Robert de Stafford (c. 1039 – c. 1100) (alias Robert de Tosny/Toeni, etc.) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a member of the House of Tosny and the first feudal baron of Stafford[1] in Staffordshire in England, where he probably built a baronial castle.[2] His many landholdings are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.
He was the son of Roger I of Tosny and the brother of Raoul II of Tosny.[2]
He seems to have been the sheriff of Staffordshire.[2][3]
He was a big landholder in England, and there is no evidence of him inheriting land in Normandy. His property concentrated in Staffordshire and Warwickshire. An analysis of his holdings also shows a strong presence of non-Norman subtenants, with a significant presence of English and Breton ones.[2]
Moreover, he patronized many religious institutions, among them Evesham and Conches, prioritizing the former, which shows the importance he assigned to his holdings in England over the ones in Normandy.[2] He founded Stone Priory in Staffordshire, which became the burial place of many of his family.[4]
The analysis of both his subtenants and his patronage point out to a strategy much less concentrated in Normandy than his brother Raoul II, and almost solely centered in England.[2]
He died c. 1082 and was buried at Evesham.[2]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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Stories About My Father - Part 1: William Stafford on Teaching
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"The Poet - William Stafford"
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With Kit, Age 7, at the Beach by William Stafford, Poem Analysis
Transcription
So my dad, William Stafford, is a mystery to me after knowing him for 64 years today, my birthday. He came out of Kansas, Hutchinson one of the most conservative towns in America, and yet he was kind of a radical a free thinker. He was a seeker, as he said, when people asked him about his calling, "I am a seeker" and I think that that identifies something that informed his writing, his teaching and his witness. In his writing he was not trying to prove anything he was not ever on high, he was seeking, he was listening every morning before it got light. And in his teaching he was not professing he was listening. In his witness in the world he traveled in order to invite people to listen to each other, that was his form of witness. So one thing about my dad's way of teaching is, I don't know if I can say typified but exemplified by his last semester. He went into class, humanities class, he sort of did what he'd done, he had a conversation with the students and so on but then at the end of the class he said to the students “You know, I think I talked too much. So, our next class, I’m not going to say anything. We’ll call it dumb day. Of course I’ll be very interested in what happens, and we just need someone to volunteer to start the discussion, and then we’ll just let it go.” and so one student raised her hand, like that would be the easy part to start the discussion so he came the next class and the students said "Hello Dr. Stafford" and he said [raises his finger to his lips] oh that's right you're not going to say anything he looked at the student who was going to start the discussion, and she was way over-prepared. She had done a lot of reading, she had all kinds of agenda, and finally the students said, “Relax, relax, it’s okay.” And my father said, “I witnessed the best day of teaching of my career. Everyone spoke. there was a big variety of opinions. They’d look at me, I wouldn’t say anything, they’d go back to talking. And I thought, why didn’t I do that my whole career?” So I think that experiment typifies his readiness to try new things, his loyalty to the initiative of the students, his humility, his engagement with the learning process.
Family and Descendants
Robert de Stafford married Avice de Clare,[5] daughter of Richard fitz Gilbert (de Clare),[2] by whom he had sons,
- Nicholas I de Stafford (d.circa 1138), eldest son and heir, 2nd feudal baron of Stafford.[2][3]
- Alan de Stafford[citation needed]
- Roger de Stafford[citation needed]
- Jordan de Stafford[citation needed]
- Nigel de Stafford[6]
- Robert de Stafford[6]
Notes
- ^ Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.81
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Moore, James (2017). The Norman Aristocracy in the Long Eleventh Century: Three Case Studies (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
- ^ a b Traill, Vanessa Josephine (2013). The Social & Political Networks of the Anglo-Norman Aristocracy: The Clare, Giffeard & Tosny Kin-groups, c.940 to c.1200 (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow.
- ^ Wilhelmina, Duchess of Cleveland, The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages, 3 volumes, London, 1889, Vol.3, pp.171 et seq, re: Toesni, p.174 [1]
- ^ Sir William Dugdale - Monasticon Anglicanum, Volume VI, Part I, Priory of Stone, page 231
- ^ a b "Stafford". Tudor Place. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023.
External links
- JohnStafford.org: Searching For the First Stafford and his wife the Elusive Avice de Clare
- Stafford Family Genealogy Web Site: Robert de Toni (archived at Internet Archive)
- James Moore PhD thesis
This page was last edited on 2 May 2024, at 00:15