| Notes |
- Humphrey (or Onfroi or Umfrid) of Vieilles[1] (died c. 1050) was the first holder of the "grand honneur" of Beaumont-le-Roger, one of the most important groups of domains in eastern Normandy[2] and the founder of the House of Beaumont.
His early life and origins are the subject of much discussion. He was the grandson of Torf (or Turolf), who some historians identify with Turstin le Riche, the father-in-law of Robert the Dane, and by others with an ancestor of the lords of Harcourt[3]. Whichever is the better hypothesis, we can be sure Humphrey descended from a Scandinavian Viking family.
Besides Beaumont-le-Roger, he had lands dispersed through the whole of Normandy, in Cotentin, in Hiémois, in the Pays d'Auge, in Basse Seine (Vatteville-la-Rue), in Évrecin (Normanville) and in Vexin normand (Bouafles). These lands originated in the favour of the dukes Richard II and Robert II, from confiscated church lands. The "honneur" of Beaumont was, for example, constituted from the remains of the lands of the abbey of Bernay[4]. On the other hand, the possessions around Pont-Audemer came to him by family inheritance.
In 1034, he 'founded' (or, rather, restored) the monastery at Préaux, a few kilometres from Pont-Audemer, with monks from the Saint-Wandrille.
During the minority of Duke William the Bastard, Roger I of Tosny, holder of the "honneur" of Conches, attacked Humphrey's domains. But around 1040, Humphrey's son, Roger de Beumont, met and defeated Roger in battle, during which Roger was killed.
[edit]Family and descendants
His known children:
Robert, the elder, assassinated by Roger de Clères[5]?;
Roger de Beaumont, known as le Barbu († 1094), who succeeded his father.
Two other possible children?:
Guillaume de Beaumont, monk at the abbaye Saint-Pierre de Préaux
Dumelme de Vieilles, monk at the abbaye Saint-Léger de Préaux.
[edit]Notes and references
^ Vieilles is the name of a former village, now merged with Beaumont-le-Roger
^ Pierre Bauduin, La première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles), Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2004, p.216-217. Among the other grands honneurs of the Pays d'Ouche, were those of Breteuil and of Conches
^ William of Jumièges reports that this Turolf was the brother of Turquetil, the first lord of Harcourt, and the uncle of Ansketil de Harcourt. The archaeologist Jacques Le Maho supports Torf's identification with Turstin
^ Veronica Gazeau, Monachisme et aristocratie au XIe siècle : l'exemple de la famille de Beaumont,, PhD thesis, University of Caen, 1986-1987 (dactyl.), p.67-73. The abbot of Bernay, Raoul, parent of Humphrey, would have entrusted to him between 1027 and 1040, part of the heritage of his monastery. Like other lords of the beginning of the 11th century, like the family of Bellême, he increased the family's power by recovering or winning of ecclesiastical lands
^ Orderic Vitalis, History of Normandy, Éd. Guizot, 1826, vol. III, livre VIII, p. 373. Charpillon et Caresme, Dictionnaire historique des communes de l'Eure, vol I, 1879, art. Beaumont-le-Roger
[edit]Sources
(French) Pierre Bauduin, La première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles), Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2004
(French) Véronique Gazeau, Monachisme et aristocratie au XIe siècle : l'exemple de la famille de Beaumont, doctoral thesis, Université de Caen, 1986-1987 (dactyl.)
Seigneurs de Beaumont-le-Roger on Medieval Lands
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- 1050
