Robert de Stafford

For other people named Robert Stafford, see Robert Stafford (disambiguation).

Robert de Stafford (c. 1039 – c. 1100) (alias Robert de Tosny/Toeni, etc.) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a member of the House of Tosny and the first feudal baron of Stafford[1] in Staffordshire in England, where he probably built a baronial castle.[2] His many landholdings are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.

He was the son of Roger I of Tosny and the brother of Raoul II of Tosny.[2]

He seems to have been the sheriff of Staffordshire.[2][3]

He was a big landholder in England, and there is no evidence of him inheriting land in Normandy. His property concentrated in Staffordshire and Warwickshire. An analysis of his holdings also shows a strong presence of non-Norman subtenants, with a significant presence of English and Breton ones.[2]

Moreover, he patronized many religious institutions, among them Evesham and Conches, prioritizing the former, which shows the importance he assigned to his holdings in England over the ones in Normandy.[2] He founded Stone Priory in Staffordshire, which became the burial place of many of his family.[4]

The analysis of both his subtenants and his patronage point out to a strategy much less concentrated in Normandy than his brother Raoul II, and almost solely centered in England.[2]

He died c. 1082 and was buried at Evesham.[2]

  1. ^ Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.81
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Moore, James (2017). The Norman Aristocracy in the Long Eleventh Century: Three Case Studies (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
  3. ^ Traill, Vanessa Josephine (2013). The Social & Political Networks of the Anglo-Norman Aristocracy: The Clare, Giffeard & Tosny Kin-groups, c.940 to c.1200 (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow.
  4. ^ Wilhelmina, Duchess of Cleveland, The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages, 3 volumes, London, 1889, Vol.3, pp.171 et seq, re: Toesni, p.174 [1]