Robert Comine

Robert Comine (also Robert de Comines) was very briefly earl of Northumbria in 1068. A Norman lord in William the Conqueror's following, he was sent to the north as earl from 1068-1069 after the deposition of Cospatrick. 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. Northumbria had been in a state of near chaos since 1066, before the Conquest, and now things really flared up. The Harrying of the North was in part the consequence of assassinating William's man Robert.

Sources

• Stenton, Frank M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 1971.

Preceded by: Cospatrick

Earl of Northumbria 1068-1069

Succeeded by: Cospatrick