Petronille de Ferrers

Petronille married Hervey de Stafford on 29 Sep 1212 in (England). Hervey was born in 1178; died in 1237 in (England). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Sir Robert Stafford was born in 1220 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England; died in 1282 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.

Notes:

William II de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby (c. 1168 – c. 1247) was a favourite of King John of England. He succeeded to the estate (but not the title) upon the death of his father, William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby, at the Siege of Acre in 1190. He was head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire which included an area known as Duffield Frith.

He adopted his father's allegiance to King Richard as the reigning king. On Richard's return from the Third Crusade, in the company of David Ceannmhor and the Earl of Chester he played a leading role in besieging Nottingham Castle, on 28 March 1194, which was being held by supporters of Prince John. For seven weeks after this he held the position of Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.[1]

On the accession of John after the death of his brother, in 1199, William gave him his allegiance, and became a great favourite. He restored to the de Ferrars' family the title of Earl of Derby, along with the right to the "third penny", and soon afterwards bestowed upon him the manors of Ashbourne and Wirksworth, with the whole of that wapentake, subject to a fee farm rent of ¹70 per annum.[2]

When, in 1213, John surrendered his kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, William was one of the witnesses to the "Bulla Aurea." In the following year William gave surety on behalf of the king for the payment of a yearly tribute of 1,000 marks.

In the same year, 1214, the King granted the Earl the royal castle of Harestan (Horsley Castle). William was a patron of at least 2 abbeys and 4 priories. In 1216, John made him bailiff of the Peak Forest and warden of the Peak Castle.

In that year, John was succeeded by the nine-year-old Henry III. Because of continuing discontent about John's violations of the Magna Carta, some of the barons had approached Prince Louis of France who invaded in that year. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke acting on behalf of the young King sought to repel the invaders and pacify the barons. His forces, with the assistance of de Ferrers, the Earl of Chester and others, defeated the rebels at the siege of Lincoln.

De Ferrers was allowed to retain the royal castles of Bolsover, Peak and Horston (Horsley) until the King's 14th birthday. The latter had been given him in 1215 as a residence for his wife, during his planned absence with the King on Crusade.[3] and the Earl was among those who made representation to the King, which would in 1258 led to the Provisions of Oxford .

Henry reached his fourteenth birthday in 1222 and his administration sought to recover the three royal castles, to de Ferrers' indignation. In 1254 they would pass to Edward I, Henry's son, exacerbating Robert's, the sixth earl, resentment against the prince.[4]

He was married to Agnes De Kevelioch, sister of Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester, for 55 years. As the Earl advanced in years he became a martyr to severe attacks of the gout, a disease which terminated his life in the year 1247. He was succeeded by his elder son, also William, the Fifth Earl of Derby.

William de Ferrers School

William de Ferrers School and Sixth form is a "foundation comprehensive" (state-funded, non-selective, with some control over how to spend its allotted money) school in the rural town of South Woodham Ferrers, Essex. The school is named after William Ferrers a descendant of Henry de Ferrers who was given the area as a gift from William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest.

William De Ferrers Football Club

Henry Ferrers' descendant gave his name to the local Essex (UK) football team of the same name, often abbreviated to Willy De or known simply as The Baby blues. The club was founded in 1983 and currently has 3 senior men’s teams.[citation needed]

Family and children

William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby
Sybil de Ferrers, married Sir John Vipont [1], Lord of Appleby and had issue.
Sir Thomas of Chartley Ferrers
Sir Hugh of Bugbrooke Ferrers (married and had issue)
Petronille de Ferrers (married Hervey de Stafford)

References

Jump up ^ See High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests.
Jump up ^ Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
Jump up ^ Turbutt, G., (1999) A History of Derbyshire. Volume 2: Medieval Derbyshire, Cardiff: Merton Priory Press
Jump up ^ J. R. Maddicott, 'Ferrers, Robert de, sixth earl of Derby (c. 1239–1279)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [ accessed 28 Oct 2007]

*

Birth: 1172
Tutbury
Staffordshire, England
Death: Sep. 20, 1247
Duffield
Derbyshire, England

William's death is erroneously said to have died in Chartley Castle, of the gout-- in fact his gout-related death was due to injury, as recounted in an anecdote in Burke's: "His lordship, who from his youth had been a martyr to the gout, and in consequence obliged to he drawn from place to place in a chariot, lost his life by being thrown through the heedlessness of his driver over the bridge at St. Neots, co. Huntingdon." He died in an inn enroute to Chartley, and Agnes his wife of 55 years died upon the arrival of his body-- so he was not conveyed to Merevale Abbey (as has been reported), and the two of them were given a joint funeral and burial at Chartley.


Son of William de Ferrers d 1190 and Sybil de Braose. Husband of Agnes of Chester, and father of:
William de Ferrers
Sybil de Ferrers
Joane de Ferrers
Petronillan de Ferrers



Family links:
Parents:
William De Ferrers (1140 - 1190)

Spouse:
Agnes Kevelioc De Ferrers (1174 - 1247)

Children:
William Ferrers (1193 - 1254)*
Bertha de Ferrers Bigod (1205 - 1279)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Chartley Castle
Stowe-by-Chartley
Stafford Borough
Staffordshire, England

Created by: Bill Velde
Record added: Jun 20, 2011
Find A Grave Memorial# 71693287

*

William married Agnes of Chester. Agnes (daughter of Sir Hugh de Kevelioc, Knight, 5th Earl of Chester and Lady Bertrade de Montfort, Comtess d'Evreux) was born in 1174 in Chester, Cheshire, England; died on 2 Nov 1247 in Tutbury, Staffordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Biography

Agnes (Meschines) de Ferrers was a member of aristocracy in England.
Agnes was the daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc and his wife, Bertrade De Montfort.

Agnes had siblings:

Amice Of Chester
Mabel Of Chester
Ranulph De Blondeville
Maud Of Chester
Hawise Of Chester
Unknown Of Chester
Agnes married William de Ferrers in 1192 at Cheshire, England. Agnes and William had children:

William De Ferrers
Sybil Ferrers
Agnes, Lady of Chartley, died 28 October or 2 November 1247 at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England.

Property
Hundred of West Derby
"Henry III on 18 October, 1229, granted all the land between Ribble and Mersey, including the vill of West Derby with the wapentake and the forest, the borough of Liverpool, the vill of Salford with the wapentake, and the wapentake of Leyland, to Ranulf, earl of Chester and Lincoln, to hold in fee by rendering yearly at Michaelmas a mewed goshawk or 40s. (fn. 14) The assized rent of the demesne, with the service of the tenants holding in thegnage and at fee farm, and sake fee of the military tenants within the hundred, then amounted to ¹46 16s. 2d. (fn. 15) Upon the earl's death, in 1232, without issue this fee descended to William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, in right of Agnes his wife, one of the sisters and co-heirs of the earl of Chester. (fn. 16)

"The earl died in 1247, (fn. 19) having predeceased his wife but a few weeks. That he was the builder of Liverpool Castle may be inferred from writs of 19 January, 1235, for an aid to be made to him for the strengthening of his castle of Liverpool, (fn. 20) and of 10 November, 1247, directed to the escheator beyond Trent to deliver to William de Ferrers the lands which had been Agnes de Ferrers', and the castles of West Derby and Liverpool. (fn. 21)" [1]

Sources
? "Hundred of West Derby: Introduction," in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London: Victoria County History, 1907), 1-4. British History Online, accessed March 16, 2017, [1].
See also:

Fine Roll C 60/32, 17 HENRY III (1232–1233): 66 - Dec 1232 [2]
Fine Roll C 60/33, 18 HENRY III (1233–1234): 397 - 21 Oct 1234 [3]
Fine Roll C 60/34, 19 HENRY III (1234–1235): 17 - 16 Nov 1234; 20 - 18 Nov 1234 [4]
Fine Roll C 60/36, 23 HENRY III (1238–1239): 75 - 23 Jan 1239 [5].
Hulton, W.A. ed., The Coucher Book or Cartulary of Whalley Abbey. Vol. I, Remains Historical & Literary Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester (Printed for The Chetham Society, 1846) Vol. 10, Page 8.
Richardson, Douglas, Royal Ancestry, (2013), II:154.

end of biography

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Knight Templar
• Military: Third Crusade

Notes:

William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
William I de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby (died 1190) was a 12th-century English Earl who resided in Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire and was head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire known as Duffield Frith. He was also a Knight Templar.

William was the son of Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby, and his wife, Margaret Peverel. He succeeded his father as Earl of Derby in 1162. He was married to Sybil, the daughter of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, and Bertha of Hereford.

Life

William de Ferrers was one of the Earls who joined the rebellion against King Henry II of England led by Henry's eldest son, Henry the Younger, in the Revolt of 1173–1174, sacking the town of Nottingham. Robert de Ferrers II, his father, had supported Stephen of England and, although Henry II had accepted him at court, he had denied the title of earl of Derby to him and his son.[1] In addition, William had a grudge against Henry because he believed he should have inherited the lands of Peveril Castle through his mother. These, King Henry had previously confiscated in 1155 when William Peverel fell into disfavour.

With the failure of the revolt, de Ferrers was taken prisoner by King Henry, at Northampton on the 31 July 1174, along with the King of Scots and the earls of Chester and Lincoln, along with a number of his Derbyshire underlings and was held at Caen. He was deprived of his castles at Tutbury and Duffield and both were put out of commission (and possibly Pilsbury.) In addition to defray the costs of the war Henry levied a so-called "Forest Fine" of 200 marks.

He seems to have afterwards regained the confidence of Henry II., and he showed his fidelity to the next Sovereign, (King Richard I.), by accompanying him in his expedition to the Holy Land, and joined the Third Crusade and died at the Siege of Acre in 1190.[2]

He was succeeded by his son William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby.

William de Ferrars Preceptory No.530, https://www.thefreedictionary.com/preceptory, is a Knight Templar preceptory named after William de Ferrars. This preceptory is stationed in Burton upon Trent.

References
Warren, W.L. 1973. Henry II. Eyre Methuen. ISBN 0-413-25580-8
Turbutt, G., (1999) A History of Derbyshire. Volume 2: Medieval Derbyshire, Cardiff: Merton Priory Press
Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser

end of this biography

Birth: 1140
Death: 1190
Acre
Hatzafon (Northern District), Israel

Sir William was the son of Robert II and Margaret (Peverel) de Ferrers. He married Sybil de Braose.
He was a Crusader, and died at the Seige of Acre, Palestine. His body was buried in the Crusader city at Acre. No remains of the graves remain today.

Family links:
Parents:
Robert Ferrers (1100 - 1160)
Margaret Peverel Ferrers (1100 - ____)

Spouse:
Sybil de Braose de Ferrers (1157 - 1228)*

Children:
William De Ferrers (1172 - 1247)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Crusader Cemetery
Acre
Hatzafon (Northern District), Israel

Created by: Carolyn Gray-Yeaw
Record added: May 09, 2013
Find A Grave Memorial# 110262652

end of this report

William married Sybil de Braose. Sybil (daughter of Sir William de Braose, Knight, 3rd Lord of Bramber and Lady Bertha of Hereford) was born before 1151 in Bramber, Sussex, England; died on 5 Feb 1227 in Derbyshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: ~1149
• Alt Birth: 1157, East Sussex, England

Notes:

Birth: 1157
East Sussex, England
Death: 1228
Derbyshire, England


Family links:
Parents:
William De Braose (1135 - 1179)
Bertha Hereford de Braose (1130 - ____)

Spouse:
William De Ferrers (1140 - 1190)

Siblings:
Bertha de Braose de Beauchamp (1151 - 1200)*
William III de Braose (1153 - 1211)*
Sybil de Braose de Ferrers (1157 - 1228)

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Unknown

Created by: Deb
Record added: Dec 11, 2016
Find A Grave Memorial# 173766873

*

Notes:

Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester (1147 – 30 June 1181) was the son of Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester and Maud of Gloucester, daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (otherwise known as Robert de Caen, the illegitimate son of Henry I of England, making her Henry's granddaughter).

Early life

He is thought to have been born in Kevelioc in Monmouth. But he may have taken the name of the cwmwd of Cyfeiliog (in modern Powys) in the southern part of the Kingdom of Powys, Wales.

He was underage when his father's death in 1153 made him heir to his family's estates on both sides of the Channel. He joined the baronial Revolt of 1173–1174 against King Henry II of England, and was influential in convincing the Bretons to revolt. After being captured and imprisoned after the Battle of Alnwick, he finally got his estates restored in 1177, and served in King Henry's Irish campaigns.

Marriage

In 1169 he married Bertrade de Montfort of Evreux, daughter of Simon III de Montfort, who in turn was the son of Amaury III of Montfort. She was the cousin of King Henry, who gave her away in marriage. Their children were:[1][2]

Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester
Matilda de Blondeville, aka Matilda (Maud) of Chester (1171–1233), married David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
Mabel of Chester, married William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel
Agnes of Chester (died 2 November 1247), married William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby; ancestors of Joseph Priestley
Hawise of Chester (1180–1242), married Robert II de Quincy
Beatrix of Chester, married Lord William Belward of Malpas
Hugh also had another daughter, Amice of Chester, who married Ralph de Mainwaring and was the ancestress of that family. There is no record of Amice's mother or whether she was Hugh's wife or mistress. The question of Amice's legitimacy has been subject to a longstanding dispute.[3]

One letter from the Pope suggests that Llywelyn Fawr may have been married to an unnamed sister of Earl Ranulph of Chester in about 1192, but there appears to be no confirmation of this.[4] If this was the case it could have been either Mabel or Hawise, or perhaps Amice, and the marriage would have had to have been annulled before any subsequent marriages.

Death and succession

Hugh of Kevelioc died 30 June 1181 at Leek, Staffordshire, England. He was succeeded by his son, Ranulf.

Hugh married Lady Bertrade de Montfort, Comtess d'Evreux in 1169. Bertrade (daughter of Sir Simon de Montfort, III, Comte d'Evreux and Lady Maud Evreux, Comtesse d'Evreux) was born in 1155 in Chester, Cheshire, England; died on 31 Mar 1227 in Evreux, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Bertrade d'Everaux de Montfort, Comtess d'Evreux
Also Known As: "Bertrade /De Evreux/", "Bertrade de âEvreux", "Bertrade II Montfort"
Birthdate: 1155
Birthplace: Chester, Cheshire, England
Death: Died March 31, 1227 in âEvreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France
Cause of death: after 31 March 1227
Immediate Family:
Daughter of Simon III "le Chauve" de Montfort, comte d'Evreux and Mathilde, comtesse d'Evreux
Wife of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester
Mother of Beatrix Kevelioc Malpas; Matilda of Chester; Mabel of Chester; Ranulf de Blundeville, 4th Earl of Chester; Agnes de Meschines, Lady of Chartley and 4 others
Sister of Amaury V de Montfort, comte d'Evreux; Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort et de Rochefort and Robert I de MONTFORT
Occupation: Countess of Chester, Lady of Campden, Countess
Managed by: James Fred Patin, Jr.
Last Updated: September 7, 2016

About Bertrade d'Everaux de Montfort, Comtess d'Evreux
Bertrade was born in 1155 in Chester, England. Bertrade's father was Simon II Le Chauve De Montfort and her mother was Maud Countess Of Evreux . Her paternal grandparents were Amaury De Montfort and Agnes De Garlende. She had two brothers named Amauri and Simon. She was the youngest of the three children.

--------------------

She was married to Earl Hugh de Keveliock V (son of Ranulf de Guernan and Maud de Caen) in 1169. Earl Hugh de Keveliock V was born in 1147 in Kevelioc, Monmouth, England. He died on 30 Jun 1181 in Leeke, Stafford, England. Hugh II, 5th Earl of Chester, surnamed Keveliock or Cyveliok, because he was born 1147 at Kevelioc, Co. Merioneth, Wales. He succeeded his father in the Earldom of Chester. This nobleman joined in the rebellion with Robert, Earl of Leicester, and the King of Scots against King Henry II, and in support of that monarch's son, Prince Henry's pretentions to the crown. In which proceeding he was taken prisoner with the Earl of Leicester at Almwick, but obtained his freedom soon afterwards, upon the reconciliation of the king with the young prince. During troublesome times following his lands were taken from him, but they were restored when public tranquility was restored. He died at Leeks, Co. Stafford, in 1181, aged about 34. His lordship married Bertred, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Evereaux in Normandy. They were married 1169 when Bertred was just 14 years old. She died in 1227, aged about 71. They had a son, Randle III, who succeeded his father as Earl of Chester, but he died sine prole 1232. He had the Earldom of Lincoln from his great-grandmother Lucia, and he resigned this Earldom to his sister Hawise about 1230-1. She was the widow of Robert de Quincey, and their daughter Margaret married John de Lacy, to whom the Earldom of Lincoln was confirmed Nov. 22, 1232. He was Surety for Magna Charta and his daughter Maud married Richard de Clare, son of Gilbert son of Richard de Clare, last two Sureties, and from whom you descend through Robert Abell and John Whitney. Beside Randle III and Hawise, Hugh and Bertred had Mabil, married Hugh de Albini, died sine prole.He was the Earl of Chester. Also known as Hugh le Meschin; Earl of Chester, Vicomte d'Avranches in Normandy. He joined in the rebellion against King Henry II, was taken prisoner at Alnwick on July 13, 1174, and deprived of his Earldom. Though he was again in rebellion both in England and Normandy, his Earldom was restored January 1177 (Complete Peerage, Vol III:167).

--------------------

Post in soc.genealogy.medieval 13 September 2011 by Douglas Richardson on Bertrade de Montfort http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.medieval/browse_thread/thread/a0a635017b1391c2?hl=en

Complete Peerage, 3 (1913): 167 (sub Chester) has a rather brief account of the life of Hugh, 6th Earl of Chester (died 1181). Regarding the history of his widow, Bertrade of Montfort, the following scant detail is given:

"His widow died 1227, aged about 71." END OF QUOTE.

The source given by Complete Peerage for Bertrade de Montfort's death date is Annales Cestrienses, edited 1887, by R.C. Christie. As we can see, no month or day are given for the countess' death. While I'm virtually certain that Google Books previously had a full view copy of this source available online, when I checked just now, I only found copies of this work that had "no preview." As such, I'm unable to see exactly what Annales Cestrienses says about the death of Countess Bertrade.

[John Higgins adds, in a response: Look beyond Google Books, to the Internet Archive, where a full-view copy of Annales Cestrienses is available. The entry for the death of Countess Bertrada [sic] is on p. 55 (not 54 as indicated in the book's index). But all it says is that she died in 1227, giving no more specific date. So, it supports the information in CP but goes no further.]

Checking various other sources, however, I've managed to piece together a few details of Countess Bertrade's life as widow not provided by Complete Peerage:

Sometime in the period, 1188–99, she witnessed a charter of her son, Ranulph, Earl of Chester. In the period, 1190–1200, she reached agreement with the abbot and convent of Troarn in Normandy regarding the construction of a mill and fishpond on the boundary between her wood and theirs. Sometime before 1194–1203, she exchanged lands with the canons of Repton. Sometime in the period, 1200–10, she granted to Ralph Carbonel, of Halton, Lincolnshire, for his homage and service of half a knight’s fee which he held of the said countess in Halton. In 1223 Richard Duket and Simon de Sees brought a plea of novel disseisin against her touching a tenement in Harmston, Lincolnshire. In 1226 she presented to the church of Waddington, Lincolnshire. In 1227 she arraigned an assize of last presentation to the church of Waddington, Lincolnshire against the abbot of St. Sever.

The last item comes from Farrer, Honors & Knights’ Fees, 2 (1924): 103, which may be seen in snippet view at the following weblink: http://books.google.com/books?ei=MPVvTt2dFKniiAKA4tH0Bg&ct=result&id=...

The original source for this record is Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1225–1232 (1903): 156, which may be viewed at the following weblink: http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h3v2/body/Henry3vol2page0156.pdf

The item in question is dated 31 March 1227. Since the record indicates that Countess Bertrade was then alive, it may be assumed she died in 1227, sometime after 31 March.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

---------------------

Bertrade was our ancestor through two distinct descent lines--through her daughter Alice and through her daughter Mabel, each of whom was independently our ancestor.

See "My Lines"

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/p389.htm#i6747 )

from Compiler: R. B. Stewart, Evans, GA

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/index.htm )

Bertrade de Montfort was cousin of King Henry II by her grandfather's sister, Bertrade de Montfort, wife of Fulk IV, being great-grandmother of King Henry [George Edward Cokayne The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, I-XIII (in 6) (Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2BU: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2000), III:167 - 14 when married in 1169 and in III:167, footnote (c)].
Bertrade married Hugh De /Keveliock/, son of Ranulph Des /Gernons/ and Maud /Fitzrobert/, in 1164 in Montfort, Normandy, France. (Hugh De /Keveliock/ was born in 1122 in Kevelioc, Merionethshire, Wales, died on 30 Jun 1181 in Leeke, Stafford, England and was buried in 1181 in Chester, Cheshire, England.)
Children: 1. Amicia Amice De Meschines b: 1177 in Monmouthshire, Wales 2. Beatrice De Kevieliock b: 1166 in Malpas, England 3. Mabel of Chester De Meschines b: ABT 1170 in Cheshire, England 4. Hawise of Chester De Kevelioc b: 1180 in Chester, Cheshire, England 5. Maud Matilda Kevelioc b: 1163 in Cheshire, England 6. Alice Of Chester b: 1180 in Chester, Cheshire, England 7. Agnes de Kevelioc De Meschines b: 1174 in Tutbury, Staffordshire, England
Bertrade II Meschines formerly Montfort aka Evreux, Countess of Chester
Born 1155 in Montfort Sur Risle, Eure, Normandy, Francemap Daughter of Simon III Montfort and Maud De Evreux Sister of Simon IV Montfort and Amauri de Montfort Wife of Hugh K. Meschines — married 1169 [location unknown] Mother of UNKNOWN Blundeville, UNKNOWN Chester, Unknown Chester, Maud Matilda Huntingdon, Amicia Mainwaring, Beatrix de Kevelioc de Malpas, Mabel FitzAlan, Ranulph Blondeville, Helga of Kevelioc De Meschin, Adeliz De Kevelioc, Agnes of Chester (Lady of Chartley) de Keveliock, Agnes Ferrers, Alice of Chester Meschines, Hawise Quincy, Lady de Meschines and Nichola de Meschines Died July 12, 1189 in âEvreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, Francemap

Marriage
Husband: Hugh De Kevelioc Wife: Bertrade De Montfort Child: Amice Of Chester
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Child: Agnes Of Chester
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Child: Mabel Of Chester
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Child: Ranulph De Blondeville
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Child: Maud Of Chester
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Child: Hawise Of Chester
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Child: Unknown Of Chester
Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural
Marriage:
Date: 1169 Note: #N00150
Marriage:
Date: 1169 Place: , Montfort, Normandy, France
married Bertrade de Montfort of Evreux, daughter of Simon III de Montfort. She was the cousin of King Henry, who gave her away in marriage. Their children were:[1][2]
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester Matilda de Blondeville, aka Matilda (Maud) of Chester (1171ãa€“1233), married David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon Mabel of Chester, married William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel Agnes of Chester (died 2 November 1247), married William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby Hawise of Chester (1180ãa€“1242), married Robert II de Quincy Beatrix of Chester, married Lord William Belward of Malpas

Bertrade was born in 1155 in Chester, England. Bertrade's father was Simon II Le Chauve De Montfort and her mother was Maud Countess Of Evreux . Her paternal grandparents were Amaury De Montfort and Agnes De Garlende. She had two brothers named Amauri and Simon. She was the youngest of the three children.

She was married to Earl Hugh de Keveliock V (son of Ranulf de Guernan and Maud de Caen) in 1169. Earl Hugh de Keveliock V was born in 1147 in Kevelioc, Monmouth, England. He died on 30 Jun 1181 in Leeke, Stafford, England. Hugh II, 5th Earl of Chester, surnamed Keveliock or Cyveliok, because he was born 1147 at Kevelioc, Co. Merioneth, Wales. He succeeded his father in the Earldom of Chester. This nobleman joined in the rebellion with Robert, Earl of Leicester, and the King of Scots against King Henry II, and in support of that monarch's son, Prince Henry's pretentions to the crown. In which proceeding he was taken prisoner with the Earl of Leicester at Almwick, but obtained his freedom soon afterwards, upon the reconciliation of the king with the young prince. During troublesome times following his lands were taken from him, but they were restored when public tranquility was restored. He died at Leeks, Co. Stafford, in 1181, aged about 34. His lordship married Bertred, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Evereaux in Normandy. They were married 1169 when Bertred was just 14 years old. She died in 1227, aged about 71. They had a son, Randle III, who succeeded his father as Earl of Chester, but he died sine prole 1232. He had the Earldom of Lincoln from his great-grandmother Lucia, and he resigned this Earldom to his sister Hawise about 1230-1. She was the widow of Robert de Quincey, and their daughter Margaret married John de Lacy, to whom the Earldom of Lincoln was confirmed Nov. 22, 1232. He was Surety for Magna Charta and his daughter Maud married Richard de Clare, son of Gilbert son of Richard de Clare, last two Sureties, and from whom you descend through Robert Abell and John Whitney. Beside Randle III and Hawise, Hugh and Bertred had Mabil, married Hugh de Albini, died sine prole.He was the Earl of Chester. Also known as Hugh le Meschin; Earl of Chester, Vicomte d'Avranches in Normandy. He joined in the rebellion against King Henry II, was taken prisoner at Alnwick on July 13, 1174, and deprived of his Earldom. Though he was again in rebellion both in England and Normandy, his Earldom was restored January 1177 (Complete Peerage, Vol III:167).

Post in soc.genealogy.medieval 13 September 2011 by Douglas Richardson on Bertrade de Montfort http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.medieval/browse_thread/thread/a0a635017b1391c2?hl=en

Complete Peerage, 3 (1913): 167 (sub Chester) has a rather brief account of the life of Hugh, 6th Earl of Chester (died 1181). Regarding the history of his widow, Bertrade of Montfort, the following scant detail is given:

"His widow died 1227, aged about 71." END OF QUOTE.

The source given by Complete Peerage for Bertrade de Montfort's death date is Annales Cestrienses, edited 1887, by R.C. Christie. As we can see, no month or day are given for the countess' death. While I'm virtually certain that Google Books previously had a full view copy of this source available online, when I checked just now, I only found copies of this work that had "no preview." As such, I'm unable to see exactly what Annales Cestrienses says about the death of Countess Bertrade.

[John Higgins adds, in a response: Look beyond Google Books, to the Internet Archive, where a full-view copy of Annales Cestrienses is available. The entry for the death of Countess Bertrada [sic] is on p. 55 (not 54 as indicated in the book's index). But all it says is that she died in 1227, giving no more specific date. So, it supports the information in CP but goes no further.]

Checking various other sources, however, I've managed to piece together a few details of Countess Bertrade's life as widow not provided by Complete Peerage:

Sometime in the period, 1188–99, she witnessed a charter of her son, Ranulph, Earl of Chester. In the period, 1190–1200, she reached agreement with the abbot and convent of Troarn in Normandy regarding the construction of a mill and fishpond on the boundary between her wood and theirs. Sometime before 1194–1203, she exchanged lands with the canons of Repton. Sometime in the period, 1200–10, she granted to Ralph Carbonel, of Halton, Lincolnshire, for his homage and service of half a knight’s fee which he held of the said countess in Halton. In 1223 Richard Duket and Simon de Sees brought a plea of novel disseisin against her touching a tenement in Harmston, Lincolnshire. In 1226 she presented to the church of Waddington, Lincolnshire. In 1227 she arraigned an assize of last presentation to the church of Waddington, Lincolnshire against the abbot of St. Sever.

The last item comes from Farrer, Honors & Knights’ Fees, 2 (1924): 103, which may be seen in snippet view at the following weblink: http://books.google.com/books?ei=MPVvTt2dFKniiAKA4tH0Bg&ct=result&id=...

The original source for this record is Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1225–1232 (1903): 156, which may be viewed at the following weblink: http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h3v2/body/Henry3vol2page0156.pdf

The item in question is dated 31 March 1227. Since the record indicates that Countess Bertrade was then alive, it may be assumed she died in 1227, sometime after 31 March.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

Bertrade was our ancestor through two distinct descent lines--through her daughter Alice and through her daughter Mabel, each of whom was independently our ancestor.

See "My Lines"

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/p389.htm#i6747 )

from Compiler: R. B. Stewart, Evans, GA

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/index.htm ) -------------------- Bertrade de Montfort was cousin of King Henry II by her grandfather's sister, Bertrade de Montfort, wife of Fulk IV, being great-grandmother of King Henry [George Edward Cokayne The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, I-XIII (in 6) (Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2BU: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2000), III:167 - 14 when married in 1169 and in III:167, footnote (c)]. -------------------- Bertrade married Hugh De /Keveliock/, son of Ranulph Des /Gernons/ and Maud /Fitzrobert/, in 1164 in Montfort, Normandy, France. (Hugh De /Keveliock/ was born in 1122 in Kevelioc, Merionethshire, Wales, died on 30 Jun 1181 in Leeke, Stafford, England and was buried in 1181 in Chester, Cheshire, England.) -------------------- Children: 1. Amicia Amice De Meschines b: 1177 in Monmouthshire, Wales 2. Beatrice De Kevieliock b: 1166 in Malpas, England 3. Mabel of Chester De Meschines b: ABT 1170 in Cheshire, England 4. Hawise of Chester De Kevelioc b: 1180 in Chester, Cheshire, England 5. Maud Matilda Kevelioc b: 1163 in Cheshire, England 6. Alice Of Chester b: 1180 in Chester, Cheshire, England 7. Agnes de Kevelioc De Meschines b: 1174 in Tutbury, Staffordshire, England --------------------

Bertrade II Meschines formerly Montfort aka Evreux, Countess of Chester Born 1155 in Montfort Sur Risle, Eure, Normandy, Francemap Daughter of Simon III Montfort and Maud De Evreux Sister of Simon IV Montfort and Amauri de Montfort Wife of Hugh K. Meschines — married 1169 [location unknown] Mother of UNKNOWN Blundeville, UNKNOWN Chester, Unknown Chester, Maud Matilda Huntingdon, Amicia Mainwaring, Beatrix de Kevelioc de Malpas, Mabel FitzAlan, Ranulph Blondeville, Helga of Kevelioc De Meschin, Adeliz De Kevelioc, Agnes of Chester (Lady of Chartley) de Keveliock, Agnes Ferrers, Alice of Chester Meschines, Hawise Quincy, Lady de Meschines and Nichola de Meschines Died July 12, 1189 in âEvreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, Francemap

Marriage Husband: Hugh De Kevelioc Wife: Bertrade De Montfort Child: Amice Of Chester Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Child: Agnes Of Chester Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Child: Mabel Of Chester Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Child: Ranulph De Blondeville Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Child: Maud Of Chester Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Child: Hawise Of Chester Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Child: Unknown Of Chester Relationship to Father: Natural Relationship to Mother: Natural Marriage: Date: 1169 Note: #N00150 Marriage: Date: 1169 Place: , Montfort, Normandy, France

married Bertrade de Montfort of Evreux, daughter of Simon III de Montfort. She was the cousin of King Henry, who gave her away in marriage. Their children were:[1][2] Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester Matilda de Blondeville, aka Matilda (Maud) of Chester (1171ãa€“1233), married David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon Mabel of Chester, married William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel Agnes of Chester (died 2 November 1247), married William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby Hawise of Chester (1180ãa€“1242), married Robert II de Quincy Beatrix of Chester, married Lord William Belward of Malpas

*

Bertrade de Montfort started out as a bargaining chip between Robert Curthose, Fulk IV, Count of Anjou, and William, Count of âEvreux. Fulk sought the beautiful Bertrade as his wife; he bargained with Duke Robert for control of Maine; in turn Robert bargained with William of âEvreux, her guardian, for lands he desired in exchange her hand in marriage.

She married Fulk IV, became the mother of Fulk V; leaving him for King Philip I of France.

She then convinced both to become friends.

Later the cunning woman plotted to have one of her own sons by Philip become king instead of his oldest son, Louis IV, who she attempted to poison.

Orderic Vitalis said of her ‘no good man praised [her] except for her beauty.’

See: Ordericus Vitalis, Ecclesiastical History, Forester, II (1875), 475-77; Jim Bradbury, The Capetians (2007), 118; Hollister, Henry I (2003), pp. 131, 226.

*

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: ~1118, Staffordshire, England
• Alt Death: Bef 1160, Derbyshire, England

Notes:

Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby
Born c. 1100
Died 1162
Noble family de Ferrers
Spouse(s) Margaret Peverel
Issue
William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby
Walkelin de Ferrers
Petronilla
Father Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby
Mother Hawise
Robert II de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby (c. 1100 – 1162) was a younger, but eldest surviving son of Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby and his wife Hawise. He succeeded his father as Earl of Derby in 1139 (William, his elder brother, having been murdered in London some time before). He was head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire including an area later known as Duffield Frith.

Life

Little is known of Robert's life, other than his generosity to the church. In 1148, he established Merevale Abbey in Warwickshire, England, where he requested to be buried in an ox hide.

He founded the Priory of Derby, which later moved to Darley Abbey, and its Abbot was granted many privileges in Duffield Forest and Chase.[1]

He continued his father's attempts to play a role in the civil war commonly called The Anarchy that arose because of the contesting claims of Empress Matilda and Stephen of England. The family's support for Stephen led to him being awarded the revenues of the Borough of Derby in 1139, though in 1149 Stephen then granted the Borough to the Earl of Chester[2]

He finally threw in his lot with the future Henry II after Tutbury Castle was besieged in 1153.[3] However, when Henry came to the throne in 1154, he withdrew de Ferrers' right to use the title of Earl or to receive the "third penny" on the profits of the county.

Family and death

Margaret Peverel and Robert de Ferrers' effigy in Merevale Abbey
Around 1135, he married Margaret Peverell, and had at least one son and one daughter.

He died in 1162 and was succeeded by his son William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby. The stone effigies of Robert and his wife, Margaret Peverel, lie in the gatehouse chapel of Merevale Abbey, near the village of Atherstone.[4]


References
Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
Turbutt, G., (1999) A History of Derbyshire. Volume 2: Medieval Derbyshire, Cardiff: Merton Priory Press
Michael Jones, 'Ferrers, Robert de, first Earl Ferrers (d. 1139)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [ accessed 28 Oct 2007]
http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/abbeys/merevale.php

end of this biography

Biography
1118 Birth
He was born about 1118.[citation needed]

1139 Earl of Derby
He succeeded his father in 1139 as Earl [of Derby]. [1]

1139 Marriage to Margaret Peveril
Before 1139 he married Margaret, daughter of William Peveril of Nottingham & his first wife Oddona, who was born between 1123 and 1126.[1]

Her parentage is suggested by the charter of John King of England which names “Willelmo de Ferrariis comiti” as heir to territories of “Willelmi Peverell”. If this parentage is correct, Margaret is unlikely to have been born outside the narrow date range estimated above, which would also indicate that her marriage took place only shortly before the date of this charter.[1]

He married Margaret, daughter and heir of William Peverel, of Nottingham. He died before 1160, and was buried in Merevale Abbey, wrapped in an oxhide. "[2]
Marriage Notes
Regarding The history and antiquities of the county of Buckingham, pg 252-253 pedigree chart:

It is Robert II, 2nd Earl of Derby, son of Robert I and Hawise, who marries Margaret Peverel. They have sons William and Walcheline.

It is that William, 3rd Earl of Derby, who marries Sybil de Braose. They have children William, 4th Earl of Derby, Robert, Milisent, and Agatha.

Supporting charters:

Calendar of documents preserved in France [3]
Abbey of St Pierre-Sur-Dive
581 (1140-1150): Robert the younger earl of Nottingham, grandfather Henry, uncle Engenulf, father Robert
582 (1141): Robert the younger earl of Nottingham, mother Hatwis
1140 Charter
1140-1150, "Robert the younger earl of Nottingham" drafts a charter "addressed to the bishop of Chester, all the faithful [sons] of the church, and all his barons, knights, and men, and all his friends, clerk and lay". 1141, Robert drafts a charter which mentions the death of "Hatwis", the earl's mother, as well as "Robert son of Walchelin de Raborna". [4]

Merevale Abbey
He founded the abbey of Merevale, Warwickshire, where he was buried. [1]

"During the reign of King Stephen, he founded the Abbeys of Merevale, co. Warwick, and Darley near Derby, and was the virtual founder of the Priory of Bredon, co. Leicester. He went, or proposed to go, on pilgrimage to Santiago.
"Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby, in the 12th Henry II, upon levying the aid for marrying the king's daughter, certified the knights' fees then in his possession to be in number seventy-nine for which he paid the sum of 68 marks. This nobleman was also a liberal benefactor to the church. His lordship was buried at the Abbey of Meervale, co. Warwick, one of the religious houses which he had founded, wrapped in an ox's hide according to his desire. His lordship m. Margaret, dau. and heiress of William Peverel, of Nottingham, by whom he had issue. He was s. by his son, William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby." [5]
"The second earl, another Robert, used as well the titles: Comes junior de Ferrariis and Comes junior de Notingham. He was outstanding, in an age when the endowment of monasteries seemed to be the privilege of every nobleman, in the number and generosity of his foundations : Breedon in Leicestershire; Darley near Derby; and Merevale in Warwickshire where he was buried, wrapped in an oxhide. To Garendon Abbey he gave the land at Heathcote confirmed in the Museum deed. He married Margaret, daughter and eventual heiress of William Peveril of Nottingham. In 1199, their grandson William, the 4th earl, claimed successfully his great-grandfather's lands, in right of his grandmother, and acquired thereby extensive properties including the lands between Mersey and Ribble which were later to become part of the Earldom of Lancaster."[6]
"Robert de Ferrers, earl of Ferrers and Derby, he stiled himself according to Dugdale, Robertus Comes Junior de Ferrariis, and likewise Comes Junior de Nottingham, (fn. 1) as appears among others by an ancient charter of his bearing date A. D. 1141, in which he confirmed to the church of St. Oswald of Notle, whatsoever Henry de Ferrers his grandfather, Eugenulph de Ferrers his uncle, Robert his father or any of their wives or barons had given before-time to that church: He was a benefactor to the monks of Tutbury in com. Stafford, to the canons of Notle, as has been said, in com. Ebor, to the monks of Geronden, in com. Leicester, and Cumbermere, in com. Chester; moreover he founded the priory of Derby, (which was afterwards translated to Derley in that county) and the abbey of Mereval or Murval in com. Warwick. He died the 12th of Henry II, 1165, and was succeeded by his only son William de Ferrers, earl of Ferrers and Derby." (1165 is the year son William inherited, not the year of death) [7]
Robert de Ferrers 2nd Earl of Derby, and his wife Margaret were buried in Merevale Abbey near Atherstone in North Warwickshire. Merevale Abbey was founded by his father, the 1st Earl. Their tomb and effigies can be seen today in the Church of Our Lady, formerly the Gate Chapel, the only building left of the Merevale Abbey complex which is in ruins. [8]

The second shield has—Ferrers (ancient), sable, six horse shoes, argent 3.2.1., impaling some arms which have perished with age. The inscription is: “Robert of Ferrers, Earle of Ferrers in Normandy, and Hawis his wife." [9]
1157 Higham Ferrers
"In 1157 it was granted, probably for life, to Robert de Ferrers, second Earl of Derby, who had married Margaret, daughter and heir of William Peverel, her brother Henry being then apparently dead. (fn. 80) After the death of Robert in or about 1159, Higham Ferrers was granted in 1161 to William, the King's brother, who died in 1164. (fn. 81)" [10]
Tutbury Priory
NUM II: "Robertus comes junior de Ferrariis", "avus meus Henricus" [my grandfather], "Berta uxore sua" [his wife - Henry's], "Egennlfus patruus meus" [my uncle], "Robertus pater meus" [my father], "Amica filia avi mei" (daughter of grandfather, or aunt) [11][12]
NUM VII: "Robertus junior, comes de Notingham", "post mortem" [after the death of] "Hauwisiae" "matris meae" [my mother].
"Robert de Ferrars, the last Earl of Derby, confirmed all the benefactions of his ancestors by charter, but by him the priory was pulled down in the year 1260, and was not rebuilt till theyear 1307, no doubt by the Earl of Lancaster." [13]
"I find also a confirmation made, per Rob'tum de Ferrariis, filium et haeredem [son and heir] nobilis viri Will'i de Ferrariis, comit. Derbies, Deo, et beatee Mariae, et ecclesie de Tutburie, et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, de omnibus queecunque Hen. de Ferrariis fundator ejusdem ecclesiae, seu Engenulf de Ferrariis, vel Rob. de Ferrariis, vel al. Rob. de Ferrariis, vel Will'us de Ferrariis, vel al. Will'us de Ferrariis, avus suus, vel Will'us de Ferrariis, pater suus, sive aliquis antecessorum suorum dederunt." [14]
1160 Death
Robert died before 1160 and was buried at Merevale Abbey. [1]

Issue

Earl Robert & his wife had [three] children: [1]

William, killed in battle at Acre in 1190.[1]
Matilda de Ferrers. The primary source which confirms her parentage and marriage has not yet been identified. She married Bertram de Verdun, son of Norman de Verdun & his wife Lesceline de Clinton (-[1191]). [1]
Isolde de Ferrers (-after 1185). The Rotuli de Dominabus of 1185 records property “in Bernewelle…de feodo comitis” held by “Ysowda, que fuit uxor Stephani de Bello-Campo, et filia comitis de Ferrariis”, adding that she has “i filium et v filias”[338]. It is assumed that Isolde was the daughter of Robert Earl of Derby (died before 1160) but it is not impossible that she was the daughter of Robert’s father. m as his second wife, STEPHEN de Beauchamp, son of RICHARD de Beauchamp & his wife --- (-before 1185).] [1]

Sources

? 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Charles Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Medieval Lands Database. English Nobility Medieval Robert Ferrers Accessed July 9, 2017. jhd
? Complete Peerage IV:191-2, XIV:230, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger) [1]
? Calendar of documents preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol.1. A.D. 918-1206 [2]
? Calendar of documents preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol.1. A.D. 918-1206, p 203 [3]
? Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 196, Ferrers, Earl of Derby [4]
? A Ferrers Document of the Twelfth Century, By Eleanor Swift, M.A. [5]
? Robert Thoroton. "Section V: A brief History of the Noblemen ," in Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire: Volume 2, Republished With Large Additions By John Throsby, ed. John Throsby (Nottingham: J Throsby, 1790), 113-120. British History Online, accessed March 16, 2017, [6].
? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Ferrers,_2nd_Earl_of_Derby
? Transactions and Proceedings, Volumes 14-17, By Birmingham Archaeological Society, p 90 [7]
? "The borough of Higham Ferrers," in A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1930), 263-279. British History Online, accessed March 16, 2017, [8].
? Monasticon Anglicanum: Vol 3 [9]
? Monasticon Anglicanum: Vol 5 [10]
? An historical description of Tutbury Castle and Priory, with some account of the town and neighbourhood, p 69 [11]
? A Survey of Staffordshire: Containing the Antiquities of that County, p 525 [12]
http://www.thepeerage.com/p15854.htm#i158537 1090-1162 A.D.
Honors and Knights' Fees: An Attempt to Identify the Component Parts of Certain Honors and to Trace the Descent of the Tenants of the Same who Held by Knight's Service Or Serjeanty from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century, Volume 1, p 202 [13]
The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 7, p 220 [14]
History of the Castle, Priory, and Town of Tutbury, in the County of Stafford, p 8 [15]
Deering, Charles. Nottinghamia Vetus et Nova (George Ayscough & Thomas Willington, Nottingham, 1751) Page 200

end of biography

Buried:
Merevale is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England. Located about one and a half miles west of Atherstone, it is the site of a medieval Cistercian Abbey (founded in 1148) and Merevale Hall (built in 1840 and home to the Dugdale family).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merevale#Merevale_Abbey

Robert married Lady Margaret Peverel, Countess of Derby in ~1135. Margaret (daughter of Sir William Peverel, The Younger and Avicia de Lancaster) was born in ~1114 in (Peveril Castle, Derbyshire) England; died in 1154 in (Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire, England); was buried in Merevale Abbey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Margaret Peverell, Countess of Derby (b. circa 1114, Nottinghamshire, England), was an English noblewoman who lived at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire, England.

Family and marriage

Margaret was the daughter of William Peverel the Younger of Peveril Castle in Derbyshire and his wife, Oddona (Sources:Hal Bradley:

1. Cokayne, George Edward, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910.), 4:311, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.721 C682.
2. Keats-Rohan, K.S.B., Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066-1166 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1999.), pp. 361, 494, Los Angeles Public Library, Gen 942.02 K25.
3. Sheppard, Walter Lee, F.A.S.G., "Royal Bye-Blows: The Illegitimate Children of the English Kings," NEHGR 119:2 (Apr 1965) (New England Historic, Genealogical Society.), p. 95, Los Angeles Public Library.. Her grandfather was William Peverel.
She married Robert Ferrers and thus became Countess of Derby. She was the mother of William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby, Walkelin de Ferrers and a daughter, Petronella.[citation needed]

She died in 1154 and was buried in Merevale Abbey.

*

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Sheriff of Hereford
• Alt Birth: 1100, Bramber, Sussex, England
• Alt Birth: ~1112, Monmouthshire, Wales
• Alt Death: ~1192, Woebley, Herefordshire, England

Notes:

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber (fl. 1135–1179) was a 12th-century Marcher lord who secured a foundation for the dominant position later held by the Braose family in the Welsh Marches. In addition to the family's English holdings in Sussex and Devon, William had inherited Radnor and Builth, in Wales, from his father Philip. By his marriage he increased the Braose Welsh holdings to include Brecon and Abergavenny.

William remained loyal to King Stephen during the 12th-century period of civil war. He became a trusted royal servant during the subsequent reign of Henry II, accompanying the king on campaigns in France and Ireland. He served as sheriff of Herefordshire from 1173 until 1175. The family's power reached its peak under his son William during the reigns of King Richard I and King John.

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber
Lord of Bramber
Died after 1179
Noble family House of Braose
Spouse(s) Bertha, daughter of Miles of Gloucester and Sibyl de Neufmarchâe
Issue
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber
Father Philip de Braose
Mother Aenor de Totnes, daughter of Juhel of Totnes

Lands and family

William was the eldest son of Philip de Braose, lord of Bramber.[1] His mother was Aenor, daughter of Juhel of Totnes.[1] He was the third in the line of the Anglo-Norman Braose family founded by his grandfather, the first William de Braose.[1] After his father died in the 1130s William inherited lordships, land and castles in Sussex, with his caput at Bramber. He also held Totnes in Devon and Radnor and Builth in the Welsh Marches.[2] He confirmed the grants of his father and grandfather to the abbey of St Florent in Anjou and made further grants to the abbey's dependent priory at Sele in Sussex.[3] In about 1155, he also inherited through his mother's family one half of the honour of Barnstaple in Devon, paying a fee of 1000 marks for the privilege.[2] William became an internationally recognised figure. When Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was asked by Pope Adrian IV to inquire into the background of a certain Walter, canon of St Ruf, his reply, dated to 1154/9 read:

The facts which you demand need but little enquiry; for they shine so brightly in themselves that they cannot be hid; so great is the brilliance of his noble birth and the glory of all his kin. For Walter, as we know for a fact, was the son of a distinguished knight and born of a noble mother in lawful wedlock, and he is closely related by blood to the noble William de Braose.[4]

William had married Bertha, daughter of Miles of Gloucester and Sibyl de Neufmarchâe, by 1150.[1] When each of Bertha's four brothers (Walter de Hereford, Henry FitzMiles (or Henry de Hereford), Mahel de Hereford and William de Hereford) died leaving no issue, William's marriage became unexpectedly valuable. He gained control of the lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny after 1166 when the last brother died.[1] These additional land holdings greatly expanded the territorial power and income of the Braose family. They now held a vast block of territory in the Welsh Marches as well as their extensive interests in Sussex and Devon. William's daughters were able to make good marriages, notably Sibyl to William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby.[5] Maud was married to John de Brompton of Shropshire.[6] William's son and heir, another William de Braose, became a major player in national politics under King John.[7]

Royal service

Empress Maud, the only legitimate living child of Henry I, landed in England in 1139 in an attempt to press her claim to the monarchy. She was soon besieged by King Stephen's forces at Arundel castle. Stephen allowed Maud a safe conduct to Bristol and provided her with an escort, which included William de Braose,[8] suggesting that he was an adherent of King Stephen. William was present as a witness when three charters were issued by Stephen at Lewes dated to the years 1148–53,[9] therefore it appears that he remained loyal to the king until the Treaty of Wallingford ended the hostilities.

William was in Sussex in 1153,[nb 1] but he followed Duke Henry, soon to become King Henry II, to Normandy in 1154.[nb 2] William was frequently with the new king. He was one of the military leaders who supported Henry at Rhuddlan in 1157.[12] He witnessed one of the king's charters at Romsey in 1158,[13] and he is recorded at the king's court in Wiltshire in 1164 when the Constitutions of Clarendon were enacted.[14] He accompanied the king on expedition to France, witnessing at Leons[nb 3] in 1161 and Chinon in 1162. William is also documented on the Irish campaign at Dublin in 1171 and Wexford 1172.[15] William's younger brother, Philip, also accompanied the king to Ireland, and remained with the garrison at Wexford. In 1177 Philip was granted the kingdom of Limerick by Henry but failed to take possession after the citizens set fire to the town.[16]

When Henry was facing war with his sons in 1173, William was appointed as sheriff of Herefordshire at Easter. He maintained the King's interests in Herefordshire until 1175.[1]

Later life and death

King Henry withdrew his favour from the family after William's son organised the murder of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal and other Welsh princes at Abergavenny in 1176.[17] There is little subsequent record of William in public life, and it is likely that he retired to his estates in Sussex. William died after 1179 and was succeeded by his son, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber,[1] who gained the favour of both King Richard I and King John and became a dominant force in the Welsh Marches during their reigns.[18]

end of biography

William de Braose, 3rd lord of Bramber was a Marcher lord, active during the 12th century period of anarchy and the subsequent reign of Henry II. He served as sheriff of Herefordshire from 1173 to 1175.

William was the eldest son of Philip de Braose, lord of Bramber. His mother was Aenor, daughter of Juhel of Totnes. He was the third in the line of the Anglo-Norman Braose family. After his father died in the 1130s William held lordships, land and castles in Sussex, with his caput at Bramber, also at Totnes in Devon and Radnor and Builth in the Welsh Marches. He confirmed the grants of his father and grandfather to the abbey of St Florent in Anjou and made further grants to the abbey's dependent priory at Sele in Sussex. About 1155, he also inherited through his mother's family one half of the honour of Barnstaple in Devon, paying a fee of 1000 marks for the privilege.

William became an internationally recognised figure. When Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was asked by Pope Adrian IV to inquire into the background of a certain Walter, canon of St Ruf, his reply, dated to 1154/9 read:

"The facts which you demand need but little enquiry; for they shine so brightly in themselves that they cannot be hid; so great is the brilliance of his noble birth and the glory of all his kin. For Walter, as we know for a fact, was the son of a distinguished knight and born of a noble mother in lawful wedlock, and he is closely related by blood to the noble William de Braose."

William had married Bertha, daughter of Miles of Gloucester by 1150. When each of Bertha's four brothers died leaving no issue William's marriage became unexpectedly valuable. He gained control of the lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny after 1166 when the last brother died. These additional land holdings greatly expanded the territorial power and income of the Braose family. They now held a vast block of territory in the Middle March as well as their extensive interests in Sussex and Devon. William's daughters were able to make good marriages, notably Sibyl to William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby. William's son and heir, became a major player in national politics under King John.

Empress Maud landed in England in 1139 in an attempt to press her claim to the monarchy. She was soon besieged by King Stephen's forces at Arundel castle. Stephen allowed Maud a safe conduct to Bristol, and provided her with an escort which included William de Braose. Thus, at the start of this conflict, William was an adherent of King Stephen. He witnessed three charters with Stephen at Lewes dated by Davis as 1148/53 so it appears that he remained loyal to the king until the Treaty of Wallingford which ended the hostilities.

William was in Sussex in 1153, but he followed Duke Henry, soon to become King Henry II, across to Normandy in 1154. William was frequently with the new king. He was one of the great men in the army at Rhuddlan in 1157. He witnessed one of the king's charters at Romsey in 1158 and he is recorded at the king's court in Wiltshire in 1164 when the Constitutions of Clarendon were enacted. He accompanied the king on expedition to France, witnessing at Leons, in 1161 and Chinon in 1162. William is also documented on the Irish campaign at Dublin in 1171 and Wexford 1172.

When Henry was facing war with his sons in 1173, William was appointed as sheriff of Hereford at Easter. He maintained the King's interests in Herefordshire until 1175. King Henry withdrew his favour from the family after William's son organised the murder of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal and other Welsh princes at Abergavenny in 1175. There is little record of William in public life after this and it is likely that he retired to his estates in Sussex. It is at this time that the extensions were made to St. Mary's, Shoreham. (Pictured at top)

(The above is an adaptation of the article I wrote for Wikipedia. Sources for the information given can be found there.)

Father: Philip de Braose

Mother: Aanor

Married to Bertha, daughter of Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford

Child 1: William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber

Child 2: Maud = John de Brompton

Child 3: Sibilla = (1)William de Ferrers =(2)Adam de Port

Child 4: John

Child 5: Roger

Roger is a witness to a charter of his brother William. (Dugdales "Monasticon" iv, p616)

(Some sources give a daughter Bertha who married a Beauchamp. I believe this Bertha is a daughter of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. See her page for references.)

end of biography

William (de Braose) BRUCEPrint Family Tree William de /Braose/ , William de /Braose/

Born in 1100 - Bramber, Sussex, England
Deceased 21 October 1190 - London, England , age at death: 90 years old

Parents

Philip (de Braose) BRUCE, born in 1073 - Bramber, Sussex, England, Deceased in 1134 - Bramber, Sussex, England age at death: 61 years old
Married in 1104, Barnstaple, Devon, England, to
Aenor De TOTNES, born in 1084 - Barnstaple, Devon, England, Deceased in 1102 - Bramber, Sussex, England age at death: 18 years old

Spouses, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Married in 1148, Herefordshire, England, to Bertha De PITRES, born in 1107 - Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England, Deceased - Bramber, Sussex, England (Parents : M Miles (Fitzwalter) De (1st Earl of Hereford) PITRES 1092-1143 & F Sybil (de Neufmarche) NEWMARCH 1092-1142) with
F Bertha (de Braose) BRUCE ca 1145- married before 1180, Wales, to Gilbert De (Baron) MONMOUTH 1140-1190 with
M John De (SIR - Lord of Monmouth) MONMOUTH ca 1180- married in 1202, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, to Cecily Waleran FitzWalter 1182-1222 with :
F Joan Margaret De MONMOUTH ca 1201-1247
M William De Monmouth

John De (SIR - Lord of Monmouth) MONMOUTH ca 1180- married in April 1223, Monmouthshire, Wales, to Agnes de ** MUSCEGROS ca 1190- with :
M Richard (de Wyesham) De MONMOUTH 1223/-
M Walter De MONMOUTH 1223/-
M John De (5th Lord of Monmouth) MONMOUTH 1225-1274

Bertha (de Braose) BRUCE ca 1145- married before 1182, Bramber, Sussex, England, to Walter De BEAUCHAMP ca 1160-1235 with
M James De BEAUCHAMP 1182-1233
M Watchline De BEAUCHAMP 1184-1236 married to Joane De MORTIMER 1194-1268 with :
M William De BEAUCHAMP 1210-1267
F Matilda Maud (de Braose) ca 1146- married in 1168, England, to John De BRAMPTON ca 1136-1179 with
M Brian De BRAMPTON 1168-1197 married in 1195, England, to Alice De Neufmenell 1172- with :
M Brian De Brampton 1194-1262
F Margaret (de Braose) (Lady Meath) BRUCE ca 1149- married 19 November 1200, Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, England, to Walter De (Sir - Lord Meath) LACY ca 1150-1241 with
F Petronilla De LACY 1195-1288 married to Ralph VI De (Lord Flamstead) TOENI 1190-1239 with :
F Constance De TOENI ca 1220-1263
M Roger Michaelmas De (Lord of Flamstead) TOENI 1235-1264
F Gille Egidia De LACY 1202-1239 married 21 April 1225 to Richard Mor "The Great", De (1st Earl of Ulster) BURGH 1202-1242 with :
M Walter De ( 1st Earl of Ulster, 2nd Lord of Cornaught) BURGH 1232-1271
M Gilbert (Of Meath) De LACY 1206-1230 married in 1225, Norfolk, England, to Isabel BIGOD 1212-1250 with :
F Margery De LACY ca 1232-1256
F Sybil (de Braose) BRUCE /1151-1227 married to Philip (le Boteler) BUTLER 1157-1174 with
F Clemence (le Boteler) BUTLER 1175-1231 married in 1188, England, to John (Lackland) (KING OF ENGLAND) PLANTAGENET 1166-1216 with :
F Joan (Princess of WALES) PLANTAGENET 1190-1236

Clemence (le Boteler) BUTLER 1175-1231 married in 1205 to Nicholas De (SIR - Baron of Alton, Lord of Farnham) VERDUN 1175- with :
F Rohese De VERDUN 1204-1246
M William (de Braose) BRUCE 1153-1211 married in 1174, Bramber, Sussex, England, to Maud (Matilda) De St VALERY 1155-1210 with
F Matilda Maud (de Braose) 1160-1209 married in 1189 to Gruffydd Ap (Prince of South Wales) RHYS 1148-1201 with :
M Owain Ap GRUFFYDD ca 1176-1235
F Lleucu Verch GRUFFYDD 1202-1250
M William (The Younger) de Braose) BRUCE 1175-1210 married in 1196, Kent, England, to Matilda De CLARE 1175-1213 with :
F Matilda (de Braose) BRUCE ca 1195-1274
M John (de Braose) (Lord of Bramber) BRUCE 1197-1232
F Laurette (de Braose) BRUCE ca 1176-1266 married to Robert "Fitz-Parnell" HARCOURT ca 1156- with :
M X Harcourt ca 1190-
M Reginald (de Braose) BRUCE 1182-1227 married 19 March 1202, Bramber, Sussex, England, to Grecian Alice De BRIWERE 1186-1226 with
F Matilda (de Braose) BRUCE ca 1200-1249 married in 1219, Carmarthenshire, Wales, to Rhys (Mechyll) Ap (Gryg ) RHYS 1174-1244 with :
M Ieuan Ap RHYS ca 1220-
F Gwenllian Verch RHYS ca 1225-1268
M William "Black William" (de Braose) BRUCE 1204-1230 married 2 May 1230, Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales, to Eve (Baroness of Abergavenny) MARSHALL 1194-1246 with :
M William (de Braose) BRUCE 1210-1292
F Isabella (de Braose) BRUCE 1220/-
F Eva (de Braose) BRUCE 1220-1255
F Maud (de Braose) (BARONESS WIGMORE) BRUCE 1226-1300

Siblings

F Maud (de Braose) BRUCE 1109-1200 Married about 1130, Wales, to William De BEAUCHAMP 1105-1170

Paternal grand-parents, uncles and aunts
M William de (Braose) BRUCE 1049-1093 married (1072)
F Agnes De SAINT CLARE 1034-1080
M Philip (de Braose) BRUCE 1073-1134
married (1104)
2 children

Maternal grand-parents, uncles and aunts
M Juhel De TOTNES 1049-1123 married (1083)
F ** De PICQUIGNY 1060-1145
F Aenor De TOTNES 1084-1102
married (1104)
2 children


Timeline
1100 : Birth - Bramber, Sussex, England
1112 : Birth - Bramber, Sussex, England

Sources: Ancestry.com.au - http://www.Ancestry.com.au - Millennium File - Heritage Consulting - Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: - 1,7249::0
Note http://search.Ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=millind&h=1077681&ti=5544&indiv=try&gss=pt - Birth date: 1126 Birth place: Briouze, Normandy, France Death date: 1192-3 Death place: - 1,7249::1077681
1126 : Birth - Briouze, Orne, Basse-Normandie, France
Sources: Ancestry.com - http://www.Ancestry.com - Millennium File - Heritage Consulting - Ancestry.com Operations Inc - 1,7249::0 - 1,7249::1077681
1148 : Marriage (with Bertha De PITRES) - Herefordshire, England
before 1190 : LORD of BRAMBER
21 October 1190 : Death - London, England
1192 : Death - England
Sources: Ancestry.com.au - http://www.Ancestry.com.au - Millennium File - Heritage Consulting - Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: - 1,7249::0
Note http://search.Ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=millind&h=1077681&ti=5544&indiv=try&gss=pt - Birth date: 1126 Birth place: Briouze, Normandy, France Death date: 1192-3 Death place: - 1,7249::1077681
1192 : Death
Age: 66
Sources: Ancestry.com - http://www.Ancestry.com - Millennium File - Heritage Consulting - Ancestry.com Operations Inc - 1,7249::0 - 1,7249::1077681


Notes
Individual Note
Source: Ancestry.com.au - http://www.Ancestry.com.au - Millennium File - Heritage Consulting - Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: - 1,7249::0
http://search.Ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=millind&h=1077681&ti=5544&indiv=try&gss=pt Birth date: 1126 Birth place: Briouze, Normandy, France Death date: 1192-3 Death place: 1,7249::1077681
Source: Ancestry.com - http://www.Ancestry.com - Millennium File - Heritage Consulting - Ancestry.com Operations Inc - 1,7249::0 1,7249::1077681


Sources
Individual: Ancestry.com.au - http://www.Ancestry.com.au - Ancestry Family Trees - Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. - This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. - Ancestry Family Trees - http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=18829447&pid=8845

Family Tree Preview
Ancestry Chart Descendancy Chart Printable Family Tree
_____| 16_ Rognvald Wolfs (of Orkey) BRUCE /1000-1046
_____| 8_ Robert BRUCE 1030-1094
_____| 4_ William de (Braose) BRUCE 1049-1093
/ \ _____| 18_ Alan III De (Count of Brittany) RENNES 1000-1040
|2_ Philip (de Braose) BRUCE 1073-1134
| \ _____| 20_ Mauger (de St Claire) (Seigneur) NORMANDY ca 990-1017
| \ _____| 10_ Waldron De St CLARE 1015-1047
| \ _____| 22_ Richard De NORMANDY 1001-1028
|--1_ William (de Braose) BRUCE 1100-1190
| _____| 12_ Alured De TOTNES 1015-1080
| /
| _____| 6_ Juhel De TOTNES 1049-1123
| / \
|3_ Aenor De TOTNES 1084-1102
\
\ _____| 14_ Arnoul De PICQUIGNY 1020-1055
\ /
\

end of profile

Name: William DE BRAOSE
Sex: M
Birth: 1105 in Bramber, Sussex, England
ALIA: William de BRAOSE Lord of Bramber
Title: Lord of Bramber
Death: BET 1192 AND 1193 in Bramber, Sussex, England
Note:
Dec 08 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Braose,_3rd_Lord_of_Bramber -

William de Braose, Third Lord of Bramber (born 1112 in Brecon) (d. ca. 1192) was the eldest son of Philip de Braose, Second Lord of Bramber.

Family and early career
William was born into a second generation English Norman dynasty holding Lordships and land in Sussex at Bramber, also at Totnes in Devon and Radnor and Builth in the Welsh Marches of Wales. He maintained his Sussex lands and titles and extended St Mary's, Shoreham and contributed to a priory at Sele, West Sussex. His mother was Aenor Fitz Judhel of Totnes.

He also inherited one half of the honour of Barnstaple in Devon, paying a fee of 1000 marks for the privilege.

William married Bertha de Pitres, also known as Bertha de Hereford, daughter of Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford. Through this marriage, William acquired lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny in 1166 because Bertha's four brothers all died young without heirs.

These vast land holdings greatly expanded the territorial power and income of the de Braose dynasty. They now held the Middle March with extensive interests in Sussex and Devon.

William's younger brother Phillip accompanied King Henry II to Ireland, receiving in 1172 the honour of Limerick.

Marcher titles
In 1174, William became sheriff of Hereford. He died in about 1192 and was succeeded as Lord of Bramber by his son, William. He had also fathered two daughters, Maud and Sibilla, who married well and possibly a later son, named John.

Nov 09 from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hwbradley/aqwg825.htm#13602 -

William de BRAOSE Lord of Bramber [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 was born 1105 in Bramber, Sussex, England. He died 8 1192/1193 in Bramber, Sussex, England. William married Bertha of HEREFORD on 1146 in Bramber, Sussex, England.

Bertha of HEREFORD [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was born 1128 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. She married William de BRAOSE Lord of Bramber on 1146 in Bramber, Sussex, England.

They had the following children:

F i Bertha de BRAOSE was born 1147.
M ii William de BRAOSE Baron de Braose was born 1149 and died 9 Aug 1211.
F iii Mabel de BRAOSE was born 1151 and died 1203.
F iv Sybil de BRAOSE was born 1153 and died after 5 Feb 1228.
M v John de BRAOSE 1 was born 1160 in Bramber, Sussex, England.

1Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700 (7th ed., Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992.), 177-5, 194-5, 222-28, Los Angeles Public Library, Gen 974 W426 1992.

2Cokayne, George Edward, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910.), 11:321, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.721 C682.

3Cokayne, G., CP, 1:21-22, 14:6.

4Sanders, Ivor John, English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960.), pp. 7, 21, 105, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.722 S215.

5Keats-Rohan, K.S.B., Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166 (Rochester, New York: The Boydell Press, 2002.), pp. 346-7, Library of Congress, DA177 .K4 2002.

6Cokayne, G., CP, 1:21e.

7Curfman, Robert Joseph, "The Yale Descent from Braiose & Clare through Pigott of Buckinghamshire," The American Genealogist 56:1 (Jan 1980), pp. 1-2, Los Angeles Public Library.

8Sanders, I., English Baronies, p. 7.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bertha of HEREFORD

1Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700 (7th ed., Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992.), 177-5, 194-5, 222-28, Los Angeles Public Library, Gen 974 W426 1992.

2Cokayne, George Edward, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910.), 1:21-2, 11:321, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.721 C682.

3Sanders, Ivor John, English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960.), pp. 7, 21, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.722 S215.

4Keats-Rohan, K.S.B., Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166 (Rochester, New York: The Boydell Press, 2002.), pp. 346-7, Library of Congress, DA177 .K4 2002.

5Curfman, Robert Joseph, "The Yale Descent from Braiose & Clare through Pigott of Buckinghamshire," The American Genealogist 56:1 (Jan 1980), p. 2, Los Angeles Public Library.




Father: Philip DE BRAOSE b: 1074 in Briouze-Saint-Gervais, Orne, Basse-Nomandie, France
Mother: Aenor DE TOTENEIS b: 1084 in Totnes, Devon, England

Marriage 1 BERTHA b: 1128 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
Married: 1146 in Bramber, Sussex, England
Children
Has Children William DE BRAOSE b: 1149 in Bramber, Sussex, England
Has Children Mabel DE BRAOSE b: 1151 in Bramber, Sussex, England
Has Children Sybil DE BRAOSE b: 1153 in Bramber, Sussex, England
Has Children Bertha DE BRAOSE b: 1147 in Bramber, Sussex, England

end of biography

Notes
He held in addition to his patrimony the lordship of half of Barnstaple, acquired through his mother, coheir to the barony. In 1158 he had offered the king a fine of 1000 marks for twenty-eight knights' fees as his mother's share of her inheritance, and when he died he still owed ¹430. William (II)'s marriage brought him the lordships of Brecon and Abergavenny on the southern Welsh marches as his wife's share after the deaths of her two brothers. William (II) de Briouze concentrated his energies on his Welsh marcher lands, serving Henry II as sheriff of Herefordshire, 1173?5. The marriage of his daughter Sibyl to William de Ferrers, earl of Derby (d. 1190), indicates the status that the Briouze family enjoyed.

William was very fortunate in his marriage to Berta. All of her brothers died young without heirs so she brought a number of important lordships to the de Braoses in 1166. These included Brecon and Abergavenny. William became Sheriff of Hereford in 1174. His interest in Sussex was maintained as he confirmed the grants of his father and grandfather for the maintenance of Sele Priory and extended St. Mary's, Shoreham.

Child 1: William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber
Child 2: Maud = John de Brompton
Child 3: Sibilla = (1)William de Ferrers =(2)Adam de Port
Child 4: John
Child 5: Roger Roger is a witness to a charter of his brother William. (Dugdales "Monasticon" iv, 616 per Elwes)

From c1173 to 1230 successive fathers, sons, and younger brothers called de Briouze were feudal lords of Abergavenny. William de Briouze, the first of them, who derived his name from his lordship of Briouze in Normandy, married the sister and coheir of the 2nd Earl of Hereford (also daughter of 1st Earl) mentioned above, which seems to account for his coming into possession of a lordship in that part of the Welsh marches. [1]

OWNERS of the LORDSHIP of ABERGAVENNY (X) 1173?

William de Briouze (e), Lord of Briouze in Normandy, and of Bramber, Sussex, son and heir of Philip de Briouze, by Aenor, daughter and heir of Juhel son of Alvred, Lord of Barnstaple and Totnes. He married, in or before 1150, Bertha, 2nd sister and coheir of William of Hereford being daughter of Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Gloucester (sic. Earl of Hereford). Sheriff of Hereford, Easter 1173-75, at which earlier date probably he already possessed the Lordship of Over Gwent. He was living in 1179. [2]

(e) Briouze-Saint-Gervais (formerly Braiose), arrond. of Argentan, dept. of Orne. His descendants spelt the name Brewes. In some 25 early references to this name, not in charter latin, it appears as Breouse, Breuse, or Brewys (the last of which still exists as a surname), but never as Braose, the form adopted in peerages, for which it seems doubtful if there be any good authority.

Note: The above text "1st Earl of Gloucester", which was part of a correction in CP XIV:6, is a mistake; Miles was Earl of Hereford.

Sources

? Burke's Peerage
? Complete Peerage I:21-2, XIV:6,
1. The Plantagenet Ancestry, Eng. 116, p. 78
2. The Complete Peerage, G.E.C., Eng. v, v. 1, p. 21, 22, v. 4, p. 193, 194, v. 6, p. 451-54
3. The Genealogist, Eng. Pub. AF, os, v. 4, p. 139-41, 235
4. Arch. Cambr., Wales Pub. A, 4s, v. 14, p. 177, 6s, v. 10, p. 340
5. Burke's Extinct Peerage, 1883 & 1886, Eng. P-1, p. 72
6. Dict. of Nat'l Biog., Eng. Pub. A, v. 6, p. 229-31
7. Dugdale's Baronage of Engl, Eng. AL, v. 1, p. 414, 416
8. Wells & Allied Families, B8G4, p. 177
9. Sussex Arch. Collections, Suss. 1, v. 5, p. 5, 148
10. The Ligon Family, B15A183, v. 1, p. 108

!RESEARCH NOTE: There is no indication in any of the above quoted sources that there was a Giles or Roger belonging to this family. Also there is some doubt whether the above Reginald has been mistaken for the Reginald who married Grace de Briwere who is actually grandson of the above couple.

In the case of child #1, Bertha, there is also some quandry as to whether she belongs to this couple or to William,

child #2, and whether she married William Beauchamp or Walter de Beauchamp.

There are also some indications that this Bertha is the daughter of the above couple who married Adam de Port. Because of the sealing action previously taken, their names will be left on this compilation until better evidence is made available.

END OF COMMENTARY

William married Lady Bertha of Hereford in 1148 in Herefordshire, England. Bertha (daughter of Sir Miles of Gloucester, Knight, 1st Earl of Hereford and Lady Sibyl de Neufmarche, Countess of Hereford, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarche, Lord of Brecknockshire and Nest Verch Osborn le Scrope) was born in 1107 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; died in ~ 1180 in Bramber, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Bertha of Hereford, also known as Bertha de Pitres (born c.1130), was the daughter of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, and a wealthy heiress, Sibyl de Neufmarchâe. She was the wife of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber to whom she brought many castles and Lordships, including Brecknock, Abergavenny, and Hay.

Family

Bertha was born in England in about 1130. She was a daughter of Miles, Earl of Hereford (1097- 24 December 1143) and Sibyl de Neufmarchâe.[1] She had two sisters, Margaret of Hereford,[2] who married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had issue,[3] and Lucy of Hereford, who married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, by whom she had issue.[citation needed] Her brothers, included Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Walter de Hereford, Henry Fitzmiles, William de Hereford, and Mahel de Hereford.[4]

Her paternal grandparents were Walter FitzRoger de Pitres,Sheriff of Gloucester and Bertha de Balun of Bateden,[5] a descendant of Hamelin de Balun,[citation needed] and her maternal grandparents were Bernard de Neufmarchâe, Lord of Brecon, and Nesta ferch Osbern.[6] The latter was a daughter of Osbern FitzRichard of Richard's Castle, and Nesta ferch Gruffydd.[7] Bertha was a direct descendant, in the maternal line, of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (1007- 5 August 1063) and Edith (Aldgyth), daughter of Elfgar, Earl of Mercia.[citation needed]

Her father Miles served as Constable to King Stephen of England. He later served in the same capacity to Empress Matilda after he'd transferred his allegiance. In 1141, she made him Earl of Hereford in gratitude for his loyalty. On 24 December 1143, he was killed whilst on a hunting expedition in the Forest of Dean.[8]

Marriage and issue

Abergavenny Castle in Monmouthshire, Wales, was one of the castles Bertha of Hereford brought to her husband William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber
In 1150, she married William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber (1112–1192), son of Philip de Braose, 2nd Lord of Bramber and Aenor, daughter of Judael of Totnes. William and Bertha had three daughters and two sons, including William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber.

In 1173, her brothers all having died without issue, she brought the Lordships and castles of Brecknock and Abergavenny, to her husband.[8] Hay Castle had already passed to her from her mother, Sibyl of Neufmarche in 1165, whence it became part of the de Braose holdings.

In 1174, her husband became Sheriff of Hereford.

Her children include

William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, (1144/1153- 11 August 1211, Corbeil),[9][10] married Maud de St. Valery, daughter of Bernard de St. Valery, by whom he had 16 children.
Roger de Braose[11]
Bertha de Braose[12] (born 1151), married c.1175, Walter de Beauchamp (died 1235), son of William de Beauchamp and Joan de Walerie, by whom she had issue, including Walcherine de Beauchamp who married Joan Mortimer.
Sibyl de Braose (died after 5 February 1227),[13] married William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby (1136- 21 October 1190 at Acre on crusade), son of Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby and Margaret Peverel, by whom she had issue.
Maud de Braose, married John de Brompton, by whom she had issue.[citation needed]

Legacy

Bertha died on an unknown date. She was the ancestress of many noble English families which included the de Braoses, de Beauchamps, de Bohuns and de Ferrers; as well as the Irish families of de Lacy and de Burgh.[14][not in citation given]

end of biography

Notes:

Ranulf II (also known as Ranulf de Gernon) (1099–1153) was an Anglo-Norman potentate who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester upon the death of his father Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was descended from the Counts of Bessin in Normandy.

In 1136 David I of Scotland invaded England as far as Durham but was forced by Stephen of England to negotiate treaties that involved granting Ranulf's lands to Scotland. Ranulf allied himself to Matilda to further his cause. He took Lincoln Castle in 1141, which was retaken by Stephen in a siege in which Ranulf was forced to flee for his life. Ranulf enlisted the help of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester to retake the castle and succeeded when King Stephen surrendered to him at Lincoln. While Matilda ruled England, Stephen's queen Matilda of Boulogne managed to defeat Ranulf and his allies at Winchester, which eventually resulted in Stephen being able to resume the throne.

Biography

Early life

Ranulf was born in Normandy at the Chãateau Guernon, around 1100. He was the son of Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester and Lucy of Bolingbroke, who were both significant landowners with considerable autonomy within the county palatine. His father had begun a new lineage of the earldom of Chester. Ranulf married Maud, daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester and inherited the earldom in 1128. Three years later he founded an abbey in North Wales, colonised by monks from the Norman Congregation of Savigny.

Loss of northern lands to Scotland

In late January 1136, during the first months of the reign of Stephen of England, his northern neighbour David I of Scotland crossed the border into England. He took Carlisle, Wark, Alnwick, Norham and Newcastle upon Tyne and struck towards Durham. On 5 February 1136, Stephen reached Durham with a large force of mercenaries from Flanders and forced David to negotiate a treaty by which the Scots were granted the towns of Carlisle and Doncaster, for the return of Wark, Alnwick, Norham and Newcastle.

Lost from England to Scotland along with Carlisle was much of Cumberland and the honour of Lancaster, lands that belonged to Earl Ranulf's father and had been surrendered by agreement to Henry I of England in return for the Earldom of Chester. Ranulf claimed that his father had at that time been disinherited. When he heard of the concessions made to the Scottish King, Ranulf left Stephen's court in a rage.

In the second Treaty of Durham (1139), Stephen was even more generous to David, granting the Earldom of Northumbria (Carlisle, Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire north of the Ribble) to his son Prince Henry. Ranulf was prepared to revolt in order to win back his lordship of the north.

Capture of Lincoln

Main article: Battle of Lincoln (1141)
By this time Matilda, named as the future Queen by her father Henry I, had gathered enough strength to contest Stephen's usurpation, supported by her husband Geoffrey of Anjou and her half-brother Robert of Gloucester. Prince Henry was to attend the English court that Michaelmas and Ranulf planned to overwhelm him on his return to Scotland. Stephen’s queen Matilda of Boulogne heard about the plot and persuaded Stephen to escort Henry back to Scotland. Ranulf then used subterfuge to seize Lincoln Castle. He and his half-brother William de Roumare sent their wives to visit the constable’s wife there and then arrived (dressed in ordinary clothes and escorted by three knights), apparently to fetch the ladies. They then seized the weapons in the castle, admitted their own men and ejected the royal garrison.[2]

Stephen eventually made a pact with the Ranulf and his half-brother and left Lincolnshire, returning to London before Christmas 1140, after making William de Roumare Earl of Lincoln and awarding Ranulf with administrative and military powers over Lincolnshire and the town and castle of Derby. The citizens of Lincoln sent Stephen a message complaining about the treatment they were receiving from Ranulf and asking the King to capture the brothers. The King immediately marched on Lincoln. One of his key pretexts was that according to the settlement, Lincoln Castle was to revert to royal ownership and that the half-brothers had reneged on this. He arrived on 6 January 1141 and found the place scantily garrisoned: the citizens of Lincoln admitted him into the city and he immediately laid siege to the castle, captured seventeen knights and began to batter down the garrison with his siege engines.

Ranulf managed to escape to his earldom, collect his Cheshire and Welsh retainers and appeal to his father-in-law Robert of Gloucester, whose daughter Maud was still besieged in Lincoln, possibly as a deliberate ploy to encourage her father's assistance. In return for Robert's aid, Ranulf agreed to promise fidelity to the Empress Matilda.


Lincoln castle
To Robert and the other supporters of the Empress this was good news, as Ranulf was a major magnate. Robert swiftly raised an army and set out for Lincoln, joining forces with Ranulf on the way. Stephen held a council of war at which his advisors counselled that he leave a force and depart to safety, but Stephen disregarded the odds and decided to fight, but was obliged to surrender to Robert. Ranulf took advantage of disarray amongst the king’s followers and in the weeks after the fighting managed to take the Earl of Richmond’s northern castles and capture him when he tried to ambush Ranulf. Richmond was put in chains and tortured until he submitted to Ranulf and did him homage.

Stephen had been effectively deposed and Matilda ruled in his place. In September 1141, Robert of Gloucester and Matilda besieged Winchester. The queen responded quickly and rushed to Winchester with her own army, commanded by the professional soldier William of Ypres. The queen’s forces surrounded the army of the empress, commanded by Robert, who was captured as a result of deciding to fight his way out of the situation. The magnates following the empress were forced to flee or be taken captive. Earl Ranulf managed to escape and fled back to Chester. Later that year Robert was exchanged for Stephen, who resumed the throne.

Defection to Stephen

In 1144 Stephen attacked Ranulf again by laying siege to Lincoln Castle. He made preparations for a long siege but abandoned the attempt when eighty of his men were killed whilst working on a siege tower that fell and knocked them into a trench, suffocating them all.

In 1145 (or early 1146) Ranulf switched allegiance from the Empress Matilda to Stephen. Since 1141 King David had been allied to Matilda, so Ranulf could now take up his quarrel with David of Scotland regarding his northern lands. It is probable that Ranulf's brother-in-law Phillip, (the son of Earl Robert), acted as an intermediary as Phillip had defected to the king. Ranulf came to Stephen at Stamford, repented his previous crimes and was restored to favour. He was allowed to retain Lincoln Castle until he could recover his Norman lands. Ranulf demonstrated his good will by helping Stephen to capture Bedford from Miles de Beauchamp and bringing 300 knights to the siege of Wallingford.

Stephen welcomed Ranulf’s support but some of the king's supporters, (especially William de Clerfeith, Gilbert de Gant, Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond, William Peverel the Younger, William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel and John, Count of Eu), did not. Many of the magnates were alarmed when it was discovered that Ranulf wanted the king to take part in a campaign against the Welsh. Ranulf's opponents counselled the king that the earl might be planning treachery, since he had offered no hostages or security and could easily be ambushed in Wales. Stephen contrived a quarrel with Ranulf at Northampton, provoked by an advisor who told the earl that the king would not assist him unless he restored all the property he had taken and rendered hostages. The earl refused these terms. He was accused of treason and was arrested and imprisoned in chains until his friends succeeded in coming to terms with the King on 28 August 1146. It was then agreed that the earl should be released, provided he surrendered all the royal lands and castles he had seized (Lincoln included), gave hostages and took a solemn oath not to resist the king in future.

Ranulf, arrested in contravention of the oath which the king had sworn to him at Stamford, revolted as soon as he regained his liberty and "burst into a blind fury of rebellion, scarcely discriminating between friend or foe”. He came with his army to Lincoln to recover the city but failed to break into its north gate and his chief lieutenant was slain in the fighting. Ranulf also tried to recover the castle at Coventry, by building a counter castle. The King came with a relief force to Coventry and although wounded in the fighting, drove Ranulf off and seized his hostages, including his nephew Gilbert fitz Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, whom Stephen refused to release unless Gilbert surrendered his own castles. Gilbert, while agreeing to the condition, revolted as soon as he was at liberty. This action pushed the Clares into a conflict from which they had previously remained aloof.

Agreement with King David

In May 1149 the young Henry FitzEmpress met the king of Scotland and Ranulf at Carlisle, where Ranulf resolved his territorial disputes with Scotland and an agreement was reached to attack York. Stephen hurried north with a large force and his opponents dispersed before they could reach the city. The southern portion of the honour of Lancaster (the land between the Ribble and the Mersey) was conceded to Ranulf, who in return resigned his claim on Carlisle. Hence the Angevin cause secured the loyalty of Ranulf.

Henry, whilst trying to escape south after the aborted attack on York, was forced to avoid the ambushes of Eustace, King Stephen’s son. Ranulf assisted Henry, creating a diversion by attacking Lincoln, thus drawing Stephen to Lincoln and allowing Henry to escape.

Treaty with Robert, Earl of Leicester

The Earl’s territory in Leicestershire and Warwickshire brought him face to face with Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, whose family (including his cousin Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick and his brother Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester) controlled a large part of the south Midlands. The two earls concluded an elaborate treaty between 1149 and 1153. The Bishops of Chester and Leicester were both entrusted with pledges that were to be surrendered if either party infringed the agreement.

Death

In 1153 Henry — by then Stephen's accepted heir — granted Staffordshire to Ranulf. That year, whilst Ranulf was a guest at the house of William Peverel the Younger, his host attempted to kill him with poisoned wine. Three of his men who had drunk the wine died, while Ranulf suffered agonizing pain. A few months later Henry became king and exiled Peverel from England as punishment. Ranulf succumbed to the poison on 16 December 1153: his son Hugh inherited his lands as held in 1135 (when Stephen took the throne), while other honours bestowed upon Ranulf were revoked.[citation needed]

References

Jump up ^ Fox-Davies. Art of Heraldry. Quarterly Arms of Thomas Hussey. fig 261. Q 21.
Jump up ^ Ordericus Vitalis

Died:
Succumbed to poisoning...

Ranulf married Lady Maud of Gloucester, Countess of Chester before 1141. Maud (daughter of Sir Robert FitzRoy, Knight, 1st Earl of Gloucester and Lady Mabel FitzHamon, Countess of Gloucester) was born in (Gloucestershire, England); died on 29 Jul 1189. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Maud of Gloucester, Countess of Chester (died 29 July 1189), also known as Matilda, was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman and the daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England and Mabel, daughter of Robert fitz Hamon.[1] Her husband was Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester (died Dec. 16, 1153).[2]

Family[edit]
Lady Maud FitzRobert was born on an unknown date, the daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester and Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester. She had seven siblings including William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and Roger, Bishop of Worcester. She also had an illegitimate half-brother, Richard, Bishop of Bayeux, whom her father sired by Isabel de Douvres.

Her paternal grandparents were King Henry I of England and his mistress, Sybil Corbet. Her maternal grandparents were Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, and Sybil de Montgomery, daughter of Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel Talvas of Belleme.


Lincoln Castle where Maud was besieged by the forces of King Stephen in 1141

Marriage and issue

Sometime before 1141, possibly as early as 1135, Matilda married Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, and was accorded the title of Countess of Chester. Her husband had considerable autonomy in his palatine earldom.

In January 1141, Earl Ranulf and Countess Matilda were at Lincoln Castle when it was besieged by the forces of King Stephen of England. The following month, a relief army loyal to Empress Matilda and led by her father Robert earl of Gloucester defeated and captured the king in the fierce fighting, later known as the First Battle of Lincoln. In return for his help in repelling the king's troops, the countess's father compelled her husband to swear fealty to Empress Matilda, who was Earl Robert's half-sister.

On August 29, 1146, Earl Ranulf was seized by King Stephen at court in Northampton. Stephen later granted him the castle and city of Lincoln sometime after 1151.[3]

Children

Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester (1147- 30 June 1181), married Bertrade de Montfort of âEvreux, by whom he had five children, including Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, Maud of Chester, and Hawise of Chester, 1st Countess of Lincoln.
possibly Richard of Chester (died 1170/1175), buried in Coventry.
Beatrice of Chester, married Raoul de Malpas
possibly Ranulf of Chester, fought in the siege of Lisbon, granted the lordship of Azambuja by Afonso I of Portugal.
Ranulf had an illegitimate son, Robert FitzCount (died before 1166), by an unknown mistress. His date of birth was not recorded. Robert married Agnes fitz Neal as her second husband.

One account contains an unsubstantiated rumor that Countess Maud poisoned her husband with the assistance of William Peverel of Nottingham, but there is no evidence that she did so; Earl Ranulf confirmed her grant to one of her servants, probably on his deathbed.[4] She served as her minor son's guardian for nine years.

She was an important patron of Repton Priory in Derbyshire.[5] She also made grants to Belvoir Priory.

The Rotuli de Dominabus of 1185 records property Wadinton de feodo comitis Cestrie, held by Maud, Countess of Chester.[3] Although she was said to be about 50 years of age in that document, she was probably closer to 60 in that year.

Maud died on 29 July 1189, although the Annals of Tewkesbury records her death in 1190.[3]

References

Notes
Jump up ^ Complete Peerage, v. III, p. 167.
Jump up ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Chester 1120-1232 (Family of Ranulf "le Meschin")
^ Jump up to: a b c Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Chester 1120-1232 (Family of Ranulf "le Meschin")
Jump up ^ Susan Johns, "Wives and Widows of the Earls of Chester, 1100-1252", Haskins Soc. Journal (1995), p. 125.
Jump up ^ http://www.thePeerage,com/p.10472.htm#104718

Notes:

Simon (Simon III) "le Chauve, Comte d'âEvreux" de Montfort formerly Montfort
Born about 1123 in Montfort-sur-Ris, Eure, France
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of Amauri (Montfort) de Montfort and Agnes (Garlande) de Montfort
Brother of Luciana (Montfort) Montlhâery [half], Amaury (Montfort) de Montfort and Agnes Elizabeth (Montfort) de Beaumont
Husband of Maud (Evreux) de Montfort — married 1148 in Montfort, L'Amauri, Ile-de-France, France
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Simon (Montfort) de Montfort, Amauri (Montfort) de Montfort and Bertrade (Montfort) de Montfort
Died about 12 Mar 1181 in Eure, Normandy, France

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Categories: House of Montfort-l'Amaury.

European Aristocracy
Simon III (Montfort) de Montfort was a member of aristocracy in Europe.
Join: European Royals and Aristocrats Project
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Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Marriage
2 Sources
2.1 Notes
3 Acknowledgments
Biography
"Simon de Monfort, Count of Evreux and Seigneur of Montfort, brother and heir [of Amauri] (a). Being a vassal both of the King of France and of the King of England (as Duke of Normandy), his postion was embarrassing when his two suzerains were at war in 1159. He adhered to England and handed over his castles at Rochefort, Montfort, and Epernon to Henry II, which forced Louis to make a truce by cutting his communications between Paris, Orleans, and Etampes. In 1173 Simon joined the revolt of the "young King", but was captured when the Count of Flanders took the castle of Aumale. In 1177 he attested the treaty of Ivry, and was with Henry II at Verneuil. He m. Maud, whose parentage is unknown. He d. 12 or 13 Mar 1180/1, and was buried in Evreux Cathedral. He left two sons, Amauri, who succeeded him as Count of Evreux in Normandy (b), and Simon, who succeeded him in the lordships of Montfort and Rochefort, also a daughter Bertrade (d).

"(a) He must have been a son of the second marriage of his father if his brother was. Moreover, Simon had Rochefort, which came through the second wife, and it was apparently from him that his sister Agnes received as dowry her mother's other lordship of Gournay-sur-Marne.

"(b) He m. Mabel, elder daughter and coheir of William, 2nd Earl of Gloucester. His son Amauri exchanged the Comte of Evreux for the Earldom of Gloucester, and dsp.

"(d) She m. Hugh, Earl of Chester.

"Note: Turton has Simon III and Simon IV de Montfort as one person with 2 wives." (Above is per Jim Weber on rootsweb.com)

Marriage
Husband: Simon de MONTFORT
Wife: Amicia Harcourt
Child: Almarie de MONTFORT
Child: Simon 'the Crusader' de MONTFORT
Child: Guy de MONTFORT
Child: Pernel de MONTFORT
Marriage:
Date: ABT 1169
Place: Of, LEI, England
Also had Amaury VI, Guido, Robert, Simon Earl of Leicester, 1206-1265, and dts.
Simon was born in 1128. Simon De Montfort ... He passed away in 1181. [1]

Do you have information about De Montfort? Please contribute to his biography. Everything on WikiTree is a collaborative work-in-progress.

Sources
? Entered by Terry Wright, Mar 1, 2013
Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest, by Jim Weber, rootsweb.com
Source: S004330 Title: Millennium File Author: Heritage Consulting Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA Repository: Ancestry.com
Source: S2 Title: Pedigree Resource File CD 49 Abbreviation: Pedigree Resource File CD 49 Publication: (Salt Lake City, UT: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 2002)
Notes
From http://www.geneajourney.com
d. Being a vassal of both the King of France and King of England, his position was uneasy when both were at war with each other in 1159. He adhered to England and handed over his castles of Rochefort, Montfort, and Epernon to Henry II, which forced Louis to make a truce. In 1173, Simon joined the revolt of the "young King", but was captured when the Count of Flanders took the castle of Aumale. In 1177 he attested the treaty of Ivry and was with Henry II at Verneuil. He married Maud, whose parentage is unknown, and they had two sons, Amauri and Simon, and a daughter, Bertrade.

end of profile

Simon married Lady Maud Evreux, Comtesse d'Evreux in 1148 in Montfort, L'Amauri, Ile-de-France, France. Maud was born in 1129 in Normandie, France; died in 1169 in Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: ~1100, Nottingham Castle, Nottinghamshire, England
• Alt Death: Aft 1155, (London, England)

Notes:

William "The Younger" de Peverel formerly Peverel
Born about 1100 in Nottingham Castle, Nottinghamshire, England [uncertain]
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of William (Peverel) de Peverel and Adeline (Lancaster) Abitot [uncertain]
Brother of William (Peverel) de Peverel [half], Matilda (Peverel) de Peverel [half] and Adelise (Peverel) de Reviers [half]
Husband of Oddona (Unknown) Peverel — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Husband of Avice (Lancaster) Peverel — married after 1112 in England

DESCENDANTS descendants

Father of Margaret (Peverel) de Ferrers, Helen Peverel and Richard Peverel

Died after 1155 in Sussex Square, London, Middlesex, Englandmap [uncertain]
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Categories: Whittington Castle, Shropshire.

European Aristocracy
William (Peverel) de Peverel is a member of royalty, nobility or aristocracy in the British Isles.
Join: British Isles Royals and Aristocrats 742-1499 Project
Discuss: EUROARISTO
Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 1100 Birth
1.2 1103-14 Donation of Church of Lenton
1.3 1115 First Marriage to Oddona
1.4 Royal Agent Under Henry I
1.5 1131 Northampton
1.6 1138 Civil War
1.7 1140-1145 Second Marriage to Hawise of Lancaster
1.8 1145 Second Marriage to Avice
1.9 1155 Disinherited for Poisoning Ranulf of Chester
1.10 Issue

2 Sources

Biography

1100 Birth
William Peverel was born between 1100 and 1105. [1]

Considering the likely estimated birth date of William’s sister Adelise, it is unlikely that William could have been born much later than the earliest years in the 12th century. This therefore suggests that “Willelmi Pevrelli filii illorum” in the charter dated to [1103/14] could not refer to the older brother of this William Peverel junior, whose death is recorded elsewhere (see above). [1]

“Willelmus Peverellus” donated land “juxta Picheseie” to Colchester St. John, with the advice of “matris mee A.”, by undated charter[331]. The 1130 Pipe Roll records "Wills Peur de Noting" in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire in respect of "Forest"[332]. [1]

King Stephen named “Willielmo Peverello juniori cum uxore sua Oddona et filio suo Henrico” in his charter relating to Lenton Priory[333]. [1]

1103-14 Donation of Church of Lenton
WILLIAM Peverel ([1100/05]-after 1155). Henry I King of England confirmed the donation of the church of Lenton to Cluny, by charter dated to [1103/14], which records “Willelmo Peverello cum uxore sua Adaleida et filio suo Willelmo” as founders of the church and is subscribed by “… Willelmi Pevrelli de Notingaham, Adeline sue uxoris, Willelmi Pevrelli filii illorum…”[330]. [1]

1115 First Marriage to Oddona
He married firstly ODDONA, daughter of ---. King Stephen named “Willielmo Peverello juniori cum uxore sua Oddona et filio suo Henrico” in his charter relating to Lenton Priory[337]. [1]

He married, first, c.1115, to Oddona, [2]

Royal Agent Under Henry I
"Peverel, like his father, served as a royal agent under Henry I, particularly in forest matters, though he was less frequently at court. [2]

1131 Northampton
At Northampton in September 1131, if not earlier, he would have sworn to accept the succession of the empress; but he attached himself to Stephen on his accession, and witnessed his charter of liberties of April 1136. [2]

1138 Civil War
He took a prominent part in the civil war of Stephen's reign, and ultimately suffered forfeiture for backing the wrong side. He fought for Stephen at the battle of the Standard in August 1138 and at the battle of Lincoln in February 1141, when he was captured.

He thereby lost control of Nottingham Castle, which was given to Ralph Paynel, who had instigated an attack on it by Robert of Gloucester in the previous year." [2]

1140-1145 Second Marriage to Hawise of Lancaster
He married secondly ([1140/45]) [as her first husband,] HAWISE de Lancaster, daughter of --- (-after [1188/89]). “Avisia de Lancastria, uxor Willielmi Peverel” donated property to Derley Priory by undated charter[338]. The Complete Peerage which speculates that the wife of William Peverel was Hawise, daughter of Roger de Montgommery Lord of Lancaster & his wife Almodis Ctss de la Marche[339]. This is not an ideal fit. Her supposed father Roger was banished from England in 1102 and retired to La Marche, so it is unclear why Hawise would have been described as “de Lancastria” in a charter which must have been dated about 40 years later. In any case, the chronology is also unfavourable. It is unlikely that the wife of Roger de Montgommery, Almodis de la Marche, was born much later than 1070, given the known chronology of her family, which means that her children would have been born before 1110 at the latest. On the other hand, it is likely that William Peverel’s second marriage should be dated to the early 1140s at the earliest, as his first wife is named in one of the charters of Stephen King of England (who succeeded in 1135). Such a marriage date is late if his second wife was born in the early 1100s, and impossible assuming that his widow was the same person who married Richard de Morville and had children by him in the late 1150s. [1]

According to Domesday Descendants, she married secondly Richard de Morville (no corresponding primary source cited)[340]. The primary source which confirms that the widow of William Peverel was the same person who remarried Richard de Morville has not yet been identified. Domesday Descendants states that the wife of Richard de Morville was Hawise de Lancaster, daughter of William de Lancaster (no corresponding primary source cited)[341]. As can be seen from the chronology of William de Lancaster’s known wife Gundred de Warenne, this affiliation would only be possible if Hawise had been born from an otherwise unrecorded earlier marriage. On the other hand, the onomastics are favourable, as each succeeding generation of this "de Lancaster" family included a Hawise de Lancaster. "Avicia de Lonc spouse of Richard de Morevilla, with the consent of William her heir and her other heirs" confirmed a donation to Furness St. Mary by charter dated to [1188/89][342]. [1]

1145 Second Marriage to Avice
He married second, c.1145, Avice, daughter of William of Lancaster. [2]

With Oddona, Peverel had a son William (described as his heir in a charter for Garendon Abbey), who predeceased him, a son Henry, who may also have predeceased him, and a daughter, Margaret, who married Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby. [2]

1155 Disinherited for Poisoning Ranulf of Chester
Ralph de Diceto records that "Willelmus Peverel de Notingeham" was disinherited in 1155 for poisoning "Ranulfo comiti Cestriµ"[334]. The 1156 Pipe Roll records "Willi Peurelli de Notingen" in Nottinghamshire, with a revenue of ¹175, and the 1157 Pipe Roll "Willi Peurelli" in Nottinghamshire[335]. [1]

In 1155, Henry II King of England confiscated the properties of William Peverel, who retired to a monastery[336]. [1]

Issue
William de Peverel of Nottingham had two sons also named William, and this William is the second. According to FMG, he was born about 1100-1105.

Children by first wife Oddona

He married twice and had two children by his first wife, Oddona:

Henry. HENRY Peverel . King Stephen named “Willielmo Peverello juniori cum uxore sua Oddona et filio suo Henrico” in his charter relating to Lenton Priory[343]. [1]
Margaret, born Nottingham 1114, who married Robert Ferrers, Earl of Derby.[1] [MARGARET ([1123/26]-). “Robertus comes de Ferrariis” granted property “in Stebbingis…per Margaretam comitissam uxorem meam” to Morice FitzGeoffrey by charter dated “VI Kal Oct IV anno imperii Regis Stephani” (1139)[344]. Her parentage is suggested by the charter of John King of England which names “Willelmo de Ferrariis comiti” as heir to territories of “Willelmi Peverell”[345]. If this parentage is correct, Margaret is unlikely to have been born outside the narrow date range shown above, which would also indicate that her marriage took place only shortly before the date of this charter. m (before 1139) ROBERT Ferrers Earl [of Derby], son of ROBERT de Ferrers Earl [of Derby] & his wife Hawise --- (-before 1160, bur Merevale Abbey).] [1]
No children of his second marriage to Avice have been identified.

Two additional children are linked on WikiTree:

Helen, born 1115
Richard, born 1120
Sources
? 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Charles Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Medieval Lands Database. PEVEREL FAMILIES of HATFIELD, ESSEX and NOTTINGHAM
? 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

On 2 Jun 2016 at 13:10 GMT Andrew Lancaster wrote:

Clearly intended to be the same person as De Peveral-1. Problem is the differing theories about the wife's parents. The William's seem to need merging. Should we keep two Avices, one for each the two proposed husbands? (One likely theory is that they are NOT one person anyway.)
On 2 Jun 2016 at 13:10 GMT Andrew Lancaster wrote:

Clearly intended to be the same person as Peverel-83. Problem is the differing theories about the wife's parents. The William's seem to need merging. Should we keep two Avices, one for each the two proposed husbands? (One likely theory is that they are NOT one person anyway.)
On 21 Nov 2015 at 21:51 GMT Vic Watt wrote:

What evidence is there that William had children Helen and Richard? They are not included in FMG.
On 7 Nov 2015 at 23:07 GMT John Atkinson wrote:

Interesting to know what source there is that states there is a Sussex Square in London in 1155?

end of this biography

William "the Younger" Peverel (c. 1080–1155) was the son of William Peverel. He lived in Nottingham, England.[1]

He married Avicia de Lancaster (1088 – c. 1150) in La Marche, Normandy, France. She was the daughter of William de Lancaster I and Countess Gundred de Warenne, daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. In 1114, she bore a daughter, Margaret Peverel.[1]

Another member of his family, Maude Peverel (a sister or daughter) was - by 1120 - the first wife of Robert fitz Martin.

William inherited the Honour of Peverel.

He was a principal supporter of King Stephen, and a commander in the Battle of the Standard. He was captured at The Battle of Lincoln.[2]

King Henry II dispossessed William of the Honour in 1153, for conspiring to poison the Earl of Chester - though historians speculate that the King wished to punish him for his 'wickedness and treason' in supporting King Stephen.

The Earl died before he took possession of the Honour, and it stayed in the Crown for about a half century.[2][3]

References

^ Jump up to: a b "Peverel Family Genealogy". Our Folk. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
^ Jump up to: a b Cokayne, George E.; other authors (1887–98). The Complete Peerage (extant, extinct or dormant). Volume 4 (4th ed.). pp. 762–768. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
Jump up ^ "Langar Hall ~ A Microcosm of English History". Baronage. Retrieved 2008-05-13.

end of profile

Alt Death:
in Sussex Square...

William married Avicia de Lancaster in 1114 in La Marche, Normandy, France. Avicia was born in 1088 in La Marche, Normandy, France; died in ~ 1150. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Born 1065 at the latest.
Died between 1131 and 1139

Philip is recorded as consenting to his father's gifts to his canons at St Nicholas church at Bramber in 1073. He confirmed those gifts to the abbey of St Florent in 1096 after the death of his father.

Old Shoreham was part of Philip's demesne lands where St Nicolas church (right) had stood since Saxon times. Philip expanded trade in the area by founding the port of New Shoreham.

He became the first Braose Lord of Builth and Radnor, the family's initial holding in the Welsh Marches.

Orderic Vitalis (Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, Book IX, Chapter IV) relates that Philip submitted his fortress in Normandy to King William II in 1096 and supported the king against his brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. But, like Robert, Philip may have left Normandy at this time and joined the First Crusade to the Holy Land, returning in 1103. There is evidence in charters that Philip journeyed to the Holy Land but the date of his visit is uncertain.

Philip's lands were confiscated by Henry I in 1110, due to his traitrous support of William, son of Robert Curthose, but they were returned in 1112.

Father: William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber

Mother: Eve de Boissey (probably)

There are charters where Robert de Harcourt's sons, Philip and Richard, refer to Philip de Braose as "patruus" - paternal uncle. This lends weight to the theory that Robert de Harcourt and Philip de Braose were both sons of Eve de Boissey. In another record dated 1103 (Pipe Roll Soc. Vol 71 no 544) it is stated that Philip de Braose was represented by "his brother Robert, the son of Anketill".

Philip's sealPhilip was married to Aanor, daughter of Judael (Johel) of Totnes.

Child 1: William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber

Child 2: Philip

Child 3: Basilia

Child 4: Gillian

Child 5: A daughter who married William de Tregoz, the father of Philip de Tregoz who was sheriff of Sussex in 1190. (see evidence here and here )

end of this biography

Philip de Braose, 2nd Lord of Bramber (c. 1070 – c. 1134) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and Marcher Lord.

Lord of Bramber
Born c. 1070
Died c. 1134
possibly on crusade in the Levant
Noble family House of Braose
Spouse(s) Aenor de Totnes, daughter of Juhel of Totnes[1]
Issue
William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, Philip de Braose junior, Basilia (daughter), Gilian (daughter)
Father William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber

Origins
Philip was born about 1070 to 1073, the son of William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber (d. circa 1093/96) by his wife Eve de Boissey or Agnes de St. Clare. William de Braose had participated in the Norman conquest of England. He had been rewarded with the feudal barony of Bramber in Sussex and smaller holdings in Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Surrey.[2]

Career

Philip as heir consolidated his paternal lands, and expanded them. In 1096 he confirmed his father's gifts to the Abbey of St. Florent. Philip de Braose conquered the Welsh borderlands at Builth and New Radnor and established new Norman lordships over them. At Builth, he constructed a Motte and Bailey fortification at the site where King Edward I later built Builth Castle in the 13th century.[3] He seems to have gone on the First Crusade in 1103. He supported King Henry I (1100–1135) against the claim to the English throne made by his elder brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, but then in 1110 he revolted against Henry, who then confiscated his estates. He regained his lordships and lands in 1112 and was thereafter able to retain them, but in 1130 settled them intact onto his eldest son William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber.

Marriage & progeny

He married Aenor de Totnes, sister and co-heiress of Alfred de Totnes (d.pre-1139), son of Juhel de Totnes (d.1123/30) feudal baron of Totnes (which he forfeited c.1087[4]) and of Barnstaple both in Devon.[5] In right of his wife Aenor, Philip acquired a moiety of the feudal barony of Barnstaple, the other moiety of which was held by Henry de Tracy (d.pre-1165), Aenor's brother-in-law.[6] He had the following progeny:

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, his eldest son and heir.
Philip de Braose junior
Basilia, a daughter.
Gillian, a daughter.
Before 1206 William III de Braose (d.1211) successfully claimed half of the barony of Totnes from Henry de Nonant, to which family it had been granted after its forfeiture by Juhel de Totnes.[7] However in 1208 William III's lands were confiscated by King John.[8]

Death

He died between 1131 and 1139, possibly in 1134 on crusade in the Levant.

References

Cokayne, G.E., ed V. Gibbs (1910). The Complete Peerage, Vol. 1. London: The St. Catherine Press Ltd. pp. 21/22.
Domesday Book
Taylor, Arnold. The Welsh Castles of Edward I. The Hambledon Press, 1986, p. 3
Sanders, Ivor, English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.89, Totnes
Sanders, Ivor, English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.104, Barnstaple
Sanders, Ivor, English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.104, Barnstaple
Sanders, p.90, Totnes
Sanders, p.105, Barnstaple

Died:
on a crusade...

Philip married Aanor de Totnes in 1104 in Barnstaple, Devonshire, England. Aanor was born in 1084 in Barnstaple, Devonshire, England; died in 1153 in Barnstaple, Devonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Constable of England
• Occupation: High Sheriff of Gloucester

Notes:

Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Brecknock (died 24 December 1143) was High Sheriff of Gloucester and Constable of England.[a]

Biography

Miles was the son and heir of Walter of Gloucester, hereditary castellan of Gloucester and sheriff of Gloucester, by Berta, his wife.[1] Miles' grandfather, Roger de Pitres, had been sheriff from about 1071, then was succeeded by his brother Durand, the Domesday sheriff, before 1083.[2] Durand was succeeded by his nephew Walter of Gloucester, c.?1096, who was sheriff in 1097 and in 1105–1106.[2] Walter was in favour with Henry I, three of whose charters to him are extant.[3] Walter held the post of a Constable of England. Early in 1121 his son Miles was given the hand of Sibyl, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarchâe, the conqueror of Brecknock, with the reversion of her father's possessions.[3] In the Pipe Roll of 1130 Walter is found to have been succeeded by his son,[4] having died in or around 1126.[5]

Miles was (from 1128 at least) sheriff of Gloucestershire, a justice itinerant, and a justice of the forest,[6] and by 1130 was sheriff of Staffordshire.[5] He had also (though the fact has been doubted) been granted his father's office of constable by a special charter.[7] In conjunction with Pain Fitzjohn, sheriff of Herefordshire and Shropshire, he ruled the whole Welsh border "from the Severn to the sea".[8]

On his accession, King Stephen set himself to secure the allegiance of these two lords-marchers, who at length, on receiving a safe-conduct and obtaining all they asked for, did him homage.[8] It was at Reading that they met the king early in 1136.[b] Miles is next found attending the Easter court at Westminster as one of the royal constables,[9] and, shortly after, the Oxford council in the same capacity.[10] He was then despatched to the aid of the widow of Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare, who was beleaguered in her castle by the Welsh and whom he gallantly rescued.[11]

Meanwhile, Miles had married his son and heir, Roger, to Cecily, daughter of Pain Fitzjohn, who inherited the bulk of her father's possessions.[12] In the same year 1136 Miles transferred the original house of Augustinian canons at Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire to a site on the south side of Gloucester, which they named Llanthony Secunda.[13][14]

Two years later (1138) Miles received, in his official capacity, King Stephen at Gloucester in May.[15] He has been said to have renounced his allegiance a few weeks later,[16] but careful investigation will show that he was with Stephen in August (1138) at the siege of Shrewsbury, and that his defection did not take place till 1139.[17]

In February 1139 Stephen gave Gloucester Abbey to Miles's kinsman Gilbert Foliot at his request.[18] In the summer of 1139, however, he joined his lord, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, in inviting Empress Matilda to England.[19] On her arrival Miles met her at Bristol, welcomed her to Gloucester, recognised her as his rightful sovereign, and became thenceforth her ardent supporter. She at once gave him St. Briavels Castle and the Forest of Dean.[17]

Miles's first achievement on behalf of Matilda was to relieve Brian Fitz Count who was blockaded in Wallingford Castle.[20] In November (1139) he again advanced from Gloucester and attacked and burnt Worcester.[21] He also captured the castles of Winchcombe, Cerne, and Hereford.[22] Meanwhile, he was deprived by Stephen of his office of constable.[23] He took part in the victory at Lincoln (2 February 1141),[24] and on the consequent triumph of the empress he accompanied her in her progress, and was one of her three chief followers on her entry (2 March) into Winchester.[25] He was with her at Reading when she advanced on London,[26] and on reaching St. Albans Matilda bestowed on him a house at Westminster.[27] He was among those who fled with her from London shortly after, and it was on his advice, when they reached Gloucester, that she ventured back to Oxford.[28] There, on 25 July 1141, she bestowed on him the town and castle of Hereford and made him earl of that shire,[29] as well as the forests of the Hay of Hereford and Trinela[30] in avowed consideration of his faithful service. With singular unanimity hostile chroniclers testify to his devotion to her cause.[22] He even boasted that she had lived at his expense throughout her stay in England.[31]

As "Earl Miles" he now accompanied her to Winchester,[32] and on the rout of her forces on 14 September 1141 he escaped, with the greatest difficulty, to Gloucester, where he arrived "exhausted, alone, and with scarcely a rag to his back".[33] Towards the end of the year he was in Bristol making a grant to Llanthony Priory in the presence of the Empress Matilda and the Robert, Earl of Gloucester.[34] In 1142 he is proved by charters to have been with the Empress at Oxford and to have received her permission to hold Abergavenny Castle of Brian Fitz Count.[35] It is probably to the summer of this year that he made a formal deed of alliance with the Earl of Gloucester, and as a hostage for the performance of which he gave the Earl his son Mahel.[17]

In 1143 his pressing want of money wherewith to pay his troops led him to demand large sums from the church lands. Robert de Bethune, Bishop of Hereford, withstood his demands, and, on the Earl invading his lands, excommunicated him and his followers, and laid the diocese under interdict.[36] The Earl's kinsman, Gilbert Foliot (Abbot of Gloucester),[37] appealed to the legate on his behalf against the bishop's severity.[38] On Christmas-eve of this year (1143) the Earl was slain while hunting by an arrow shot at a deer.[39] A dispute at once arose for possession of his body between the canons of Llanthony and the monks of Gloucester. The case was heard before the bishops of Worcester, Hereford, and St. David's, and was terminated by a compromise on 28 December. The Earl was then buried in the chapter-house at Llanthony.[40]

With his death in 1143, Miles was succeeded by his son and heir, Roger.[17] Roger died without an heir twelve years later in 1155 so the Earldom of Hereford became extinct, but the shrievalty of Hereford and Gloucester passed to his brother Walter. On the death of the latter and two other brothers without issue the family possessions passed to their sisters, Bertha through her marriage bringing Abergavenny to Braose, but Margaret, the eldest sister, taking the bulk (Liber Niger) to the Bohuns afterwards (1199), in recognition of their descent from Miles, earls of Hereford, and constables of England.[41]

Assessment

John of Salisbury classes him with Geoffrey de Mandeville and others who were non tam comites regni quam hostes publici. The charge is justified by his public policy; but the materials for appraising his personal character do not exist.[42]

Family

In 1121, Miles married Sibyl de Neufmarchâe, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarchâe, Lord of Brecon and Nest, granddaughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.[43] Miles and Sybil's children where:

Margaret of Hereford,[5][44] married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had issue.
Bertha of Hereford,[45] married William de Braose before 1150, by whom she had issue.
Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford.[46] Hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire until 1155.
Walter de Hereford[46] died after 1159 in the Holy Land. He was hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1155–1157 and High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1155–1159.
Henry Fitzmiles Henry of Hereford,[44] died 12 April 1165. He succeeded to the title of Baron Abergavenny in 1141/42.
William de Hereford.[44] He died before 1160 without issue.
Mahel de Hereford,[44] died October 1165 at Bronllys Castle, Breconshire, Wales, mortally hurt when a stone dropped from the tower during a fire; died without issue. Buried at Llanthony Priory.
Lucy of Gloucester,[47] married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, Lord Chamberlain, by whom she had issue. Buried at Llanthony Priory.

Notes

Jump up ^ In some sources Miles's name is not translated from the Latin Milo
Jump up ^ "[This is known] from two charters there tested, one of which was printed by Madox (History of the Exchequer, p. 135), by which Stephen confirms to Miles, 'sicut baroni et justiciario meo', the shrievalty of Gloucestershire, the constableship of Gloucester Castle, and the 'honour' of Brecknock" (Round 1890, p. 438).
Jump up ^ Cokayne 1926, pp. 451–452.
^ Jump up to: a b Morris 1918, p. 154, n. 62.
^ Jump up to: a b Round 1890, p. 438 cites Duchy of Lancaster: Royal Charters.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Rot. Pip.. 31 Hen. I.
^ Jump up to: a b c Walker 2012, "Gloucester, Miles of".
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 438.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Dugdale MSS.
^ Jump up to: a b Round 1890, p. 438 cites Gesta Stephani, p. 17.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Rymer, Fœdera, new ed. i. 16.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 438 cites Rich. Hexham, p. 149.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 13.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Duchy Charters.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Mon. Angl. vi. (1), 127, 132.
Jump up ^ Ward1995, p. 107.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. ii. 105.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439; Norgate 1887, p. 295.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Round 1890, p. 439.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439; Norgate 1887, pp. 493, 494.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439; Norgate 1887, pp. 294, 295.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 59.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 119.
^ Jump up to: a b Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 60.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 121.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 69.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 130; Will. Malm. p. 743.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Add. Cart. pp. 19, 576.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Duchy Charters, No. 16.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 132.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Fœdera, i. 14.
Jump up ^ Francis Beaufort Palmer (February 2007), Peerage Law in England, Lawbook Exchange, ISBN 9781584777489, 1584777486 See Appendix, p242; also Theophilus Jones (1805), A history of the county of Brecknock (A history of the county of Brecknock. ed.), Brecknock: Printed and sold by Wm. & Geo. North ... for the author; and sold by J. Booth ... London. p67
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 133.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 79
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Cont. Flor. Wig. p. 135.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Mon. Angl. vi. 137.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Duchy Charters, No. 17.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gesta, p. 102; Mon. Angl. vi. (1), 133.
Jump up ^ Knowles, Brooke & London 1972, p. 52–53.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Foliot, Letters, No. 3.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Symeon of Durham ii. 315; Gervase, i. 126; Gesta, pp. 16, 95, 103.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 439 cites Gloucester Cartulary, i. lxxv; Foliot, Letters, No. 65.
Jump up ^ Round 1890, p. 440.
Jump up ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 479.
Jump up ^ Roderick 1968, p. 5.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Lundy 2011, p. 10257 cite Cokayne 2000, p. 21
Jump up ^ Lundy 2011, p. 10257 cite Cokayne 2000a, p. 457
^ Jump up to: a b Lundy 2011, p. 10257 cite Cokayne 2000, p. 20
Jump up ^ Cawley 2012 cites Dugdale 1823, p. 615

References

Cawley, Charles (10 April 2012), English Earls 1067–1122: Miles of Gloucester (–1143), Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
Dugdale, William, Sir (1823), ""Priory of Bergavenny or Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Cartµ I"", Monasticon Anglicanum, 4 (Revised ed.), London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Browne, p. 615
Cokayne, George Edward (1926), Doubleday, H. A.; Walden, Howard de, eds., The Complete Peerage; or, a History of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, 6, London: The St. Catherine Press
Knowles, David; Brooke, Christopher; London, Veria (1972), The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales 940–1216, Cambridge University Press, pp. 52–53, ISBN 0-521-08367-2
Lundy, Darryl (17 May 2011). "Miles of Gloucester". p. 10257 § 102564. Retrieved November 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
Cokayne, George E (2000), The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, 1 (new, reprint in 6 volumes ed.), Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, pp. 20, 21
Cokayne, George E (2000a), The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, 4 (new, reprint in 6 volumes ed.), Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, p. 457
Morris, W.A (April 1918), "The Office of Sheriff in the Early Norman Period", The English Historical Review, 33 (130): 145–175, doi:10.1093/ehr/xxxiii.cxxx.145
Norgate, Kate (1887), England under the Angevin Kings, 1, London: Macmillan
Roderick, A. J. (June 1968), "Marriage and Politics in Wales, 1066–1282", The Welsh History Review, 4 (1): 1–20
Ward, Jennifer C (1995), Women of the English nobility and gentry, 1066–1500, Manchester medieval sources series, Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 107, ISBN 0-7190-4115-5, retrieved 25 October 2010
Walker, David (May 2012) [2004]. "Gloucester, Miles of, earl of Hereford (d. 1143)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10820. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
B Thorpe, 1848–1849) (ed.), Continuation of Florence of Worcester
The Cartulary of Gloucester Abbey (Rolls series);
Round, John Horace (1892), Geoffrey de Mandeville
Domesday Book, (Record Commission);
Rymer, Thomas, Fœdera, (Record Commission), i (new ed.);
Pipe Roll, 31 Hen. I (Record Commission);
Cartulary of St. Peter's, Gloucester, (Rolls Ser.);
Symeon of Durham, Regum Historia, (Rolls Ser.);
"Gesta Stephani", Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, &c, (Rolls Ser.), ii;
Gervase of Canterbury, Chronica, (Rolls Ser.);
Florence of Worcester (1848–49), Thorpe, Benjamin, ed., Florentii Wigorniensis monachi Chronicon ex chronicis (2 volumes ed.), English Historical Society
William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the Earliest Period to the Reign of King Stephen, English Historical Society;
Dugdale, Sir William, Westrum Monasticum, Bodleian Library;
Additional Charters, (British Museum);
Duchy of Lancaster Charters, Public Record Office;
Dugdale, William, Sir (1823), Monasticon Anglicanum
Madox, Thomas, History of the Exchequer;
Hearne, Thomas, ed. (1728), Liber Niger Scaccarii;
Foliot, Gilbert, "Letters", in Giles, John Allen, Patres Ecclesiµ Anglicanµ;
Crawley-Boevey, Arthur William, Cartulary of Flaxley Abbey;
Ellis, A. S. (1879–1880). "On the Landholders of Gloucestershire named in Domesday Book". Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 4 vol.: 86–198.
Walker, David (1958). "Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 77: 66–84.

Miles married Lady Sibyl de Neufmarche, Countess of Hereford in 1121 in Gloucestershire, England. Sibyl (daughter of Bernard de Neufmarche, Lord of Brecknockshire and Nest Verch Osborn le Scrope) was born in ~1100 in Brecon Castle, Brecon, Wales; died on 24 Dec 1143 in Llanthony Secunda, Gloucestershire, England; was buried in Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Burial: Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England
• Alt Birth: 1092, Aberhonddu, Breconshire, Wales

Notes:

Sibyl de Neufmarchâe, Countess of Hereford, suo jure Lady of Brecknock (c. 1100 – after 1143), was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, heiress to one of the most substantial fiefs in the Welsh Marches. The great-granddaughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, king of Wales, Sibyl was also connected to the nobility of England and Normandy. Sibyl inherited the titles and lands of her father, Bernard de Neufmarchâe, Lord of Brecon, after her mother, Nest ferch Osbern, had declared her brother Mahel to have been illegitimate. Most of these estates passed to Sibyl's husband, Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, as her dowry. Their marriage had been arranged personally by King Henry I of England in the spring of 1121. Sibyl, with her extensive lands, was central to the King's plans of consolidating Anglo-Norman power in south-east Wales by the merging of her estates with those of Miles, his loyal subject on whom he relied to implement Crown policy.

As an adult, Sibyl lived through King Stephen's turbulent reign, known to history as the Anarchy, in which her husband played a pivotal role. Following Miles' accidental death in 1143, Sibyl entered a religious life at Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucestershire, England, which she had endowed up to six years previously. Sibyl is buried at the priory, founded by Miles in 1136.

Family

Ancestry

A small, ruined castle of rough stone comprising two connected, castellated towers, partly covered in ivy, surrounded by much vegetation. Numerous arrowslits indicate the walls to be three to four storeys tall. The upward direction of the image suggests that the castle is at the top of a hill
Ruins of Brecon castle
Sibyl's birthplace and a part of her vast inheritance
Sibyl was born in about 1100 in Brecon Castle, Brecon, Wales, the only daughter of Marcher Lord Bernard de Neufmarchâe, Lord of Brecon, and Nest ferch Osbern.[1][2] Nest was the daughter of Osbern FitzRichard and Nest ferch Gruffydd.[2] Sybil's maternal great-grandparents were Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, king of Wales, and Ealdgyth (Edith of Mercia).[2][3] Ealdgyth, the daughter of ¥lfgar, Earl of Mercia, was briefly Queen consort of England by her second marriage to Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, who was killed at the Battle of Hastings.[4]

Sibyl's father, Bernard, was born at the castle of Le Neuf-Marchâe-en-Lions, on the frontier between Normandy and Beauvais.[5] Bernard was a knight who had fought under English kings William I, William Rufus and Henry I.[6] According to historian Lynn H Nelson, Bernard de Neufmarchâe was "the first of the original conquerors of Wales".[7] He led the Norman army at the Battle of Brecon in 1093, during which Rhys ap Tewdwr was killed.[6][8] Kingship in Wales ended with Rhys' death, and allowed Bernard to confirm his hold on Brycheiniog, becoming the first ruler of the lordship of Brecon.[8] The title and lands would remain in his family's possession until 1521.[9] The name Neufmarchâe, Novo Mercato in Latin, is anglicised into 'Newmarket' or 'Newmarch'.[10][a][11]

Inheritance

Sibyl had two brothers, Philip, who most likely died young, and Mahel. Nest had Mahel disinherited by swearing to King Henry I of England that Mahel had been fathered by another man. According to Giraldus Cambrensis, this was done out of vengeance when Mahel had multilated Nest's lover, a knight whose identity is not disclosed.[10] In the 19th century, Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward proposed that, after Bernard's death, Nest "disgraced herself with an intrigue" with one of his soldiers. Mahel, who had by this time inherited Bernard's estates, disapproved of the liaison to such an extent that he killed Nest's lover. Nest's revenge was to have Mahel disinherited by claiming that Bernard was not Mahel's father.[12] The maritagium (marriage charter) arranged by King Henry I in 1121 for the marriage between Sibyl and her future husband Miles, however, makes it clear that Bernard was still alive when it was written; showing Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward's version of the story to diverge from the known facts.[13] Author Jennifer C. Ward suggests that, although the marriage charter recorded that King Henry was acting at the request of Bernard, Nest, and the barons, it was probable he had put considerable pressure on the Neufmarchâes to disinherit Mahel in favour of Sibyl and, thereby, Miles.[14] Nevertheless, whatever the timing or reason, the outcome of Nest's declaration was that Sibyl (whom Nest acknowledged as Bernard's child) became the sole lawful heiress to the vast Lordship of Brecon, one of the most important and substantial fiefs in the Welsh Marches.[15] Henry's maritagium referred specifically to Sibyl's parents' lands as "comprising Talgarth, the forest of Ystradwy, the castle of Hay, the whole land of Brecknock, up to the boundaries of the land of Richard Fitz Pons,[b] namely up to Brecon and Much Cowarne, a vill in England";[16] the fees and services of several named individuals were also granted as part of the dowry.[16] This made her suo jure Lady of Brecknock on her father's death, and one of the wealthiest heiresses in south Wales.[17][18]

Marriage

Medieval illumination

King Henry I of England who granted Sibyl in marriage to Miles de Gloucester Sometime in April or May 1121, Sibyl married Miles (or Milo) FitzWalter de Gloucester,[19] who on his father's death in 1129, became sheriff of Gloucester,[20] and Constable of England.[21][22] The marriage was personally arranged by King Henry I, to whom Miles was a trusted royal official.[13][23] A charter written in Latin (the maritagium), which dates to 10 April/29 May 1121, records the arrangements for the marriage of Sibyl and Miles.[13][24] Historian C. Warren Hollister found the charter's wording telling, noting that "the king gave the daughter as if he were making a grant of land": "Know that I [King Henry I] have given and firmly granted to Miles of Gloucester Sibyl, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarchâe, together with all the lands of Bernard her father and of her mother after their deaths … ".[13][25] Her parents' lands would be conveyed to Miles after their deaths or earlier during "their life if they so wish".[13] Henry also commanded that the fief's tenants were to pay Miles liege homage as their lord.[13]

By arranging a series of matrimonial alliances, similar to that between Sibyl and Miles, King Henry I of England transformed "the map of territorial power in south-east Wales". Such arrangements were mutually advantageous. Hollister describes Miles' marriage to Sibyl as having been a "crucial breakthrough in his career". The new lords, in similar positions to Miles, were the King's own loyal vassals, on whom he could rely to implement royal policy.[25][26] Sibyl's father died sometime before 1128 (most probably in 1125), and Miles came into possession of her entire inheritance, which when merged with his own estates, formed one honour.[6][27]

Children

Together Sibyl and Miles had eight children:[original research?][28][not in citation given]

Margaret of Hereford (1122/1123- 6 April 1197), married Humphrey II de Bohun, by whom she had children. She received the office of constable of England and exercised lordship of Herefordshire as a widow until her death.[29]

Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford (before 1125- 22 September 1155). Roger's marriage settlement with Cecily FitzJohn (her first marriage), daughter of Payn FitzJohn and Sibyl de Lacy, was ratified by King Stephen in 1137.[18] The marriage was childless as were Cecily's subsequent marriages.

Walter de Hereford (died 1159/60), whether he married is unknown; however, Walter departed for Palestine on Michaelmas 1159, and died shortly afterwards without leaving legitimate issue[30][31]

Henry Fitzmiles (died c.1162), married a woman named Isabella, surname unknown; Henry died without legitimate issue.

Mahel de Hereford (died 1164), no record of marriage; died without legitimate issue.

William de Hereford (died 1166), no record of marriage; died without legitimate issue.

Bertha of Hereford (c.1130-), married William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, by whom she had issue.

Lucy of Hereford, Lady of Blaen Llyfni and Bwlch y Dinas (died 1219/20), married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, by whom she had issue.

The Anarchy

Medieval illumination
Stephen of Blois
whose chaotic reign in England became known as the Anarchy
After Henry I's death in 1135, the throne of England was seized by Stephen of Blois, a grandson of William I of England. Henry's daughter, Empress Matilda (Maud), also claimed the throne, and had the support of the Marcher Lords. On the death of her husband, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V, in 1125, Matilda had returned to England for the first time in 16 years. At the insistence of her father, the barons (including Stephen) swore to uphold Matilda's rights as his heir. Matilda married Geoffrey of Anjou in 1128. They lived together in France, having three sons; the eldest of whom was to become King Henry II of England.[32] Initially, Miles supported Stephen.[33] In about 1136, Stephen granted Sibyl's husband the entire honour of Gloucester and Brecknock, and appointed him Constable of Gloucester Castle,[34] whereby Miles became known as one of Stephen's "henchmen".[33]

Llanthony Priory had been established near Crucorney, in the Vale of Ewyas, in 1118; Wales' earliest Augustine monastery. Miles' father, Walter de Gloucester, had retired there by 1126.[23] The unrest that had been simmering in Wales during the last years of Henry's reign, boiled over in 1135 on his death. The area around the priory returned to Welsh rule, coming under such “hostile mollestation” from the Welsh that the non-Welsh canons decided to leave.[18][35][36][37] Miles established a new Priory for them in Gloucester, England, which they called Llanthony Secunda, in 1136.[38] Sometime after 1137, Sibyl, together with her husband, made a further endowment to Llanthony Secunda.[34]

Medieval illumination
Empress Matilda
whom Sibyl supported
in opposition to King Stephen
Miles transferred his allegiance to Empress Matilda, on her return to England in 1139.Matthew 2002, pp. 95, 96 According to Professor Edmund King, Miles' decision to support Matilda was guided by expediancy rather than principle, and the necessity of joining forces with Matilda's illegitimate half-brother, the powerful Robert, Earl of Gloucester, who was the overlord of some of Miles' fiefs.[17] Stephen stripped Miles of the title 'Constable of England' in punishment for having deserted him. On 25 July 1141, in gratitude for his support and military assistance and, according to historian R.H.C. Davis, possibly to compensate Miles for having appeared to have lost the constableship, Matilda invested him as 1st Earl of Hereford.[39] He also received St. Briavels Castle and the Forest of Dean. At the time Matilda was the de facto ruler of England, Stephen having been imprisoned at Bristol following his capture the previous February after the Battle of Lincoln. Sibyl was styled Countess of Hereford, until Miles' unexpected death over two years later. In 1141, Miles received the honour of Abergavenny from Brien FitzCount, the (likely illegitimate) son of Duke Alan IV of Brittany. This was in appreciation of the skilled military tactics Miles had deployed which had spared Brien's castle of Wallingford during King Stephen's besiegement in 1139/1140. Matilda gave her permission for the transfer.[40]

During the Anarchy, which the period of Stephen's reign as King of England was to become known, life was greatly disrupted in her husband's lands. Sibyl would have doubtless suffered as a result, especially after Miles' decision to support Matilda's claim to the throne and to oppose Stephen.[33] When Matilda was defeated at Winchester in late 1141, Miles was compelled to return to Gloucester in disgrace: "weary, half-naked and alone".[41] In November of that same year, Stephen was released from prison and restored to the English throne.[18]

Sibyl's distress would have been heightened in 1143 after the Bishop of Hereford, Robert de Bethune placed an interdict upon Hereford, blocked all the cathedral's entrances with thorns, and excommunicated Miles. In order to raise money to pay his troops and to assist Matilda financially, Miles had imposed a levy on all the churches in his earldom, an act which the bishop had regarded as unlawful.[23][42] When the bishop protested and threatened Miles with excommunication, Miles in response, sent his men to plunder the diocese of its resources.[23] In retaliation against Miles' earlier attacks on the royalist city of Worcester and the castles of Hereford and Wallingford, King Stephen bestowed the title "Earl of Hereford" on Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester; Miles, however, never surrendered the earldom nor the title to Robert de Beaumont.[42]

Widowhood and death

While on a deer-hunting expedition in his own Forest of Dean, Sibyl's husband was accidentally shot in the chest by an arrow which killed him on 24 December 1143.[41][43] He had been involved in legal proceedings against the bishop's jurisdiction when he died.[42] Their eldest son, Roger succeeded him in the earldom.[22] In protest against his father's excommunication, Roger remained an outspoken enemy of the Church until close to the end of his life when he entered a Gloucester monastery as a monk.[43][44] After her husband's death, Sibyl entered a religious life at Llanthony Secunda Priory, Gloucester,[38] which she had previously endowed.[34] Sibyl was buried in the same priory,[45] the dates of death and burial unrecorded.[citation needed]

Sibyl's legacy

Upon the childless death of Roger in 1155, the Earldom of Hereford fell into abeyance until 1199 when King John bestowed the title on Henry de Bohun, Sibyl's grandson through her eldest daughter, Margaret. As her sons all died without legitimate offspring, Sibyl's three daughters became co-heirs to the Brecon honour, with Bertha, the second daughter, passing Sibyl's inheritance on (through marriage) to the de Braoses, thereby making them one of the most powerful families in the Welsh Marches.[46][47]

The Brecknock lordship would eventually go to the de Bohuns, by way of Eleanor de Braose. Eleanor, a descendant of Sibyl's through Bertha of Hereford,[c] married Humphrey de Bohun, son of the 2nd Earl of Hereford. Eleanor and Humphrey's son, Humphrey de Bohun, succeeded his grandfather to the titles in 1275.[48]

Through the advantageous marriages of her daughters, Sibyl was an ancestress of many of England and Ireland's noblest families including among others, the de Bohun's, de Beauchamps, Mortimers, Fitzalans, de Burghs, de Lacy's, and Bonvilles. Four of her descendants, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster, Eleanor de Bohun, and Mary de Bohun married into the English royal family, while another, Anne Mortimer was the grandmother of Yorkist kings Edward IV and Richard III. By way of Edward's daughter, Elizabeth of York, every monarch of England and, subsequently, the United Kingdom, from Henry VIII up to and including Elizabeth II, descended from Sibyl de Neufmarchâe, as did the various royal sovereigns of Europe who shared a common descent from Mary, Queen of Scots.[49]

Notes

Jump up ^ According to Gerald of Wales, when Bernard witnessed a charter issued by William I in 1086-87, he signed his name in Latin as Bernardus de Novo Mercato (Gerald of Wales, p.88)
Jump up ^ Richard Fitz Pons was Miles' brother-in-law, being the husband of his sister, Matilda (Cawley 2012a, "English Earls 1067-1122: Matilda"; Cawley 2012b, "Richard FitzPons" cites Round 1888, Part I, 12, p. 20).
Jump up ^ Cawley 2012d gives the lineage as:
Bertha daughter of Sibylle de Neufmarchâe married William [II] de Briouse (died after 1175))
William [III] de Briouse (died 1211)
Reynold de Briouse (died 1227)
William de Briouse (hanged 1230)
Eleanor de Briouse

end of biography

Notes:

Biography

Family and origins

Ranulf le Meschin's father and mother represented two different families of viscounts in Normandy, and both of them were strongly tied to Henry, son of William the Conqueror.[1] His father was Ranulf de Briquessart, and likely for this reason the former Ranulf was styled le Meschin, "the younger".[2] Ranulf's father was viscount of the Bessin, the area around Bayeux.[3] Besides Odo, bishop of Bayeux, Ranulf the elder was the most powerful magnate in the Bessin region of Normandy.[4] Ranulf le Meschin's great-grandmother may even have been from the ducal family of Normandy, as le Meschin's paternal great-grandfather viscount Anschitil is known to have married a daughter of Duke Richard III.[5]

Ranulf le Meschin's mother, Margaret, was the daughter of Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches.[1] Richard's father Thurstan Goz had become viscount of the Hiâemois between 1017 and 1025,[6] while Richard himself became viscount of the Avranchin in either 1055 or 1056.[7] Her brother (Richard Goz's son) was Hugh d'Avranches "Lupus" ("the Wolf"), viscount of the Avranchin and Earl of Chester (from c. 1070).[8] Ranulf was thus, in addition to being heir to the Bessin, the nephew of one of Norman England's most powerful and prestigious families.[9]

We know from an entry in the Durham Liber Vitae, c. 1098 x 1120, that Ranulf le Meschin had an older brother named Richard (who died in youth), and a younger brother named William.[10] He had a sister called Agnes, who later married Robert de Grandmesnil (died 1136).[2]

Early career

Historian C. Warren Hollister thought that Ranulf's father Ranulf de Briquessart was one of the early close companions of Prince Henry, the future Henry I.[4] Hollister called Ranulf the Elder "a friend from Henry's youthful days in western Normandy",[11] and argued that the homeland of the two Ranulfs had been under Henry's overlordship since 1088, despite both ducal and royal authority lying with Henry's two brothers.[12] Hollister further suggested that Ranulf le Meschin may have had a role in persuading Robert Curthose to free Henry from captivity in 1089.[13]

The date of Ranulf senior's death, and succession of Ranulf junior, is unclear, but the former's last and the latter's earliest appearance in extant historical records coincides, dating to 24 April 1089 in charter of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, to Bayeux Cathedral.[14] Ranulf le Meschin appears as "Ranulf son of Ranulf the viscount".[14]

In the foundation charter of Chester Abbey granted by his uncle Hugh Lupus, earl of Chester, and purportedly issued in 1093, Ranulf le Meschin is listed as a witness.[15] His attestation to this grant is written Signum Ranulfi nepotis comitis, "signature of Ranulf nephew of the earl".[16] However, the editor of the Chester comital charters, Geoffrey Barraclough, thought this charter was forged in the period of Earl Ranulf II.[17] Between 1098 and 1101 (probably in 1098) Ranulf became a major English landowner in his own right when he became the third husband of Lucy, heiress of the honour of Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire.[18] This acquisition also brought him the lordship of Appleby in Westmorland, previously held by Lucy's second husband Ivo Taillebois.[2]

Marriage to a great heiress came only with royal patronage, which in turn meant that Ranulf had to be respected and trusted by the king. Ranulf was probably, like his father, among the earliest and most loyal of Henry's followers, and was noted as such by Orderic Vitalis.[19] Ranulf was however not recorded often at the court of Henry I, and did not form part of the king's closest group of administrative advisers.[20] He witnessed charters only occasionally, though this became more frequent after he became earl.[21] In 1106 he is found serving as one of several justiciars at York hearing a case about the lordship of Ripon.[22] In 1116 he is recorded in a similar context.[2]

Ranulf was, however, one of the king's military companions. When, soon after Whitsun 1101 Henry heard news of a planned invasion of England by his brother Robert Curthose, he sought promises from his subjects to defend the kingdom.[23] A letter to the men of Lincolnshire names Ranulf as one of four figures entrusted with collecting these oaths.[24] Ranulf was one of the magnates who accompanied King Henry on his invasion of Duke Robert's Norman territory in 1106.[25] Ranulf served under Henry as an officer of the royal household when the latter was on campaign; Ranulf was in fact one of his three commanders at the Battle of Tinchebrai.[26] The first line of Henry's force was led by Ranulf, the second (with the king) by Robert of Meulan, and third by William de Warrene, with another thousand knights from Brittany and Maine led by Helias, Count of Maine.[27] Ranulf's line consisted of the men of Bayeux, Avranches and Coutances.[28]

Lord of Cumberland

The gatehouse of Wetheral Priory, founded by Ranulf c. 1106.
A charter issued in 1124 by David I, King of the Scots, to Robert I de Brus cited Ranulf's lordship of Carlisle and Cumberland as a model for Robert's new lordship in Annandale.[29] This is significant because Robert is known from other sources to have acted with semi-regal authority in this region.[2] A source from 1212 attests that the jurors of Cumberland remembered Ranulf as quondam dominus Cumberland ("sometime Lord of Cumberland").[30] Ranulf possessed the power and in some respects the dignity of a semi-independent earl in the region, though he lacked the formal status of being called such. A contemporary illustration of this authority comes from the records of Wetheral Priory, where Ranulf is found addressing his own sheriff, "Richer" (probably Richard de Boivill, baron of Kirklinton).[31] Indeed, no royal activity occurred in Cumberland or Westmorland during Ranulf's time in charge there, testimony to the fullness of his powers in the region.[32]

Ivo Taillebois, when he married Ranulf's future wife Lucy, had acquired her Lincolnshire lands but sometime after 1086 he acquired estates in Kendal and elsewhere in Westmorland. Adjacent lands in Westmorland and Lancashire that had previously been controlled by Earl Tostig Godwinson were probably carved up between Roger the Poitevin and Ivo in the 1080s, a territorial division at least partially responsible for the later boundary between the two counties.[33] Norman lordship in the heartland of Cumberland can be dated from chronicle sources to around 1092, the year King William Rufus seized the region from its previous ruler, Dolfin.[34] There is inconclusive evidence that settlers from Ivo's Lincolnshire lands had come into Cumberland as a result.[35]

Between 1094 and 1098 Lucy was married to Roger fitz Gerold de Roumare, and it is probable that this marriage was the king's way of transferring authority in the region to Roger fitz Gerold.[36] Only from 1106 however, well into the reign of Henry I, do we have certain evidence that this authority had come to Ranulf.[2] The "traditional view", held by the historian William Kapelle, was that Ranulf's authority in the region did not come about until 1106 or after, as a reward for participation in the Battle of Tinchebrai.[37] Another historian, Richard Sharpe, has recently attacked this view and argued that it probably came in or soon after 1098. Sharpe stressed that Lucy was the mechanism by which this authority changed hands, and pointed out that Ranulf had been married to Lucy years before Tinchebrai and can be found months before Tinchebrai taking evidence from county jurors at York (which may have been responsible for Cumbria at this point).[38]

Ranulf likewise distributed land to the church, founding a Benedictine monastic house at Wetheral.[39] This he established as a daughter-house of St Mary's Abbey, York, a house that in turn had been generously endowed by Ivo Taillebois.[30] This had occurred by 1112, the year of the death of Abbot Stephen of St Mary's, named in the foundation deed.[40] In later times at least, the priory of Wetheral was dedicated to St Mary and the Holy Trinity, as well as another saint named Constantine.[41] Ranulf gave Wetheral, among other things, his two churches at Appleby, St Lawrences (Burgate) and St Michaels (Bongate).[42]

As an incoming regional magnate Ranulf would be expected to distribute land to his own followers, and indeed the record of the jurors of Cumberland dating to 1212 claimed that Ranulf created two baronies in the region.[43] Ranulf's brother-in-law Robert de Trevers received the barony of Burgh-by-Sands, while the barony of Liddel went to Turgis Brandos.[30] He appears to have attempted to give the large compact barony of Gilsland to his brother William, but failed to dislodge the native lord, the eponymous "Gille" son of Boite; later the lordship of Allerdale (including Copeland), even larger than Gilsland stretching along the coast from the River Ellen to the River Esk, was given to William.[44] Kirklinton may have been given to Richard de Boivill, Ranulf's sheriff.[2]

Earl of Chester

Chester Cathedral today, originally Chester Abbey, where Ranulf's body was buried.
1120 was a fateful year for both Henry I and Ranulf. Richard, earl of Chester, like Henry's son and heir William Adeling, died in the White Ship Disaster near Barfleur on 25 November.[2] Only four days before the disaster, Ranulf and his cousin Richard had witnessed a charter together at Cerisy.[2]

Henry probably could not wait long to replace Richard, as the Welsh were resurgent under the charismatic leadership of Gruffudd ap Cynan. According to the Historia Regum, Richard's death prompted the Welsh to raid Cheshire, looting, killing, and burning two castles.[45] Perhaps because of his recognised military ability and social strength, because he was loyal and because he was the closest male relation to Earl Richard, Henry recognized Ranulf as Richard's successor to the county of Chester.[46]

In 1123, Henry sent Ranulf to Normandy with a large number of knights and with his bastard son, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, to strengthen the garrisons there.[47] Ranulf commanded the king's garrison at âEvreux and governed the county of âEvreux during the 1123-1124 war with William Clito, Robert Curthose's son and heir.[48] In March 1124 Ranulf assisted in the capture of Waleran, Count of Meulan.[49] Scouts informed Ranulf that Waleran's forces were planning an expedition to Vatteville, and Ranulf planned an to intercept them, a plan carried out by Henry de Pommeroy, Odo Borleng and William de Pont-Authou, with 300 knights.[50] A battle followed, perhaps at Rougemontier (or Bourgthâeroulde), in which Waleran was captured.[51]

Although Ranulf bore the title "earl of Chester", the honour (i.e., group of estates) which formed the holdings of the earl of Chester were scattered throughout England, and during the rule of his predecessors included the cantref of Tegeingl in Perfeddwlad in north-western Wales.[52] Around 1100, only a quarter of the value of the honour actually lay in Cheshire, which was one of England's poorest and least developed counties.[53] The estates elsewhere were probably given to the earls in compensation for Cheshire's poverty, in order to strengthen its vulnerable position on the Anglo-Welsh border.[54] The possibility of conquest and booty in Wales should have supplemented the lordship's wealth and attractiveness, but for much of Henry's reign the English king tried to keep the neighboring Welsh princes under his peace.[55]

Ranulf's accession may have involved him giving up many of his other lands, including much of his wife's Lincolnshire lands as well as his lands in Cumbria, though direct evidence for this beyond convenient timing is lacking.[56] That Cumberland was given up at this point is likely, as King Henry visited Carlisle in December 1122, where, according to the Historia Regum, he ordered the strengthening of the castle.[57]

Hollister believed that Ranulf offered the Bolingbroke lands to Henry in exchange for Henry's bestowal of the earldom.[13] The historian A. T. Thacker believed that Henry I forced Ranulf to give up most of the Bolingbroke lands through fear that Ranulf would become too powerful, dominating both Cheshire and the richer county of Lincoln.[58] Sharpe, however, suggested that Ranulf may have had to sell a great deal of land in order to pay the king for the county of Chester, though it could not have covered the whole fee, as Ranulf's son Ranulf de Gernon, when he succeeded his father to Chester in 1129, owed the king ¹1000 "from his father's debt for the land of Earl Hugh".[59] Hollister thought this debt was merely the normal feudal relief expected to be paid on a large honour, and suggested that Ranulf's partial non-payment, or Henry's forgiveness for non-payment, was a form of royal patronage.[60]

Ranulf died in January 1129, and was buried in Chester Abbey.[2] He was survived by his wife and countess, Lucy, and succeeded by his son Ranulf de Gernon.[2] A daughter, Alicia, married Richard de Clare, a lord in the Anglo-Welsh marches.[2] One of his offspring, his fifth son, participated in the Siege of Lisbon, and for this aid was granted the Lordship of Azambuja by King Afonso I of Portugal.[2]

That his career had some claim on the popular imagination may be inferred from lines in William Langland's Piers Plowman (c. 1362–c. 1386) in which Sloth, the lazy priest, confesses: "I kan [know] not parfitly [perfectly] my Paternoster as the preest it singeth,/ But I kan rymes of Robyn Hood and Randolf Erl of Chestre."[61]

end

Ranulf married Lucy of Bolingbroke. Lucy died in 1138. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (before 1100 – 31 October 1147[1]) (alias Robert Rufus, Robert de Caen, Robert Consul[2][3]) was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, and her chief military supporter during the civil war known as The Anarchy, in which she vied with Stephen of Blois for the throne of England.

Early life

Robert was probably the eldest of Henry's many illegitimate children.[1] He was born before his father's accession to the English throne, either during the reign of his grandfather William the Conqueror or his uncle William Rufus.[4] He is sometimes and erroneously designated as a son of Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last king of Deheubarth, although his mother has been identified as a member of "the Gay or Gayt family of north Oxfordshire",[5] possibly a daughter of Rainald Gay (fl. 1086) of Hampton Gay and Northbrook Gay in Oxfordshire. Rainald had known issue Robert Gaay of Hampton (died c. 1138) and Stephen Gay of Northbrook (died after 1154). A number of Oxfordshire women feature as the mothers of Robert's siblings.[5][6]

He may have been a native of Caen[1][7] or he may have been only Constable and Governor of that city, jure uxoris.[2]

His father had contracted him in marriage to Mabel FitzHamon, daughter and heir of Robert Fitzhamon, but the marriage was not solemnized until June 1119 at Lisieux.[1][8] His wife brought him the substantial honours of Gloucester in England and Glamorgan in Wales, and the honours of Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe and âEvrecy in Normandy, as well as Creully. After the White Ship disaster late in 1120, and probably because of this marriage,[9] in 1121 or 1122 his father created him Earl of Gloucester.[10]

Family

Robert and his wife Mabel FitzHamon had seven children:[11]

William FitzRobert (111?–1183): succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Gloucester
Roger FitzRobert (died 1179): Bishop of Worcester
Hamon FitzRobert (died 1159): killed at the siege of Toulouse.
Philip FitzRobert (died after 1147): lord of Cricklade
Matilda FitzRobert (died 1190): married in 1141 Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester.
Mabel FitzRobert: married Aubrey de Vere
Richard FitzRobert (1120/35-1175): succeeded his mother as Sire de Creully.
He also had four illegitimate children:

Richard FitzRobert (died 1142): Bishop of Bayeux [mother: Isabel de Douvres, sister of Richard de Douvres, bishop of Bayeux (1107–1133)]
Robert FitzRobert (died 1170): Castellan of Gloucester, married in 1147 Hawise de Reviers (daughter of Baldwin de Reviers, 1st Earl of Devon and his first wife Adelisa), had daughter Mabel FitzRobert (married firstly Jordan de Chambernon and secondly William de Soliers)
Mabel FitzRobert: married Gruffud, Lord of Senghenydd, son of Ifor Bach. This couple were ancestors of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the U.S.A.[12]
Father of Thomas

Relationship with King Stephen

There is evidence in the contemporary source, the Gesta Stephani, that Robert was proposed by some as a candidate for the throne, but his illegitimacy ruled him out:

"Among others came Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of King Henry, but a bastard, a man of proved talent and admirable wisdom. When he was advised, as the story went, to claim the throne on his father's death, deterred by sounder advice he by no means assented, saying it was fairer to yield it to his sister's son (the future Henry II of England), than presumptuously to arrogate it to himself."
This suggestion cannot have led to any idea that he and Stephen were rivals for the Crown, as Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136 referred to Robert as one of the 'pillars' of the new King's rule.

The capture of King Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141 gave the Empress Matilda the upper hand in her battle for the throne, but by alienating the citizens of London she failed to be crowned Queen. Her forces were defeated at the Rout of Winchester on 14 September 1141, and Robert of Gloucester was captured nearby at Stockbridge.

The two prisoners, King Stephen and Robert of Gloucester, were then exchanged, but by freeing Stephen, the Empress Matilda had given up her best chance of becoming queen. She later returned to France, where she died in 1167, though her son succeeded Stephen as King Henry II in 1154.

Robert of Gloucester died in 1147 at Bristol Castle, where he had previously imprisoned King Stephen, and was buried at St James' Priory, Bristol, which he had founded.

In popular culture

Robert of Gloucester was a central character in the struggle during The Anarchy as portrayed in Ken Follet's 2003 novel The Pillars of the Earth and in the 2010 mini-series of the same name.

Robert is also a figure in many of the novels by Ellis Peters in the Cadfael Chronicles, where he is seen as a strong moderating force to his half-sister (see Saint Peter's Fair). His efforts to gain the crown for his sister by capturing King Stephen and her own actions in London are part of the plot in The Pilgrim of Hate. His capture by Stephen's wife Queen Mathilda is in the background of the plot of An Excellent Mystery. The exchange of the imprisoned Robert for the imprisoned Stephen is in the background of the plot of The Raven in the Foregate. Robert's travels to persuade his brother-in-law to aid his wife Empress Maud militarily in England is in the background of the novel The Rose Rent. His return to England when Empress Maud is trapped in Oxford Castle figures in The Hermit of Eyton Forest. Robert's return to England with his young nephew Henry, years later the king succeeding Stephen, is in the background of the plot of The Confession of Brother Haluin, as the battles begin anew with Robert's military guidance. Robert's success in the Battle of Wilton (1143) leads to the death of a fictional character, part of the plot of The Potter's Field. In the last novel, he is a father who can disagree with then forgive his son Philip (see the last novel, Brother Cadfael's Penance). In that last novel, Brother Cadfael speculates on the possibly different path for England if the first son of old King Henry, the illegitimate Robert of Gloucester, had been recognised and accepted. In Wales of that era, a son was not illegitimate if recognized by his father, and to many in the novels, Robert of Gloucester seemed the best of the contenders to succeed his father.

Footnotes

^ Jump up to: a b c d David Crouch, ‘Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. before 1100, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 accessed 1 Oct 2010
^ Jump up to: a b "Complete Peerage" Vol IV(1892), p38, "Gloucester", "Robert filius Regis" quoting Round "Consul is often used for Earl in the time of the first age of the Norman Kings"
Jump up ^ The Complete Peerage claims only that he is "described" as consul, as are most Earls of his time.
Jump up ^ William of Malmesbury
^ Jump up to: a b David Crouch, Historical Research, 1999
Jump up ^ C. Given-Wilson & A. Curteis. The Royal Bastards of Medieval England (London, 1984) (ISBN 0-415-02826-4), page 74
Jump up ^ Cawley, Charles, "Henry I", Medlands, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,[better source needed]
Jump up ^ "Complete Peerage", "Gloucester"
Jump up ^ "In the aftermath of the White Ship disaster of 1120, when his younger and legitimate half-brother, William, died, Robert shared in the largesse that the king distributed to reassert his political position. Robert was given the marriage of Mabel, the heir of Robert fitz Haimon, whose lands in the west country and Glamorgan had been in royal wardship since 1107. The marriage also brought Robert the Norman honours of Evrecy and St Scholasse-sur-Sarthe. Robert was raised to the rank of earl of Gloucester soon after, probably by the end of 1121." David Crouch, ‘Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. before 1100, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 accessed 1 Oct 2010
Jump up ^ CP citing Round for between May 1121 and the end of 1122, but see William of Malmesbury, ed Giles who cites 1119
Jump up ^ Cawley, Charles. Cawley, Charles, Medieval Lands: England, Earls Created 1067–1122, Chapter 11, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,[better source needed]
Jump up ^ Descent of Franklin Pierce from Henry I Beauclerc

Sources

J. Bradbury, Stephen and Matilda: The Civil War of 1139–53 (Stroud, 1996)
D. Crouch, "Robert of Gloucester's Mother and Sexual Politics in Norman Oxfordshire", Historical Research, 72 (1999) 323–332.
D. Crouch, 'Robert, earl of Gloucester and the daughter of Zelophehad,' Journal of Medieval History, 11 (1985), 227–43.
D. Crouch, The Reign of King Stephen, 1135–1154 (London, 2000).
C. Given-Wilson & A. Curteis. The Royal Bastards of Medieval England (London, 1984)
The Personnel of the Norman Cathedrals during the Ducal Period, 911–1204, ed. David S. Spear (London, 2006)
Earldom of Gloucester Charters, ed. R.B. Patterson (Oxford, 1973)
R.B. Patterson, 'William of Malmesbury's Robert of Gloucester: a re-evaluation of the Historia Novella,' American Historical Review, 70 (1965), 983–97.
K. Thompson, 'Affairs of State: the illegitimate children of Henry I,' Journal of Medieval History, 29 (2003), 129–151.
W.M.M. Picken, 'The Descent of the Devon Family of Willington from Robert Earl of Gloucester' in 'A Medieval Cornish Miscellany', Ed. O.J. Padel. (Phillimore, 2000)

Robert married Lady Mabel FitzHamon, Countess of Gloucester in 0___ 1107. Mabel (daughter of Sir Robert Fitzhamon, Knight, Lord of Glamorgan and Sybil de Montgomery) was born in 0___ 1090 in Gloucestershire, England; died on 29 Sep 1157 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Mabel FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester (1090 – 29 September 1157[1]) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, and a wealthy heiress who brought the lordship of Gloucester, among other prestigious honours to her husband, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester upon their marriage. He was the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England.

Her father was Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan. As she was the eldest daughter of four, and her younger sisters had become nuns, Mabel inherited all of his honours and properties upon his death in 1107.

As Countess of Gloucester, Mabel was significant politically and she exercised an important administrative role in the lordship.[2]


Family[edit]
Mabel was born in Gloucestershire, England c1090 or later, the eldest of the four daughters of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, and his wife, Sybil de Montgomery. Her three younger sisters, Hawise, Cecile and Amice[3] all became nuns, making Mabel the sole heiress to her father's lordships and vast estates in England, Wales, and Normandy.

Her paternal grandfather was Hamon, Sheriff of Kent, and her maternal grandparents were Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel Talvas of Belleme.

In March 1107, her father died in Normandy, leaving his lordships and estates to Mabel. Her mother married secondly Jean, Sire de Raimes.[4]

Cardiff Castle in Wales, was one of the properties Mabel brought her husband, Robert upon their marriage

Marriage

In 1107, Mabel married Robert of Caen,(also called FitzRoy and FitzEdith), an illegitimate son of King Henry I (not by his mistress Sybil Corbet - other sources say Robert's mother was of the Gai family of Oxfordshire). Their marriage is recorded by Orderic Vitalis who also names her parents.[5] He would later become an important figure during the turbulent period in English history known as The Anarchy which occurred in the reign of King Stephen of England. Throughout the civil war, he was a loyal supporter of his half-sister Empress Matilda who would make him the chief commander of her army. He had originally sworn fealty to King Stephen, but after quarrelling with him in 1137, his English and Welsh possessions were forfeited, and thus he joined forces with Matilda.[6]

Countess of Gloucester

Mabel brought to her husband the honours of Gloucester in England, Glamorgan in Wales, Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe, Evrecy and Creully in Normandy. By right of his wife, he became the 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, and gained possession of her father's castle of Cardiff in Wales. In August 1122, he was created 1st Earl of Gloucester; henceforth, Mabel was styled as Countess of Gloucester.

As countess, Mabel exercised a prominent administrative role in the Gloucester lordship.[7] Her political importance was evident when she was made responsible for seeing that her husband upheld his side of the agreement in the treaty he made with Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford.[8] She also witnessed four of Robert's charters; as well as giving her personal consent for his foundation of the Abbey of Margam, whose endowment came from her own lands.[9] Later, after Robert's death, Mabel assumed control of the honour of Gloucester's Norman lands on behalf of her eldest son William.[10]

Issue

Together Robert and Mabel had at least eight children:

William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (23 November 1112- 23 November 1183), married Hawise de Beaumont by whom he had five children, including Isabella of Gloucester, the first wife of King John of England, and Amice FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester.
Roger, Bishop of Worcester (died 9 August 1179)
Hamon FitzRobert, (died 1159), killed in the Siege of Toulouse.
Robert FitzRobert of Ilchester (died before 1157), married Hawise de Redvers, by whom he had a daughter Mabel who in her turn married Jordan de Cambernon.
Richard FitzRobert, Sire de Creully (died 1175), inherited the seigneury of Creully from Mabel, and became the ancestor of the Sires de Creully. He married the daughter of Hughes de Montfort by whom he had five children.
Philip FitzRobert, (died after 1147), Castellan of Cricklade. He took part in the Second Crusade.
Maud FitzRobert (died 29 July 1190), married Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester by whom she had three children.
Mabel FitzRobert, married Aubrey de Vere
Robert also sired an illegitimate son, Richard, Bishop of Bayeux by Isabel de Douvres.

Death

Mabel's husband died on 31 October 1147. Mabel herself died on 29 September 1157 in Bristol at the age of sixty-seven years.

References

Jump up ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Gloucester 1122-1225
Jump up ^ Ward, p.106
Jump up ^ Cawley states in Medieval Lands that Amice might have married a count of Brittany, but no further details are known
Jump up ^ Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earl of Gloucester 1122-1225)
Jump up ^ Cawley
Jump up ^ Cawley
Jump up ^ Jennifer C. Ward (2006). Women in England in the Middle Ages. London: Hambledon Continuum. p.106. Google Books, retrieved 27-10-10 ISBN 1-85285-346-8
Jump up ^ Ward, p.106
Jump up ^ Ward, p.106
Jump up ^ Ward, p.106
Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Gloucester 1122-1225

Notes:

Amaury III de Montfort († 1137) was a French nobleman, the seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, âEpernon, and Houdan in the Île-de-France (1098–c.?1137) and count of âEvreux in Normandy, (1118 to c.?1137).

Life[edit]
Amaury was the son of Simon I, seigneur de Montfort, and his wife Agnáes d'âEvreux, daughter of Richard, Count of âEvreux.[1] In 1098, William Rufus was campaigning in France and had just crossed into the French Vexin and one of the first castles attacked was that of Houdan which Amaury III defended.[2] But Amaury quickly surrendered and joined William's army.[2] He then aided William II against his brother Simon II de Montfort's castles of Montfort-l'Amaury and âEpernon.[3] But Simon and the other castellans successfully defended themselves against the forces of William Rufus until a truce was called and William returned to England.[4] When Simon II died c.?1104, Amaury succeeded him as seigneur de Montfort.[1]

When his maternal uncle William, Count of âEvreux died in 1118, he left no direct heirs so Henry I of England seized his lands.[5] Amaury was Henry's most detested enemy.[6] His sister was the notorious Bertrade de Montfort,[a] his nephew was Fulk V of Anjou, and his kinsman King Louis VI of France was related to him by marriage.[6] Amaury had induced his nephew Fulk V to attack Henry's territories in the past[7] while the French and English kings were at odds again.[8] Amaury was the last person he wanted holding a countship in the center of Normandy.[6] After complaining to Louis VI the French king granted the countship of âEvreux to Amaury.[5] For six months Henry kept Amaury out of âEvreux and denied him the county by keeping the castle garrisoned with his own troops until his constable, William Pointel, turned the castle over to his longtime friend Amaury while Henry was in Rouen.[6] Finally Henry offered Amaury the countship of âEvreux if he would surrender the castle.[9] Amaury refused and the rebellion continued with Amaury now encouraging more Normans to defy Henry.[10]

In 1119 Henry besieged the castle of âEvreux anew, but Theobald II, Count of Champagne, Henry's nephew, negotiated a truce between them.[3] Amaury surrendered the castle to the King and on doing so was confirmed as count of âEvreux by Henry.[3] The following year Amaury fought at the battle of Bourgtheroulde supporting William Clito against Henry I but was captured fleeing the field by William de Grandcourt.[3] Rather than turn over his prisoner to Henry, however, William decided to go into exile with Amaury.[3] Amaury made peace with the King later that same year and for the rest of Henry's reign remained on good terms with him.[3]

Marriages and children

He married firstly, Richilde de Hainaut, daughter of Baudouin II, comte de Hainaut but repudiated her in 1118.[1]

In 1118 he remarried, to Agnáes de Garlande, daughter of Anseau de Garlande, Count de Rochefort and N.N. de Rochefort-en-Yvelines.[1] Their children were :

Amaury IV († 1140), count of âEvreux, seigneur de Montfort[1]
Simon III († 1181), count of âEvreux,seigneur de Montfort[1], whose daughter Bertrade married Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester.
Agnáes († 1181), Dame de Gournay-sur-Marne, married Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester († 1166)[1]

Amaury married Agnes de Garlande in ~1120 in (France). Agnes was born in ~1105 in Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France; died in 1143 in Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William Peverell (c. 1040 – c. 1115, Latinised to Gulielmus Piperellus), was a Norman knight granted lands in England following the Norman Conquest.

Origins

Little is known of the origin of the William Peverell the Elder. Of his immediate family, only the name of a brother, Robert, is known.[1] J. R. Planchâe derives the surname from the Latin puerulus, the diminutive form of puer (a boy), thus "a small boy", or from the Latin noun piper, meaning "pepper".[2]

Lands held in England

William Peverel was a favourite of William the Conqueror. He was greatly honoured after the Norman Conquest, and received as his reward over a hundred manors in central England from the king. In 1086, the Domesday Book records William as holding the substantial number of 162 manors, forming collectively the Honour of Peverel, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including Nottingham Castle.[3] He also built Peveril Castle, Castleton, Derbyshire. William Peverel is amongst the people explicitly recorded in the Domesday Book as having built castles.[4]

Marriage & progeny

William married Adeline, who bore him four children: two sons both named William, one dying without issue, the other often called William Peverel the Younger, born circa 1080, and two daughters, Maud and Adeliza, who married Richard de Redvers.[1]

References

^ Jump up to: a b The Complete Peerage, Vol IV, App. I, pp 761–770, "Peverel Family". This also dismisses the Tudor-era genealogical invention that made him illegitimate son of William the Conqueror
Jump up ^ http://patp.us/genealogy/conq/peverel.aspx
Jump up ^ A description of holdings in Derbyshire, from the Domesday Book (http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Derbyshire.htm). A local history of Duston, Northampton (http://www.duston.org.uk/peverel.htm).
Jump up ^ Harfield 1991, p. 391
Bibliography
Harfield, C. G. (1991), "A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book", English Historical Review, 106: 371–392, doi:10.1093/ehr/CVI.CCCCXIX.371, JSTOR 573107

William married Adeline Lancaster. Adeline was born in ~1045 in Nottinghamshire, England; died on 19 Jan 1120 in Frome, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Adeline "Adeliza" Abitot formerly Lancaster
Born about 1045 in Nottinghamshire, England
ANCESTORS ancestors
Daughter of Roger (Montgomery) de Montgomery and Ademode (Marche) de Montgomery
Sister of Isabel (de Mortaigne) Mortaigne [half], Avice (Lancaster) Peverel and Pontia (Montgomery) de Angoulãeme
Wife of William (Peverel) de Peverel — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of William (Peverel) de Peverel
Died 19 Jan 1120 in Frome, Somerset, England
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Categories: Unsourced Profiles | England Unsourced Profiles.

This profile lacks source information. Please add sources that support the facts.

Biography

This biography is a rough draft. It was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import and needs to be edited.

Adeline Abitot ... She passed away in 1120. [1]

Name
Adeline Adeliza[2]
Or Adeliza.
Birth
1054 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England[2]
ABT 1054
Death
ca 19 Jan 1119/20
19 JAN 1120 Frome, , Somerset, England[2]
Marriage
1071 Nottinghamshire, England[2]
Source
Source: #S-1992136522 Page: Ancestry Family Trees
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=24279608&pid=1776384874

Sources

? Entered by Sherri Harder, Apr 3, 2012
? 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Source: #S48
WikiTree profile Lancaster-226 created through the import of heinakuu2011-6.ged on Jul 5, 2011 by Johanna Amnelin.
Source S48 Title: Public Member Trees Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Repository: #R1
Source S-1992136522 Repository: #R-1992163608 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.
Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
Repository R1 Name: www.ancestry.com Address: www. Ancestry.com
Repository R-1992163608 Name: Ancestry.com Address: http://www.Ancestry.com
Acknowledgments
This person was created through the import of 104-B.ged on 12 September 2010.
This person was created through the import of David Rentschler Family Tree_2010-09-30.ged on 01 October 2010.
This person was created through the import of Acrossthepond.ged on 21 February 2011.
This person was created through the import of Dickinson Family Tree.ged on 31 March 2011.
This person was created through the import of breesefam.ged on 09 May 2011.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Hastings, East Sussex, England

Notes:

William de Braose arrived in England with William the Conqueror. His mother’s name was Gunnor. She became a nun at the Abbaye aux Dames in Caen, Normandy, which was established by the Conqueror’s queen, Matilda. Some of the property Gunnor gave to the abbey was associated with members of the the Ivry family - Albereda, Hugh and Roger. Emma d’Ivry was the mother of William the Conqueror’s most powerful favourite, William fitz Osbern.

These are the best clues we have as to William de Braose’s parentage. He was entrusted with a key Sussex position at Bramber and land in other English counties, besides Briouze, a strategic location in Normandy. It seems likely that he came from the extended family of the Dukes of Normandy but for genealogists his ancestry is still a frustrating loose end. William probably married the widow of Anchetil de Harcourt, Eve de Boissey, but even this detail remains inconclusive.

Images for Braose coats of arms:

https://www.google.com/search?q=braose+coat+of+arms&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS591US591&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=834&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjU4oegvMHQAhVFbSYKHTtHB1gQsAQILQ&dpr=1

end of comment

Died 1093-6

Guillaume de Briouze is recorded in lists of those present at the Battle of Hastings. He became the first Lord of Bramber Rape by 1073 and built Bramber Castle. (Right - remains of the gatehouse) William made considerable grants to the abbey of Saint Florent, Saumur to endow the foundation of Sele Priory near Bramber and a priory at Briouze. He continued to fight alongside King William in the campaigns in Britain, Normandy and Maine.

The latest evidence for William is his presence at the consecration of his church at Briouze in 1093. In 1096 his son Philip was issuing charters. From this we can deduce that William died between 1093 and 1096.

Father: Uncertain.

Mother: Gunnor (See Round, Cal. Doc. Fra. p148)

Brydges edition of Collins' Peerage claims he was first married to Agnes, dau of Waldron de Saint Clare but no evidence for this can be found. It may be an example of Bruce - Braose confusion.
According to L C Perfect, a 13th century genealogy in the Bibliotháeque de Paris gives the name of his wife as Eve de Boissey, widow of Anchetil de Harcourt. There is a lot of evidence from contemporary charters which supports this view.

Child 1: Philip

*

Birth:
Briouze is a commune in the Orne department of Normandy in northwestern France. It is considered the capital of the pays d'Houlme at the western end of the Orne in the Norman bocage. The nearby Grand Hazâe marshland is a heritage-listed area (Natura 2000).

William de Braose, First Lord of Bramber (Guillaume de Briouze) was granted lands in England after the Norman conquest and used his wealth to build a priory in his home town.

The name Briouze probably comes from an older Norman form of the word "boue", or "mud".

Map & commentary ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briouze

Residence:
Images, maps & history of Hastings and the "Battle of 1066" ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings

William married Agnes St. Clair. Agnes (daughter of Waldron St Clair and Helena Normandie) was born in ~1053 in Manche, Normandy, France; died in ~1080. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Agnes de Braose formerly St Clair aka de St. Clair, de Brus
Born about 1053 in Manche, Normandy, France

Daughter of Waldron (St Clair) de Sinclair and Helena (Normandie) de Sinclair
Sister of William (St Clair) Sinclair and Mauger (St Clare) Sinclair
Wife of Robert (Brus) de Brus — married 1072 [location unknown]

DESCENDANTS descendants

Wife of William (Braose) de Braose — married about 1075 [location unknown

Mother of Adam (Brus) de Brus, Agatha or Alice (Bruce) Basset, Philip (Braose) de Braose, Unknown (Braose) de Harcourt, John (Braiose) de Braose, Philena (Braiose) de Braose, Hortense (Bruce) de Braose and Robert (Brus) de Brus
Died about 1080 in Bramber, Sussex, England
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end of biography

Notes:

Residence (Family):
Bramber Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle formerly the caput of the large feudal barony of Bramber long held by the Braose family. It is situated in the village of Bramber, West Sussex overlooking the River Adur.

Image, map and history of Bramber Castle ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramber_Castle

More images and history of Bramber Castle & the Braose family ... http://steyningmuseum.org.uk/braose.htm

Bernard married Nest Verch Osborn le Scrope in 1088 in England. Nest was born before 1075 in Richards Castle, Herefordshire, England; died in 1121 in Aberhonwy, Breconshire, , Wale. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: 1079, Herefordshire, England

Notes:

Nesta "Agnes" de Neufmarchâe formerly Osbern aka FerchOsbern, FitzOsbern, le Scrope
Born before 1075 in Richards Castle, Herefordshire, , England,map
ANCESTORS ancestors
Daughter of Osbern (Scrope) le Scrope and Nest (Gruffydd) ferch Gruffydd
Sister of Simon (Scrope) le Scrope [half] and Hugh FitzOsbern
Wife of Bernard (Neufmarchâe) de Neufmarchâe — married 1088 [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of Philip (Neufmarche) de Neufmarche, Sybil (Neufmarchâe) of Gloucester, Adam (Neufmarche) de Neufmarchâe and Mael (Neufmarche) de Neufmarche
Died 1121 in Aberhonwy, Breconshire, , Wales
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British Aristocracy
Nesta (Osbern) de Neufmarchâe was a member of aristocracy in the British Isles.
Join: British Royals and Aristocrats Project
Discuss: BRITISH_ARISTO
Biography

Bernard married Nesta (Agnes), daughter and heir of Osbern fitz Richard, granddaughter of Welsh King Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. Through Nesta, Bernard acquired Bodenham & Berrington, Herefordshire.

Sources
Medieval Lands - NESTA

end of profile

Notes:

more...

History & issue of Henry I, King of England ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_I_of_England

Family and children

Legitimate

House of Normandy
Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg
William the Conqueror invades England
William I[show]
William II[show]
Henry I[show]
Stephen[show]
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
v t e
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry I of England.

Henry and his first wife, Matilda, had at least two legitimate children:

Matilda, born in 1102, died 1167.[89]
William Adelin, born in 1103, died 1120.[89]
Possibly Richard, who, if he existed, died young.[100]
Henry and his second wife, Adeliza, had no children.

Illegitimate

Henry had a number of illegitimate children by various mistresses.[nb 32]

Sons

Robert of Gloucester, born in the 1090s.[332]
Richard, born to Ansfride, brought up by Robert Bloet, the Bishop of Lincoln.[333]
Reginald de Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall, born in the 1110s or early 1120s, possibly to Sibyl Corbet.[334]
Robert the King's son, born to Ede, daughter of Forne.[335]
Gilbert, possibly born to an unnamed sister or daughter of Walter of Gand.[336]
William de Tracy, possibly born in the 1090s.[336]
Henry the King's son, possibly born to Nest ferch Rhys.[335][nb 33]
Fulk the King's son, possibly born to Ansfride.[335]
William, the brother of Sybilla de Normandy, probably the brother of Reginald de Dunstanville.[337]

Daughters

Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche.[338]
Matilda FitzRoy, Duchess of Brittany.[338]
Juliana, wife of Eustace of Breteuil, possibly born to Ansfrida.[339]
Mabel, wife of William Gouet.[340]
Constance, Vicountess of Beaumont-sur-Sarthe.[341]
Aline, wife of Matthew de Montmorency.[342]
Isabel, daughter of Isabel de Beaumont, Countess of Pembroke.[342]
Sybilla de Normandy, Queen of Scotland, probably born before 1100.[342][nb 34]
Matilda Fitzroy, Abbess of Montvilliers.[342]
Gundrada de Dunstanville.[342]
Possibly Rohese, wife of Henry de la Pomerai.[342][nb 35]
Emma, wife of Guy of Laval.[343]
Adeliza, the King's daughter.[343]
The wife of Fergus of Galloway.[343]
Possibly Sibyl of Falaise.[343][nb 36]

Born: ABT Sep 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England
Acceded: 6 Aug 1100, Westminster Abbey, London, England
Died: 1 Dec 1135, St Denis-le-Fermont, near Gisors
Buried: Reading Abbey, Berkshire, England

Notes: Reigned 1100-1135. Duke of Normandy 1106-1135.

His reign is notable for important legal and administrative reforms, and for the final resolution of the investiture controversy. Abroad, he waged several campaigns in order to consolidate and expand his continental possessions. Was so hated by his brothers that they vowed to disinherit him. In 1106 he captured Robert and held him til he died. He proved to be a hard but just ruler. One of his lovers, Nest, Princess of Deheubarth, was known as the most beautiful woman in Wales; she had many lovers.

He apparently died from over eating Lampreys. During a Christmas court at Windsor Castle in 1126 that Henry I, who had no legitimate male heir, tried to force his barons to accept his daughter Matilda as his successor.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles reported that "...there he caused archbishops and bishops and abbots and earls all the thegns that were there to swear to give England and Normandy after his death into the hand of his daughter". Swear they did, but they were not happy about it. None of those present were interested in being among the first to owe allegiance to a woman. The stage was set for the 19-year-long bloody struggle for the throne that rent England apart after Henry's death. Ironically, the final resolution to that civil war, the peace treaty between King Stephen and Matilda's son Henry of Anjou, was ratified on Christmas Day at Westminster in 1153.

*

Birth:
History, maps & photos of Selby, England ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selby

Buried:
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors".

For more history & images of Reading Abbey, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Abbey

Henry married unnamed partner. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Gloucestershire, England

Notes:

Robert Fitzhamon (died March 1107), or Robert FitzHamon, Seigneur de Creully in the Calvados region and Torigny in the Manche region of Normandy, was the first Norman feudal baron of Gloucester and the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan, southern Wales. He became Lord of Glamorgan in 1075.

As a kinsman of the Conqueror and one of the few Anglo-Norman barons to remain loyal to the two successive kings William Rufus and Henry I of England, he was a prominent figure in England and Normandy.

Not much is known about his earlier life, or his precise relationship to William I of England.

Parentage and ancestry

Robert FitzHamon (born c. 1045-1055, d. March 1107 Falaise, Normandy) was, as the prefix Fitz (fils de, "son of") suggests, the son of Hamo Dapifer the Sheriff of Kent and grandson of Hamon Dentatus ('The Betoothed or Toothy', i.e., probably buck-toothed). His grandfather held the lordships of Torigny, Creully, Mâezy, and Evrecy in Normandy, but following his death at the Battle of Val-áes-Dunes in 1047, the family might have lost these lordships.

Career in England and Wales[edit]
Few details of Robert's career prior to 1087 are available. Robert probably did not fight at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, although some of his relatives are listed therein. He first comes to prominence in surviving records as a supporter of King William Rufus (1087-1100) during the Rebellion of 1088. After the revolt was defeated he was granted as a reward by King William Rufus the feudal barony of Gloucester[3] consisting of over two hundred manors in Gloucestershire and other counties. Some of these had belonged to the late Queen Matilda, consort of William the Conqueror and mother of William Rufus, and had been seized by her from the great Saxon thane Brictric son of Algar, apparently as a punishment for his having refused her romantic advances in his youth.[4] They had been destined as the inheritance of Rufus's younger brother Henry (the future King Henry I); nevertheless Fitzhamon remained on good terms with Henry.

Conquest of Glamorgan

The chronology of Fitzhamon's conquest of Glamorgan is uncertain, but it probably took place in the decades after he received the feudal barony of Gloucester.

The Twelve Knights of Glamorgan

One explanation is the legend of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan, which dates from the 16th century, in which the Welsh Prince Iestyn ap Gwrgan (Jestin), prince or Lord of Glamorgan, supposedly called in the assistance of Robert Fitzhamon. Fitzhamon defeated the prince of South Wales Rhys ap Tewdwr in battle in 1090. With his Norman knights as reward he then took possession of Glamorgan, and "the French came into Dyfed and Ceredigion, which they have still retained, and fortified the castles, and seized upon all the land of the Britons." Iestyn did not profit long by his involvement with the Normans. He was soon defeated and his lands taken in 1091.

Whether there is any truth in the legend or not Robert Fitzhamon seems to have seized control of the lowlands of Glamorgan and Gwynllwg sometime from around 1089 to 1094. His key strongholds were Cardiff Castle, which already may have been built, on the site of an old Roman fort, new castles at Newport, and at Kenfig. His descendants would inherit these castles and lands.

Rhys's daughter Nest became the mistress of King Henry I of England and allegedly was mother of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester who married Mabel, Fitzhamon's daughter and heiress and thus had legitimacy both among the Welsh and the Norman barons.[5] (Robert of Caen's mother is however unknown to historians and genealogists).

Founder of Tewkesbury Abbey (1092)

He also refounded Tewkesbury Abbey in 1092. The abbey's dimensions are almost the same as Westminster Abbey. The first abbot was Giraldus, Abbot of Cranborne (d. 1110) who died before the abbey was consecrated in October 1121. The abbey was apparently built under the influence of his wife Sybil de Montgomery. [3], said to be a beautiful and religious woman like her sisters.

Fitzhamon and His Kings

Legend has it that Robert had ominous dreams in the days before Rufus' fatal hunting expedition, which postponed but did not prevent the outing. He was one of the first to gather in tears around Rufus' corpse, and he used his cloak to cover the late king's body on its journey to be buried in Winchester. How much of these stories are the invention of later days is unknown.

In any case Fitzhamon proved as loyal to Henry I as he had been to his predecessor, remaining on Henry's side in the several open conflicts with Henry's brother Robert Curthose. He was one of the three barons who negotiated the 1101 truce between Henry I and Robert Curthose.

In 1105 he went to Normandy and was captured while fighting near his ancestral estates near Bayeux. This was one of the reasons Henry crossed the channel with a substantial force later that year. Fitzhamon was freed, and joined Henry's campaign, which proceeded to besiege Falaise. There Fitzhamon was severely injured in the head; although he lived two more years he was never the same mentally. He was buried in the Chapter House at Tewkesbury Abbey, which he had founded and considerably enriched during his lifetime.

Marriage and progeny

Fitzhamon married Sybil de Montgomery around 1087 to 1090, apparently the youngest daughter of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury by his first wife Mabel Talvas, daughter of William I Talvas. She survived her husband and is said to have entered a convent with two of her daughters. By his wife he is said to have had four daughters including:

Mabel FitzHamon, eldest daughter, who inherited his great estates and in about 1107 married Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, a natural son of King Henry I (1100-1135). Fitzhamon's huge land-holdings in several counties formed the feudal barony of Gloucester[6] which was inherited by his son-in-law Robert de Caen, who in 1122 was created 1st Earl of Gloucester.[7] Fitzhamon is sometimes called Earl of Gloucester, but was never so created formally. Robert Fitzhamon's great-granddaughter Isabel of Gloucester married King John (1199-1216).
Isabella (or Hawisa) FitzHamon, said to have married a count from Brittany, but no further details exist.
1860 Depiction at Kilkhampton[edit]

1860 imaginary depiction of Robert FitzHamon (d.1107) (left) and his younger brother Richard I de Grenville (d.post 1142) (right), Church of St James the Great, Kilkhampton, Cornwall
An imaginary depiction of Robert FitzHamon (d.1107) and his younger brother Richard I de Grenville (d.post 1142)[8]) is contained within one of the two Granville windows by Clayton and Bell[9] erected in 1860 by descendants of the latter within the Granville Chapel of the Church of St James the Great, Kilkhampton, Cornwall. The seat of the Grenville family ("Granville" after 1661 when elevated to the Earldom of Bath[10]) was Stowe within the parish of Kilkhampton. Below the left-hand figure is inscribed: "Rob. FitzHamon Earl of Corboyle", with attributed arms under showing: Azure, a lion rampant guardant or impaling Azure, a lion rampant or a bordure of the last. The right hand figure is of Richard de Granville, the younger brother of Robert FitzHamon and one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan who followed his brother in effecting the conquest of Glamorgan. He holds in his hands the church of his foundation of Neath Abbey, Glamorgan. Below is inscribed: "Ric. de Granville Earl of Corboyle" with attributed arms under showing: Gules, three clarions or (the arms of the Grenvilles' later overlord and Robert FitzHamon's heir in the feudal barony of Gloucester,[11] Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, which arms were later adopted by the Grenvilles[12]) with an inescutcheon of pretence of Gules, three lions passant argent. The Granvilles claimed in the 17th century to have been the heirs male of Robert FitzHamon (who left only a daughter as his sole heiress) in his supposed Earldom of Corboil.[13] The windows were erected in 1860 by the heirs of the Grenville family: George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland KG (1786-1861); John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831–1896); George Granville Francis Egerton, 2nd Earl of Ellesmere (1823–1862); Lord John Thynne (1798-1881), DD, Canon of Westminster, a younger son of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837), KG.[14]

References

C. Warren Hollister, Henry I
Lynn Nelson, The Normans in South Wales, 1070-1171 (see especially pp. 94–110 in chapter 5)
Cardiff Castle
Norman invasion of South Wales
Tour of the Abbey
Lord of Bristol refers to Robert Fitzhamon as Lord of Bristol, which town and castle became important to his son-in-law.
Robert of Caen, son-in-law is said here to be grandson of a Welsh prince but most other sources say that his mother was an unnamed woman of Caen.
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 63-26, 124A-26, 125-26, 185-1.

Notes

Jump up ^ Sir Charles Isham's "Registrum Theokusburiµ" gives a full-page illustration of these noble brothers, "par nobile fratrum," as Dr. Hayman calls them, in which they are termed "duo duces Marciorum et primi fundatores Theokusburiµ" i.e., two Earls of the Marches and first founders of Tewkesbury. Each knight is in armour, and bears in his hand a model of a church. Both are supporting a shield (affixed to a pomegranate tree) bearing the arms of the Abbey, which the blazoning on their own coats repeats.(Massâe, H. J. L. J., The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst Gloucestershire (Bell's Cathedrals)) original illustration as shown on folio 8 verso, Bodleian Library Manuscript: Top. Gloucester, d. 2, Founders' and benefectors' book of Tewkesbury Abbey [1]
Jump up ^ Bodleian Library Manuscript: Top. Gloucester, d. 2, Founders' and benefectors' book of Tewkesbury Abbey [2]
Jump up ^ Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.6, Barony of Gloucester
Jump up ^ According to the account by the Continuator of Wace and others, quoted in Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2 (notes), 24,21, quoting "Freeman, E.A., The History of the Norman Conquest of England, 6 vols., Oxford, 1867–1879, vol. 4, Appendix, note 0"
Jump up ^ Four Ancient Books of Wales: Introduction: Chapter VI. Manau Gododin and the Picts
Jump up ^ Sanders, p.6
Jump up ^ Sanders, p.6
Jump up ^ Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169, p.137
Jump up ^ Church Guidebook, St James the Great Kilkhampton, 2012, p.11
Jump up ^ Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169
Jump up ^ Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.6, Barony of Gloucester
Jump up ^ Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169
Jump up ^ Round, J. Horace, Family Origins and Other Studies, London, 1930, The Granvilles and the Monks, pp.130-169
Jump up ^ Per brass plaque below easternmost window

Robert married Sybil de Montgomery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Simon married Agnes d'Evereux in ~1064. Agnes (daughter of Richard d'Evreux and Godeheut Barcelona) was born in 1041 in Evreux, Normandy, France; died in 1087 in Evreux, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: 1030

Notes:

The PEDIGREE of
Agnes d' EVEREUX (EVEREUX; d' EVREUX)
Born: abt. 1030 Died: abt. 1087


HM George I's 15-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 13-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 18-Great Grandmother. PM Churchill's 22-Great Grandmother. HM Margrethe II's 23-Great Grandmother. Gen. Pierpont Hamilton's 24-Great Grandmother. `Red Baron' Richthofen's 20-Great Grandmother. Poss. Agnes Harris's 16-Great Grandmother. `Osawatomie' Brown's 23-Great Grandmother.
Husband/Partner: Simon I (Sn.; de) MONTFORT
Children: Bertrade de MONTFORT (l' AMAURI) ; Amauri III (Amaury; IV) de MONTFORT
_________ _________ _________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ______ _____ _____
/ -- Guillaume (2nd Duke) of NORMANDY + ====> [ 255 ,c,pt,&]
/ -- Richard I `the Fearless' (Count) of NORMANDY
/ \ -- Sprota de BRETAGNE (concubine) + ====> [ 1]
/ -- Robert (Count) d' EVEREUX (VREUX)
| \ / -- Herbastus (Herfastus) (Sire) de CREPON + ====> [ 255 ,g,&]
| | | | or: (NN), a Dane
| | / | or: Forquelar of CIRQUES
| \ -- Gunnora (Gonnor) de CREPON (936? - 1031?)
| \ | OR: prob. not Gunnora DENMARK + ====> [ 255 ,gc,t,&]
| \ -- poss. Cynthia of OBATRIDES + ====> [ 255 ,,x,&]
/ | or: poss. Cyrid of SWEDEN
/ -- Richard (Count) de EVREUX (Rouen 986 - 1067)
/ \ -- Havlive (Herleva; or Gunnois) of NORMANDY
- Agnes d' EVEREUX (EVEREUX; d' EVREUX)
\ / -- Sunyer (Suniario) of BESALU + ====> [ 255 ,,mx,&]
| / -- Borell II (Count) of BARCELONA (946? - 992)
| / \ -- Richilde de ROUERGUE (ROUERGES) + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,mY,&]
| / -- Raymond Borrell (I; III) BERENGAR (972 - 1019)
| | \ / -- Raymond III (5th Count?) de TOULOUSE + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,ptm,&]
| | | / | (skip this generation?)
| | \ -- poss. Luitgarde de TOULOUSE (952? - 977+)
| | \ | OR: poss. Luitgarde de TOULOUSE [alt ped] + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,ptmY,&]
| / \ -- poss. Adelaide (Aelips) `Blanche' d' ANJOU (skip?) + ====> [ 255 ,c,&]
\ -- poss. Adelaide (Adela Adele) of BARCELONA
\ | or: prob. Godehildis (Gotelina)
| / -- Arnold I of CONSERANS + ====> [ 255 ,,xY,&]
| / -- Roger I de COMMINGES (935? - 1019?)
| | \ -- Arsenda (Heiress) de CARCASSONNE + ====> [ 255 ,c,mY,&]
| / | OR: Arsinde de ROUERGUE + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,mY,&]
\ -- Ermesinde de CARCASSONNE (972 - 1058)
\ / -- poss. father of Baldwin de PONS (skip?)
\ -- Adelaide de ROUERGUE (949? - 1011+)
\ | OR: Adelaide de MELGUEIL [alt ped] + ====> [ 255 ,,x,&]
\ -- prob. (Miss) de ROUERGUE + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,ptmY,&]
| (skip this generation?)


Her Grandchildren: Cecile de FRANCE ; Foulques (Fulk) V (9th Count) de ANJOU ; Florent de FRANCE ; Agnes d' Evreux de MONTFORT ; Simon III (II; Baron; de) MONTFORT ; Simon II (III) de MONTFORT

[ Start ]
FabPed Genealogy Vers. 86 © Jamie, 1997-2018

Agnes de Montfort formerly Evreux aka d'Evreux
Born 1041 in âEvreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France
ANCESTORS ancestors
Daughter of Richard (Evreux) d'Evreux and Godeheut (Barcelona) d'Evreux
Sister of Adelisa (Toeni) FitzOsbern [half], Radulph (Toeni) de Tony [half], Eliant Eliance (de Toeni) Toeni [half], Guillaume (Evreux) d'Evreux [half], Helbert Elbert (de Toeni) Toeni [half], Gazon (de Toeni) Toeni [half] and Unknown (de Toeni) Toeni [half]
Wife of Simon (Montfort) de Montfort — married about 1064 [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of Richard (Montfort) de Montfort, Amauri (Montfort) de Montfort, Simon Montfort, Bertrade I de Montfort, Simon (Montfort) de Montfort and Amauri (Montfort) de Montfort
Died about 1087 in âEvreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France
Profile manager: Rev Daniel Washburn Jones private message [send private message]
Profile last modified 26 Mar 2019 | Created 12 Sep 2010
This page has been accessed 6,246 times.
European Aristocracy
Agnes (Evreux) de Montfort was a member of aristocracy in Europe.
Join: European Royals and Aristocrats Project
Discuss: EUROARISTO
This person is the subject of a page on the website of Baldwin and Farmerie concerning the ancestry of Henry II.[1]

Stewart Baldwin describes her as "sister and heiress of her brother count William of âEvreux, Agnes brought the county of âEvreux into the possession of the Montfort family." Her father was Richard, count of âEvreux, and because Agnes was uterine sister of Ralph de Tosny, son of Roger de Tosny who died about 1040, Baldwin says Godehilde must be the name of her mother.

Sources
Wikipedia
? http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/agnes000.htm
Normandy, nobility

end of profile

Waldron married Helena Normandie(Normandy, France). Helena (daughter of Richard Normandie) was born in ~1053 in Manche, Normandie, France; died in ~1080. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Hastings, England
• Military: Victor over the English in the Battle of Hastings, 1066
• Burial: 10 Sep 1087, St. Stephen Abbey, Caen, Calvados, France

Notes:

William I the Conqueror of England and Normandy, Duke of Normandy, King of England, was born 9 September 1027 in Falaise, France to Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) and Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050) and died 1087 in Rouen, France of unspecified causes. He married Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083) 1051 JL . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

William I, King of England, Duke of Normandy was a mediµval monarch. He ruled as the Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and as King of England from 1066 to 1087. As Duke of Normandy, William was known as William II, and, as King of England, as William I. He is commonly refered to as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquâerant) or William the Bastard (Guillaume le Bãatard).

The name "William the Bastard", a name used by his enemies arose from the fact that his mother was a Tanner's daughter who agreed to be his father Robert II's mistress. She demanded that their relationship not be secret, and had a position in court. After the affair was over, she married a Viscount. William retained the favour of his father and when Robert II left for the Holy Land, he forced his lords to pledge fealty to William. Robert II never returned from the Holy land and the oath was quickly forgotten, and intrigue surrounded the boy Duke. William's guardian Gilbert of Brionne was murdered, as was his tutor, as was his uncle Osbern- killed while protecting William from kidnappers found in his bedroom. William was sent away from home for his protection, and it was common practice for William's uncle Walter to awaken him in the night to move him to a new location.

By age fifteen, William was knighted, and by twenty he went to war against his cousin Guy of Normandy to defend his title of Duke of Normandy. With the help of King Henri I of France, he subdued his enemies who were forced to swear allegiance to William.

William asked for the hand of Matilda, daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders, but Matilda would have none of it. Purportedly, she was in love with the English ambassador to Flanders, a Saxon named Brihtric, who declined her advances. As for William, she told his emissary that she was far too high-born (being descended from King Alfred the Great of England) to consider marrying a bastard. When that was repeated to him, William, all of 5'10", rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse (some said by her long braids), threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants, and then rode off. Another version states that William rode to Matilda's father's house in Lille, threw her to the ground in her room (again, by the braids), and hit her (or violently shook her) before leaving.

William convinced Matilda to relent, but the pope opposed the marriage because they were distant cousins. For a period of time all of Normandy was excommunicated along with their duke because William disregarded the pope's advice and married Matilda. In return for the construction of two abbeys, the excommunication of Normandy was lifted.

In 1051, William visited his cousin Edward the Confessor, king of England. Edward was childless, and William's account is that the king made him his heir. According to supporters of William, Edward sent his brother in law Harold Godwinson to see William in 1063. Other accounts say that Harold was shipwrecked. All accounts agree that William refused to let Harold depart until he swore on holy relics that he would uphold William's claim to the throne of England, and agreed to marry his daughter (then an infant) Agatha. After winning his release, Harold reneged on both promises.

In support of his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts| in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.

His reign brought Norman culture to England, which had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. In addition to political changes, his reign also saw changes to English law, a programme of building and fortification, changes in the English language and the introduction of continental European feudalism into England.

For additional details beyond William's family history, see more here.

Residence at Falaise
In Falaise France, is a series of statues that pays tribute to the six Norman Dukes from Rollo to William Conqueror. The castle here was the principal residence of the Norman Knights.

Chãateau Guillaume-le-Conquâerant Place Guillaume le Conquâerant / 14700 Falaise / Tel: 02 31 41 61 44

History of Norman Dukes
Homepage - Falaise Castle of William the Conqueror - In French.


Children

Offspring of William I of England and Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Robert III, Duke of Normandy (c1051-1134) 1051 (Normandy) 10 February 1134 (Cardiff Castle+ Glamorganshire+ Wales) Sybilla of Conversano (-1103)

Richard of Normandy (c1054) 1054 Normandy 1081 New Forest, Hampshire
Adeliza of Normandy (c1055) 1055 Normandy 1065
Cecilia of Normandy (c1055) 1055 Normandy, France 30 July 1126 Caen, Calvados, France
William II of England (c1056-1100) 1056 Normandy, France 2 August 1100 New Forest, England, United Kingdom
Adela of Normandy (c1062) 1062 Normandy, France 8 March 1138 Marcigny, Saãone-et-Loire, France Stephen II, Count of Blois (c1045-1102)

Agatha of Normandy (c1064) 1064 1079
Constance of Normandy (c1066-1090) 1066 1090 Alain Fergent de Bretagne (c1060-1119)

Henry I of England (1068-1135) 13 June 1068 Selby, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom 1 December 1135 St. Denis-le-Fermont near Gisors, Picardy, Lyons-la-Forãet, Eure, France Ansfrid (1070-?)
Matilda of Scotland (c1080-1118)
Sybil Corbet (1077-?)
Edith
Gieva de Tracy
Nest ferch Rhys (c1073-aft1136)
Isabel de Beaumont
Adeliza of Leuven (1103-1151)



Common ancestors of William I of England (1027-1087) and Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)

Fulk II, Count of Anjou (?-958)
Gerberge of Maine (?-?)
Noteworthy descendants include

Henry II of England (1133-1189)
William I of England (1027-1087)

Footnotes (including sources)
‡ General
wikipedia:en:William the Conqueror
Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, London, 1973 , Reference: 193, 310

end of biography

Click here to view William the Conqueror's biography... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_England

Click here to read about the historic Norman Conquest by William ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Conquest

Click here to view his 9-generation pedigree ... http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/ahnentafel.php?personID=I3527&tree=00&parentset=0&generations=9


William the Conqueror is the 26th & 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)

end of comment

Click this link to view lots of pictures of William I & a video from the, "Bayeux Tapestry"; http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/William_I_of_England_(1027-1087)/pictures

How Did the Normans Change England?

The Normans were more than just the people who conquered England.

They were dynamic and passionate people who changed English history forever.

Apr 10, 2023 • By Greg Beyer, BA History and Linguistics, Diploma in Journalism ... https://www.thecollector.com/how-did-the-normans-change-england/

Residence:
Victor over the English in the Battle of 1066

Military:
a seminal moment in English history...

Died:
at the Priory of St. Gervase...

Buried:
The Abbey of Saint-âEtienne, also known as Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey"), is a former Benedictine monastery in the French city of Caen, Normandy, dedicated to Saint Stephen. It was founded in 1063[1] by William the Conqueror and is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Normandy.

Photos, history & source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_Saint-%C3%89tienne,_Caen

William married Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England in 1053 in Normandie, France. Matilda was born about 1031 in Flanders, Belgium; died on 2 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, Normandie, France; was buried in Abbaye aux Dames, Caen, Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _HEIG: 5' 0"

Notes:

Matilda of Flanders (French: Mathilde; Dutch: Machteld) (c. 1031 – 2 November 1083) was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy by marriage to William the Conqueror, and sometime Regent of these realms during his absence. She was the mother of ten children who survived to adulthood, including two kings, William II and Henry I.

As a niece and granddaughter of kings of France, Matilda was of grander birth than William, who was illegitimate, and, according to some suspiciously romantic tales, she initially refused his proposal on this account. Her descent from the Anglo-Saxon royal House of Wessex was also to become a useful card. Like many royal marriages of the period, it breached the rules of consanguinity, then at their most restrictive (to seven generations or degrees of relatedness); Matilda and William were third-cousins, once removed. She was about 20 when they married in 1051/2; William was four years older,24, and had been Duke of Normandy since he was about eight (in 1035).

The marriage appears to have been successful, and William is not recorded to have had any bastards. Matilda was about 35, and had already produced most of her children, when William embarked on the Norman conquest of England, sailing in his flagship Mora, which Matilda had given him. She governed the Duchy of Normandy in his absence, joining him in England only after more than a year, and subsequently returning to Normandy, where she spent most of the remainder of her life, while William was mostly in his new kingdom. She was about 52 when she died in Normandy in 1083.

Apart from governing Normandy and supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, Matilda took a close interest in the education of her children, who were unusually well educated for contemporary royalty. The boys were tutored by the Italian Lanfranc, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, while the girls learned Latin in Sainte-Trinitâe Abbey in Caen, founded by William and Matilda as part of the papal dispensation allowing their marriage.

Marriage

Matilda, or Maud, was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and Adela, herself daughter of King Robert II of France.[1]

According to legend, when the Norman duke William the Bastard (later called the Conqueror) sent his representative to ask for Matilda's hand in marriage, she told the representative that she was far too high-born to consider marrying a bastard.[a] After hearing this response, William rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse by her long braids, threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants and rode off.

Another version of the story states that William rode to Matilda's father's house in Lille, threw her to the ground in her room (again, by her braids) and hit her (or violently battered her) before leaving. Naturally, Baldwin took offence at this; but, before they could draw swords, Matilda settled the matter[2] by refusing to marry anyone but William;[3] even a papal ban by Pope Leo IX at the Council of Reims on the grounds of consanguinity did not dissuade her. William and Matilda were married after a delay in c.?1051–2.[4] A papal dispensation was finally awarded in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II.[5] Lanfranc, at the time prior of Bec Abbey, negotiated the arrangement in Rome and it came only after William and Matilda agreed to found two churches as penance.[6]

Rumored romances

There were rumours that Matilda had been in love variously with the English ambassador to Flanders and with the great Saxon thegn Brictric, son of Algar, who (according to the account by the Continuator of Wace and others[7]) in his youth declined her advances. Whatever the truth of the matter, years later when she was acting as regent for her husband William in England, she is said to have used her authority to confiscate Brictric's lands and throw him into prison, where he died.[8]

Duchess of Normandy

When William was preparing to invade England, Matilda outfitted a ship, the Mora, out of her own funds and gave it to him.[9] Additionally, William gave Normandy to his wife during his absence. Matilda successfully guided the duchy through this period in the name of her fourteen-year-old son; no major uprisings or unrest occurred.[10]

Even after William conquered England and became its king, it took her more than a year to visit the kingdom.[11] Despite having been crowned queen, she spent most of her time in Normandy, governing the duchy, supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, and sponsoring ecclesiastic houses there. Only one of her children was born in England; Henry was born in Yorkshire when Matilda accompanied her husband in the Harrying of the North.[12]

Queen

Statue of Matilda of Flanders, one of the twenty Reines de France et Femmes illustres in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, by Carle Elshoecht (1850)

Tomb of Matilda of Flanders at Abbaye aux Dames, Caen

Tomb of William of Normandy at Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen
Matilda was crowned queen on 11 May 1068 in Westminster during the feast of Pentecost, in a ceremony presided over by the archbishop of York. Three new phrases were incorporated to cement the importance of English consorts, stating that the Queen was divinely placed by God, shares in royal power, and blesses her people by her power and virtue.[13][14]

For many years it was thought that she had some involvement in the creation of the Bayeux Tapestry (commonly called La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde in French), but historians no longer believe that; it seems to have been commissioned by William's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and made by English artists in Kent.[15]

Matilda bore William nine or ten children. He was believed to have been faithful to her and never produced a child outside their marriage. Despite her royal duties, Matilda was deeply invested in her children's well-being. All were known for being remarkably educated. Her daughters were educated and taught to read Latin at Sainte-Trinitâe in Caen founded by Matilda and William in response to the recognition of their marriage.[16] For her sons, she secured Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury of whom she was an ardent supporter. Both she and William approved of the Archbishop's desire to revitalise the Church.[17]

She stood as godmother for Matilda of Scotland, who would become Queen of England after marrying Matilda's son Henry I. During the christening, the baby pulled Queen Matilda's headdress down on top of herself, which was seen as an omen that the younger Matilda would be queen some day as well.[18]

Matilda fell ill during the summer of 1083 and died in November 1083. Her husband was present for her final confession.[19] William died four years later in 1087.

Contrary to the common belief that she was buried at St. Stephen's, also called l'Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen, Normandy, where William was eventually buried, she is entombed in Caen at l'Abbaye aux Dames, which is the community of Sainte-Trinitâe. Of particular interest is the 11th-century slab, a sleek black stone decorated with her epitaph, marking her grave at the rear of the church. In contrast, the grave marker for William's tomb was replaced as recently as the beginning of the 19th century.

Height

Over time Matilda's tomb was desecrated and her original coffin destroyed. Her remains were placed in a sealed box and reburied under the original black slab.[20] In 1959 Matilda's incomplete skeleton was examined and her femur and tibia were measured to determine her height using anthropometric methods. Her height was 5 feet (1.52m), a normal height for the time.[21] However, as a result of this examination she was misreported as being 4 feet 2 inches (1.27m)[22] leading to the myth that she was extremely small.

Family and children

Matilda and William had four sons and at least five daughters.[23] The birth order of the boys is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.[23]

Robert, born between 1051 and 1054, died 10 February 1134.[24] Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano.[25]
Richard, born c. 1054, died around 1075.[24]
William Rufus, born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100.[24] King of England, killed in the New Forest.
Henry, born late 1068, died 1 December 1135.[24] King of England, married Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain.[26]
Agatha, betrothed to Harold II of England, Alfonso VI of Castile, and possibly Herbert I, Count of Maine, but died unmarried.[b][27]
Adeliza (or Adelida,[28] Adelaide[26]), died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England, probably a nun of St Lâeger at Prâeaux.[28]
Cecilia (or Cecily), born c. 1056, died 1127. Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.[27]
Matilda,[28] "daughter of the King", born around 1061, died perhaps about 1086,[26] or else much later (according to Trevor Foulds's suggestion that she was identical to Matilda d'Aincourt[29]).
Constance, died 1090, married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany.[27]
Adela, died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois.[27] Mother of King Stephen of England.
There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.[30]

William was furious when he discovered she sent large sums of money to their exiled son Robert.[31] She effected a truce between them at Easter 1080.

Buried:
(or Sainte Trinitâe) for women which was founded by Matilda around four years later (1063)...

Notes:

Married:
The problem has been and maybe still is that William the Conqueror and Matilda (dau. of Baldwin V of Flanders & Adelaide of France) had relatively great difficulty is obtaining a papal dispensation for their marriage. It was not immediately obvious that there was any impediment that needed a dispensation. This problem of what the relationship between Matilda and William was that required a dispensation generated a vigorous debate earlier this century. Weis or Weis's source (as you report it) goes for a theory that makes Matilda and William cousins of sorts.

Richard married Godeheut Barcelona in 1038. Godeheut was born in ~1000 in Eure, Normandy; died after 1077 in Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mauger married Germaine Corbell. Germaine was born in ~0978 in Marne, Champagne, France; died in ~1012. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert I the Magnificent of Normandy, Duke of Normany, was born 1000 in Normandy, France to Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027) and Judith of Brittany (982-1017) and died 22 July 1035 in Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey of unspecified causes. Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

Robert, called "The Magnificent" (French, "le Magnifique") for his love of finery, and also called "The Devil" was the son of Duke Richard II of Normandy and Judith, daughter of Conan I, Duke of Brittany.

When his father died, his elder brother Richard succeeded, whilst he became Count of Hiâemois. When Richard died a year later, there were great suspicions that Robert had Richard murdered, hence his other nickname, "Robert le diable" (the devil). He is sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil. Robert aided King Henry I of France against Henry's rebellious brother and mother, and for his help he was given the territory of the Vexin. He also intervened in the affairs of Flanders, supported Edward the Confessor, who was then in exile at Robert's court, and sponsored monastic reform in Normandy.



Children

Offspring of Robert I of Normandy and Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Name Birth Death Joined with
William I of England (1027-1087) 9 September 1027 Falaise, France 1087 Rouen, France Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)

Robert married Harriette de Falaise, Countess of Montaigne. Harriette was born in 1003 in Falaise, Calvados, Normandie, France; died in ~1050 in Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Herleva[a] (c. 1003 – c. 1050) was a Norman woman of the 11th century, known for three sons: William I of England "the Conqueror", an illegitimate son fathered by Robert I, Duke of Normandy; and Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who were both fathered by her husband Herluin de Conteville. All three became prominent in William's realm.

Life

The background of Herleva and the circumstances of William's birth are shrouded in mystery. The written evidence dates from a generation or two later, and is not entirely consistent, but of all the Norman chroniclers only the Tours chronicler asserts that William's parents were subsequently joined in marriage.[b] The most commonly accepted version says that she was the daughter of a tanner named Fulbert from the town of Falaise, in Normandy. The meaning of filia pelletarii burgensis[6] is somewhat uncertain, and Fulbert may instead have been a furrier, embalmer, apothecary, or a person who laid out corpses for burial.[7]

Some argue that Herleva's father was not a tanner but rather a member of the burgher class.[8] The idea is supported by the appearance of her brothers in a later document as attestors for an under-age William. Also, the Count of Flanders later accepted Herleva as a proper guardian for his own daughter. Both of these would be nearly impossible if Herleva's father was a tanner, which would place his standing as little more than a peasant.

Orderic Vitalis described Herleva's father Fulbert as the Duke's Chamberlain (cubicularii ducis).[9]
Relationship with Robert the Magnificent

According to one legend, it all started when Robert, the young Duke of Normandy, saw Herleva from the roof of his castle tower.[10] The walkway on the roof still looks down on the dyeing trenches cut into stone in the courtyard below, which can be seen to this day from the tower ramparts above. The traditional way of dyeing leather or garments was to trample barefoot on the garments which were awash in the liquid dye in these trenches. Herleva, legend goes, seeing the Duke on his ramparts above, raised her skirts perhaps a bit more than necessary in order to attract the Duke's eye.[10] The latter was immediately smitten and ordered her brought in (as was customary for any woman that caught the Duke's eye) through the back door. Herleva refused, saying she would only enter the Duke's castle on horseback through the front gate, and not as an ordinary commoner. The Duke, filled with lust, could only agree. In a few days, Herleva, dressed in the finest her father could provide, and sitting on a white horse, rode proudly through the front gate, her head held high.[10][11] This gave Herleva a semi-official status as the Duke's concubine.[12] She later gave birth to his son, William, in 1027 or 1028.[13]

Some historians suggest Herleva was first the mistress of Gilbert of Brionne with whom she had a son, Richard. It was Gilbert who first saw Herleva and elevated her position and then Robert took her for his mistress.[14]
Marriage to Herluin de Conteville

Herleva later married Herluin de Conteville in 1031. Some accounts maintain that Robert always loved her, but the gap in their social status made marriage impossible, so, to give her a good life, he married her off to one of his favourite noblemen.[15]

Another source suggests that Herleva did not marry Herluin until after Robert died, because there is no record of Robert entering another relationship, whereas Herluin married another woman, Fredesendis, by the time he founded the abbey of Grestain.[16]

From her marriage to Herluin she had two sons: Odo, who later became Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert, who became Count of Mortain. Both became prominent during William's reign. They also had at least two daughters: Emma, who married Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches, and a daughter of unknown name who married William, lord of la Fertâe-Macâe.[17]
Death

According to Robert of Torigni, Herleva was buried at the abbey of Grestain, which was founded by Herluin and their son Robert around 1050. This would put Herleva in her forties around the time of her death. However, David C. Douglas suggests that Herleva probably died before Herluin founded the abbey because her name does not appear on the list of benefactors, whereas the name of Herluin's second wife, Fredesendis, does.[18]

end of biography

Notes:

Robert "Archbishop of Rouen, Comte d'Evreux" Normandie
Born [date unknown] in Normandie, France
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of Richard (Normandie) de Normandie and Gunnora (Crâepon) de Normandie
Brother of Unknown (of Normandy) Normandie, Unknown (Normandy) de St. Sauveur [half], Godfrey (Brionne) de Brionne [half], Richard (Normandie) de Normandie, Muriella (Normandie) de Hauteville [half], Guillaume (Normandie) d'Eu [half], Matilda (Normandy) de Normandie, Mauger (Normandie) de Corbeil, Hawise (Normandie) de Normandie, Beatrix (Normandie) Turenne [half], Emma (Normandie) of England, Fressenda (Normandie) de Hauteville [half] and Papia (Normandie) de St Valâery [half]
Husband of Herleva (UNKNOWN) d'Evreux — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Raoul (d'âEvreux) Evreux, Gautier (de Rouen) de Rosmar, Richard (Evreux) d'Evreux and Guillaume (de Evreux) Evreux
Died 16 Mar 1037 in Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, France
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Categories: House of Normandie.

European Aristocracy
Robert Normandie was a member of aristocracy in Europe.
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Robert Normandie is a member of the House of Normandie.
Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Marriage
1.2 Religion
1.3 Surname
2 Sources
Biography
Robert (d. 1037), Comte d'Evreux.[1][2][3]

Robert, born before 989, the son of Richard I and his second wife Gunnora, was named the Comte d'âEvreux. He was the Archbishop of Rouen from 989 to 1037.[2]

Marriage
He married Herleve (Havlive).[4] Her orignis are unknown.[2] They had 3 children:[5]

Richard d'âEvreux (d. 1067) Comte d'âEvreux[2]
Raoul (d1051), Seigneur de Gacâe[2]
Guillaume d'âEvreux[2]
Gautier (Walter) de Rosmar[6]
Religion
c. 989-1037: Archbishop of Rouen.[1]
Surname
"DEVEREAUX originally d'Evreux (of Normandy) is found in Ireland after the Conquest via settlers of co. Wexford."[7]

Sources
? 1.0 1.1 Baldwin, n.d.
? 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Cawley, 2006
? 1. Tab. Souv. Gen., France 22, Tab. 48
? clerical marriages were not forbidden in Normandy until 1064.
? Cawley (2006); Wikipedia
? Walter is mentioned as the son of Robert and Herlave in:
Massan de St. Amand, A. (1813). Essais historiques et anecdotiques sur l'ancien comtâe, les comtes et la ville d'Evreux. Google Books.[1]
He is not named as a son by Wikipedia, Baldwin (n.d.) or Cawley (2006).
? see Geni.com for copy.[2]
See also:

Baldwin, S. (n.d.). "Robert, archbishop of Rouen and count of âEvreux." Henry Project. Web.[3]
Cawley, C. (2006). Medieval Lands v.4. Fmg.ac. Web.[4]
Wikipedia: Robert II (archbishop of Rouen)

end of profile

Robert married Havlive of Normandy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Richard II of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, was born 23 August 963 in Normandy, France to Richard I, Duke of Normandy (933-996) and Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy (c936-1031) and died 28 August 1027 in Normandy, France of unspecified causes. He married Judith of Brittany (982-1017) 996 JL . He married Papia of Envermeu . Ancestors are from France.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany (982-1017)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Estrid of Normandy (1001)

William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Papia of Envermeu
Name Birth Death Joined with
Mauger de Rouen (c1019-c1055) 1019 1055
Guillaume de Talou (c1022-aft1054) 1022 1054 Beatrice de Ponthieu (c1035-c1082)

Noteworthy descendants include

Henry II of England (1133-1189)
William I of England (1027-1087)
Namesakes of Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)

Richard married Papia Envermeu in 1017-1026 in (Normandy, France). Papia was born in 997 in (Normandy, France); died after 1047. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Richard II of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, was born 23 August 963 in Normandy, France to Richard I, Duke of Normandy (933-996) and Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy (c936-1031) and died 28 August 1027 in Normandy, France of unspecified causes. He married Judith of Brittany (982-1017) 996 JL . He married Papia of Envermeu . Ancestors are from France.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany (982-1017)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Estrid of Normandy (1001)

William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Papia of Envermeu
Name Birth Death Joined with
Mauger de Rouen (c1019-c1055) 1019 1055
Guillaume de Talou (c1022-aft1054) 1022 1054 Beatrice de Ponthieu (c1035-c1082)

Noteworthy descendants include

Henry II of England (1133-1189)
William I of England (1027-1087)
Namesakes of Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)

Richard married Judith de Bretagne in ~1000. Judith (daughter of Conan of Rennes, I, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou) was born in 982 in Rennes, France; died in 1017 in Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Judith of Brittany was born 982 to Conan I of Rennes (927-992) and Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) and died 1017 of unspecified causes. She married Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027) 996 JL . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]
Judith is a 10th generation descendant of Charlemagne (747-814) through her mother. There are two disputed lines (through her father and her maternal grandfather) that place her in generations 9.



Children

Offspring of Judith of Brittany and Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Estrid of Normandy (1001)

William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

Noteworthy descendants include

Henry II of England (1133-1189)
William I of England (1027-1087)

Notes:

Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: Richard Sans-Peur; Old Norse: Jarl Richart), was the Count of Rouen or Jarl of Rouen from 942 to 996.[1] Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write the "De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum" (Latin, "On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy"), called him a Dux. However, this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's renowned leadership in war, and not as a reference to a title of nobility.[2][3] Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, most important Norman landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.[4]


Birth
Richard was born to William Longsword, princeps (chieftain or ruler)[5] of Normandy, and Sprota.[1] His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a more danico marriage.[6] He was also the grandson of the famous Rollo. William was told of the birth of a son after the battle with Riouf and other Viking rebels, but his existence was kept secret until a few years later when William Longsword first met his son Richard. After kissing the boy and declaring him his heir, William sent Richard to be raised in Bayeux.[7] Richard was about ten years old when his father was killed on 17 December 942.[1] After William was killed, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller. Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.[8]

Life
With the death of Richard's father in 942, King Louis IV of France installed the boy, Richard, in his father's office. Under the influence of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders the King took him into Frankish territory[9]:32–4 and placing him in the custody of the count of Ponthieu before the King reneged and seized the lands of the Duchy of Normandy.[10] He then split up the Duchy, giving its lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis IV thereafter kept Richard in close confinement at Lãaon,[11] but the youth escaped from imprisonment[9]:36–7 with assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Belláesme, and Bernard the Dane[12] (ancestor to the families of Harcourt and Beaumont).[a]

In 946, at the age of 14, Richard allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders in France and with men sent by King Harold of Denmark. A battle was fought after which Louis IV was captured. Hostages were taken and held until King Louis recognised Richard as Duke, returning Normandy to him.[9]:37–41 Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, the Count of Paris, Hugh resolved to form a permanent alliance with Richard and promised his daughter Emma, who was just a child, as a bride, the marriage would take place in 960.[9]:41–2

Louis IV working with Arnulf I, Count of Flanders persuaded Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor to attack Richard and Hugh. The combined armies of Otto, Arnulf and Louis IV were driven from the gates of Rouen, fleeing to Amiens and being decisively defeated in 947.[9]:41–2[13] A period of peace ensued, Louis IV dying in 954, 13 year old Lothair becoming King. The middle aged Hugh appointed Richard as guardian of his 15-year-old son, Hugh Capet in 955.[9]:44

In 962, Theobald I, Count of Blois, attempted a renewed invasion of Rouen, Richard's stronghold, but his troops were summarily routed by Normans under Richard's command, and forced to retreat before ever having crossed the Seine river.[14][15] Lothair, the king of the West Franks, was fearful that Richard's retaliation could destabilize a large part of West Francia so he stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.[16] In 987 Hugh Capet became King of the Franks.

For the last 30 years until his death in 996 in Fâecamp, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and its petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm and reunited the Normans, forging the reclaimed Duchy of his father and grandfather into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[17]

Richard was succeeded in November 996 by his 33-year-old son, Richard II, Duke of Normandy.

Relationships with France, England and the Church
Richard used marriage to build strong alliances. His marriage to Emma of Paris connected him directly to the House of Capet. His second wife, Gunnora, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters formed the core group that were to provide loyal followers to him and his successors.[18]

His daughters forged valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.[18] Emma marrying firstly ¥thelred the Unready and after his death in 1016, the invader, Cnut the Great. Her children included three English kings, Edward the Confessor, Alfred Aetheling and with Cnut, Harthacnut so completing a major link between the Duke of Normandy and the Crown of England that would add validity to the claim by the future William the Conqueror to the throne of England.

Richard also built on his relationship with the church, undertaking acts of piety,[19]:lv restoring their lands and ensuring the great monasteries flourished in Normandy. His further reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.[18][20]

Marriages

Richard & his children
His first marriage in 960 was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France,[1][21] and Hedwig von Sachsen.[21] They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.[1]

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 enamored with the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she was a virtuous woman and suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Viking descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimize their children:[b]

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[1]
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux[1]
Mauger, Count of Corbeil[1]
Emma of Normandy, wife of two kings of England[1]
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[1]
Hawise of Normandy m. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[1]
Papia of Normandy
Orielda (963-1031) wife of Fulk Seigneur de Guernanville, Dean of Evreax [22][23]
Illegitimate children

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

Geoffrey, Count of Eu[1][24]
William, Count of Eu (ca. 972-26 January 1057/58),[24] m. Lasceline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057/58).
Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne[1] (d.1030 (divorced)
Possible children
Muriella, married Tancred de Hauteville[1][25][26]
Fressenda or Fredesenda (ca. 995-ca. 1057), second wife of Tancred de Hauteville.[1][26][27]
Guimara (Wimarc(a)) (b. circa 986), died Abbey of Montivilliers, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, wife of Ansfred (Ansfroi) II "le Dane" le Goz, vicomte of Exmes and Falaise, mother of Robert FitzWimarc[28]
Death
Richard died of natural causes in Fecamp, France, on 20 November 996.[29]

Depictions in fiction
The Little Duke, a Victorian juvenile novel by Charlotte Mary Yonge, is a fictionalized account of Richard's boyhood and early struggles.

Count of Rouen
Reign 17 December 942 – 20 November 996
Predecessor William Longsword
Successor Richard II
Born 28 August 932
Fâecamp Normandy, France
Died 20 November 996 (aged 64)
Fâecamp Normandy, France
Spouse Emma of Paris
Gunnor
Issue Richard II of Normandy
Robert II (Archbishop of Rouen)
Mauger, Count of Corbeil
Robert Danus
Willam?
Emma of Normandy
Maud of Normandy
Hawise of Normandy
Geoffrey, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
William, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
Beatrice of Normandy (illegitimate)
Robert (illegitimate)
Papia (illegitimate)
House House of Normandy
Father William I Longsword
Mother Sprota

end of biography

Richard married Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy. Gonor (daughter of Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark and Gunhild von Denmark) was born in 936-941 in Rouen, France; died on 5 Jan 1031 in Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Gunnora (or Gunnor) (circa 936 – 5 Jan 1031) was a Duchess of Normandy and the wife of Richard I of Normandy.

Life

The names of Gunnora's parents are unknown, but Robert of Torigni wrote that her father was a forester from the Pays de Caux and according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin she was of noble Danish origin.[2] Gunnora was probably born c.? 950.[3] Her family held sway in western Normandy and Gunnora herself was said to be very wealthy.[4] Her marriage to Richard I was of great political importance, both to her husband[b] and her progeny.[5] Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, was progenitor of a great Norman family.[4] Her sisters and nieces[c] married some of the most important nobles in Normandy.[6]

Robert of Torigni recounts a story of how Richard met Gunnora.[7] She was living with her sister Seinfreda, the wife of a local forester, when Richard, hunting nearby, heard of the beauty of the forester's wife. He is said to have ordered Seinfreda to come to his bed, but the lady substituted her unmarried sister, Gunnora. Richard, it is said, was pleased that by this subterfuge he had been saved from committing adultery and together they had three sons and three daughters.[d][8] Unlike other territorial rulers, the Normans recognized marriage by cohabitation or more danico. But when Richard was prevented from nominating their son Robert to be Archbishop of Rouen, the two were married, "according to the Christian custom", making their children legitimate in the eyes of the church.[8]

Gunnora attested ducal charters up into the 1020s, was skilled in languages and was said to have had an excellent memory.[9] She was one of the most important sources of information on Norman history for Dudo of St. Quentin.[10] As Richard's widow she is mentioned accompanying her sons on numerous occasions.[9] That her husband depended on her is shown in the couple's charters where she is variously regent of Normandy, a mediator and judge, and in the typical role of a medieval aristocratic mother, an arbitrator between her husband and their oldest son Richard II.[9]

Gunnora was a founder and supporter of Coutances Cathedral and laid its first stone.[11] In one of her own charters after Richard's death she gave two alods to the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, namely Britavilla and Domjean, given to her by her husband in dower, which she gave for the soul of her husband, and the weal of her own soul and that of her sons "count Richard, archbishop Robert, and others..."[12] She also attested a charter, c.?1024–26, to that same abbey by her son, Richard II, shown as Gonnor matris comitis (mother of the count).[13] Gunnora, both as wife and countess,[e] was able to use her influence to see her kin favored, and several of the most prominent Anglo-Norman families on both sides of the English Channel are descended from her, her sisters and nieces.[9] Gunnora died c.?1031.[3]

Family

Richard and Gunnora were parents to several children:

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[14]
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux, died 1037[14]
Mauger, Count of Corbeil[14]
Emma of Normandy (c.?985–1052), married first to ¥thelred, King of England and secondly Cnut the Great, King of England.[14]
Hawise of Normandy, wife of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[14]
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[14]

end of biography

Notes:

Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: Richard Sans-Peur; Old Norse: Jarl Richart), was the Count of Rouen or Jarl of Rouen from 942 to 996.[1] Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write the "De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum" (Latin, "On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy"), called him a Dux. However, this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's renowned leadership in war, and not as a reference to a title of nobility.[2][3] Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, most important Norman landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.[4]


Birth
Richard was born to William Longsword, princeps (chieftain or ruler)[5] of Normandy, and Sprota.[1] His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a more danico marriage.[6] He was also the grandson of the famous Rollo. William was told of the birth of a son after the battle with Riouf and other Viking rebels, but his existence was kept secret until a few years later when William Longsword first met his son Richard. After kissing the boy and declaring him his heir, William sent Richard to be raised in Bayeux.[7] Richard was about ten years old when his father was killed on 17 December 942.[1] After William was killed, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller. Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.[8]

Life
With the death of Richard's father in 942, King Louis IV of France installed the boy, Richard, in his father's office. Under the influence of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders the King took him into Frankish territory[9]:32–4 and placing him in the custody of the count of Ponthieu before the King reneged and seized the lands of the Duchy of Normandy.[10] He then split up the Duchy, giving its lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis IV thereafter kept Richard in close confinement at Lãaon,[11] but the youth escaped from imprisonment[9]:36–7 with assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Belláesme, and Bernard the Dane[12] (ancestor to the families of Harcourt and Beaumont).[a]

In 946, at the age of 14, Richard allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders in France and with men sent by King Harold of Denmark. A battle was fought after which Louis IV was captured. Hostages were taken and held until King Louis recognised Richard as Duke, returning Normandy to him.[9]:37–41 Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, the Count of Paris, Hugh resolved to form a permanent alliance with Richard and promised his daughter Emma, who was just a child, as a bride, the marriage would take place in 960.[9]:41–2

Louis IV working with Arnulf I, Count of Flanders persuaded Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor to attack Richard and Hugh. The combined armies of Otto, Arnulf and Louis IV were driven from the gates of Rouen, fleeing to Amiens and being decisively defeated in 947.[9]:41–2[13] A period of peace ensued, Louis IV dying in 954, 13 year old Lothair becoming King. The middle aged Hugh appointed Richard as guardian of his 15-year-old son, Hugh Capet in 955.[9]:44

In 962, Theobald I, Count of Blois, attempted a renewed invasion of Rouen, Richard's stronghold, but his troops were summarily routed by Normans under Richard's command, and forced to retreat before ever having crossed the Seine river.[14][15] Lothair, the king of the West Franks, was fearful that Richard's retaliation could destabilize a large part of West Francia so he stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.[16] In 987 Hugh Capet became King of the Franks.

For the last 30 years until his death in 996 in Fâecamp, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and its petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm and reunited the Normans, forging the reclaimed Duchy of his father and grandfather into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[17]

Richard was succeeded in November 996 by his 33-year-old son, Richard II, Duke of Normandy.

Relationships with France, England and the Church
Richard used marriage to build strong alliances. His marriage to Emma of Paris connected him directly to the House of Capet. His second wife, Gunnora, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters formed the core group that were to provide loyal followers to him and his successors.[18]

His daughters forged valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.[18] Emma marrying firstly ¥thelred the Unready and after his death in 1016, the invader, Cnut the Great. Her children included three English kings, Edward the Confessor, Alfred Aetheling and with Cnut, Harthacnut so completing a major link between the Duke of Normandy and the Crown of England that would add validity to the claim by the future William the Conqueror to the throne of England.

Richard also built on his relationship with the church, undertaking acts of piety,[19]:lv restoring their lands and ensuring the great monasteries flourished in Normandy. His further reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.[18][20]

Marriages

Richard & his children
His first marriage in 960 was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France,[1][21] and Hedwig von Sachsen.[21] They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.[1]

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 enamored with the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she was a virtuous woman and suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Viking descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimize their children:[b]

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[1]
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux[1]
Mauger, Count of Corbeil[1]
Emma of Normandy, wife of two kings of England[1]
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[1]
Hawise of Normandy m. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[1]
Papia of Normandy
Orielda (963-1031) wife of Fulk Seigneur de Guernanville, Dean of Evreax [22][23]
Illegitimate children

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

Geoffrey, Count of Eu[1][24]
William, Count of Eu (ca. 972-26 January 1057/58),[24] m. Lasceline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057/58).
Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne[1] (d.1030 (divorced)
Possible children
Muriella, married Tancred de Hauteville[1][25][26]
Fressenda or Fredesenda (ca. 995-ca. 1057), second wife of Tancred de Hauteville.[1][26][27]
Guimara (Wimarc(a)) (b. circa 986), died Abbey of Montivilliers, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, wife of Ansfred (Ansfroi) II "le Dane" le Goz, vicomte of Exmes and Falaise, mother of Robert FitzWimarc[28]
Death
Richard died of natural causes in Fecamp, France, on 20 November 996.[29]

Depictions in fiction
The Little Duke, a Victorian juvenile novel by Charlotte Mary Yonge, is a fictionalized account of Richard's boyhood and early struggles.

Count of Rouen
Reign 17 December 942 – 20 November 996
Predecessor William Longsword
Successor Richard II
Born 28 August 932
Fâecamp Normandy, France
Died 20 November 996 (aged 64)
Fâecamp Normandy, France
Spouse Emma of Paris
Gunnor
Issue Richard II of Normandy
Robert II (Archbishop of Rouen)
Mauger, Count of Corbeil
Robert Danus
Willam?
Emma of Normandy
Maud of Normandy
Hawise of Normandy
Geoffrey, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
William, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
Beatrice of Normandy (illegitimate)
Robert (illegitimate)
Papia (illegitimate)
House House of Normandy
Father William I Longsword
Mother Sprota

end of biography

Richard married Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy. Gonor (daughter of Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark and Gunhild von Denmark) was born in 936-941 in Rouen, France; died on 5 Jan 1031 in Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Gunnora (or Gunnor) (circa 936 – 5 Jan 1031) was a Duchess of Normandy and the wife of Richard I of Normandy.

Life

The names of Gunnora's parents are unknown, but Robert of Torigni wrote that her father was a forester from the Pays de Caux and according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin she was of noble Danish origin.[2] Gunnora was probably born c.? 950.[3] Her family held sway in western Normandy and Gunnora herself was said to be very wealthy.[4] Her marriage to Richard I was of great political importance, both to her husband[b] and her progeny.[5] Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, was progenitor of a great Norman family.[4] Her sisters and nieces[c] married some of the most important nobles in Normandy.[6]

Robert of Torigni recounts a story of how Richard met Gunnora.[7] She was living with her sister Seinfreda, the wife of a local forester, when Richard, hunting nearby, heard of the beauty of the forester's wife. He is said to have ordered Seinfreda to come to his bed, but the lady substituted her unmarried sister, Gunnora. Richard, it is said, was pleased that by this subterfuge he had been saved from committing adultery and together they had three sons and three daughters.[d][8] Unlike other territorial rulers, the Normans recognized marriage by cohabitation or more danico. But when Richard was prevented from nominating their son Robert to be Archbishop of Rouen, the two were married, "according to the Christian custom", making their children legitimate in the eyes of the church.[8]

Gunnora attested ducal charters up into the 1020s, was skilled in languages and was said to have had an excellent memory.[9] She was one of the most important sources of information on Norman history for Dudo of St. Quentin.[10] As Richard's widow she is mentioned accompanying her sons on numerous occasions.[9] That her husband depended on her is shown in the couple's charters where she is variously regent of Normandy, a mediator and judge, and in the typical role of a medieval aristocratic mother, an arbitrator between her husband and their oldest son Richard II.[9]

Gunnora was a founder and supporter of Coutances Cathedral and laid its first stone.[11] In one of her own charters after Richard's death she gave two alods to the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, namely Britavilla and Domjean, given to her by her husband in dower, which she gave for the soul of her husband, and the weal of her own soul and that of her sons "count Richard, archbishop Robert, and others..."[12] She also attested a charter, c.?1024–26, to that same abbey by her son, Richard II, shown as Gonnor matris comitis (mother of the count).[13] Gunnora, both as wife and countess,[e] was able to use her influence to see her kin favored, and several of the most prominent Anglo-Norman families on both sides of the English Channel are descended from her, her sisters and nieces.[9] Gunnora died c.?1031.[3]

Family

Richard and Gunnora were parents to several children:

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[14]
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux, died 1037[14]
Mauger, Count of Corbeil[14]
Emma of Normandy (c.?985–1052), married first to ¥thelred, King of England and secondly Cnut the Great, King of England.[14]
Hawise of Normandy, wife of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[14]
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[14]

end of biography

Notes:

Conan I le Tort of Rennes, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany, was born 927 to Judicael Berengar (-bef979) and died 27 June 992 at the Battle of Conquereuil of unspecified causes. He married Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) .

Conan may have married his second cousin once removed: Herbert I, Count of Vermandois (c848-907) may have been his great-grandfather and was his wife's great-great-grandfather.

Conan married Ermengarde of Anjou. Ermengarde (daughter of Geoffrey of Anjou and Adele of Meaux) was born before 967 in (Anjou, France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William Longsword (French: Guillaume Longue-âEpâee, Latin: Willermus Longa Spata, Old Norse: Vilhjâalmr Langaspjâot; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.[1]

He is sometimes anachronistically dubbed "Duke of Normandy", even though the title duke (dux) did not come into common usage until the 11th century.[2] Longsword was known at the time by the title Count (Latin comes) of Rouen.[3][4] Flodoard—always detailed about titles—consistently referred to both Rollo and his son William as principes (chieftains) of the Norse.[5]

Birth

William Longsword was born "overseas"[a][6] to the Viking Rollo (while he was still a pagan) and his Christian wife Poppa of Bayeux.[7][8] Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his panegyric of the Norman dukes describes Poppa as the daughter of a Count Beranger, the dominant prince of that region.[9] In the 11th century Annales Rouennaises (Annals of Rouen), she is called the daughter of Guy, Count of Senlis,[10] otherwise unknown to history.[b] Despite the uncertainty of her parentage she was undoubtedly a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[11] According to the Longsword's planctus, he was baptized a Christian probably at the same time as his father,[12] which Orderic Vitalis stated was in 912, by Franco, Archbishop of Rouen.[13]

Life

Longsword succeeded Rollo (who would continue to live for about another 5 years) in 927[14] and, early in his reign, faced a rebellion from Normans[15] who felt he had become too Gallicised and too soft.[16] According to Orderic Vitalis, the leader was Riouf of Evreux,[16][17][18] who was besieging Longsword in Rouen. Sallying forth, Longsword won a decisive battle, proving his authority to be Duke.[19]:25-6 At the time of this 933 rebellion Longsword sent his pregnant wife by custom, Sprota, to Fâecamp where their son Richard was born.[20]

In 933 Longsword recognized Raoul as King of Western Francia, who was struggling to assert his authority in Northern France. In turn Raoul gave him lordship over much of the lands of the Bretons including Avranches, the Cotentin Peninsula and the Channel Islands.[21][22][23]:lii The Bretons did not agree to these changes and resistance to the Normans was led by Alan Wrybeard, Duke of Brittany and Count Berenger of Rennes but ended shortly with great slaughter and Breton castles being razed to the ground,[19]:24 Alan fleeing to England and Beranger seeking reconciliation.[24]

In 935, Longsword married Luitgarde,[1] daughter of Count Herbert II of Vermandois whose dowry gave him the lands of Longueville, Coudres and Illiers l'Eveque.[18] Longsword also contracted a marriage between his sister Adela (Gerloc was her Norse name) and William, Count of Poitou with the approval of Hugh the Great.[25] In addition to supporting King Raoul, he was now a loyal ally of his father-in-law, Herbert II, both of whom his father Rollo had opposed.[26] In January 936 King Raoul died and the 16 year old Louis IV, who was living in exile in England, was persuaded by a promise of loyalty by Longsword, to return and became King. The Bretons returned to recover the lands taken by the Normans, resulting in fighting in the expanded Norman lands.[23]:lii


The funerary monument of William Longsword in the cathedral of Rouen, France. The monument is from the 14th century.
The new King was not capable of controlling his Barons and after Longsword's brother in law, Herluin II, Count of Montreuil, was attacked by Flanders, Longsword went to their assistance in 939,[19]:28-9 Arnulf I, Count of Flanders retaliated by attacking Normandy. Arnulf captured the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer expelling Herluin. Herluin and Longsword cooperated to retake the castle.[27][28] Longsword was excommunicated for his actions in attacking and destroying several estates belonging to Arnulf.[29]

Longsword pledged his loyalty to King Louis IV when they met in 940 and, in return, he was confirmed in lands that had been given to his father, Rollo.[30] [23]:liii In 941 a peace treaty was signed between the Bretons and Normans, brokered in Rouen by King Louis IV which limited the Norman expansion into Breton lands.[23]:liii The following year, on 17 December 942 at Picquigny on an island on the Somme, Longsword was ambushed and killed by followers of Arnulf while at a peace conference to settle their differences.[18][28] Longsword's son, Richard becoming the next Duke of Normandy.

Family
Longsword had no children with his wife Luitgarde.[31] He fathered his son, Richard the Fearless, with Sprota [c] who was a Breton captive and his concubine.[32] Richard, then aged 10, succeeded him as Duke of Normandy in December 942.[31]

end of biography

William married Sprota. Sprota was born in 0911 in Bretagne, France; died in 0940. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Fecamp, Normandie, France

Notes:

Sprota was the name of a Breton captive who William I, Duke of Normandy took as a wife in the Viking fashion (more danico)[1][2] and by her had a son, Richard I, Duke of Normandy. After the death of her husband William, she became the wife of Esperleng and mother of Rodulf of Ivry.[3][4][5]

Life

The first mention of her is by Flodoard of Reims and although he doesn't name her he identifies her under the year [943] as the mother of "William’s son [Richard] born of a Breton concubine".[6] Her Breton origins could mean she was of Breton, Scandinavian, or Frankish origin, the latter being the most likely based on her name spelling.[7] Elisabeth van Houts wrote "on this reference rests the identification of Sprota, William Longsword’s wife 'according to the Danish custom', as of Breton origin".[8] The first to provide her name was William of Jumiáeges.[9][10] The irregular nature (as per the Church) of her relationship with William served as the basis for her son by him being the subject of ridicule, the French King Louis "abused the boy with bitter insults", calling him "the son of a whore who had seduced another woman's husband."[11][12]

At the time of the birth of her first son Richard, she was living in her own household at Bayeux, under William's protection.[4] William, having just quashed a rebellion at Prâe-de Bataille (c.936),[a] received the news by a messenger that Sprota had just given birth to a son; delighted at the news William ordered his son to be baptized and given the personal name of Richard.[10] William's steward Boto became the boy's godfather.[13]

After the death of William Longsword and the captivity of her son Richard, she had been 'collected' from her dangerous situation by the 'immensely wealthy' Esperleng.[3] Robert of Torigni identified Sprota's second husband[b] as Esperleng, a wealthy landowner who operated mills at Pãitres.[4][14]

Harold married Gunhild von Denmark in ~935 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Gunhild was born in ~0920 in Copenhagen, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William Longsword (French: Guillaume Longue-âEpâee, Latin: Willermus Longa Spata, Old Norse: Vilhjâalmr Langaspjâot; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.[1]

He is sometimes anachronistically dubbed "Duke of Normandy", even though the title duke (dux) did not come into common usage until the 11th century.[2] Longsword was known at the time by the title Count (Latin comes) of Rouen.[3][4] Flodoard—always detailed about titles—consistently referred to both Rollo and his son William as principes (chieftains) of the Norse.[5]

Birth

William Longsword was born "overseas"[a][6] to the Viking Rollo (while he was still a pagan) and his Christian wife Poppa of Bayeux.[7][8] Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his panegyric of the Norman dukes describes Poppa as the daughter of a Count Beranger, the dominant prince of that region.[9] In the 11th century Annales Rouennaises (Annals of Rouen), she is called the daughter of Guy, Count of Senlis,[10] otherwise unknown to history.[b] Despite the uncertainty of her parentage she was undoubtedly a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[11] According to the Longsword's planctus, he was baptized a Christian probably at the same time as his father,[12] which Orderic Vitalis stated was in 912, by Franco, Archbishop of Rouen.[13]

Life

Longsword succeeded Rollo (who would continue to live for about another 5 years) in 927[14] and, early in his reign, faced a rebellion from Normans[15] who felt he had become too Gallicised and too soft.[16] According to Orderic Vitalis, the leader was Riouf of Evreux,[16][17][18] who was besieging Longsword in Rouen. Sallying forth, Longsword won a decisive battle, proving his authority to be Duke.[19]:25-6 At the time of this 933 rebellion Longsword sent his pregnant wife by custom, Sprota, to Fâecamp where their son Richard was born.[20]

In 933 Longsword recognized Raoul as King of Western Francia, who was struggling to assert his authority in Northern France. In turn Raoul gave him lordship over much of the lands of the Bretons including Avranches, the Cotentin Peninsula and the Channel Islands.[21][22][23]:lii The Bretons did not agree to these changes and resistance to the Normans was led by Alan Wrybeard, Duke of Brittany and Count Berenger of Rennes but ended shortly with great slaughter and Breton castles being razed to the ground,[19]:24 Alan fleeing to England and Beranger seeking reconciliation.[24]

In 935, Longsword married Luitgarde,[1] daughter of Count Herbert II of Vermandois whose dowry gave him the lands of Longueville, Coudres and Illiers l'Eveque.[18] Longsword also contracted a marriage between his sister Adela (Gerloc was her Norse name) and William, Count of Poitou with the approval of Hugh the Great.[25] In addition to supporting King Raoul, he was now a loyal ally of his father-in-law, Herbert II, both of whom his father Rollo had opposed.[26] In January 936 King Raoul died and the 16 year old Louis IV, who was living in exile in England, was persuaded by a promise of loyalty by Longsword, to return and became King. The Bretons returned to recover the lands taken by the Normans, resulting in fighting in the expanded Norman lands.[23]:lii


The funerary monument of William Longsword in the cathedral of Rouen, France. The monument is from the 14th century.
The new King was not capable of controlling his Barons and after Longsword's brother in law, Herluin II, Count of Montreuil, was attacked by Flanders, Longsword went to their assistance in 939,[19]:28-9 Arnulf I, Count of Flanders retaliated by attacking Normandy. Arnulf captured the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer expelling Herluin. Herluin and Longsword cooperated to retake the castle.[27][28] Longsword was excommunicated for his actions in attacking and destroying several estates belonging to Arnulf.[29]

Longsword pledged his loyalty to King Louis IV when they met in 940 and, in return, he was confirmed in lands that had been given to his father, Rollo.[30] [23]:liii In 941 a peace treaty was signed between the Bretons and Normans, brokered in Rouen by King Louis IV which limited the Norman expansion into Breton lands.[23]:liii The following year, on 17 December 942 at Picquigny on an island on the Somme, Longsword was ambushed and killed by followers of Arnulf while at a peace conference to settle their differences.[18][28] Longsword's son, Richard becoming the next Duke of Normandy.

Family
Longsword had no children with his wife Luitgarde.[31] He fathered his son, Richard the Fearless, with Sprota [c] who was a Breton captive and his concubine.[32] Richard, then aged 10, succeeded him as Duke of Normandy in December 942.[31]

end of biography

William married Sprota. Sprota was born in 0911 in Bretagne, France; died in 0940. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Fecamp, Normandie, France

Notes:

Sprota was the name of a Breton captive who William I, Duke of Normandy took as a wife in the Viking fashion (more danico)[1][2] and by her had a son, Richard I, Duke of Normandy. After the death of her husband William, she became the wife of Esperleng and mother of Rodulf of Ivry.[3][4][5]

Life

The first mention of her is by Flodoard of Reims and although he doesn't name her he identifies her under the year [943] as the mother of "William’s son [Richard] born of a Breton concubine".[6] Her Breton origins could mean she was of Breton, Scandinavian, or Frankish origin, the latter being the most likely based on her name spelling.[7] Elisabeth van Houts wrote "on this reference rests the identification of Sprota, William Longsword’s wife 'according to the Danish custom', as of Breton origin".[8] The first to provide her name was William of Jumiáeges.[9][10] The irregular nature (as per the Church) of her relationship with William served as the basis for her son by him being the subject of ridicule, the French King Louis "abused the boy with bitter insults", calling him "the son of a whore who had seduced another woman's husband."[11][12]

At the time of the birth of her first son Richard, she was living in her own household at Bayeux, under William's protection.[4] William, having just quashed a rebellion at Prâe-de Bataille (c.936),[a] received the news by a messenger that Sprota had just given birth to a son; delighted at the news William ordered his son to be baptized and given the personal name of Richard.[10] William's steward Boto became the boy's godfather.[13]

After the death of William Longsword and the captivity of her son Richard, she had been 'collected' from her dangerous situation by the 'immensely wealthy' Esperleng.[3] Robert of Torigni identified Sprota's second husband[b] as Esperleng, a wealthy landowner who operated mills at Pãitres.[4][14]

Harold married Gunhild von Denmark in ~935 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Gunhild was born in ~0920 in Copenhagen, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Geoffrey married Adele of Meaux. Adele (daughter of Robert De Vermandois, Count of Meaux and Adelaide-Werra de Chaton) was born in ~950 in Meaux, France; died in ~980. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Adele Carolingian of Meaux was born 950 to Robert de Vermandois (918-968) and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) and died 980 of unspecified causes. She married Lambert de Chalon (930-979) . She married Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

The French Wikipedia has her first husband marry her mother,[1] which is unlikely, given her age. The same source has her a daughter Gerberge marry King Adalberto of Italy. This would make Adele a grandmother at the age of 12. However, in the reconstruction shown here, Adele is married to two men at once, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage born around 972 and her eldest daughter from her second marriage born around 965.

Note that Genealogie Quebec merges her with her sister.[2]



Children

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Hugh I de Chalon (?-1039)
Mahaut de Chalon (?-1019) Henri I de Bourgogne (c948-1002)
Geoffroi de Semur (?-c990)

Aelis of Chalon (?-?) Guy I de Macon (975-1006)

Elizabeth de Chalon (970-1014)

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Gottfried of Anjou (?-987) 987
Fulk III, Count of Anjou (972-1040) 972 21 June 1040 Metz, France âElisabeth de Vendãome (c979-999)
Hildegarde de Beaugency (c990-)

Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) 967 Conan I of Rennes (927-992)

Gerberge of Anjou (965-1041) 965 1041 Guillaume III Taillefer of Angoulãeme (960-1028)
^ wikipedia:fr:Lambert de Chalon
^ http://genealogiequebec.info/testphp/info.php?no=23981

Noteworthy descendants include

William I of England (1027-1087)

Notes:

Rollo or Gaange Rolf[1] (Norman: Rou; Old Norse: Hrâolfr; French: Rollon; c. 846 – c. 930 AD) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, a region of France. He is sometimes called the 1st Duke of Normandy. His Scandinavian name Rolf was extended to Gaange Rolf because he as an adult became too heavy for a horse to carry, therefore he had to walk ("gaa" in older Dano-Norwegian). Rollo emerged as the outstanding personality among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine. Charles the Simple, the king of West Francia, ceded them lands between the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, and provide the Franks with protection against future Viking raids.[2]

Rollo is first recorded as the leader of these Viking settlers in a charter of 918, and he continued to reign over the region of Normandy until at least 928. He was succeeded by his son, William Longsword in the Duchy of Normandy that he had founded.[3] The offspring of Rollo and his followers became known as the Normans. After the Norman conquest of England and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily over the following two centuries, their descendants came to rule Norman England (the House of Normandy), the Kingdom of Sicily (the Kings of Sicily) as well as the Principality of Antioch from the 10th to 12th century, leaving behind an enduring legacy in the historical developments of Europe and the Near East.[4]

Name

The name Rollo is generally presumed to be a latinisation of the Old Norse name Hrâolfr – a theory that is supported by the rendition of Hrâolfr as Roluo in the Gesta Danorum. It is also sometimes suggested that Rollo may be a Latinised version of another Norse name, Hrollaugr.[5]

Rollo is generally identified with one Viking in particular – a man of high social status mentioned in Icelandic sagas, which refer to him by the Old Norse name Gèongu-Hrâolfr, meaning "Hrâolfr the Walker". (Gèongu-Hrâolfr is also widely known by an Old Danish variant, Ganger-Hrolf.) The byname "Walker" is usually understood to suggest that Rollo was so physically imposing that he could not be carried by a horse and was obliged to travel on foot. Norman and other French sources do not use the name Hrâolfr, and the identification of Rollo with Gèongu-Hrâolfr is based upon similarities between circumstances and actions ascribed to both figures.[citation needed]

The 10th-century Norman historian Dudo records that Rollo took the baptismal name Robert.[6] A variant spelling, Roul, is used in the 12th-century Norman French Roman de la Rou, which was compiled by Wace and commissioned by King Henry II of England (a descendant of Rollo).[citation needed]

Origins and historiography
Rollo was born in the latter half of the 9th century; his place of birth is unknown.

The earliest well-attested historical event associated with Rollo is his leadership of Vikings who besieged Paris in 885–886.[7]

Perhaps the earliest known source to mention Rollo's early life is the French chronicler Richer of Reims, who claims (in the 10th century) that Rollo was the son of a Viking named Ketill.[8] In terms of onomastics, it is interesting that Richer also names – without explicitly linking him to Rollo – a man named Ketill as being the leader of subsequent Viking raids (in 888), against areas on the coast of West Francia, between the Seine and the Loire.

Medieval sources contradict each other regarding whether Rollo's family was Norwegian or Danish in origin. In part, this disparity may result from the indifferent and interchangeable usage in Europe, at the time, of terms such as "Vikings", "Northmen", "Danes", "Norwegians" and so on (in the Medieval Latin texts Dani vel Nortmanni means "Danes or Northmen").

A biography of Rollo, written by the cleric Dudo of Saint-Quentin in the late 10th Century, claimed that Rollo was from Denmark. One of Rollo's great-grandsons and a contemporary of Dudo was known as Robert the Dane. However, Dudo's Historia Normannorum (or Libri III de moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum) was commissioned by Rollo's grandson, Richard I of Normandy and – while Dudo likely had access to family members and/or other people with a living memory of Rollo – this fact must be weighed against the text's potential biases, as an official biography. According to Dudo, an unnamed king of Denmark was antagonistic to Rollo's family, including his father – an unnamed Danish nobleman – and Rollo's brother Gurim. Following the death of Rollo and Gurim's father, Gurim was killed and Rollo was forced to leave Denmark.[9] Dudo appears to have been the main source for William of Jumiáeges (after 1066) and Orderic Vitalis (early 12th century), although both include additional details.[10]

A Norwegian background for Rollo was first explicitly claimed by Goffredo Malaterra (Geoffrey Malaterra), an 11th-century Benedictine monk and historian, who wrote: "Rollo sailed boldly from Norway with his fleet to the Christian coast."[11] Likewise, the 12th-century English historian William of Malmesbury stated that Rollo was "born of noble lineage among the Norwegians".[12]

A chronicler named Benoãit (probably Benoãit de Sainte-More) wrote in the mid-12th Century Chronique des ducs de Normandie that Rollo had been born in a town named "Fasge". This has since been variously interpreted as referring to Faxe, in Sjµlland (Denmark), Fauske, in Hêalogaland (Norway), or perhaps a more obscure settlement that has since been abandoned or renamed. Benoãit also repeated the claim that Rollo had been persecuted by a local ruler and had fled from there to "Scanza island", by which Benoãit probably means Scania (Swedish Skêane). While Faxe was physically much closer to Scania, the mountainous scenery of "Fasge", described by Benoãit, would seem to be more like Fauske.

The claim that Rollo was the brother of a King of Norway, Harald Finehair was made by an anonymous 12th-century Welsh author, in The Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan.[13]

Rollo was first explicitly identified with Hrâolf the Walker (Norse Gèongu-Hrâolfr; Danish Ganger-Hrâolf) by the 13th-century Icelandic sagas, Heimskringla and Orkneyinga Saga. Hrâolf the Walker was so named because he "was so big that no horse could carry him".[14] The Icelandic sources claim that Hrâolfr was born in M²re, western Norway, in the late 9th century and that his parents were the Norwegian jarl Rognvald Eysteinsson ("Rognvald the Wise") and a noblewoman from M²re named Hildr Hrâolfsdâottir. However, these claims were made three centuries after the history commissioned by Rollo's own grandson.

There may be circumstantial evidence for kinship between Rollo and his historical contemporary, Ketill Flatnose, King of the Isles – a Norse realm centred on the Western Isles of Scotland. If, as Richer suggested, Rollo's father was also named Ketill and as Dudo suggested, Rollo had a brother named Gurim, such names are onomastic evidence for a family connection: Icelandic sources name Ketill Flatnose's father as Bjèorn Grâimsson,[15] and "Grim" – the implied name of Ketill Flatnose's paternal grandfather – was likely cognate with Gurim. In addition, both Irish and Icelandic sources suggest that Rollo, as a young man, visited or lived in Scotland, where he had a daughter named Cadlinar (Kaºlâin; Kathleen).[16][17] Moreover, Ketill Flatnose's ancestors were said to have come from M²re – Rollo's ancestral home in the Icelandic sources. However, Ketill was a common name in Norse societies,[18] as were names like Gurim and Grim. It is also possible that the later sources were attempting to suggest an otherwise undocumented link between the historical figures of Rollo and Ketill Flatnose, by way of little-known, possibly apocryphal figures like Grim, Gurim and the Ketill said to be Rollo's father.[citation needed]

Biography

Statue of Rollo in Rouen. There are two bronze replicas of this statue: one at êAlesund (Norway) and the other one at Fargo, North Dakota (United States)
Dudo tells us that Rollo seized Rouen in 876. He is supported by the contemporary chronicler Flodoard, who records that Robert of the Breton March waged a campaign against the Vikings, who nearly levelled Rouen and other settlements; eventually, he conceded "certain coastal provinces" to them.[19]

According to Dudo, Rollo struck up a friendship in England with a king that Dudo calls Alstem. This has puzzled many historians, but recently the puzzle has been resolved by recognition that this refers to Guthrum, the Danish leader whom Alfred the Great baptised with the baptismal name Athelstan, and then recognised as king of the East Angles in 880.[20]

Dudo records that when Rollo took Bayeux by force, he carried off with him the beautiful Popa or Poppa, a daughter of Berenger, Count of Rennes, took her in marriage and with her had their son and Rollo's heir, William Longsword.[21]


Rollo's grave at the Cathedral of Rouen

There are few contemporary mentions of Rollo. The earliest record is from 918, in a charter of Charles III to an abbey, which referred to an earlier grant to "the Normans of the Seine", namely "Rollo and his associates" for "the protection of the kingdom." [22] Dudo retrospectively stated that this pact took place in 911 at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In return for formal recognition of the lands he possessed, Rollo agreed to be baptised and assist the king in the defence of the realm. Rollo took the baptismal name Robert. The seal of agreement was to be marriage between Rollo and Gisla, daughter of Charles. Dudo claims that Gisla was a legitimate daughter of Charles.[23] Since Charles first married in 907, that would mean that Gisla was at most 5 years old at the time of the treaty of 911 which offered her in marriage.[24] It has therefore been speculated that she could have been an illegitimate daughter.[25] However a diplomatic child betrothal need not be doubted.[26]

After pledging his fealty to Charles III as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, Rollo divided the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and settled with a de facto capital in Rouen.[27]

Charles was overthrown by a revolt in 923, and his successor, Robert I, was killed by the Vikings in 923. His successor, Ralph, conceded the Bessin and Maine to Rollo shortly afterwards, the chronicler Flodoard tells us.[28]

Rollo died sometime between a final mention of him by Flodoard in 928, and 933, the year in which a third grant of land, usually identified as being the Cotentin and Avranchin areas, was made to his son and successor William.[29]

Descendants

A genealogical chart of the Norman dynasty
Rollo's son and heir, William Longsword, and grandchild, Richard the Fearless, forged the Duchy of Normandy into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[30] The descendants of Rollo and his men assimilated with their maternal Frankish-Catholic culture and became known as the Normans, lending their name to the region of Normandy.

Rollo is the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, or William I of England. Through William, he is one of the ancestors of the present-day British royal family, as well as an ancestor of all current European monarchs and a great many claimants to abolished European thrones.

One daughter of Rollo, Gerloc (also known as Adele), who married William III, Duke of Aquitaine, was mentioned by Dudo. According to William of Jumiáeges, writing in the latter half of the 11th century, Gerloc's mother was named Poppa.[31]

According to the medieval Irish text An Banshenchas and Icelandic sources, another daughter, Cadlinar (Kaºlâin; Kathleen) was born in Scotland (probably to a Scots mother) and married an Irish prince named Beollâan mac Ciarmaic, later King of South Brega (Lagore). A daughter of Cadlinar and Beollâan named Nithbeorg was abducted by an Icelandic Viking named Helgi Ottarsson,[32][33] and became the mother of the poet Einarr Helgason and grandmother of Guºrâun Ósvâifrsdâottir (protagonist of the Laxdœla saga).

A genetic investigation into the remains of Rollo's grandson, Richard the Fearless, and his great-grandson, Richard the Good, was announced in 2011 with the intention of discerning the origins of the historic Viking leader.[34] On 29 February 2016 Norwegian researchers opened Richard the Good's tomb and found his lower jaw with eight teeth in it.[35] Unfortunately, the skeletal remains in both graves turned out to significantly predate Rollo and therefore are not related to him.[36]

Depictions in fiction

Rollo is the subject of the seventeenth-century play Rollo Duke of Normandy, written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

A character, broadly inspired by the historical Rollo but including many events before the real Rollo was born, played by Clive Standen, is Ragnar Lothbrok's brother in the History Channel television series Vikings.[37]

end of biography

Also known as Hrolf the Ganger or Rollon, 1st Duke of Normandy from 911 to 927, called also Rolf the Walker, because, being so tall, he preferred to go afoot rather than ride the little Norwegian horses. Also shown as Rollon, Row, or Robert. Originally a Norse Viking, he was noted for strength and martial prowess. In the reign of Charles II the Bald, he sailed up the Seine River and took Rouen, which he kept as a base of operations. He gained a number of victories over the Franks, and extorted the cession of the province since called Normandy.

By the famous treaty which Charles the Bald, http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I53974&tree=hennessee, and Rollo signed the latter agreed to adopt Christianity. He was born in 846 and died in 932, and was buried in the Cathedral at Rouen.
-------------------------------------------------------
From: http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/rollo000.htm

Commentary
Supposed father: Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re.

Supposed mother: Ragnhildr or Hildr.

The origin of Rollo is contraversial. There are several medieval sources which claim to give information about the origin of Rollo, the most widely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re by Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from the following brief notices, the various primary sources offer very contradictory information about Rollo's origin.

The earliest author to attribute an explicit origin to Rollo was Richer of Rheims, writing between 996 and 998, who called Rollo the son of another Viking invader of France named Catillus (presumably representing the Norse name Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138: 35)]. Since Catillus appears to be a legendary individual, this account has generally been discredited, probably correctly [see Douglas 420-1].

According to Dudo of St. Quentin (writing early 11th century), author of the earliest history of the Normans, Rollo had a younger brother named Gurim, presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo states that Rollo and Gurim were sons of a man who held many lands in "Dacia" (Dudo's word for Denmark, following other authors), and that after the death of the (unnamed) father of Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia fought against the sons, killing Gurim and driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp. 26-7)]. Dudo later refers to duke Richard I as being related to a "king of Dacia" named Haigrold [Dudo iv, 84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who must have been the Viking raider of France of that name [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 945, see PL 135: 463-4, van Houts 51], and not king Harald "Bluetooth" of Denmark. Note that Gurim cannot be the famous Gorm "the Old" of Denmark, who survived Rollo by many years.

William of Malmesbury (early 12th century) appears to be the earliest author to attribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5 (p. 125)].

As is well known, the Orkneyinga Saga (late twelfth century) [OrkS 4 (pp. 29-30)], followed by other Icelandic sources (such as the well known Heimskringla and Landnâamabâok), gives Rollo the name Hrâolfr, and make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re, and brother of (among others) jarl Torf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Earlier sources, such as Ari's Íslendingabâok (early to middle 12th century), mention Rognvald of M²re and his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, but not the supposed connection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61]. A poem allegedly written by Einar mentions his brothers, including a Hrâolfr, but does not connect Hrâolfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gorm among the brothers. (See the page on Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)

Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (ca. 1250), apparently a Welsh translation and/or revision of an earlier Latin life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, gives Haraldr Hâarfagri of Norway ("Harald Harfagyr") a brother named Rodulf (i.e., the Latin form of Hrâolfr) who is called the founder of Normandy [HGK, 3-4]. However, this is evidently a corrupt version of the Scandinavian version, and the suggestion that Rollo was a brother of Haraldr Hâarfagri need not be given any credence.

The most prominent argument of the case for accepting the Scandinavian account that Rollo was the same person as Hrâolfr, son of Rognvaldr of M²re, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 419-23], and those who accept this identification have generally followed the same arguments. On the other side, arguments against the identification were given by Viggo Starcke in his book Denmark in World History [Starcke 222-7].

Most of the argument of Douglas consists of accepting the tale of the sagas and rejecting evidence from the Norman sources which contradict the saga version, while explaining away the problems (on which more below). The evidence which Douglas puts forward as "a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf" concerns a passage in Landnâaamabâok that refers to a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr:

"... Annarr son Óttars vas Helge; hann herjaºe âa Skottland, ok feck ¤ar at herfange Niºbiorgo, dâottor Beolans konungs ok Caºlâinar, dâottor Gongo-Hrâolfs" (Another son of Óttarr was Helge. He harried in Scotland, and won there as his booty Niºbjorg, daughter of king Beolan and Caºlâin, daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr.) [OI 1: 66-7]

This passage, which Douglas attributed to "Ari the Learned" (who may or may not have been the author), is then compared with a passage from the nearly contemporary Plaintsong of Rollo's son William "Longsword" which was written soon after William's death:

"Hic in orbe transmarino natus patre
in errore paganorum permanente
matre quoque consignata alma fide
sacra fuit lotus unda"
(Born overseas from a father who stuck to the pagan error and from a mother who was devoted to the sweet religion, he was blessed with the holy chrism.)
[Douglas 422 (Latin); van Houts 41 (English translation)]

After explaining that the two stories are consistent with one another, Douglas then state that "[t]he suggestion of the Landnâamabâok is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century." While it is true that the two accounts as they stand are consistent with each other and with the claim that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man (ignoring all other evidence), it is surely a gross overstatement to claim that the Plaintsong "confirms" the other account, for there is not a single statement in the passage from Landnâamabâok that is confirmed by the Plaintsong. This is a clear case of circular reasoning, for without first assuming that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man, there is no evidence that the two passages have any relation whatsoever. Douglas's case is further undermined by the fact that another source [Laxdœla Saga chapter 32, see OI 1: 246] makes Niºbjorg's mother Caºlâin a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr, son of Oxna-´âorir, directly contradicting the thesis that Caºlâin was supposedly a granddaughter of Rognvaldr of M²re. Yet, Douglas apparently regarded this as the strongest part of his argument.

There are three main strands of evidence (somewhat related to each other) against the identification of Rollo with Hrâolfr son of Rognvaldr:

1. The discrepancies between the Norman and Icelandic sources.
Among other contradictions, the Norman sources give Rollo a brother named Gurim, while the Icelandic sources give Hrâolfr several brothers, none of them named Gormr (the presumed Old-Norse form for Gurim). Although both of the sources have their problems, earlier native sources would seem to have a higher priority than later foreign sources. While many elements of the Dudo's account are clearly legendary, there appears to be no clear motive on the part of Dudo (writing less than a century after Rollo's death) to invent a younger brother for Rollo who is then immediately killed off.

2. The general unreliability of Norse source for the early tenth century.
For the period under consideration, i.e., the early ninth century, the sagas have a poor record for reliability, even for Scandinavian history. For example, consider the following words of Peter Sawyer (written with regard to a different matter, but true in general), a well known expert on early Viking history: "... These sagas cannot, however, be accepted as reliable sources for the tenth century. The only trustworthy evidence for the tenth century in those sagas are the contemporary verses around which the saga writers wove their tales." [Sawyer 42] None of these verses confirm the identity of Rollo and Hrâolfr. The suspicion is made even larger by the fact that the Icelandic sources show no knowledge of Norman history other than the fact (well known throughout Europe at the time) that William the Conqueror was a descendant of the dukes of Normandy.

3. Rollo and Hrâolfr appear to be different names.
The natural Latinization of the name Hrâolfr would be Radulfus or Rodulfus. Yet, the Frankish and Norman sources consistently refer to the founder of Normandy as Rollo. Since these sources also include numerous individuals named Rodulfus, and consistently separate the two names, it appears that the names were regarded as different. Douglas explained this by suggesting a hypothetical hypochoristic form "Hrolle" of the name "Hroºwulf" as the basis for the name Rollo, and provides a single charter in which Rollo is referred to as "Rolphus" as evidence that the names were the same, acknowledging, however, that the charter itself was "not above suspicion." If the names were really regarded as the same, it would be expected that more convincing evidence to this effect could be offered.

Personally, I am inclined to believe that the identification of Hrâolfr and Rollo has no basis in fact, that it was likely to have been invented by a saga writer who wanted to give the jarls of Orkney some famous relatives (i.e., the kings of England), and that whatever the confusing Norman sources say are probably about the closest we are going to get to Rollo's origin. However, based on the surviving evidence, it is not possible to come to any definitive conclusion one way or the other, and Rollo's parentage should be listed as "unknown" unless further evidence becomes available.

Supposed second wife:

Gisla, said to be daughter of Charles the Simple, king of France [Dudo, 46-7, 53]. She is unknown in the Frankish sources. The fact that Charles the Simple's kinsman Charles the Fat had a daughter also named Gisla who married a Viking (Godefridus) in the ninth century has led to the natural suspicion that this Gisla is an invention based on the earlier woman of the name. If she existed at all, there is no reason to believe that she was a mother of any of Rollo's children.

Supposed additional child:

Caºlin (Kathleen), said by Norse sources to have married a certain king Beolan, who is otherwise unidentified. As discussed above, the evidence for her is less than satisfactory.

end of commentary

Rollo Ragnvaldsson
French: Robert Rognvalsson De Heidmark, Norwegian: Hrolf Ragnvaldsson, Norse, Old: Gange-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson
Also Known As: "Hrolf", "Rolf", "Rollo", "Gange-Rolv", "Gange-Rolf", "Gèongu-Hrâolfr", "le marcheur", "the walker", "the dane", "duke of normandy", "Rollo the Walker", "Viking", "Gange Rolf"
Birthdate: circa 860 (71)
Death: 931 (67-75)
Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France
Place of Burial: Rouen, Haute-Normandie, France
Immediate Family:
Son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re and Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir, of More
Husband of Poppa of Bayeux and Gisáele
Partner of Kaºlin's mother
Father of William "Longsword"; Adáele of Normandy and Kaºlin
Brother of Gutum Ragnvaldson
Half brother of Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hallad Ragnvaldsson Orkneyjarl, .; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl and Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèorºur, Íslands
Occupation: Duc de Normandie, Comte de Rouen, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy (911 - 932), duc de Normandie, Earl of Normandy, Viking chief, Count of Normandy, 'Agongah-woekh' Aeuello (Rollo Rognvaldsson), First Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy 1st, Norse Viking
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated: October 12, 2017

About Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' of Normandy
http://www.friesian.com/flanders.htm#norman

http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00020055&tree=LEO

Duke of Normandy was the title given to the rulers of the Duchy of Normandy in northwestern France, which has its origins as the County of Rouen, a fief created in 911 by King Charles III "the Simple" of France for Rollo, a Norwegian nobleman and Viking leader of Northmen.

Gangu-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson, or Rollo de Normandie was a Norse nobleman and the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. The name "Rollo" is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from the Old Norse name Hrâolfr, modern Scandinavian name Rolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolfr into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Parents: Ragnvald Eysteinsson M²rejarl & Hild Nefja (uncertain, see below)
Spouses:
1. Poppa de Bayeux
Children:
Vilhjalm Langaspjâot (Guillaume Longue âEpâee)
Geirlaug (Gerloc) who later took the name Adela
2. Gisela de France (betrothal, no children)
According to Landnâama (The book of Settlers in Iceland, written in the 12th century), Rollo had a daughter named Kaºlâin (Kathlin or Cathlin) her mother is not named (Notes by Anna Petursdottir):

Kaºlin (Kathlin)
Kaºlâin is mentioned along with her father Rollo in chapter 33 in Landnâamabâok (The Book of Settlers) and her father, Rollo, and his brothers, also their father, Ragnvald are mentioned in chapert 82 : https://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm

BIG NEWS
French and Norwegian scientists within several fields go together in a project to extract DNA from the remains of Rollo's grandson and great grandson in Fâecamp. This might give us the final answer to Rollo's origin (Note from Anna Petursdottir: Provided that the remains that are being researched, are in fact the persons in question and also are legitimate grandsons of Rollo). Excavations are expected in July 2011, results sometime autumn 2011.

Links and Resources
Snorre's saga
Dudo's account (eng): http://the-orb.arlima.net/orb_done/dudo/dudindex.html
Store Norske Leksikon
MEDIEVAL LANDS
[ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi".

According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].

ROLLO ["Ganger" Hrolf], son of [RAGNVALD "the Wise" Jarl of Mèore in Norway & his wife Ragnhild ---] (-Rouen [928/33], bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[6]). The parentage of Rollo/Rolf is uncertain and the chronology of his life confused. Richer names "Rollone filio Catilli" as leader of the Vikings who raided along the Loire and against whom "Robertus Celticµ Galliµ dux" campaigned[7]. No further reference has been found to "Catillus/Ketel". Flodoard provides no information on Rollo´s ancestry. The early 12th century William of Malmesbury states that "Rollo…[was] born of noble lineage among the Norwegians, though obsolete from its extreme antiquity" and adds that he was "banished by the king´s command from his own country"[8]. The later Orkneyinga Saga is more specific, naming “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[9]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[10]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[11]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". Guillaume de Jumiáeges accords a Danish origin to Rollo, stating that his father "possâedant presque en totalitâe le royaume de Dacie, conquit en outre les territoires limitrophes de la Dacie et de l´Alanie" and left "deux fils…l´aãinâe Rollon et le plus jeune Gurim"[12]. He records that the king of Denmark defeated the two brothers and killed Gorm, and that Rollo fled the country, first landing in England, where he made peace with "le roi…Alstem"[13]. If this refers to ¥thelstan King of Wessex, the account must be confused given King ¥thelstan´s succession in 924. Freeman suggests that Guillaume de Jumiáeges must be referring to "Guthrum-¥thelstan of East-Anglia"[14], although this does not resolve the chronological problems assuming that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is correct in recording Guthrum´s death in 890[15]. After recording Rollo´s expeditions in Frisia, Guillaume de Jumiáeges states that Rollo landed at Jumiáeges after sailing up the Seine in 876[16], another suspect date which Houts suggests should be corrected to [900][17]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo defeated "Renaud duc de toute la France", captured "le chãateau de Meulan", defeated and killed Duke Renaud in another campaign, besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, and attacked Paris again while his other troops devastated Evreux where they killed "son âevãeque…Sibor"[18]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo attacked Chartres but withdrew after being defeated by "Richard duc de Bourgogne" and "Anselme l âevãeque"[19].

William of Malmesbury records that "Rollo…experienced a check at Chartres" but escaped the "plentiful slaughter" of the Vikings by the townspeople, before capturing Rouen "in 876"[20]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", that "les princes de cette province…Bâeranger et Alain" swore allegiance to Rollo, and that Rollo was baptised in 912 by "l´archâevãeque Francon", adopting the name ROBERT after "le duc Robert" who acted as his sponsor[21].

William of Malmesbury records that "it was determined by treaty, that [Rollo] should be baptised, and hold the country of the king as his lord"[22]. The charter which confirms the original grant (assuming that there was such a document) has not survived. However, the grant of land is inferred from a charter dated 14 Mar 918, under which land was donated to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes specifying that the donation excluded "that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[23]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that Normandy was an enfeofment for which the ruling duke owed allegiance, and the later dukes of Normandy, who claimed that it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed[24].

The version of events recorded by Flodoard provides a different slant and names two Viking leaders. Firstly, Flodoard records that in 923 "Ragenoldus princeps Nortmannorum" who occupied "in fluvio Ligeri" devastated "Franciam trans Isaram", that "Nortmanni" made peace in 924 "cum Francis", that King Raoul granted them "Cinomannis et Baiocµ" [Maine and Bayeux], but that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted the land between the Loire and the Seine[25]. This passage makes no mention of the supposed earlier grant of land along the shore. Secondly, the same source records that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted Burgundy in 925, that Hâeribert [II] Comte de Vermandois besieged Norman castles "super Sequanam", that "Nortmanni" devastated "pagum Belvacensem atque Ambianensem" [Beauvais and Amboise], while Comte Hâeribert and Arnoul Count of Flanders forced "Rollo princeps" from his strongholds[26]. Thirdly, Flodoard states that "Hugo filius Rotberti et Heribertus comes" campaigned against "Nortmannos" in 927, that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles at "castellum…Auga", and that "Rollo" held "filius Heriberti Odo" as a hostage in 928, which suggests some sort of alliance between Rollo and Comte Hâeribert[27]. William of Malmesbury records that Rollo died at Rouen[28]. The date of his death is uncertain: Flodoard names Rollo as living in 928 (see above) but the same source names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[29]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of Robert's body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[30], which would date the event to [1064]. He is known to history as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie], although no early source has been identified which refers to him by this name or title.

[m] [firstly] ---. The identity of Rollo´s first wife or concubine is not known.

m [secondly] ([886] or after, repudiated, remarried after 912) POPPA, daughter of BERENGAR Comte de Bayeux & his wife ---. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Rollo took "Popa, fille de Bâerenger, homme illustre" when he captured Bayeux and "s´unit avec elle, áa la maniáere des Danois"[31]. According to Orderic Vitalis, Rollo "stormed and captured Bayeux, slew its count Berengar and took to wife his daughter Poppa"[32]. In another passage, the same source records that Rollo besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, killed "Berengarium comitem" and married his daughter Popa, in 886[33], although this date appears early in light of the likely birth date range of the couple's son Guillaume. The Chronico Rotomagensis records that "mortua a Gisla, accepit Rollo propriam uxorem filiam comitis Silvanectensis Widonis"[34]. Robert of Torigny combines the information, recording that "Rollo dux Northmannorum" married "Popam prius repudiatam uxorem…filiam…Berengarii comitis Baiocensis neptem vero Widonis comitis Silvanectensis"[35]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after capturing Rouen, "Rodulfus" married the daughter of its deceased count by whom he was father of "Willelmum…Longosped"[36]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that "le comte Bernard" welcomed "son neveu Richard" (grandson of Rollo) at Senlis after his escape from captivity[37], although in another passage he describes how Rollo captured Bayeux and took "une tráes-noble jeune fille Popa, fille de Bâerenger" in the town, marrying her "áa la maniáere des Danois"[38], in a later passage adding that Rollo married Poppa, whom he had previously repudiated, a second time after the death of his wife[39]. It would be possible to reconcile the different versions if Comte Bernard's mother was married twice, her first husband being Bâerenger Comte de Bayeux.

m thirdly (912) GISELA, daughter of CHARLES III "le Simple" King of the West Franks & his first wife Frederuna --- ([908/16]-before her husband). The Genealogica Arnulfi Comitis names (in order) "Hyrmintrudim, Frederunam, Adelheidim, Gislam, Rotrudim et Hildegardim" as the children of "Karolus rex…ex Frederuna regina"[40]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", and their marriage which took place after Rollo´s baptism[41]. Her marriage is recorded in the Norman annals for 912, which state that she died without issue, presumably soon after the marriage when Gisla must still have been an infant. The chronicle of Dudo of Saint-Quentin[42] describes her as of "tall stature, most elegant…", which is of course inconsistent with her supposed birth date range. The Liber Modernorum Regum Francorum records the marriage of "filiam suam [=rex Karolus] nomine Gillam" to "Rollo"[43]. Settipani considers that the marriage did not occur, and that the Norman sources confused it with the marriage of Gisela, daughter of Lothaire II King of Lotharingia, to the Viking leader Gotfrid[44].

Rollo & his [first wife] had two children:

1. [KADLINE . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the Landnâama-Boc which records that "son of Oht-here…Helge" captured and married [her daughter] "Nidh-beorg, daughter of king Beolan and Cadh-lina, daughter of Walking-Rolf [Gongo-Hrâolfs]" when he "harried in Scotland", and also records their descendants[45]. No other record has been found of "king Beolan" and the accuracy of this report is unknown. m BEOLAN King [in Scotland].]

2. [NIEDERGA . Niederga is shown in Europèaische Stammtafeln[46] as the second daughter of Rollo by his first wife but the primary source on which this is based has not been identified.]

Robert & his [second] wife had two children:

3. GUILLAUME (Rouen [900/05]-murdered Pequigny 17 Dec 942, bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[47]). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa[48]. However, the Planctus for William Longsword[49], composed shortly after the murder of Guillaume, states that he had a Christian mother of overseas origin. Dudo of Saint-Quentin states that he was born in Rouen and, in a later passage, describes him as a "young man" one year before his father's death[50]. His father chose him as heir one year before his death[51]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that he was born before his father's marriage to Gisela and his remarriage with Popa after Gisela's death[52]. Flodoard records that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles III "le Simple" at "castellum…Auga" in 927[53]. He succeeded his father in [928/33] as GUILLAUME I "Longuespee" Comte [de Normandie]. Flodoard names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[54]. He quelled a rebellion by the Viking chief Riulf after the latter besieged Rouen[55]. In return for swearing allegiance to Raoul King of France, he appears to have been granted rights to further territory along the coast in 933, maybe the Cotentin and Avranchin. If this is correct, it would have created rivalry with the dukes of Brittany. Dudo of Saint-Quentin describes Comte Guillaume's invasion of Brittany shortly after his accession to quell a rebellion against him, and his defeat of the rebels at Bayeux[56]. Responding to raids by Comte Guillaume, Arnoul I Count of Flanders invaded Ponthieu and in 939 captured Montreuil from Herluin Comte de Ponthieu, although it was recaptured by Comte Guillaume's forces. In 939, Guillaume joined the alliance against Louis IV King of France which was led by Otto I "der GroÏe" King of Germany who raided Frankish territory. Comte Guillaume, however, met King Louis at Amiens, receiving a confirmation of the grant of his lands in Normandy. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume was tricked into a meeting on the river Seine at Pecquigny by Arnoul Count of Flanders to settle their dispute over the castle of Montreuil, but was murdered on Count Arnoul's orders, recording his death on 17 Dec[57]. The Annalibus Rotomagensibus record that "Willermus dux Normannorum filius Rollonis" was killed "943 XVI Kal Jan"[58]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of his body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[59], which would date the event to [1064].

[m] firstly SPROTA, daughter of ---. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume married "une tráes-noble jeune fille Sprota…selon l'usage des Danois"[60]. From Brittany. It is possible that Sprota was Count Guillaume's concubine rather than wife, particularly as no reference has been found to a dissolution of any marriage before she married Esperleng. She married Esperleng de Pãitres, by whom she had Rodulf [Raoul] Comte d'Ivry.

m secondly ([940]) as her first husband, LUITGARDIS de Vermandois, daughter of HERIBERT II Comte de Vermandois & his wife Adela [Capet] (before 925-14 Nov after 985, bur Chartres, Abbaye de Saint-Páere). Rodulfus Glauber refers to the wife of Comte Guillaume as "sororem [Heribertum Trecorum comitem]", specifying that she was childless by her first husband, when recording her second marriage to "Tetbaldus"[61]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records the marriage of Guillaume and the daughter of Heribert, specifying that it was arranged by Hugues "le Grand"[62]. The source which confirms her name has not yet been identified. She married secondly Thibaut I Comte de Blois. "Hugonis ducis, Odonis comitis, Hugonis sanctµ Bituricensis archiprµsulis, Letgardis comitissµ, Bertµ comitissµ, Gauzfridi vicecomitis…" subscribed the charter dated 985 under which "Robertus" donated property to "Sancti Petri Carnotensis", on the advice of "Odonem, simul cum sua matre Ledgarde, pariterque dominam meam Bertam, ipsius µque coniugem"[63]. The necrology of Chartres cathedral records the death "XVIII Kal Dec" of "Letgardis comitissa"[64]. Guillaume & his first wife had one child:

a) RICHARD (Fâecamp [932]-20 Nov 996, bur Fâecamp). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names Richard as son of Guillaume and Sprota, recording that news of his birth was brought to his father when he was returning from his victory against the rebels led by "Riulf"[65]. After the death of Richard's father, Louis IV "d'Outremer" King of the West Franks briefly controlled Rouen, and kept Richard prisoner, before the latter was able to escape, whereupon he succeeded as RICHARD I "Sans Peur" Comte [de Normandie].

4. GERLOC (-after 969). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa, in a later passage records her marriage to "Guillaume comte de Poitou"[66]. Robert of Torigny also names "Willermum Longum Spatam et Gerloch" as children of "Rollo dux Northmannorum" and Poppa[67]. The Chronico Richardi Pictavensis records that "Heblus…Pictavorum Comes et Dux Aquitaniµ duxit Adelam filiam Rolli Rothomagensis"[68], although this is presumably an error for Guillaume son of Ebles. She adopted the name ADELA when baptised. "Guillelmi comitis, Adeleidis comitisse" subscribed a charter recording a donation to Cluny dated [963][69]. Lothaire King of France granted her 14 Oct 962 the right to dispose of extensive property in Poitiers, la Cour de Faye, this grant effectively putting an end to the long dispute between her husband and the family of Hugues "Capet". She used the property to found the Monastery of Sainte-Trinitâe[70]. m (935) GUILLAUME I "Tãete d'Etoupe" Comte de Poitou, son of EBLES "Mancer" Comte de Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine & his first wife Aremburga ([900]-3 Apr 963). He succeeded in 959 as GUILLAUME III Duke of Aquitaine.

Rollo's origin
He is named as Rollo and said to have come from Dacia by Dudo of St. Quentin (c. 965-after 1043), the historian of the Norman dukes and the earliest source. Dudo does not name Rollo's parents. The Orkneyinga saga, a later source (c. 1230), identifies him with Hrolf Gange, who is said to have been a son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, jarl of M²re. Modern scholars generally doubt the identification with Hrolf. See, for example, Stewart Baldwin, "Rollo of Normany" in soc.genealogy.medieval, Mar. 16, 1998.

There is much support for the claim of Rollo's homeland being Sykkylven in Sunnm²re (M²re), Norway.

Dacia, the country Dudo refers to as Rollo's homeland, was what people outside Scandinavia called the Nordic countries as a unity: Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland together. Dudo describes Dacia as a country of high mountains, surrounding Rollo's estate - just like Gange-Hrolf's Fauske in Sykkylven. (see photos)

At the time the language, Old Norse (called dèonsk tunga by Snorri and others) was still the same and had not started to divide into separate dialects or languages.

Fasge, the place Adam of Bremen describes as Rollo's home, can easily be placed in Sykkylven where Gangu-Hrolfr had his estate at the farm called Fauske, Aure or Aurum. The Danish historian Steenstrup identified (works from 1876-82) Fasge with the town Faxe in Denmark, but linguistic argument shows that this consonant change is highly unlikely, and that the Norwegian place-name Fauske is more probable.

The outstanding linguist Hêakon Melberg argued in his dissertation that linguistic studies could shed light on the origin of the Scandinavian people and their history. In particular he opposes Steenstrup's analysis and points at several discrepancies, making Denmark improbable as Gange-Hrolf's origin.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=no&id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&q=fauske#search_anchor

Sources
Linge, Per Eldar: Gangerolvs mektige M²re, Sunnm²rsposten forlag 1992.
More here: http://www.eutopia.no/Gangerolv.html

Melberg, Hêakon: Origin of the Scandinavian Nations and Languages : An Introduction (doctoral dissertation). University of Oslo, 1952.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kon_Melberg http://books.google.com/books?id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&hl=no&pgis=1 http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/show?pid=921271042&kid=biblio

Languages
Gangu-Hrolf's Languages: Old French and Old Norse (the language spoken in the Nordic countries at the time):

"Danish tounge", dansk tunga, would be the language spoken in all of Scandinavia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse_language

dèonsk tunga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Icelandic_language#The_Scandinavian_period_.28550.E2.80.931050.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_French

Snorri Sturlusson
From Heimskringla, Snorri: "24. ROLF GANGER DRIVEN INTO BANISHMENT.

Earl Ragnvald was King Harald's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him. He was married to Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia, and their sons were Rolf and Thorer. Earl Ragnvald had also three sons by concubines, -- the one called Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug; and all three were grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children Rolf became a great viking, and was of so stout a growth that no horse could carry him, and wheresoever he went he must go on foot; and therefore he was called Rolf Ganger. He plundered much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the eastward on a viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he landed there and made a cattle foray. As King Harald happened, just at that time, to be in Viken, he heard of it, and was in a great rage; for he had forbid, by the greatest punishment, the plundering within the bounds of the country. The king assembled a Thing, and had Rolf declared an outlaw over all Norway. When Rolf's mother, Hild heard of it she hastened to the king, and entreated peace for Rolf; but the king was so enraged that here entreaty was of no avail. Then Hild spake these lines: --

"Think'st thou, King Harald, in thy anger, To drive away my brave Rolf Ganger Like a mad wolf, from out the land? Why, Harald, raise thy mighty hand? Why banish Nefia's gallant name-son, The brother of brave udal-men? Why is thy cruelty so fell? Bethink thee, monarch, it is ill With such a wolf at wolf to play, Who, driven to the wild woods away May make the king's best deer his prey."

Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from which that land is called Normandy. Rolf Ganger's son was William, father to Richard, and grandfather to another Richard, who was the father of Robert Longspear, and grandfather of William the Bastard, from whom all the following English kings are descended. From Rolf Ganger also are descended the earls in Normandy. Queen Ragnhild the Mighty lived three years after she came to Norway; and, after her death, her son and King Harald's was taken to the herse Thorer Hroaldson, and Eirik was fostered by him." (Snorri Sturlasson )

Gange-Rolv (Gèongu-Hrâolfr), var en norsk vikingh²vding og sagafigur som egentlig het Hrâolfr Rèognvaldsson (ca 860-932) og var s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, kjent som jarlen som klippet Harald Hêarfagre etter at Norge var samlet til ett rike.

Gange-Rolv fikk tilnavnet fordi han var sêa stor at han alltid mêatte gêa til fots, underforstêatt at hesten ble for liten. I f²lge norsk og islandsk tradisjon er denne personen identisk med den historiske Rollo, som i 911 ble utnevnt til hertug over Normandie. Rollos opphav er imidlertid omdiskutert og nok umulig êa stadfeste helt sikkert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger. En sannsynlig slektning, Vilhelm Erobreren av Normandie, inntok England i 1066 og grunnla et nytt normannisk kongehus i der.

Gange-Rolv var med pêa mange tokt i Austerled, men ble forvist fra landet av Harald Hêarfagre etter et strandhogg han gjorde i Viken (Norge). I henhold til Snorre dro Rolv til Valland (Frankrike) etter landsforvisningen. Der ble han blant annet ble gift med kongsdatteren Gisela, og han skal ha blitt d²pt i Saint-Clair-katedralen.

WIKIPEDIA (Eng)
Rollo (c. 860 - c. 932) was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. He is also in some later sources known as Robert of Normandy.

The name Rollo is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from Scandinavian name Hrâolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolf Kraki into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Historical evidence Rollo was a Viking leader of contested origin. Dudo of St. Quentin, in his De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum (Latin), tells of a powerful Danish nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed. William of Jumiáeges also mentions Rollo's prehistory in his Gesta Normannorum Ducum however he states that he was from the Danish town of Fasge. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event in his Roman de Rou, also mentions the two brothers (as Rou and Garin), as does the Orkneyinga Saga.

Norwegian and Icelandic historians identified this Rollo with a son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re, in Western Norway, based on medieval Norwegian and Icelandic sagas that mention a Ganger Hrolf (Hrolf, the Walker). The oldest source of this version is the Latin Historia Norvegiae, written in Norway at the end of the 12th century. This Hrolf fell foul of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, and became a Jarl in Iceland. The nickname of that character came from being so big that no horse could carry him. [1]

The question of Rollo's Danish or Norwegian origins was a matter of heated dispute between Norwegian and Danish historians of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the run-up to Normandy's 1000-year-anniversary in 1911. Today, historians still disagree on this question, but most would now agree that a certain conclusion can never be reached.'

Invasion of France In 885, Rollo was one of the lesser leaders of the Viking fleet which besieged Paris under Sigfred. Legend has it that an emissary was sent by the king to find the chieftain and negotiate terms. When he asked for this information, the Vikings replied that they were all chieftains in their own right. In 886, when Sigfred retreated in return for tribute, Rollo stayed behind and was eventually bought off and sent to harry Burgundy.

Later, he returned to the Seine with his followers (known as Danes, or Norsemen). He invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy.

Rather than pay Rollo to leave, as was customary, the Frankish king, Charles the Simple, understood that he could no longer hold back their onslaught, and decided to give Rollo the coastal lands they occupied under the condition that he defend against other raiding Vikings.

In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with King Charles, Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required to kiss the foot of King Charles, as a condition of the treaty, he refused to perform so great a humiliation, and when Charles extended his foot to Rollo, Rollo ordered one of his warriors to do so in his place. His warrior then lifted Charles' foot up to his mouth causing him to fall to the ground. [2]

Settlement Initially, Rollo stayed true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time he and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet. Eventually, however, Rollo's men intermarried with the local women, and became more settled as Frenchmen. At the time of his death, Rollo's expansion of his territory had extended as far west as the Vire River.

Death Sometime around 927, Rollo passed the fief in Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshipped,[citation needed] and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true God in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, some of his pagan roots surfaced at the end.

Legacy Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. Through William, he is a direct ancestor and predecessor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The "Clameur de Haro" in the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

Depictions in Fiction Rollo is the subject of the 17th Century play Rollo Duke of Normandy written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

References ^ Gèongu-Hrâolfs saga in Old Norse from heimskringla.no ^ Holden, A.J. (1970). Le Roman de Rou de Wace. Paris: âEditions A.J. Picard. p.54. Lines 1147-1156 D.C. Douglas, "Rollo of Normandy", English Historical Review, Vol. 57 (1942), pp. 414-436 Robert Helmerichs, [Rollo as Historical Figure] Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdom under the Carolingians, 751-987, (Longman) 1983 Dudonis gesta Normannorum - Dudo of St. Quentin Gesta Normannorum Latin version at Bibliotheca Augustana Dudo of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum - An English Translation Gwyn Jones. Second edition: A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press. (1984). William W. Fitzhugh and Elizabeth Ward. Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian Institute Press. (2000) Eric Christiansen. The Norsemen in the Viking Age. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. (2002) Agnus Konstam. Historical Atlas of the Viking World. Checkmark Books. (2002) Holgar Arbman. Ancient People and Places: The Vikings. Thames and Husdson. (1961) Eric Oxenstierna. The Norsemen, New York Graphics Society Publishers, Ltd. (1965)

TEXT - SOURCE? Rollo was a Viking leader, probably (based on Icelandic sources) from Norway, the son of Ragnvald, Earl of Moer; sagas mention a Hrolf, son of Ragnvald jarl of Moer. However, the latinization Rollo has in no known instance been applied to a Hrolf, and in the texts which speak of him, numerous latinized Hrolfs are included. Dudo of St. Quentin (by most accounts a more reliable source, and at least more recent and living nearer the regions concerned), in his Gesta Normannorum, tells of a powerful Dacian nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed.(1) With his followers (known as Normans, or northmen), Rollo invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event, gives a Scandinavian origin, as does the Orkneyinga Saga, Danish or Norwegian most likely.

Unlike most Vikings whose intentions were to plunder Frankish lands, Rollo's true intentions were to look for lands to settle. Upon arrival in France, and after many battles with the Vikings, Charles the Simple understood that he could no longer hold back their advances, and decided as a tempory measure to give Rollo land around Rouen, as he did with his other barons, but under the condition that he would convert to Christianity and defend the Seine River from other raiding Vikings. In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with the French King Charles the Simple, "for the protection of the realm," Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required, in conformity with general usage, to kiss the foot of King Charles, he refused to stoop to what he considered so great a degradation; yet as the homage could not be dispensed with, he ordered one of his warriors to perform it for him. The latter, as proud as his chief, instead of stooping to the royal foot, raised it so high, that the King fell to the ground. It is important to note that Rollo did stay true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time Rollo and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de-facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet.

Rollo expanded his territory as far west as the Vire River and sometime around 927 he passed the Duchy of Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshiped, and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true god in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, at the end, some of Rollo's pagan roots eventually came to the surface. He was a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. By William, he was a direct ancestor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The "clameur de haro" on the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

TEXT - SOURCE??? Rollo (later Robert) "of Normandy" Viking leader in France, d. 932.

Although he is often referred to as the first Duke of Normandy, that title is an anachronism. Probably about 911, King Charles the Simple of France ceded a district around the city of Rouen to Rollo, which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy. He is said to have been baptized in 912, assuming the Christian name Robert. He was still living in 928, when he was holding Eudes, son of Heribert of Vermandois, as a captive and was probably dead by 932, when his son William was mentioned as leading the Normans.

end of biography

ROLLO THE VIKING

DIED 931 A.D.


For more than two hundred years during the Middle Ages the Christian countries of Europe were attacked on the southwest by the Saracens of Spain, and on the northwest by the Norsemen, or Northmen. The Northmen were so called because they came into Middle Europe from the north. Sometimes they were called Vikings, or pirates, because they were adventurous sea-robbers who plundered all countries which they could reach by sea.



Their ships were long and swift In the center was placed a single mast, which carried one large sail. For the most part, however, the Norsemen depended on rowing, not on the wind, and sometimes there were twenty rowers in one vessel.



The Vikings were a terror to all their neighbors; but the two regions that suffered most from their attacks were the Island of Britain and that part of Charlemagne's empire in which the Franks were settled.

endof commentary







Nearly fifty times in two hundred years the lands of the Franks were invaded. The Vikings sailed up the large rivers into the heart of the region which we now call France and captured and pillaged cities and towns. Some years after Charlemagne's death they went as far as his capital, Aix, took the place, and stabled their horses in the cathedral which the great emperor had built.



In the year 860 they discovered Iceland and made a settlement upon its shores. A few years later they sailed as far as Greenland, and there established settlements which existed for about a century.



These Vikings were the first discoverers of the continent on which we live. Ancient books found in Iceland tell the story of the discovery. It is related that a Viking ship was driven during a storm to a strange coast, which is thought to have been that part of America now known as Labrador.



When the captain of the ship returned home he told what he had seen. His tale so excited the curiosity of a young Viking prince, called Leif the Lucky, that he sailed to the newly discovered coast.



Going ashore, he found that the country abounded in wild grapes; and so he called it Vinland, or the land of Vines. Vinland is thought to have been a part of what is now the Rhode Island coast.



The Vikings were not aware that they had found a great unknown continent. No one in the more civilized parts of Europe knew anything about their discovery; and after a while the story of the Vinland voyages seems to have been forgotten, even among the Vikings themselves.



So it is not to them that we owe the discovery of America, but to Columbus; because his discovery, though nearly five hundred years later than that of the Norsemen, actually made known to all Europe, for all time, the existence of the New World.



II



THE Vikings had many able chieftains. One of the most famous was Rollo the Walker, so called because he was such a giant that no horse strong enough to carry him could be found, and therefore he always had to walk. However, he did on foot what few could do on horseback.



In 885 seven hundred ships, commanded by Rollo and other Viking chiefs, left the harbors of Norway, sailed to the mouth of the Seine, and started up the river to capture the city of Paris.



Rollo and his men stopped on the way at Rouen, which also was on the Seine, but nearer its mouth. The citizens had heard of the giant, and when they saw the river covered by his fleet they were dismayed. However, the bishop of Rouen told them that Rollo could be as noble and generous as he was fierce; and he advised them to open their gates and trust to the mercy of the Viking chief. This was done, and Rollo marched into Rouen and took possession of it. The bishop had given good advice, for Rollo treated the people very kindly.



Soon after capturing Rouen he left the place, sailed up the river to Paris, and joined the other Viking chiefs. And now for six long miles the beautiful Seine was covered with Viking vessels, which carried an army of thirty thousand men.



A noted warrior named Eudes was Count of Paris, and he had advised the Parisians to fortify the city. So not long before the arrival of Rollo and his companions, two walls with strong gates had been built round Paris.



It was no easy task for even Vikings to capture a strongly walled city. We are told that Rollo and his men built a high tower and rolled it on wheels up to the walls. At its top was a floor well manned with soldiers. But the people within the city shot hundreds of arrows at the besiegers, and threw down rocks, or poured boiling oil and pitch upon them.



The Vikings thought to starve the Parisians, and for thirteen months they encamped round the city. At length food became very scarce, and Count Eudes determined to go for help. He went out through one of the gates on a dark, stormy night, and rode post-haste to the king. He told him that something must be done to save the people of Paris.







So the king gathered an army and marched to the city. No battle was fought--the Vikings seemed to have been afraid to risk one. They gave up the siege, and Paris was relieved.



Rollo and his men went to the Duchy of Burgundy, where, as now, the finest crops were raised and the best of wines were made.



III



PERHAPS after a time Rollo and his Vikings went home; but we do not know what he did for about twenty-five years. We do know that he abandoned his old home in Norway in 911. Then he and his people sailed from the icy shore of Norway and again went up the Seine in hundreds of Viking vessels.



Of course, on arriving in the land of the Franks, Rollo at once began to plunder towns and farms.



Charles, then king of the Franks, although his people called him the Simple, or Senseless, had sense enough to see that this must be stopped.



So he sent a message to Rollo and proposed that they should have a talk about peace. Rollo agreed and accordingly they met. The king and his troops stood on one side of a little river, and Rollo with his Vikings stood on the other. Messages passed between them. The king asked Rollo what he wanted.



"Let me and my people live in the land of the Franks; let us make ourselves home here, and I and my Vikings will become your vassals," answered Rollo. He asked for Rouen and the neighboring land. So the king gave him that part of Francia; and ever since it has been called Normandy, the land of the Northmen.



When it was decided that the Vikings should settle in Francia and be subjects of the Frankish king, Rollo was told that he must kiss the foot of Charles in token that he would be the king's vassal. The haughty Viking refused. "Never," said he, "will I bend my knee before any man, and no man's foot will I kiss." After some persuasion, however, he ordered one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. The king was on horseback and the Norseman, standing by the side of the horse, suddenly seized the king's foot and drew it up to his lips. This almost made the king fall from his horse, to the great amusement of the Norsemen.



Becoming a vassal to the king meant that if the king went to war Rollo would be obliged to join his army and bring a certain number of armed men--one thousand or more.



Rollo now granted parts of Normandy to his leading men on condition that they would bring soldiers to his army and fight under him. They became his vassals, as he was the king's vassal.



The lands granted to vassals in this way were called feuds, and this plan of holding lands was called the Feudal System.



It was established in every country of Europe during the Middle Ages.



The poorest people were called serfs. They were almost slaves and were never permitted to leave the estate to which they belonged. They did all the work. They worked chiefly for the landlords, but partly for themselves.



Having been a robber himself, Rollo knew what a shocking thing it was to ravage and plunder, and he determined to change his people's habits. He made strict laws and hanged robbers. His duchy thus became one of the safest parts of Europe.



The Northmen learned the language of the Franks and adopted their religion.



The story of Rollo is especially interesting to us, because Rollo was the forefather of that famous Duke of Normandy who, less than a hundred and fifty years later, conquered England and brought into that country the Norman nobles with their French language and customs.

The Vikings in Normandy:
Timeline
Pre-Norman France map, http://www.viking.no/e/france/norm_col_gb.gif The chronology of the Vikings in Normandy can be encapsulated by a division into two successive centuries:

From AD 820 to c. AD 920, the Viking incursions on the lower Seine became more and more frequent, resulting finally in some permanent colonisation.
From c. AD 920 to AD 1020 was a consolidation period for Normandy, with the influx of numerous Scandinavian settlers, before turning increasingly to the Kingdom of France.

Timeline showing the Viking raids on the river Seine

820 Thirteen ships reach the Seine Bay. A force of Vikings lands but, having to face the shore guard, they are forced to re-embark, leaving five of their number dead on the Neustrian shore.
841 Asgeir's fleet sails up the River Seine (from 12th May), takes the city of Rouen (14th May) and burns it down. The loot is enormous. Aesgir's army continues its penetration of the Seine, plunders and burns the rich Jumiáege monastery (24th May). The nearby monastery of Fontenelle (the future Saint-Wandrille) is also assaulted and held to ransom. In this expedition, sixty-eight captives are taken and then returned on payment of a ransom by the monks of Saint-Denis (28th May).
845 Ragnar's fleet of 120 ships (therefore c. 6000 men) sails up the Seine and besieges Paris (28th March). Charles the Bald pays 7000 livres in order to spare Paris.
851 Asgeir and his men, back on the Seine, this time devastate the monastery of Fontenelle (13th October) and return there eighty-nine days later (9th January 852) and, finding nothing to plunder, burn it down.
852 Asgeir and his force raid on foot in the Beauvais region (Flanders county), from their base in Rouen. Engaged by a Frankish army, they have to withdraw and camp for the winter on Jeufosse island, securely controlling the entrance to the Seine. They stay there up to the 5th June. By the end of this year, a new group of Vikings, mainly Norwegians led by Sigtrygg (back from Ireland) and Godfrid, sails up the Seine to Jeufosse to establish their own base there. The Frankish army of Charles the Bald besieges the island.
853 (beg.) Charles the Bald negotiates with Godfrid, who afterwards retires. As for Sigtrygg, he stays to plunder and burn numerous places up to March.
855 Sigtrygg returns (18th July) to attempt to destroy a Frankish fort located on the Seine shore on the approach to Paris. He is reinforced by Bjèorn, leading a powerful fleet (17th August). The two armies join and carry out a raid in the south of the Seine, as far as Chartres, where they are stopped by the Frankish army of Charles the Bald. They have to withdraw to the Seine after heavy losses.
857 Again from Jeufosse, which has now become an established base, Sigtrygg's and Bjèorn's armies attack Paris (January). Chartres is assaulted again (12th June); on this occasion, revenging the reverse of AD 855, they take it, plunder it, and slaughter all its population. During the summer they also attack Evreux and many other places, the action taking place generally around Jeufosse island. Finally, Sigtrygg retires with his men.
858 Bjèorn is joined by a new group of Danes, led by Hasting (9th January). They lay again into the abbey of Fontenelle, which they burn down. Leading a mounted force, Bjèorn surrounds Paris and demands a ransom of the Parisian monasteries. Charles the Bald is defeated when he reacts and tries again to besiege the Viking base of Jeufosse.
859 The attacks from the Seine valley are redoubled. Charles the Bald is engaged in a struggle with his brother, Louis the German. The Vikings take advantage of this to attack freely far from their bases: Bayeux, Laon and Beauvais, where the bishops are executed.
860 The Viking chief, Veland, is paid 3000 silver livres by Charles the Bald to try to drive out the Vikings of the lower Seine.
861 From May, Veland besieges Jeufosse island, leading 200 Viking ships. The Vikings of Jeufosse have to retire from the Seine, with some 100 ships. This fleet then joins Veland's. Taking advantage of several years of respite, Charles the Bald builds forts which control the Seine at Pont-de-l'Arche.
865 Fifty Viking ships settle at Pãitres (near Pont-de-l'Arche), on the Seine.
876 100 new Viking ships make an incursion into the Seine. They sail away again after a payment of 5000 livres by Charles the Bald.
885 A huge fleet sails up the Seine (one report tells of some 700 ships) to besiege Paris. Losses are severe on both sides. The new Frankish king, Charles the Big, relieves the city by paying a heavy ransom to the besiegers.
887-911 Rolf (Rollo/Rollon) imposes himself as chief of the Vikings settled in the lower Seine region. He repels the Franks, pushing right up to the doors of the Ile-de-France. He attacks Chartres but, repulsed, withdraws again to the Seine.
911 Seeking to block the lower Seine, which had become a real "motorway" for the Viking invasions of the Kingdom of Frankia, the new king, Charles the Simple, concludes an agreement with Rolf at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, conceding to him the suzerainty of the territory of the lower Seine which, de facto, Rolf had already had for several years.

Timeline showing the Viking Raids in Western Neustria

From AD 836 Bjèorn and Hasting lead numerous raids in Cotentin and Avranchin.
860-989 There are no more resident bishops in Cotentin and Avranchin nor any ecclesiastical infrastructures in these bishoprics. Whole areas are deserted by the native population as they become untenable, particularly in Cotentin.
867 The Frankish king, Charles the Bald, concedes Cotentin and Avranchin to the Bretons, so that they might defend these territories.
889, 890 and 891 Respectively, Saint-Lão, Coutances and Avranches are plundered or burnt down.
890-892 Rolf makes several raids in Bessin (Bayeux).
905 Vire is plundered.
907 Since Brittany is too devastated by the Viking raids, the Breton sovereignty of Cotentin and Avranchin exists only theoretically.
911 Since Rolf is now Jarl of Rouen, and since they refuse to convert to Christianity, and seek new conquests, many of Rolf's companions settle in Cotentin and Bessin.
916 From Cotentin and Bessin, where they have settled, numerous Scandinavian forces attack the whole eastern region of Brittany.
924 Bessin is added to Rolf's territory.
925 Some unsubdued Scandinavian troops of Bessin, united with native Saxons, devastate the western part of the Seine colony.
927-928 Rolf erect many fortifications (Bayeux, Exmes, Saint-Lão, Brionne, etc.) to face a huge influx of new Viking contingents, resistant to his authority in Cotentin (Danes from the Danelaw, and Hiberno-Norse from Ireland) and in Bessin (especially Danes from the Danelaw).
931 Brittany is totally subdued: on the east by the Normans of the Seine and on the west by Normans who have settled on the River Loire. The Normans of the Seine take advantage of this to get a foothold in Cotentin and Avranchin, and on the Channel Islands, in order to control the Scandinavian troops which have to submit to the Jarl of Rouen's authority.
933 Cotentin and Avranchin are conceded officially by the King of France, Raoul, to the Normans of the Seine, who are also appointed to the protectorate of Brittany.

Rollo married Lady Poppa of Bayeux. Poppa (daughter of Berengar II of Neustria, Count of Bayeux and unnamed spouse) was born in (850) in Bayeux, France; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Place de Gaulle, Bayeux, France

Notes:

Poppa of Bayeux was the Christian wife or mistress[1] (perhaps more danico)[2] of the Viking conqueror Rollo.

She was the mother of William I Longsword and grandmother of Richard the Fearless, who forged the Duchy of Normandy into a great fief of medieval France.[3]

Dudo of Saint-Quentin, in his panegyric of the Norman dukes, describes her as the daughter of a "Count Berengar", the dominant prince of that region, who was captured at Bayeux by Rollo in 885 or 889.[4]

This has led to speculation that she was the daughter of Berengar II of Neustria. Despite the uncertainty of her parentage, she undoubtedly was a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[5]

A statue of Poppa stands at the Place de Gaulle in Bayeux.

Notes:

Married:
Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy.

Notes:

Gorm the Old (Danish: Gorm den Gamle, Old Norse: Gormr gamli, Latin: Gormus Senex[1][2]), also called Gorm the Languid (Danish: Gorm L²ge, Gorm den Dvaske), was the first historically recognized ruler of Denmark, reigning from c.? 936 to his death c.? 958.[3] He ruled from Jelling, and made the oldest of the Jelling Stones in honour of his wife Thyra. Gorm was born before 900 and died c.? 958.[3]

Ancestry and reign

Gorm is the reported son of semi-legendary Danish king Harthacnut. Chronicler Adam of Bremen says that Harthacnut came from Northmannia to Denmark and seized power in the early 10th century.[4] He deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, reigning over Western Denmark.[3] When Harthacnut died, Gorm ascended the throne.

Heimskringla reports Gorm taking at least part of the kingdom by force from Gnupa, and Adam himself suggests that the kingdom had been divided prior to Gorm's time. Gorm is first mentioned as the host of Archbishop Unni of Hamburg and Bremen in 936.[4] According to the Jelling Stones, Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, "won all of Denmark", so it is speculated that Gorm only ruled Jutland from his seat in Jelling.[4]

Marriage to Thyra

Runic stone for Thyra, back side
Gorm married Thyra, who is given conflicting and chronologically dubious parentage by late sources, but no contemporary indication of her parentage survives. Gorm raised one of the great burial mounds at Jelling as well as the oldest of the Jelling Stones for her, calling her tanmarkar but ("Denmark's Salvation" or "Denmark's Adornment"). Gorm was the father of three sons, Toke, Knut and Harald, later King Harald Bluetooth.[5]

His wife, Thyra, is credited with the completion of the Danevirke, a wall between Denmark's southern border and its unfriendly Saxon neighbors to the south. The wall was not new, but it was expanded with a ditch and earthen foundation topped by a timber stockade above it. The Danevirke ran between the Schlei and the Treene river, across what is now Schleswig.[6]

Death, burial and reburial

Gorm died in the winter of 958–959[5] and dendrochronology shows that his burial chamber was made from wood of timbers felled in 958.[7] Arild Huitfeldt explains how in Danmarks Riges Kr²nike:[citation needed]


Runic stone for Thyra, front side
The three sons were Vikings in the truest sense, departing Denmark each summer to raid and pillage. Harald came back to the royal enclosure at Jelling with the news that his son Canute had been killed in an attempt to capture Dublin, Ireland. Canute was shot with a coward's arrow while watching some games at night. No one would tell the king in view of the oath the king had made. Queen Thyra ordered the royal hall hung with black cloth and that no one was to say a single word. When Gorm entered the hall, he was astonished and asked what the mourning colors meant. Queen Thyra spoke up: "Lord King, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far afield and was set upon by other birds which tore off its beautiful feathers and is now useless to you. Meanwhile the gray falcon continues to catch fowl for the king's table." Gorm understood immediately the Queen's metaphor and cried out, "My son is surely dead, since all of Denmark mourns!" "You have said it, your majesty," Thyra announced, "Not I, but what you have said is true." According to the story Gorm was so grieved by Canute's death that he died the following day.

This account would contradict information on the Jelling Stones which point to Queen Thyra dying before Gorm. Some archaeologists and historians have suggested that Gorm was buried first in Queen Thyra's grave mound at Jelling, and later moved by his son, Harald Bluetooth, into the original wooden church in Jelling.[3] According to this theory it is believed, that the skeleton found at the site of the first Christian church of Jelling is in fact Gorm the Old, though the theory is still much debated. During the reign of Gorm, most Danes still worshipped the Norse gods, but during the reign of Gorm's son, Harold Bluetooth, Denmark officially converted to Christianity. Harald, accordingly, left the hill where Gorm had originally been interred as a memorial.

Legacy

Gorm was "old" in the sense that he was considered the traditional ancestral "head" of the Danish monarchy. Saxo Grammaticus in the Gesta Danorum asserts that Gorm was older than other monarchs and having lived so long was blind by the time his son Canute was killed.

end of biography

Gorm's pedigree: https://fabpedigree.com/s038/f790309.htm

end of comment

Buried:
Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark

Gorm married Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark. Elgiva (daughter of Aethelstan, King of the East Angles and unnamed spouse) was born in ~872 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in ~935 in Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark; was buried in Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Rollo or Gaange Rolf[1] (Norman: Rou; Old Norse: Hrâolfr; French: Rollon; c. 846 – c. 930 AD) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, a region of France. He is sometimes called the 1st Duke of Normandy. His Scandinavian name Rolf was extended to Gaange Rolf because he as an adult became too heavy for a horse to carry, therefore he had to walk ("gaa" in older Dano-Norwegian). Rollo emerged as the outstanding personality among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine. Charles the Simple, the king of West Francia, ceded them lands between the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, and provide the Franks with protection against future Viking raids.[2]

Rollo is first recorded as the leader of these Viking settlers in a charter of 918, and he continued to reign over the region of Normandy until at least 928. He was succeeded by his son, William Longsword in the Duchy of Normandy that he had founded.[3] The offspring of Rollo and his followers became known as the Normans. After the Norman conquest of England and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily over the following two centuries, their descendants came to rule Norman England (the House of Normandy), the Kingdom of Sicily (the Kings of Sicily) as well as the Principality of Antioch from the 10th to 12th century, leaving behind an enduring legacy in the historical developments of Europe and the Near East.[4]

Name

The name Rollo is generally presumed to be a latinisation of the Old Norse name Hrâolfr – a theory that is supported by the rendition of Hrâolfr as Roluo in the Gesta Danorum. It is also sometimes suggested that Rollo may be a Latinised version of another Norse name, Hrollaugr.[5]

Rollo is generally identified with one Viking in particular – a man of high social status mentioned in Icelandic sagas, which refer to him by the Old Norse name Gèongu-Hrâolfr, meaning "Hrâolfr the Walker". (Gèongu-Hrâolfr is also widely known by an Old Danish variant, Ganger-Hrolf.) The byname "Walker" is usually understood to suggest that Rollo was so physically imposing that he could not be carried by a horse and was obliged to travel on foot. Norman and other French sources do not use the name Hrâolfr, and the identification of Rollo with Gèongu-Hrâolfr is based upon similarities between circumstances and actions ascribed to both figures.[citation needed]

The 10th-century Norman historian Dudo records that Rollo took the baptismal name Robert.[6] A variant spelling, Roul, is used in the 12th-century Norman French Roman de la Rou, which was compiled by Wace and commissioned by King Henry II of England (a descendant of Rollo).[citation needed]

Origins and historiography
Rollo was born in the latter half of the 9th century; his place of birth is unknown.

The earliest well-attested historical event associated with Rollo is his leadership of Vikings who besieged Paris in 885–886.[7]

Perhaps the earliest known source to mention Rollo's early life is the French chronicler Richer of Reims, who claims (in the 10th century) that Rollo was the son of a Viking named Ketill.[8] In terms of onomastics, it is interesting that Richer also names – without explicitly linking him to Rollo – a man named Ketill as being the leader of subsequent Viking raids (in 888), against areas on the coast of West Francia, between the Seine and the Loire.

Medieval sources contradict each other regarding whether Rollo's family was Norwegian or Danish in origin. In part, this disparity may result from the indifferent and interchangeable usage in Europe, at the time, of terms such as "Vikings", "Northmen", "Danes", "Norwegians" and so on (in the Medieval Latin texts Dani vel Nortmanni means "Danes or Northmen").

A biography of Rollo, written by the cleric Dudo of Saint-Quentin in the late 10th Century, claimed that Rollo was from Denmark. One of Rollo's great-grandsons and a contemporary of Dudo was known as Robert the Dane. However, Dudo's Historia Normannorum (or Libri III de moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum) was commissioned by Rollo's grandson, Richard I of Normandy and – while Dudo likely had access to family members and/or other people with a living memory of Rollo – this fact must be weighed against the text's potential biases, as an official biography. According to Dudo, an unnamed king of Denmark was antagonistic to Rollo's family, including his father – an unnamed Danish nobleman – and Rollo's brother Gurim. Following the death of Rollo and Gurim's father, Gurim was killed and Rollo was forced to leave Denmark.[9] Dudo appears to have been the main source for William of Jumiáeges (after 1066) and Orderic Vitalis (early 12th century), although both include additional details.[10]

A Norwegian background for Rollo was first explicitly claimed by Goffredo Malaterra (Geoffrey Malaterra), an 11th-century Benedictine monk and historian, who wrote: "Rollo sailed boldly from Norway with his fleet to the Christian coast."[11] Likewise, the 12th-century English historian William of Malmesbury stated that Rollo was "born of noble lineage among the Norwegians".[12]

A chronicler named Benoãit (probably Benoãit de Sainte-More) wrote in the mid-12th Century Chronique des ducs de Normandie that Rollo had been born in a town named "Fasge". This has since been variously interpreted as referring to Faxe, in Sjµlland (Denmark), Fauske, in Hêalogaland (Norway), or perhaps a more obscure settlement that has since been abandoned or renamed. Benoãit also repeated the claim that Rollo had been persecuted by a local ruler and had fled from there to "Scanza island", by which Benoãit probably means Scania (Swedish Skêane). While Faxe was physically much closer to Scania, the mountainous scenery of "Fasge", described by Benoãit, would seem to be more like Fauske.

The claim that Rollo was the brother of a King of Norway, Harald Finehair was made by an anonymous 12th-century Welsh author, in The Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan.[13]

Rollo was first explicitly identified with Hrâolf the Walker (Norse Gèongu-Hrâolfr; Danish Ganger-Hrâolf) by the 13th-century Icelandic sagas, Heimskringla and Orkneyinga Saga. Hrâolf the Walker was so named because he "was so big that no horse could carry him".[14] The Icelandic sources claim that Hrâolfr was born in M²re, western Norway, in the late 9th century and that his parents were the Norwegian jarl Rognvald Eysteinsson ("Rognvald the Wise") and a noblewoman from M²re named Hildr Hrâolfsdâottir. However, these claims were made three centuries after the history commissioned by Rollo's own grandson.

There may be circumstantial evidence for kinship between Rollo and his historical contemporary, Ketill Flatnose, King of the Isles – a Norse realm centred on the Western Isles of Scotland. If, as Richer suggested, Rollo's father was also named Ketill and as Dudo suggested, Rollo had a brother named Gurim, such names are onomastic evidence for a family connection: Icelandic sources name Ketill Flatnose's father as Bjèorn Grâimsson,[15] and "Grim" – the implied name of Ketill Flatnose's paternal grandfather – was likely cognate with Gurim. In addition, both Irish and Icelandic sources suggest that Rollo, as a young man, visited or lived in Scotland, where he had a daughter named Cadlinar (Kaºlâin; Kathleen).[16][17] Moreover, Ketill Flatnose's ancestors were said to have come from M²re – Rollo's ancestral home in the Icelandic sources. However, Ketill was a common name in Norse societies,[18] as were names like Gurim and Grim. It is also possible that the later sources were attempting to suggest an otherwise undocumented link between the historical figures of Rollo and Ketill Flatnose, by way of little-known, possibly apocryphal figures like Grim, Gurim and the Ketill said to be Rollo's father.[citation needed]

Biography

Statue of Rollo in Rouen. There are two bronze replicas of this statue: one at êAlesund (Norway) and the other one at Fargo, North Dakota (United States)
Dudo tells us that Rollo seized Rouen in 876. He is supported by the contemporary chronicler Flodoard, who records that Robert of the Breton March waged a campaign against the Vikings, who nearly levelled Rouen and other settlements; eventually, he conceded "certain coastal provinces" to them.[19]

According to Dudo, Rollo struck up a friendship in England with a king that Dudo calls Alstem. This has puzzled many historians, but recently the puzzle has been resolved by recognition that this refers to Guthrum, the Danish leader whom Alfred the Great baptised with the baptismal name Athelstan, and then recognised as king of the East Angles in 880.[20]

Dudo records that when Rollo took Bayeux by force, he carried off with him the beautiful Popa or Poppa, a daughter of Berenger, Count of Rennes, took her in marriage and with her had their son and Rollo's heir, William Longsword.[21]


Rollo's grave at the Cathedral of Rouen

There are few contemporary mentions of Rollo. The earliest record is from 918, in a charter of Charles III to an abbey, which referred to an earlier grant to "the Normans of the Seine", namely "Rollo and his associates" for "the protection of the kingdom." [22] Dudo retrospectively stated that this pact took place in 911 at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In return for formal recognition of the lands he possessed, Rollo agreed to be baptised and assist the king in the defence of the realm. Rollo took the baptismal name Robert. The seal of agreement was to be marriage between Rollo and Gisla, daughter of Charles. Dudo claims that Gisla was a legitimate daughter of Charles.[23] Since Charles first married in 907, that would mean that Gisla was at most 5 years old at the time of the treaty of 911 which offered her in marriage.[24] It has therefore been speculated that she could have been an illegitimate daughter.[25] However a diplomatic child betrothal need not be doubted.[26]

After pledging his fealty to Charles III as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, Rollo divided the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and settled with a de facto capital in Rouen.[27]

Charles was overthrown by a revolt in 923, and his successor, Robert I, was killed by the Vikings in 923. His successor, Ralph, conceded the Bessin and Maine to Rollo shortly afterwards, the chronicler Flodoard tells us.[28]

Rollo died sometime between a final mention of him by Flodoard in 928, and 933, the year in which a third grant of land, usually identified as being the Cotentin and Avranchin areas, was made to his son and successor William.[29]

Descendants

A genealogical chart of the Norman dynasty
Rollo's son and heir, William Longsword, and grandchild, Richard the Fearless, forged the Duchy of Normandy into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[30] The descendants of Rollo and his men assimilated with their maternal Frankish-Catholic culture and became known as the Normans, lending their name to the region of Normandy.

Rollo is the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, or William I of England. Through William, he is one of the ancestors of the present-day British royal family, as well as an ancestor of all current European monarchs and a great many claimants to abolished European thrones.

One daughter of Rollo, Gerloc (also known as Adele), who married William III, Duke of Aquitaine, was mentioned by Dudo. According to William of Jumiáeges, writing in the latter half of the 11th century, Gerloc's mother was named Poppa.[31]

According to the medieval Irish text An Banshenchas and Icelandic sources, another daughter, Cadlinar (Kaºlâin; Kathleen) was born in Scotland (probably to a Scots mother) and married an Irish prince named Beollâan mac Ciarmaic, later King of South Brega (Lagore). A daughter of Cadlinar and Beollâan named Nithbeorg was abducted by an Icelandic Viking named Helgi Ottarsson,[32][33] and became the mother of the poet Einarr Helgason and grandmother of Guºrâun Ósvâifrsdâottir (protagonist of the Laxdœla saga).

A genetic investigation into the remains of Rollo's grandson, Richard the Fearless, and his great-grandson, Richard the Good, was announced in 2011 with the intention of discerning the origins of the historic Viking leader.[34] On 29 February 2016 Norwegian researchers opened Richard the Good's tomb and found his lower jaw with eight teeth in it.[35] Unfortunately, the skeletal remains in both graves turned out to significantly predate Rollo and therefore are not related to him.[36]

Depictions in fiction

Rollo is the subject of the seventeenth-century play Rollo Duke of Normandy, written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

A character, broadly inspired by the historical Rollo but including many events before the real Rollo was born, played by Clive Standen, is Ragnar Lothbrok's brother in the History Channel television series Vikings.[37]

end of biography

Also known as Hrolf the Ganger or Rollon, 1st Duke of Normandy from 911 to 927, called also Rolf the Walker, because, being so tall, he preferred to go afoot rather than ride the little Norwegian horses. Also shown as Rollon, Row, or Robert. Originally a Norse Viking, he was noted for strength and martial prowess. In the reign of Charles II the Bald, he sailed up the Seine River and took Rouen, which he kept as a base of operations. He gained a number of victories over the Franks, and extorted the cession of the province since called Normandy.

By the famous treaty which Charles the Bald, http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I53974&tree=hennessee, and Rollo signed the latter agreed to adopt Christianity. He was born in 846 and died in 932, and was buried in the Cathedral at Rouen.
-------------------------------------------------------
From: http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/rollo000.htm

Commentary
Supposed father: Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re.

Supposed mother: Ragnhildr or Hildr.

The origin of Rollo is contraversial. There are several medieval sources which claim to give information about the origin of Rollo, the most widely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re by Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from the following brief notices, the various primary sources offer very contradictory information about Rollo's origin.

The earliest author to attribute an explicit origin to Rollo was Richer of Rheims, writing between 996 and 998, who called Rollo the son of another Viking invader of France named Catillus (presumably representing the Norse name Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138: 35)]. Since Catillus appears to be a legendary individual, this account has generally been discredited, probably correctly [see Douglas 420-1].

According to Dudo of St. Quentin (writing early 11th century), author of the earliest history of the Normans, Rollo had a younger brother named Gurim, presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo states that Rollo and Gurim were sons of a man who held many lands in "Dacia" (Dudo's word for Denmark, following other authors), and that after the death of the (unnamed) father of Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia fought against the sons, killing Gurim and driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp. 26-7)]. Dudo later refers to duke Richard I as being related to a "king of Dacia" named Haigrold [Dudo iv, 84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who must have been the Viking raider of France of that name [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 945, see PL 135: 463-4, van Houts 51], and not king Harald "Bluetooth" of Denmark. Note that Gurim cannot be the famous Gorm "the Old" of Denmark, who survived Rollo by many years.

William of Malmesbury (early 12th century) appears to be the earliest author to attribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5 (p. 125)].

As is well known, the Orkneyinga Saga (late twelfth century) [OrkS 4 (pp. 29-30)], followed by other Icelandic sources (such as the well known Heimskringla and Landnâamabâok), gives Rollo the name Hrâolfr, and make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re, and brother of (among others) jarl Torf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Earlier sources, such as Ari's Íslendingabâok (early to middle 12th century), mention Rognvald of M²re and his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, but not the supposed connection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61]. A poem allegedly written by Einar mentions his brothers, including a Hrâolfr, but does not connect Hrâolfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gorm among the brothers. (See the page on Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)

Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (ca. 1250), apparently a Welsh translation and/or revision of an earlier Latin life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, gives Haraldr Hâarfagri of Norway ("Harald Harfagyr") a brother named Rodulf (i.e., the Latin form of Hrâolfr) who is called the founder of Normandy [HGK, 3-4]. However, this is evidently a corrupt version of the Scandinavian version, and the suggestion that Rollo was a brother of Haraldr Hâarfagri need not be given any credence.

The most prominent argument of the case for accepting the Scandinavian account that Rollo was the same person as Hrâolfr, son of Rognvaldr of M²re, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 419-23], and those who accept this identification have generally followed the same arguments. On the other side, arguments against the identification were given by Viggo Starcke in his book Denmark in World History [Starcke 222-7].

Most of the argument of Douglas consists of accepting the tale of the sagas and rejecting evidence from the Norman sources which contradict the saga version, while explaining away the problems (on which more below). The evidence which Douglas puts forward as "a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf" concerns a passage in Landnâaamabâok that refers to a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr:

"... Annarr son Óttars vas Helge; hann herjaºe âa Skottland, ok feck ¤ar at herfange Niºbiorgo, dâottor Beolans konungs ok Caºlâinar, dâottor Gongo-Hrâolfs" (Another son of Óttarr was Helge. He harried in Scotland, and won there as his booty Niºbjorg, daughter of king Beolan and Caºlâin, daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr.) [OI 1: 66-7]

This passage, which Douglas attributed to "Ari the Learned" (who may or may not have been the author), is then compared with a passage from the nearly contemporary Plaintsong of Rollo's son William "Longsword" which was written soon after William's death:

"Hic in orbe transmarino natus patre
in errore paganorum permanente
matre quoque consignata alma fide
sacra fuit lotus unda"
(Born overseas from a father who stuck to the pagan error and from a mother who was devoted to the sweet religion, he was blessed with the holy chrism.)
[Douglas 422 (Latin); van Houts 41 (English translation)]

After explaining that the two stories are consistent with one another, Douglas then state that "[t]he suggestion of the Landnâamabâok is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century." While it is true that the two accounts as they stand are consistent with each other and with the claim that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man (ignoring all other evidence), it is surely a gross overstatement to claim that the Plaintsong "confirms" the other account, for there is not a single statement in the passage from Landnâamabâok that is confirmed by the Plaintsong. This is a clear case of circular reasoning, for without first assuming that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man, there is no evidence that the two passages have any relation whatsoever. Douglas's case is further undermined by the fact that another source [Laxdœla Saga chapter 32, see OI 1: 246] makes Niºbjorg's mother Caºlâin a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr, son of Oxna-´âorir, directly contradicting the thesis that Caºlâin was supposedly a granddaughter of Rognvaldr of M²re. Yet, Douglas apparently regarded this as the strongest part of his argument.

There are three main strands of evidence (somewhat related to each other) against the identification of Rollo with Hrâolfr son of Rognvaldr:

1. The discrepancies between the Norman and Icelandic sources.
Among other contradictions, the Norman sources give Rollo a brother named Gurim, while the Icelandic sources give Hrâolfr several brothers, none of them named Gormr (the presumed Old-Norse form for Gurim). Although both of the sources have their problems, earlier native sources would seem to have a higher priority than later foreign sources. While many elements of the Dudo's account are clearly legendary, there appears to be no clear motive on the part of Dudo (writing less than a century after Rollo's death) to invent a younger brother for Rollo who is then immediately killed off.

2. The general unreliability of Norse source for the early tenth century.
For the period under consideration, i.e., the early ninth century, the sagas have a poor record for reliability, even for Scandinavian history. For example, consider the following words of Peter Sawyer (written with regard to a different matter, but true in general), a well known expert on early Viking history: "... These sagas cannot, however, be accepted as reliable sources for the tenth century. The only trustworthy evidence for the tenth century in those sagas are the contemporary verses around which the saga writers wove their tales." [Sawyer 42] None of these verses confirm the identity of Rollo and Hrâolfr. The suspicion is made even larger by the fact that the Icelandic sources show no knowledge of Norman history other than the fact (well known throughout Europe at the time) that William the Conqueror was a descendant of the dukes of Normandy.

3. Rollo and Hrâolfr appear to be different names.
The natural Latinization of the name Hrâolfr would be Radulfus or Rodulfus. Yet, the Frankish and Norman sources consistently refer to the founder of Normandy as Rollo. Since these sources also include numerous individuals named Rodulfus, and consistently separate the two names, it appears that the names were regarded as different. Douglas explained this by suggesting a hypothetical hypochoristic form "Hrolle" of the name "Hroºwulf" as the basis for the name Rollo, and provides a single charter in which Rollo is referred to as "Rolphus" as evidence that the names were the same, acknowledging, however, that the charter itself was "not above suspicion." If the names were really regarded as the same, it would be expected that more convincing evidence to this effect could be offered.

Personally, I am inclined to believe that the identification of Hrâolfr and Rollo has no basis in fact, that it was likely to have been invented by a saga writer who wanted to give the jarls of Orkney some famous relatives (i.e., the kings of England), and that whatever the confusing Norman sources say are probably about the closest we are going to get to Rollo's origin. However, based on the surviving evidence, it is not possible to come to any definitive conclusion one way or the other, and Rollo's parentage should be listed as "unknown" unless further evidence becomes available.

Supposed second wife:

Gisla, said to be daughter of Charles the Simple, king of France [Dudo, 46-7, 53]. She is unknown in the Frankish sources. The fact that Charles the Simple's kinsman Charles the Fat had a daughter also named Gisla who married a Viking (Godefridus) in the ninth century has led to the natural suspicion that this Gisla is an invention based on the earlier woman of the name. If she existed at all, there is no reason to believe that she was a mother of any of Rollo's children.

Supposed additional child:

Caºlin (Kathleen), said by Norse sources to have married a certain king Beolan, who is otherwise unidentified. As discussed above, the evidence for her is less than satisfactory.

end of commentary

Rollo Ragnvaldsson
French: Robert Rognvalsson De Heidmark, Norwegian: Hrolf Ragnvaldsson, Norse, Old: Gange-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson
Also Known As: "Hrolf", "Rolf", "Rollo", "Gange-Rolv", "Gange-Rolf", "Gèongu-Hrâolfr", "le marcheur", "the walker", "the dane", "duke of normandy", "Rollo the Walker", "Viking", "Gange Rolf"
Birthdate: circa 860 (71)
Death: 931 (67-75)
Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France
Place of Burial: Rouen, Haute-Normandie, France
Immediate Family:
Son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re and Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir, of More
Husband of Poppa of Bayeux and Gisáele
Partner of Kaºlin's mother
Father of William "Longsword"; Adáele of Normandy and Kaºlin
Brother of Gutum Ragnvaldson
Half brother of Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hallad Ragnvaldsson Orkneyjarl, .; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl and Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèorºur, Íslands
Occupation: Duc de Normandie, Comte de Rouen, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy (911 - 932), duc de Normandie, Earl of Normandy, Viking chief, Count of Normandy, 'Agongah-woekh' Aeuello (Rollo Rognvaldsson), First Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy 1st, Norse Viking
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated: October 12, 2017

About Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' of Normandy
http://www.friesian.com/flanders.htm#norman

http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00020055&tree=LEO

Duke of Normandy was the title given to the rulers of the Duchy of Normandy in northwestern France, which has its origins as the County of Rouen, a fief created in 911 by King Charles III "the Simple" of France for Rollo, a Norwegian nobleman and Viking leader of Northmen.

Gangu-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson, or Rollo de Normandie was a Norse nobleman and the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. The name "Rollo" is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from the Old Norse name Hrâolfr, modern Scandinavian name Rolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolfr into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Parents: Ragnvald Eysteinsson M²rejarl & Hild Nefja (uncertain, see below)
Spouses:
1. Poppa de Bayeux
Children:
Vilhjalm Langaspjâot (Guillaume Longue âEpâee)
Geirlaug (Gerloc) who later took the name Adela
2. Gisela de France (betrothal, no children)
According to Landnâama (The book of Settlers in Iceland, written in the 12th century), Rollo had a daughter named Kaºlâin (Kathlin or Cathlin) her mother is not named (Notes by Anna Petursdottir):

Kaºlin (Kathlin)
Kaºlâin is mentioned along with her father Rollo in chapter 33 in Landnâamabâok (The Book of Settlers) and her father, Rollo, and his brothers, also their father, Ragnvald are mentioned in chapert 82 : https://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm

BIG NEWS
French and Norwegian scientists within several fields go together in a project to extract DNA from the remains of Rollo's grandson and great grandson in Fâecamp. This might give us the final answer to Rollo's origin (Note from Anna Petursdottir: Provided that the remains that are being researched, are in fact the persons in question and also are legitimate grandsons of Rollo). Excavations are expected in July 2011, results sometime autumn 2011.

Links and Resources
Snorre's saga
Dudo's account (eng): http://the-orb.arlima.net/orb_done/dudo/dudindex.html
Store Norske Leksikon
MEDIEVAL LANDS
[ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi".

According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].

ROLLO ["Ganger" Hrolf], son of [RAGNVALD "the Wise" Jarl of Mèore in Norway & his wife Ragnhild ---] (-Rouen [928/33], bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[6]). The parentage of Rollo/Rolf is uncertain and the chronology of his life confused. Richer names "Rollone filio Catilli" as leader of the Vikings who raided along the Loire and against whom "Robertus Celticµ Galliµ dux" campaigned[7]. No further reference has been found to "Catillus/Ketel". Flodoard provides no information on Rollo´s ancestry. The early 12th century William of Malmesbury states that "Rollo…[was] born of noble lineage among the Norwegians, though obsolete from its extreme antiquity" and adds that he was "banished by the king´s command from his own country"[8]. The later Orkneyinga Saga is more specific, naming “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[9]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[10]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[11]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". Guillaume de Jumiáeges accords a Danish origin to Rollo, stating that his father "possâedant presque en totalitâe le royaume de Dacie, conquit en outre les territoires limitrophes de la Dacie et de l´Alanie" and left "deux fils…l´aãinâe Rollon et le plus jeune Gurim"[12]. He records that the king of Denmark defeated the two brothers and killed Gorm, and that Rollo fled the country, first landing in England, where he made peace with "le roi…Alstem"[13]. If this refers to ¥thelstan King of Wessex, the account must be confused given King ¥thelstan´s succession in 924. Freeman suggests that Guillaume de Jumiáeges must be referring to "Guthrum-¥thelstan of East-Anglia"[14], although this does not resolve the chronological problems assuming that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is correct in recording Guthrum´s death in 890[15]. After recording Rollo´s expeditions in Frisia, Guillaume de Jumiáeges states that Rollo landed at Jumiáeges after sailing up the Seine in 876[16], another suspect date which Houts suggests should be corrected to [900][17]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo defeated "Renaud duc de toute la France", captured "le chãateau de Meulan", defeated and killed Duke Renaud in another campaign, besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, and attacked Paris again while his other troops devastated Evreux where they killed "son âevãeque…Sibor"[18]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo attacked Chartres but withdrew after being defeated by "Richard duc de Bourgogne" and "Anselme l âevãeque"[19].

William of Malmesbury records that "Rollo…experienced a check at Chartres" but escaped the "plentiful slaughter" of the Vikings by the townspeople, before capturing Rouen "in 876"[20]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", that "les princes de cette province…Bâeranger et Alain" swore allegiance to Rollo, and that Rollo was baptised in 912 by "l´archâevãeque Francon", adopting the name ROBERT after "le duc Robert" who acted as his sponsor[21].

William of Malmesbury records that "it was determined by treaty, that [Rollo] should be baptised, and hold the country of the king as his lord"[22]. The charter which confirms the original grant (assuming that there was such a document) has not survived. However, the grant of land is inferred from a charter dated 14 Mar 918, under which land was donated to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes specifying that the donation excluded "that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[23]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that Normandy was an enfeofment for which the ruling duke owed allegiance, and the later dukes of Normandy, who claimed that it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed[24].

The version of events recorded by Flodoard provides a different slant and names two Viking leaders. Firstly, Flodoard records that in 923 "Ragenoldus princeps Nortmannorum" who occupied "in fluvio Ligeri" devastated "Franciam trans Isaram", that "Nortmanni" made peace in 924 "cum Francis", that King Raoul granted them "Cinomannis et Baiocµ" [Maine and Bayeux], but that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted the land between the Loire and the Seine[25]. This passage makes no mention of the supposed earlier grant of land along the shore. Secondly, the same source records that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted Burgundy in 925, that Hâeribert [II] Comte de Vermandois besieged Norman castles "super Sequanam", that "Nortmanni" devastated "pagum Belvacensem atque Ambianensem" [Beauvais and Amboise], while Comte Hâeribert and Arnoul Count of Flanders forced "Rollo princeps" from his strongholds[26]. Thirdly, Flodoard states that "Hugo filius Rotberti et Heribertus comes" campaigned against "Nortmannos" in 927, that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles at "castellum…Auga", and that "Rollo" held "filius Heriberti Odo" as a hostage in 928, which suggests some sort of alliance between Rollo and Comte Hâeribert[27]. William of Malmesbury records that Rollo died at Rouen[28]. The date of his death is uncertain: Flodoard names Rollo as living in 928 (see above) but the same source names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[29]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of Robert's body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[30], which would date the event to [1064]. He is known to history as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie], although no early source has been identified which refers to him by this name or title.

[m] [firstly] ---. The identity of Rollo´s first wife or concubine is not known.

m [secondly] ([886] or after, repudiated, remarried after 912) POPPA, daughter of BERENGAR Comte de Bayeux & his wife ---. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Rollo took "Popa, fille de Bâerenger, homme illustre" when he captured Bayeux and "s´unit avec elle, áa la maniáere des Danois"[31]. According to Orderic Vitalis, Rollo "stormed and captured Bayeux, slew its count Berengar and took to wife his daughter Poppa"[32]. In another passage, the same source records that Rollo besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, killed "Berengarium comitem" and married his daughter Popa, in 886[33], although this date appears early in light of the likely birth date range of the couple's son Guillaume. The Chronico Rotomagensis records that "mortua a Gisla, accepit Rollo propriam uxorem filiam comitis Silvanectensis Widonis"[34]. Robert of Torigny combines the information, recording that "Rollo dux Northmannorum" married "Popam prius repudiatam uxorem…filiam…Berengarii comitis Baiocensis neptem vero Widonis comitis Silvanectensis"[35]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after capturing Rouen, "Rodulfus" married the daughter of its deceased count by whom he was father of "Willelmum…Longosped"[36]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that "le comte Bernard" welcomed "son neveu Richard" (grandson of Rollo) at Senlis after his escape from captivity[37], although in another passage he describes how Rollo captured Bayeux and took "une tráes-noble jeune fille Popa, fille de Bâerenger" in the town, marrying her "áa la maniáere des Danois"[38], in a later passage adding that Rollo married Poppa, whom he had previously repudiated, a second time after the death of his wife[39]. It would be possible to reconcile the different versions if Comte Bernard's mother was married twice, her first husband being Bâerenger Comte de Bayeux.

m thirdly (912) GISELA, daughter of CHARLES III "le Simple" King of the West Franks & his first wife Frederuna --- ([908/16]-before her husband). The Genealogica Arnulfi Comitis names (in order) "Hyrmintrudim, Frederunam, Adelheidim, Gislam, Rotrudim et Hildegardim" as the children of "Karolus rex…ex Frederuna regina"[40]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", and their marriage which took place after Rollo´s baptism[41]. Her marriage is recorded in the Norman annals for 912, which state that she died without issue, presumably soon after the marriage when Gisla must still have been an infant. The chronicle of Dudo of Saint-Quentin[42] describes her as of "tall stature, most elegant…", which is of course inconsistent with her supposed birth date range. The Liber Modernorum Regum Francorum records the marriage of "filiam suam [=rex Karolus] nomine Gillam" to "Rollo"[43]. Settipani considers that the marriage did not occur, and that the Norman sources confused it with the marriage of Gisela, daughter of Lothaire II King of Lotharingia, to the Viking leader Gotfrid[44].

Rollo & his [first wife] had two children:

1. [KADLINE . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the Landnâama-Boc which records that "son of Oht-here…Helge" captured and married [her daughter] "Nidh-beorg, daughter of king Beolan and Cadh-lina, daughter of Walking-Rolf [Gongo-Hrâolfs]" when he "harried in Scotland", and also records their descendants[45]. No other record has been found of "king Beolan" and the accuracy of this report is unknown. m BEOLAN King [in Scotland].]

2. [NIEDERGA . Niederga is shown in Europèaische Stammtafeln[46] as the second daughter of Rollo by his first wife but the primary source on which this is based has not been identified.]

Robert & his [second] wife had two children:

3. GUILLAUME (Rouen [900/05]-murdered Pequigny 17 Dec 942, bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[47]). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa[48]. However, the Planctus for William Longsword[49], composed shortly after the murder of Guillaume, states that he had a Christian mother of overseas origin. Dudo of Saint-Quentin states that he was born in Rouen and, in a later passage, describes him as a "young man" one year before his father's death[50]. His father chose him as heir one year before his death[51]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that he was born before his father's marriage to Gisela and his remarriage with Popa after Gisela's death[52]. Flodoard records that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles III "le Simple" at "castellum…Auga" in 927[53]. He succeeded his father in [928/33] as GUILLAUME I "Longuespee" Comte [de Normandie]. Flodoard names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[54]. He quelled a rebellion by the Viking chief Riulf after the latter besieged Rouen[55]. In return for swearing allegiance to Raoul King of France, he appears to have been granted rights to further territory along the coast in 933, maybe the Cotentin and Avranchin. If this is correct, it would have created rivalry with the dukes of Brittany. Dudo of Saint-Quentin describes Comte Guillaume's invasion of Brittany shortly after his accession to quell a rebellion against him, and his defeat of the rebels at Bayeux[56]. Responding to raids by Comte Guillaume, Arnoul I Count of Flanders invaded Ponthieu and in 939 captured Montreuil from Herluin Comte de Ponthieu, although it was recaptured by Comte Guillaume's forces. In 939, Guillaume joined the alliance against Louis IV King of France which was led by Otto I "der GroÏe" King of Germany who raided Frankish territory. Comte Guillaume, however, met King Louis at Amiens, receiving a confirmation of the grant of his lands in Normandy. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume was tricked into a meeting on the river Seine at Pecquigny by Arnoul Count of Flanders to settle their dispute over the castle of Montreuil, but was murdered on Count Arnoul's orders, recording his death on 17 Dec[57]. The Annalibus Rotomagensibus record that "Willermus dux Normannorum filius Rollonis" was killed "943 XVI Kal Jan"[58]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of his body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[59], which would date the event to [1064].

[m] firstly SPROTA, daughter of ---. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume married "une tráes-noble jeune fille Sprota…selon l'usage des Danois"[60]. From Brittany. It is possible that Sprota was Count Guillaume's concubine rather than wife, particularly as no reference has been found to a dissolution of any marriage before she married Esperleng. She married Esperleng de Pãitres, by whom she had Rodulf [Raoul] Comte d'Ivry.

m secondly ([940]) as her first husband, LUITGARDIS de Vermandois, daughter of HERIBERT II Comte de Vermandois & his wife Adela [Capet] (before 925-14 Nov after 985, bur Chartres, Abbaye de Saint-Páere). Rodulfus Glauber refers to the wife of Comte Guillaume as "sororem [Heribertum Trecorum comitem]", specifying that she was childless by her first husband, when recording her second marriage to "Tetbaldus"[61]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records the marriage of Guillaume and the daughter of Heribert, specifying that it was arranged by Hugues "le Grand"[62]. The source which confirms her name has not yet been identified. She married secondly Thibaut I Comte de Blois. "Hugonis ducis, Odonis comitis, Hugonis sanctµ Bituricensis archiprµsulis, Letgardis comitissµ, Bertµ comitissµ, Gauzfridi vicecomitis…" subscribed the charter dated 985 under which "Robertus" donated property to "Sancti Petri Carnotensis", on the advice of "Odonem, simul cum sua matre Ledgarde, pariterque dominam meam Bertam, ipsius µque coniugem"[63]. The necrology of Chartres cathedral records the death "XVIII Kal Dec" of "Letgardis comitissa"[64]. Guillaume & his first wife had one child:

a) RICHARD (Fâecamp [932]-20 Nov 996, bur Fâecamp). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names Richard as son of Guillaume and Sprota, recording that news of his birth was brought to his father when he was returning from his victory against the rebels led by "Riulf"[65]. After the death of Richard's father, Louis IV "d'Outremer" King of the West Franks briefly controlled Rouen, and kept Richard prisoner, before the latter was able to escape, whereupon he succeeded as RICHARD I "Sans Peur" Comte [de Normandie].

4. GERLOC (-after 969). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa, in a later passage records her marriage to "Guillaume comte de Poitou"[66]. Robert of Torigny also names "Willermum Longum Spatam et Gerloch" as children of "Rollo dux Northmannorum" and Poppa[67]. The Chronico Richardi Pictavensis records that "Heblus…Pictavorum Comes et Dux Aquitaniµ duxit Adelam filiam Rolli Rothomagensis"[68], although this is presumably an error for Guillaume son of Ebles. She adopted the name ADELA when baptised. "Guillelmi comitis, Adeleidis comitisse" subscribed a charter recording a donation to Cluny dated [963][69]. Lothaire King of France granted her 14 Oct 962 the right to dispose of extensive property in Poitiers, la Cour de Faye, this grant effectively putting an end to the long dispute between her husband and the family of Hugues "Capet". She used the property to found the Monastery of Sainte-Trinitâe[70]. m (935) GUILLAUME I "Tãete d'Etoupe" Comte de Poitou, son of EBLES "Mancer" Comte de Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine & his first wife Aremburga ([900]-3 Apr 963). He succeeded in 959 as GUILLAUME III Duke of Aquitaine.

Rollo's origin
He is named as Rollo and said to have come from Dacia by Dudo of St. Quentin (c. 965-after 1043), the historian of the Norman dukes and the earliest source. Dudo does not name Rollo's parents. The Orkneyinga saga, a later source (c. 1230), identifies him with Hrolf Gange, who is said to have been a son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, jarl of M²re. Modern scholars generally doubt the identification with Hrolf. See, for example, Stewart Baldwin, "Rollo of Normany" in soc.genealogy.medieval, Mar. 16, 1998.

There is much support for the claim of Rollo's homeland being Sykkylven in Sunnm²re (M²re), Norway.

Dacia, the country Dudo refers to as Rollo's homeland, was what people outside Scandinavia called the Nordic countries as a unity: Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland together. Dudo describes Dacia as a country of high mountains, surrounding Rollo's estate - just like Gange-Hrolf's Fauske in Sykkylven. (see photos)

At the time the language, Old Norse (called dèonsk tunga by Snorri and others) was still the same and had not started to divide into separate dialects or languages.

Fasge, the place Adam of Bremen describes as Rollo's home, can easily be placed in Sykkylven where Gangu-Hrolfr had his estate at the farm called Fauske, Aure or Aurum. The Danish historian Steenstrup identified (works from 1876-82) Fasge with the town Faxe in Denmark, but linguistic argument shows that this consonant change is highly unlikely, and that the Norwegian place-name Fauske is more probable.

The outstanding linguist Hêakon Melberg argued in his dissertation that linguistic studies could shed light on the origin of the Scandinavian people and their history. In particular he opposes Steenstrup's analysis and points at several discrepancies, making Denmark improbable as Gange-Hrolf's origin.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=no&id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&q=fauske#search_anchor

Sources
Linge, Per Eldar: Gangerolvs mektige M²re, Sunnm²rsposten forlag 1992.
More here: http://www.eutopia.no/Gangerolv.html

Melberg, Hêakon: Origin of the Scandinavian Nations and Languages : An Introduction (doctoral dissertation). University of Oslo, 1952.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kon_Melberg http://books.google.com/books?id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&hl=no&pgis=1 http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/show?pid=921271042&kid=biblio

Languages
Gangu-Hrolf's Languages: Old French and Old Norse (the language spoken in the Nordic countries at the time):

"Danish tounge", dansk tunga, would be the language spoken in all of Scandinavia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse_language

dèonsk tunga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Icelandic_language#The_Scandinavian_period_.28550.E2.80.931050.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_French

Snorri Sturlusson
From Heimskringla, Snorri: "24. ROLF GANGER DRIVEN INTO BANISHMENT.

Earl Ragnvald was King Harald's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him. He was married to Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia, and their sons were Rolf and Thorer. Earl Ragnvald had also three sons by concubines, -- the one called Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug; and all three were grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children Rolf became a great viking, and was of so stout a growth that no horse could carry him, and wheresoever he went he must go on foot; and therefore he was called Rolf Ganger. He plundered much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the eastward on a viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he landed there and made a cattle foray. As King Harald happened, just at that time, to be in Viken, he heard of it, and was in a great rage; for he had forbid, by the greatest punishment, the plundering within the bounds of the country. The king assembled a Thing, and had Rolf declared an outlaw over all Norway. When Rolf's mother, Hild heard of it she hastened to the king, and entreated peace for Rolf; but the king was so enraged that here entreaty was of no avail. Then Hild spake these lines: --

"Think'st thou, King Harald, in thy anger, To drive away my brave Rolf Ganger Like a mad wolf, from out the land? Why, Harald, raise thy mighty hand? Why banish Nefia's gallant name-son, The brother of brave udal-men? Why is thy cruelty so fell? Bethink thee, monarch, it is ill With such a wolf at wolf to play, Who, driven to the wild woods away May make the king's best deer his prey."

Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from which that land is called Normandy. Rolf Ganger's son was William, father to Richard, and grandfather to another Richard, who was the father of Robert Longspear, and grandfather of William the Bastard, from whom all the following English kings are descended. From Rolf Ganger also are descended the earls in Normandy. Queen Ragnhild the Mighty lived three years after she came to Norway; and, after her death, her son and King Harald's was taken to the herse Thorer Hroaldson, and Eirik was fostered by him." (Snorri Sturlasson )

Gange-Rolv (Gèongu-Hrâolfr), var en norsk vikingh²vding og sagafigur som egentlig het Hrâolfr Rèognvaldsson (ca 860-932) og var s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, kjent som jarlen som klippet Harald Hêarfagre etter at Norge var samlet til ett rike.

Gange-Rolv fikk tilnavnet fordi han var sêa stor at han alltid mêatte gêa til fots, underforstêatt at hesten ble for liten. I f²lge norsk og islandsk tradisjon er denne personen identisk med den historiske Rollo, som i 911 ble utnevnt til hertug over Normandie. Rollos opphav er imidlertid omdiskutert og nok umulig êa stadfeste helt sikkert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger. En sannsynlig slektning, Vilhelm Erobreren av Normandie, inntok England i 1066 og grunnla et nytt normannisk kongehus i der.

Gange-Rolv var med pêa mange tokt i Austerled, men ble forvist fra landet av Harald Hêarfagre etter et strandhogg han gjorde i Viken (Norge). I henhold til Snorre dro Rolv til Valland (Frankrike) etter landsforvisningen. Der ble han blant annet ble gift med kongsdatteren Gisela, og han skal ha blitt d²pt i Saint-Clair-katedralen.

WIKIPEDIA (Eng)
Rollo (c. 860 - c. 932) was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. He is also in some later sources known as Robert of Normandy.

The name Rollo is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from Scandinavian name Hrâolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolf Kraki into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Historical evidence Rollo was a Viking leader of contested origin. Dudo of St. Quentin, in his De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum (Latin), tells of a powerful Danish nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed. William of Jumiáeges also mentions Rollo's prehistory in his Gesta Normannorum Ducum however he states that he was from the Danish town of Fasge. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event in his Roman de Rou, also mentions the two brothers (as Rou and Garin), as does the Orkneyinga Saga.

Norwegian and Icelandic historians identified this Rollo with a son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re, in Western Norway, based on medieval Norwegian and Icelandic sagas that mention a Ganger Hrolf (Hrolf, the Walker). The oldest source of this version is the Latin Historia Norvegiae, written in Norway at the end of the 12th century. This Hrolf fell foul of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, and became a Jarl in Iceland. The nickname of that character came from being so big that no horse could carry him. [1]

The question of Rollo's Danish or Norwegian origins was a matter of heated dispute between Norwegian and Danish historians of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the run-up to Normandy's 1000-year-anniversary in 1911. Today, historians still disagree on this question, but most would now agree that a certain conclusion can never be reached.'

Invasion of France In 885, Rollo was one of the lesser leaders of the Viking fleet which besieged Paris under Sigfred. Legend has it that an emissary was sent by the king to find the chieftain and negotiate terms. When he asked for this information, the Vikings replied that they were all chieftains in their own right. In 886, when Sigfred retreated in return for tribute, Rollo stayed behind and was eventually bought off and sent to harry Burgundy.

Later, he returned to the Seine with his followers (known as Danes, or Norsemen). He invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy.

Rather than pay Rollo to leave, as was customary, the Frankish king, Charles the Simple, understood that he could no longer hold back their onslaught, and decided to give Rollo the coastal lands they occupied under the condition that he defend against other raiding Vikings.

In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with King Charles, Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required to kiss the foot of King Charles, as a condition of the treaty, he refused to perform so great a humiliation, and when Charles extended his foot to Rollo, Rollo ordered one of his warriors to do so in his place. His warrior then lifted Charles' foot up to his mouth causing him to fall to the ground. [2]

Settlement Initially, Rollo stayed true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time he and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet. Eventually, however, Rollo's men intermarried with the local women, and became more settled as Frenchmen. At the time of his death, Rollo's expansion of his territory had extended as far west as the Vire River.

Death Sometime around 927, Rollo passed the fief in Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshipped,[citation needed] and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true God in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, some of his pagan roots surfaced at the end.

Legacy Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. Through William, he is a direct ancestor and predecessor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The "Clameur de Haro" in the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

Depictions in Fiction Rollo is the subject of the 17th Century play Rollo Duke of Normandy written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

References ^ Gèongu-Hrâolfs saga in Old Norse from heimskringla.no ^ Holden, A.J. (1970). Le Roman de Rou de Wace. Paris: âEditions A.J. Picard. p.54. Lines 1147-1156 D.C. Douglas, "Rollo of Normandy", English Historical Review, Vol. 57 (1942), pp. 414-436 Robert Helmerichs, [Rollo as Historical Figure] Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdom under the Carolingians, 751-987, (Longman) 1983 Dudonis gesta Normannorum - Dudo of St. Quentin Gesta Normannorum Latin version at Bibliotheca Augustana Dudo of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum - An English Translation Gwyn Jones. Second edition: A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press. (1984). William W. Fitzhugh and Elizabeth Ward. Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian Institute Press. (2000) Eric Christiansen. The Norsemen in the Viking Age. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. (2002) Agnus Konstam. Historical Atlas of the Viking World. Checkmark Books. (2002) Holgar Arbman. Ancient People and Places: The Vikings. Thames and Husdson. (1961) Eric Oxenstierna. The Norsemen, New York Graphics Society Publishers, Ltd. (1965)

TEXT - SOURCE? Rollo was a Viking leader, probably (based on Icelandic sources) from Norway, the son of Ragnvald, Earl of Moer; sagas mention a Hrolf, son of Ragnvald jarl of Moer. However, the latinization Rollo has in no known instance been applied to a Hrolf, and in the texts which speak of him, numerous latinized Hrolfs are included. Dudo of St. Quentin (by most accounts a more reliable source, and at least more recent and living nearer the regions concerned), in his Gesta Normannorum, tells of a powerful Dacian nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed.(1) With his followers (known as Normans, or northmen), Rollo invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event, gives a Scandinavian origin, as does the Orkneyinga Saga, Danish or Norwegian most likely.

Unlike most Vikings whose intentions were to plunder Frankish lands, Rollo's true intentions were to look for lands to settle. Upon arrival in France, and after many battles with the Vikings, Charles the Simple understood that he could no longer hold back their advances, and decided as a tempory measure to give Rollo land around Rouen, as he did with his other barons, but under the condition that he would convert to Christianity and defend the Seine River from other raiding Vikings. In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with the French King Charles the Simple, "for the protection of the realm," Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required, in conformity with general usage, to kiss the foot of King Charles, he refused to stoop to what he considered so great a degradation; yet as the homage could not be dispensed with, he ordered one of his warriors to perform it for him. The latter, as proud as his chief, instead of stooping to the royal foot, raised it so high, that the King fell to the ground. It is important to note that Rollo did stay true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time Rollo and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de-facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet.

Rollo expanded his territory as far west as the Vire River and sometime around 927 he passed the Duchy of Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshiped, and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true god in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, at the end, some of Rollo's pagan roots eventually came to the surface. He was a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. By William, he was a direct ancestor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The "clameur de haro" on the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

TEXT - SOURCE??? Rollo (later Robert) "of Normandy" Viking leader in France, d. 932.

Although he is often referred to as the first Duke of Normandy, that title is an anachronism. Probably about 911, King Charles the Simple of France ceded a district around the city of Rouen to Rollo, which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy. He is said to have been baptized in 912, assuming the Christian name Robert. He was still living in 928, when he was holding Eudes, son of Heribert of Vermandois, as a captive and was probably dead by 932, when his son William was mentioned as leading the Normans.

end of biography

ROLLO THE VIKING

DIED 931 A.D.


For more than two hundred years during the Middle Ages the Christian countries of Europe were attacked on the southwest by the Saracens of Spain, and on the northwest by the Norsemen, or Northmen. The Northmen were so called because they came into Middle Europe from the north. Sometimes they were called Vikings, or pirates, because they were adventurous sea-robbers who plundered all countries which they could reach by sea.



Their ships were long and swift In the center was placed a single mast, which carried one large sail. For the most part, however, the Norsemen depended on rowing, not on the wind, and sometimes there were twenty rowers in one vessel.



The Vikings were a terror to all their neighbors; but the two regions that suffered most from their attacks were the Island of Britain and that part of Charlemagne's empire in which the Franks were settled.

endof commentary







Nearly fifty times in two hundred years the lands of the Franks were invaded. The Vikings sailed up the large rivers into the heart of the region which we now call France and captured and pillaged cities and towns. Some years after Charlemagne's death they went as far as his capital, Aix, took the place, and stabled their horses in the cathedral which the great emperor had built.



In the year 860 they discovered Iceland and made a settlement upon its shores. A few years later they sailed as far as Greenland, and there established settlements which existed for about a century.



These Vikings were the first discoverers of the continent on which we live. Ancient books found in Iceland tell the story of the discovery. It is related that a Viking ship was driven during a storm to a strange coast, which is thought to have been that part of America now known as Labrador.



When the captain of the ship returned home he told what he had seen. His tale so excited the curiosity of a young Viking prince, called Leif the Lucky, that he sailed to the newly discovered coast.



Going ashore, he found that the country abounded in wild grapes; and so he called it Vinland, or the land of Vines. Vinland is thought to have been a part of what is now the Rhode Island coast.



The Vikings were not aware that they had found a great unknown continent. No one in the more civilized parts of Europe knew anything about their discovery; and after a while the story of the Vinland voyages seems to have been forgotten, even among the Vikings themselves.



So it is not to them that we owe the discovery of America, but to Columbus; because his discovery, though nearly five hundred years later than that of the Norsemen, actually made known to all Europe, for all time, the existence of the New World.



II



THE Vikings had many able chieftains. One of the most famous was Rollo the Walker, so called because he was such a giant that no horse strong enough to carry him could be found, and therefore he always had to walk. However, he did on foot what few could do on horseback.



In 885 seven hundred ships, commanded by Rollo and other Viking chiefs, left the harbors of Norway, sailed to the mouth of the Seine, and started up the river to capture the city of Paris.



Rollo and his men stopped on the way at Rouen, which also was on the Seine, but nearer its mouth. The citizens had heard of the giant, and when they saw the river covered by his fleet they were dismayed. However, the bishop of Rouen told them that Rollo could be as noble and generous as he was fierce; and he advised them to open their gates and trust to the mercy of the Viking chief. This was done, and Rollo marched into Rouen and took possession of it. The bishop had given good advice, for Rollo treated the people very kindly.



Soon after capturing Rouen he left the place, sailed up the river to Paris, and joined the other Viking chiefs. And now for six long miles the beautiful Seine was covered with Viking vessels, which carried an army of thirty thousand men.



A noted warrior named Eudes was Count of Paris, and he had advised the Parisians to fortify the city. So not long before the arrival of Rollo and his companions, two walls with strong gates had been built round Paris.



It was no easy task for even Vikings to capture a strongly walled city. We are told that Rollo and his men built a high tower and rolled it on wheels up to the walls. At its top was a floor well manned with soldiers. But the people within the city shot hundreds of arrows at the besiegers, and threw down rocks, or poured boiling oil and pitch upon them.



The Vikings thought to starve the Parisians, and for thirteen months they encamped round the city. At length food became very scarce, and Count Eudes determined to go for help. He went out through one of the gates on a dark, stormy night, and rode post-haste to the king. He told him that something must be done to save the people of Paris.







So the king gathered an army and marched to the city. No battle was fought--the Vikings seemed to have been afraid to risk one. They gave up the siege, and Paris was relieved.



Rollo and his men went to the Duchy of Burgundy, where, as now, the finest crops were raised and the best of wines were made.



III



PERHAPS after a time Rollo and his Vikings went home; but we do not know what he did for about twenty-five years. We do know that he abandoned his old home in Norway in 911. Then he and his people sailed from the icy shore of Norway and again went up the Seine in hundreds of Viking vessels.



Of course, on arriving in the land of the Franks, Rollo at once began to plunder towns and farms.



Charles, then king of the Franks, although his people called him the Simple, or Senseless, had sense enough to see that this must be stopped.



So he sent a message to Rollo and proposed that they should have a talk about peace. Rollo agreed and accordingly they met. The king and his troops stood on one side of a little river, and Rollo with his Vikings stood on the other. Messages passed between them. The king asked Rollo what he wanted.



"Let me and my people live in the land of the Franks; let us make ourselves home here, and I and my Vikings will become your vassals," answered Rollo. He asked for Rouen and the neighboring land. So the king gave him that part of Francia; and ever since it has been called Normandy, the land of the Northmen.



When it was decided that the Vikings should settle in Francia and be subjects of the Frankish king, Rollo was told that he must kiss the foot of Charles in token that he would be the king's vassal. The haughty Viking refused. "Never," said he, "will I bend my knee before any man, and no man's foot will I kiss." After some persuasion, however, he ordered one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. The king was on horseback and the Norseman, standing by the side of the horse, suddenly seized the king's foot and drew it up to his lips. This almost made the king fall from his horse, to the great amusement of the Norsemen.



Becoming a vassal to the king meant that if the king went to war Rollo would be obliged to join his army and bring a certain number of armed men--one thousand or more.



Rollo now granted parts of Normandy to his leading men on condition that they would bring soldiers to his army and fight under him. They became his vassals, as he was the king's vassal.



The lands granted to vassals in this way were called feuds, and this plan of holding lands was called the Feudal System.



It was established in every country of Europe during the Middle Ages.



The poorest people were called serfs. They were almost slaves and were never permitted to leave the estate to which they belonged. They did all the work. They worked chiefly for the landlords, but partly for themselves.



Having been a robber himself, Rollo knew what a shocking thing it was to ravage and plunder, and he determined to change his people's habits. He made strict laws and hanged robbers. His duchy thus became one of the safest parts of Europe.



The Northmen learned the language of the Franks and adopted their religion.



The story of Rollo is especially interesting to us, because Rollo was the forefather of that famous Duke of Normandy who, less than a hundred and fifty years later, conquered England and brought into that country the Norman nobles with their French language and customs.

The Vikings in Normandy:
Timeline
Pre-Norman France map, http://www.viking.no/e/france/norm_col_gb.gif The chronology of the Vikings in Normandy can be encapsulated by a division into two successive centuries:

From AD 820 to c. AD 920, the Viking incursions on the lower Seine became more and more frequent, resulting finally in some permanent colonisation.
From c. AD 920 to AD 1020 was a consolidation period for Normandy, with the influx of numerous Scandinavian settlers, before turning increasingly to the Kingdom of France.

Timeline showing the Viking raids on the river Seine

820 Thirteen ships reach the Seine Bay. A force of Vikings lands but, having to face the shore guard, they are forced to re-embark, leaving five of their number dead on the Neustrian shore.
841 Asgeir's fleet sails up the River Seine (from 12th May), takes the city of Rouen (14th May) and burns it down. The loot is enormous. Aesgir's army continues its penetration of the Seine, plunders and burns the rich Jumiáege monastery (24th May). The nearby monastery of Fontenelle (the future Saint-Wandrille) is also assaulted and held to ransom. In this expedition, sixty-eight captives are taken and then returned on payment of a ransom by the monks of Saint-Denis (28th May).
845 Ragnar's fleet of 120 ships (therefore c. 6000 men) sails up the Seine and besieges Paris (28th March). Charles the Bald pays 7000 livres in order to spare Paris.
851 Asgeir and his men, back on the Seine, this time devastate the monastery of Fontenelle (13th October) and return there eighty-nine days later (9th January 852) and, finding nothing to plunder, burn it down.
852 Asgeir and his force raid on foot in the Beauvais region (Flanders county), from their base in Rouen. Engaged by a Frankish army, they have to withdraw and camp for the winter on Jeufosse island, securely controlling the entrance to the Seine. They stay there up to the 5th June. By the end of this year, a new group of Vikings, mainly Norwegians led by Sigtrygg (back from Ireland) and Godfrid, sails up the Seine to Jeufosse to establish their own base there. The Frankish army of Charles the Bald besieges the island.
853 (beg.) Charles the Bald negotiates with Godfrid, who afterwards retires. As for Sigtrygg, he stays to plunder and burn numerous places up to March.
855 Sigtrygg returns (18th July) to attempt to destroy a Frankish fort located on the Seine shore on the approach to Paris. He is reinforced by Bjèorn, leading a powerful fleet (17th August). The two armies join and carry out a raid in the south of the Seine, as far as Chartres, where they are stopped by the Frankish army of Charles the Bald. They have to withdraw to the Seine after heavy losses.
857 Again from Jeufosse, which has now become an established base, Sigtrygg's and Bjèorn's armies attack Paris (January). Chartres is assaulted again (12th June); on this occasion, revenging the reverse of AD 855, they take it, plunder it, and slaughter all its population. During the summer they also attack Evreux and many other places, the action taking place generally around Jeufosse island. Finally, Sigtrygg retires with his men.
858 Bjèorn is joined by a new group of Danes, led by Hasting (9th January). They lay again into the abbey of Fontenelle, which they burn down. Leading a mounted force, Bjèorn surrounds Paris and demands a ransom of the Parisian monasteries. Charles the Bald is defeated when he reacts and tries again to besiege the Viking base of Jeufosse.
859 The attacks from the Seine valley are redoubled. Charles the Bald is engaged in a struggle with his brother, Louis the German. The Vikings take advantage of this to attack freely far from their bases: Bayeux, Laon and Beauvais, where the bishops are executed.
860 The Viking chief, Veland, is paid 3000 silver livres by Charles the Bald to try to drive out the Vikings of the lower Seine.
861 From May, Veland besieges Jeufosse island, leading 200 Viking ships. The Vikings of Jeufosse have to retire from the Seine, with some 100 ships. This fleet then joins Veland's. Taking advantage of several years of respite, Charles the Bald builds forts which control the Seine at Pont-de-l'Arche.
865 Fifty Viking ships settle at Pãitres (near Pont-de-l'Arche), on the Seine.
876 100 new Viking ships make an incursion into the Seine. They sail away again after a payment of 5000 livres by Charles the Bald.
885 A huge fleet sails up the Seine (one report tells of some 700 ships) to besiege Paris. Losses are severe on both sides. The new Frankish king, Charles the Big, relieves the city by paying a heavy ransom to the besiegers.
887-911 Rolf (Rollo/Rollon) imposes himself as chief of the Vikings settled in the lower Seine region. He repels the Franks, pushing right up to the doors of the Ile-de-France. He attacks Chartres but, repulsed, withdraws again to the Seine.
911 Seeking to block the lower Seine, which had become a real "motorway" for the Viking invasions of the Kingdom of Frankia, the new king, Charles the Simple, concludes an agreement with Rolf at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, conceding to him the suzerainty of the territory of the lower Seine which, de facto, Rolf had already had for several years.

Timeline showing the Viking Raids in Western Neustria

From AD 836 Bjèorn and Hasting lead numerous raids in Cotentin and Avranchin.
860-989 There are no more resident bishops in Cotentin and Avranchin nor any ecclesiastical infrastructures in these bishoprics. Whole areas are deserted by the native population as they become untenable, particularly in Cotentin.
867 The Frankish king, Charles the Bald, concedes Cotentin and Avranchin to the Bretons, so that they might defend these territories.
889, 890 and 891 Respectively, Saint-Lão, Coutances and Avranches are plundered or burnt down.
890-892 Rolf makes several raids in Bessin (Bayeux).
905 Vire is plundered.
907 Since Brittany is too devastated by the Viking raids, the Breton sovereignty of Cotentin and Avranchin exists only theoretically.
911 Since Rolf is now Jarl of Rouen, and since they refuse to convert to Christianity, and seek new conquests, many of Rolf's companions settle in Cotentin and Bessin.
916 From Cotentin and Bessin, where they have settled, numerous Scandinavian forces attack the whole eastern region of Brittany.
924 Bessin is added to Rolf's territory.
925 Some unsubdued Scandinavian troops of Bessin, united with native Saxons, devastate the western part of the Seine colony.
927-928 Rolf erect many fortifications (Bayeux, Exmes, Saint-Lão, Brionne, etc.) to face a huge influx of new Viking contingents, resistant to his authority in Cotentin (Danes from the Danelaw, and Hiberno-Norse from Ireland) and in Bessin (especially Danes from the Danelaw).
931 Brittany is totally subdued: on the east by the Normans of the Seine and on the west by Normans who have settled on the River Loire. The Normans of the Seine take advantage of this to get a foothold in Cotentin and Avranchin, and on the Channel Islands, in order to control the Scandinavian troops which have to submit to the Jarl of Rouen's authority.
933 Cotentin and Avranchin are conceded officially by the King of France, Raoul, to the Normans of the Seine, who are also appointed to the protectorate of Brittany.

Rollo married Lady Poppa of Bayeux. Poppa (daughter of Berengar II of Neustria, Count of Bayeux and unnamed spouse) was born in (850) in Bayeux, France; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Place de Gaulle, Bayeux, France

Notes:

Poppa of Bayeux was the Christian wife or mistress[1] (perhaps more danico)[2] of the Viking conqueror Rollo.

She was the mother of William I Longsword and grandmother of Richard the Fearless, who forged the Duchy of Normandy into a great fief of medieval France.[3]

Dudo of Saint-Quentin, in his panegyric of the Norman dukes, describes her as the daughter of a "Count Berengar", the dominant prince of that region, who was captured at Bayeux by Rollo in 885 or 889.[4]

This has led to speculation that she was the daughter of Berengar II of Neustria. Despite the uncertainty of her parentage, she undoubtedly was a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[5]

A statue of Poppa stands at the Place de Gaulle in Bayeux.

Notes:

Married:
Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy.

Notes:

Gorm the Old (Danish: Gorm den Gamle, Old Norse: Gormr gamli, Latin: Gormus Senex[1][2]), also called Gorm the Languid (Danish: Gorm L²ge, Gorm den Dvaske), was the first historically recognized ruler of Denmark, reigning from c.? 936 to his death c.? 958.[3] He ruled from Jelling, and made the oldest of the Jelling Stones in honour of his wife Thyra. Gorm was born before 900 and died c.? 958.[3]

Ancestry and reign

Gorm is the reported son of semi-legendary Danish king Harthacnut. Chronicler Adam of Bremen says that Harthacnut came from Northmannia to Denmark and seized power in the early 10th century.[4] He deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, reigning over Western Denmark.[3] When Harthacnut died, Gorm ascended the throne.

Heimskringla reports Gorm taking at least part of the kingdom by force from Gnupa, and Adam himself suggests that the kingdom had been divided prior to Gorm's time. Gorm is first mentioned as the host of Archbishop Unni of Hamburg and Bremen in 936.[4] According to the Jelling Stones, Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, "won all of Denmark", so it is speculated that Gorm only ruled Jutland from his seat in Jelling.[4]

Marriage to Thyra

Runic stone for Thyra, back side
Gorm married Thyra, who is given conflicting and chronologically dubious parentage by late sources, but no contemporary indication of her parentage survives. Gorm raised one of the great burial mounds at Jelling as well as the oldest of the Jelling Stones for her, calling her tanmarkar but ("Denmark's Salvation" or "Denmark's Adornment"). Gorm was the father of three sons, Toke, Knut and Harald, later King Harald Bluetooth.[5]

His wife, Thyra, is credited with the completion of the Danevirke, a wall between Denmark's southern border and its unfriendly Saxon neighbors to the south. The wall was not new, but it was expanded with a ditch and earthen foundation topped by a timber stockade above it. The Danevirke ran between the Schlei and the Treene river, across what is now Schleswig.[6]

Death, burial and reburial

Gorm died in the winter of 958–959[5] and dendrochronology shows that his burial chamber was made from wood of timbers felled in 958.[7] Arild Huitfeldt explains how in Danmarks Riges Kr²nike:[citation needed]


Runic stone for Thyra, front side
The three sons were Vikings in the truest sense, departing Denmark each summer to raid and pillage. Harald came back to the royal enclosure at Jelling with the news that his son Canute had been killed in an attempt to capture Dublin, Ireland. Canute was shot with a coward's arrow while watching some games at night. No one would tell the king in view of the oath the king had made. Queen Thyra ordered the royal hall hung with black cloth and that no one was to say a single word. When Gorm entered the hall, he was astonished and asked what the mourning colors meant. Queen Thyra spoke up: "Lord King, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far afield and was set upon by other birds which tore off its beautiful feathers and is now useless to you. Meanwhile the gray falcon continues to catch fowl for the king's table." Gorm understood immediately the Queen's metaphor and cried out, "My son is surely dead, since all of Denmark mourns!" "You have said it, your majesty," Thyra announced, "Not I, but what you have said is true." According to the story Gorm was so grieved by Canute's death that he died the following day.

This account would contradict information on the Jelling Stones which point to Queen Thyra dying before Gorm. Some archaeologists and historians have suggested that Gorm was buried first in Queen Thyra's grave mound at Jelling, and later moved by his son, Harald Bluetooth, into the original wooden church in Jelling.[3] According to this theory it is believed, that the skeleton found at the site of the first Christian church of Jelling is in fact Gorm the Old, though the theory is still much debated. During the reign of Gorm, most Danes still worshipped the Norse gods, but during the reign of Gorm's son, Harold Bluetooth, Denmark officially converted to Christianity. Harald, accordingly, left the hill where Gorm had originally been interred as a memorial.

Legacy

Gorm was "old" in the sense that he was considered the traditional ancestral "head" of the Danish monarchy. Saxo Grammaticus in the Gesta Danorum asserts that Gorm was older than other monarchs and having lived so long was blind by the time his son Canute was killed.

end of biography

Gorm's pedigree: https://fabpedigree.com/s038/f790309.htm

end of comment

Buried:
Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark

Gorm married Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark. Elgiva (daughter of Aethelstan, King of the East Angles and unnamed spouse) was born in ~872 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in ~935 in Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark; was buried in Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Carolingian Vermandois de Meaux, Count of Meaux, Count of Troyes, was born circa 920 to Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) and Hildebranda of France (895-931) and died circa 968 in Seine-et-Marne, France of unspecified causes. He married Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.

Children

Offspring of Robert de Vermandois and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Herbert III of Meaux (c950-995) 950 995
Adele of Meaux (c950-c980) 950 980 Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)

Adelaide de Troyes (c955-c991) 955 991 Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953-993)
Noteworthy descendants include

William I of England (1027-1087)

Namesakes of Robert de Vermandois (918-968)

Birth place
Death place
Father
Mother
Joined with
Robert de Vermandois (918-968) Seine-et-Marne, France Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) Hildebranda of France (895-931) Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
Robert I of Senlis (?-1004) Bernard of Senlis (919-947)
Robert II of Senlis (?-1028) Robert I of Senlis (?-1004)

Robert married Adelaide-Werra de Chaton in 953 in Vermandois, France. Adelaide-Werra was born in 920 in (France); died in 967 in (France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Adele Carolingian of Meaux was born 950 to Robert de Vermandois (918-968) and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) and died 980 of unspecified causes. She married Lambert de Chalon (930-979) . She married Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

The French Wikipedia has her first husband marry her mother,[1] which is unlikely, given her age. The same source has her a daughter Gerberge marry King Adalberto of Italy. This would make Adele a grandmother at the age of 12. However, in the reconstruction shown here, Adele is married to two men at once, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage born around 972 and her eldest daughter from her second marriage born around 965.

Note that Genealogie Quebec merges her with her sister.[2]



Children

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Hugh I de Chalon (?-1039)
Mahaut de Chalon (?-1019) Henri I de Bourgogne (c948-1002)
Geoffroi de Semur (?-c990)

Aelis of Chalon (?-?) Guy I de Macon (975-1006)

Elizabeth de Chalon (970-1014)

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Gottfried of Anjou (?-987) 987
Fulk III, Count of Anjou (972-1040) 972 21 June 1040 Metz, France âElisabeth de Vendãome (c979-999)
Hildegarde de Beaugency (c990-)

Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) 967 Conan I of Rennes (927-992)

Gerberge of Anjou (965-1041) 965 1041 Guillaume III Taillefer of Angoulãeme (960-1028)
^ wikipedia:fr:Lambert de Chalon
^ http://genealogiequebec.info/testphp/info.php?no=23981

Notes:

Rognvald Eysteinsson (fl. 865) was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of M²re in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rognvaldr Eysteinsson and in modern Norwegian as Ragnvald M²rejarl. He is sometimes referred to with bynames that may be translated into modern English as "Rognvald the Wise" or "Rognvald the Powerful".

The earliest available sources regarding Rognvald are mutually contradictory and were compiled long after he died. The best known are the Norse Sagas, although modern scholars highlight many inconsistencies and improbable claims regarding Rognvald in the sagas, and believe that they must be treated with caution:[2] The texts of the sagas were compiled three centuries after the events described and their accuracy in regard to Rognvald's life and historical significance is now questioned. Hence some scholars instead emphasise other accounts, closer to the historical period in question, such as Irish and Scottish sources.

While Rognvald does appear to have had some kind of role in the founding of the Norse Earldom of Orkney, most historians now doubt claims in the Sagas that Rognvald led one particular "great voyage" - a Norwegian expedition that attacked rebel vikings, who had been raiding Norway from bases on Orkney and Shetland, before raiding the Scottish mainland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is now generally believed that any such expedition would have occurred after Rognvald's lifetime. A modern authority on Orcadian history, William P. L. Thomson, comments that the story of the "great voyage is so thoroughly ingrained in popular and scholarly history, both ancient and modern, that it comes as a bit of a shock to realise that it might not be true."[3]

Modern scholars also highlight inconsistencies and improbable claims in the sagas' claims regarding: the relationship between Rognvald and Harald; the names and biographies of Rognvald's immediate family, and; the founding of the earldom of M²re.

Rognvald was the father of Torf-Einarr (d. circa 910) an earl of Orkney. Some Norse accounts claimed that another son, Hrâolfr, settled in France and, under the name Rollo (d. 930), founded the Duchy of Normandy. However, French sources suggest that Rollo's father was an unnamed Danish or Norwegian nobleman, or a viking named Ketill.


Contents
1 Traditional accounts
1.1 Sources
1.2 Family
1.3 Death and legacy
2 Modern interpretations
2.1 Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
2.2 Founding of the earldom of Orkney
2.3 Rognvald's brother and sons
2.4 Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
2.5 Broad themes
3 References
4 External links
Traditional accounts

Sources

The oldest account that may refer to Rognvald and the Earldom of Orkney appears to be the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. These annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic, who died in 1039,[4] although they survive only as incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (17th century).

...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkney Islands. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son.
Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor.
These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[5] and the mention of an eclipse confirms a date of 865.[6]

Dating the Orkneyinga saga has proven to be controversial but a recent analysis has the "majority of scholars in favour of dates between 1170 and 1220"[7] whilst admitting that "it remains to be established when, why, where, for whom and by whom it was written".[8] Much of the information it contains is "hard to corroborate".[2]

Rognvald is also referred to in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (written c. 1230), written in Iceland.


Christian Krohg's portrait of Snorri Sturluson, 13th century compiler of the Heimskringla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snorre_Sturluson-Christian_Krohg.jpg
While the Historia Norvegiae (written c. 1505) includes an account of the foundation of the Orkney earldom, as well as some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney, it has relatively little to say about Rognvald.

Family

It is not certain that the Ragnall of the Irish annals is synonymous with Rognvald Eysteinsson. The relevant entry goes on to describe Ragnall's older sons raiding in Spain and North Africa, but there is no specific mention of the Earldom of Orkney. There is also a separate piece of circumstantial evidence, suggesting a link between Ragnall and the 9th century figure Ragnar Lodbrok: runic inscriptions found inside Maeshowe, dating from the 12th century, state that the mound was "built before Loºbrâok".[6]

There is no agreement in the available sources on Rognvald's parentage. According to the Irish annals, Ragnall was the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make Ragnall the brother of King Harald Fairhair. This is contradicted by later Norse sagas, which suggest that Halfdan was Rognvald's grandfather.[9] The Orkneyinga saga says that Rognvald was the son of Eystein Ivarsson and grandson of Ívarr Upplendingajarl.[10]

He was married, according to the Orkneyinga saga to Ragnhild, the daughter of a man named Hrâolfr Nose,[11] although in the Heimskringla his wife is named Hild.[12]

Both sagas refer to six sons. The oldest, "by concubines", were Hallad, Einarr and Hrollaug, who were "grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children".[11][12] The latter were Ivar, Hrâolfr, and Thorir the Silent. Hrâolfr, who "was so big that no horse could carry him", hence his byname of "Ganger-Hrâolf",[11] is identified by the saga writers with Rollo, founder of Duchy of Normandy (in 911).[12]

In the Orkneyinga saga Rognvald was made the Earl of M²re by Harald Fairhair. The Saga of Harald Fairhair in Heimskringla recounts that Rognvald caused Harald Fairhair to be given his byname by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of his vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway.[13] Rognvald accompanied the king on a great military expedition. First the islands of Shetland and Orkney were cleared of vikings who had been raiding Norway and then continued on to Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. During this campaign Rognvald's son Ivarr was killed and in compensation Harald granted Rognvald Orkney and Shetland.

Rognvald thereafter returned to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[14][11] Sigurd had been the forecastleman on Harald's ship and after sailing back east the king "gave Sigurd the title of earl".[11] However, the Heimskringla states specifically that Sigurd was the first Earl of Orkney.[15] According to the Orkneyinga Saga, after Sigurd became earl he died in a curious fashion, following a battle with Mâael Brigte of Moray. Sigurd's son Gurthorm ruled for a single winter after this and died childless.[16][17] Rognvald's son Hallad then inherited the title. However, unable to constrain Danish raids on Orkney, he gave up the earldom and returned to Norway, which "everyone thought was a huge joke."[18] Still, there is a tradition among the folk at Strath Halladale, Sutherland, which is named for Hallad, that he returned and was slain in battle at the beginning of the tenth century and was buried near the battle site in a circular trench ten or twelve feet wide. His sword, it is said, was placed beside him in the grave, and a stone was placed in the center of the circle, part of which was still visible at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The site was near a little town called Dal Halladha, Halladha's field.[19]


A page from the Orkneyinga saga, as it appears in the 14th century Flateyjarbâok. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg/220px-Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg
The Danish raids caused Rognvald to fly into a rage and summon his sons Thorir and Hrolluag. He predicted that Thorir's path would keep him in Norway and that Hrolluag was destined seek his fortune in Iceland. Turf-Einar, the youngest, then came forward and offered to go to the islands. Rognvald said: "Considering the kind of mother you have, slave-born on each side of her family, you are not likely to make much of a ruler. But I agree, the sooner you leave and the later you return the happier I'll be."[20] His father's misgivings notwithstanding, Torf-Einarr succeeded in defeating the Danes and founded a dynasty which retained control of the islands for centuries after his death.[21]

Historia Norvegiae includes some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney - such as an account of the Picts as a small people who hid in the daytime - as well as the foundation of the Orkney earldom,.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[22]

This account does not specifically associate Rognvald with the earldom, attributing the "dominion" of the islands to the anonymous kinfolk of his son Hrâolfr.[23]

Death and legacy
Rognvald was killed by King Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg and Gudrod Gleam, who engineered a sudden attack, surrounding the house in which Rognvald was staying, and burned it to the ground with the earl and 60 of his men inside it. Harald "flew into a rage" when he heard about this and sent out a "great force" against Gudrod who was then banished. Halfdan escaped into the western seas and Rognvald's death was later avenged by Torf-Einarr, who killed him on North Ronaldsay and then made peace with Harald. Rognvald's son Thorir was then made Earl of M²re by Harald, who also gave Thorir his daughter Alof in marriage.[24][25][26]

The sagas thus identify Rognvald as the apical figure of the Norse Earls of Orkney who controlled the islands until the early 13th century, and a forerunner of important Icelandic families. Furthermore, through his son Hrolfr, Rognvald is portrayed as an ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy who, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, became the kings of England.[11]

Modern interpretations
Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
Black and white drawing of a snapshot showing shipmasts with flags and warriors marching below. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg/170px-Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg
Magnus Barefoot's army in Ireland. Magnus' actions in the west clearly form the basis of the saga narrative about the submission of Orkney and Shetland to Harald Fairhair's fleet.[27]
Rognvald's life occurs within the first eight short chapters within the Orkneyinga saga and it is clear that in this early period it contains generally less detail and historical accuracy than in the later events it describes.[28] Recorded in the 13th century, the sagas are informed by Norwegian politics of the day.

Harald Fairhair's supposed expeditions to the west, recounted by Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla are no longer accepted as historical realities by many modern historians, including Thomson.[3] Later (mid-13th century) rivalry between the Norwegians and the Kings of the Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man are seen to have driven Sturluson's account.[29] At least in part, the sagas aim to legitimise Norwegian claims to both the Northern Isles and the Kingdom of the Isles in the west.[27] The situation faced by Earl Harald Maddadsson of Orkney in 1195, when he was forced to submit himself to royal authority after an ill-judged intervention in Norwegian affairs, would have made legendary material of this nature of considerable interest in Orkney, at the time that the sagas were written.[30]

It is also clear that elements in the narrative are drawn from the much later expeditions undertaken by Magnus Barefoot.[27]

Nonetheless, the view that the Orkney earldom was created by "members of the M²re family" continues to receive academic support.[31]

Harald Fairhair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[32] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889-900).[33] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier. The entry in the Fragmentary Annals at an early date also makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.


The monument at Haraldshaugen, erected to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Norway's unification under the rule of King Harald Fairhair after the Battle of Hafrsfjord. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Haraldshaugen.JPG/220px-Haraldshaugen.JPG
Other saga material provides an alternative description. In the Eyrbyggja saga the same story of a great expedition to punish unruly Vikings who were raiding Norway is undertaken, but here it is Ketil flatnefr (Ketil Flatnose) who leads it. Although this is apparently done at Harald's behest, Ketil then claims the islands as his own. Once again, the chronology is flawed by Harald's inclusion in the tale as other information provided about Ketil gives him a floruit of the mid, rather than late, 9th century.[3]

Furthermore, contemporary Irish sources have a great deal to say about Viking raids on the coasts of Ireland and southern Scotland and those who led them, but none mention King Harald. The earliest of the large expeditions again belong to a period-the 840s-that pre-dates the time of Harald's kingship.[34]

Smyth (1984) credits the launching of the great voyage to the west to Olaf the White, whom he provides with a royal Vestfold origin along with various military activities in Scotland and for whom, assuming an identification of Olaf with Amlaib "Conung" the King of Dublin, there is a contemporary Irish reference dating to 853.[35] Icelandic sources also have Olaf marrying Aud the Deep-Minded, Ketil flatnefr's daughter, and the ''Annals of Ulster'' record what may be dynastic in-fighting between Olaf and his father-in-law in 857.[36][Note 1]

Founding of the earldom of Orkney
By implication the Orkneyinga saga identifies Rognvald as the founder of the earldom, although Heimskringla has his brother Sigurd as the first to formally hold the title. Other sources are less specific (see above) and the sagas have been interpreted in various other ways. Smyth (1984), having banished King Harald's role in the voyage to the west to the realms of myth concludes that the role of the brothers Eysteinsson can be similarly so dispatched and that Torf-Einarr "may be regarded as the first historical earl of Orkney".[38]

Drawing on Adam of Bremen's assertion that Orkney was not conquered until the time of Harald Hardrada, who ruled Norway from 1043-66, Woolf (2007) speculates that Sigurd "the Stout" Hlodvirsson, Torf-Einarr's great-grandson, may have been the first Earl of Orkney [39]

Rognvald's brother and sons

Orkney and Shetland at centre, in relation to nearby territories https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png/220px-Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png
The notion that Rognvald could hand over his Northern Isles estates to his brother has been interpreted in various ways. For example, it may be that he was aware of ongoing Viking raiding in the area and considered the gift from the king as a mixed blessing.[40] This is also one of a number of instances in which the writer of the Orkneyinga saga attempts to reconcile the conflicting themes of independence from Norway (Rognvald gifts the islands to Sigurd) and dependence on royal authority (Harald formalises the process by confirming Sigurd as earl).[41] Beuermann (2011) speculates that Rognvald's transfer of power to his brother may have been an attempt by the saga writers to imply that the Orkney earldom had more independence from Norway than that of M²re[42] and that Rognvald's holdings in Caithness may have allowed for an even greater degree of freedom of action. Such implications are more likely to be rooted in the writer's interest in emphasising Orcadian independence at the time of writing rather than the 9th/10th century events they purport to describe.[43]

After Hallad's failure in Orkney there is a dialogue between father and sons that has been interpreted as being about Rognvald's desire to cement his own position as Earl of M²re and an allusion to the early history of Iceland, where the sagas were written. Thorir is a compliant son who Rognvald is happy to keep at home. Hrolluag is portrayed as a man of peace who will go to Iceland. Einarr is aggressive and a threat to his father's position so can be spared for the dangers of Orkney.[44] In the Landnâamabâok version the equally aggressive Hrolfr is also present, and his destiny is anticipated to be in conveniently far-away Normandy.[45][Note 2]

Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
Alex Woolf suggests that saga authors may have synthesised elements of the life of Ragnall ua Ímair, a later figure, into the figure of Rognvald Eysteinsson of M²re. Ragnall ua Ímair, who was active between 914 and 921 in the Irish Sea region, was a grandson of Ímar, the "king of the Northmen of all Britain and Ireland", whose death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 873.[46]

There are at least two major similarities between the two figures include: both are grandsons of an Ímar/Ivarr and; like Rognvald, a close relative of Ragnall named Ímar was killed in battle in Scotland (Ímar ua Ímair, d. 904).[47]

Broad themes
There are several recurring themes in the Orkneyinga saga, including strife between brothers, relationships between the jarls and the Norwegian crown, and raiding in the Hebrides,[48] all of which are touched on during the saga's coverage of Rognvald's life and times. In part, the saga's purpose was to "explore such social and psychological tensions as these in the history of the people of Orkney, and to help them understand themselves through a knowledge of their origins".[49]

References
Notes
More controversially, Smyth also identifies Olaf the White with Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a legendary Norwegian king of the House of Yngling - a suggestion dismissed by Ó Corrâain (1979).[37]
In the Heimskringla Hrolfr is banished by King Harald.[12]
Footnotes
Muir (2005) Preface: Genealogical table of the Earls of Orkney.
Woolf (2007) p. 242
Thomson (2008) p. 25
Radner (1999) p. 322-23
Anderson (1990) p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865.
Thomson (2008) p. 22
Phelpstead (2001) p. xvi
Phelpstead (2001) p. ix, quoting Inger Ekrem.
Crawford (1987) pp. 53-54
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 3 - "The Sea-Kings" p. 25-26
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 4 - " To Shetland and Orkney" pp. 26-27
Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 24 - Rolf Ganger Driven Into Banishment.
Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23
Anderson (1990) pp. 332-334; Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 22- King Harald's Voyage To The West.
Heimskringla. "Chapter 99 - History Of The Earls Of Orkney".
Thomson (2008) p. 28.
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 5 - "A poisoned tooth" pp. 27-28
Thomson (2008) p. 30 quoting chapter 5 of the Orkneyinga saga.
Pinkerton, John (1809). A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and in All Parts of the World, Vol. 3. London. p. 152. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 6 - "Forecasts" pp. 28-29.
Thomson (2008) p. 29
Anderson (1990) pp. 330-331
Phelpstead (2001) p. 9
Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29-30
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 8 - "Troublemakers from Norway" pp. 29-33
Heimskringla. "Harald Harfager's Saga, Part 30 - Earl Ragnvald Burnt In His House".
Thomson (2008) p. 27
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 11
Crawford (1987) pp. 52-53.
Thomson (2008) pp. 27-28
Helle, Knut (2006) "Earls of Orkney": The Vikings and Scotland - Impact and Influence, Royal Society of Edinburgh Conference 22-26 September 2006. Edinburgh (Rapporteur: Andrew Heald); retrieved 27 January 2014.
Crawford (1987) p. 55-56.
Anderson (1990) pp. 395-396.
Thomson (2008) p. 26
Smyth (1984) pp. 152-53
Smyth (1984) p. 156
Ó Corrâain (1979) p. 298
Smyth (1984) p. 153
Woolf (2007) p. 307
Muir (2005) p. 6
Thomson (2008) p. 31
Beuermann (2011) p. 120
Beuermann (2011) p. 121
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 13
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 14
Ó Corrâain (1998) p. 37
Woolf (2007) pp. 300-303
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" pp. 15-16
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 19
General references
Anderson, Alan Orr (1990) Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500-1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
Beuermann, Ian "Jarla Sogur Orkneyja. Status and power of the earls of Orkney according to their sagas" in Steinsland, Gro; Sigurºsson, Jâon Viºar; Rekda, Jan Erik and Beuermann, Ian (eds) (2011) Ideology and power in the viking and middle ages: Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney and the Faeroes . The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 A.D. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. 52. Leiden. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20506-2
Crawford, Barbara (1987) Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0
Muir, Tom (2005) Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas. The Orcadian. Kirkwall. ISBN 0954886232.
Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (Mar 1979) "High-Kings, Vikings and Other Kings". Irish Historical Studies 22 No. 83 pp. 283-323. Irish Historical Studies Publications.
Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (1998) Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century CELT. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
Pâalsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey (1981). Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044383-5
Phelpstead, Karl (ed) (2001) A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Ólâafr. (pdf) Translated by Devar Kunin. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series. XIII. University of London.
Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). "Fragmentary Annals of Ireland". CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
Radner, Joan N. (1999) "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form" (PDF), Celtica. 23, pp. 312-325.
Smyth, Alfred P. (1984) Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80-1000. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
Sturluson, Snorri (1992) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin. ISBN 0-292-73061-6
Sturlson, Snorri Heimskringla. Wisdom Library ;retrieved 21 January 2014.
Thomson, William P. L. (2008) The New History of Orkney. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-696-0
Woolf, Alex (2007) From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5

end of this biography

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re
Norwegian: Ragnvald Eysteinsson, M²rejarl
Also Known As: "R²gnvald", "Rognvaldr Mœrajarl", "son Eysteins glumru", "den Rêadsnare", "Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson", "Rognvald I Eysteinsson", "Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl"
Birthdate: 825
Birthplace: Vestfold, Norway or, êAre Municipality, Jèamtland County, Sweden
Death: 894 (69)
Giske, M²re og Romsdal, Norway (Norway, Ragnvald, With 60 of His Men, Die In A Longhouse When Two of Harald's Jealous Sons Burned It Down With Them In It)
Place of Burial: Giske, M²re og Romsdal, Norway

Ragnvald is the 37th great grandfather of David Michael Cornett ... http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I848&tree=hennessee

Immediate Family:

Ragnvald is the 32nd through the 37th great grandfather to Martha Ann Millsaps

Son of Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» Glumra and N.N.
Husband of Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir
Partner of NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnvald M²rejarl, mother/s of Torf-Einar, Hrollaug and Hallad
Father of Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèorºur, Íslands; Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl and 3 others
Brother of Sigurd Eysteinsson, I, Jarl of Orkney and Svanhild Eysteinsdotter
Occupation: M²rejarl, Earl of M²re and Romsdal, Earl of More and Romsdal, Earl of More, also "The Wise", Earl of Shetland and Orkney, Count of Maer, Jarl of North and South More and Of Ramsdal, Jarl âa Mµri., Jarl âa Mµri, EARL OF MORE, Earl, Jarl
Managed by: Harald Tveit Alvestrand
Last Updated: January 22, 2019

Immediate Family

NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnv...partner

Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl, son

Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkn..., son

Hrollager Rognvaldsson, son

Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèor..., son

Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, wife

Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl, son

Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' Ragnvaldsson, son

Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson, son

Gutum Ragnvaldson, son

Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» G...father

N.N., mother
About Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re
Rognvaldr Mèorejarl, son Eysteins glumru. Earl of M²re and father of Gange-Hrolf Rollo of Normandie.

Basics
Father: Eystein "Glumra" Ivarsson
Mother: Asdis (Ascrida) (undocumented)
Concubines: Names unknown
Son: Hallad
Son: Hrollaug, who settled in Iceland
Son: Torf-Einar, who settled in Orkney
Wife: Ragnhild (also called Hild) Hrolfsdatter
Son: Gange-Rolf, who settled in Normandie
Son: Ivar, killed in battle
Son: Tore Teiande, who became a jarl in Norway
LInks and notes
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORWEGIAN%20NOBILITY.htm#Ragnvalddied894A http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_Eysteinsson http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=&emne=nor&person=Ragnvald%20%D8ysteinsson

D²d omkring 892. Han var s²nn av ¢ystein Glumra. Ragnvald var gift med Hild Rolvsdatter. De hadde barna: 1. Gange-Rolv Ragnvaldson av Normandie. F²dt mellom 860 og 866. D²d 931. 2. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldson M²rejarl. F²dt omkring 862. D²d mellom 938 og 940.
I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Ragnvald levde pêa Harald Hêarfagres tid, og ble av ham forlenet med Nordm²re, Romsdal og Sundm²re i 865. Han var av sine samtidige h²yt ansett for sin klokskap og ble kalt «den mektige». Det var han som klipte Haralds hêar, som da ikke var klippet pêa 10 êar. ----------------------------- RAGNVALD "the Wise", son of [EYSTEIN "Glumra/Clatterer" Jarl in Norway & his wife ---] (-[894]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Eystein the Clatterer, father of the wise counsellor Earl Rognwald the Powerful…”, adding that “Earl Rognwald campaigned with King Harald Fine-Hair who gave him charge of North More, South More and Romsdale”[141].

Snorre names "Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein "Glumra" when recording that he had become a supporter of King Harald who had invested him with the districts of North More and Raumsdal[142]. Snorre records that he was created Jarl of North and South Mèore and of Raumsdal in Norway by Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway after his victory at Solskiel [869] against Hunthiof King of Mèore and Nokve King of Raumsdal[143].

Orkneyinga Saga and Snorre both record that King Harald granted Shetland and Orkney to Ragnvald in compensation for the death of his son Ivar[144]. The Historia Norwegie records that "principi Rogwaldi" crossed the Solund Sea, destroyed the peoples of the Orkney islands, in the days of "Haraldi Comati regis…Norwegie"[145].

Orkneyinga Saga records that “Halfdan Long-Leg and Gudrod Gleam, King Harald´s sons by Snµfrid” attacked “Earl Rognvald of More, killed him and assumed his authority”[146].

Snorre records that Ragnvald was ambushed in his hall and burned alive by Halfdan Haaleg and Gudred Liomi, two of King Harald's sons[147].

m [RAGNHILD, daughter of HROLF “Nevja/Nose” & his wife ---. Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Rognwald” married “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[148]. Snorre names "Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia" as the wife of "Earl Ragnvald"[149].]

[Ragnvald & his wife had three children:]

1. [IVAR (-killed in battle either Hafrsfiord [872] or Orkney [874]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that Ivar was killed in battle fighting with Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway in Scotland[150]. Snorre names "Ivar, a son of Ragnvald Earl of More" when recording his death in battle during a Viking campaign against the Scottish islands[151]. The Complete Peerage dates the appointment of Sigurd (Ivar´s reported paternal uncle) as Jarl of Orkney to [875][152], which means that Ivar must have been killed shortly before this date. However, as explained below this causes considerable chronological difficulties with the reported events in the career of Turf-Einar, Ivar´s youngest illegitimate half-brother, so should be considered as extremely approximate.

2. [ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].]

3. [THORE Ragnvaldsson "Tause/the Silent". Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[161]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild[162]. He succeeded his father in [894] as Jarl of Mèore, having dispossessed Gudrod "Ljome", son of King Harald, who had seized Mèore on the death of Jarl Ragnvald[163].

m ([890]) ALOF "Aarbod/Season-bettering", daughter of HARALD I "Hêarfagre/Harfagri/Fairhair" King of Norway & his second wife Gyda of Hordaland. Snorre records that King Harald gave Jarl Thore his daughter "Alof, called Arbot" after the king confirmed him as Jarl of Mèore[164].] [Thore & his wife had one child:]

a) [BERGLJOT Thoresdatter. The Historia Norwegie names "Bergliota filia Thoris Tacentis", from "nobilissima Morensium ac Halogensium comitum prosapia", as the wife of "Siwardo"[165]. Snorre names "Bergljot, a daughter of Earl Thorer the Silent" & his wife as the wife of Sigurd[166].

m SIGURD Jarl, son of HAAKON Grjotgardson Jarl of Haalogaland & his wife -- (-murdered Oglo 962).]

[Ragnvald had three illegitimate children by unknown mistresses:]

4. [HALLAD . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[167]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[168]. Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent “his son Hallad west to the islands” after hearing of the death of his brother and nephew, and that Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl” to Hallad who “came to Orkney and took up residence on Mainland”[169]. Snorre records that Earl Ragnvald installed his son Hallad as Jarl of Orkney after the death of his brother Sigurd, but that he resigned the earldom and returned to Norway[170]. Orkneyinga Saga records that, following complaints by farmers about Viking raids, Hallad “tiring of his rule, gave up the earldom and went back to Norway as a common landholder” which “made him a laughing stock”[171].

5. [HROLLAUG . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[172]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[173].

Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald told his son Hrollaug that “your fate will take you to Iceland [where] you´ll have plenty of descendants”[174]. His alleged descendants in Iceland shown below are as stated in Thorstein Side-Hallum's Saga and Flatey-book's St Olaf's Saga[175] but the accuracy of this information, which has not been corroborated in other sources, is unknown. m ---. The name of Hrollaug´s wife is not known.] [Hrollaug & his wife had one child:]

a) [JON Ozur . m ---. The name of Jon´s wife is not known.] [Jon & his wife had one child:]

i) [THOREY . m ---. The name of Thorey´s wife is not known.] [Thorey & his wife had one child:]

(a) [HALL of Sida . m ---. The name of Hall´s wife is not known.] [Hall & his wife had two children:]

(1) [THORSTEIN . Aged 20 at the battle of Clontarf 1014.

(2) [THORDIS . Orkneyinga Saga records that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[176]. m ---. The name of Thordis´s husband is not known.] Thordis & her husband had one child:

a. USPAK . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[177]. m ---. The name of Uspak´s wife is not known. Uspak & his wife had one child:

(i) SOMERLED . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”[178]. m ---. The name of Somerled´s wife is not known. Somerled & his wife had one child:

(a) THORA . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of this Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[179]. Orkneyinga Saga records that “his mother was married…to a man called Sigurd” when her son Magnus returned to Orkney, adding that she and her second husband had a son “Hakon Karl…[and] a farm at Paplay”[180]. m firstly ERLEND Thorfinsson Jarl of Orkney, son of THORFINN "the Black" Jarl of Orkney & his wife Ingibjèorg Finnsdatter (-in prison Nidaros 1098, bur Nidaros). m secondly SIGURD of Paplay .

b) [HALLBERA . m ASBIORN, son of HRAFUNKEL of Steinrodar-Stadir in Iceland.]

6. [EINAR "Turf-Einar” . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[181]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[182].

Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent his “youngest son Einar” to “the islands” after his brother Hallad returned to Norway and that Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl”, adding that his mother was “slave-born on each side of her family”, and stating that he killed “Thorir Tree-Beard and Kalf Scurvy” and succeeded in imposing his authority in Orkney where “he was the first man to dig peat for fuel…at Tarbat Ness in Scotland”, and that he “was tall and ugly…and…one-eyed”[183]. It should be noted that there are considerable chronological difficulties with the career of Turf-Einar and his sons, as reported in Orkneyinga Saga.

The starting point for the analysis of these problems is the date of the battle in Northumbria in which Turf-Einar´s two oldest sons were killed, which can with reasonable accuracy be placed in the early 950s. If these two sons were at least in their late thirties or forties when they died (a difficult assumption to make considering that they had no reported direct heirs), their births could not be placed before [905/15] at the earliest. The likelihood would then be that their father, Turf-Einar, was not born much earlier than [975/95]. The difficulty is that this date is completely incompatible with (a) the fact that the illegitimate sons of Ragnvald were reported as “grown men” when their legitimate half-brothers were children, and (b) that the date when Ivar, the oldest legitimate son, was killed is estimated to [874].

----------------------------- Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hêarfagres saga: «10. ... Ragnvald M²rejarl, s²nn til ¢ystein Glumra, var blitt kong Haralds mann da om sommeren. Kong Harald satte ham til h²vding over disse to fylkene, Nordm²re og Romsdal, og ga ham rett til hjelp bêade av stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Han ble kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og de sier at begge navnene var sanne. Kong Harald var i Trondheimen vinteren som fulgte.»

«23. Kong Harald var i gjestebud pêa M²re hos Ragnvald jarl; da hadde han lagt hele landet under seg. Da gikk kongen i bad der. Og nêa lot kong Harald hêaret sitt greie, og Ragnvald jarl skar hêaret hans; da hadde det ikke vµrt skêaret eller kjemmet pêa ti êar. F²r kalte de ham Harald Luva, men nêa ga Ragnvald jarl ham nytt navn, og kalte ham Harald Hêarfagre. Alle som sêa ham, sa at det var virkelig et sant navn, for han hadde et hêar som var bêade stort og vakkert.»

Ragnvald ble innebrent pêa sin gêard sammen med 60 mann av Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome, to av Haralds s²nner, som vill vµre jarler over M²re. 1)

1). Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hêarfagres saga, avsnitt 10, 23-24. Snorre Sturlason: Olav den helliges saga, avsnitt 96. Mogens Bugge: Vêare forfedre, nr. 278. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 50, 76. ----------------------------------------------- Ragnvald's life is described by Snorri Sturluson in The Saga of Harald Hêarfagre (Fairhair): http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=no&emne=asatru&person=&list=&vis=s_e_harald_harfagre#43 --------------------------------------- About the name Ragnvald in various versions: http://www.nordicnames.de/pojk_r/Ragnvald.html

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Original text: Snorri, Heimskringla, Haralds saga hins hâarfagra: "Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl, son Eysteins glumru, hafºi ¤âa um sumarit gerzt maºr Haralds konungs. Haraldr konungr setti hann hèofºingja yfir ¤essi tvau fylki, Norºmœri ok Raumsdal, ok fâekk honum ¤ar styrk til bµºi af râikismèonnum ok bâondum, svâa ok skipakost at verja landit fyrir âufriºi. Hann var kallaºr Rèognvaldr hinn râiki eºa hinn râaºsvinni, ok segja menn at hvâarrtveggja vµri sannnefni. Haraldr konungr var um vetrinn eptir âi ´râandheimi."
[...]

"12. Brenna Vemundar konungs.

Eptir ¤at lagºi Haraldr konungr undir sik Sunnmœri. Vemundr, brâoºir Auºbjarnar konungs, hâelt Firºafylki ok gerºist konungr yfir. ´etta var sâiºla um haust, ok gera menn ¤at râaº meº Haraldi konungi, at hann skyldi eigi fara suºr um Staº âa haustdegi. ´âa setti Haraldr konungr Rèognvald jarl yfir Mœri hvâaratveggju ok Raumsdal, ok hafºi hann ¤âa um sik mikit fjèolmenni. Haraldr konungr sneri ¤âa norºr aptr til ´râandheims. ´ann sama vetr fâor Rèognvaldr jarl hit iºra um Eiº, ok svâa suºr um Fjèorºu. Hann hafºi njâosn af Vemundi konungi, ok kom um nâott ¤ar sem heitir Naustdalr; Var Vemundr konungr ¤ar âa veizlu. Rèognvaldr jarl tâok hâus âa ¤eim, ok brendi konung inni meº nâiutigi manna. Eptir ¤at kom Berºlukâari til Rèognvalds jarls meº langskip alskipat, ok fâoru ¤eir bâaºir norºr âa Mœri. Tâok Rèognvaldr jarl skip ¤au, er âatt hafºi Vemundr konungr, ok alt lausafâe ¤at er hann fâekk. Berºlukâari fâor norºr til ´râandheims âa fund Haralds konungs ok gerºist hans maºr; hann var berserkr mikill."

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, The Wise (830-890), Earl of Sunnm²re, Nordm²re and Romsdal, was born in Maer Nord-Tr²ndelag, Norway and died at the Orkney Islands.
He was son of Eystein Glumra the Noisy, Earl of Oppland, and grandson of Halfdan the Old.

His second wife was Ragnhild Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir (Raghldr (Hldr) Hrolfsdâottir) daughter of Hrolfr Nefjaa. Ragnvald was the father of Hrolf Ganger, the founder of Normandy. He was also the father of Turf-Einar, the ancestor of the jarls of Orkney.

He was the direct ancestor to William I of England, Edward III of England, James I of England, and, therefore, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is therefore the ancestor of most of the royal families of Europe.

Ragnvald Eystemssèon, allmèant kallad Mèorejarl. norsk storman i 9:de êarh., êatnjèot i hèog grad Harald Hêarfagres fèortroende och styrde sêasom hans jarl Mèorerne (Nord- och Sèondmèore samt Romsdalen). R. blef genom sin ene son. Torv-Einar, stamfader fèor Orkenèo-jarlarna och genom den andre, Gêange-Rolf, stamfader fèor hertigarna af Normandie. Af sina samtida kallades han den »rêadmilde» och den »mèaktige». Trots sin êadagalagda trohet mot konungen èoverfèolls och drèaptes han af dennes sèoner omkr. 890. Y. s.
Frêan Nordisk Familjebok

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous kinfolk.

The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rognvald_Eysteinsson

Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More (1) M, #104777 Last Edited=28 Oct 2002
Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More is the son of Eystein 'the Noisy' Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Ascrida Ragnvaldsdottir. (1) He died circa 890, burnt to death in his house. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More gained the title of Earl of More. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More also went by the nick-name of 'The Mighty'.
Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Groa (?) -1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -2. Turf-Einar Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -3. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson (1) Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir -1. Ivar Ragnvaldsson (1) -2. Thori 'the Silent' Ragnvaldsson, Jarl of More+ (1) -3. Rollo Ragnvaldsson, 1st Duc de Normandie+ b. c 846, d. c 931 (1)

Forrâas: http://www.thepeerage.com/p10478.htm#i104777

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

Contents [hide] 1 Sagas 2 Historia Norvegiae 3 Fragmentary Annals of Ireland 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patrâaic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

[edit] Notes ^ Crawford, pp. 52–53. ^ Anderson, pp. 332–334; Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 22. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 24. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29–30. ^ Anderson, pp. 330–331. ^ Crawford, pp. 53–54. ^ Anderson, p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865. ^ Crawford, p. 55–56. ^ Anderson, pp. 395–396.

[edit] References Anderson, Alan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8 Crawford, Barbara. Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester, 1987. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0 Ó Corrain, Donnchad. "The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century", Peritia, vol 12, pp296–339. (etext (pdf) Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. Radner, Joan N. "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form", Celtica, volume 23, pp. 312–325. (etext (pdf)) Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1998. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7 Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992. ISBN 0-292-73061-6

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Innhold [skjul] 1 Ragnvalds µtt 2 Den rêadsnare 3 Orkn²yene 4 Innebrent

[rediger] Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

[rediger] Den rêadsnare If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

[rediger] Orkn²yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

[rediger] Innebrent Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Forgjenger:

- Jarl av M²re
(865–892) Etterf²lger:

Tore Teiande
Hentet fra «http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl»

Rognvald Eysteinsson "the Wise" Earl of More (830-) [Pedigree]

Son of Eystein Glumra Ivarsson Jarl of Hedemarken (810-) and Aseda Rognvaldsdottir (812-)

REF RFC. A Norwegian viking. Jarl of More b. ABT 830, Maer, Norway b. Abt 0857 r. Upland, Denmark d. 890, Orkney, Orkney Islands, Scotland d. ABT 890, Maer, Norway
Married first Rognhild (Hildir) Hrolfsdotter (848-892)

Children:

1. Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy (-927) m(1) Poppa de_Valois Duchess of Norway (872-)
Married second Ermina

Children:

1. Hrollager Rognvaldsson (874-)
Sources:

1. "Royalty for Commoners",

Roderick W. Stuart, 1992, 2nd edition. This book lists all of the known ancestors of John of Gaunt, which amounts to most of the Medieval royalty of Europe. Also see the following article: "A Mediaeval Miscellany: Commentaries on Roderick W. Stuart's Royalty for Commoners," The American Genealogist 69 (April 1994)
2. "Europaische Stammtafeln",

Isenburg.
3. "Plantagenet Ancestry",

Turton.
Ragnvald I Eysteinsson , 1st Earl of Orkne

B: abt 0825 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway S: Rognvald Mere-Earl and Ragnvald "the wise" S: abt 0872 as Jarl of More and 1st Earl of Orkney D: 0894 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland M: abt 0852

http://www.geneajourney.com/nrmndy.html
Eystein Glumra, Jarl of the Upplands, b abt 803, of Norway. The identity of his wife is not known. Known children of Eystein Glumra were: • Ragnvald I, the Wise, Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832. • Swanhild b abt 846, of Norway. She md Harald I, "Fairhair, 1st King of Norway, abt 866, son of Halfdan, "the Black, King of Vestfold, and Ragnhild. Ragnvald I, "the Wise", Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832, Norway, d 890. He md Hiltrude abt 850, daughter of Hrolf Nefia. She was b abt 834. Child of Ragnvald the Wise and Hiltrude was: Rollo/Robert I of Normandy [a], 1st Duke of Normandy, aka Ganger Rolf, b abt 855, Norway, d abt 927-931, prob Normandy, France. He md Poppa of Bayeux abt 886, daughter of Berenger,Count of Bayeux. She was b abt 876.

Ragnvald var jarl i Mèore, Norge, och èar nog inte lika omtalad som flera av sina sèoner. En son èar sannolikt 'Gêange-Rolf', som blev stamfader fèor hertigar och kungar i Normandie, Frankrike, och det engelska kungahuset samt den som skapade hertigdèomet Normandie. En annan son 'Torv-Einar' blev jarl pêa Orkneyèoarna liksom hans broder Hallad. Ragnvald var gift med med Ragnhild Rolfsdotter, men hade ocksêa barn med frillan Groa. Ragnvalds syster Svanhild blev gift med Harald 'Hêarfager'. Ragnvald (Mèorejarl) blev mèordad (innebrèand) av Harald 'Hêarfagers' sèoner Halvdan 'Hêalegg' og Gudrèod 'Ljome'. Jarl, dèod ca 890. Ragnvald var jarl pêa Mèore. Hans far skall ha varit èOystein 'Glumra'. Han levde pêa Harald Hêarfagers tid, och blev av honom fèorlèanad med Nordmèore, Romsdal og Sundmèore êar 865. Han var av sina samtida hèogt ansedd fèor sin klokskap och blev kallad 'den mèaktige'. Det var han som klippte Haralds hêar, som dêa icke varit klippt pêa 10 êar.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kèallor

1) Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, Hull, England
Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.

Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Viºar Sigurºsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare

If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene

Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent

Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl

ROGNVALD I ~
Rognvald , The Wise, Jarl (Earl) of More, Norway, the first Jarl of Orkney and a near relative of King Harold Fairhair.

The house of Rognvald was one of the oldest lines of rulers in Norway.

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway, and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Viºar Sigurºsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare

If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene

Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent

Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Also known as Count Regnvald ("the Rich") and as "The Wise", Earl of North and South More, of Raumsdale in Norway.{"Royal Ancestors of Magna Charta Barons," Carr P. Collins, Jr., Dallas, 1959, p.201-02, states that he died about 894. (Rogenwald = Regnvald = Rognald)}

Earl of More/Moer in Norway and Jarl of Orkney and Shetland. He had his name Gallicized to Reginald. He supported King Harold Fairhair in an attempt to unify Norway. Norr: Jarl Rognwald (Rogvald, Raonwald, Regvald, Rouis), created Earl of Moer in 885. Roll: Rognwald, Earl of Maere. Norr: Jarl Rogwald (Raowald, Regvald, Rouis), Earl of Moer 885. Married Hilder. Beyond Rognvald, things get pretty confused. Norr has about 25 generations going back to Oden. RC doesn't agree. But some RC names coming down from RC's Odin agree in the upper portion. But the dates are some 250 years different. RC and Kraentzler agree in taking Rognvald back three more generations. Russell goes way back to Olaf the Sharp-eyed, King of Rerik.

Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

[edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had been influential in later writings on Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Earl of More

Born: abt 830 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway Died: 890 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland
Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl1,2,3 b. circa 830, d. 894 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl|b. c 830\nd. 894|p314.htm#i5205|Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 800|p6.htm#i8264|Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir||p67.htm#i8832|Ivarr O., Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 760\nd. a 800|p305.htm#i8265|N. N. of Throndheim|b. c 780|p67.htm#i8831|Rèognvaldr H. H. Ó., King of Vestfold||p278.htm#i9457|Thâora Sigurdsdâottir||p111.htm#i13338| Father Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders4,5 b. circa 800 Mother Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir

Also called Jarl Ragnald I of Orkney.6 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl was King Harald Fairhair's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him.4 Also called Jarl Rognvaldr of M²re.7 He was per late Icelandic sources, for which there is no good reason to believe that these generations are historical, a son of Eysteinn Glumra, son of Ívarr, son of Hâalfdan the Old.7 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl also went by the name of Ragnvald "the Wise".4,5 He associated with unknown , a concubine.8 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl was born circa 830 at Maer, Norway. He was the son of Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir.4,5 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl became one of H

Earl Rognvald joined Harold fair-hair when he seized the land, but he (Harold) gave him lordship over both the Mµren and Romsdale; (7) he had to wife Ragnhilda the daughter of Hrolf nosy; their son was Hrolf who won Normandy, he was so tall that horses could not carry him; for that he was called Ganging-Hrolf; from him are come the Rouen Jarls and the English Kings; their son was also Ivar, and Thorir the silent.

Rognvald had also base-born sons, their names were Hallad and Hrollaug and Einar, he was the youngest.

end of this commentary

Ragnvald married Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, Countess of MarVestfold, Norway. Ragnhild was born in 848 in Vestfold, Norway; died in 892 in Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir
Born 848 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Sex Woman
Baptism ca. 848
Age: About 0
Employment Countess of More, Countess of Maer, Condesa de More, Countess., Comtesse de Moer, COUNTESS OF MORE
Death 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Buried ca. 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Person ID I2578 My Family Genealogy | The Ravnholdt & Hansen family
Last modified Aug 1 2018

Family Ragnvald Eysteinsson, of M²re , b. 825, Vestfold county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 892, Giske, M²re and Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years)
Married ca. 845 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson Mœrajarl, Orkneyjarl , b. 850, Sunnm²re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 894, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years)
2. Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl , b. 850, Sunnm²re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 872, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 22 years)
3. Einarr Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl , b. 852, M²re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 910, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 58 years)
4. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Mœrajarls , b. 859, Giske, M²re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 896, Eyjafjèorºur, Iceland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 37 years)
+ 5. Rollo Ragnvaldsson , f. Ml. 860 and 866, d. Ca. 931, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 71 years)
+ 6. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldsson Rèognvaldsson , f. Ca. 862, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. Ca. 939, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 77 years)
7. Gutum Ragnvaldson , d. 875

end of this profile

Notes:

Berengar II (died 896) was the Count of Bayeux and Rennes and Margrave of the Breton March from 886 until his death a decade later.

In 874, Brittany's internal politics were thrown into turmoil when King Salomon was murdered by a rival. The resulting surge of Viking attacks made possible by the power vacuum was narrowly held at bay by a hasty Breton-Frankish alliance between Alan the Great of Vannes and Berengar of Rennes. Between 889-90, the Seine Vikings moved into Brittany, hard on the heels of the Loire fleet that Alan and Berengar had successfully driven out (this latter force had broken up into several small flotillas and sailed west). Alain again joined forces with Berengar of Rennes and led two Breton armies into the field. Finding their retreat down the Marne blocked, the Vikings hauled their ships overland to the Vire and besieged Saint-Lo, where the Bretons virtually annihilated the fleet.

Berengar's kin became the first Gallo-speaking lords holding residence within Brittany (Rennes and Penthiáevre, rather than the Loire Valley-predominant Nantes or Vannes), as a consequence of the Breton nobility being more or less broken under the Norman invasions of the 880s and as a reward for holding his ground against their attacks.

Berengar is speculated to have married the daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany, by which relationship he attained the countship of Rennes. This would make him brother-in-law of Judicael, Duke of Brittany. He is thought to be the Berengar of Bayeux whose daughter Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy. Various reconstructions make him father, grandfather, or great-grandfather of Judicael Berengar, later Count of Rennes.

References

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Sources

Price, Neil (1989). The Vikings in Brittany (PDF). Retrieved July 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
Arthur de la Borderie (1898). Histoire de Bretagne. p. 334.
Musset, Lucien (1965). Les invasions: le second assaut contre I'Europe Chrâetienne.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 890.

end of biography

Berengar married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Guthrum or Guºrum (died c. 890), christened ¥thelstan on his conversion to Christianity in 878, was King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw. He is mainly known for his conflict with Alfred the Great.

Guthrum, founder of the Danelaw

It is not known how Guthrum consolidated his rule as king over the other Danish chieftains of the Danelaw (Danish-ruled territory of England), but by 874 he was able to wage a war against Wessex and its King, Alfred.

In 875, the Danish forces, then under Guthrum and Halfdan Ragnarsson, divided, Halfdan's contingent returning north to Northumbria, while Guthrum's forces went to East Anglia, quartering themselves at Cambridge for the year.

By 876, Guthrum had acquired various parts of the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and then turned his attention to acquiring Wessex, where his first confrontation with Alfred took place on the south coast. Guthrum sailed his army around Poole Harbour and linked up with another Viking army that was invading the area between the Frome and Piddle rivers which was ruled by Alfred.[1] According to the historian Asser, Guthrum won his initial battle with Alfred, and he captured the castellum as well as the ancient square earthworks known as the Wareham, where there was a convent of nuns.

Alfred successfully brokered a peace settlement, but by 877 this peace was broken as Guthrum led his army raiding further into Wessex, thus forcing Alfred to confront him in a series of skirmishes that Guthrum continued to win. At Exeter, which Guthrum had also captured, Alfred made a peace treaty, with the result that Guthrum left Wessex to winter in Gloucester.

Surprise attack

Silver penny of ¥thelstan
On Epiphany, 6 January 878, Guthrum made a surprise night-time attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham, Wiltshire. It being a Christian feast day the Saxons were presumably taken by surprise—indeed it is possible that Wulfhere, the Ealdorman of Wiltshire, allowed the attack either through negligence or intent, for on Alfred's return to power later in 878 Wulfhere was stripped of his role as Ealdorman.

Alfred fled the attack with a few retainers and took shelter in the marshes of Somerset, staying in the small village of Athelney. Over the next few months he built up his force and waged a guerrilla war against Guthrum from his fastness in the fens. After a few months Alfred called his loyal men to Egbert's Stone, and from there they travelled to Edington to fight the invaders.

Defeat by Alfred

Guthrum's hopes of conquering all of Wessex came to an end with his defeat at the hands of Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. At Edington, Guthrum’s entire army was routed by Alfred's and fled to their encampment where they were besieged by Alfred's fyrd for two weeks. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Guthrum’s army was able to negotiate a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Wedmore.[2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the event:

“Then the raiding army granted him (Alfred) hostages and great oaths that they would leave his kingdom and also promised him that their king (Guthrum) would receive baptism; and they fulfilled it. And three weeks later the king Guthrum came to him, one of thirty of the most honourable men who were in the raiding army, at Aller - and that is near Athelney - and the king received him at baptism; and his chrism loosing was at Wedmore.” [2]
Conversion to Christianity and peace
Under the Treaty of Wedmore the borders dividing the lands of Alfred and Guthrum were established,[3] and perhaps more importantly, Guthrum converted to Christianity and took on the Christian name ¥thelstan with Alfred as his godfather.

Guthrum upheld his end of the treaty and left the boundary that separated the Danelaw from English England unmolested. Guthrum, although failing to conquer Wessex, turned towards the lands to the east that the treaty had allotted under his control. Guthrum withdrew his army from the western borders facing Alfred's territory and moved eastward before eventually settling in the Kingdom of Guthrum in East Anglia in 879. He lived out the remainder of his life there until his death in 890. According to the Annals of St Neots, a chronicle compiled in Bury St Edmunds, Guthrum was buried at Headleage, which is usually identified as Hadleigh, Suffolk.[4]

Popular culture

Guthrum appears in several works of fiction, including:

G. K. Chesterton's poem The Ballad of the White Horse.
C. Walter Hodges' juvenile historical novels The Namesake and The Marsh King.
Bernard Cornwell's first three novels of The Saxon Stories series The Last Kingdom, and The Pale Horseman, and The Lords of the North.
On screen, he was portrayed by Brian Blessed in episode 4 ("King Alfred") of Churchill's People, by Michael York in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, and Thomas W. Gabrielsson in The Last Kingdom.

References
Collingwood, M. A. and Powell, F. Y. Scandinavian Britain (New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1908), p. 94.
Anglo Saxon Chronicle Trans. by M. J. Swanton (New York, Routledge: 1996).
Davis, R. H. C. From Alfred the Great to Stephen (London, The Hambledon Press: 1991) p. 48.
Dumville, David; Lapidge, Michael (1985). The Annals of St Neots with Vita Prima Sancti Neoti, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: a Collaborative Edition. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-85991-117-7.

end of biography

Aethelstan married unnamed spouse. unnamed was born in ~0842 in (Wantage, Berkshire, England). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Rognvald Eysteinsson (fl. 865) was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of M²re in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rognvaldr Eysteinsson and in modern Norwegian as Ragnvald M²rejarl. He is sometimes referred to with bynames that may be translated into modern English as "Rognvald the Wise" or "Rognvald the Powerful".

The earliest available sources regarding Rognvald are mutually contradictory and were compiled long after he died. The best known are the Norse Sagas, although modern scholars highlight many inconsistencies and improbable claims regarding Rognvald in the sagas, and believe that they must be treated with caution:[2] The texts of the sagas were compiled three centuries after the events described and their accuracy in regard to Rognvald's life and historical significance is now questioned. Hence some scholars instead emphasise other accounts, closer to the historical period in question, such as Irish and Scottish sources.

While Rognvald does appear to have had some kind of role in the founding of the Norse Earldom of Orkney, most historians now doubt claims in the Sagas that Rognvald led one particular "great voyage" - a Norwegian expedition that attacked rebel vikings, who had been raiding Norway from bases on Orkney and Shetland, before raiding the Scottish mainland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is now generally believed that any such expedition would have occurred after Rognvald's lifetime. A modern authority on Orcadian history, William P. L. Thomson, comments that the story of the "great voyage is so thoroughly ingrained in popular and scholarly history, both ancient and modern, that it comes as a bit of a shock to realise that it might not be true."[3]

Modern scholars also highlight inconsistencies and improbable claims in the sagas' claims regarding: the relationship between Rognvald and Harald; the names and biographies of Rognvald's immediate family, and; the founding of the earldom of M²re.

Rognvald was the father of Torf-Einarr (d. circa 910) an earl of Orkney. Some Norse accounts claimed that another son, Hrâolfr, settled in France and, under the name Rollo (d. 930), founded the Duchy of Normandy. However, French sources suggest that Rollo's father was an unnamed Danish or Norwegian nobleman, or a viking named Ketill.


Contents
1 Traditional accounts
1.1 Sources
1.2 Family
1.3 Death and legacy
2 Modern interpretations
2.1 Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
2.2 Founding of the earldom of Orkney
2.3 Rognvald's brother and sons
2.4 Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
2.5 Broad themes
3 References
4 External links
Traditional accounts

Sources

The oldest account that may refer to Rognvald and the Earldom of Orkney appears to be the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. These annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic, who died in 1039,[4] although they survive only as incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (17th century).

...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkney Islands. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son.
Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor.
These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[5] and the mention of an eclipse confirms a date of 865.[6]

Dating the Orkneyinga saga has proven to be controversial but a recent analysis has the "majority of scholars in favour of dates between 1170 and 1220"[7] whilst admitting that "it remains to be established when, why, where, for whom and by whom it was written".[8] Much of the information it contains is "hard to corroborate".[2]

Rognvald is also referred to in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (written c. 1230), written in Iceland.


Christian Krohg's portrait of Snorri Sturluson, 13th century compiler of the Heimskringla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snorre_Sturluson-Christian_Krohg.jpg
While the Historia Norvegiae (written c. 1505) includes an account of the foundation of the Orkney earldom, as well as some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney, it has relatively little to say about Rognvald.

Family

It is not certain that the Ragnall of the Irish annals is synonymous with Rognvald Eysteinsson. The relevant entry goes on to describe Ragnall's older sons raiding in Spain and North Africa, but there is no specific mention of the Earldom of Orkney. There is also a separate piece of circumstantial evidence, suggesting a link between Ragnall and the 9th century figure Ragnar Lodbrok: runic inscriptions found inside Maeshowe, dating from the 12th century, state that the mound was "built before Loºbrâok".[6]

There is no agreement in the available sources on Rognvald's parentage. According to the Irish annals, Ragnall was the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make Ragnall the brother of King Harald Fairhair. This is contradicted by later Norse sagas, which suggest that Halfdan was Rognvald's grandfather.[9] The Orkneyinga saga says that Rognvald was the son of Eystein Ivarsson and grandson of Ívarr Upplendingajarl.[10]

He was married, according to the Orkneyinga saga to Ragnhild, the daughter of a man named Hrâolfr Nose,[11] although in the Heimskringla his wife is named Hild.[12]

Both sagas refer to six sons. The oldest, "by concubines", were Hallad, Einarr and Hrollaug, who were "grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children".[11][12] The latter were Ivar, Hrâolfr, and Thorir the Silent. Hrâolfr, who "was so big that no horse could carry him", hence his byname of "Ganger-Hrâolf",[11] is identified by the saga writers with Rollo, founder of Duchy of Normandy (in 911).[12]

In the Orkneyinga saga Rognvald was made the Earl of M²re by Harald Fairhair. The Saga of Harald Fairhair in Heimskringla recounts that Rognvald caused Harald Fairhair to be given his byname by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of his vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway.[13] Rognvald accompanied the king on a great military expedition. First the islands of Shetland and Orkney were cleared of vikings who had been raiding Norway and then continued on to Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. During this campaign Rognvald's son Ivarr was killed and in compensation Harald granted Rognvald Orkney and Shetland.

Rognvald thereafter returned to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[14][11] Sigurd had been the forecastleman on Harald's ship and after sailing back east the king "gave Sigurd the title of earl".[11] However, the Heimskringla states specifically that Sigurd was the first Earl of Orkney.[15] According to the Orkneyinga Saga, after Sigurd became earl he died in a curious fashion, following a battle with Mâael Brigte of Moray. Sigurd's son Gurthorm ruled for a single winter after this and died childless.[16][17] Rognvald's son Hallad then inherited the title. However, unable to constrain Danish raids on Orkney, he gave up the earldom and returned to Norway, which "everyone thought was a huge joke."[18] Still, there is a tradition among the folk at Strath Halladale, Sutherland, which is named for Hallad, that he returned and was slain in battle at the beginning of the tenth century and was buried near the battle site in a circular trench ten or twelve feet wide. His sword, it is said, was placed beside him in the grave, and a stone was placed in the center of the circle, part of which was still visible at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The site was near a little town called Dal Halladha, Halladha's field.[19]


A page from the Orkneyinga saga, as it appears in the 14th century Flateyjarbâok. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg/220px-Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg
The Danish raids caused Rognvald to fly into a rage and summon his sons Thorir and Hrolluag. He predicted that Thorir's path would keep him in Norway and that Hrolluag was destined seek his fortune in Iceland. Turf-Einar, the youngest, then came forward and offered to go to the islands. Rognvald said: "Considering the kind of mother you have, slave-born on each side of her family, you are not likely to make much of a ruler. But I agree, the sooner you leave and the later you return the happier I'll be."[20] His father's misgivings notwithstanding, Torf-Einarr succeeded in defeating the Danes and founded a dynasty which retained control of the islands for centuries after his death.[21]

Historia Norvegiae includes some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney - such as an account of the Picts as a small people who hid in the daytime - as well as the foundation of the Orkney earldom,.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[22]

This account does not specifically associate Rognvald with the earldom, attributing the "dominion" of the islands to the anonymous kinfolk of his son Hrâolfr.[23]

Death and legacy
Rognvald was killed by King Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg and Gudrod Gleam, who engineered a sudden attack, surrounding the house in which Rognvald was staying, and burned it to the ground with the earl and 60 of his men inside it. Harald "flew into a rage" when he heard about this and sent out a "great force" against Gudrod who was then banished. Halfdan escaped into the western seas and Rognvald's death was later avenged by Torf-Einarr, who killed him on North Ronaldsay and then made peace with Harald. Rognvald's son Thorir was then made Earl of M²re by Harald, who also gave Thorir his daughter Alof in marriage.[24][25][26]

The sagas thus identify Rognvald as the apical figure of the Norse Earls of Orkney who controlled the islands until the early 13th century, and a forerunner of important Icelandic families. Furthermore, through his son Hrolfr, Rognvald is portrayed as an ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy who, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, became the kings of England.[11]

Modern interpretations
Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
Black and white drawing of a snapshot showing shipmasts with flags and warriors marching below. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg/170px-Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg
Magnus Barefoot's army in Ireland. Magnus' actions in the west clearly form the basis of the saga narrative about the submission of Orkney and Shetland to Harald Fairhair's fleet.[27]
Rognvald's life occurs within the first eight short chapters within the Orkneyinga saga and it is clear that in this early period it contains generally less detail and historical accuracy than in the later events it describes.[28] Recorded in the 13th century, the sagas are informed by Norwegian politics of the day.

Harald Fairhair's supposed expeditions to the west, recounted by Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla are no longer accepted as historical realities by many modern historians, including Thomson.[3] Later (mid-13th century) rivalry between the Norwegians and the Kings of the Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man are seen to have driven Sturluson's account.[29] At least in part, the sagas aim to legitimise Norwegian claims to both the Northern Isles and the Kingdom of the Isles in the west.[27] The situation faced by Earl Harald Maddadsson of Orkney in 1195, when he was forced to submit himself to royal authority after an ill-judged intervention in Norwegian affairs, would have made legendary material of this nature of considerable interest in Orkney, at the time that the sagas were written.[30]

It is also clear that elements in the narrative are drawn from the much later expeditions undertaken by Magnus Barefoot.[27]

Nonetheless, the view that the Orkney earldom was created by "members of the M²re family" continues to receive academic support.[31]

Harald Fairhair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[32] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889-900).[33] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier. The entry in the Fragmentary Annals at an early date also makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.


The monument at Haraldshaugen, erected to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Norway's unification under the rule of King Harald Fairhair after the Battle of Hafrsfjord. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Haraldshaugen.JPG/220px-Haraldshaugen.JPG
Other saga material provides an alternative description. In the Eyrbyggja saga the same story of a great expedition to punish unruly Vikings who were raiding Norway is undertaken, but here it is Ketil flatnefr (Ketil Flatnose) who leads it. Although this is apparently done at Harald's behest, Ketil then claims the islands as his own. Once again, the chronology is flawed by Harald's inclusion in the tale as other information provided about Ketil gives him a floruit of the mid, rather than late, 9th century.[3]

Furthermore, contemporary Irish sources have a great deal to say about Viking raids on the coasts of Ireland and southern Scotland and those who led them, but none mention King Harald. The earliest of the large expeditions again belong to a period-the 840s-that pre-dates the time of Harald's kingship.[34]

Smyth (1984) credits the launching of the great voyage to the west to Olaf the White, whom he provides with a royal Vestfold origin along with various military activities in Scotland and for whom, assuming an identification of Olaf with Amlaib "Conung" the King of Dublin, there is a contemporary Irish reference dating to 853.[35] Icelandic sources also have Olaf marrying Aud the Deep-Minded, Ketil flatnefr's daughter, and the ''Annals of Ulster'' record what may be dynastic in-fighting between Olaf and his father-in-law in 857.[36][Note 1]

Founding of the earldom of Orkney
By implication the Orkneyinga saga identifies Rognvald as the founder of the earldom, although Heimskringla has his brother Sigurd as the first to formally hold the title. Other sources are less specific (see above) and the sagas have been interpreted in various other ways. Smyth (1984), having banished King Harald's role in the voyage to the west to the realms of myth concludes that the role of the brothers Eysteinsson can be similarly so dispatched and that Torf-Einarr "may be regarded as the first historical earl of Orkney".[38]

Drawing on Adam of Bremen's assertion that Orkney was not conquered until the time of Harald Hardrada, who ruled Norway from 1043-66, Woolf (2007) speculates that Sigurd "the Stout" Hlodvirsson, Torf-Einarr's great-grandson, may have been the first Earl of Orkney [39]

Rognvald's brother and sons

Orkney and Shetland at centre, in relation to nearby territories https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png/220px-Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png
The notion that Rognvald could hand over his Northern Isles estates to his brother has been interpreted in various ways. For example, it may be that he was aware of ongoing Viking raiding in the area and considered the gift from the king as a mixed blessing.[40] This is also one of a number of instances in which the writer of the Orkneyinga saga attempts to reconcile the conflicting themes of independence from Norway (Rognvald gifts the islands to Sigurd) and dependence on royal authority (Harald formalises the process by confirming Sigurd as earl).[41] Beuermann (2011) speculates that Rognvald's transfer of power to his brother may have been an attempt by the saga writers to imply that the Orkney earldom had more independence from Norway than that of M²re[42] and that Rognvald's holdings in Caithness may have allowed for an even greater degree of freedom of action. Such implications are more likely to be rooted in the writer's interest in emphasising Orcadian independence at the time of writing rather than the 9th/10th century events they purport to describe.[43]

After Hallad's failure in Orkney there is a dialogue between father and sons that has been interpreted as being about Rognvald's desire to cement his own position as Earl of M²re and an allusion to the early history of Iceland, where the sagas were written. Thorir is a compliant son who Rognvald is happy to keep at home. Hrolluag is portrayed as a man of peace who will go to Iceland. Einarr is aggressive and a threat to his father's position so can be spared for the dangers of Orkney.[44] In the Landnâamabâok version the equally aggressive Hrolfr is also present, and his destiny is anticipated to be in conveniently far-away Normandy.[45][Note 2]

Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
Alex Woolf suggests that saga authors may have synthesised elements of the life of Ragnall ua Ímair, a later figure, into the figure of Rognvald Eysteinsson of M²re. Ragnall ua Ímair, who was active between 914 and 921 in the Irish Sea region, was a grandson of Ímar, the "king of the Northmen of all Britain and Ireland", whose death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 873.[46]

There are at least two major similarities between the two figures include: both are grandsons of an Ímar/Ivarr and; like Rognvald, a close relative of Ragnall named Ímar was killed in battle in Scotland (Ímar ua Ímair, d. 904).[47]

Broad themes
There are several recurring themes in the Orkneyinga saga, including strife between brothers, relationships between the jarls and the Norwegian crown, and raiding in the Hebrides,[48] all of which are touched on during the saga's coverage of Rognvald's life and times. In part, the saga's purpose was to "explore such social and psychological tensions as these in the history of the people of Orkney, and to help them understand themselves through a knowledge of their origins".[49]

References
Notes
More controversially, Smyth also identifies Olaf the White with Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a legendary Norwegian king of the House of Yngling - a suggestion dismissed by Ó Corrâain (1979).[37]
In the Heimskringla Hrolfr is banished by King Harald.[12]
Footnotes
Muir (2005) Preface: Genealogical table of the Earls of Orkney.
Woolf (2007) p. 242
Thomson (2008) p. 25
Radner (1999) p. 322-23
Anderson (1990) p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865.
Thomson (2008) p. 22
Phelpstead (2001) p. xvi
Phelpstead (2001) p. ix, quoting Inger Ekrem.
Crawford (1987) pp. 53-54
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 3 - "The Sea-Kings" p. 25-26
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 4 - " To Shetland and Orkney" pp. 26-27
Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 24 - Rolf Ganger Driven Into Banishment.
Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23
Anderson (1990) pp. 332-334; Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 22- King Harald's Voyage To The West.
Heimskringla. "Chapter 99 - History Of The Earls Of Orkney".
Thomson (2008) p. 28.
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 5 - "A poisoned tooth" pp. 27-28
Thomson (2008) p. 30 quoting chapter 5 of the Orkneyinga saga.
Pinkerton, John (1809). A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and in All Parts of the World, Vol. 3. London. p. 152. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 6 - "Forecasts" pp. 28-29.
Thomson (2008) p. 29
Anderson (1990) pp. 330-331
Phelpstead (2001) p. 9
Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29-30
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 8 - "Troublemakers from Norway" pp. 29-33
Heimskringla. "Harald Harfager's Saga, Part 30 - Earl Ragnvald Burnt In His House".
Thomson (2008) p. 27
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 11
Crawford (1987) pp. 52-53.
Thomson (2008) pp. 27-28
Helle, Knut (2006) "Earls of Orkney": The Vikings and Scotland - Impact and Influence, Royal Society of Edinburgh Conference 22-26 September 2006. Edinburgh (Rapporteur: Andrew Heald); retrieved 27 January 2014.
Crawford (1987) p. 55-56.
Anderson (1990) pp. 395-396.
Thomson (2008) p. 26
Smyth (1984) pp. 152-53
Smyth (1984) p. 156
Ó Corrâain (1979) p. 298
Smyth (1984) p. 153
Woolf (2007) p. 307
Muir (2005) p. 6
Thomson (2008) p. 31
Beuermann (2011) p. 120
Beuermann (2011) p. 121
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 13
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 14
Ó Corrâain (1998) p. 37
Woolf (2007) pp. 300-303
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" pp. 15-16
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 19
General references
Anderson, Alan Orr (1990) Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500-1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
Beuermann, Ian "Jarla Sogur Orkneyja. Status and power of the earls of Orkney according to their sagas" in Steinsland, Gro; Sigurºsson, Jâon Viºar; Rekda, Jan Erik and Beuermann, Ian (eds) (2011) Ideology and power in the viking and middle ages: Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney and the Faeroes . The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 A.D. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. 52. Leiden. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20506-2
Crawford, Barbara (1987) Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0
Muir, Tom (2005) Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas. The Orcadian. Kirkwall. ISBN 0954886232.
Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (Mar 1979) "High-Kings, Vikings and Other Kings". Irish Historical Studies 22 No. 83 pp. 283-323. Irish Historical Studies Publications.
Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (1998) Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century CELT. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
Pâalsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey (1981). Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044383-5
Phelpstead, Karl (ed) (2001) A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Ólâafr. (pdf) Translated by Devar Kunin. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series. XIII. University of London.
Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). "Fragmentary Annals of Ireland". CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
Radner, Joan N. (1999) "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form" (PDF), Celtica. 23, pp. 312-325.
Smyth, Alfred P. (1984) Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80-1000. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
Sturluson, Snorri (1992) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin. ISBN 0-292-73061-6
Sturlson, Snorri Heimskringla. Wisdom Library ;retrieved 21 January 2014.
Thomson, William P. L. (2008) The New History of Orkney. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-696-0
Woolf, Alex (2007) From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5

end of this biography

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re
Norwegian: Ragnvald Eysteinsson, M²rejarl
Also Known As: "R²gnvald", "Rognvaldr Mœrajarl", "son Eysteins glumru", "den Rêadsnare", "Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson", "Rognvald I Eysteinsson", "Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl"
Birthdate: 825
Birthplace: Vestfold, Norway or, êAre Municipality, Jèamtland County, Sweden
Death: 894 (69)
Giske, M²re og Romsdal, Norway (Norway, Ragnvald, With 60 of His Men, Die In A Longhouse When Two of Harald's Jealous Sons Burned It Down With Them In It)
Place of Burial: Giske, M²re og Romsdal, Norway

Ragnvald is the 37th great grandfather of David Michael Cornett ... http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I848&tree=hennessee

Immediate Family:

Ragnvald is the 32nd through the 37th great grandfather to Martha Ann Millsaps

Son of Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» Glumra and N.N.
Husband of Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir
Partner of NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnvald M²rejarl, mother/s of Torf-Einar, Hrollaug and Hallad
Father of Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèorºur, Íslands; Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl and 3 others
Brother of Sigurd Eysteinsson, I, Jarl of Orkney and Svanhild Eysteinsdotter
Occupation: M²rejarl, Earl of M²re and Romsdal, Earl of More and Romsdal, Earl of More, also "The Wise", Earl of Shetland and Orkney, Count of Maer, Jarl of North and South More and Of Ramsdal, Jarl âa Mµri., Jarl âa Mµri, EARL OF MORE, Earl, Jarl
Managed by: Harald Tveit Alvestrand
Last Updated: January 22, 2019

Immediate Family

NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnv...partner

Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl, son

Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkn..., son

Hrollager Rognvaldsson, son

Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèor..., son

Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, wife

Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl, son

Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' Ragnvaldsson, son

Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson, son

Gutum Ragnvaldson, son

Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» G...father

N.N., mother
About Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re
Rognvaldr Mèorejarl, son Eysteins glumru. Earl of M²re and father of Gange-Hrolf Rollo of Normandie.

Basics
Father: Eystein "Glumra" Ivarsson
Mother: Asdis (Ascrida) (undocumented)
Concubines: Names unknown
Son: Hallad
Son: Hrollaug, who settled in Iceland
Son: Torf-Einar, who settled in Orkney
Wife: Ragnhild (also called Hild) Hrolfsdatter
Son: Gange-Rolf, who settled in Normandie
Son: Ivar, killed in battle
Son: Tore Teiande, who became a jarl in Norway
LInks and notes
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORWEGIAN%20NOBILITY.htm#Ragnvalddied894A http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_Eysteinsson http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=&emne=nor&person=Ragnvald%20%D8ysteinsson

D²d omkring 892. Han var s²nn av ¢ystein Glumra. Ragnvald var gift med Hild Rolvsdatter. De hadde barna: 1. Gange-Rolv Ragnvaldson av Normandie. F²dt mellom 860 og 866. D²d 931. 2. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldson M²rejarl. F²dt omkring 862. D²d mellom 938 og 940.
I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Ragnvald levde pêa Harald Hêarfagres tid, og ble av ham forlenet med Nordm²re, Romsdal og Sundm²re i 865. Han var av sine samtidige h²yt ansett for sin klokskap og ble kalt «den mektige». Det var han som klipte Haralds hêar, som da ikke var klippet pêa 10 êar. ----------------------------- RAGNVALD "the Wise", son of [EYSTEIN "Glumra/Clatterer" Jarl in Norway & his wife ---] (-[894]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Eystein the Clatterer, father of the wise counsellor Earl Rognwald the Powerful…”, adding that “Earl Rognwald campaigned with King Harald Fine-Hair who gave him charge of North More, South More and Romsdale”[141].

Snorre names "Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein "Glumra" when recording that he had become a supporter of King Harald who had invested him with the districts of North More and Raumsdal[142]. Snorre records that he was created Jarl of North and South Mèore and of Raumsdal in Norway by Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway after his victory at Solskiel [869] against Hunthiof King of Mèore and Nokve King of Raumsdal[143].

Orkneyinga Saga and Snorre both record that King Harald granted Shetland and Orkney to Ragnvald in compensation for the death of his son Ivar[144]. The Historia Norwegie records that "principi Rogwaldi" crossed the Solund Sea, destroyed the peoples of the Orkney islands, in the days of "Haraldi Comati regis…Norwegie"[145].

Orkneyinga Saga records that “Halfdan Long-Leg and Gudrod Gleam, King Harald´s sons by Snµfrid” attacked “Earl Rognvald of More, killed him and assumed his authority”[146].

Snorre records that Ragnvald was ambushed in his hall and burned alive by Halfdan Haaleg and Gudred Liomi, two of King Harald's sons[147].

m [RAGNHILD, daughter of HROLF “Nevja/Nose” & his wife ---. Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Rognwald” married “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[148]. Snorre names "Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia" as the wife of "Earl Ragnvald"[149].]

[Ragnvald & his wife had three children:]

1. [IVAR (-killed in battle either Hafrsfiord [872] or Orkney [874]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that Ivar was killed in battle fighting with Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway in Scotland[150]. Snorre names "Ivar, a son of Ragnvald Earl of More" when recording his death in battle during a Viking campaign against the Scottish islands[151]. The Complete Peerage dates the appointment of Sigurd (Ivar´s reported paternal uncle) as Jarl of Orkney to [875][152], which means that Ivar must have been killed shortly before this date. However, as explained below this causes considerable chronological difficulties with the reported events in the career of Turf-Einar, Ivar´s youngest illegitimate half-brother, so should be considered as extremely approximate.

2. [ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].]

3. [THORE Ragnvaldsson "Tause/the Silent". Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[161]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild[162]. He succeeded his father in [894] as Jarl of Mèore, having dispossessed Gudrod "Ljome", son of King Harald, who had seized Mèore on the death of Jarl Ragnvald[163].

m ([890]) ALOF "Aarbod/Season-bettering", daughter of HARALD I "Hêarfagre/Harfagri/Fairhair" King of Norway & his second wife Gyda of Hordaland. Snorre records that King Harald gave Jarl Thore his daughter "Alof, called Arbot" after the king confirmed him as Jarl of Mèore[164].] [Thore & his wife had one child:]

a) [BERGLJOT Thoresdatter. The Historia Norwegie names "Bergliota filia Thoris Tacentis", from "nobilissima Morensium ac Halogensium comitum prosapia", as the wife of "Siwardo"[165]. Snorre names "Bergljot, a daughter of Earl Thorer the Silent" & his wife as the wife of Sigurd[166].

m SIGURD Jarl, son of HAAKON Grjotgardson Jarl of Haalogaland & his wife -- (-murdered Oglo 962).]

[Ragnvald had three illegitimate children by unknown mistresses:]

4. [HALLAD . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[167]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[168]. Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent “his son Hallad west to the islands” after hearing of the death of his brother and nephew, and that Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl” to Hallad who “came to Orkney and took up residence on Mainland”[169]. Snorre records that Earl Ragnvald installed his son Hallad as Jarl of Orkney after the death of his brother Sigurd, but that he resigned the earldom and returned to Norway[170]. Orkneyinga Saga records that, following complaints by farmers about Viking raids, Hallad “tiring of his rule, gave up the earldom and went back to Norway as a common landholder” which “made him a laughing stock”[171].

5. [HROLLAUG . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[172]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[173].

Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald told his son Hrollaug that “your fate will take you to Iceland [where] you´ll have plenty of descendants”[174]. His alleged descendants in Iceland shown below are as stated in Thorstein Side-Hallum's Saga and Flatey-book's St Olaf's Saga[175] but the accuracy of this information, which has not been corroborated in other sources, is unknown. m ---. The name of Hrollaug´s wife is not known.] [Hrollaug & his wife had one child:]

a) [JON Ozur . m ---. The name of Jon´s wife is not known.] [Jon & his wife had one child:]

i) [THOREY . m ---. The name of Thorey´s wife is not known.] [Thorey & his wife had one child:]

(a) [HALL of Sida . m ---. The name of Hall´s wife is not known.] [Hall & his wife had two children:]

(1) [THORSTEIN . Aged 20 at the battle of Clontarf 1014.

(2) [THORDIS . Orkneyinga Saga records that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[176]. m ---. The name of Thordis´s husband is not known.] Thordis & her husband had one child:

a. USPAK . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[177]. m ---. The name of Uspak´s wife is not known. Uspak & his wife had one child:

(i) SOMERLED . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”[178]. m ---. The name of Somerled´s wife is not known. Somerled & his wife had one child:

(a) THORA . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of this Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[179]. Orkneyinga Saga records that “his mother was married…to a man called Sigurd” when her son Magnus returned to Orkney, adding that she and her second husband had a son “Hakon Karl…[and] a farm at Paplay”[180]. m firstly ERLEND Thorfinsson Jarl of Orkney, son of THORFINN "the Black" Jarl of Orkney & his wife Ingibjèorg Finnsdatter (-in prison Nidaros 1098, bur Nidaros). m secondly SIGURD of Paplay .

b) [HALLBERA . m ASBIORN, son of HRAFUNKEL of Steinrodar-Stadir in Iceland.]

6. [EINAR "Turf-Einar” . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[181]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[182].

Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent his “youngest son Einar” to “the islands” after his brother Hallad returned to Norway and that Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl”, adding that his mother was “slave-born on each side of her family”, and stating that he killed “Thorir Tree-Beard and Kalf Scurvy” and succeeded in imposing his authority in Orkney where “he was the first man to dig peat for fuel…at Tarbat Ness in Scotland”, and that he “was tall and ugly…and…one-eyed”[183]. It should be noted that there are considerable chronological difficulties with the career of Turf-Einar and his sons, as reported in Orkneyinga Saga.

The starting point for the analysis of these problems is the date of the battle in Northumbria in which Turf-Einar´s two oldest sons were killed, which can with reasonable accuracy be placed in the early 950s. If these two sons were at least in their late thirties or forties when they died (a difficult assumption to make considering that they had no reported direct heirs), their births could not be placed before [905/15] at the earliest. The likelihood would then be that their father, Turf-Einar, was not born much earlier than [975/95]. The difficulty is that this date is completely incompatible with (a) the fact that the illegitimate sons of Ragnvald were reported as “grown men” when their legitimate half-brothers were children, and (b) that the date when Ivar, the oldest legitimate son, was killed is estimated to [874].

----------------------------- Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hêarfagres saga: «10. ... Ragnvald M²rejarl, s²nn til ¢ystein Glumra, var blitt kong Haralds mann da om sommeren. Kong Harald satte ham til h²vding over disse to fylkene, Nordm²re og Romsdal, og ga ham rett til hjelp bêade av stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Han ble kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og de sier at begge navnene var sanne. Kong Harald var i Trondheimen vinteren som fulgte.»

«23. Kong Harald var i gjestebud pêa M²re hos Ragnvald jarl; da hadde han lagt hele landet under seg. Da gikk kongen i bad der. Og nêa lot kong Harald hêaret sitt greie, og Ragnvald jarl skar hêaret hans; da hadde det ikke vµrt skêaret eller kjemmet pêa ti êar. F²r kalte de ham Harald Luva, men nêa ga Ragnvald jarl ham nytt navn, og kalte ham Harald Hêarfagre. Alle som sêa ham, sa at det var virkelig et sant navn, for han hadde et hêar som var bêade stort og vakkert.»

Ragnvald ble innebrent pêa sin gêard sammen med 60 mann av Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome, to av Haralds s²nner, som vill vµre jarler over M²re. 1)

1). Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hêarfagres saga, avsnitt 10, 23-24. Snorre Sturlason: Olav den helliges saga, avsnitt 96. Mogens Bugge: Vêare forfedre, nr. 278. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 50, 76. ----------------------------------------------- Ragnvald's life is described by Snorri Sturluson in The Saga of Harald Hêarfagre (Fairhair): http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=no&emne=asatru&person=&list=&vis=s_e_harald_harfagre#43 --------------------------------------- About the name Ragnvald in various versions: http://www.nordicnames.de/pojk_r/Ragnvald.html

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Original text: Snorri, Heimskringla, Haralds saga hins hâarfagra: "Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl, son Eysteins glumru, hafºi ¤âa um sumarit gerzt maºr Haralds konungs. Haraldr konungr setti hann hèofºingja yfir ¤essi tvau fylki, Norºmœri ok Raumsdal, ok fâekk honum ¤ar styrk til bµºi af râikismèonnum ok bâondum, svâa ok skipakost at verja landit fyrir âufriºi. Hann var kallaºr Rèognvaldr hinn râiki eºa hinn râaºsvinni, ok segja menn at hvâarrtveggja vµri sannnefni. Haraldr konungr var um vetrinn eptir âi ´râandheimi."
[...]

"12. Brenna Vemundar konungs.

Eptir ¤at lagºi Haraldr konungr undir sik Sunnmœri. Vemundr, brâoºir Auºbjarnar konungs, hâelt Firºafylki ok gerºist konungr yfir. ´etta var sâiºla um haust, ok gera menn ¤at râaº meº Haraldi konungi, at hann skyldi eigi fara suºr um Staº âa haustdegi. ´âa setti Haraldr konungr Rèognvald jarl yfir Mœri hvâaratveggju ok Raumsdal, ok hafºi hann ¤âa um sik mikit fjèolmenni. Haraldr konungr sneri ¤âa norºr aptr til ´râandheims. ´ann sama vetr fâor Rèognvaldr jarl hit iºra um Eiº, ok svâa suºr um Fjèorºu. Hann hafºi njâosn af Vemundi konungi, ok kom um nâott ¤ar sem heitir Naustdalr; Var Vemundr konungr ¤ar âa veizlu. Rèognvaldr jarl tâok hâus âa ¤eim, ok brendi konung inni meº nâiutigi manna. Eptir ¤at kom Berºlukâari til Rèognvalds jarls meº langskip alskipat, ok fâoru ¤eir bâaºir norºr âa Mœri. Tâok Rèognvaldr jarl skip ¤au, er âatt hafºi Vemundr konungr, ok alt lausafâe ¤at er hann fâekk. Berºlukâari fâor norºr til ´râandheims âa fund Haralds konungs ok gerºist hans maºr; hann var berserkr mikill."

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, The Wise (830-890), Earl of Sunnm²re, Nordm²re and Romsdal, was born in Maer Nord-Tr²ndelag, Norway and died at the Orkney Islands.
He was son of Eystein Glumra the Noisy, Earl of Oppland, and grandson of Halfdan the Old.

His second wife was Ragnhild Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir (Raghldr (Hldr) Hrolfsdâottir) daughter of Hrolfr Nefjaa. Ragnvald was the father of Hrolf Ganger, the founder of Normandy. He was also the father of Turf-Einar, the ancestor of the jarls of Orkney.

He was the direct ancestor to William I of England, Edward III of England, James I of England, and, therefore, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is therefore the ancestor of most of the royal families of Europe.

Ragnvald Eystemssèon, allmèant kallad Mèorejarl. norsk storman i 9:de êarh., êatnjèot i hèog grad Harald Hêarfagres fèortroende och styrde sêasom hans jarl Mèorerne (Nord- och Sèondmèore samt Romsdalen). R. blef genom sin ene son. Torv-Einar, stamfader fèor Orkenèo-jarlarna och genom den andre, Gêange-Rolf, stamfader fèor hertigarna af Normandie. Af sina samtida kallades han den »rêadmilde» och den »mèaktige». Trots sin êadagalagda trohet mot konungen èoverfèolls och drèaptes han af dennes sèoner omkr. 890. Y. s.
Frêan Nordisk Familjebok

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous kinfolk.

The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rognvald_Eysteinsson

Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More (1) M, #104777 Last Edited=28 Oct 2002
Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More is the son of Eystein 'the Noisy' Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Ascrida Ragnvaldsdottir. (1) He died circa 890, burnt to death in his house. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More gained the title of Earl of More. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More also went by the nick-name of 'The Mighty'.
Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Groa (?) -1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -2. Turf-Einar Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -3. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson (1) Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir -1. Ivar Ragnvaldsson (1) -2. Thori 'the Silent' Ragnvaldsson, Jarl of More+ (1) -3. Rollo Ragnvaldsson, 1st Duc de Normandie+ b. c 846, d. c 931 (1)

Forrâas: http://www.thepeerage.com/p10478.htm#i104777

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

Contents [hide] 1 Sagas 2 Historia Norvegiae 3 Fragmentary Annals of Ireland 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patrâaic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

[edit] Notes ^ Crawford, pp. 52–53. ^ Anderson, pp. 332–334; Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 22. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 24. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29–30. ^ Anderson, pp. 330–331. ^ Crawford, pp. 53–54. ^ Anderson, p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865. ^ Crawford, p. 55–56. ^ Anderson, pp. 395–396.

[edit] References Anderson, Alan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8 Crawford, Barbara. Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester, 1987. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0 Ó Corrain, Donnchad. "The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century", Peritia, vol 12, pp296–339. (etext (pdf) Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. Radner, Joan N. "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form", Celtica, volume 23, pp. 312–325. (etext (pdf)) Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1998. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7 Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992. ISBN 0-292-73061-6

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Innhold [skjul] 1 Ragnvalds µtt 2 Den rêadsnare 3 Orkn²yene 4 Innebrent

[rediger] Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

[rediger] Den rêadsnare If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

[rediger] Orkn²yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

[rediger] Innebrent Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Forgjenger:

- Jarl av M²re
(865–892) Etterf²lger:

Tore Teiande
Hentet fra «http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl»

Rognvald Eysteinsson "the Wise" Earl of More (830-) [Pedigree]

Son of Eystein Glumra Ivarsson Jarl of Hedemarken (810-) and Aseda Rognvaldsdottir (812-)

REF RFC. A Norwegian viking. Jarl of More b. ABT 830, Maer, Norway b. Abt 0857 r. Upland, Denmark d. 890, Orkney, Orkney Islands, Scotland d. ABT 890, Maer, Norway
Married first Rognhild (Hildir) Hrolfsdotter (848-892)

Children:

1. Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy (-927) m(1) Poppa de_Valois Duchess of Norway (872-)
Married second Ermina

Children:

1. Hrollager Rognvaldsson (874-)
Sources:

1. "Royalty for Commoners",

Roderick W. Stuart, 1992, 2nd edition. This book lists all of the known ancestors of John of Gaunt, which amounts to most of the Medieval royalty of Europe. Also see the following article: "A Mediaeval Miscellany: Commentaries on Roderick W. Stuart's Royalty for Commoners," The American Genealogist 69 (April 1994)
2. "Europaische Stammtafeln",

Isenburg.
3. "Plantagenet Ancestry",

Turton.
Ragnvald I Eysteinsson , 1st Earl of Orkne

B: abt 0825 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway S: Rognvald Mere-Earl and Ragnvald "the wise" S: abt 0872 as Jarl of More and 1st Earl of Orkney D: 0894 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland M: abt 0852

http://www.geneajourney.com/nrmndy.html
Eystein Glumra, Jarl of the Upplands, b abt 803, of Norway. The identity of his wife is not known. Known children of Eystein Glumra were: • Ragnvald I, the Wise, Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832. • Swanhild b abt 846, of Norway. She md Harald I, "Fairhair, 1st King of Norway, abt 866, son of Halfdan, "the Black, King of Vestfold, and Ragnhild. Ragnvald I, "the Wise", Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832, Norway, d 890. He md Hiltrude abt 850, daughter of Hrolf Nefia. She was b abt 834. Child of Ragnvald the Wise and Hiltrude was: Rollo/Robert I of Normandy [a], 1st Duke of Normandy, aka Ganger Rolf, b abt 855, Norway, d abt 927-931, prob Normandy, France. He md Poppa of Bayeux abt 886, daughter of Berenger,Count of Bayeux. She was b abt 876.

Ragnvald var jarl i Mèore, Norge, och èar nog inte lika omtalad som flera av sina sèoner. En son èar sannolikt 'Gêange-Rolf', som blev stamfader fèor hertigar och kungar i Normandie, Frankrike, och det engelska kungahuset samt den som skapade hertigdèomet Normandie. En annan son 'Torv-Einar' blev jarl pêa Orkneyèoarna liksom hans broder Hallad. Ragnvald var gift med med Ragnhild Rolfsdotter, men hade ocksêa barn med frillan Groa. Ragnvalds syster Svanhild blev gift med Harald 'Hêarfager'. Ragnvald (Mèorejarl) blev mèordad (innebrèand) av Harald 'Hêarfagers' sèoner Halvdan 'Hêalegg' og Gudrèod 'Ljome'. Jarl, dèod ca 890. Ragnvald var jarl pêa Mèore. Hans far skall ha varit èOystein 'Glumra'. Han levde pêa Harald Hêarfagers tid, och blev av honom fèorlèanad med Nordmèore, Romsdal og Sundmèore êar 865. Han var av sina samtida hèogt ansedd fèor sin klokskap och blev kallad 'den mèaktige'. Det var han som klippte Haralds hêar, som dêa icke varit klippt pêa 10 êar.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kèallor

1) Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, Hull, England
Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.

Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Viºar Sigurºsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare

If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene

Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent

Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl

ROGNVALD I ~
Rognvald , The Wise, Jarl (Earl) of More, Norway, the first Jarl of Orkney and a near relative of King Harold Fairhair.

The house of Rognvald was one of the oldest lines of rulers in Norway.

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway, and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Viºar Sigurºsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare

If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene

Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent

Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Also known as Count Regnvald ("the Rich") and as "The Wise", Earl of North and South More, of Raumsdale in Norway.{"Royal Ancestors of Magna Charta Barons," Carr P. Collins, Jr., Dallas, 1959, p.201-02, states that he died about 894. (Rogenwald = Regnvald = Rognald)}

Earl of More/Moer in Norway and Jarl of Orkney and Shetland. He had his name Gallicized to Reginald. He supported King Harold Fairhair in an attempt to unify Norway. Norr: Jarl Rognwald (Rogvald, Raonwald, Regvald, Rouis), created Earl of Moer in 885. Roll: Rognwald, Earl of Maere. Norr: Jarl Rogwald (Raowald, Regvald, Rouis), Earl of Moer 885. Married Hilder. Beyond Rognvald, things get pretty confused. Norr has about 25 generations going back to Oden. RC doesn't agree. But some RC names coming down from RC's Odin agree in the upper portion. But the dates are some 250 years different. RC and Kraentzler agree in taking Rognvald back three more generations. Russell goes way back to Olaf the Sharp-eyed, King of Rerik.

Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

[edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had been influential in later writings on Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Earl of More

Born: abt 830 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway Died: 890 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland
Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl1,2,3 b. circa 830, d. 894 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl|b. c 830\nd. 894|p314.htm#i5205|Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 800|p6.htm#i8264|Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir||p67.htm#i8832|Ivarr O., Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 760\nd. a 800|p305.htm#i8265|N. N. of Throndheim|b. c 780|p67.htm#i8831|Rèognvaldr H. H. Ó., King of Vestfold||p278.htm#i9457|Thâora Sigurdsdâottir||p111.htm#i13338| Father Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders4,5 b. circa 800 Mother Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir

Also called Jarl Ragnald I of Orkney.6 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl was King Harald Fairhair's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him.4 Also called Jarl Rognvaldr of M²re.7 He was per late Icelandic sources, for which there is no good reason to believe that these generations are historical, a son of Eysteinn Glumra, son of Ívarr, son of Hâalfdan the Old.7 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl also went by the name of Ragnvald "the Wise".4,5 He associated with unknown , a concubine.8 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl was born circa 830 at Maer, Norway. He was the son of Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir.4,5 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl became one of H

Earl Rognvald joined Harold fair-hair when he seized the land, but he (Harold) gave him lordship over both the Mµren and Romsdale; (7) he had to wife Ragnhilda the daughter of Hrolf nosy; their son was Hrolf who won Normandy, he was so tall that horses could not carry him; for that he was called Ganging-Hrolf; from him are come the Rouen Jarls and the English Kings; their son was also Ivar, and Thorir the silent.

Rognvald had also base-born sons, their names were Hallad and Hrollaug and Einar, he was the youngest.

end of this commentary

Ragnvald married Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, Countess of MarVestfold, Norway. Ragnhild was born in 848 in Vestfold, Norway; died in 892 in Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir
Born 848 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Sex Woman
Baptism ca. 848
Age: About 0
Employment Countess of More, Countess of Maer, Condesa de More, Countess., Comtesse de Moer, COUNTESS OF MORE
Death 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Buried ca. 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Person ID I2578 My Family Genealogy | The Ravnholdt & Hansen family
Last modified Aug 1 2018

Family Ragnvald Eysteinsson, of M²re , b. 825, Vestfold county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 892, Giske, M²re and Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years)
Married ca. 845 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson Mœrajarl, Orkneyjarl , b. 850, Sunnm²re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 894, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years)
2. Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl , b. 850, Sunnm²re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 872, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 22 years)
3. Einarr Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl , b. 852, M²re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 910, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 58 years)
4. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Mœrajarls , b. 859, Giske, M²re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 896, Eyjafjèorºur, Iceland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 37 years)
+ 5. Rollo Ragnvaldsson , f. Ml. 860 and 866, d. Ca. 931, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 71 years)
+ 6. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldsson Rèognvaldsson , f. Ca. 862, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. Ca. 939, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 77 years)
7. Gutum Ragnvaldson , d. 875

end of this profile

Notes:

Berengar II (died 896) was the Count of Bayeux and Rennes and Margrave of the Breton March from 886 until his death a decade later.

In 874, Brittany's internal politics were thrown into turmoil when King Salomon was murdered by a rival. The resulting surge of Viking attacks made possible by the power vacuum was narrowly held at bay by a hasty Breton-Frankish alliance between Alan the Great of Vannes and Berengar of Rennes. Between 889-90, the Seine Vikings moved into Brittany, hard on the heels of the Loire fleet that Alan and Berengar had successfully driven out (this latter force had broken up into several small flotillas and sailed west). Alain again joined forces with Berengar of Rennes and led two Breton armies into the field. Finding their retreat down the Marne blocked, the Vikings hauled their ships overland to the Vire and besieged Saint-Lo, where the Bretons virtually annihilated the fleet.

Berengar's kin became the first Gallo-speaking lords holding residence within Brittany (Rennes and Penthiáevre, rather than the Loire Valley-predominant Nantes or Vannes), as a consequence of the Breton nobility being more or less broken under the Norman invasions of the 880s and as a reward for holding his ground against their attacks.

Berengar is speculated to have married the daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany, by which relationship he attained the countship of Rennes. This would make him brother-in-law of Judicael, Duke of Brittany. He is thought to be the Berengar of Bayeux whose daughter Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy. Various reconstructions make him father, grandfather, or great-grandfather of Judicael Berengar, later Count of Rennes.

References

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Sources

Price, Neil (1989). The Vikings in Brittany (PDF). Retrieved July 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
Arthur de la Borderie (1898). Histoire de Bretagne. p. 334.
Musset, Lucien (1965). Les invasions: le second assaut contre I'Europe Chrâetienne.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 890.

end of biography

Berengar married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Guthrum or Guºrum (died c. 890), christened ¥thelstan on his conversion to Christianity in 878, was King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw. He is mainly known for his conflict with Alfred the Great.

Guthrum, founder of the Danelaw

It is not known how Guthrum consolidated his rule as king over the other Danish chieftains of the Danelaw (Danish-ruled territory of England), but by 874 he was able to wage a war against Wessex and its King, Alfred.

In 875, the Danish forces, then under Guthrum and Halfdan Ragnarsson, divided, Halfdan's contingent returning north to Northumbria, while Guthrum's forces went to East Anglia, quartering themselves at Cambridge for the year.

By 876, Guthrum had acquired various parts of the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and then turned his attention to acquiring Wessex, where his first confrontation with Alfred took place on the south coast. Guthrum sailed his army around Poole Harbour and linked up with another Viking army that was invading the area between the Frome and Piddle rivers which was ruled by Alfred.[1] According to the historian Asser, Guthrum won his initial battle with Alfred, and he captured the castellum as well as the ancient square earthworks known as the Wareham, where there was a convent of nuns.

Alfred successfully brokered a peace settlement, but by 877 this peace was broken as Guthrum led his army raiding further into Wessex, thus forcing Alfred to confront him in a series of skirmishes that Guthrum continued to win. At Exeter, which Guthrum had also captured, Alfred made a peace treaty, with the result that Guthrum left Wessex to winter in Gloucester.

Surprise attack

Silver penny of ¥thelstan
On Epiphany, 6 January 878, Guthrum made a surprise night-time attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham, Wiltshire. It being a Christian feast day the Saxons were presumably taken by surprise—indeed it is possible that Wulfhere, the Ealdorman of Wiltshire, allowed the attack either through negligence or intent, for on Alfred's return to power later in 878 Wulfhere was stripped of his role as Ealdorman.

Alfred fled the attack with a few retainers and took shelter in the marshes of Somerset, staying in the small village of Athelney. Over the next few months he built up his force and waged a guerrilla war against Guthrum from his fastness in the fens. After a few months Alfred called his loyal men to Egbert's Stone, and from there they travelled to Edington to fight the invaders.

Defeat by Alfred

Guthrum's hopes of conquering all of Wessex came to an end with his defeat at the hands of Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. At Edington, Guthrum’s entire army was routed by Alfred's and fled to their encampment where they were besieged by Alfred's fyrd for two weeks. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Guthrum’s army was able to negotiate a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Wedmore.[2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the event:

“Then the raiding army granted him (Alfred) hostages and great oaths that they would leave his kingdom and also promised him that their king (Guthrum) would receive baptism; and they fulfilled it. And three weeks later the king Guthrum came to him, one of thirty of the most honourable men who were in the raiding army, at Aller - and that is near Athelney - and the king received him at baptism; and his chrism loosing was at Wedmore.” [2]
Conversion to Christianity and peace
Under the Treaty of Wedmore the borders dividing the lands of Alfred and Guthrum were established,[3] and perhaps more importantly, Guthrum converted to Christianity and took on the Christian name ¥thelstan with Alfred as his godfather.

Guthrum upheld his end of the treaty and left the boundary that separated the Danelaw from English England unmolested. Guthrum, although failing to conquer Wessex, turned towards the lands to the east that the treaty had allotted under his control. Guthrum withdrew his army from the western borders facing Alfred's territory and moved eastward before eventually settling in the Kingdom of Guthrum in East Anglia in 879. He lived out the remainder of his life there until his death in 890. According to the Annals of St Neots, a chronicle compiled in Bury St Edmunds, Guthrum was buried at Headleage, which is usually identified as Hadleigh, Suffolk.[4]

Popular culture

Guthrum appears in several works of fiction, including:

G. K. Chesterton's poem The Ballad of the White Horse.
C. Walter Hodges' juvenile historical novels The Namesake and The Marsh King.
Bernard Cornwell's first three novels of The Saxon Stories series The Last Kingdom, and The Pale Horseman, and The Lords of the North.
On screen, he was portrayed by Brian Blessed in episode 4 ("King Alfred") of Churchill's People, by Michael York in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, and Thomas W. Gabrielsson in The Last Kingdom.

References
Collingwood, M. A. and Powell, F. Y. Scandinavian Britain (New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1908), p. 94.
Anglo Saxon Chronicle Trans. by M. J. Swanton (New York, Routledge: 1996).
Davis, R. H. C. From Alfred the Great to Stephen (London, The Hambledon Press: 1991) p. 48.
Dumville, David; Lapidge, Michael (1985). The Annals of St Neots with Vita Prima Sancti Neoti, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: a Collaborative Edition. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-85991-117-7.

end of biography

Aethelstan married unnamed spouse. unnamed was born in ~0842 in (Wantage, Berkshire, England). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Herbert II Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, was born 884 to Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907) and died 23 February 943 of unspecified causes. Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Herbert II de Vermandois and Hildebranda of France (895-931)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Adele de Vermandois (910-960) 910 960 Arnulf I of Flanders (c890-965)

Eudes d'Amiens (910-aft946) 910 946
Robert de Vermandois (918-968) 920 968 Seine-et-Marne, France Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)

Hugues de Reims (920-962) 920 962
Liutgarde de Vermandois (c920-978) 920 9 February 978 William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (893-942)
Thibaut I de Blois (913-975)

Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) 913 982 Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)

Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) 915 Saint-Quentin 8 September 987 Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978)
Siblings
Siblings

Offspring of Herbert I de Vermandois and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Bâeatrice of Vermandois (c880-931) 880 Paris, France 26 March 931 Soissons, France Robert I of France (866-923)

Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) 884 23 February 943 Hildebranda of France (895-931)

Cunigunde of Vermandois (-943) 943 Udo I von der Wetterau (c900-949)

Adele of Vermandois (?-?) Gebhard von Ufgau (?-c947)

Berengar of Bayeaux (?-?) Daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany

Herbert married Hildebranda of France(France). Hildebranda was born in 895 in (France); died in 931 in (France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hildebranda of France was born 895 to Robert I of France (866-923) and Aelis and died 931 of unspecified causes. Ancestors are from Germany, France.

Children

Offspring of Hildebranda Capet and Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943)

Name Birth Death Joined with

Adele de Vermandois (910-960) 910 960 Arnulf I of Flanders (c890-965)

Eudes d'Amiens (910-aft946) 910 946
Robert de Vermandois (918-968) 920 968 Seine-et-Marne, France Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)

Hugues de Reims (920-962) 920 962
Liutgarde de Vermandois (c920-978) 920 9 February 978 William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (893-942)
Thibaut I de Blois (913-975)

Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) 913 982 Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)

Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) 915 Saint-Quentin 8 September 987 Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978)

Notes:

¥thelwulf (Old English for "Noble Wolf";[2] died 13 January 858) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.[a] In 825, his father, King Egbert, defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending a long Mercian dominance over Anglo-Saxon England south of the Humber. Egbert sent ¥thelwulf with an army to Kent, where he expelled the Mercian sub-king and was himself appointed sub-king. After 830, Egbert maintained good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by ¥thelwulf when he became king in 839, the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.

The Vikings were not a major threat to Wessex during ¥thelwulf's reign. In 843, he was defeated in a battle against the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset, but he achieved a major victory at the Battle of Aclea in 851. In 853 he joined a successful Mercian expedition to Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony, and in the same year his daughter ¥thelswith married King Burgred of Mercia. In 855 ¥thelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. In preparation he gave a "decimation", donating a tenth of his personal property to his subjects; he appointed his eldest surviving son ¥thelbald to act as King of Wessex in his absence, and his next son ¥thelberht to rule Kent and the south-east. ¥thelwulf spent a year in Rome, and on his way back he married Judith, the daughter of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald.

When ¥thelwulf returned to England, ¥thelbald refused to surrender the West Saxon throne, and ¥thelwulf agreed to divide the kingdom, taking the east and leaving the west in ¥thelbald's hands. On ¥thelwulf's death in 858 he left Wessex to ¥thelbald and Kent to ¥thelberht, but ¥thelbald's death only two years later led to the reunification of the kingdom.

In the 20th century ¥thelwulf's reputation among historians was poor: he was seen as excessively pious and impractical, and his pilgrimage was viewed as a desertion of his duties. Historians in the 21st century see him very differently, as a king who consolidated and extended the power of his dynasty, commanded respect on the continent, and dealt more effectively than most of his contemporaries with Viking attacks. He is regarded as one of the most successful West Saxon kings, who laid the foundations for the success of his son, Alfred the Great.

King of Wessex
Reign 839–858
Predecessor Egbert
Successor ¥thelbald
Died 13 January 858
Burial Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral[1]
Spouse Osburh
Judith
Issue ¥thelstan, King of Kent
¥thelswith, Queen of Mercia
¥thelbald, King of Wessex
¥thelberht, King of Wessex
¥thelred, King of Wessex
Alfred, King of Wessex
House House of Wessex
Father Egbert

Background

Southern British Isles 9th century
Southern Britain in the middle of the ninth century
At the beginning of the 9th century, England was almost completely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, with Mercia and Wessex the most important southern kingdoms. Mercia was dominant until the 820s, and it exercised overlordship over East Anglia and Kent, but Wessex was able to maintain its independence from its more powerful neighbour. Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the dominant figure of the second half of the 8th century. King Beorhtric of Wessex (786–802), married Offa's daughter in 789. Beorhtric and Offa drove ¥thelwulf's father Egbert into exile, and he spent several years at the court of Charlemagne in Francia. Egbert was the son of Ealhmund, who had briefly been King of Kent in 784. Following Offa's death, King Coenwulf of Mercia (796–821) maintained Mercian dominance, but it is uncertain whether Beorhtric ever accepted political subordination, and when he died in 802 Egbert became king, perhaps with the support of Charlemagne.[5] For two hundred years three kindreds had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Egbert's best claim was that he was the great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King Ine (688–726), and in 802 it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty.[6]

Almost nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, apart from campaigns against the Cornish in the 810s.[7] The historian Richard Abels argues that the silence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably intentional, concealing Egbert's purge of Beorhtric's magnates and suppression of rival royal lines.[8] Relations between Mercian kings and their Kentish subjects were distant. Kentish ealdormen did not attend the court of King Coenwulf, who quarrelled with Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury (805–832) over the control of Kentish monasteries; Coenwulf's primary concern seems to have been to gain access to the wealth of Kent. His successors Ceolwulf I (821–23) and Beornwulf (823–26) restored relations with Archbishop Wulfred, and Beornwulf appointed a sub-king of Kent, Baldred.[9]

England had suffered Viking raids in the late 8th century, but no attacks are recorded between 794 and 835, when the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was ravaged.[10] In 836 Egbert was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset,[7] but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[11]

Family

¥thelwulf was the son of Egbert, King of Wessex from 802 to 839. His mother's name is unknown, and he had no recorded siblings. He is known to have had two wives in succession, and so far as is known, Osburh, the senior of the two, was the mother of all his children. She was the daughter of Oslac, described by Asser, biographer of their son Alfred the Great, as "King ¥thelwulf's famous butler",[b] a man who was descended from Jutes who had ruled the Isle of Wight.[13][14] ¥thelwulf had six known children. His eldest son, ¥thelstan, was old enough to be appointed King of Kent in 839, so he must have been born by the early 820s, and he died in the early 850s.[c] The second son, ¥thelbald, is first recorded as a charter witness in 841, and if, like Alfred, he began to attest when he was around six, he would have been born around 835; he was King of Wessex from 858 to 860. ¥thelwulf's third son, ¥thelberht, was probably born around 839 and was king from 860 to 865. The only daughter, ¥thelswith, married Burgred, King of Mercia, in 853.[16] The other two sons were much younger: ¥thelred was born around 848 and was king from 865 to 871, and Alfred was born around 849 and was king from 871 to 899.[17] In 856 ¥thelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermentrude. Osburh had probably died, although it is possible that she had been repudiated.[d] There were no children from ¥thelwulf's marriage to Judith, and after his death she married his eldest surviving son and successor, ¥thelbald.[13]

Early life

¥thelwulf was first recorded in 825, when Egbert won the crucial Battle of Ellandun against King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending the long Mercian ascendancy over southern England. Egbert followed it up by sending ¥thelwulf with Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Wulfheard, Ealdorman of Hampshire, with a large army into Kent to expel sub-king Baldred.[e] ¥thelwulf was descended from kings of Kent, and he was sub-king of Kent, and of Surrey, Sussex and Essex, which were then included in the sub-kingdom, until he inherited the throne of Wessex in 839.[22] His sub-kingship is recorded in charters, in some of which King Egbert acted with his son's permission,[13] such as a grant in 838 to Bishop Beornmod of Rochester, and ¥thelwulf himself issued a charter as King of Kent in the same year.[23] Unlike their Mercian predecessors, who alienated the Kentish people by ruling from a distance, ¥thelwulf and his father successfully cultivated local support by governing through Kentish ealdormen and promoting their interests.[24] In Abels' view, Egbert and ¥thelwulf rewarded their friends and purged Mercian supporters.[25][f] Historians take differing views on the attitude of the new regime to the Kentish church. At Canterbury in 828 Egbert granted privileges to the bishopric of Rochester, and according to the historian of Anglo-Saxon England Simon Keynes, Egbert and ¥thelwulf took steps to secure the support of Archbishop Wulfred.[27] However, the medievalist Nicholas Brooks argues that Wulfred's Mercian origin and connections proved a liability. ¥thelwulf seized an estate in East Malling from the Canterbury church on the ground that it had only been granted by Baldred when he was in flight from the West Saxon forces; the issue of archiepiscopal coinage was suspended for several years; and the only estate Wulfred was granted after 825 he received from King Wiglaf of Mercia.[28]

In 829 Egbert conquered Mercia, only for Wiglaf to recover his kingdom a year later.[29] The scholar D. P. Kirby sees Wiglaf's restoration in 830 as a dramatic reversal for Egbert, which was probably followed by his loss of control of the London mint and the Mercian recovery of Essex and Berkshire,[30] and the historian Heather Edwards states that his "immense conquest could not be maintained".[7] However, in the view of Keynes:

It is interesting ... that both Egbert and his son ¥thelwulf appear to have respected the separate identity of Kent and its associated provinces, as if there appears to have been no plan at this stage to absorb the southeast into an enlarged kingdom stretching across the whole of southern England. Nor does it seem to have been the intention of Egbert and his successors to maintain supremacy of any kind over the kingdom of Mercia ... It is quite possible that Egbert had relinquished Mercia of his own volition; and there is no suggestion that any residual antagonism affected relations between the rulers of Wessex and Mercia thereafter.[31]

In 838 King Egbert held an assembly at Kingston in Surrey, where ¥thelwulf may have been consecrated as king by the archbishop. Egbert restored the East Malling estate to Wulfred's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, in return for a promise of "firm and unbroken friendship" for himself and ¥thelwulf and their heirs, and the same condition is specified in a grant to the see of Winchester. Egbert thus ensured support for ¥thelwulf, who became the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.[32] At the same meeting Kentish monasteries chose ¥thelwulf as their lord, and he undertook that, after his death, they would have freedom to elect their heads. Wulfred had devoted his archiepiscopate to fighting against secular power over Kentish monasteries, but Ceolnoth now surrendered effective control to ¥thelwulf, whose offer of freedom from control after his death was unlikely to be honoured by his successors. Kentish ecclesiastics and laymen now looked for protection against Viking attacks to West Saxon rather than Mercian royal power. [33]

Egbert's conquests brought him wealth far greater than his predecessors had enjoyed, and enabled him to purchase the support which secured the West Saxon throne for his descendants.[34] The stability brought by the dynastic succession of Egbert and ¥thelwulf led to an expansion of commercial and agrarian resources, and to an expansion of royal income.[35] The wealth of the West Saxon kings was also increased by the agreement in 838–39 with Archbishop Ceolnoth for the previously independent West Saxon minsters to accept the king as their secular lord in return for his protection.[36] However, there was no certainty that the hegemony of Wessex would prove more permanent than that of Mercia.[37]

King of Wessex

13th century depiction of ¥thelwulf
Depiction of ¥thelwulf in the late-13th-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings
When ¥thelwulf succeeded to the throne of Wessex in 839, his experience as sub-king of Kent had given him valuable training in kingship, and he in turn made his own sons sub-kings.[38] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on his accession "he gave to his son ¥thelstan the kingdom of the people of Kent, and the kingdom of the East Saxons [Essex] and of the people of Surrey and of the South Saxons [Sussex]". However, ¥thelwulf did not give ¥thelstan the same power as his father had given him, and although ¥thelstan attested his father's charters[g] as king, he does not appear to have been given the power to issue his own charters. ¥thelwulf exercised authority in the south-east and made regular visits there. He governed Wessex and Kent as separate spheres, and assemblies in each kingdom were only attended by the nobility of that country. The historian Janet Nelson says that "¥thelwulf ran a Carolingian-style family firm of plural realms, held together by his own authority as father-king, and by the consent of distinct âelites." He maintained his father's policy of governing Kent through ealdormen appointed from the local nobility and advancing their interests, but gave less support to the church.[39] In 843 ¥thelwulf granted ten hides at Little Chart to ¥thelmod, the brother of the leading Kentish ealdorman Ealhere, and ¥thelmod succeeded to the post on his brother's death in 853.[40] In 844 ¥thelwulf granted land at Horton in Kent to Ealdorman Eadred, with permission to transfer parts of it to local landowners; in a culture of reciprocity, this created a network of mutual friendships and obligations between the beneficiaries and the king.[41] Archbishops of Canterbury were firmly in the West Saxon king's sphere. His ealdormen enjoyed a high status, and were sometimes placed higher than the king's sons in lists of witnesses to charters.[42] His reign is the first for which there is evidence of royal priests,[43] and Malmesbury Abbey regarded him as an important benefactor, who is said to have been the donor of a shrine for the relics of Saint Aldhelm.[44]

After 830, Egbert had followed a policy of maintaining good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by ¥thelwulf when he became king. London was traditionally a Mercian town, but in the 830s it was under West Saxon control; soon after ¥thelwulf's accession it reverted to Mercian control.[45] King Wiglaf of Mercia died in 839 and his successor, Berhtwulf, revived the Mercian mint in London; the two kingdoms appear to have struck a joint issue in the mid-840s, possibly indicating West Saxon help in reviving Mercian coinage, and showing the friendly relations between the two powers. Berkshire was still Mercian in 844, but by 849 it was part of Wessex, as Alfred was born in that year at the West Saxon royal estate in Wantage, then in Berkshire.[46][h] However, the local Mercian ealdorman, also called ¥thelwulf, retained his position under the West Saxon kings.[48] Berhtwulf died in 852 and cooperation with Wessex continued under Burgred, his successor as King of Mercia, who married ¥thelwulf's daughter ¥thelswith in 853. In the same year ¥thelwulf assisted Burgred in a successful attack on Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony over the Welsh.[49]

In 9th-century Mercia and Kent, royal charters were produced by religious houses, each with its own style, but in Wessex there was a single royal diplomatic tradition, probably by a single agency acting for the king. This may have originated in Egbert's reign, and it becomes clear in the 840s, when ¥thelwulf had a Frankish secretary called Felix.[50] There were strong contacts between the West Saxon and Carolingian courts. The Annals of St Bertin took particular interest in Viking attacks on Britain, and in 852 Lupus, the Abbot of Ferriáeres and a protâegâe of Charles the Bald, wrote to ¥thelwulf congratulating him on his victory over the Vikings and requesting a gift of lead to cover his church roof. Lupus also wrote to his "most beloved friend" Felix, asking him to manage the transport of the lead.[51] Unlike Canterbury and the south-east, Wessex did not see a sharp decline in the standard of Latin in charters in the mid-9th century, and this may have been partly due to Felix and his continental contacts.[52] Lupus thought that Felix had great influence over the King.[13] Charters were mainly issued from royal estates in counties which were the heartland of ancient Wessex, namely Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, with a few in Kent.[53]

An ancient division between east and west Wessex continued to be important in the 9th century; the boundary was Selwood Forest on the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The two bishoprics of Wessex were Selborne in the west and Winchester in the east. ¥thelwulf's family connections seem to have been west of Selwood, but his patronage was concentrated further east, particularly on Winchester, where his father was buried, and where he appointed Swithun to succeed Helmstan as bishop in 852–853. However, he made a grant of land in Somerset to his leading ealdorman, Eanwulf, and on 26 December 846 he granted a large estate to himself in South Hams in west Devon. He thus changed it from royal demesne, which he was obliged to pass on to his successor as king, to bookland, which could be transferred as the owner pleased, so he could make land grants to followers to improve security in a frontier zone.[54]

Viking threat

Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 ¥thelwulf was defeated by the companies of 35 Danish ships at Carhampton in Somerset. In 850 sub-king ¥thelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere of Kent won a naval victory over a large Viking fleet off Sandwich in Kent, capturing nine ships and driving off the rest. ¥thelwulf granted Ealhhere a large estate in Kent, but ¥thelstan is not heard of again, and probably died soon afterwards. The following year the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records five different attacks on southern England. A Danish fleet of 350 Viking ships took London and Canterbury, and when King Berhtwulf of Mercia went to their relief he was defeated. The Vikings then moved on to Surrey, where they were defeated by ¥thelwulf and his son ¥thelbald at the Battle of Aclea. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the West Saxon levies "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen that we have heard tell of up to the present day". The Chronicle frequently reported victories during ¥thelwulf's reign won by levies led by ealdormen, unlike the 870s when royal command was emphasised, reflecting a more consensual style of leadership in the earlier period.[55]

In 850 a Danish army wintered on Thanet, and in 853 ealdormen Ealhhere of Kent and Huda of Surrey were killed in a battle against the Vikings, also on Thanet. In 855 Danish Vikings stayed over the winter on Sheppey, before carrying on their pillaging of eastern England.[56] However, during ¥thelwulf's reign Viking attacks were contained and did not present a major threat.[57]

Coinage

Coin of King ¥thelwulf
Coin of King ¥thelwulf: "E£ELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury[58]
The silver penny was almost the only coin used in middle and later Anglo-Saxon England. ¥thelwulf's coinage came from a main mint in Canterbury and a secondary one at Rochester; both had been used by Egbert for his own coinage after he gained control of Kent. During ¥thelwulf's reign, there were four main phases of the coinage distinguishable at both mints, though they are not exactly parallel and it is uncertain when the transitions took place. The first issue at Canterbury carried a design known as Saxoniorum, which had been used by Egbert for one of his own issues. This was replaced by a portrait design in about 843, which can be subdivided further; the earliest coins have cruder designs than the later ones. At the Rochester mint the sequence was reversed, with an initial portrait design replaced, also in about 843, by a non-portrait design carrying a cross-and-wedges pattern on the obverse.[13][59]

In about 848 both mints switched to a common design known as Dor¯b¯/Cant – the characters "Dor¯b¯" on the obverse of these coins indicate either Dorobernia (Canterbury) or Dorobrevia (Rochester), and "Cant", referring to Kent, appeared on the reverse. It is possible that the Canterbury mint continued to produce portrait coins at the same time. The Canterbury issue seems to have been ended in 850–851 by Viking raids, though it is possible that Rochester was spared, and the issue may have continued there. The final issue, again at both mints, was introduced in about 852; it has an inscribed cross on the reverse and a portrait on the obverse. ¥thelwulf's coinage became debased by the end of his reign, and though the problem became worse after his death it is possible that the debasement prompted the changes in coin type from as early as 850.[60]

¥thelwulf's first Rochester coinage may have begun when he was still sub-king of Kent, under Egbert. A hoard of coins deposited at the beginning of ¥thelwulf's reign in about 840, found in the Middle Temple in London, contained 22 coins from Rochester and two from Canterbury of the first issue of each mint. Some numismatists argue that the high proportion of Rochester coins means that the issue must have commenced before Egbert's death, but an alternative explanation is that whoever hoarded the coins simply happened to have access to more Rochester coins. No coins were issued by ¥thelwulf's sons during his reign.[61]

Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury throughout ¥thelwulf's reign, also minted coins of his own at Canterbury: there were three different portrait designs, thought to be contemporary with each of the first three of ¥thelwulf's Canterbury issues. These were followed by an inscribed cross design that was uniform with ¥thelwulf's final coinage. At Rochester, Bishop Beornmod produced only one issue, a cross-and-wedges design which was contemporary with ¥thelwulf's Saxoniorum issue.[62]

In the view of the numismatists Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn, the mints of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia were not greatly affected by changes in political control: "the remarkable continuity of moneyers which can be seen at each of these mints suggests that the actual mint organisation was largely independent of the royal administration and was founded in the stable trading communities of each city".[63]

Decimation Charters
Charter of King ¥thelwulf
Charter S 316 dated 855, in which ¥thelwulf granted land at Ulaham in Kent to his minister Ealdhere.[64]
The early 20th-century historian W. H. Stevenson observed that: "Few things in our early history have led to so much discussion" as ¥thelwulf's Decimation Charters;[65] a hundred years later the charter expert Susan Kelly described them as "one of the most controversial groups of Anglo-Saxon diplomas".[66] Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that ¥thelwulf gave a decimation,[i] in 855, shortly before leaving on pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Chronicle "King ¥thelwulf conveyed by charter the tenth part of his land throughout all his kingdom to the praise of God and to his own eternal salvation". However, Asser states that "¥thelwulf, the esteemed king, freed the tenth part of his whole kingdom from royal service and tribute, and as an everlasting inheritance he made it over on the cross of Christ to the triune God, for the redemption of his soul and those of his predecessors."[68] According to Keynes, Asser's version may just be a "loose translation" of the Chronicle, and his implication that ¥thelwulf released a tenth of all land from secular burdens was probably not intended. All land could be regarded as the king's land, so the Chronicle reference to "his land" does not necessarily refer to royal property, and since the booking of land – conveying it by charter – was always regarded as a pious act, Asser's statement that he made it over to God does not necessarily mean that the charters were in favour of the church.[69]

The Decimation Charters are divided by Susan Kelly into four groups:

Two dated at Winchester on 5 November 844. In a charter in the Malmesbury archive, ¥thelwulf refers in the proem to the perilous state of his kingdom as the result of the assaults of pagans and barbarians. For the sake of his soul and in return for masses for the king and ealdormen each Wednesday, "I have decided to give in perpetual liberty some portion of hereditary lands to all those ranks previously in possession, both to God's servants and handmaidens serving God and to laymen, always the tenth hide, and where it is less, then the tenth part."[j]
Six dated at Wilton on Easter Day, 22 April 854. In the common text of these charters, ¥thelwulf states that "for the sake of his soul and the prosperity of the kingdom and [the salvation of] the people assigned to him by God, he has acted upon the advice given to him by his bishops, comites, and all his nobles. He has granted the tenth part of the lands throughout his kingdom, not only to the churches, but also to his thegns. The land is granted in perpetual liberty, so that it will remain free of royal services and all secular burdens. In return there will be liturgical commemoration of the king and of his bishops and ealdormen."[k]
Five from Old Minster, Winchester, connected with the Wilton meeting but generally considered spurious.[l]
One from Kent dated 855, the only one to have the same date as the decimation according to Chronicle and Asser. The king grants to his thegn Dunn property in Rochester "on account of the decimation of lands which by God's gift I have decided to do". Dunn left the land to his wife with reversion to Rochester Cathedral.[m][72]
None of the charters are original, and Stevenson dismissed all of them as fraudulent apart from the Kentish one of 855. Stevenson saw the decimation as a donation of royal demesne to churches and laymen, with those grants which were made to laymen being on the understanding that there would be reversion to a religious institution.[73] Up to the 1990s, his view on the authenticity of the charters was generally accepted by scholars, with the exception of the historian H. P. R. Finberg, who argued in 1964 that most are based on authentic diplomas. Finberg coined the terms the 'First Decimation' of 844, which he saw as the removal of public dues on a tenth of all bookland, and the 'Second Decimation' of 854, the donation of a tenth of "the private domain of the royal house" to the churches. He considered it unlikely that the First Decimation had been carried into effect, probably due to the threat from the Vikings. Finberg's terminology has been adopted, but his defence of the First Decimation generally rejected. In 1994 Keynes defended the Wilton charters in group 2, and his arguments have been widely accepted.[74]

Historians have been divided on how to interpret the Second Decimation, and in 1994 Keynes described it as "one of the most perplexing problems" in the study of 9th-century charters. He set out three alternatives:

It conveyed a tenth of the royal demesne – the lands of the crown as opposed to the personal property of the sovereign – into the hands of churches, ecclesiastics and laymen. In Anglo-Saxon England property was either folkland or bookland. The transmission of folkland was governed by the customary rights of kinsmen, subject to the king's approval, whereas bookland was established by the grant of a royal charter, and could be disposed of freely by the owner. Booking land thus converted it by charter from folkland to bookland. The royal demesne was the crown's folkland, whereas the king's bookland was his own personal property which he could leave by will as he chose. In the decimation ¥thelwulf may have conveyed royal folkland by charter to become bookland, in some cases to laymen who already leased the land.[75]
It was the booking of a tenth of folkland to its owners, who would then be free to convey it to a church.[76]
It was a reduction of one tenth in the secular burdens on lands already in the possession of landowners.[76] The secular burdens would have included the provision of supplies for the king and his officials, and payment of various taxes.[77]
Some scholars, for example Frank Stenton, author of the standard history of Anglo-Saxon England, along with Keynes and Abels, see the Second Decimation as a donation of royal demesne. In Abels' view ¥thelwulf sought loyalty from the aristocracy and church during the king's forthcoming absence from Wessex, and displayed a sense of dynastic insecurity also evident in his father's generosity towards the Kentish church in 838, and in an "avid attention" in this period to compiling and revising royal genealogies.[78] Keynes suggests that "¥thelwulf's purpose was presumably to earn divine assistance in his struggles against the Vikings",[79] and the mid-20th-century historian Eric John observes that "a lifetime of medieval studies teaches one that an early medieval king was never so political as when he was on his knees".[80] The view that the decimation was a donation of the king's own personal estate is supported by the Anglo-Saxonist Alfred Smyth, who argues that these were the only lands the king was entitled to alienate by book.[81][n] The historian Martin Ryan prefers the view that ¥thelwulf freed a tenth part of land owned by laymen from secular obligations, who could now endow churches under their own patronage. Ryan sees it as part of a campaign of religious devotion.[84] According to the historian David Pratt, it "is best interpreted as a strategic 'tax cut', designed to encourage cooperation in defensive measures through a partial remission of royal dues".[85] Nelson states that the decimation took place in two phases, in Wessex in 854 and Kent in 855, reflecting that they remained separate kingdoms.[86]

Kelly argues that most charters were based on genuine originals, including the First Decimation of 844. She says: "Commentators have been unkind [and] the 844 version has not been given the benefit of the doubt". In her view ¥thelwulf then gave a 10% tax reduction on bookland, and ten years later he took the more generous step of "a widespread distribution of royal lands". Unlike Finberg, she believes that both decimations were carried out, although the second one may not have been completed due to opposition from ¥thelwulf's son ¥thelbald. She thinks that the grants of bookland to laymen in the Second Decimation were unconditional, not with reversion to religious houses as Stevenson had argued.[87] However, Keynes is not convinced by Kelly's arguments, and thinks that the First Decimation charters were 11th or early 12th century fabrications.[88]

Pilgrimage to Rome and later life

In the early 850s ¥thelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. According to Abels: "¥thelwulf was at the height of his power and prestige. It was a propitious time for the West Saxon king to claim a place of honour among the kings and emperors of christendom."[89] His eldest surviving sons ¥thelbald and ¥thelberht were then adults, while ¥thelred and Alfred were still young children. In 853 ¥thelwulf sent his younger sons to Rome, perhaps accompanying envoys in connection with his own forthcoming visit. Alfred, and possibly ¥thelred as well, were invested with the "belt of consulship". ¥thelred's part in the journey is only known from a contemporary record in the liber vitae of San Salvatore, Brescia, as later records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were only interested in recording the honour paid to Alfred.[13] Abels sees the embassy as paving the way for ¥thelwulf's pilgrimage, and the presence of Alfred, his youngest and therefore most expendable son, as a gesture of goodwill to the papacy; confirmation by Pope Leo IV made Alfred his spiritual son, and thus created a spiritual link between the two "fathers".[90][o] Kirby argues that the journey may indicate that Alfred was intended for the church,[92] while Nelson on the contrary sees ¥thelwulf's purpose as affirming his younger sons' throneworthiness, thus protecting them against being tonsured by their elder brothers, which would have rendered them ineligible for kingship.[93]

¥thelwulf set out for Rome in the spring of 855, accompanied by Alfred and a large retinue.[94] The King left Wessex in the care of his oldest surviving son, ¥thelbald, and the sub-kingdom of Kent to the rule of ¥thelberht, and thereby confirmed that they were to succeed to the two kingdoms.[25] On the way the party stayed with Charles the Bald in Francia, where there were the usual banquets and exchange of gifts. ¥thelwulf stayed a year in Rome,[95] and his gifts to the Diocese of Rome included a gold crown weighing 4 pounds (1.8 kg), two gold goblets, a sword bound with gold, four silver-gilt bowls, two silk tunics and two gold-interwoven veils. He also gave gold to the clergy and leading men and silver to the people of Rome. According to the historian Joanna Story, his gifts rivalled those of Carolingian donors and the Byzantine emperor and "were clearly chosen to reflect the personal generosity and spiritual wealth of the West Saxon king; here was no Germanic 'hillbilly' from the backwoods of the Christian world but, rather, a sophisticated, wealthy and utterly contemporary monarch".[96] According to the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury, he helped to pay for the restoration of the Saxon quarter, which had recently been destroyed by fire, for English pilgrims.[97]

The pilgrimage puzzles historians and Kelly comments that "it is extraordinary that an early medieval king could consider his position safe enough to abandon his kingdom in a time of extreme crisis". She suggests that ¥thelwulf may have been motivated by a personal religious impulse.[98] Ryan sees it as an attempt to placate the divine wrath displayed by Viking attacks,[84] whereas Nelson thinks he aimed to enhance his prestige in dealing with the demands of his adult sons.[99] In Kirby's view:

¥thelwulf's journey to Rome is of great interest for it did not signify abdication and a retreat from the world as their journeys to Rome had for Cµdwalla and Ine and other Anglo-Saxon kings. It was more a display of the king's international standing and a demonstration of the prestige his dynasty enjoyed in Frankish and papal circles.[100]

On his way back from Rome ¥thelwulf again stayed with King Charles the Bald, and may have joined him on a campaign against a Viking warband.[101] On 1 October 856 ¥thelwulf married Charles's daughter, Judith, aged 12 or 13, at Verberie. The marriage was considered extraordinary by contemporaries and by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims. Although empresses had been anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In addition West Saxon custom, described by Asser as "perverse and detestable", was that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband – she was just the king's wife.[102]

¥thelwulf returned to Wessex to face a revolt by ¥thelbald, who attempted to prevent his father from recovering his throne. Historians give varying explanations for both the rebellion and the marriage. In Nelson's view, ¥thelwulf's marriage to Judith added the West Saxon king to the family of kings and princely allies which Charles was creating.[103] Charles was under attack both from Vikings and from a rising among his own nobility, and ¥thelwulf had great prestige due to his victories over the Vikings; some historians such as Kirby and Pauline Stafford see the marriage as sealing an anti-Viking alliance. The marriage gave ¥thelwulf a share in Carolingian prestige, and Kirby describes the anointing of Judith as "a charismatic sanctification which enhanced her status, blessed her womb and conferred additional throne-worthiness on her male offspring." These marks of a special status implied that a son of hers would succeed to at least part of ¥thelwulf's kingdom, and explain ¥thelbald's decision to rebel.[104] The historian Michael Enright denies that an anti-Viking alliance between two such distant kingdoms could serve any useful purpose, and argues that the marriage was ¥thelwulf's response to news that his son was planning to rebel; his son by an anointed Carolingian queen would be in a strong position to succeed as king of Wessex instead of the rebellious ¥thelbald.[105] Abels suggests that ¥thelwulf sought Judith's hand because he needed her father's money and support to overcome his son's rebellion,[106] but Kirby and Smyth argue that it is extremely unlikely that Charles the Bald would have agreed to marry his daughter to a ruler who was known to be in serious political difficulty.[107] ¥thelbald may also have acted out of resentment at the loss of patrimony he suffered as a result of the decimation.[98]

¥thelbald's rebellion was supported by Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, even though they appear to have been two of the king's most trusted advisers.[108] According to Asser, the plot was concerted "in the western part of Selwood", and western nobles may have backed ¥thelbald because they resented the patronage ¥thelwulf gave to eastern Wessex.[109] Asser also stated that ¥thelwulf agreed to give up the western part of his kingdom in order to avoid a civil war. Some historians such as Keynes and Abels think that his rule was then confined to the south-east,[110] while others such as Kirby think it is more likely that it was Wessex itself which was divided, with ¥thelbald keeping Wessex west of Selwood, ¥thelwulf holding the centre and east, and ¥thelberht keeping the south-east.[111] ¥thelwulf insisted that Judith should sit beside him on the throne until the end of his life, and according to Asser this was "without any disagreement or dissatisfaction on the part of his nobles".[112]

King ¥thelwulf's ring
King ¥thelwulf's ring was found in a cart rut in Laverstock in Wiltshire in about August 1780 by one William Petty, who sold it to a silversmith in Salisbury. The silversmith sold it to the Earl of Radnor, and the earl's son, William, donated it to the British Museum in 1829. The ring, together with a similar ring of ¥thelwulf's daughter ¥thelswith, is one of two key examples of nielloed 9th-century metalwork. They appear to represent the emergence of a "court style" of West Saxon metalwork, characterised by an unusual Christian iconography, such as a pair of peacocks at the Fountain of Life on the ¥thelwulf ring, associated with Christian immortality. The ring is inscribed "¥thelwulf Rex", firmly associating it with the King, and the inscription forms part of the design, so it cannot have been added later. Many of its features are typical of 9th-century metalwork, such as the design of two birds, beaded and speckled borders, and a saltire with arrow-like terminals on the back. It was probably manufactured in Wessex, but was typical of the uniformity of animal ornament in England in the 9th century. In the view of Leslie Webster, an expert on medieval art: "Its fine Trewhiddle style ornament would certainly fit a mid ninth-century date."[113] In Nelson's view, "it was surely made to be a gift from this royal lord to a brawny follower: the sign of a successful ninth-century kingship".[13] The art historian David Wilson sees it as a survival of the pagan tradition of the generous king as the "ring-giver".[114]

¥thelwulf's will

King Alfred's will
A page from King Alfred's will
¥thelwulf's will has not survived, but Alfred's has and it provides some information about his father's intentions. The kingdom was to be divided between the two oldest surviving sons, with ¥thelbald getting Wessex and ¥thelberht Kent and the south-east. The survivor of ¥thelbald, ¥thelred and Alfred was to inherit their father's bookland – his personal property as opposed to the royal lands which went with the kingship – and Abels and Yorke argue that this probably means that the survivor was to inherit the throne of Wessex as well.[115] Other historians disagree. Nelson states that the provision regarding the personal property had nothing to do with the kingship,[13] and Kirby comments: "Such an arrangement would have led to fratricidal strife. With three older brothers, Alfred's chances of reaching adulthood would, one feels, have been minimal."[116] ¥thelwulf's moveable wealth, such as gold and silver, was to be divided between "children, nobles and the needs of the king's soul".[13] For the latter, he left one tenth of his hereditary land to be set aside to feed the poor, and he ordered that three hundred mancuses be sent to Rome each year, one hundred to be spent on lighting the lamps in St Peter's at Easter, one hundred for the lights of St Paul's, and one hundred for the pope.[117]

Death and succession

¥thelwulf died on 13 January 858. According to the Annals of St Neots, he was buried at Steyning in Sussex, but his body was later transferred to Winchester, probably by Alfred.[118] ¥thelwulf was succeeded by ¥thelbald in Wessex and ¥thelberht in Kent and the south-east. The prestige conferred by a Frankish marriage was so great that ¥thelbald then wedded his step-mother Judith, to Asser's retrospective horror; he described the marriage as a "great disgrace", and "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity".[13] When ¥thelbald died only two years later, ¥thelberht became King of Wessex as well as Kent, and ¥thelwulf's intention of dividing his kingdoms between his sons was thus set aside. In the view of Yorke and Abels this was because ¥thelred and Alfred were too young to rule, and ¥thelberht agreed in return that his younger brothers would inherit the whole kingdom on his death,[119] whereas Kirby and Nelson think that ¥thelberht just became the trustee for his younger brothers' share of the bookland.[120]

After ¥thelbald's death Judith sold her possessions and returned to her father, but two years later she eloped with Baldwin, Count of Flanders. In the 890s their son, also called Baldwin, married ¥thelwulf's granddaughter ¥lfthryth.[13]

Historiography

¥thelwulf's reputation among historians was poor in the twentieth century. In 1935 the historian R. H. Hodgkin attributed his pilgrimage to Rome to "the unpractical piety which had led him to desert his kingdom at a time of great danger", and described his marriage to Judith as "the folly of a man senile before his time".[121] To Stenton in the 1960s he was "a religious and unambitious man, for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank".[122] One dissenter was Finberg, who in 1964 described him as "a king whose valour in war and princely munificence recalled the figures of the heroic age",[123] but in 1979 Enright said: "More than anything else he appears to have been an impractical religious enthusiast."[124] Early medieval writers, especially Asser, emphasise his religiosity and his preference for consensus, seen in the concessions made to avert a civil war on his return from Rome.[p] In Story's view "his legacy has been clouded by accusations of excessive piety which (to modern sensibilities at least) has seemed at odds with the demands of early medieval kingship". In 839 an unnamed Anglo-Saxon king wrote to the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious asking for permission to travel through his territory on the way to Rome, and relating an English priest's dream which foretold disaster unless Christians abandoned their sins. This is now believed to have been an unrealised project of Egbert at the end of his life, but it was formerly attributed to ¥thelwulf, and seen as exhibiting what Story calls his reputation for "dramatic piety", and irresponsibility for planning to abandon his kingdom at the beginning of his reign.[126]

In the twenty-first century he is seen very differently by historians. ¥thelwulf is not listed in the index of Peter Hunter Blair's An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, first published in 1956, but in a new introduction to the 2003 edition Keynes listed him among people "who have not always been accorded the attention they might be thought to deserve ... for it was he, more than any other, who secured the political fortune of his people in the ninth century, and who opened up channels of communication which led through Frankish realms and across the Alps to Rome".[127] According to Story: "¥thelwulf acquired and cultivated a reputation both in Francia and Rome which is unparalleled in the sources since the height of Offa's and Coenwulf's power at the turn of the ninth century".[128]

Nelson describes him as "one of the great underrated among Anglo-Saxons", and complains that she was only allowed 2,500 words for him in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, compared with 15,000 for Edward II and 35,000 for Elizabeth I.[129] She says:

¥thelwulf's reign has been relatively under-appreciated in modern scholarship. Yet he laid the foundations for Alfred's success. To the perennial problems of husbanding the kingdom's resources, containing conflicts within the royal family, and managing relations with neighbouring kingdoms, ¥thelwulf found new as well as traditional answers. He consolidated old Wessex, and extended his reach over what is now Devon and Cornwall. He ruled Kent, working with the grain of its political community. He borrowed ideological props from Mercians and Franks alike, and went to Rome, not to die there, like his predecessor Ine, ... but to return, as Charlemagne had, with enhanced prestige. ¥thelwulf coped more effectively with Scandinavian attacks than did most contemporary rulers.[13]

Buried:
Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral

Aethelwulf married Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex. Osburga (daughter of Oslac and unnamed spouse) was born in ~810 in Wessex, England; died in ~849. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: ~831, (Wessex) England
• Alt Death: ~854

Notes:

Osburh or Osburga was the first wife of King ¥thelwulf of Wessex and mother of Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".[1]

Osburh's existence is known only from Asser's Life of King Alfred. She is not named as witness to any charters, nor is her death reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. So far as is known, she was the mother of all ¥thelwulf's children, his five sons ¥thelstan, ¥thelbald, ¥thelberht, ¥thelred and Alfred the Great, and his daughter ¥thelswith, wife of King Burgred of Mercia.

The Boyhood of Alfred the Great (1913).jpg
She is best known for Asser's story about a book of Saxon songs which she showed to Alfred and his brothers, offering to give the book to whoever could first memorise it, a challenge which Alfred took up and won. This exhibits the interest of high status ninth-century women in books, and their role in educating their children.[2]

Osburh was the daughter of Oslac (who is also only known from Asser's Life), King ¥thelwulf's pincerna (butler), an important figure in the royal court and household.[3] Oslac is described as a descendant of King Cerdic's Jutish nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar, who conquered the Isle of Wight.[4] and, by this, is also ascribed Geatish/Gothic ancestry.

Queen consort of Wessex
Tenure c. 839 – c. 854
Spouse ¥thelwulf, King of Wessex
Issue ¥thelstan of Wessex
¥thelswith, Queen of Mercia
¥thelbald, King of Wessex
¥thelbert, King of Wessex
¥thelred, King of Wessex
Alfred, King of Wessex
House House of Wessex (by marriage)
Father Oslac

Issue[edit]
Name Birth Death Notes
¥thelstan 851–855
¥thelswith 888 Married, Burgred of Mercia; no issue
¥thelbald 20 December 860 Married, Judith
¥thelbert Autumn 865
¥thelred c.847 23 April 871 Had issue
Alfred 849 26 October 899 Married 868, Ealhswith; had issue

See also

House of Wessex family tree; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

Notes

Jump up ^ Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge eds, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, London, Penguin Classics, 1983, p. 68
Jump up ^ Janet L. Nelson, Osburh, 2004, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography In Nelson's view, Osburh may have been dead by 856 or may have been repudiated.
Jump up ^ Keynes and Lapidge, pp. 68, 229.
Jump up ^ Asser states that Oslac was a Goth, but this is regarded by historians as an error as Stuf and Wightgar were Jutes. Keynes and Lapidge pp. 229-30 and Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford, Oxford UP, 3rd edition 1971, p. 23-4

References

Asser's Life of King Alfred; http://omacl.org/KingAlfred/

Lees, Clare A. & Gillian R. Overing (eds), Double Agents: Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2001. ISBN 0-8122-3628-9

end of biography

The PEDIGREE of
Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT

(1st wife); (Osburh Osburgh; of JUTIE)
Born: abt. 810 Died: aft. 876


HM George I's 23-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 20-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 26-Great Grandmother. Poss. PM Churchill's 24-Great Grandmother. Wm. von Bismarck's 28-Great Grandmother. Agnes Harris's 25-Great Grandmother. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 24-Great Grandmother.
Husband/Partner: Ethelwulf (2nd King) of ENGLAND
Children: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith ; Ethelbert (King) ; Athelstan (King)
_______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
/ -- Gebolf of the JUTES
/ -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
| \ / -- Freawine of ANCIENT S. + ==&=> [ 221 ,,qD,&]
| | / | (skip this generation?)
| | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
| | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
| | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
| | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
/ \ -- daughter of Elesa
/ -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
| \ | ( many missing generations)
| | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
| | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | (skip this generation?)
| | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
| | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
| | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
| | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
/ \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
/ -- Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (785? - ?)
/
- Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
\
\ -- (NN), first wife


Her (poss.) Grandchildren: Elgiva of WESSEX [alt ped] ; Edward (I) `the Elder' (King) of ENGLAND ; Aefthryth (Elfrida) of WESSEX ; Aethelflaed (Lady) of MERCIA ; Aethelweald (King) of NORTHUMBRIA ; Aethelhelm (Earldorman) of WILTSHIRE ; Elgiva of WESSEX ; Henry `with the Golden Wagon' of ALTDORF

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