Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester 1104-1168, justiciary of England, was son of the preceding, and a twin with his brother Waleran. He is stated to have been born in 1104 when his father was advanced in years. At his father's death (1118) he succeeded to his English fiefs, being apparently considered the younger of the twins, and King Henry, in gratitude for his father's services, raised him and his brother in the royal household, and gave him to wife Amicia, daughter of Ralph de Wader, earl of Norfolk, with the fief of Bréteuil for her dower. The twins accompanied Henry to Normandy, and to his interview with Pope Calixtus at Gisors (Nov 1119), where they are said to have astounded the cardinals by their learning. They were also present at his death-bed, 1 Dec. 1135. In the anarchy that followed, war broke out between Robert and his hereditary foe, Roger de Toesny, whom he eventually captured by his brother's assistance. In Dec 1137 the twins returned to England with Stephen, as his chief advisers, and Robert began preparing for his great foundation, his Norman possessions being overrun in his absence (1138), till he came to terms with Roger de Toesny. In June 1139 he and his brother tookthe lead in seizing the bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln at Oxford, and on the outbreak of civil war was dispatched by Stephen to escort the empress to Bristol (Oct 1139). He secured his interests with the Angevin party after Stephen's defeat (2 Feb. 1141), and then devoted himself to raising, in the outskirts of Leicester, the noble abbey of St. Mary de Pré (de Pratis) for canons regular of the Austin order. Having bestowed on it rich endowments, he had it consecrated in 1143 by the bishop of Lincoln. In 1152 he was still in Stephen's confidence, and exerted his influence to save his brother, but on Henry landing in 1153 he supplied him freely with means for his struggle. Shortly after Henry's coronation (Dec 1154) he was rewarded with the post of chief justiciar. He was now in the closest attendance on the court, and on the queen joining the king in Normandy (Dec 1158) he was left in charge of the kingdom, in a vice-regal capacity, till the king's return 25 Jan. 1163. He was present at the famous council of Clarendon (13-28 Jan. 1164), and his name heads the list of lay signatures to the constitutions, to which he is said to have procured Becket's assent. Like his father, in the question of investitures he loyally upheld the claims of the crown, while maintaining to the church and churchmen devotion even greater than his father's. In the great crisis at the council of Northampton (Oct 1164) he strove, with the Earl of Cornwall, to reconcile the primate with the king, pleading hard with Becket when they visited him (12 Oct.) at his house. Early the next year (1165) he was again, on the king's departure, left in charge of the kingdom. He appears to have accompanied Henry to Normandy in the spring of 1166, but leaving him, returned to his post before October, and retained it until his death in 1168. This earl was known as le Bossu (to distinguish him from his successors), and also, possibly, as le Goozen. In addition to St. Mary de Pré, he founded the abbey of Garendon, the monastery of Nuneaton, the priory of Lusfield, and the hospital of Brackley and was a liberal benefactor to many other houses.
Source www.thepeerage.com from The Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Univ. Press
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