William of MORTAIGNE (1060-aft1140)

Individual Events and Attributes

Individual Note

William de Mortaigne, Count of Mortain, Earl of Cornwall (d. aft. 1140) was the son of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of William I of England. He was sometimes called in English William, Earl of Moriton, for instance by William Camden.[1]

From childhood, he harbored a dislike for his cousin Henry I of England, and proudly demanded from him not only his father's earldoms of Mortain and Cornwall, but his uncle's Earldom of Kent. In 1103, he crossed from England into Normandy[2] and openly revolted against Henry in 1104, losing his English fiefs in consequence.[3] He was captured with Robert Curthose at the Battle of Tinchebrai (1106) and stripped of Mortain.[2] William was imprisoned for many years, but later escaped, and became a Cluniac monk at Bermondsey Abbey in 1140.[4]