Roger de Mowbray

Sir Roger de Mowbray (–1188) was an Anglo-Norman magnate. He had substantial English landholdings. A supporter of King Stephen, with whom he was captured at Lincoln in 1141, he rebelled against Henry II. He made multiple religious foundations in Yorkshire. He took part in the Second Crusade and later returned to the Holy Land, where he was captured and died in 1187.

Family and early life Roger was the son of Nigel d'Aubigny by his second wife, Gundreda de Gournay.

On his father's death in 1129 he became a ward of the crown. Based at Thirsk with his mother, on reaching his majority in 1138, he took title to the lands awarded to his father by Henry I both in Normandy including Montbray, from which he would adopt his surname, as well as the substantial holdings in Yorkshire and around Melton. Roger also had at least one daughter, donating his lands at Granville to the Abbaye aux Dames in Caen when she became a nun there.

In 1147, he was one of the few English nobles to join Louis VII of France on the Second Crusade.

Legacy Mowbray was a significant benefactor and supporter of several religious institutions in Yorkshire including Fountains Abbey.

Roger made a generous donation of two carucates of land (c.240 acres), a house and two mills to the Order of Saint Lazarus, headquartered at Burton St Lazarus Hospital in Leicestershire, after his return from the crusades in 1150. His cousin William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel and his wife Adeliza, the widow of King Henry I, had been amongst the earliest patrons of the order and, when combined with Roger's experiences in the Holy Land, may have encouraged his charity. His family continued to support the Order for many generations and the Mowbrays lion rampant coat of arms was adopted by the Hospital of Burton St Lazars alongside their more usual green cross.

He also supported the Knights Templar and gave them land in Warwickshire where they founded Temple Balsall.

In total, Roger is credited with assisting the establishment of thirty-five churches.

The House of Mowbray, the senior line of which would become Barons Mowbray, descended from Roger's son Nigel, who died on crusade at Acre in 1191.