Robert of Thwing

Robert de Thweng (c. 1205 – c. 1268) was a noble who rebelled against the church authorities in Yorkshire, England. Life Robert de Thweng gained ownership of the Castle of Kilton through his marriage to Matilda, niece of Sir William de Kylton and widow of Richard de Autrey, in 1222. He thus inherited a dispute with the Prior of Gisborough, concerning the advowson of the parish priest at Kirkleatham, particularly that the Prior had tried to gain control of the parish whilst Sir William was infirm. He was angered by what he saw as the imposition of foreign (Italian) priests. When Robert had exhausted all the ecclesiastical routes of appeal, he turned to rebellion (around Easter 1232), and raided church properties, especially those belonging to foreign churchmen, under the sobriquet Will Wither (literally ‘William the Angry’), and he distributed the spoils to the poor. He was excommunicated by the Papal Legate in England, Cardinal Otto. He was given support by the great northern Magnate families: Percy, Neville, Fitz-Randolph, de Vesci, de Maulay, de Menyll, de Roos and de Brus.