Robert Despenser
11th-century Norman nobleman and royal official in England
title: "Robert Despenser" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["normans-in-england", "year-of-death-uncertain"] description: "11th-century Norman nobleman and royal official in England" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Despenser" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 11th-century Norman nobleman and royal official in England ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Robert Despenser |
| image | Chateau de Tancarville11.jpg |
| caption | The Château de Tancarville in Normandy. |
| Despenser was a tenant of the lords of Tancarville. | |
| office | Royal steward |
| term_start | c. 1088 |
| term_end | c. 1098 |
| predecessor | none |
| birth_date | unknown - before 1066 |
| birth_place | Normandy |
| death_date | c. 1098 |
| death_place | England |
| :: |
|name = Robert Despenser |image = Chateau de Tancarville11.jpg |imagesize = |caption = The Château de Tancarville in Normandy. Despenser was a tenant of the lords of Tancarville. |office = Royal steward |term_start = c. 1088 |term_end = c. 1098 |predecessor = none |birth_date = unknown - before 1066 |birth_place = Normandy |death_date = c. 1098 |death_place = England
Robert Despenser (sometimes Robert Despensator, Robert Dispenser, or Robert fitzThurstin; died after 1098) was a Norman officeholder and landholder in post-Conquest medieval England.
Career
Despenser was the brother of Urse d'Abetot, who was sheriff of Worcestershire shortly after the Conquest.|group=note}} Although Despenser was married, the name of his wife is not known for sure. He may be the Robert de Abitot referred to in a confirmation charter of King Stephen of England's, but this identification is not certain.
In 1086, Despenser was listed in Domesday Book as holding lands as a tenant-in-chief in Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, and Warwickshire, as well as holding lands in Worcestershire from the Bishop of Worcester.
Robert was still alive in 1098, as he restored some estates to Westminster Abbey,
Legacy
Despenser appears to have had no legitimate male children, as his heir was his brother Urse. Despenser's office as steward may also have gone to Urse, as later the office passed to Urse's heirs. The medieval writer Orderic Vitalis states that it was Despenser who gave Ranulf Flambard his surname of Flambard, which means torch-bearer or incendiary. This was applied to Flambard because of his overwhelming personality.
Notes
Citations
Sources
References
- Keats-Rohan ''Domesday People'' p. 383
- Mason ''William II'' p. 75
- Barlow ''William Rufus'' pp. 141–142
- dispenser]], under King [[William II of England. The office is the origin of the [[Spencer (surname). Spencer]] surname.Reaney and Wilson ''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames'' p. 420
- but likely died shortly thereafter. In Normandy, Robert was a benefactor to the Priory of St. Barbe-en-Auge, which had been founded by the Tancarville lords.Newman ''Anglo-Norman Nobility'' p. 150
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