VERMANDOIS Isabel

- Abt 1147

• Name	VERMANDOIS Isabel
  Birth	Vermandois, France
  Gender	Female
  Death	Abt Feb 1147
  Notes	Family Isabel was a daughter of Hugues le Grand and Adèle de Vermandois.[1] Her paternal grandfather was Henri I, King of France, and her materal grandfather was Herbert IV, count of Vermandois.[2] She had four brothers: Raoul I, count of Vermandois and Peronne; Henri, seigneur of Chaumont-en-Vexin; Simon, bishop of Noyon; and Guillaume; and four sisters: Maud; Beatrice, who married Hugues, seigneur of Gournay-en-Brie; Constance, who married Geoffroi de la Ferté-Ancoul; and Agnes, who married Bonifacia I, Marquis of Vasto.[2] Countess of Meulan and Leicester The exact date of Isobel's birth is not known, but she is thought to have been still a young girl when she caught the eye of Robert de Beaumont, count of Meulon. Beaumont wanted both Isobel and the elevated social standing that a marriage to the granddaughter of King Henri I would give him.[3] Isobel's father was only too happy to make an alliance with one of the wealthiest and largest land-holders in England.[4] The bishop of Châtres refused to sanction the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity, but Vermandois was able to convince the pope to grant a dispensation in return for his own pledge to assist in the crusade.[5] Isabel, probably younger than twelve years, was married in 1096 to Robert, count of Meulan. The groom was over fifty years of age (based on having reached his majority well before 1066).[4] By 1106 her husband had also been granted the earldom of Leicester[4] He had served as a trusted advisor to both King William II and King Henry I, and became recognized for his "unbroken prosperity (under successive kings) and steady advance in wealth and power, while those around him were being ruined."[6] There were at least eight children from this marriage: [see research notes] Emma de Beaumont; died in infancy or entered a convent[7] Adeline de Beaumont; b. bef. 1103;[4] m. 1123 Hugues IV, seigneur of Montfort-sur-Risle[4][1][8] Waleran de Beaumont, count of Meulan; b. c.1104 (twin)[4] Robert de Beaumont, earl of Leicester; b. c.1104 (twin)[4] Hugh de Beaumont, earl of Bedford; b. aft. 1107[4] Aubry de Beaumont; m. 1123 Huges II, seigneur of Châteauneuf[4][1][8] Maud (or Mathilde) de Beaumont; m. 1123 William Lovel[4] Isabel (or Elizabeth) de Beaumont; mistress of King Henry;[4] m. Gilbert de Clare, earl of Pembroke[4] Robert Beaumont, count of Meulan and earl of Leicester, died 5 June 1118. It is uncertain whether he died in England or in France but (according to the contemporary historian Orderic) he was buried at Préaux alongside his father and brother.[4][9] Countess of Surrey and Warenne There are numerous stories suggesting that Isabel eventually took as a lover William de Warenne, earl of Surrey and Warenne, and that she either ran away to be with him or was kidnapped by him sometime before the death of her elderly husband. All of these stories seem to be based on an account written by Henry of Huntingdon[10] and do not appear to have any basis in fact. They may have been merely gossip fueled by the at least forty year age discrepancy between Isabel and her husband. What is known is that shortly after Earl Robert's death in 1118, Isabel married Earl William when, according to at least one chronicler, "he swept (the beautiful Isabel) off her feet and out of Meulan's household."[11] Isabel and Earl William immediately began their own family; and there were five children from this marriage: William de Warenne, 3rd earl of Surrey and Warenne[1] Ralph de Warenne[1] Reginald de Warenne;[1] m. Alice de Wormegay[12] Gundreda de Warenne; m. Roger de Neubourg, earl of Warwick.[13] Ada de Warenne; b. aft. 1123;[14][15] m. 1139 Henry Dunkeld, earl of Huntingdon;[16][17] d. c.1178[18] Warenne inherited from his father one of the largest of all Domesday estates, concentrated primarily in Sussex, Norfolk, and Yorkshire.[19] He was notoriously rebellious and outspoken as a young man, but after the Battle of Tinchebrai (September 1106) during which he victoriously commanded a division of the royal army, he became a staunch support of King Henry.[19] He witnessed sixty-nine of Henry's charters, and in the period from 1106-1121 the king granted additional lands to him, which included the royal manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire and the castle of St Saëns.[19] He was one of the earls present at the death of King Henry I on 11 December 1135,[1] and was afterward appointed governor of Rouen and the Pays de Caux.[19][1] Isabel's marriage to Earl William was to last nearly twenty years. William de Warenne's death on 11 May 1138 was recorded in the manuscript register of Lewes priory.[12] He was buried at his father's feet in the chapter-house at Lewes, Sussex.[1][12] Death Isabel died in February 1147,[20] and is thought to have also been buried at Lewes.[12] Research Notes Children of Isabel and Robert de Beaumont There is some uncertainly about the daughters. Douglas Richardson states there were five daughters but only lists four of them: Adeline (m. to Hugues IV of Montfort-sur-Risle); Aubrey (m. to Hugues II of Châteauneuf); Maud (or Mathilde); and Isabel (or Elizabeth).[1] Robert de Beaumont's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography lists Adelina (eldest daughter, m. Hugues de Montfort); Alberada (m. Hugues de Châteauneuf); Matilda (m. Guillaume Louvel); and Isabel (m. Gilbert de Clare).[4] Planché, writting much earlier, gives as the eldest daughter Emma (d. as a child or entered a convent); then lists Adeline (m. to Hugh de Montfort-sur-Risle); Amicia (m. to Hugh de Château-neuf); Albreda (or Aubrey) m. to William Louvel); and Isabel (m. to Gilbert de Clare). [8] Additional research is probably warranted. Stevens-17832 15:09, 11 October 2021 (UTC) Sources ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, pp. 271-274 VERMANDOIS 5. Isabel de Vermandois. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, pp. 268-271 VERMANDOIS. 4 Hugues le Grand. ↑ Chandler, Victoria. Family Histories: An Aid in the Study of the Anglo-Norman Aristocracy. Medieval Prosopography, nol. 6, no. 2 (autumn 1985), p. 7, available at jstor. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Crouch, David. Beaumont, Robert de, count of Meulan and first earl of Leicester. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition, available here by subscription. ↑ Planché, J.R. The Conqueror and His Companions. London: Tinsley Brothers (1874), vol. 1, pp 211-212. ↑ Ord. Vit. xi:2, cited in Round, John Horace. Beaumont, Robert de (d. 1118). Dictionary of National Biography Online. ↑ Planché, J.R. The Conqueror and His Companions. London: Tinsley Brothers (1874), vol. 1, p. 216. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Planché, J.R. The Conqueror and His Companions. London: Tinsley Brothers (1874), vol. 1, pp. 215-216. ↑ Round, John Horace. Beaumont, Robert de (d. 1118). Dictionary of National Biography Online. ↑ Henry of Huntingdon. De Contemptu Mundi in Historia Anglorum, Thomas Arnold (ed.), London (1879), p. 307, cited in Chandler, Victoria. “Ada de Warenne, Queen Mother of Scotland (c. 1123-1178).” The Scottish Historical Review 60, no. 170 (1981), p. 120, fn.4, available at jstor. ↑ William of Jumièges. Gesta Normannorum Ducum, J. Marx (ed.), Rouen (1914), cited in Chandler, Victoria. “Ada de Warenne, Queen Mother of Scotland (c. 1123-1178).” The Scottish Historical Review 60, no. 170 (1981), p. 120, fn.4, available at jstor. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Hunt, William. Warenne, William de (d. 1138). Dictionary of National Biography Online. ↑ Chandler, Victoria. “Ada de Warenne, Queen Mother of Scotland (c. 1123-1178).” The Scottish Historical Review 60, no. 170 (1981), p. 122, fn. 1, available at jstor. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, p. 274 VERMANDOIS 5.iv.iii. Ada de Warenne. ↑ Stringer, Keith. Ada (née Ada de Warenne), Countess of Northumberland. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, pp. 580-583 SCOTLAND 3. Henry of Scotland. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), pp. 64-65. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835), A.D. 1178["Obiit Ada Comitiffa, mater Malcolmi et Willelmi regum Scottorum, comitis Dauid."] p. 89. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Hollister, C. Warren. Warenne, William de, second earl of Surrey. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription. ↑ Houth, E. Recueil des chartes de St. Nicaise de Meulan. Paris (1924), p. 192 and fn, cited in Chandler, Victoria. “Ada de Warenne, Queen Mother of Scotland (c. 1123-1178).” The Scottish Historical Review 60, no. 170 (1981), p.123, available at jstor. See also: Cokayne, George Edward. The Complete Peerage. London: St Catherine Press (1896), vol. 7, pp. 325-326. Earle, Isaac Newton. The History and Genealogy of the Earles of Secaucus. (1924), part 3, chapter 7: The Montagne Family, p. 383 (available here). Gurnay, Daniel. The Record of the House of Gournay. London (1848), p. 125 (Vermandois pedigree). Keats-Rohan, K.S.B. Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166. Vol. II. Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. The Boydell Press (2002), p. 767 (available here for purchase). Rixford, Elizabeth May each. Families Directly Descended from All the Royal Families in Europe and Mayflower Descendants. Burlington, VT: Free Press Printing Company (1924). Stuart, Roderick W. Royalty for Commoners: the Complete Known Lineage of John of Gaunt.... Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company (2002). Tompsett, Brian. Royal and Noble Genealogical Research (Bibligraphy). Department of Computer Science, University of Hull. Bibliography available here. Von Redlich, Marcellus Donald Alexander. Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin (2008), vol. 2. Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy . London: The Bodley Head (1989), page 192. Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to American Before 1700. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company (2004). Available here for purchase. ( Lines: 50-24, 50-25, 53-24, 66-25, 84-25, 88-25, 89-25, 140-24, 170-23 184-4, 215-24. Wikipedia: Elizabeth of Vermandois, countess of Leicester.
  Person ID	I59062	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	CAPET Hughes,   b. 1057, Vermandois, France d. 18 Oct 1102, Tarsus, Icel, Turkey (Age 45 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	VERMANDOIS Adelaide,   b. Abt 1062, Crépy-en-Valois, Isle-de-France, France d. 28 Sep 1120, Saint Quentin, Vermandois, France (Age 58 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1080	Vermandois, France
  Family ID	F26273	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	WARENNE William,   b. Abt 1071, Sussex, England d. 11 May 1138, Lewes, Sussex, England (Age 67 years)
  Marriage	Jun 1118
  Children	1. WARENNE Ada,   b. Aft 1123, England d. Abt 1178, Scotland (Age < 53 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26272	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026