William de Mortain, Count of Mortain (1060–1140) was the son of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of William I of England.

William de Mortain, Count of Mortain, and Earl of Cornwall was a man of different temper to his father. Brave as his sire, he yet lacked the loyalty and unselfish devotion of his father, but manifested more of the ambition and turbalance of his uncle Odo. The stanard of St. Michael, the great banner of his house, under which chivalry of the Cotentin had rallied in the war with King Henry of France, which had shown conspicuous in the foremost ranks on the field of Hastings, which in the Northumbrian battle had been born to victory by the followers of the fallen chieftain, was, under Earl William, more frequently unflured as the symbol of rebellion.

Brought up under the influence of Bishop Odo, who had bequeathed to him his possessions in England, the new Earl appeared to have imbibed the restless ambition of that prelate. He would almost appear to have been intoxicated with his evelation, but had it been so we can hardly feel surprised, when we reflect on the grandeur of his position.

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