Robert fitz Martin

Robert fitz Martin (c. 10?? – c. 1159) was a Norman knight and first Lord of Cemais, Wales.

Family background

Newport Castle seen from St Mary's Churchyard. Ruins of castle founded by William fitz Martin, son of Robert fitz Martin, at end of 12th century. Towers, gatehouse and Basementcellars from fitz Martin castle later incorporated into private residence.

Robert fitz Martin was born some time in the late 11th century to Geva de Burci, heiress of Serlo de Burci.

Geva de Burci's second husband was William de Falaise, with whom she had daughters, Emma and Sybil. "Emma de Falise married William de Courcy as her second husband. Earlier, she had been briefly married to William fitz Humphrey, but was evidently a widow soon after 1100 for, by 1106, she and her sister, Sybil, attested their father's charter without mention of their husbands. As a bride's possessions passed to her husband on marriage, he would normally attest before her but a widow acted in her own right." (Flanders 2009, p. 45)

Emma de Falise married William de Courcy, a son of Richard de Courcy of Courcy-sur-Dives, Normandy. They received the manor of Stoke (renamed Stoke-Courcy, now Stogursey) in Somerset from William, and were grandparents of John de Courcy. This made Robert fitz Martin a brother-in-law of William de Courcy, who "was most active in royal administration during the first decade of the reign" of Henry I, to whom de Courcy was a royal dapifer (Flanders, op. cit.).

Life

Robert inherited property from 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.

He married Maud Peverell, and with her, founded St Dogmaels Abbey, Cardigan, between 1115 and 1119. Maude was a sister or daughter of William Peverel the Younger. The couple are not recorded as having any children.

During The Great Revolt 1136–1137 much of Cemais was reclaimed by the Welsh. Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, lord of Ceredigion, was ambushed and killed by the men of Iorwerth ab Owain. News of his death led to an invasion of Ceredigion by the sons of Gruffydd ap Cynan. Around Michaelmas they made an alliance with Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth. The combined forces made for Cardigan, and engaged the Normans at the Battle of Crug Mawr, two miles outside the town.

The Normans were led by Robert fitz Martin, supported by Robert fitz Stephen, constable of Cardigan Castle, with the brothers William and Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan. After some hard fighting, the Norman forces broke and were pursued as far as the River Teifi. Many of the fugitives tried to cross the bridge, which broke under the weight, with hundreds said to have drowned, clogging the river with the bodies of men and horses. Others fled to the town of Cardigan, which however was taken and burned by the Welsh. However, Robert fitz Martin successfully managed to defend and hold the castle. It was the only one to remain in Norman hands at the end of the rebellion.

Robert spent the years 1136–1141 serving the Empress Maud during The Anarchy, and her son, Henry II. His activities from 1142 to 1155 are unknown.

Second marriage and descendants

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 still flourish in England, Wales, Ireland and beyond.

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.
• De Courcy:Anglo-Normans in Ireland, England and France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Steve Flanders, Four Courts Press, 2009.