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury[4][5] Roger is generally believed to have been the first feudal baron of Caus in Shropshire, which was a barony within the marcher lordship of Roger de Montgomerie (died 1094). He was succeeded after 1121 by his son Robert FitzCorbet (d. pre-1155). He was succeeded by Roger FitzCorbet, who himself was succeeded by Robert (died 1222), who left a son Thomas who died in 1274. There followed his son and heir Peter Corbet (died 1300) who left a son Peter Corbet (died 1322), who died childless. The barony then passed to his half-brother John. Although the family soon died out in the senior line, when the barony was lost, cadet branches spread out and thrived. ^[26]

Roger & Robert FitzCorbet's Shropshire Land Holdings:

Acton Burnell, Alberbury, Brompton, Cardestone, Cause, Choulton, Eyton, Farley, Great Hanwood, Longden, Loton, Marrington, Middleton (Chirbury), Oakes, Pontesbury, Preist Weston, Ratlinghope, Stapleton, Wattlesborough, Welbatch, Wentnor, Westbury, Whitton, Winsley, Wollaston, Wormerton, Woodcote, Woolstaston, Worthen, Yockleton ^[25]

He was awarded twenty-five manors (Saxon townships), while his brother Robert was awarded fifteen, all in Shropshire. ^[4].

Roger and Robert Benefactors of Church

"In the time of William the Conqueror, the brothers, Roger and Robert, mentioned in Doomsday Book as sons of Corbet, held of Roger de Montgomery divers lordships in the co. of Salop, and were munificent benefactors to the church." [Ref: Burke's Extinct 1883 p136, Corbet, Barons Corbet] ^[5]

1087 Incipient Rebellion

As followers of the earl, they were probably involved in the incipient rebellion which followed the death of William I in Normandy on 9 September 1087. The king's eldest son, Robert, "was in revolt and keeping company with his father's chief enemy King Philip ... But the king's other surviving sons were there". It was William whom the dying king dispatched to England; he gave his other son Henry a substantial sum of money. ^[27]

1094 Grant of Church of Wentnor

"Hugh (son of Earl Roger of Montgomery) succeeded as earl on his father's death in July 1094. Earl Roger was buried in Shrewsbury Abbey, on which occasion Roger fitz Corbet's grant of the church of Wentnor and the tithes of Yockleton was made." ^[28]

1094 Gift to Shrewsbury Abbey

Between 1094 and 1098 Hugh, the new earl of Shewsbury, confirmed Roger's gift to Shrewsbury Abbey,^[29] and Roger often appeared as a witness to Hugh's charters. ^[30]

1102 Rebellion in Henry's Reign

About 1102 he was given the authority to defend the castle at Bridgenorth of the rebellious Robert de Belleme, son of Roger de Montgomery. The King sent William Pantulph as an envoy to negotiate the surrender of the castle, which Roger opened. Henceforth Roger held his lands directly from the king, while robert de Belleme lost his. ^[4]

When Earl Hugh died in 1098, Roger quite naturally became the loyal vassal of the earl's brother and successor, Robert de Bellême; but under this particular earl the relationship between Roger and the earls of Shrewsbury - a relationship which had been the source of almost all of the Corbet's properity and power - was to lead Roger into acute peril. ^[5]

The Corbet allegiance to the Montgomery family involved them" once again in rebellion early in Henry's reign, again in support of Duke Robert of Normandy. King Henry did not trust Robert of Bellême, earl of Shrewsbury, and had spies reporting on him for a year, during which time the earl asked the Welsh for help and strengthened his castles. In 1102 the king summoned Earl Robert to court to answer charges against him, but he fled to his castles, which the king besieged. Arundel fell first, and Blyth; then the king led his troops "into the province of Mercia, where he besieged Bridgnorth for three weeks", as Orderic recounts. "Robert himself had withdrawn to Shrewsbury and put Bridgnorth castle in the charge of Roger, son of Corbet, Robert of Neuville, and Ulger the huntsman, with eighty mercenary knights under their command."^[31]

The episode is also recorded in Welsh chronicles which tell how the king encamped at a distance from Bridgnorth and took counsel. "And the main counsel he received was to send messengers to the Britons and in particular to Iorwerth ap Bleddyn, and to invite him and his host into his presence and to promise him more than he would obtain from the earl." ^[32]

Bribery was effective. William Pantolf, who had been disinherited by the earl, acted a mediator with the castellans at Bridgnorth, and they mad a timely surrender. The earl's lands were forfeit and he was allowed to go into exile. ^[6]

In 1102, Robert de Bellême rebelled against King Henry I, and when Henry appeared in Shropshire with his army, Robert retreated to the stronghold of Shrewsbury. As Robert made his retreat, he left the castle of Bridgnorth - perhaps the greatest castle in Shropshire at this time - in the hands of Roger Corbet and his two subordinates, Robert de Neuville and Ulger the Hunter.^[33]

Although besieged by "the military force of the whole of England," ^[34] Roger managed to hold Bridgnorth for three months, but he was then betrayed by the townsmen of Bridgnorth, who secretly agreed to surrender the town to the besieging army. When Roger and his troops learned of this betrayal, "they fled to arms . . . and tried to render the negotiation abortive," but "the [local] garrison soldiers . . . blockaded them in one part of the fortress and let in the king's troops." At that point, "the king, taking into consideration that [they] had faithfully performed their service to their lord, as was their duty, gave them free liberty to depart with their horses and arms." ^[35]

With the fall of Bridgnorth, Robert de Bellême's rebellion quickly collapsed, and the rebel earl then left England forever. ^[5] After his departure from Bridgnorth, Roger Corbet disappears from the surviving records almost entirely. Considering the relative paucity of such records, this is perhaps not surprising, although Roger's advancing age and his role in the Bellême revolt may have dictated that he lead a less active, and thus less conspicuous, life. ^[5]

Roger Corbet is mentioned as the first of the three commanders to whom the Norman Earl Rogert de Belesme entrusted the castle of Bridgenorth, when it was beseiged by king Henry I in 1102. ^[2]

1108 Notitia

Some six to fourteen years after the fall of Bridgnorth, Roger and his _son_ Robert, together with some of the great men of the realm, witnessed a notitia_of a precept of King Henry to the bishop of London - "Witnesses: King Henry, Richard, bishop of London; Alan Fitz Flaald; Hamo Peverel; Roger Corbet; Robert his son; Herbert Fitz Helgot; and many other good men." ^[36] At about the same time, Roger and his _brother_, Robert, along with "bishop Richard [of London], Alan Fitz Flaald, Hamo Peverel, Herbert Fitz Helgot and many others" ^[37] were present at a royal court which decided a dispute over the manor of Fertecote_. ^[38]

1109 Charter

Hamo de Peveerel, Richard de belmeis, Bishop of London, and Roger fitz Corbe3t all attested to a charter signed by King Henry I in 1109 at the Castle of holgate. ^[4]

Roger the Friend of Earl Roger

It is also clear that while both Roger and Robert held all of their Shropshire lands of the earls of Shrewsbury, it was Roger Corbet who was the friend and close associate of Earl Roger. Roger Corbet was one of the most regular witnesses to the charters of the earl, ^[39]and when the earl died in July 1094, it was Roger, almost alone of the earl's men, who was moved to make a donation for the good of his soul. ^[5]

"When the earl [Roger] was dead and when his body was being consigned to the grave in the church of St. Peter [Shrewsbury Abbey], Roger fitz Corbet gave to the monks the church of Nutenore (Wentor] with the tithe of the same vill and the tithe of Jochehulla [Yockleton]. "^[40]

This close association between Roger Corbet and the earls of Shrewsbury continued under Earl Roger's successors. ^[5]

1121 Shrewsbury Abbey

Roger then disappears from the surviving records until 1121, when, together as usual with is brother, Robert, he was a witness to Henry I's charter to Shrewsbury Abbey. ^[41]

Roger's final recorded act was his grant to the monks of Shrewsbury of his town of _Wineslaga_ (Winsley). ^[42]

He made this grant sometime between 1121 and 1136, and like most of the charters in which he appears, it was witnessed by Robert Corbet as well. ^[5]

A more important ecclesiastical foundation was the abbey at Shrewsbury, with Benedictine monks from the Norman abbey of Sées. Although the 'foundation charter' is judged to be spurious, its substance is correct and "no objection can be raised to any of the witnesses." ^[43] Among these were the four sons of the earl by his first wife; Richard de Belmeis, Reinald de Baillol, 'Roger Chorbet' and 'Robert Chorbet': the Corbets are the last two names in a list of nine.

1121 Son Succeeds to Barony

Roger Fitz Corbet, the Domesday baron, gave the Vill of Wineslega (Winsley) to Shrewsbury Abbey, and died about 1121.^[2]

His son, at all events, peaceably succeeded to the barony in 1121; and the line continued, without a break, for more than two hundred years after that. These Barons of Caus were assiduous at their arduous post as guardians of the frontier: and an ancient roll that names Robert Corbet among those present with Couer de Leon at the siege of Acre, is discredited by Eyton on the ground (among others) that "a Lord Marcher was little likely to become a crusader," having his hands so full at home." ^[44]

1134 or 1136 Death

Roger Corbet, "Domesday Baron of Cause, formerly Alretone, Shropshire, England, as it was called in Domesday, and died about 1134. ^[5][45]

Boyer calculates the death date because Pagan Fitrz john, sheriff and governor of shropshire, having succeeded Richard de Belmeis, held Caus in 1134, and would not have dared to take it during Roger's lifetime. The castle was destroyed by the Welsh attacking Pagan fitz John. It had been one of the strongholds along the Welsh border between the rivers Dee and Wye. ^[46]

He died as Pagan Fitz John, sheriff and governor of Shropshire, having succeeded Richard de Belmeis, held Cause in 1134, and would not have dared to take it during Roger's lifetime; the castle was destroyed by the Welsh attacking Pagan Fitz John. It had been one of the strongholds along the Welsh border between the rivers Dee and Wye. He married the heiress of Talsey. ^[5]

Robert Corbet died after January 1121/22 in Worthen, Forden, Shropshire, England^[5] Roger Corbet. Alive at least between 1080 & 1122. May have fought at the Battle of Hastings. Held 24 manors in Shropshire in 1086 (Domesday Survey). ^[5]

The precise date of Roger's death is uncertain, but is seems clear that he died sometime before the granting of King Stephen's charter to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1136. In this charter, Stephen confirmed Roger's gift of Winsley to the abbey, but this charter adds that Roger's donation has also been confirmed by his sons, William and Evrard (presumably, as was conventional, shortly after their father's death). ^[47]

Holdings at Death

"Roger held of Robert de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, Huelbeck, Hundeslet, Actun, Ternley, and Prestun, all in Shropshire. "[Ref Burke, John and John Bernard, _Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland_, Scott, Webster, and Geary, London,1841, p. 132, Corbet, of Stoke] ^[5]

Issue

It is Roger who is the ancestor of the numerous families that have planted the name in the county. He constantly appears as a witness to Earl Roger's charters; and continued the faithful liegeman of his two sons, for he and Ulgar Venator were the only Shropshire chiefs that adhered to the last to Robert de Belesme. He held Bridgnorth Castle for his Earl against Henry I for three months; and it is, according to Eyton "A question" whether he forfeited his estate by his rebellion. ^[44]

Augusta Corbet's Pedigree of the Barons of Caus shows Roger Fitz-Corbet, Domesday Baron of Caus, ob. (circa) 1134 ^[48] as the father of four children: William Corbet of Wattlesborough, Baron of Caus; Everard, ob. s. p.; Simon, ob. s. p.; Roger, Lord of Tasley, ob. 1175, and Robert, founder of the Swedish Branch of Corbets.

Boyer shows five children for Roger: William, Everard, Simon, Roger, and Robert. ^[4]

1. William, mentioned in 1136
2. Everard, no issue, mentioned 1136-1155
3. Simon, no issue, mentioned 1136-1155
4. Roger, d. 1175, Lord of Tasley, issue.
5. Robert, founder of the Corbet branch in Scotland.

Augusta Corbet's Pedigree of the Barons of Caus shows Roger Fitz-Corbet, Domesday Baron of Caus, ob. (circa) 1134 ^[48] as the father of four children: William Corbet of Wattlesborough, Baron of Caus; Everard, ob. s. p.; Simon, ob. s. p.; Roger, Lord of Tasley, ob. 1175, and Robert, founder of the Swedish Branch of Corbets.

Theory 1: William died childless

There are conflicting reports as to whether William had children. John Anderson Corbet"s listing of the Barons shows William as the second baron, but then his brother Ebrard, Everard, as the third, which would be unlikely if William had children. In John Anderson Corbet's listing, Everard is followed by Roger Corbet II, whose parentage is not, however, provided. In Augusta Corbet's pedigree, Everard is skipped, and the Barony passes directly from William to Roger, who is his son.

Theory 2: William was the main progenitor of the next generation

1. William. Shown on Wikitree as born in Shropshire in 1080. Listed by Burke^[49] Roger's son, and probable heir, William was called William of Wattlesborough in a lineage recorded in a sixteenth century court book of Moreton Corbet. ^[50] William CORBET , Lord of Worthen & Wattlesboro b: ABT 1080 in Worthen, Forden, Shropshire, England. William is shown by Augusta Corbet ^[48] to be the father of Roger, the next Baron of Caus, who died childless, as well as William, husband of Dyonista de Bocville, Walter, ob. s. p., and Simon of Pontesbury, procreator of the next generation.
2. Everard Corbet, shown as born Caus Castle, Shropshire, 1091. Some historical references. Baron of Caus after William. ^[48] ob. s. p. ^[48]
3. Simon Corbet, shown as born Caus Castle Shropshire, 1093. Some historical references. ob. s. p. ^[48]
4. Roger Corbet, shown as born Caus Castle, Shropshire, 1097. Augusta Corbet's Caus Pedigree shows this Roger as Roger, lord of Tasley, ob. 1175, who married the heiress of Tasley. ^[48]
5. Robert Corbet, shown as born Caus Castle, Shropshire, 1099

Augusta Corbet shows him as the Robert who is said to have migrated to Scotland and founded the Scottish branch of the family. ^[48]

Research Notes

Possibly Related Material

^[2]

Page 358

Alberbury

On November 22, 1248, a fine was levied between Thomas Corbet and Fulk Fitz-Warin, concerning the customs and service required by Corbet on a knight's fee held by Fitz-Warin in Alberbury. It was this Fulk Fitz-Warin III who founded Alberbury priory.

Page 367

Wattlesborough.

From the 12th century, Wattlesborough was held by a race of knights, who, descended from Roger Fitz Corbet, the Domesday baron. Already divergent, in Henry the Second's time the connecting link between the baronial and the knightly Corbets has been lost; and all we are certain of is, that Richard Corbet, entered on the Shropshire Pipe Roll of 1179-80 as a vassal of the barony, is the first of his line who can be named as holding Wattlesborough under the barons of Caus.

A century later, and we have this Richard's grandson, Sir Robert Corbet, prepared to do full military service under his suzerain Peter Corbet of Caus against Lewellyn.

Descending from the Corbets to the Mouthes; from them to the Burghs; and from them to the Liehgtons; Wattlesborough castle was successfively maintained as a residence by each of these families til the year 1712.

Page 368

In William the Conqueror's time, however, Woodcote was a distinct manor, one of that series which Robert Corbet held of the Norman earl.

Page 369

Robert Fitz-Corbet, the Domesday lord of Woodcote, was brother to Roger Fitz-Corbet, the Domesday lord of Woodcote, was brother to Roger Fitz-Corbet, baron of Caus.

The fief which Robert held was less than that of his elder brother.

In 1121 the brothers appear together, attesting Henry I"s charger to Shrewsbury Abbey.

Yet Robert's relationship with that king was not reputable; for Sibil, or, as she is otherwise called, Adela Corbet, his eldest daughter, was one of the numerous mistresses of Henry I, by whom she had at least two sons, and probably a daughter.

Roger, the elder of these illegitimate offshoots of royalty, was surnamed De Dunstanville.

Sibil Corbet afterwards became the lawful wife of Herbert, son of Herbert, the king's chamberlain, and her descendants by him eventually acquiring a share in Robert Fitz-Corbet's barony, they exercised the seigneury over Woodcote.

Longden

Alice, youngest daughter and co-heir of Robert Fitz-Corbet, marrying William Botterell of Cornwall, upon the death of Reginald, earl of Cornwall, the Botterells obtained, like the Fitz-Herberts, their moiety of Robert Corbet's barony, and thenceforth Longden was reputed to be caput of the Shropshire barony of Boterell or Botreaux.

Sir William de Boterell IV alienated Longden to Robert Burnel, bishop of Bath and Wells, in exchange for lands in Somerssetshire. Accordingly, the feoday of 1284 states, that "the bishop holds Langdedon of the

Page 370

king, in capite...

Sources

1. ↑ Augusta Elizabeth Brickdale Corbet. The Family of Corbet: Its Life and Times. London: the St. Catherine Press, 1915. Further cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} John Corbet Anderson. Shropshire: It's Early History and Antiquities London: Willis & Sothoron, 1864, p. 352. Accessed October 21, 2017. jhd
3. ↑ Robert Tresswell, Somerset Herald, and Augustgine Vincent, Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms. Part I, London, 1889. pages 132-144 Corbet Family Pedigree; The Visitation of Shropshire Taken in the Year 1623, pages 132-144. Accessed October 14, 2017. jhd
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} Carl Boyer 3rd.d Medieval English Ancestors of Cerrtain Americans. By the author; Santa Clarita, California, 2001. Roger Fitz Corbeet is #2 on pages 60-61
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16} Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs. Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. The material previously appeared online at website.lineone.net, however, this link no longer operates. Excerpts from the material also appear in a post-it display by Curt Hofeman attached on Feb 27, 2004, to the website of J. Weber, The Phillips, Weber, Kirk, & Staggs families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
7. ↑ J.B. Blakeway, The Sheriffs of Shropshire, Shrewsbury 1831, p.38. R.W. Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, 1854, vii, p.6, makes suggestion into a fact: "I am entitled, I think, to assume that, soon after Domesday, Roger fitz Corbet built a Castle at Alretune, and called it Caux. This was associating the place with recollections of his won childhood ... for he himself, or his father, came to Shropshire from Pays de Caux in Normandy." He gives no evidence for these assumptions. Statement of Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
8. ↑ Calendar of Documents Preserved in France i, ed. J.H. Round, 1899, pp.209-210; Monasticaon Anglicanum vi part 2, William Dugdale. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
9. ↑ Calendar of Documents Preserved in France i, ed. J.H. Round, 1899, pp.209-210; Monasticaon Anglicanum vi part 2, William Dugdale. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
10. ↑ Barons of the Welsh Frontier, Janet Meisnel, p. 3-4
11. ↑ Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
12. ↑ Domesday_, 1:252-60. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
13. ↑ Horrest, Trans. Shropshire Arch. Soc, 4th ser., 7 (1918-1919, 155, cited by Boyer, 60
14. ↑ Domesday Book: Shropshire, Chichester 1986: Roger fitz Corbet held 25 manors, his brother Robert 15. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} VCH Salop viii, p.303. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
16. ↑ John Corbet Anderson. Shropshire: It's Early History and Antiquities London: Willis & Sothoron, 1864, p. 353. Accessed October 21, 2017. jhd
17. ↑ Article entitled Shropshire. Unfortunately, link is now dead. October 18, 2017. jhd
18. ↑ Domesday_, 1:253b. Place names will be given in Latin (italics) when they differ significantly from the English or when they cannot be identified. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
19. ↑ Mike Salter. The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire. Folly Publications, Wolverhampton, 1988. Cited by A. E. F. Corbet, Augusta Elizabeth Brickdale Corbet. The Family of Corbet: Its Life and Times. London: the St. Catherine Press, 1915. Further cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
20. ↑ Eyton, Shropshire i, pp. 109-111 Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
21. ↑ Mason. op.cit. p.11. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
22. ↑ J.F.A. Mason, The Officers and Clerks of the Norman Earls of Shropshire, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society lvi, 1957-60, pp. 244-257; for Richard de Belmeis see D.N.B.and Eyton, ii, 193-201Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
23. ↑ Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum 1066-1154 III Regesta Stephani ac Mathildis... ed. H.A. Cronne and R.C.H. Davis, Oxford 1968; no. 964 - confirmation c. 1138 of earlier grants. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
24. ↑ 10. VCH Salop ii, p.38. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
25. ↑ ^{25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3} Note the following cited by Curt Hofemann from Shropshire: 1) since Moreton & Moreton-Corbet are places in England, I think it unlikely that the family that stayed in Normandy would take this surname. 2) Meisel indicates that the Corbets of Moreton were a cadet line of the Corbets of Caus, so why would the parent Norman family take the name of a later branch in England? 3) Moreton certainly does not sound French (though it is possible that over time the French spelling transitioned to an English spelling)...
26. ↑ "wikicorb"
27. ↑ David C Douglas, William the Conqueror, London 1964, pp.359-361. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
28. ↑ Rees, Cartulary, p.39. Cited by Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
29. ↑ CSPS, no 3. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
30. ↑ CSPS, nos. 3-5. Eyton goes so far as to say the "Earl Hugh . . . seems to have been attended in most of his public acts by Roger fitz Corbet" (_Antiquities_, 7-9). Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
31. ↑ Eccles. Hist. Orderic Vitalis vi, p.25. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
32. ↑ Brut Y Tywysogyon (Red Book of Hergest) ed. Thomas Jones, Cardiff 1955, pp.43-47. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
33. ↑ Because Marjorie Chibnalls's edition of Ordericus's history has not yet reached the passages concerning Robert de Bellême's rebellion, the references to the siege of Bridgnorth are taken from the much less desirable Bohn translation (Ordericus Vitalis, _The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy_, trans. Thomas Forester, 3:334). Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
34. ↑ Ordericus, _History_ (Forester), 3.334. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
35. ↑ Ordericus, _History_ (Forester), 3:336. R. W. Eyton, in discussing Roger Corbet's role in this rebellion, says that it is a question "whether [Roger] suffered in his estate for this rebellion more than he profited by his timely discretion" (_Antiquities_, 7-9), but this reference to Roger's "timely discretion" is entirely unwarranted. Ordericus makes it very clear that it was the regular or local garrison and the burgesses who admitted the royal troops into the town and that the rebel earl's vassals (led by Roger) not only had no part in this betrayal, but resisted it with determination until they were overpowered and captured. Indeed, it is absurd to speak of Roger as having "profited" from the "timely" loss of Bridgnorth, for in spite of the king's apparent recognition of Roger's obligations to his feudal lord, it is clear that Roger lost a few of his manors as a result of his role in the rebellion. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
36. ↑ CSPS, no. 35. Note that I am translating _filius_ as "Fitz," not as "son of," and that I shall continue to do so throughout this study except in those cases in which someone is identified as _A filius B filii C_, which will be translated as "A, son of B Fitz C." By the mid-twelfth century, men were increasingly known by family names rather than by their father's names, and thus the name which follows the _filius_ is frequently _not_ the name of the man's father. There were, for example, eleven successive Fulk Fitz Warins, only the first of whom was actually the son of a man named Warin. In cases where the persons are clearly Welshmen, however, I will use the Welsh _ap_ rather than the English _Fitz. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
37. ↑ CSPS, no. 1. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
38. ↑ From the similarity of the two witness lists, it would appear that both documents originated in the same royal council and that the Robert Corbet who was identified first as Roger's son and then as Roger's brother was in fact the baron of Longdon and Alcester, Roger's brother. The only document which suggests that Roger had a son named Robert is this _notitia_ in the Shrewsbury cartulary, and its reliablility is questionable. Nevertheless, A. E. Corbet was convinced that Roger had five sons - William, Evrard, Simon, Roger and Robert - and that Robert was the founder of the Scottish branch of the family (_Family_, 1:49-51). Since the Scottish Corbets do make their appearance in the mid-twelfth century, it is possible that A. E. Corbet is correct, but I think it unlikely. Given the similarity of the two documents in question, the regularity with which Roger appears as a witness with his brother, and the absence of other documents where Roger appears with any of his sons, much less a son named Robert, the Robert in question is almost certainly Roger's brother. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
39. ↑ Monasticon Anglicannum_, ed. William Dugdale, 3:518, 522. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
40. ↑ Monasticon Anglicannum_, ed. William Dugdale, 3:518. The abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul was a Benedictine abbey founded by Earl Roger de Montgomery between 1083 and 1087. See Dom David Knowles, ed., _The Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales_, 940-1216, p. 71. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
41. ↑ CSPS, no. 35. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
42. ↑ CSPS, no. 288. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
43. ↑ The Cartulary of Shrewsbury Abbey, ed. Una Rees, Aberystwyth 1975, vol. i, p.7 Cited by Barabara Coulton, https://web.archive.org/web/20170317033804/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/corbettonenamestudy/First/People/anglo.htm The Anglo Norman Corbets] © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd
44. ↑ ^{44.0 44.1} Corbet citing: Battle Abbey Roll & Eyton's Shropshire. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
45. ↑ AET, 47, cited by Boyer, 60
46. ↑ AEC, ix, cited by Boyer, 60
47. ↑ Monasticon Anglicanum_, 3:519a. I think it likely that Roger Corbet died at least two years before Stephen's confirmation charter was issued, for in 1134 Caus Castle was burned by the Welsh, and at the time it was in the hands of the sheriff of Shropshire, Pain Fitz John (_History_ [Forester]), Ordericus, 4:143-44). Since the Corbet lands clearly never escheated to the crown, it would seem either that Pain had seized the castle illegally or that Pain was lawfully in possession of Caus because Roger had died leaving a minor as his heir, and that the king was exercising his rights of wardship through his sheriff. Since Roger was apparently an adult in 1071 and must therefore have been in his seventies in 1121 - the last date when we can be sure that he was still living - the former explanation would at first seem more likely. Indeed, Eyton was convinced that "the unscrupulous mode in which Pagan fitz John is said to have exercised his provincial power is all that [can explain] his being thus seized of the Castle of a less powerful Baron." (Eyton, _Antiquities_, 7:10) There are, however, some difficulties with this interpretation. First, as will become apparent later in this chapter, Eyton seriously underestimated the Corbets' power, and so it is unlikely that Pain could have wrested the family's principal manor from them. Second, even though the term _unscrupulous sheriff_ may seem a redundancy during this period, it is most unlikely that Pain would have acted against the interest of _this_ family. Pain must have known that King Henry was favorably disposed not just to Sybil Corbet (Henry's mistress & Roger's niece), but to the rest of her family. Finally, Ordericus was more than casually familiar with events along the Welsh March during this period, and yet there is no hint in his account of the burning of Caus which would suggest that Pain's possession of the castle was in any way irregular. Thus it would seem likely that Pain was legally in possession of Caus. But if Pain was in possession of Caus on King Henry's orders in 1134, the only likely reason is that Roger Corbet's heir was still a minor, and since Roger was at least seventy years old in 1121, this too seems unlikely. There is, however, some reason to think that it is nevertheless true. In the first place, there is no evidence apart from Roger's age which precludes the possibility that his sons were minors in 1134, and while it is not common for a man to father sons in his fifties or sixties, it is far from impossible. Moreover, if Roger's sons were not minors when he died, their failure to appear in the surviving records before 1136 is extraordinary. That Roger's charter to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1094 fails to mention his heir is not in itself surprising, for at that time there would be nothing remarkable in Roger's having no sons who had attained their majority (and while the consent of minor sons to such donations was often mentioned in charters of the period, it was only the consent of the adult heirs which was generally considered essential). It is somewhat more unusual, however that Roger's sons (if they were indeed not minors) failed to appear together with their father and uncle in the documents witnessed by Roger and Robert between 1094 and 1121. If Roger had sons who were reaching their majority during this period, it would have been natural for them to accompany their father on occasion, particularly when Roger went to court, so that they could meet and be met by the king and his court. It would also have been natural for such sons to appear, with or without their father, as witnesses to charters of other Shropshire families. But if such sons existed, they left no trace in the surviving records. This invisibility of Roger's sons is not, of course, absolute proof of their minority, but Roger's grant of Winsley to the monks of Shrewsbury does provide almost conclusive proof that his sons were all minors at the time. Since Roger was at least in his seventies when he made this donation, the monks of the abbey would surely have insisted that the charter mention the consent of Roger's heirs or the presence of his sons among the witnesses unless it was pointless to do so; and for this to be pointless, all of Roger's sons must have been minors when Roger made this donation. Reference: Barons of the Welsh Frontier p3-6 (footnotes p159-162)] Note: CSPS = Cartulary of St. Peter's of Shewsbury (National Library of Wales MS 7851D [Phillipps MS 3516]). Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
48. ↑ ^{48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 48.4 48.5 48.6 48.7} Augusta Elizabeth Brickdale Corbet. "Pedigree of the Barons of Caus." The Family of Corbet: Its Life and Times]. London: the St. Catherine Press, 1915. Volume I, page 161.
49. ↑ Burke, John and John Bernard, _Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland_, Scott, Webster, and Geary, London,1841, p. 132, Corbet, of Stoke. Cited by Jim Weber, Rootsweb. Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest Accessed October 17, 2017. jhd
50. ↑ Shropshire Record Office, Acton Reynald Collection: 322 Box 2. Cited by Barabara Coulton, The Anglo Norman Corbets © Barbara Coulton. J. C. Nobel, The Corbett One Name Study, The Corbet Study Group. Accessed October 18, 2017. jhd

• Visitation of Shropshire Page 134: Corbet

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