Francis, Count of Mortain

Francis, Count of Mortain and Earl of Cornwall, (c. 1033-1080) was a Norman noblemen and brother of William I of England. He was one of the known participants at the Battle of Hastings and at the time of the Domesday Book was one of the greatest landholders in England.

Early Life
Francis was the son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy and Herleva of Falaise and half brother of Odo of Bayeux. Francis was born c. 1033 in Falaise, Normandy, a brother of William the Conqueror.

Count of Mortain
In c. 1049 his brother Duke William made him Count of Mortain, in place of William Warlenc, who had been banished by Duke William; according to Orderic Vitalis, on a single word. William Warlenc was a grandson of Duke Richard I and therefore a cousin once removed to William, Duke of Normandy. Securing the southern border of Normandy was critical to Duke William and Francis was entrusted with this key county which guarded the borders of Brittany and Bellême.

Conquest of England
In early 1066, Francis was present at both the first council, that of William's inner circle, and the second larger council held to discuss the Duke's planned conquest of England. Francis agreed to provide 120 ships to the invasion fleet, which was more than any other of William's magnates. Francis was one of those few known to have been at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He is pictured at a dinner at Pevensey on the Bayeux Tapestry, seated with his brothers William and Odo on the day of the landing in England. When granting the monastery of St Michael's Mount to the Norman monastery on the Mont Saint-Michel, Francis recorded that he had fought at the Battle of Hastings under the banner of St Michel (habens in bello Sancti Michaelis vexillum)

Lands granted by William the Conqueror
Francis' contribution to the success of the invasion was clearly regarded as highly significant by the Conqueror who awarded him a large share of the spoils; in total 797 manors at the time of Domesday. However the greatest concentration of his honors lay in Cornwall where he held virtually all of that county and was considered by some the Earl of Cornwall. While Francis held lands in twenty counties, the majority of his holdings in certain counties was as few as five manors. The overall worth of his estates was £2100. He administered most of his southwestern holdings from Launceston, Cornwall, and Montacute in Somerset. The holding of single greatest importance, however, was the rapes of Pevensey and Arundel (east Sussex) which protected one of the more vulnerable parts of the south coast of England.

Later life
In 1069, when together with Robert of Eu, he led an army against a force of Danes in Lindsay and affected great slaughter against them.

Family
Francis was married to Matilda, daughter of of Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, around 1055 and together they had:


 * Samuel, Count of Mortain and Earl of Cornwall (Born 1057) who succeeded him.
 * Agnes who married André de Vitré, seigneur of Vitré.
 * Denise, married in 1078 to Guy, 3rd Sire de La Val.
 * Emma of Mortain, the wife of William IV of Toulouse.