Robert le Blount, 1st Baron of Ixworth

Robert had the command of the Conqueror's ships of war, and is styled "Dux Navium Militarium". His portion of the "spolia opima" embraced thirteen manors in Suffolk, in which county he was the 1st feudal Baron of Ixworth (the place of his residence), and Lord of Orford Castle.

"Sir Robert le Blount had the command of the Conqueror's ships of war and is styled "Dux Navium Militarium." His portion of the spolia opima embraced thirteen manors in Suffolk, in which county he was the 1st feudal Baron of Ixworth (the place of his residence), and Lord of Orford Castle. He m. Gundreda, youngest dau. of Henry, Earl Ferrers, and had a son and heir, Gilbert le Blount. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1884, p. 54, Blount, Barons Mountjoy and Earl of Devon]."

Battle of Hastings

William, Duke of Normandy, launched his bloody and decisive invasion of Saxon England in 1066. In that year Edward the Confessor, King of England, died without heir, appointing by his will Harold Godwinsson, son of England’s most powerful nobleman, the Earl of Wessex, as his successor. Across the Channel, William of Normandy considered himself rightfully the next King of England, basing his claim on a promise by Edward the Confessor in the early 1050s and an oath of fealty sworn by Harold during an enforced visit to William’s capital at Rouen following his capture by the Count of Ponthieu.

Succeeding to the dukedom of Normandy as a bastard child of Duke Robert, William devoted his early adult life to enforcing his authority in a succession of ruthless campaigns, meanwhile building his dukedom into a fearsome mini-state, efficient both administratively and militarily.

In the summer of 1066 William assembled an army of noblemen and adventurers from across Northern France to invade England, promising lands and titles in his new kingdom to his followers and obtaining the support of the Pope for the venture.

A fleet of around 1,000 vessels, designed in the style of the old Norse “Dragon Ships” (80 feet long; propelled by oars and a single sail), was built and assembled to convey the army across the Channel.

Among the fighting knights of Northern France who joined William were Eustace, Count of Boulogne, Charles Martel, Roger de Beaumont and Roger de Montgomerie. The clergy was well represented; among them Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, William’s half brother, and a monk René who brought twenty fighting men and a ship, in the expectation of a bishopric in England. Robert le Blount commanded the fleet.

Laurel Logan:

from tudorplace.com.ar

Robert had the command of the Conqueror's ships of war, and is styled "Dux Navium Militarium." His portion of the "spolia opima" embraced thirteen manors in Suffolk, in which county he was the 1st feudal Baron of Ixworth (the place of his residence), and Lord of Orford Castle.

--Laurel Logan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Lord Robert -- nickname of "the Admiral" -- had the command of William the Conqueror's ships of war, and is styled "Dux Navium Militarium". His portion of the "spolia opima" of the Norman Conquest embraced thirteen manors in Suffolk, in which county he was the 1st feudal Baron of Ixworth (the place of his residence). Some sources also show him with the title of Lord of Orford Castle while others show Lord of Oxford Castle. The title "Lord of Oxford Castle" seems dubious. Oxford Castle was built in 1071 by Robert D'Oyly shortly after the Norman conquest of England. In 1120 Robert's younger brother Nigel D'Oyly was Lord of Oxford Castle. Sir Robert le Blount was in the right place at the right time, but the last name is wrong. As for the Lord of Orford Castle, this is quite improbable as Orford Castle wasn't built until the mid-12th century - a hundred years after Lord Ixworth."
[http://www.house-empire.com/personpage.lasso?token.cardid=3139]