Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Judith of Lens

Female Abt 1054 - Abt 1090  (~ 36 years)


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  • Name Judith of Lens 
    Born Abt 1054 
    Gender Female 
    Died Abt 1090 
    Person ID I6086  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Lambert of Boulogne,   d. 1054, Phalempin, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Alice of Normandy,   b. Bef 1035,   d. From 1086 to 1096  (Age > 51 years) 
    Married From 1053 to 1054 
    Family ID F2623  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Waltheof,   d. 31/31 May 1075/6, St. Giles Hill, Winchester, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married Jan 1070 
    Children 
     1. Maud of Northumberland,   b. Abt 1072,   d. From 1130 to 1131, , , Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 58 years)
     2. Alice of Northumberland,   d. Aft 1148
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F2613  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “JUDITH OF LENS, born about 1054. She married after January 1070 WALTHEOF, Earl of Northumberland, lord of Potton, Bedfordshire, Waltharnstow, Essex, Conington, Leighton Bromswold, Little Catford, and Sawtry, Huntingdonshire, Barnack, East Farndon, Fotheringay, Harringworth, and Lilford, Northamptonshire, etc., son and heir of Siward, Earl of Northumberland, by Ælfflaed, daughter of Earl Ealdred. They had two daughters, Maud [Queen of Scotland] and Alice. He was still young at the death of his father in 1055. He was active against the Norman in the northern counties and especially at York in 1069. In 1070 he made his peace with King William the Conqueror. He occurs as one of the witnesses to King William's charter to Wells dated 1068. He was present at the marriage of Ralph de Wader at Exning, Cambridgeshire, where the guests entered into a conspiracy against the king. In this he was to some slight extent implicated, but acting on the advise of Archbishop Lanfranc, he crossed over to Normandy to the king, and disclosed the matter to him. The conspiracy having been crushed, the king kept Waltheof with him. But he was accused by his wife, Judith, of more than a mere knowledge of the plot. After a year's deliberation, during which he was imprisoned at Winchester, Waltheof was executed at Winchester, Hampshire 31 May 1075 (or 1076). Two weeks afterwards the king allowed his body to be removed to Croyland Abbey, Lincolnshire, where the abbot buried him in the chapterhouse; his remains were subsequently translated into the church near the altar. At an unknown date, Judith was granted the manor of Elstow, Bedfordshire by her uncle, King William the Conqueror. Sometime prior to 1086, she founded a nunnery at Elstow and endowed it with the vill. She was living in 1086, and presumably died about 1090.
      Wharton Anglia Sacra (1691): 159 (Chronicon Sanctæ Crucis Edinburgensis sub A.D. 1076: "Walthevus Comes decollatus est."). Lysons Environs of London 1(2) (1811): 699-700. Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 5 (1825): 522-523. Palgrave Docs. & Recs. illus. the Hist. of Scotland 1 (1837): 100-101 xxx (Cronica Canonicorum Beate Marie Huntingdon: "David qui regnavit et duxit Matildam Comitissam Huntingd' neptem Willelmi Regis Anglorum filiam Ivette que fuit filia Lamberti de Louns Comitis."). Col. Top. et Gen. 6 (1840): 261-265. Edwards Liber Monasterii de Hyda (Rolls Ser. 45) (1866): 294-295 (Judith [of Lens], wife of Earl Waltheof, styled "king's kinswoman" [consanguineam regis] [i.e., kinswoman of King William the Conqueror]). Freeman Hist. of the Norman Conquest of England 4 (1871): 813-815 (re. connection of Earl Waltheof with conspiracy of Ralph). Remarks & Colls. of Thomas Hearne 3 (Oxford Hist. Soc.) (1889): 104 (ped. chart). Searle Ingulf & the Historia Croylandensis (1894): 104-110 (biog. of Earl Waltheof, the martyr). Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Rutland Mag. & County Hist. Rec. 3 (1908): 97-106, 129-137. VCH Bedford 2 (1908): 237-242; 3 (1912): 280-281, 296-305. Pubs. of Bedfordshire Hist. Rec. Soc. 9 (1925): 23-34. VCH Northampton 3 (1930): 227-231. VCH Huntingdon 3 (1936): 86-92, 144-151, 203-212. Arch. Aeliana 30 (1952): 200-201. Giles Vita et Passio Waldevi comitis in Original Lives of Anglo-Saxons and others who lived before the Conquest (Caxton Soc. 16) (1954): 1-30. Offler Durham Episcopal Charters 1071-1152 (1968): 2, 5, 6, 16n, 27, 30-31, 39-47. VCH Essex 6 (1973): 253-263. VCH Cambridge 6 (1978): 177-182. Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): XI.227, XII.398-XII.399. Schwennicke Europaische Stammtafeln 3(4) (1989): 621 (sub Boulogne). Bower Scotichronicon 3 (1995): 64-65 & 126-127 (instances of Judith, wife of Earl Waltheof, styled "niece" [neptis] of King William the Conqueror). Van Houts Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigny 2 (1995): 270-273 (Deeds of the Norman Dukes: "Waltheof had three daughters by his wife [Judith], a daughter of the countess of Aumâle, who was a uterine sister of William the elder, king of the English. Simon de Senlis married another of Earl Waltheof’s daughters and received with her the earldom of Huntingdon. He had by her a son called Simon. After the death of Earl Simon, David, brother of secundae Maud, queen of the English, married his widow, by whom he had one son. After the death of his brothers Duncan and Alexander, kings of Scots, he became king. Another of Waltheof’s daughters, Judith [recte Alice], married Rodolf de Toeny, as we have already mentioned. The third daughter [recte granddaughter] was married by Robert Fitz Richard, as we have also mentioned above."). William The English & the Norman Conquest (1995). Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 290 (chart).
      Children of Judith of Lens, by Waltheof of Northumberland:
      i. MAUD OF NORTHUMBERLAND [see next].
      ii. ALICE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, married RALPH DE TONY, of Flamstead, Hertfordshire [see TONY 3].”

      2. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “ALICE (AELIDIS, ADELIZA, ADELISA, ADELIDIS) OF NORMANDY, illegitimate daughter of Robert, Duke of Normandy, possibly by his mistress, Arlette (or Harleve) [see Appendix, Line A, Gen. 11 for her ancestry], born before 1035. She was the sister of William the Conqueror, King of England [see ENGLAND 1]. She married (1st) ENGUERRAND II, Count of Ponthieu, son and heir of Hugues II, Count of Ponthieu and Montreuil, seigneur of Abbeville, by Berthe, daughter of Guerinfrid, seigneur of Aurnale. They had one daughter, Alice. He was slain before the Chateau d'Arques 25 October 1053. His widow, Alice, married (2nd) 1053/4 LAMBERT OF BOULOGNE, Count of Lens, Governor of Lille Castle, younger son of Eustache I, Count of Boulogne, by Mathilde (or Mahaut), daughter of Lambert I, Count of Louvain [see BOULOGNE 1 for his ancestry]. They had one daughter, Judith. In 1047 he and his brother, Count Eustache, and Count Baldwin V of Flanders were in attendance at the court of King Henry III of Germany, where they witnessed Henry's confirmation of a gift to St. Medard. LAMBERT OF BOULOGNE, Count of Lens, was slain in battle at Phalempin in 1054. His widow, Alice, married (3rd) in 1060 EUDES III, Count of Champagne, Banner-bearer to the Archbishops of Rouen, son and heir of Etienne, Count of Troyes and Meaux, by his wife, Adelaide. They had one son, Stephen (or Etienne) [Count of Aumale]. In the period, 1047-55, he witnessed an agreement between Rahier, husband of Arembourg, and the canons of Saint-Maurice of Angers, by which the canons temporarily relinquished certain rights in the church of Joué. At the death of his father about 1047 or 1048, he was deprived of the county of Champagne by his uncle, Thibaut III, and took refuge with William, Duke of Normandy [afterwards William the Conqueror, King of England]. William gave him his sister, Alice, in marriage. After the conquest of England in 1066, in which Eudes rendered good service, King William granted him the lordship of Holderness in England. William also erected the territory of Aumale into a county, which lands had been given to Eudes by Jean de Bayeux, Archbishop of Rouen. In 1082 William I, King of England, gave the Abbey of Holy Trinity at Caen the bourg of Le Homme with its revenues, with a reservation in favor of his sister, Alice, Countess of Aumale, of the tenancy during her life. His wife, Alice, Countess of Aumale, was living in 1086, and died before 1096 (date of charter). Sometime in the period, 1087-1095, Eudes witnessed a charter of King William Rufus, confirming to the Abbey of Saint Pierre au Mont Blandin in Gand certain possessions in his kingdom. Following the death of King William the Conqueror in 1087, he supported William Rufus as king in opposition to Robert, Duke of Normandy. In 1095 he joined the rebellion of Robert de Mowbray against King William Rufus, for which he was imprisoned by William and continued in confinement the remainder of his life. Eudes, Count of Champagne, died in prison sometime between Jan. 1096 and 2 August 1107.
      Du Plessis Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux 2 (1731): 8 (charter dated 1061 of Count Thibaut; charter names his son, Henri, his nephew, Eudes (son of his brother), his wife, Adelade, and his sister Bertha, Countess of Brittany). Frost Notices rel. to the Early Hist. of the Town & Port of Hull (1827): 8-10. Bulkeley La Hougue Bie de Hambie 1 (1837): 153-159 ("A charter of grant to the Abbey of St. Trinity at Caen runs as follows: William, King, and Matilda my wife, Queen, give to the aforesaid Church the Bourg of Hulme ... and the Countess Adelisa de Albemarle conceding ..."). Coll. Top. et Gen. 6 (1840): 261-265. Bull de l’Académie Royale des Sciences 9(1) (1842): 264-265 (charter of King William Rufus of England dated 1087-1100, witnessed by Eudes, Count of Champagne [“Odonis comitis de Campania”]; also see Chartes & Docs. de l'Abbaye de Saint Pierre au Mont Blandin à Gand (1868): 106-107. Le Glay Histoire des Comtes de Flandres jusqu' à l'avènement de la maison de Bourgogne 1 (1843): 168 ("Ce lieu, appelé Buc, où existait de très-ancienne date un château qui passe pour avoir été le siège de la domination du premier forestier de Flandre, et qui par la suite a vu s'élever, sous le nom de Lille, une cite si florissante, ce lieu servait de refuge à la personne du marquis et à celle de ses fils. Il avait été fortifié de nouveau, et la plupart des barons flamands s'y étaient enfermés avec leur suzerain. Il ne semble pas que l'empereur se soit rendu maître de cette importante forteresse. Avant qu'il en eût tenté le siège, le gouverneur Lambert, comte de Lens et oncle du fameux Godefroi du Bouillon, sortit à sa rencontre avec des troupes numbreuses. Cette opposition inattendue, en opérant une diversion, aura empêché l'empereur d'attaquer le château de Lille; mais elle coûta la vie au comte Lambert. De là Henri marcha vers Toumai et assiègea le fort de cette ville, où s'étaient refugiés grand nombre de gens: car tout le pays se dépeuplait sur le passage des impériaux."). Biog. Dict. of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 4 (1844): 179 (biog. of Eudes of Odo, Count of Aumale). Stapleton Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Nomanniae 2 (1844): xxix-xxxi ("In the Observations on the History of Adeliza, sister of William the Conqueror (Archaeologia, vol. XXVI, p. 349), an inference has been drawn from the terms of a contemporaneous charter in proof that the Comtesse of Aumale, wife of Count Odo of Champagne, was the niece and not the sister of King William the Conqueror. The supposition is, however, erroneous, as is shewn by another subsequent charter to the collegiate church of Auchy, written by commond of Adelidis the most noble Comtesse, sister, to wit, of William King of the English, confirmante viro suo, videlicet, Odone comite una cum filio suo Stephano."). Semichon Histoire de la Ville d'Aumale 1 (1862). Bond Chronica Monasterii de Melsal (Rolls Set.) (1866): 89 (De genealogia nobelium oomitum Albemarliz, fundatorum nostrorum: "Comes quondam Campanix, nepos regis Francorum, habebat quendam filium, militem egregrium, nomine Odonem Porro, coadjuvante dictum Odonem archiepiscopo Rothomagensi erga ipsum regem Willielmum, dedit ei prmfatus rex sororem suam in uxorem."). Delisle Chronique de Robert de Torigni 1 (1872): 34 (sub A.D. 1026: "Hic tercius Ricardus eodem primo anno ducatus sui mortuus est, et successit ei Robertus frater ejus, qui genuit Willermum de Herleva non sponsata, qui postea Angliam conquisivit, et unarn filiam nomine Aeliz de alia concubina."). Planche Conqueror & His Companions 1 (1874): 118-126. Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 11 (1876): 126 (Ex Chronico Cameracensi et Atrebatensi: Year: 1054. Que facto, accinxit se rursum Iohannes ad deducendi negotium, volens, si fled posset aliquo pacto, per clausulam illam ducere Imperatoris exercitum. Laboranti igitur homini et quxrenti id ipsum perficere, portx clausulx illius apertx aunt de media nocte; sicque clausulam illam introivit Imperator, facta inimicorum suorum resistere volentium non minima Pertransiens autem clausulam illam, et interfectis a dextris et a sinistris occursantibus sibi, ad Islense castellum pervenit, ubi Lantbertus Comes Lensensis cum multis ei occurens, interfectus occubuit. Ab eo quidem castello divertit ad Tornacum civitatem; ubi in quodam municipio inclusit non parvam militum electorum fugientem multitudinem, quos obsidione et ad ultimum fame oppressos compulit ad deditionem. Illis igitus acceptis, et per ergastula militum suorum in custodia reclusis, Imperator cum gloria ad civitates regni sui rediit."), 205-206 (Ex Genealogia de qua ortus est Carolus Magnus dated after 1135: "Carolus Dux frater Lotharii genuit Ermengardem et Gerbergam. Ermengardis genuit Albertum Comitem de Namuren. Albertus genuit Albertum qui none est. Et Gerberga soror Ermengardis genuit Henricom Seniorem de Brusella. Henricus Senior genuit Comitem Lambertum, et Henricum fratrem ejus, et Matildem sororem comm. Hanc Matildem duxit uxorem Comes Eustachius de Bulonia, et genuit ex ea duos filios Eustachium et Lambertum. Eustachius accepit uxorem filium Godefridi Ducis, Idam nomine, nobilem genere et moribus; et genuit ex ea quatuor filios, Guillermum, Godefridum, qui nunc est Dux Lotharingix, Balduinum, et rani; Eustachium. Godefridus vero et Balduinus fuerent Reges Jerosolvmorum. Eustachius vero genuit filiam, nomine Matildem, quam postea duxit in uxorem Stephanus Rex Anglorum."), 374 (Genealogiæ ex Chronicis Hainoniensibus. "Carolus Dux Lotharingix, frater Lotharii Regis Francorum, duas habuit filias Ermengardem et Gerbergam: de Ermengarde natus est Albertus Comes Namurcensis, qui genuit Albertum ei succedentem, et Henricum Comitem de Durbio. Albertus II genuit Godefridum Comitem Namurcensium, et Henricum Comitem de Rupe. Hic Henricus filiam habuit Macthildem, quæ domino de Walecourt peperit Werricum et Beatricem, etc. & Godefridus Comes Namurcensis, frater Henrici de Rupe, genuit Henricum et Adelidem uxorem Hainonensis Balduini, cui peperit Balduinum Comitem, etc. Gerberga vero alia filia Caroli, fratris Lotharii, peperit Henricum Seniorem de Bruxella; et hic Henricus genuit Henricum, Lambertum, et Macthildem qux Comiti de Bolonia Eustachio peperit Eustachium et Lambertum. Eustachius vero ex Ida filia Godefridi Ducis Lotharingix genuit Godefridum de Bullonio, postea Regem Hierusalem, et Eustachium, etc."), 582-583 (confirmation charter of King Henry III of Germany dated 1047). Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 12 (1877): 583 (Ex Willelmi Calculi Gemeticensis Monachi: `Waldevi Comitis Huntedonix, Habuit autem idem Waldevus tres filias ex uxore sua [Juditha] filia [Adelaidis] Comitiss de Albamarla, quæ Comitissa fuit soror uterina Willehni Regis Anglorum senioris."). Recueil des Historiens des Gauleses et de la France 13 (1869): 585 (Ex Genealogia Caroli Magni qua Namurcensium Comitum et Boloniens. Origo Declaratur. "Carolus Dux, frater Lotharii Regis, genuit Ermengardem et Gerbergam. Ermengardis genuit Albertum Comitem de Namurco, etc. Albertus genuit Albertum et fratrem ejus Henricum Comitem de Durbuio. Albertus autem de Namurco genuit Godefridum, et Henricum Comitem de Rupe, pattern Mathildis qux genuit Jacobum Avesnensem Godefridus autem frater ejus genuit Henricum Comitem Narnurcensem, qui caruit liberis, et sororem ejus Alithiarn: quæ nupta Hainoensi Comiti Balduino genuit Balduinum, qui duxit Margaretam filiam Theoderici Flandrensis Comitis, et genuit filium æquivocum sibi. Gerberga vero soror Ermengardis genuit Henricum seniorem de Brussella. Henricus senior genuit Lambertum et Henricum fratrem ejus, et Mathildem sororem eorum. Hanc Mathildem duxit uxorem Comes Eustachius de Bolonia, et genuit ex ea duos filios Eustachium et Lambertum. Eustachius vero accepit uxorem filiam Godefridi [Lotharingiæ] Ducis, Idam nominee, nobilem genere et moribus, et genuit ex ea tres filios, Eustachium, Godefridum et Balduinum. Eustachius frater Balduini Regis Jerusalem duxit Mariam filiam Regis Scotiæ, et genuit Mathildem. Mathildis nupta Stephano, fiolio Stephani Blesensis Comitis, genuit Mariam Abbatissam [Ramesiæ]. Cumque defecissent in Bolonia legitimi hæredes, Matthus filius Theoderici Comitis Flandrensis, licit illicite, duxit Abbatissam, et suscitavit semem hæreditarium duas filias generando, et remisit earn ad locum suum."). Laffleur de Kermaingant Cartulaire de l'Abbege de Saint-Michel du Tréport (1880): 8-20 (confirmation of gifts to Tréport Abbey includes the following: "Henricus Visa dedit, pro sua et antecessorum suorem anima, ecdesie Sancti Michaelis de Ulterisportu medietatem vile que vocatur Frastineta [Le Fresnoy], et medietatum bosci ejusdem, et ecclesiam Sancti Nicholai quam in eadem construxerat villa, et hoc fecit concessu Berthe uxoris sue et filii sui Willelmi, et concessu comitisse Albemarle Aelidis, ac filii ejus Stephani."). Doyle Official Baronage of England 2 (1886): 201 (sub Holderness). Remarks & Colls. of Thomas Hearne 3 (Oxford Hist. Soc.) (1889): 104 (ped. chart). Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 23 (1894): 580 (Notæ Monasterii Montis Sancti Michaelis: "12 Sept. [Obiit] Lanbertus comes."). Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Urseau Cartulaire Moir de la Cathédrale d'Angers (1908): 98-99 (agreement dated 1047-55 witnessed by "young Eudes, nephew of Count Thibaut" [Odo puer, nepos comitis Tethberti”). C.P. 1 (1910): 351-352 (sub Aumale). Clay Extinct & Dormant Peerages (1913): 1 (sub Earls of Albemarle). Farrer Early Yorkshire Charters 3 (1916): 30-33 (charter of Stephen, Count of Aumale, dated 1115 confirms the gift made by Alice his mother ["mater mea Adeliza] to the monks of St. Lucian of Beauvais of the church of St. Martin D'Acy, which his ancestors had erected outside the castle of Aumale; charter also mentions Stephen's uncle, William I, King of England ['Willelmi regis Anglorum avunculi men). Monumenta Germaniae Histotica SS 7 (1925): 494 (Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium. Continuatio); SS 9 (1925): 300-301 (Haec est Genealogia Regis Karoli qui vocatus est magnus, de cuius prosapia ortus est rex Godefridus Eisque frater rex Balduinus: "Karolus Magnus genuit Ludovicum Pissimum augustum. Ludovicus genuit Lotharium Pipinum et Ludovicum ex Ermengarde, et Karolum Calvum ex Iudith. Karolus Calvus genuit Ludovicum, de quo dictum est qui nichil fecit, quia post mortem paths duobus tantum annis vixit. Ludovicus filius Karoli genuit Karolum Simplicem et Karlemannum. Karolus vero Simplex ab Heriberto captus est. Qui Karolus ex Ogiva genuit Ludovicum. Ludovicus genuit Lotharium regem et Karolum ducem ex Gerberga. Lotharius rex genuit Ludovicum iuvenem, et Karolus dux, frater Lotharii regis, genuit Ermengardem et Gerbergam. Ermengardis genuit Albertum comitem de Namuco. Albertus genuit Albertum qui nunc est, et fratrem eius Henricum comitem de Durboio. Gerberga vero soror Ermengardis genuit Henricum seniorem de Bursella. Henricus senior genuit Lambertum comitem et Henricum fratrem eius et Mathildem sororem comm. Hanc Mathildem duxit uxorem comes Eustachius de Bolonia, et genuit ex ea duos filios, Eustachium et Lantbertum. Eustachius vero accepit uxorem filiam Godefridi duels, Idam nomine, nobilem genere et mobus, et genuit ex ea tres filios, Eustachium et Godefridum qui nunc est dux Lotharingiae et Balduiniun." Later addition: "Eustachius, frater Balduini regis Iherusalem, duxit Mariam filiam regis Scotiae, et genuit Mathildem. Mathildis nupta Stephatio, filio Stephani Blesensis comitis, genuit Mariam abbatissam. Curnque defecissent in Bolonia legitimi heredes, Matheus filius Theoderici comitis Flandrensis, licet illicite, duxit abbatissam, et suscitavit semen hereditatium duas filias generando, et rernisit earn ad locurn suum. Albertus autem de Namurco genuit Godefridum et Henricurn comitem de Rupe, patrem Mathildis quae genuit Iacobum Avesnensem. Godefridus autem frater emus Henricum cornitem Namurcensem, qui caruit liberis et sororem eius Althiam, quae nupta Hainoensi comiti Balduino, genuit Balduinum, qui duxit Margaretam filia Theoderici Flandrensis comitis, et genuit filium equivocum sibi."). Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): X.126, XI.227, XII.19. Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 2 (1984): 79 (sub Normandy); 3(4) (1989): 621 (sub Boulogne). Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): X.126, XI.227. English Lords of Holderness, 1086-1260 (1979). Keats-Rohan Domesday People: Prosopography of Persons occurring in English Docs., 1066-1166 1 (1999): 124. Burgess Hist. of the Norman People: Ware's Roman de Rou (2004): 1. Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 290 (chart), 306 (Normandy ped.).
      Child of Alice of Normandy, by Lambert, Count of Lens:
      i. JUDITH OF LENS, married WALTHEOF, Earl of Northumberland [see BEAUCHAMP 2].
      Child of Alice of Normandy, by Eudes, Count of Champagne:
      i. STEPHEN (or ETIENNE), Count of Aumale [see next].”

      3. Website "English Monarchs" http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/vikings_18.html accessed 1 Sep 2019:
      "Siward Earl of Northumbria, d. 1055
      The larger than life figure of Siward, earl of Northumbria first appears on the pages of history in the year 1033, when he stood as a witness in a charter by King Canute for Archbishop Ælfric of York.
      Siward is generally considered to be of Danish stock, the 'Vita Ædwardi Regis', which was compiled by an anonymous author circa 1067 and commissioned by Queen Edith, the widow of King Edward the Confessor, records that Siward's nickname was 'Digri', or 'Digara', deriving from the Danish Diger meaning 'the Stout', or 'the Strong'. The biography of Siward's son Waltheof, states that Siward was the son of a Scandinavian earl named Bjorn. A legend preserved in the twelfth century claims that Bjorn was descended from the union of a lady and a white bear.
      Siward grew to be powerful figure in the north of England during the reign of King Canute the Great, a formidable Viking warrior who conquered England and made himself king in the first decade of the eleventh century. Siward was one of many Danes who arrived in England in the wake of Canute's conquest of the country, although the date and context of his arrival in England are not known.
      He succeeded Erik of Hlathir, earl of Northumbria, as ruler of southern Northumbria between 1023 and 1033. Siward then entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh and granddaughter of Uhtred the Bold. After slaying Ealdred's successor Eadulf in 1041, Siward acquired control of all of Northumbria. He was delegated authority in England by the king while Canute was otherwise occupied in his Scandinavian territories.
      On the death of Canute in 1035, the throne was siezed by his illegitimate son Harold Harefoot. Canute's legitimate son Hardicanute was in Denmark at the time of his father's death, his involvement in a war against King Magnus I of Norway resulted in his not being able to secure his claim to the throne of England. As Hardicanute was preparing an invasion of England, Harold died in 1040 and was succeeded by his brother. Hardicanute's first act on arriving in his new kingdom, was to have his half-brother Harold's body disinterred, beheaded and slung into a marsh, causing outrage amongst churchmen. Siward appears as 'Sywardus Comes' in 1038, as witness to a charter of King Hardicanute to the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. He further witnessed a confirmation granted by Harthacnut to Fécamp Abbey, between 1040 and 1042. Hardicanute reigned in England for but two years dying in 1042, like his half-brother, he met his end in the throes of a fit, incurred during a riotous drinking bout at Clapham.
      Hardicanute was succeeded by Saxon half-brother Edward the Confessor. Siward was to become one of the Confessor's most powerful supporters. On 16 November 1043, Siward, Godwine Earl of Wessex and Leofric Earl of Mercia, aided the king against his mother, Emma of Normandy.
      Edward's attitude to Emma was cold and reserved. He resented her second marriage to his father's rival, King Canute, and Emma's preference for her children by Canute over himself and his brother, Alfred. Edward complained that his mother had "done less for him than he wanted before he became king, and also afterwards". He confiscated her considerable wealth and then went on to accuse his mother of treason, it was claimed that Emma had incited King Magnus of Norway to attack England.
      Along with Earl Leofric and Ralph the Timid, Earl of Hereford, Siward assisted the king to combat a rebellion by the powerful Earl Godwine and his sons in 1051 which resulted in the exile of Godwine. Godwine returned to England in 1052. Siward further extended his influence in the south, bringing the shire of Northampton under his control in the 1040s and Huntingdon in the 1050s.
      In 1039 or 1040, the Scottish king Duncan I invaded Northumbria and lay siege to the town of Durham. Within a year, he was killed by King Macbeth, who after defeating him in battle, succeeded to the throne of Scotland. The elder of Duncan's sons, Malcolm, enlisted the aid of Edward the Confessor. The twelfth century Annals of Lindisfarne and Durham, record that in the year 1046 -
      Earl Siward with a great army came to Scotland, and expelled king Mac Bethad, and appointed another; but after his departure Mac Bethad recovered his kingdom'
      Siward met Macbeth in battle to the north of the Firth of Forth, the battle is variously referred to as the "Battle of the Seven Sleepers" or the "Battle of Dunsinane", although the earliest reference to Dunsinane as the location occurs in the early fifteenth century by Andrew of Wyntoun. The earliest contemporary English account of the battle is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The battle, in which the Annals of Ulster report 3,000 Scots and 1,500 English died, was fierce and bloody, Siward's eldest son, Osbjorn and his son-in-law were among the dead.
      "Around this time Siward, the mighty earl of Northumbria, almost a giant in stature, very strong mentally and physically, sent his son to conquer Scotland. When they came back and reported to his father that he had been killed in battle, he asked 'Did he receive his fatal wound in the front or the back of his body?' The messengers said 'In the front'. Then he said, 'That makes me very happy, for I consider no other death worthy for me or my son'. Then Siward set out for Scotland, and defeated the king in battle, destroyed the whole realm, and having destroyed it, subjected it to himself" --the Historia Anglorum of Henry of Huntingdon.
      The great warrior Earl Siward, reported by contemporaries to be a giant of a man in stature, died not in battle, but much to his disdain, in his bed, of dysentry in 1055, during which he bemoaned the fact that instead of dying in one of the many battles he had fought in, he was forced to die like a cow. He insisted on being dressed in his battle armour, with helmet on his head and axe and shield in hand so he could end his days like a warrior and thus attired went to meet his maker.
      'Siward, the stalwart earl, being stricken by dysentery, felt that death was near, and said, "How shameful it is that I, who could not die in so many battles, should have been saved for the ignominious death of a cow! At least clothe me in my impenetrable breastplate, gird me with my sword, place my helmet on my head, my shield in my left hand, my gilded battle-axe in my right, that I, the bravest of soldiers, may die like a soldier." He spoke, and armed as he had requested, he gave up his spirit with honour' The Historia Anglorum, Henry of Huntingdon.
      The Vita Ædwardi Regis records that Siward died at York and was buried in "the monastery of St Olaf" at Galmanho, which is confirmed by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, John of Worcester, and the Historia Regum.
      One of Siward's sons is known to have survived him, Waltheof, whose mother was Ælfflæd. As Waltheof was at the time of his father's death still a young child, King Edward the Confessor appointed Tostig Godwineson, the unruly brother of Harold Godwineson (the future Harold II) as Earl of Northumbria. Waltheof later however became Earl of Northumbria, destined to become the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls, he joined a rebellion against William the Conqueror, and was betrayed by his wife Judith of Lens and executed in May 1076.
      Waltheof's daughter, Maud of Huntingdon married David I, King of the Scots, the son of Malcolm Canmore and through this marriage Siward was to became the ancestor of later Scottish and English monarchs."

      4. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “ROBERT I the Magnificent, Count of Hiémois, 1026, Duke of Normandy, 1027-1035, 2nd son. He was heir in 1027 to his older brother, Richard (III), Duke of Normandy. By his mistress, ARLETTE (or HERLEVE), daughter of Fulbert of Falaise, he had one illegitimate son, William the Conqueror [King of England, Duke of Normandy], and also by Arlette or an unknown mistress, one illegitimate daughter, Alice [Countess of Aumale]. ROBERT I, Duke of Normandy; set off on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem early in 1035, and subsequently died at Nicaea 1-3 July 1035. Herleve married c.1030 HERLUIN DE CONTEVILLE, Vicomte, seigneur of Conteville. They had two sons, Eudes [Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent] and Robert [Count of Mortain], and one daughter, Muriel. He founded Grestain Abbey in Normandy about 1050. He and his wife renounced their claim to the tithe of Toutainville and to the vill called Mesnil-Dastin to Preaux Abbey. His wife, Herleve, is thought to have been living in 1050-51, but died soon afterwards. He married (2nd) FREDESENDE ___. They had two sons, Jean (who appears to have died young) and Raoul Fitz Herluin (or de Conteville) [seigneur of Corneville-sur-Risle and Martainville-en-Lieuvin, presumably Domesday tenant of Chapel Allerton, Huish (in Burnham), Adber (in Trent), and Brent, Somerset]. HERLUIN DE CONTEVILLE died about 1066. He and his first wife, Arlette, were buried in Grestain Abbey. His widow, Fredesende, granted part of dower lands at Le Neubourg, Cantelou, and Honnaville (dep. Calvados) to Grestain Abbey.
      Guizot Hist. des Ducs de Normandie par Guillaume de Jumiège (1826): 169 ("Roger de Ternois … ayant appris que le jeune Guillaume avait succédé à son père dans le duché, il en fut vivement indigné ... car Guillaume, né d'une concubine du duc Robert, nommée Herlève, fille de Fulbert, valet de chambre du due.") (Guillaume de Jumièges, Histoire des Normands, Liv. VII, Chap. III). Thomas Stapleton, "Observations on the History of Adeliza, sister of William the Conqueror," in Archaeologia 26 (1836): 349-357. Guerard Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Bertin (Coll. des Cartulaires de France 3) (1840): 421-423 (charter of Robert I, Duke of Normandy mentions his "uncle" [avunculo] Robert, Archbishop of Rouen). Delisle Rouleaux des Morts du IXe au XVe Siècle (1866): 289-290. Charpillon Dictionnaire historique de toutes les Communes du Département de l'Eure (1868): 834-835 (sub Conteville). William of Malmesbury De Gestis Regum Anglorum 2 (Rolls Ser.) (1889): 333-334 ("Matrem quantum vixit insigni indulgentia dignatus est; quæ, ante patris obitum, cuidam Herlewino de Comitisvilla, mediocrium opum vim, nupserat. Ex eo Willelmus fratres habuit Robertum, quem comitem Moritonii fecit, crassi et hebetis ingenii hominem; Odonem, quem ad episcopatum Bajocensem provexit comes, comitem Cantiae rex instituit"). Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 23 (1894): 420 (Ex Obituario Gemmeticensi: "3 Jul. [Obiit] Robertus comes."), 487 (Ex Uticensis Monasterii Annalibus et Necrologio: "1 Jul. [Obiit] Robertus, comes Normanniæ."), 579 (Notæ Monasterii Montis Sancti Michaelis: "2 Jul. [Obiit] Robertus, dux Normannorum quartus."). Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Freeman William the Conqueror (1902). Bréard L'Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Grestain (1904). Procs. Somersetshire Arch. & Natural Hist. Soc. 52 (1907): 82. Halphen & Poupardin Chroniques des Comtes d'Anjou et des Seigneurs d'Amboise (1913): 247-250 (Genealogliæ Comitum Andegavensium). English Hist. Rev. 31 (1916): 257-268; 65 (1950): 289-303. Winkhaus (1950) 1/133. Douglas Domesday Monachorum (1944): 33-36. David Douglas, "Some Problems of Early Norman Chronology," in English Hist. Rev. 65 (1950): 289-303. Loyd Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Fams. (1951): 31 (sub Conteville). Douglas William the Conqueror (1964). D. Bates "Herluin de Conteville et sa famille" in Annales de Normandie 23 (1973): 21-38. Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 2 (1984): 79 (sub Normandy). Van Houts "The origins of Herleva, mother of William the Conqueror," in English Hist. Rev. 101 (1986): 399-404. Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): XI.13, XII.18-XII.19. Bates and Gazeau "L'Abbaye de Grestain et la Famille d'Herluin de Conteville," in Annales de Normandie 40 (1990): 5-30. Cownie Religious Patronage in Anglo-Norman England 1066-1135 (1998): 197-198. Keats-Rohan Domesdey People 1 (1999): 258-259 ("Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester from 1071, d. 1101 ... Son of Richard Goz vicomte of Avranches and a relative, probably half-sister, of William I. This woman was named as Emma daughter of Herleve and Herluin by Dugdale in his Baronage i, 32, but there is no independent evidence as to her name. The likelihood that she was nonetheless a half-sister of William I and sister of Robert of Mortain, is increased by the terms of a letter of Bishop Helinand of Le Mans, referring to a consanguineus marriage projected for the daughter of William of Mortain, discussed in Keats-Rohan, Medieval Prosopography 14.1 (1992), 38-40; for Hugh [Earl of Chester], ibid., 23-30."). Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 306 (Normandy ped.). Gazeau Normannia monastica: Prices normands et Abbés bénédictins, Xe-XIIe siècle (2007): 174-175.
      Child of Robert of Normandy, by Herleve of Falaise:
      i. WILLIAM, Duke of Normandy, King of England [see next].
      Child of Robert of Normandy, by a mistress, possibly Herleve of Falaise:
      i. ALICE (AELIDIS, ADELIZA, ADELISA, ADELIDIS) OF NORMANDY, born before 1035. She married (1st) ENGUERRAND II, Count of Ponthieu, son and heir of Hugues II, Count of Ponthieu and Montreuil, seigneur of Abbeville, by Berthe, daughter of Guérinfrid, seigneur of Aumale. They had one daughter, Alice. He was slain before the Château d'Arques 25 October 1053. His widow, Alice, married (2nd) 1053/4 LAMBERT OF BOULOGNE, Count of Lens, Governor of Lille Castle, younger son of Eustache I, Count of Boulogne, by Mathilde (or Mahaut), daughter of Lambert I, Count of Louvain [see BOULOGNE 1 for his ancestry]. They had one daughter, Judith. In 1047 he and his brother, Count Eustache, and Count Baldwin V of Flanders were in attendance at the court of King Henry III of Germany, where they witnessed Henry's confirmation of a gift to St. Medard. LAMBERT OF BOULOGNE, Count of Lens, was slain in battle at Phalempin in 1054. His widow, Alice, married (3rd) in 1060 EUDES III, Count of Champagne, Banner-bearer to the Archbishops of Rouen, son and heir of Étienne, Count of Troyes and Meaux, by his wife, Adelaide. They had one son, Stephen (or Étienne) [Count of Aumale]. In the period, 1047-55, he witnessed an agreement between Rahier, husband of Arembourg, and the canons of Saint-Maurice of Angers, by which the canons temporarily relinquished certain rights in the church of Joué. At the death of his father about 1047 or 1048, he was deprived of the county of Champagne by his uncle, Thibaut III, and took refuge with William, Duke of Normandy [afterwards William the Conqueror, King of England]. William gave him his sister, Alice, in marriage. After the conquest of England in 1066, in which Eudes rendered good service, King William granted him the lordship of Holderness in England. William also erected the terrritory of Aumale into a county, which lands had been given to Eudes by Jean de Bayeux, Archbishop of Rouen. In 1082 William I, King of England, gave the Abbey of Holy Trinity at Caen the bourg of Le Homme with its revenues, with a reservation in favor of his sister, Alice, Countess of Aumale, of the tenancy during her life. Alice, Countess of Aumale, was living in 1086, and died before 1096 (date of charter). Sometime in the period, 1087-1095, Eudes witnessed a charter of King William Rufus, confirming to the Abbey of Saint Pierre au Mont Blandin in Gand certain possessions in his kingdom. Following the death of King William the Conqueror in 1087, he supported William Rufus as king in opposition to Robert, Duke of Normandy. In 1095 he joined the rebellion of Robert de Mowbray against King William Rufus, for which he was imprisoned by William and continued in confinement the remainder of his life. Eudes, Count of Champagne, died in prison sometime between Jan. 1096 and 2 August 1107. Du Plessis Histoire de l'Église de Meaux 2 (1731): 8. Frost Notices rel. to the Early Hist. of the Town & Port of Hull (1827): 8-10. Bulkeley La Hougue Bie de Hambie 1 (1837): 153-159 (“A charter of grant to the Abbey of St. Trinity at Caen runs as follows: 'I William, King, and Matilda my wife, Queen, give to the aforesaid Church the Bourg of Hulme ... and the Countess Adelisa de Albemarle conceding ...'"). Coll. Top. et Gen. 6 (1840): 261-265. Bull de l'Académie Royale des Sciences 9(1) (1842): 264-265; also see Chartes & Docs. de l’Abbaye de Saint Pierre an Mont Blandin à Gand (1868): 106-107. Le Glay Histoire des Comtes de Flandres jusqu’a l’avènement de la maison de Bourgogne 1 (1843): 168. Biog. Dict. of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 4 (1844): 179 (biog. of Eudes of Odo, Count of Aumale). Stapleton Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae 2 (1844): xxix-xxxi. Semichon Histoire de la Ville d'Aumale 1 (1862). Bond Chronica Monasterii de Melsa 1 (Rolls Ser.) (1866): 89. Delisle Chronique de Robert de Torigni 1 (1872): 34. Planche Conqueror & His Companions 1 (1874): 118-126. Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 11 (1876): 126, 205-206, 374, 582-583. Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 12 (1877): 583; 13 (1869): 585; Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 23 (1894): 580. Laffleur de Kermaingant Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Michel du Tréport (1880): 8-20. Doyle Official Baronage of England 2 (1886): 201 (sub Holderness). Remarks & Colls. of Thomas Hearne 3 (Oxford Hist. Soc.) (1889): 104 (ped. chart). Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Urseau Cartulaire Moir de la Cathédrale d'Angers (1908): 98-99. C.P. 1 (1910): 351-352 (sub Aumale). Clay Extinct & Dormant Peerages (1913): 1 (sub Earls of Albemarle). Farrer Early Yorkshire Charters 3 (1916): 30-33. Monumenta Germaniae Historica SS 7 (1925): 494. Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 2 (1984): 79 (sub Normandy); 3(4) (1989): 621 (sub Boulogne). Winter Descs. of Charkmagne (800-1400) (1987): X.126, XI.227. English Lords of Holderness, 1086-1260 (1979). Keats-Rohan Domesday People: Prosopography of Persons occurring in English Docs., 1066-1166 1 (1999): 124. Burgess Hist. of the Norman People: Wace's Roman de Rou (2004): 1. Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 290 (chart), 306 (Normandy ped).
      Child of Alice of Normandy, by Lambert of Boulogne, Count of Lens:
      a. JUDITH OF LENS, married WALTHEOF, Earl of Northumberland [see BEAUCHAMP 2].
      Child of Alice of Normandy, by Eudes, Count of Champagne:
      a. STEPHEN (or ÉTIENNE), Count of Aumale, Lord of Holderness, married HAWISE DE MORTIMER [see AUMALE 2].
      Children of Herleve of Falaise, by Herluin de Conteville:
      i. EUDES, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent. He was an uterine half-brother of King William the Conqueror. In 1049, while still a youth, he was granted the see of Bayeux. His active career was that of a warrior and statesman. He found ships for the invasion of England and fought in person at Senlac. He became Earl of Kent in 1066-67, and for some years he was a trusted royal minister. He acquired lands in more than twenty English counties. He worked energetically to build up the resources, both material and spiritual, of his see. At times he acted as viceroy in King William's absence and led royal forces to chastise rebellions. He took part in the northern campaign with his nephew, Robert Curthose, in 1080. In 1083 he was suddenly disgraced and imprisoned on the king's orders. In 1087 King William, when on his death-bed, reluctantly permitted his release. In 1088 he supported the rebellion of Robert Curthose against King William Rufus. In 1096 he went on the 1st Crusade. EUDES, Bishop of Bayeux, died in Jan. 1097 while visiting Sicily, and was buried in Palermo Cathedral. By an unknown mistress, he had one illegitimate son, John. Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 2 (1819): 26 (Odonis [Eudes], Bishop of Bayeux, styled "fratris regis" [brother of the king]). Bulkeley La Hougue Bie de Hambie 2 (1837): 245-247 (Odonis [Eudes], Bishop of Bayeux styled "brother" [fratris] by King William the Conqueror in charter dated 1074). Stapleton Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniæ 1(1840): lxxviii-lxxix (Guillaume, seigneur of La Ferte, styled "nephew (or kinsman)" of Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux" [nepos domini Odonis Baiocensis episcopi]): 274-275), 2 (1844): clxxxii-clxxxiii. Munford Analysis of the Domesday Book of the County of Norfolk (1858): 5-7. Hardwick Historia Monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis (Rolls Ser.) (1858): 351 (Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent styled "fratris" by King William the Conqueror in undated charter). Delisle & Pussy Mémoires & Notes de M. Auguste Le Prevost 3 (1869): 301. Planche The Conqueror & his Companions 1 (1874): 88-107 (biog. of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent). Revue Catholique d’Histoire, d'Archéologie et Litterature de Normandie 1re Année (1891) 273-283 (charter dated 1093 of Guillaume, seigneur of La Ferte "nepos" [i.e., nephew/grandson/kinsman] of Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux [nepos domni Odonis Baiocensis episcopi]) (author also includes an ancient list of obits for members of La Ferte family, among which is the following: "x kalendas junii [23 May], obiit Willelmus filius, nepos episcopi Baiocensis."; for another publication of the same list of obits, see Lettere originali del Medioevo latino (VII-XI sec.): 1. Francia (Arles, Blois, Marseille, Montauban, Tours) (2004): 126, 133). Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 23 (1894): 421 (Ex Obituario Gemmeticensi: "2 Jan. [Obiit] Odo episcopus."), 700. Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. D.N.B. 14 (1908): 869-871 (biog. of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent). Arch. Cantiana 39 (1927): 55-75. Douglas Domesday Monachorum (1944): 33-36. Bull Société des Antiquaires de Normandie 53 (1957): 484 (includes Pancarte of Saint-Fromond which records the donation of Robert "nepos" of Bishop Eudes: "De dono Roberti nepotis Odonis episcopi totam decimam de Riveria."). Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961): 314, footnote 4 ("Bernard écrit après la mort du successeur d'Hugues II, Eudes ou Odon Ier de Conteville, décédé en 1097. Notre auteur di qu'il a été informé de tout ce qui touche à la translation des reliques à Bayeux par le neveu d'Eudes, Odon de Saint-Samson: Haec omnia cum adhuc adolescentulus essem, vir piissimus et devotissimus iam monachus, Odo de Sancto Samsone … prædicti nobilissimi præsulis Odonis amantissimus nepos"). D. Bates "Herluin de Conteville et sa famille" in Annales de Normandie 23 (1973): 21-38, esp. 22,33 ("Enfin, seront passés en revue le éléments d'information relatifs à deux hommes, l’un et l’autre qualifiés de nepos Odonis Baiocensis episcopi … D'autres membres de la famille d'Herluin furent protégés et patronnés par Eude: il s'agit de deux hommes, qualifiés de nepos Odonis Baiocensis episcopi, qui apparaissent à Bayeux. Le plus obscur s'appelait Eude de Saint-Samson, præsulis Odonis amantissimus nepos, et fut l’informateur de Bernard, chanoine de la cathédrale de Bayeux et auteur du récit de la translation des reliques des saints Raven et Rasiphe. ll est connu uniquement par cette source. ... Robert nepos episcopi qui apparait comme officier royal dans le Sussex et le Northamptonshire en 1131. L'identification est solide. Les dons de Robert à Saint-Fromond le rattachent à la famille des principaux bienfaiteurs du prieure, celle du Hommet … Il n'y a pas de preuve décisive que Robert nepos episcopi ait été plutôt le petit-fils que le neveu d'Eude."). Speculum 50 (1975): 1-20. Fryde Handbook of British Chron. (1986): 467. Bates and Gazeau "L'Abbaye de Grestain & la Fam. d'Herluin de Conteville," in Annales de Normandie 40 (1990): 5-30. Gameson Study of the Bayeux Tapestry (1997): 68 ("Bishop Odo of Bayeux ... an ambitious, acquisitive and arrogant baron-prelate"). Bennett Campaigns of the Norman Conquest (2001): 76-77. Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 306 (Normandy ped.). Harper-Bill & Vincent Henry II: New Interpretations (2007): 109-110 ("Amongst the king's most substantial gifts were his grants to Richard du Hommet, his constable in Normandy, from the honour of Gifford. Richard is a classic case of a 'new' man with 'old' blood. He was apparently descended in the male line from the great Bishop Odo of Bayeux, and through his mother from an earlier line of lords of Le Hommet-d'Arthenay near Saint-Lo."), 110 footnote 1 ["Thomas Stapleton (MRSN, ii, pp. clxxx-clxxxvii) argued that Richard [du Hommet] was descended from Bishop Odo, as the son of a Robert nepos episcopi and the heiress of an earlier Hommet family; cf. Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus in Turn Londinensi Asservati, ed. T. D. Hardy (Record Commission 1835), 199-200... D. Bates, 'Notes sur l’aristocratie normande, Annales de Normande, 23 (1973), 7-38, at 33-7, accepts Stapleton's theories on the basis of an act ... for the Hommet foundation of Saint-Fromond: it expressly refers to Robert as nepos 0donis episcopi and shows him making grants near Le Hommet to the priory, and it identifies Richard the constable as a nepos of William du Hommet (fl. 1066 x 1083). See L. Musset, 'Les Origines du prieuré de St-Fromond: Un Acte negligô de Richard II,' BSAN, 53 (1955-56), 475-488, at 484; cf. Bates, Regesta, no. 92, for the earlier family of Le Hommet.].
      Illegitimate son of Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent:
      a. JOHN, a royal chaplain. Stapleton Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniæ 2 (1844): clxxidi-clxxxiii (author assumes Robert styled "nepos Episcopi," of La Rivière in Normandy [and Bonby, Great Limber, and Stallingborough, Lincolnshire] was the son of John, son of Bishop Eudes, thus making Robert a grandson of Bishop Eudes) [N.B.: The Latin word "nepos" in this time period can mean grandson, nephew, or kinsman]. Hardwick Historia Monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis (Rolls Ser.) (1858): 351 (Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent styled "fratris" by King William the Conqueror in undated charter). Planche The Conqueror & his Companions 1 (1874): 88-107 (biog. of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent). Freeman Reign of William Rufus & the Acccession of Henry the First 2 (1882): 488. English Hist. Rev. 16 (1901): 721-730 (John of Bayeux [son of Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent] styled "royal chaplain and kinsman" [clericus nobilis et Regis consanguineus] of King Henry I of England in narrative in Cartulary of St. John's Abbey, Colchester, Essex dated c.1119). Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Johnson et al. Regesta Regum Anglo-Nonnannorum, 1066-1154 2 (1956): 148 (John [son of Eudes, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent], a royal chaplain, styled "kinsman" [cognatus] of King Henry I of England in charter dated 1117-19).
      ii. ROBERT, Count of Mortain (in Cotentin), Domesday lord of Pitstone and West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Blisland, Boyton, Lancarffe, Poundstock, Treroosel, and Truthwall, Cornwall, Bere Fetters, Bolberry, Bratton Fleming, Buckland Brewer, Densham, Dunsdon, Fardel, and Weare Giffard, Devon, Ashill, Barton St. David, Bishopston, Brompton Regis, Bruton, Crewkeme, Curry Rivel, Kingstone, Shepton Montague, Stoke sub Hamdon, Swell, and Tintinhill, Somerset, etc., born about 1040. He was an uterine half-brother of King William the Conqueror. He was created a count about 1060. He married (1st) before 1066 MAUD DE MONTGOMERY, daughter of Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, by his 1st wife, Mabel, daughter and heiress of William, seigneur of Alençon and Bellême. Her maritagium included the seigneurie of Sainte-Scolasse. They had one son, William [Count of Mortain], and four daughters, Agnes, Denise (wife of Guy III, seigneur of Laval), Emma (wife of William IV, Count of Toulouse), and Sibylle [Abbess of Saintes]. About 1082 he and his wife, Maud, founded a collegiate church at St. Evroult at Mortain. His wife, Maud, died 21 Sept. 1082, and was buried in Grestain Abbey. He married (2nd) ALMODIS ___. They had one son, Robert. In the period, 1082-84, he granted land in Dorset to Marmoutier Abbey at Tours. He joined the rebellion against King William Rufus in 1088, which was soon put down. He was a benefactor of many religious houses, including the abbeys of Grestain, Marmoutier, Caen, Preaux, Fécamp, Mont-St-Michel, St-Nicholas, Angers and St. Albans. ROBERT, Count of Mortain, died 8 Dec. 1090. L'Art de Vérifier les Dates 2 (1784): 790 (sub Montgomeri). Rud Codicum Manuscriptorum Ecclesia Cathedralis Dunelmensis (1825): 214 ("Nomina quae in Kalendario (supra Tr. 5.) occurrunt XI. Kal. Octobr. [21 Septernber] - Obiit Mathildis Comitissa deMoretonio."). Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 6(2) (1830): 1090-1091 (Robert, Count of Mortain, styled "brother" [fratris] of King William the Conqueror in charter dated 1189). Guerard Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Benin (Coll. des Cartulaires de France 3) (1840): 462-463 (Count Robert, brother of the King [i.e., King William the Conqueror] witness to doc, dated c.1066-87). Le Prevost Notes pour servir a la Topographie et a l'Histoire des Communes du Département de l'Eure (1849): 30-31 (charter dated April 1066 witnessed by William, Duke of Normandy, his wife, Maud, and his "brother" [fratris], Robert). Desroches Annales civiles, militaires et genealogiques du Pays d'Avranches (1856): 58. Munford Analysis of the Domesday Book of the County of Norfolk (1858): 7-8. Delisle Rouleaux des Morts du IXe au XV Siècle (1866): 207-208, 289-290. Delisle Chronique de Robert de Torigni 1(1872): 319 ("Siquidem Robertus, comes Moritonii, uterinus frater Willermi regis qui regnum Anglia subjugavit, habuit unum filium Guillermum, qui ei successit ... et tres filias, quarum unam duxit Andreas de Vitreio, aliam Guido de Laval, terciam comes Tolosanus, frater Raimundi comitis Sancti qui in expeditione Ierosolirnitana viriliter se habuit. Genuit autem ex ea comes Tolosanus unam solummodo filiam, quam Guillermus, comes Pictavensis et dux Aquitanorum, mortuo patre prædictæ puellæ, cum hereditate propria, scilicet urbe Tolosa et comitatu Tolosano, duxit uxorem; ex qua genuit idem Guillermus filium Guillermum nomine, qui ei successit, qui pater fuit Alienor, reginæ Anglorum."). Planché The Conqueror & his Companions 1 (1874): 107-116 (biog. of Robert, Comte de Mortain and Earl of Cornwall). Le Fizelier Memoire chronologique de Maucourt de Borrolly sur la Ville de Lava/1 (1886): 122-128. Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 23 (1894): 583 (Ex Obtuario Ecclesiæ Moretoniensis: "8. Dec. Obiit Robertus comes Moretonii fundator istius ecclesiæ"). Two Cartularies of the Augustinian Priory of Bruton & Chiniac Priory of Montacute (Somerset Rec. Soc. 8) (1894): 119-120 (foundation charter of William, Count of Mortain for Montacute Cartulary dated 1102; charter names his parents, Count Robert and Countess Matilda). Round Cal. of Docs. Preserved in France 918-1206 (1899): 108, 256 (charter of Robert, Count of Mortain dated ?1085), 256-257 (charter of Robert, Count of Mortain and Almodis his wife dated 1087-91), 359, 433. Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Breard L'Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Grestain (1904). Rpt. & Trans. of the Devonshire Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, Lit. & Art 2nd Ser. 8 (1906): 338-339. D.N.B. 13 (1909): 1014 (biog. of Robert of Mortain, Count of Mortain). VCH Somerset 2 (1911): 111-115. C.P. 3 (1913): 427-428 (sub Cornwall). Douglas Domesday Monachorum (1944): 33-36. Hull Cartulary of St. Michael's Mount (Devon & Cornwall Rec. Soc. n.s. 5) (1962): 3-4. Douglas William the Conqueror (1964). D. Bates "Herluin de Conteville et sa famille" in Annales de Normandie 23 (1973): 21-38. Brown Anglo-Norman Studies III (1981): 74-75. Hull Cartulary of Launceston Priory (Devon & Cornwall Rec. Soc. n.s. 30) (1987): 2-4 (charter of Robert, Count of Mortain, Earl of Cornwall brother [frater] of William King of the English, and Maud his wife dated 1076). Bates and Gazeau `L'Abbaye de Grestain & la Famine d'Herluin de Conteville,' in Annales de Normandie 40 (1990): 5-30. Anglo-Norman Studies 13 (1991): 119-144. Haskins Soc. Jour. 3 (1991): 161-162. Bates & Curry England & Normandy in the Middle Ages (1994): 136-137. Cownie Religious Patronage in Anglo-Norman England, 1066-1135 (1998): 197-199. Fleming Domesday Book & the Law (1998). Tanner Fams., Friends, & Allies (2004): 306 (Normandy ped.).
      Children of Robert, Count of Mortain, by Maud de Montgomery:
      a. AGNES OF MORTAIN, married ANDRÉ [I] DE VITRÉ, seigneur of Vitré in Brittany [see MORTAIN 2].
      b. EMMA OF MORTAIN, married WILLIAM IV, Count of Toulouse [see AQUITAINE 2].”
      iii. MURIEL OF CONTEVILLE, married EUDES FITZ TURSTIN (also known as EUDES AU CHAPEL), Vicomte of the Cotentin), steward to William, Duke of Normandy (afterwards William the Conqueror, King of England), son of Turstin, or Richard, Haldup, of La Haye-du-Puits, founder de Lessay Abbey. They had no issue. He is mentioned about 1060 in a charter by which Duke William gave land at Bernières to the Cathedral of Bayeux. Bulkeley La Hougue Bie de Hambie 1 (1837): 153-159. Taylor Master Wace: His Chronicle of the Norman Conquest (1837): 102, footnote 6 ("Historians have not mentioned an uterine sister of William, called Muriel ...Wace's account of Muriel is confirmed from other sources. It would seem to have been to her, then a widow - ad Muriel sanctimonialem - sister of Odo, bishop of Bayeux - ... that the poet Serlon, the canon of Bayeux ... addressed his verses de capra Bajocensium civitate. The baron here called Iwun-al-Chapel seems to be Eudo de Capello - du manteau, or capuchon - son of Turstain Halduc and Emma his wife, and subscribing himself Eudo Haldub in a charter of 1074. Mem. Ant. Norm. viii. 436. He was dapifer to duke William; although not the Eudo dapifer of Domesday, who was son of Hubert de Rie. He was head of the house of Haie-du-Puits in the Cotentin, and undoubtedly married a Muriel, as appears by the charters of Lessay, whether she were a daughter of Herluin or not. The estates of Eudo went to his nephew, which confirms Wace's account of his having no issue. See the Lessay charters in Dugdale and Gallia Christiana, and our subsequent note on Haie."), 235-236. Delisle Hist. du Chateau et des Sires de Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte (1867): 22-24, 27. Freeman Hist. of the Norman Conquest of England 2 (1873): 415 ("[Herleva] had also a daughter by Herlwin, named Muriel, who has naturally been confounded with William's other sister Adelaide. Wace says (Roman de Rou, 11145), 'Ki à fame avait Muriel, Seror li Dus de par sa mere E Herluin aveit a pere."). Lincolnshire Notes & Queries 6 (1901): 111-115. Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 (1901): 525-526. Brown Anglo-Norman Studies X (1988): 82, 161, footnote 15 ("Wace is correct in identifying Duke William's half-sister as Eudo's wife, see Gallia Christiana, xi, instr., 228a (pancarte of Lessay Abbey, founded by Eudo au Chapel and his father Turstin, or Richard, Haldup"). For the latter, see Fauroux, nos. 99, 167, 231 and Gallia Christiana, xi, instr., 225a. He was a benefactor of Cérisy, an abbey well-known to Wace, who gives reliable amd unique information about it, see C.H. Haskins, Norman Institutions, New York 1918, 269-272. For Eudo, vicomte of the Cotentin and steward, see Fauroux, no. 219; L. Musset, Les Actes de Guillaume le Conquérant et la Reine Mathilde pour les Abbayes Caennaises, Caen, 1967, nos. 7, 8, 11, 18, 19 and 22; Regesta, i. xxiii, nos. 75, 119, 121, 132, 142, 150, 168, 199, 342; Orderic, ii, 124."). Bates & Curry England & Normandy in the Middle Ages (1994): 118 ("Lessay is one of the few relevant buildings with apparently clear documentary evidence ... In 1089 Eudo Capellanus, son of the founder, was buried in the choir."). Burgess Hist. of the Norman People: Wace's Roman de Ron (2004): xxxv, 158 ("He [William the Conqueror] summoned Odo au Chapel, whose wife was Muriel, the duke's sister by his mother; her father was Herluin. I do not know whether a child was born from them, but I never heard of one.").”