Robert de Tosny II

• Preferred Name: Robert de Tosny II^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}
  
• Gender: M
  
• Burial: AUG 1088 in Worcestershire, England at LATI: N2.2334 LONG: E2.2125 with note: Standardized place.
  
• FSID: G8ZT-ZVY
  
• Birth: BET 1030 AND 1036 in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England at LATI: N2.8951 LONG: E0.7823
  
• Death: 4 AUG 1088 in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England at LATI: N2.8951 LONG: E0.7823
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Robert de Todeni was a Norman nobleman who held lands in England after the Norman Conquest.
  
  Robert held lands in Guerny and Vesly in Normandy. The family was probably a branch of the Tosny family that originated near Eure in Normandy.
  
  In the Domesday Book of 1086, Robert is listed as the lord of Belvoir, Lincolnshire. This lordship is considered a feudal barony, making Robert the first baron of Belvoir. Besides the lands around Belvoir, Robert also received lands inYorkshire[and Leicestershire.[Thse lands had been held prior to the Conquest by Thorgautr Lagr and others. Robert's son Berengar was given Thorgautr's lands in Oxfordshire and Nottinghamshire, which he may have held from his father. Robert also had lands in Northamptonshire, located south of Rockingham. Three of these manors were previously owned by Oswulf, probably Oswulf son of Fran.
  
  Robert may have been the first castellan of Rockingham Castle.
  
  Robert and his wife founded Belvoir Priory, sometime between 1076 and 1088 as a priory of St Albans Abbey. The choice to make Belvoir a dependent priory of St Albans may have been because Oswulf, previous owner of some of his lands, had also given lands to St Albans.
  
  Robert married Adelais. They had three sons – Berengar, William, and Geoffrey – as well as Albreda, Adelisa, and Agnes. Berengar inherited the Norman lands and William inherited the English lands. All three sons died without offspring, leaving their sisters as the eventual heiresses. Albreda was the eldest daughter and married Robert de Insula and died before 1129 without issue.Adelisa married Roger Bigod, and died after August 1127.[Agnes, the youngest daughter, married first Ralph de Beaufour and second Hubert de Ryes. Belvoir eventually went to Cecilia Bigod, the youngest daughter of Adelisa and Roger and the Norman lands going to Hugh Bigod, son or Adelisa and Roger. Agnes is not recorded as having inherited any of lands connected with the barony of Belvoir. The historian Judith Green speculates that because Berengar did not inherit any of the English lands, he may have been the son of an earlier marriage of Robert's.
  
  Robert died around 1093, although some older sources give a date of 1088. He was buried at Belvoir Priory, according to the priory's own history.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Todeni
  
  Robert de Todeni, or Todenei, the first feudal lord, or baron by tenure, of Belvoir Castle, died in 1088, leaving issue by his wife Adela, five children, of whom the eldest son and heir was
  Succession to the fee of Belvoir has been discussed as a problem several times over the years, but perhaps the issue is actually straightforward once one has identified the key players.[1] Domesday's Robert de Tosny of Belvoir was a collateral of his contemporaries Ralph and Roger. By c. 1050+ he had a first-born son Berengar who could expect to succeed his father in Normandy.[2] Around the time of Domesday Book, a few years before his death, Robert founded Belvoir priory with his wife Adelais. Early charters of Belvoir mention their sons William and Geoffrey and their daughter Agnes.[3] At his death, Robert's lands were divided between Berengar, his eldest son and Norman heir - co-incidentally an English tenant-in-chief in his own right - and his next son and English heir, William. Presumably some provision was made for the Third son Geoffrey. As it happened, all three sons were to die without issue, which meant that rights of succession passed to Robert's daughters. Initially, the sole right of succession passed to Robert's eldest daughter Albreda, who inherited the tenancies-in-chief of both her eldest brother Berengar and her younger brother William before the date of the Lindsey Survey, which shows her husband Robert de Insula in charge of both honours.[4] It has always been assumed that Albreda was the widow of Berengar who took his land to a second husband, but the idea is clearly untenable once the full story of the Belvoir succession unfolds. The references in confirmation charters of the Lincolnshire abbey of Newhouse to 'the fee of Albreda de Tosny' is an indication that the wife of Robert de Insula was a blood relative and heiress of Berengar, rather than his widow.[5] This view is confirmed by the necrology of Belvoir priory, where the anniversaries of Berengar and Albreda uxoreius, deo sancta (a phrase always referring to a religious in this document) were kept on 29 June.[6] All doubt is removed by a charter of c. 1147/52 in which Hugh Bigod made a grant to Kirkstall abbey for the soul of Albrede de Insula amite mee, a phrase that can only mean that Albreda was his mother's sister.[7] The phrase also usefully confirms that Albreda de Tosny and Albreda (wife of Robert) de Insula were the same."
  
  http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/r/u/Elmer-Gene-Bruner/GEN E4-0271.html
  
  Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire, compiled by Ezra S Stearns - BUCHANAN
  This famous old Scotch name is still common in the land of its origin, and has been honored by several men of more than ordinary distinction, including a number of ripe scholars who have graced the le
  
  === !From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 ===
  !From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
  
  === http://www.ihrinfo.ac.uk/ihr/nine.html ....This link does not connect to anything..... ===
  http://www.ihrinfo.ac.uk/ihr/nine.html ---Is this the Institute for Historical Research, School of Advanced Studies, University of London?
  
  Succession to the fee of Belvoir has been discussed as a problem several times over the years, but perhaps the issue is actually straightforward once one has identified the key players. Domesday's Robert de Tosny of Belvoir was a collateral of his contemporaries Ralph and Roger. By c. 1050+ he had a first-born son Berengar who could expect to succeed his father in Normandy. Around the time of Domesday Book, a few years before his death, Robert founded Belvoir priory with his wife Adelais. Early charters of Belvoir mention their sons William and Geoffrey and their daughter Agnes. At his death, Robert's lands were divided between Berengar, his eldest son and Norman heir - co-incidentally an English tenant-in-chief in his own right - and his next son and English heir, William. Presumably some provision was made for the third son Geoffrey. As it happened, all three sons were to die without issue, which meant that rights of succession passed to Robert's daughters.
  
  Initially, the sole right of succession passed to Robert's eldest daughter Albreda, who inherited the tenancies-in-chief of both her eldest brother Berengar and her younger brother William before the date of the Lindsey Survey, which shows her husband Robert de Insula in charge of both honours. It has always been assumed that Albreda was the widow of Berengar who took his land to a second husband, but the idea is clearly untenable once the full story of the Belvoir succession unfolds. The references in confirmation charters of the Lincolnshire abbey of Newhouse to 'the fee of Albreda de Tosny'' is an indication that the wife of Robert de Insula was a blood relative and heiress of Berengar, rather than his widow. This view is confirmed by the necrology of Belvoir priory, where the anniversaries of Berengar and Albreda uxor eius, deo sancta (a phrase always referring to a religious in this document) were kept on 29 June. All doubt is removed by a charter of c. 1147/52 in which Hugh Bigod made a grant to Kirkstall abbey for the soul of Albrede de Insula amite mee, a phrase that can only mean that Albreda was his mother's sister. The phrase also usefully confirms that Albreda de Tosny and Albreda (wife of Robert) de Insula were the same.
  
  Robert de Tosny had two other daughters, of whom the youngest was Agnes. She confirmed her father's grant of land at Aslackby, Lincolnshire, to Belvoir priory as being part of her marriage portion on her first marriage to Ralph de Beaufour of Hockering (fl. 1086/1100). Widowed in the early twelfth century, she married secondly Hubert I de Ryes, castellan of Norwich, to whom the tenancy-in-chief of Hockering was given by Henry I. She occurs in the 1129/30 Pipe Roll (p. 93) charged with a debt of 35 silver marks because her son was with the count of Flanders. At a similar date she attested the charter which William de Albini pincerna gave for Wymondham priory on the day his wife Matilda Bigod, Agnes's niece, died. Agnes follows her sister Adelisa Bigod in the witness list, where she was accompanied by her daughter Almud and a niece or granddaughter (nepta) Muriel. Her dower lands at Aslackby and at Seaton, Northamptonshire (then in Rutland), were held in 1166 by her son or grandson Ralph de Beaufour from her grandson Hubert II de Ryes.
  
  The elder of Robert de Tosny's younger daughters was Adelisa, wife of Roger Bigod at his death in 1107. It is probable that Roger was married only once, although he is usually credited with two wives of the same name on the inconclusive evidence of a pro anama clause in a charter of his son William. Roger and his wife Adelisa gave charter for Rochester priory which referred to their sons and daughters and was attested by their children William, Humphrey, Gunnor and Matilda. This charter tellingly refers to King Henry, making it highly unlikely that Roger acquired a second wife and second family before his death in 1107. It is likely that Rogers' children were born from the late 1090s onwards, and that the youngest of them were Hugh and Cecilia. Roger's daughters Gunnor and Matilda were married soon after 1107. Gunnor's marriage to Robert fitz Swein of Essex had perhaps been arranged by her father. Matilda was married to William de Albini pincerna by Henry I who bestowed 10 Bigod fees on her as a marriage portion. The marriages certainly took place before Adelisa de Tosny became the heiress to Belvoir on the death without issue of her eldest sister Albreda, some time between 1115/18 and 1129, when Adelisa, as widow of Roger Bigod, accounted for her father's land of Belvoir.
  
  In 1129 the sole surviving issue of Robert de Tosny were his younger daughters Adelisa Bigod and Agnes de Beaufour, who was then already married to Hubert de Ryes. At that date his Bigod granddaughter Matilda de Albini was probably already dead and her sister Gunnor not long removed from her second marriage to Haimo de St Clair. Of their siblings, only Hugh Bigod and Cecilia, then wife of William de Albini Brito, survived. The Carta returned by Hugh Bigod in 1166 shows him holding the fee of his aunt Albreda de Insula.15 At the same date William de Albini Brito II held the fee of Belvoir. The conclusion from this must be that Adelisa succeeded Albreda in the fees of both Berengar and Robert de Tosny as next surviving sister. When she in her turn died she left issue of both sexes. Her sole surviving son Hugh succeeded his aunt Albreda - and by extension, her eldest brother Berengar - as heir both to Berengar's tenancy-in-chief in Lincolnshire and the Norman lands of Robert de Tosny of Belvoir. His tenancy of Robert's Norman lands is shown in a Norman record of 1172 where he is named as holding land of the fee of Conches and Tosny.16 More important in terms of size in England, the lordship of Belvoir was nonetheless the lesser of the two Tosny lordships because it as not associated with their Norman heritage. As the inheritance of a woman married to an important tenant-in-chief it could be expected to pass to one of her younger children and not her husband's principal male heir. Since she had no surviving younger sons after 1120, the devolution of Belvoir to one of her daughters was inevitable. Gunnor and Matilda had long since been provided for from their father's inheritance by the time, after c. 1115/1118, that Adelisa succeeded to Belvoir. Consequently it was the youngest daughter Cecilia - quite probably a mere infant at her father's death in 1107 - who became her mother's heiress. She was, of course , an heiress whose marriage could advantageously be used to reward one of the king's loyal new men. Cecilia's marriage to William de Albini Brito has been said to have occurred as early as 1107 on the basis of a Belvoir charter given by Ralph de Raines and attested by Roger Bigod, but it certainly took place much later. The Belvoir charter just mentioned probably begins to the early 1140s . It was attested by William de Albini senior and his wife Cecilia, their son William junior, Roger Bigot, Robert de Toteneio, Ralph de Albeneio and others.17 Since William, Robert and Ralph were certainly sons of William and Cecilia it is clear that Roger Bigod was also, as is confirmed by the order of their sons William, Robert, Roger, listed in the Thorney Liber vitae (BL Add, 40,000, fol. 2r)
  
  === BEWARE of merging with the other Robert de Toeni LB23-61T ===
  Robert de Toeni of Stafford is different to this Robert de Toeni de Belvoir - do not merge

1. Adeliza de Tosny, b. ABT 1064 in Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Manche, Lower Normandy, France     d. AFT 1136 in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England
2. Albreda de Tosny, b. ABT 1064 in Leicestershire, England    
3. Agnes de Tosny, b. 1068 in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England     d. 1131 in Y, Somme, Picardie, France

1. Title: The Battle Abbey Roll
   Note: In Fauroux, he states, "Berenger De Todeni son of Robert de Tosny of Belvoir (was) named after his father's brother Berenger Spina, all three occur in a Marmoutier charter of 1063, when Berenger, probably still an adolescent, authorizes an agreement made by his father". (p.157). Van Houts notes that in Norman times it was common for adolescents and boys age 10 or even younger to act as witnesses to charters such as these. Their father would typically give them a slap or worse in order that they would remember the day and what was attested to (p.65). Hence it is not clear what age Berengar was in 1063. Thus Robert is uncle to John de Laval the monk at Mamoutier son of Widow de Valle, and the sibling to Berengeris Spina and to the Widow de Valle (Bertha who married Guy LaValle) see Bertha's entry. This cartulary evidence is the most important document in the identification of this branch of the de Tosny family. It is discussed in detail in Stewart's, Origins and Early Generations of the Tosny Family, beginning on page 36. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gentxt/Origin_and_early_genera tions_of_the_Tosny_family.pdf. Stewart's grasp of Latin allows us to learn that in other charters relating to Marmoutier the lands being granted were those in Vesly and Guerny in the Vexin area - a considerable distance south of the Tosny lands. It suggests that the younger children of Raoul II may have been given lands not tied to the main home bases at Tosny and Conches. What is more to the point though, is that the charter of 1063 above specifically notes that Robert de Todeni's lands were at Guerny. Stewart assumes (without any reservations) that this Robert and Robert of Belvoir are the same person. At this time the Marmoutier Priory was a popular religious house for donations by Norman Barons, despite its location at a distance in the Loire River Valley (see Green, 1997, p.394-5; Dugdale, Mon. Ang., III, 289). It was probably Robert de Tosny (Toeni, Todeni) whose name appears on the various Battle Abbey and similar rolls of those who supplied ships, men and materials to William the Conqueror, and were awarded with land grants in England (vast holdings). Event: Historical Companion toWilliam I Event: Military 14 OCT 1066 Hastings Event: Political Advisor to William I (IW). Battle Abbey Roll:A combination of all the known Battle Abbey Rolls, Including Wace, Dukes, Counts, Barons, Lords who Attended William at Hastings. These Were the commanders. They Were the elite who HAD Provided ships, horses, men and supplies for the venture. They Were Granted the lordships. The list Does not include the Estimated 12.000, Standard bearers, Men at Arms, Yeomen, Freemen and other ranks, although some ofthese Were Granted smaller parcels of England, some even as small as 1/8 th of a knight's fee. http://www.robertsewell.ca/battleabbey.html Robert de Todeni Neel de Toeni Raoul de Toeni The spelling of Todeni is associated with Robert of Belvoir - this is the way his name is written on his coffin lid. The spelling of Toeni is linked to the family of Ralph, son of Roger. It is likely that at his age, Robert of Belvoir has amassed a substantial fortune which he used to support the Conqueror's need for ships and other supplies including knights. The Dives - Sur - Mer list is taken from the plaque in the church at Dives-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, where William the Conqueror and his knights said mass before setting sail to invade England in 1066. It lists all the knights who took part in the invasion.[Note by www.nay.org webmaster: The following widely distributed list is reported by at least one researcher to be a fabrication. http://www.three-peaks.net/1066.htm. Some could have died or whatever early lists have been mistranscribed, or additions were made from the Domesday Book of 1086. It includes the following: Berenger de Toeni Guillaume de Tocni Ilbert de Toeni Jumel de Toeni Robert de Toeni Raoul de Toeni Raoul, Robert, Juhel, Ibert, Berenger, and Guillaume; but Juhel is inserted by mistake, for he was named De Toteneis, or Totness, from his Devonshire barony (see Maine). Raoul or Ralph de Toeni-called by Wace De Conches (from his barony of Conches, near Evreux.
   
2. Title: The Descent of Belvoir.1 Judith A. Green (The Queen’s University of Belfast)
   Publication: Name: https://web.archive.org/web/20090220012512/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~prosop/prosopon/issue10-2.pdf;
   Note: The history of the important honour of Belvoir in the Norman period has been discussed by several historians, most recently by K.S.B. Keats-Rohan.2 Missing pieces of the jigsaw have been filled in and, though gaps remain, most notably about the basis of Ranulf II earl of Chester’s claim in Stephen’s reign, the picture is now much clearer. It highlights the crucial role of women in the descent of honours, bringing us to the heart of politics and patronage under the Norman kings, and the crucial question of how much manoeuvre the king had in deciding in favour of one claimant rather than another.3 In 1086 Belvoir was held by Robert de Tosny. He is known to have had three sons. One, Berengar, is recorded in Domesday Book both as his father’s under-tenant and as a tenant-inchief.4 Berengar inherited his father’s estates in Normandy and it seems that William inherited Belvoir (the fate of the third son Geoffrey is not recorded).5 By the date of the Lindsey Survey, which was probably drawn up in summer or autumn 1115,6 some of the Lincolnshire estates held at Domesday by Robert de Tosny had passed to his son-in-law Robert de Insula, husband of Albreda.7 Keats-Rohan has demonstrated that Albreda was the sister and not the widow of Berengar de Tosny as was previously thought.8 Albreda had at least two sisters, Adeliza, the wife of Roger Bigod, and Agnes, the wife first of Ralph de Belfou and secondly of Hubert de Ryes. The next reference to Belvoir seems to be that in the 1130 Pipe Roll, when Adeliza accounted for an outstanding debt for her father’s land of Belvoir.10 The charters for Belvoir Priory suggest that the lords of the honour were Robert de Tosny, his son William, and William d’Aubigny the Breton.11 There survives a survey of (part of) Leicestershire which is thought to have been very close in date to the pipe roll.12 Most of Robert de Tosny’s lands, including the manor of Bottesford on which Belvoir was situated, were at the time of the survey in the hands of William d’Aubigny (the Breton), whilst other estates were held either by Robert de Insula, or were held of Belvoir, or were in unidentified hands. This evidence, if interpreted literally (i.e. if names were all recorded at the same date), suggests that Robert de Insula was still living and in possession of some Tosny estates, and others were held by William d’Aubigny the Breton by virtue of his marriage to Cecily, Adeliza Bigod’s daughter. Those held of Belvoir’ could have been held by Adeliza herself, or they were in the king’s hands. The danegeld pardon of six shillings in castello de Belveder in the 1130 Pipe Roll might well indicate the latter. This would not preclude William holding the castle as the king’s castellan.13 The third sister, Agnes, may well have been still living, as she and Adeliza Bigod witnessed the charter by which William d’Aubigny the butler, the latter’s son-in-law, gave the manor of Happisburgh to Wymondham priory on the day of his wife’s burial.14 Agnes’s share of her father’s lands seems to have been limited to a marriage portion at Aslackby where she gave land to Belvoir Priory, later confirmed by her son Henry de Ryes.15 William d’Aubigny the Breton was a man who rose to prominence under Henry I. He is thought to have been the son of Main, probably Main of Saint Aubin d’Aubigné.16 Father and son are mentioned in the Liber Vitae of Thorney Abbey.17 The early stages of William’s career are obscure. Belvoir priory was a dependency of St Albans abbey, and the tradition recorded there was that William had distinguished himself at the battle of Tinchebrai in 1106, which is by no means improbable.18 William seems to begin to witness royal charters frequently after about 1120, but it may be that he had some earlier involvement with Belvoir, because he may have been the William d’Aubigny who attested two royal notifications dealing with the honour.19 In the first of these, addressed to Ralph de Watnevilla, Ralph de Bosco Rohard, and Hugh de Hottot, the king gave the churches of Uffington and Barkestone to Robert bishop of Lincoln. The dating limits are 1107 and 1116 because of the attestations of William de Tancarville and Queen Matilda and the reference to the king’s crossing. William only began to attest for Henry after the battle of Tinchebrai and the king’s last crossing to Normandy before the queen's death was in 1116. The second, addressed to Ralph de Rehart [sic] and his associates, ordered him to put the bishop in seisin of Barkestone and Uffington. The address suggests that the honour was in the king’s hands at the time, possibly after the death of William de Tosny, and the attestation of William d’Aubigny (if this is the Breton) perhaps points to him as custodian. The advowson and parsonage of Uffington as of her own inheritance’ were subsequently given by Cecily and her husband to Belvoir Priory.20 William next occurred as the sole witness of the king’s charter for St Dogmael’s.21 In 1130 he held at farm Rutland, which may have been in the king’s hands since the death of Queen Matilda, and the lands (here unidentified) formerly held by Otuel FitzCount, who had been drowned in the White Ship, plus Ketton, and Geddington.22 Adeliza was the mother of Hugh Bigod, for Hugh is known to have inherited the Yorkshire lands of Berengar de Tosny, which must have come to him through his mother’s family.23 She may have been the mother of Roger Bigod’s other children, as Keats-Rohan has also suggested, and if she was, the singling out of Cecily as her heiress was noteworthy.24 How and when did this happen? We have seen that some of the Belvoir lands had passed to her sister and her sister’s husband by 1115, and it would appear from the Leicestershire Survey that Robert de Insula was still living after the marriage of Cecily and William. Hugh Bigod inherited his father’s estates, Robert de Tosny’s Norman estates, and the English estates of his uncle, Berengar, but he was not to inherit Belvoir, where the claim of his sister was preferred. We cannot be certain of the exact timing and order of events, but it looks as though Adeliza was substituted as the principal heiress of Belvoir, perhaps with the intention of making her daughter Cecily, and Cecily’s husband, the next heirs. Yet in the Leicestershire Survey Robert de Insula held land at Muston and Stathern which in 1086 had been held by Robert de Tosny. Robert de Insula also held land at Eaton (probably omitted from Domesday Book) and Eastwell (held in 1086 by Aschill the king’s serjeant) which were subsequently held by Albreda’s successors, the count of Aumale and Hugh Bigod. article continues -click on link to view in full.
   
3. Title: Tosney Lands of Normandy: Location of Versey and Guerny
   Author: Vesly and Guerny are situated immediately east of Tosny on the Epte River on the eastern border of Normandy. In all likelihood this land is part of Roberts patrimony. See pages 72 and 74 of Musset; and the map reproduced from page 69 of the same source and may be viewed here:
   Publication: Name: https://www.davidkfaux.org/TosnyLandsNormandy.pdf;
   
4. Title: Robert de Todeni (what is the source here?)
   Note: "Robert de Todeni came over with William the Conqueror (see Battle Abbey Roll), and Robert de Todeni is supposed by some to have been the standard-bearer to William I, or to have been a relation of that individual ; but this is refuted by one of the ablest known writers of Norman history, who says : " There is no question at all about the standard-bearer. Ralf de Todeni, or Toeni (now Thesny) was hereditary standard-bearer of Normandy, but declined to carry the standard at the battle of Hastings, that his hands might be freer for the fight. The authority for both statements is Wace's Roman de Roii. England, of which the caput appears to have been at Fhimstead, Herts. Robert de Todeni, the Lord of Belvoir, had nothins; to do with the standard. It can only be a blunder of some late antiquary to assert that he had. It is not even known for certain what relation he was to Ralf." (BAA, p.299-300). "He was rewarded by the Conqueror for his services with grants of many lordships ; and his great barony, as entered in Domesday, included lands in thirteen counties, comprising eighty manors altogether ; the chief of which lay on the borders of Lincoln and Leicester, in six of which Osulf (the reputed father of his wife Adeliza, in right of whom Robert held the lordship of Belvoir) is recorded as having previously held them." (BAA, p.299). In his otherwise excellent work, Pottou has included a Robert, father to Robert, whose existance cannot be proven. What is clear is that Robert de Todeni whose son Berengar authorized his father's gift to the monks of Marmoutier Abbey had a sister the widow Valle and a brother Berengar Spina noted in the document (see below). Thus Robert must have been older than most authors would allow (since his nephew was born 1025), and the most parsimonious interpretation is that there was only one Robert with an eldest son Berengar. We will soon see how confusing this family is when considering that Robert de Toeni Lord of Stafford was buried about the same time as Robert above and has in some cases it has been assumed that the two are the same (although Robert de Stafford is stated to be a son of Roger (Toeni) of Conches in a charter. So with this in mind, here follows a biographical sketch of the Robert de Todeni who is presently buried in the Castle at Belvoir which he built beginning in 1066. ' Robertus de Belvedeir', founder of Belvoir priory with his wife, ca. 1085 [Mon. Angl. III:288-9, Num. III. 'Robertus de Todeni', major tenant in chief at Domesday Book, 1086. For a list of the many manors (most in the Leistershire regions) in the possession of Robert de Tosny see http://domesdaymap.co.uk/name/453250/robert-of-tosny/ "Belvoir Castle was begun by Robert de Todeni, who served as William the Conqueror's Standard Bearer during the Battle of Hastings. Probably, a motte castle was built at Belvoir no later than the 1080's, a structure that would have been quite typical of its day. Robert de Todeni was also responsible for the construction of a priory adjacent to the castle, and was buried inside the chapel in 1088. Having been unearthed in the 18th century, Robert now rests inside the castle (still in his coffin!)" (Seipp tree at Genealogy.com). Actually this is a dating problem, and it is certain the Robert was buried in 1093 and his wife before this, There appears to be a confusion of Ralf and Robert in many documents - although this appears to relate to Ralph, nephew to Robert of Belvoir.
   
5. Title: K S. B. Keats-Rohan
   Author: "Acta Duc Norm 342-343 no 157, notice of formal confirmation in 1063 of an agreement between Robert and the monks of Marmoutier regarding his domain of Guerny: Notitia de conventione Rotberti de Toeniaco avunculi domni Johannis monachi nostri. Nosse debebitis si qui eritis posteri nostri Majoris scilicet hujus habitores monasterii Sancti Martini Rotbertum de Toeniaco avunculum domni Johannis monachi nostri, filii Widonis de Valle, quicquid sibi reclamabat in possessione de Guarniaco concessisse totamque ex integro possessionem illam auctorizasse Sancto Martino et nobis, tali pacto ut si quando monachus apud nos esse voluerit et frater ejus nomine Berengerius Spina cognominatus hoc velit et concedit illi si vixerit, nec ipse refutetur a nobis ... Hanc Rotbertus conventionem primo cum aliquibus fratribus nostris coram Guillelmo Normannorum comite fecit, et postea veniens in capitulum nostrum, præsidente nobis domno abbate Alberto, anno ab Incarnatione Domini .MLXIII. apud nos confirmavit
   Note: Robert's connection to the de Tosny family is shown in the following Priory Charter: Source: K S. B. Keats-Rohan - Domesday People: A Prosopograph of Persons Occuring in English Documents, 1066-1166 - Domesday People: A Prosopograph of Persons Occuring in English Documents, 1066-1166
   
6. Title: Robert "of Belvoir" de Todeni formerly Toeni aka de Tosny
   Author: Sources Judith Green, (1999) "The Descent of Belvoir", Prosopon Newsletter. Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, pp.380-381. Keats-Rohan, (1998) "Belvoir: The Heirs of Robert and Berengar de Tosny", Prosopon Newsletter. Loyd, Anglo-Norman Families, p.104. Peter Stewart, "Origin and early generations of the Tosny family", bobwolfe website Sanders, English Baronies, p.12 Also see Charles Cawley, MedLands article
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Toeni-71;
   Note: Robert de Tosny (or Toeni, Todeni etc) was an important tenant-in-chief under William the Conqueror. His lands in England became the feudal barony of Belvoir, centred at Belvoir castle (pronounced like Beaver). Domesday holdings in 1086. PASE website profile: http://domesday.pase.ac.uk/Domesday?op=5&personkey=40475 Opendomesday website profile: https://opendomesday.org/name/robert-of-tosny/ Continental origins. The Toeni (Tosny, Todeny, etc) family is from modern Tosny (postcode 27700, commune Les Trois Lacs) which is a bend of the river Seine, near the famous Chateau Gaillard. Keats-Rohan more specifically states that Robert de Todeni of Belvoir was from a branch of the Tosnys that held land in Guerny (27720) and Vesly (27870), just to the east of Tosny. All these places are in the modern département of Eure. Vesly is known to be a possession of the family because it was the maritagium of Robert's sister in France, Berthe. Guerny was mentioned in a document by Robert and the monks of Marmoutier. (See below.) Known relatives. Robert de Tosny of Belvoir is known to have had a brother Berengar Spina and a sister, Berthe, who was wife of Guy I de Laval, lord (seigneur) of Laval in France. As Keats-Rohan explains both these relationships are demonstrated "in a document recording an agreement with Marmoutier" made about 1060. Peter Stewart describes the key document as Acta Duc Norm 342 no 157, "notice by the monks of Marmoutier dated 1063": Notitia de conventione Rotberti de Toeniaco avunculi domni Johannis monachi nostri ... tali pacto ut si quando monachus apud nos esse voluerit et frater ejus nomine Berengerius Spina cognominatus hoc velit et concedit illi si vixerit, nec ipse refutetur a nobis It thus described Berengar Spina as a brother, and Guy's son John de Laval as a nephew. As Peter Stewart explains: "The mother of Jean and Haimo was named as Berta in a notice by the monks of Marmoutier written 1055". Connection to the other Toeni families. As Loyd remarks: The evidence that Todeni of Belvoir was a branch of the Tosny family is strong, but the precise nature of the connexion is difficult to prove. Keats-Rohan considers it certain that there is a connection, but agrees that there is doubt about the exact relationships. Her proposal is that his father might have been named Roger, and therefore been confused with the father of Robert de Toeni of Stafford. This does not appear to have created any new consensus. Peter Stewart speculates that Robert of Belvoir may have been the first cousin of Robert of Stafford, and son of an unknown brother, not uncle, of the other Robert's father Roger. Peter Stewart questions the logic of Keats-Rohan, both about there being another Roger de Toenis apart from the father of Robert of Stafford, and secondly about the idea that the name Berengar implies a close connection to Spain: Keats-Rohan (1999) 380–381 stated that Orderic ‘once refers to a Roger “the Spaniard” and he may do so to distinguish him from the Roger de Tosny, founder of Conches, he mentions elsewhere’. This is incorrect, as Orderic elsewhere specificied Roger de Hisania as the man who was killed with his sons by the Beaumonts, and whom we know to have been the founder of Conches as well as the husband of Godehildis (see nn 5 & 13 below), Ord Vit Hist iv 206: reported speech of Roger the Bearded, seigneur of Beaumont: ‘... Hoc nimirum potest in bello ... in quo corruerunt Rogerius de Hispania et filii eius Elbertus et Elinantius atque plures alii ...’. Conjectures linking this senior line of the Tosny family to the Belvoir branch depending on the alleged existence of two Rogers, one who went to Spain and the other who founded Conches, are therefore untenable. The vanishingly remote possibility that two distinct Rogers of Tosny went to Spain at different times, both later coming to be known as ‘Roger the Spaniard’, is not supported by any evidence. And concerning the name Berengar, used by Robert of Belvoir's brother and eldest son: The name Berenguer is not evidence for Berenger Spina ▲4.9 to have had Catalan ancestry, as proposed by Evans (1968) 616 making him a son of Roger I and compounded by Keats-Rohan (1993) 35 and n 107 adding as his mother Godehildis, most improbably identified with the purported wife from Barcelona. In fact the name Berenger was current in Normandy before this time—notably, on the first occurrence of Roger’s father Radulf II in a ducal charter he attested immediately after the chamberlain Berenger, Acta Duc Norm 96 no 15, charter of Duke Richard II dated at Rouen 21 Sep 1014: S. Berengerii cubicularii. S. Rodulfi de Todeniaco. The name does not appear to have been used in the comital family of Barcelona before Ermessenda’s son. The Ermessenda he refers to, Countess of Barcelona, was widowed 1017. Roger de Toeni the father of Robert of Stafford fought for her while he was in Spain. Wife. We only know that her name was Adelais. Peter Stewart remarked: Only the initial letter of her name is given in Carte Belv 288–289 no 1, record of the foundation of Belvoir priory by her husband: Robertus inceperat ecclesiam sanctæ Mariæ juxta castellum suum ... Robertus et A. ejus uxor ... Robertus, concedente A. uxore sua ... Mortuâ verò A. uxore Roberti; the full name was given in an undated charter of her daughter Agnes, ibid 290 no 7: ego Agnes de Toteneio confirmo donationem elemosinarum quas pater meus Robertus de Toteneio, et mater mea Adelais dederunt ecclesiæ sanctæ Mariæ de Belvoir. Children. In summary, based mainly on Peter Stewart's very detailed summary (boys oldest to youngest, then girls oldest to youngest): Berenger, born around 1045-50, died 29 Jun before 1115 without issue. Married Albreda. He was the heir in France, but he was also a tenant-in-chief in England before his father died. William, lord of Belvoir after his father, died after 1100 without issue. Geoffrey. Died without issue. Albreda, who was heiress of the Belvoir lordship after her brother William died. She died after 1115 and before autumn 1126. Married Robert de Insula, lord of Belvoir (by right of his wife), who died after 1129/30. Adeliza. Heiress of her older sister for the barony of Belvoir. Died after 1136. She married Roger Bigod, who was born about 1045, vavasor in Les Loges & Savenay, lord of the barony of Framlingham, sheriff of Suffolk and Norfolk, and a royal steward. Roger died at Earsham, Suffolk 8 or 10 Sep 1107, and was buried at Norwich cathedral. Agnes, died after September 1130. She married (1st) Radulf de Belfou, lord of Hockering, who died about 1100-1105. Married (2nd) Hubert de Ryes, who died before 1127. Only the two youngest daughters had surviving children. Approximate death year. Peter Stewart has commented on the difference between Keats-Rohan and Sanders: Keats-Rohan (1999) 380 stated, ‘At his death c.1093 his Norman heir was his son Berengar’. Sanders (1960) 12 placed his death in 1088, perhaps from confusion with his namesake Robert [of Stafford] who became a monk in infirmity at that time.