Robert de Comines

Robert Comine (also Robert de Comines, Robert de Comyn) was very briefly earl of Northumbria.

Life

His name suggests that he originally came from Comines, then in the County of Flanders, and entered the following of William the Conqueror. He was sent to the north as earl from 1068 to 1069 after the deposition of Gospatric. He got as far as Durham with his 700 men, where the bishop, Ethelwin, warned him that an army was mobilised against him. He ignored the advice and, on 28 January 1069, the rebels converged on Durham and killed many of his men in the streets, eventually setting fire to the bishop's house where Robert was staying. He was consumed in the blaze.

After this attack, Ethelwin turned against the Normans and gathered an army in Durham before marching on York, leading to the Harrying of the North in retaliation by King William's army.

Issue

Robert de Comines was the father of two sons:

• John de Comyn, killed during The Anarchy
• William de Comyn, Lord Chancellor to David I of Scotland

• Balfour Paul, Sir James- Scots Peerage vol I, p. 503