[2] Around 1068, Robert was given the Hastings Castle and the adjacent territories previously owned by Onfroy du Tilleul.
In 1069 he was charged by the king to support Robert, Count of Mortain, to monitor the Danes,[4] whose fleet moored in the mouth of the Humber, while the latter was to repress the revolt initiated by Eadric the Wild the west.
When the Danes left their sanctuary to plunder the neighbourhood, the two commanders and their army fell upon them unexpectedly, crushing them, and forcing them to flee by sea.
Dismayed by his softness and debauchery, he turned, along with several other Norman lords, towards the king William II the Red, from whom he received several garrisons for his castles.
Very devout, he made numerous donations to the Church, notably lands at Fécamp Abbey of Rouen in 1051.