Editing Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (section)

==In popular culture==
Robert of Gloucester is a figure in many of the novels by [[Ellis Peters]] in ''[[The Cadfael Chronicles]]'' (written between 1977 and 1994) where he is seen as a strong moderating force to his half-sister (see ''[[Saint Peter's Fair]]''). His efforts to gain the crown for his sister by capturing King Stephen and her own actions in London are part of the plot in ''[[The Pilgrim of Hate]]''. His capture by Stephen's wife Queen Mathilda is in the background of the plot of ''[[An Excellent Mystery]]''. The exchange of the imprisoned Robert for the imprisoned Stephen is in the background of the plot of ''[[The Raven in the Foregate]]''. Robert's travels to persuade his brother-in-law to aid Empress Maud militarily in England is in the background of the novel ''[[The Rose Rent]].'' His return to England when Empress Maud is trapped in Oxford Castle figures in ''[[The Hermit of Eyton Forest]]''.

Robert's return to England with his young nephew Henry, years later the king succeeding Stephen, is in the background of the plot of ''[[The Confession of Brother Haluin]]'', as the battles begin anew with Robert's military guidance. Robert's success in the [[Battle of Wilton]] leads to the death of a fictional character, part of the plot of ''[[The Potter's Field (Peters novel)|The Potter's Field]]''. In the last novel, he is a father who can disagree with and then forgive his son Philip (see the last novel, ''[[Brother Cadfael's Penance]]''). In that last novel, Brother Cadfael speculates on the possibly different path for England if the first son of old King Henry, the illegitimate Robert of Gloucester, had been recognised and accepted. In Wales of that era, a son was not illegitimate if recognised by his father, and to many in the novels, Robert of Gloucester seemed the best of the contenders to succeed his father.

Robert is also a central character in [[Sharon Kay Penman|Sharon Penman]]'s 1995 novel ''[[When Christ and His Saints Slept]]''. He was also central in the struggle during [[the Anarchy]] as portrayed in [[Ken Follett]]'s 1989 novel ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]'', in the [[The Pillars of the Earth (miniseries)|2010 mini-series]], and in the [[Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth|2017 video game]] of the same name too.