Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
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Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died circa 21 October 1204) was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPernel.
Robert was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Petronilla, who was either a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of Hugh de Grandmesnil. As a young man, he accompanied King Richard I on the Third Crusade, and it was while the crusading forces rested at Messina, Sicily that Robert was invested with the Earldom of Leicester in early 1191.
Robert's newly-gained estates included a large part of central Normandy, and so on his return from the crusade, he turned his attentions to the defense of Normandy from the French. In this effort he was captured in 1193 while defending Rouen. He remained imprisoned for 3 years.
Sometime after his release in 1196 he married Loretta, daughter of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. They had no children, and Robert's death in 1204 brought the end of the Beaumont male line.
In the year of his death Normandy was lost to the French, but Robert's great English estates were divided between the heirs of his two sisters. The eldest sister, Amicia, had married the French baron Simon de Montfort, and their son, also named Simon de Montfort, inherited half the estate as well as the title of Earl of Leicester. The younger sister, Margaret, had married Saer de Quincy, and they inherited the other half. Three years later Saer was created Earl of Winchester.
| Preceded by: The Earl of Leicester | Lord High Steward 1190–1204 | Succeeded by: The Earl of Leicester
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