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BIOGRAPHY
Mabile was the daughter of Guillaume II Talvas de Bellême, sire d'Alençon, and his first wife Hildeburge. The medieval chronicler Ordericus Vitalis was so scathing about the house of Bellême that it was to be expected that this would be extended to Mabile. Vitalis writes that Mabile had inherited not only the vices of her father, but added to them the shortcomings of her gender. According to his description she was cruel, villainous, immoral, arrogant and garrulous, though his epitaph was kinder.
About October 1055 Mabile married one of the most important barons of Normandy, Roger II de Montgommery, who became 1st earl of Shropshire/Shrewsbury, son of Hugues de Montgommery and Josceline de Bolbec. Roger was one of William the Conqueror's principal counsellors. They had ten children of whom three sons and two daughters would have progeny. According to the Norman historians the marriage was designed by the bride's father to gain allies after the loss of his estates. Today's historians regard the marriage more as an attempt by Duke William to curtail the independence of the house of Bellême. Through the connection between its heiress and his confidant Roger de Montgommery, William secured peace in the south of the land. The historian Lucien Musset (1922-2004) goes futher: 'Through this marriage the most powerful family of Maine came into the orbit of Normandy'.
In fact the couple were devoted to the duke. Like their liege lord they restored several abbeys: Almenêches, Troarn and Sain Martin in Sées. On the other hand, they made enemies of some barons: the brothers Robert and Hugues de Grandmesnil, Radulf III de Tosny, sire de Tosny ou de Conches, and Ernaud Fitz-Giroie. Ordericus Vitalis saw this as the work of Mabile who - according to Vitalis - allegedly tried to poison Ernaud Fitz-Giroie and thereby added another episode to the struggle between the families of Giroie and Bellême.
In 1070, after the death of her uncle Yves de Bellême, bishop of Sées, Mabile probably inherited the rule over Bellême. In 1071 or 1074 as Roger's wife she became countess of Shrewsbury.
Mabile's death on 2 December 1082 was terrible: during her stay at her château de Burres near Caen, members of the Giroie family, Hugues de Saugei and his two brothers, succeeded in entering the castle and beheading Mabile, a kind of death which was usually reserved for men. She was buried in the abbey of Troarn, which had been endowed by her and Roger. Her epitaph as handed down by Ordericus Vitalis highlights her unusual qualities: 'Her character was energetic, her spirit alert, her work tireless, her eloquence persuasive, her wisdom insightful. Small in stature, she was large in her virtues; grand and splendid, she loved jewellery. She was the shield of her land, the avenue marking its borders, and for her neighbours sometimes pleasant, sometimes terrifying.'
After Mabile's death Roger married Adelaide de La Puiset, by whom he had a son Everard who entered the Church.
Sources
[S00301] ~Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag, Marburg, Schwennicke, Detlev (Ed.).
III 637
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Abt 1028 - 1082 (~ 54 years)
