Count of Brionne Gilbert

Other Events:

• Name: Crispin
• Reference Number: 15760

— . [Group Sheet]

1. Richard Fitz Gilbert was born 1030; died 1091.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15768

Other Events:

• Name: Richard the fearless
• Reference Number: 37279

Notes:

Richard I of Normandy (born 28 August 933, in Fécamp Normandy, France died 20 November 996, in Fécamp) was the duke of Normandy from 942 to 996; he is considered the first to have held that title. He was called Richard the Fearless (French, Sans Peur).

Birth:

He was born to William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and Sprota. He was 10 years old when his father died on 17 December 942. His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a Danish marriage. After William died, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller; Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.

Life:

When his father died, Louis IV of France seized Normandy and split the lands, giving lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis kept Richard in confinement at Lâon, but he escaped with the assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Bellèsme, and Bernard the Dane (ancestor of families of Harcourt and Beaumont).

In 946, Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, Count of Paris. He then allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders, drove Louis out of Rouen, and took back Normandy by 947. The rest of his reign was mainly peaceful, apart from conflict with Theobald I, Count of Blois marked by the restoration of Church lands and monasteries.
Richard cemented his alliance with Hugh by marrying his daughter Emma. When Hugh died, Richard became vassal to his son Hugh Capet who became king in 987. Although married to Emma, they produced no offspring. His children were from his relationship with Gonnor, a woman of Danish origin who gave him an heir, Richard.

He quarrelled with Ethelred II of England regarding Danish invasions of England because Normandy had been buying up much of the stolen booty.

Richard was bilingual, having been well educated at Bayeux. He was more partial to his Danish subjects than to the Franks. During his reign, Normandy became completely Gallicized and Christianized. He introduced the feudal system and Normandy became one of the most thoroughly feudalized states on the continent. He carried out a major reorganization of the Norman military system, based on heavy cavalry.

Marriages:

His first marriage (960) was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France, and Hedwiga de Sachsen. (She is not to be confused with Emma of France.) They were betrothed when both were very young. She died 19 Mar 968, with no issue.

According to Robert of Torigni, not long after Emma's death, Duke Richard went out hunting and stopped at the house of a local forester. He became enamoured of the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she being a virtuous woman, suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress, and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herefast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Norse descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimize their children:

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy (996), died 1026.
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux, died 1037.
Mauger, Earl of Corbeil, died after 1033
Robert Danus, died between 985 and 989
another son (On tapestry name looks like Lillam, Gillam, Willam)
Emma of Normandy (c.985-1052) wife of two kings of England.
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres
Hawise of Normandy (b. ca. 978), d. 21 February 1034. m. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany

Mistresses:

Richard was known to have had several other mistresses and produced children with many of them. Known children are:

Geoffrey, Count of Eu, (b. ca. 970)
William, Count of Eu (ca. 972-26 January 1057/58)[2] m. Leseline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057/58).
Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne (d.1030 (divorced)
Robert
"Papia" m. Gilbert de St Valery (based on a claim his wife as a daughter of "Richard of Normandy" -- the only Richard who chronologically fits is Richard I. Name is not confirmed in any source. ref)

Possible other children:

Late chroniclers claimed that two of the De Hautevilles of Naples/Sicily were nephews of "Duke Richard". As the two were children of Tancred of Hauteville by different mothers, this would mean that both of Tancred's wives had been sisters of a Duke Richard, and by chronology, of Richard II, although this is not backed up by contemporary source. If true, Richard would have had at least two more illegitimate children:

Fressenda (ca. 995-ca. 1057)
Muriella

Death:

He died in Fecamp, France on 20 November 996 of natural causes.

Richard — (Unknown). [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37310

Other Events:

• Name: William I Longsword
• Reference Number: 37317

Notes:

William I Longsword (French: Guillaume Longue-Épée, Latin: Willermus Longa Spata, Scandinavian: Vilhjálmr Langaspjót) (893 - 17 December 942) was the second Duke of Normandy from his father's death until his own assassination. The title dux (duke) was not in use at the time and has been applied to early Norman rulers retroactively. William actually used the title comes (count).

Biography:

Little is known about his early years. He was born in Bayeux or Rouen to Rollo and his wife Poppa. All that is known of Poppa is that she was a Christian, and the daughter to Berengar of Rennes, the previous lord of Brittania Nova, which eventually became western Normandy. According to the William's planctus, he was baptised a Christian.
William succeeded Rollo sometime around 927 and, early in his reign, faced a rebellion from Normans who felt he had become too Gallicised and also from Bretons. According to Orderic Vitalis, the leader was Riouf of Evreux.

After putting down the rebellion, William attacked Brittany and ravaged the territory. Resistance to the Normans was led by Alan Wrybeard and Beranger but shortly ended with the Wrybeard fleeing to England and Beranger seeking reconciliation. However, it was not through invasion that he gained Breton territory but by politics, receiving Contentin and Avranchin as a gift from the Rudolph, King of France.

In 935, William married Luitgarde, daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois whose dowry gave him the lands of Longueville, Coudres and Illiers l'Eveque. His expansion northwards, including the fortress of Montreuil brought him into conflict with Arnulf I of Flanders.

The funerary monument of William Longsword in the cathedral of Rouen, France. The monument is from the XIVth century.

In 939 William became involved in a war with Arnulf I of Flanders, which soon became intertwined with the other conflicts troubling the reign of Louis IV. It began with Herluin appealing to William for help to regain the castle of Montreuil from Arnulf. Losing the castle was a major setback in Arnulf's ambitions and William's part in it gained him a deadly enemy. He was ambushed and killed by followers of Arnulf on 17 December 942 at Picquigny on the Somme while at a meeting to settle their differences.

By Sprota, a Breton captive and his concubine, he had a son Richard the Fearless, who succeeded him.

William — Sprota. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37318