Ancestral Trails 2016 » RICHARD de NORMANDY I (932-996)

Personal data RICHARD de NORMANDY I 

• He was born on August 28, 932 in Fecamp, Seine-Inferieure, Normandie, France.
• Title: 3rd Duke of Normandy
• Title: Count of Rouen
• (Nickname) : Sans Peur (The Fearless).
• (Accession) in the year 942 in 3rd Duke of Normandy.
• (Ancestry) : House of Normandy.
• (Accession) in Count of Rouen.
• He died on November 20, 996 in Fecamp, Seine-Inferieure, Normandie, France, he was 64 years old.
• A child of WILLIAM de NORMANDY and SPROTA de SENLIS

Household of RICHARD de NORMANDY I

(1) He is married to Emma CAPET.

They got married in the year 960 at Normandie, France, he was 27 years old.

(2) He is married to GUNNORA de CREPON.

They got married in the year 968 at Normandie, France, he was 35 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Orielda de NORMANDY  963-1031
2. Maud de NORMANDY  ± 987-1006
3. HAWISE de NORMANDY  985-???? 
4. EMMA BEAUCLERC de NORMANDY  980-???? 
5. RICHARD de NORMANDY  963-1026 
6. ROBERT d'EVREUX  965-1037 
7. MAUGER de NORMANDY  967-1040 
8. PAPIA de NORMANDY  982-???? 

Child(ren):

1. Fredesende de NORMANDY  ± 995-1057
2. Guimara de NORMANDY  ± 986-????
3. Muriella de NORMANDY  970-< 1020 
4. BEATRICE de NORMANDY  977-???? 
5. GODFREY FITZRICHARD de BRIONNE  956-1015 
6. GUILLAUME I d'EU  971-???? 

Notes about RICHARD de NORMANDY I

Richard I of Normandy (28 August 933 - 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French, Sans Peur), was the Duke of Normandy from 942 to 996. Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write his De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum (Latin, On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy), called him a dux, but this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's leadership in war, and not a reference to a title of nobility. Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy, or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, most important landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.

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

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

In 946, Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, Count of Paris. He then allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders, drove Louis out of Rouen, and took back Normandy by 947.

In 962 Theobald I, Count of Blois, attacked Rouen, Richard’s stronghold, but his army was defeated by the Normans and retreated never having crossed the Seine. Lothair king of the West Franks stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.

Afterwards, and until his death in 996, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm, and united his followers into a cohesive and formidable principality.

Richard used marriage to build strong alliances . His marriage to Emma connected him to the Capet family. His wife Gunnor, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters form the core group that was to provide loyal followers to him and his successors. His daughters provided valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.

He also built on his relationship with the church, restoring their lands and ensured the great monasteries flourished. His reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.

Marriages - His first marriage (960) was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France, and Hedwig von Sachsen. They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.

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

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

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

Geoffrey, Count of Eu
William, Count of Eu (ca. 972-26 January 1057/58), m. Lasceline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057/58).
Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne (d.1030 (divorced)

Possible children
Muriella, married Tancred de Hauteville
Fressenda or Fredesenda (ca. 995-ca. 1057), second wife of Tancred de Hauteville.

Richard died in Fecamp, France, on 20 November 996.
SOURCE: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_Normandy

The line to the dukes of Normandy comes through Isabel St. Liz, and the line to Charlemagne comes through her husband, William Mauduit.

The lines merge again with the marriage of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and Emma, daughter of Hugh, who was, in all but name, King of France. His son, Hugh Capet, later assumed the title, and primogeniture began in the French line of kings.

The two lines met again later with the marriage of Adele, daughter of King Robert II, and Richard III, Duke of Normandy.

Richard I, "the Fearless"; named father's heir 29 May 942. Married first (Danish wife) Gunnora but betrothed ca. 945 and eventually married 960 to Emma. Richard was betrothed to Emma for some time but did not marry her until about 960, after the death of her father, Hugh the Great, in 956.

Richard was the guardian of Hugh's son, the Duke of Paris, and eventually married Emma to strengthen his position. He did not treat her unkindly, he merely loved Gunnora. Poor Emma passed her life at Rouen alone and solitary, and eventually she pined away and died about the year 962.

After Emma's death he married (Christian marriage) Gunnora to legitimize their children.
SOURCE: www.tudorplace.com

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Timeline RICHARD de NORMANDY I

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