Richard I of Normandy

Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: Richard Sans-Peur; Old Norse: Jarl Rikard), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.<ref name="ES79">Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 79</ref> Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write the "De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum" (Latin, "On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy"), called him a dux. However, this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's renowned leadership in war, and not as a reference to a title of nobility.<ref>Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), pp. 125–6</ref><ref>For different meanings of Latin word dux (pl. duces).</ref> Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, the most important Norman landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.<ref>Emily Zack Tabuteau, 'Ownership and Tenure in Eleventh-Century Normandy', The American Journal of Legal History, Vol. 21, No. 2, (April 1977), p. 99</ref>

Birth

Richard was born to William Longsword, princeps (chieftain or ruler)<ref>The Annals of Flodoard of Reims; 916–966, ed. & trans. Steven Fanning and Bernard S. Bachrach (University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 32</ref> of Normandy, and Sprota,<ref name="ES79" /> a Breton mistress bound to William by a more danico marriage.<ref>The Normans in Europe, edited and translated by Elisabeth van Houts (Manchester University Press, 2000), page 47 n. 77</ref> He was also the grandson of the famous Rollo. 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.<ref>Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), p. 95</ref> Richard was about ten years old when his father was killed on 17 December 942.<ref name="ES79" /> After William was killed, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller. Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.<ref>Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 4 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1989), Tafel 694A</ref>

Life

File:Ric1Norm04.jpg

Coin of Richard I

With the death of Richard's father in 942, King of West Francia Louis IV installed the boy, Richard, in his father's office. Under the influence of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, the king took him into Frankish territory<ref name="Duncan1839">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp to place him in the custody of the count of Ponthieu. However, the king reneged and seized the lands of the Duchy of Normandy.<ref>Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1993) pp. 262–3</ref> He then split up the duchy, giving its lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis IV thereafter kept Richard in close confinement at Lâon.<ref>Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), p. 80</ref> Upon hearing that Richard was being held in captivity, the boy's foster Osmond de Centville and Bernard the Dane formed a mob of knights and peasants across town and marched to the King's palace. They threatened the king to force him to return Richard.<ref name="Boydell and Brewer Incorporated">Template:Cite book</ref> Louis protested that he had kept Richard in his domain to train him in courtliness.<ref name="Boydell and Brewer Incorporated"/> He subsequently appeased the mob by holding Richard up in his arms for the crowd to see and returning him.<ref>Dudo,Historia Normannorum</ref> Bernard de Senlis and Ivo de Bellèsme also assisted in Richard's release, along with pagan Norse forces led by Harald of Bayeux.<ref>The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumieges, Orderic Vatalis, and Robert of Torigni, Vol. I, ed. & trans. Elisabeth M.C. van Houts (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992) pp. 103, 105</ref><ref>Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 943, p. 88.</ref>

In 946, at the age of 14, Richard allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders in France and with men sent by Harold of Denmark. A battle was fought after which Louis IV was captured. Hostages were taken and held until King Louis recognised Richard as Duke, returning Normandy to him.<ref name=Duncan1839/>Template:Rp Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, the Count of Paris, Hugh resolved to form a permanent alliance with Richard and promised his daughter Emma, who was little more than a girl, as a bride; the marriage would take place in 960.<ref name=Duncan1839/>Template:Rp

Louis, working with Arnulf, persuaded Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor to attack Richard and Hugh. The combined armies of Otto, Arnulf, and Louis were driven from the gates of Rouen, fleeing to Amiens and being decisively defeated in 947.<ref name=Duncan1839/>Template:Rp<ref>Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), pp. 85–6</ref> A period of peace ensued, Louis dying in 954, 13 year old Lothair becoming king. The middle-aged Hugh appointed Richard as guardian of his 15-year-old son, Hugh Capet in 955.<ref name=Duncan1839/>Template:Rp

In 962, Theobald I, Count of Blois, attempted a renewed invasion of Rouen, Richard's stronghold, but his troops were summarily routed by Normans under Richard's command, and forced to retreat before ever having crossed the Seine river.<ref>Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), p. 86</ref><ref>The Annals of Flodoard of Reims; 916–966, ed. & trans. Steven Fanning and Bernard S. Bachrach (University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 66</ref> Lothair, the king of the West Franks, was fearful that Richard's retaliation could destabilize a large part of West Francia so he stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.<ref>Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1993), p. 265</ref> In 987, Hugh Capet became King of the Franks.

For the last 30 years of his reign, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and its petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm and reunited the Normans, forging the reclaimed Duchy of his father and grandfather into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.<ref>Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), p. 89</ref>

File:Tombeau des ducs de Normandie.JPG

Richard's supposed tomb at Fécamp Abbey, but which was discovered in 2016 to not contain his remains

Richard died of natural causes in Fécamp on 20 November 996.<ref>François Neveux. A Brief History of The Normans (Constable & Robbinson, Ltd, London, 2008), p. 74</ref> He was buried at Fécamp Abbey, which he had founded.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, in 2016, what was believed to be his tomb was opened by Norwegian researchers who discovered that the interred remains could not have been those of Richard, as testing revealed that they were much older.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Courrier>Template:Cite news</ref> Although it is not in doubt that Richard was buried in the Abbey in 996, it is known that his remains were moved within the Abbey several times after his burial.<ref name=Courrier/>

Relationships with France, England and the Church

Richard used marriage to build strong alliances. His marriage to Emma of Paris connected him directly to the House of Capet. His second wife, Gunnor, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters formed the core group that were to provide loyal followers to him and his successors.<ref name="CAW27">A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World, ed. Christopher Harper-Bill, Elisabeth Van Houts (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2007), p. 27</ref>

His daughters forged valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.<ref name="CAW27"/> Emma married firstly Æthelred the Unready and after his death in 1016, the invader, Cnut the Great. Her children included Edward the Confessor, Alfred Aetheling and with Cnut, Harthacnut, so completing a major link between the Duke of Normandy and the Crown of England that would add validity to the claim by William the Conqueror to the throne of England.

Richard also built on his relationship with the church, undertaking acts of piety,<ref name="TS1840">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp restoring their lands and ensuring the great monasteries flourished in Normandy. His further reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.<ref name="CAW27"/><ref>François Neveux. A Brief History of The Normans (Constable & Robbinson, Ltd, London, 2008), pp. 73. 74</ref>

Marriages and issue

File:Chronological tree of William I.svg

Family tree

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Richard and his children, from a 13th-century genealogical tree

Richard's first marriage in 960 was to Emma, daughter of Hugh the Great<ref name="ES79" /><ref name="ES10">Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 10</ref> and Hedwige of Saxony.<ref name="ES10" /> Richard and Emma were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.<ref name="ES79" />

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 enamored with the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she was a virtuous woman and suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Viking descent, being part Danish by blood.<ref>Gonnor (or Gunnor), name of Scandinavian origin (Gunnvör > Old Danish Gunnur, Norwegian Gonnor) well attested in ducal Normandy, notably in the genealogy of the dukes. It is also sometimes found in Norman toponymy, for example La Haie-Gonnor (or la Haie-Gonnord): Haia-Gonnor 1172; Haiam Gonnor 1199; le Haie-Gonnor 1762; La Haie-Gonnor 1953)</ref> Richard finally married her to legitimize their children:<ref group=lower-alpha>See the article by Todd A. Farmerie: Robert de Torigny and the family of Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy.</ref>

• Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy<ref name="ES79" />
• Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux<ref name="ES79" /><ref name="van Houts">Elisabeth van Houts, The Normans in Europe, p. 191</ref>
• Mauger, Count of Corbeil<ref name="ES79" />
• another son<ref name="van Houts"/>
• Emma of Normandy, wife of two kings of England, mother of two kings of England, and step-mother of another two kings of England<ref name="ES79" />
• Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres<ref name="ES79" />
• Hawise of Normandy m. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany<ref name="ES79" />

Children outside marriage

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

• Geoffrey, Count of Eu<ref name="ES79" /><ref name="ENC140">David Douglas, 'The Earliest Norman Counts', The English Historical Review, Vol.61, No. 240 (May 1946), p. 140</ref>
• William, Count of Eu (Template:Circa – 26 January 1057 or 58),<ref name="ENC140" /> m. Lasceline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057 or 1058).
• Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montivilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne<ref name="ES79" /> (d.1030 (divorced)

Possible children

• Guimara (Wimarc(a)) (b. ca. 986), died Montivilliers Abbey, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, wife of Ansfred (Ansfroi) II "le Dane" le Goz, vicomte of Exmes and Falaise, mother of Robert FitzWimarc<ref>K.S.B., Keats-Rohan. Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066–1166 vol I. Boydell Press, 1999.</ref>
• Papia

External links

• The Henry Project: Richard I of Normandy
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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