Genealogy Richard Bush » Herleve of Falaise (1006-1050)

Données personnelles Herleve of Falaise 

• Noms alternatifs: Herleva Concubine To Robert, Herleve de Falaise, Arlette Herleva de Falaise
• Elle est née en l'an 1006 dans Falaise, Dutchy of Normandie.Source 1
• Alternative: Elle est née environ 1003 dans Falaise, Normandy, France.
• (LifeSketch) : Herleva (c. 1003 – c. 1050) was a Norman woman of the 11th century, kn.Source 2
• Elle est décédée le 23 avril 1050 dans Grestain, Eure, Duchy of Normandie, elle avait 44 ans.Source 1
• Alternative: Elle est décédée environ 1050.
• Alternative: Elle est décédée environ 1050.
• Elle est enterrée apres 23 avril 1050 dans Grestrain Abbey, Fatouville-Gristain, Eure, Duchy of Normandie.Source 1
• Un enfant de Fulbert of Falaise et Duxia de Falaise

Famille de Herleve of Falaise

(1) Elle est mariée avec Herluin Viscount of Conteville.

Ils se sont mariés en l'an 1031, elle avait 25 ans.Source 2

(2) Elle est mariée avec Robert I (The Magnificent) Duke of Normandy.

Ils se sont mariés environ 1024.Source 2

Enfant(s):

1. Robert Count of Mortain  ± 1037-1090
2. William The Conqueror  1028-1087 

Enfant(s):

1. Robert de Mortagne  1035-1090
2. Odo of Bayeux  1036-????
3. Emma de Conteville  1035-1066
4. Adélaïde de Normandie  1029-1096
5. Muriel de Valognes  ± 1038-????

Notes par Herleve of Falaise

Herleva's background 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.[a] According to Edward Augustus Freeman, the Tours chronicler's version cannot be true, because if Hereleva married the Duke, then William's birth would have been legitimized, and thus he would not have been known as William the Bastard[b] by his contemporaries.[5]

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[7] is somewhat uncertain, and Fulbert may instead have been a furrier, embalmer, apothecary, or a person who laid out corpses for burial.[8]

Statue of Arlette in Huy, Belgium where the mother of William the Conqueror is considered a child of the country; [9]
Some argue that Herleva's father was not a tanner but rather a member of the burgher class.[10] 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 have been nearly impossible if Herleva's father had been a tanner, which would place his standing little above that of a peasant.

Orderic Vitalis described Herleva's father Fulbert as the Duke's Chamberlain (cubicularii ducis).[8][11]

According to one legend,[12] it all started when Robert, the young Duke of Normandy, saw Herleva from the roof of his castle tower. 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. 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. This gave Herleva a semi-official status as the Duke's concubine.[13] She later gave birth to his son, William, in 1027 or 1028.[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]

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 Ferté-Macé.[16]

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.[c]

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Barre chronologique Herleve of Falaise

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