Editing Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (section)

== Early life ==
Robert was probably the eldest of Henry's many [[Royal bastard|illegitimate children]].<ref name=ODNB/> He was born before his father's accession to the English throne, either during the reign of his grandfather [[William the Conqueror]] or his uncle [[William Rufus]].{{sfn|William (of Malmesbury)|1904|p=1}} He is sometimes and erroneously designated as a son of [[Nest ferch Rhys|Nest]], daughter of [[Rhys ap Tewdwr]], last king of [[Deheubarth]], although his mother has been identified as a member of "the Gay or Gayt family of north Oxfordshire",<ref name=Crouch>David Crouch, ''Historical Research'', 1999</ref> possibly a daughter of Rainald or Reginald Gay (fl. 1086) of [[Hampton Gay]] and Northbrook Gay in [[Oxfordshire]]. Rainald had known issue, Robert Gay of Hampton (died c. 1138) and Stephen Gay of Northbrook (died after 1154). A number of Oxfordshire women feature as the mothers of Robert's siblings.<ref name=Crouch/><ref>C. Given-Wilson & A. Curteis. ''The Royal Bastards of Medieval England'' (London, 1984) ({{ISBN|0-415-02826-4}}), p. 74.</ref>

Robert may have been a native of [[Caen]]<ref name=ODNB/> or he may have been only the constable and governor of that city, [[jure uxoris]].<ref name=CP1892>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KbIKAAAAYAAJ&q=gloucester&pg=PA38 "Complete Peerage" Vol IV(1892), p38, "Gloucester", "Robert filius Regis" quoting Round "Consul is often used for Earl in the time of the first age of the Norman Kings"]</ref> 

Robert's father had contracted him in marriage to [[Mabel FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester|Mabel FitzRobert]], daughter and heir of [[Robert Fitzhamon]], but the marriage was not solemnised until June 1119 at [[Lisieux]].<ref name=ODNB/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KbIKAAAAYAAJ&q=gloucester&pg=PA38 "Complete Peerage", "Gloucester"]</ref> His wife brought him the substantial [[English feudal barony|honours]] of [[Gloucester]] in England and [[Glamorgan]] in [[Wales]], and the honours of Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe and [[Évrecy]] in Normandy, as well as [[Creully]] and [[Château des Matignon|Thorigny]]. After the ''[[White Ship]]'' disaster late in 1120, and probably because of this marriage,<ref>"In the aftermath of the ''White Ship'' disaster of 1120, when his younger and legitimate half-brother, William, died, Robert shared in the largesse that the king distributed to reassert his political position. Robert was given the marriage of Mabel, the heir of Robert fitz Haimon, whose lands in the west country and Glamorgan had been in royal wardship since 1107. The marriage also brought Robert the Norman honours of Evrecy and St Scholasse-sur-Sarthe. Robert was raised to the rank of earl of Gloucester soon after, probably by the end of 1121." David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. before 1100, d. 1147)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23716 Retrieved 1 October 2010]</ref> in 1121 or 1122 his father created him [[Earl of Gloucester]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KbIKAAAAYAAJ&q=gloucester&pg=PA38 CP citing Round] for between May 1121 and the end of 1122, but see [http://knol.google.com/k/will-johnson/william-of-malmesbury-chronicle-of-the/4hmquk6fx4gu/554#view William of Malmesbury, ed Giles who cites 1119] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722113956/http://knol.google.com/k/will-johnson/william-of-malmesbury-chronicle-of-the/4hmquk6fx4gu/554 |date=22 July 2011 }}</ref> He commissioned the translation of Welsh historical sources which the subject lent to [[Walter Espec]] of [[Helmsley]], and he, in turn, lent to others.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Short |first=Ian |date=1994 |title=Gaimar's Epilogue and Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Liber vetustissimus'' |jstor=2865085 |journal=Speculum |language=en |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=323–343 |doi=10.2307/2865085 |issn=0038-7134}}</ref>