The House of Tosny[1] was an important noble family in 10th and 11th century Normandy, though it did not include any comtes or vicomtes. Its founder was Raoul I of Tosny (died after 1024).
Contents
Notable members
Coming from Île-de-France,[2] the Tosnys first based themselves in Normandy in the 10th century to collaborate with the descendants of the Vikings. They formed part of this new elite which appeared around dukes Richard I and Richard II at the turn of the 10th to 11th century. In 991, Raoul I of Tosny witnessed the first surviving international treaty in Normand history (an accord between Duke Richard I and the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred II). As one of the top Normands, he set out to fight in southern Italy. His grandson Raoul II took part with the premier barons in the court of William the Conqueror (10351087). He was the Normand standard bearer in 1054.
Narratives, more or less legendary, gathered around the family: the chroniclers report the exploits of Roger I, the Moor-Eater, in Hispania. His wife, Godehildis/Gotelina, was linked to a miracle at Sainte-Foy de Conques. At the start of the 12th century, the Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis explains that the family was descended from Malahulce, uncle of Rollo.[3]
A model aristocratic family
Formation of its power
As with several Norman families (such as the Beaumont), the origin of the house of Tosny's power derived from two sources :
recovery of church goods. According to Lucien Musset, Hugues, archbishop of Rouen (942-989) split off lands from his cathedral's lands and gave them to his brother Raoul I of Tosny
grants of land by the dukes of Normandy, notably Richard II
More unusually, the house of Tosny probably acquired part of its fortune from foreign adventures - Raoul I and Roger I fought in the County of Apulia and in Iberia in the first quarter of the 11th century.
The dangers in its history
Raoul II of Tosny participated in the Norman Conquest in 1066, and was rewarded with domains in England, most notably the two baronies of Flamstead (Hertfordshire) and Wrethamthorpe (Norfolk). Three other family members were also rewarded : Raoul's brother Robert de Stafford, Robert de Beauvoir and his son Béranger, belonging to a collateral branch.[4] However, it seems that on the whole the Tosnys did not play an important role in England. In the Duchy of Normandy, they were particularly active during the troubles which followed William I's death (1087) and the subsequent conflict between Empress Mathilda and Stephen (11351144). Nevertheless, the 12th century gives the impression of a decline in the Tosny family fortunes in comparison to some of the neighbouring houses in eastern Normandy, such as the houses of Beaumont-Meulan, Montfort and Harcourt.
In 1204 Roger IV of Tosny lost his continental fiefdoms as a result of his support for John and thus the family had to withdraw to England to begin again. In 1309, its male line became extinct.
The management of its goods
Like all Norman barons, the Tosnys had fiefdoms scattered throughout Normandy and England. In 1077, a marriage between Raoul II and Isabelle de Montfort allowed the Tosnys to direct the châtellenie of Nogent-le-Roi, which they held onto until around 1200. The family possessions thus stretched as far as the border of the duchy of Normandy.[5] Nevertheless, the heart of their continental lands was centred around Conches-en-Ouche. Part of their fiefdoms was let out to a small clientele of vassals.
The family made grants to abbeys, notably to those they had founded themselves (the Saint-Pierre de Castillon monastery c.1035).[6] After 1066, as Lucien Musset remarks, the Tosnys showed themselves especially liberal to their English fiefdoms but avoided diminishing their Norman lands.
The texts give little information on the administration of these lands, though we know prévôts were installed in the main centres.
The honour of Conches and of Tosny
With its two axes, Conches-en-Ouche and Tosny (in the bend of the Seine immediately upstream of Andelys), the barony of Tosny was a two-headed one.
According to the 1172 state of its fiefdoms, the "honneur"[7] amounted to 50 or 51 knights' fiefs. The lands were mostly found in Haute-Normandie, more precisely between Risle and Iton. The vast forêt de Conches formed its centre. It also had scattered domains in the Eure valley (Fontaine-sous-Jouy, Cailly-sur-Eure, Planches, Acquigny), the Seine valley (Tosny, Villers-sur-le-Roule, Bernières-sur-Seine), in Vexin Normand (Vesly, Guerny, Villers-en-Vexin, Hacqueville, Heuqueville, Val de Pîtres), in Pays de Caux and Talou around Blainville-Crevon, Mortemer (Seine-Maritime, Mortemer-sur-Eaulne), Dieppe and Yerville.[8] Many of these lands were let out to vassals, notably les Clères.
Orderic Vitalis mentions four main castles in the barony in 1119 : Conches-en-Ouche, Tosny, Portes, Acquigny.
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