THE DEFENCE OF NORMANDY, 1136–8

Henry I's death threw the great magnates into confusion. We have records of several meetings in Normandy that eventually resulted in a summons to Count Theobald of Blois to assume the rule of Normandy. What part the Beaumont twins played in these meetings is not known with any certainty. They may have been associated with Earl William of Warenne's takeover of Rouen and the Pays de Caux, since the earl had in all probability just married a daughter to the twins' ally, Earl Roger of Warwick, and he was also the twins' stepfather. They adapted quickly to the seizure of the crown by Stephen of Blois. Waleran and Robert made a speedy crossing to England, for we know that Waleran had already received Steeple Morden, Cambs., from Stephen by Easter 1136.

The court nobility reassembled at Stephen's packed Easter curia of 1136. As well as the Beaumont twins and their allies, the earls of Warenne, Northampton and Warwick, their main rival at court, the earl of Gloucester, was present. Favours were showered on all by the new king. Waleran was particularly singled out as the leader of the Beaumont group. Waleran's brother-in-law, Hugh de Montfort, was still in prison at Gloucester. Waleran refrained from securing Hugh's release – which, like the pardon he negotiated for Morin du Pin, would have been his for the asking – and instead accepted from the king the custody of Hugh's lands and young heir, Robert.