Robert fitz Martin
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Robert fitz Martin (c.1085–c.1159) was a Norman knight and first Lord of Cemais, Wales.
Robert fitz Martin was born some time in the late 12the century to Geva de Burci and an otherwise unknown man called Martin. De Burci's second husband was William de Falise, with whom she had a daughter, Emma de Falise, who married William de Courci, son of Richard de Courci of Courcy-sur-Dives; they received the manor of Stoke (renamed Stoke-Courcy, now Stogursey) in Somerset from William, and became the ancestors of the Baron Kingsale and the de Courcy family.
Robert inherited the lands of William, and of his grandfather, Serlo de Burci, in Somerset, Dorset, and Devon. At some point early in the reign of Henry I he participated in the Norman invasions of Wales, and obtained for himself the barony of Cemais, located between Fishguard and Cardigan, setting his caput at Nanhyfer, or Nevern. The lands were regained by the Welsh during the rebellion of 1135–1136. Robert spent the years 1136-1141 serving the Empress Maud during The Anarchy, and her son, Henry II. His disappearance during much of the 1140s may allude to participation in the Second Crusade and/or the Siege of Lisbon, as was the case with his brother in law William Peverel the Younger, though this is uncertain. By the reign of Henry II he had a new wife – Alice de Nonant of Totnes (died 1194) – and three young children.
Robert seems to have died about 1159, survived by his wife Alice and their children. Of them, Robert fitz Robert was dead by 1162 and buried in Totnes Priory; Sybil is known to have married a Warin de Morcelles and was alive in 1198; William fitz Robert fitz Martin, (c.1155–1209) inherited the family property, and via a marriage with Angharad, a daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd, regain the lost territory of Cemais. The family would continue to hold lands in both England and Wales until the extinction of the senior line in 1326. Cadet lines lines still flourish in England, Wales, Ireland and beyond.
Along with his first wife, Maude Peverell, sister of William Peverel the Younger, he founded St Dogmaels Abbey between 1115 and 1119.
He also led the desperate yet successful defense of Cardigan Castle following the Norman defeat at the battle of Crug Mawr.
He is an ancestor to, among others, the Martyn family of The Tribes of Galway.
| Preceded by none |
Lord of Cemais before 1115–c.1159 |
Succeeded by William fitz Martin |
[edit] Sources
- The Baronial Martins, Lionel Nex, Orphington, 1987.
- The Lords of Cemais, Dilwynn Miles, Haverfordwest, 1996.
- The Tribes of Galway, Adrian J. Martyn, Galway, 2001.
