Richard I of Normandy
|
Richard the Fearless as part of the Six Dukes of Normandy statue in the town square of Falaise. |
Richard I of Normandy (c.
935 -
November 20,
996) was the
Duke of Normandy from
942 to
996; he is considered the first to actually have held that title. He was called Richard
the Fearless (French,
Sans Peur).
He was born to
William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and
Sprota of Senlis. He was born probably between
932 and
935; he was still a boy when his father died in 942. His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a
Danish marriage. After William died, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller.
Richard was still a boy when his father died, and so he was powerless to stop
Louis IV of France when he seized Normandy. Louis kept him in confinement in his youth at Lâon, but he escaped with the assistance of
Osmund de Centeville,
Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of
Rollo),
Ivo de Bellèsme, and
Bernard the Dane (ancestor of families of Harcourt and Beaumont). In 968, Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, Count of Paris. He then allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders, drove Louis out of Rouen, and took back Normandy by 947. He later quarrelled with
Ethelred II of England regarding viking invasions of England because Normandy had been buying up much of the stolen booty.
Richard was bilingual, having been well educated at Bayeux. He was more partial to his Norse and Danish subjects than to the French. During his reign, Normandy became completely Gallicized and Christianized. He introduced the
feudal system and Normandy became one of the most thoroughly feudalized states on the continent. He carried out a major reorganization of the Norman military system, based on heavy cavalry. He also became guardian of the
young Hugh, Count of Paris, on the elder Hugh's death in 956.
The Little Duke, a Victorian Juvenile novel by
Charlotte Mary Yonge is a fictionalized account of Richard's boyhood and early struggles.
He married 1st (
960)
Emma of Paris, daughter of
Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris. They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 966, with no issue.
According to
Robert of Torigni, not long after Emma's death, Duke Richard went out hunting and stopped at the house of a local forester. He became enamoured of the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she being a virtuous woman, suggested he court her unmarried sister,
Gunnor de Crepon, instead. Gunnor became his bride, and her family rose to prominence. Her brother,
Herefast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Norse descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimate their children:
*
Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy (966)
*
Robert,
Archbishop of Rouen, Count of
Evreux, died 1037.
* Mauger, Earl of
Corbeil, died after 1033; his alleged grandson (or perhaps great-grandson) was
Robert Fitzhamon, an important Anglo-Norman baron.
* Robert Danus, died between 985 and 989
*
Emma of Normandy (c.985-1052) wife of two kings of England.
*
Hawise of Normandy, wife of
Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany* Maud of Normandy, wife of
Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres
Richard was known to have had several mistresses and produced childen with many of them.Known children are:
*
Geoffrey, Count of Brionne, (b. ca.
970)
* Hawise (b. ca. 978), d. 21 Feb
1034. m. Geoffrey of Brittany, Duke of Brittany, (ca.
997), son of Conan I of Brittany, Duke of Brittany, "le Tort", and Ermengarde of Anjou.
*William d'Eu, Count d'Eu, (b. ca.
985).
He died in
Fecamp,
France on
November 20,
996 of natural causes.
|
Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia |
*McKitterick, Rosamund.
The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians 751-987, 1993.
*Searle, Eleanor.
Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840-1066, 1998.
*
The Henry Project: Richard I of Normandy
