Robert de Ferrers 2nd Earl of Derby

Robert de Ferrers, second Earl of Derby, founded the abbey of Merevale in Warwickshire, where he was buried in 1162 - by legend in his armour, at the abbey door. His grandfather had taken the earldom at the Battle of the Standard; his grandson would die at Acre: the Ferrers earls bracketed their century with war and paid for their souls with abbeys.