Richard I "San-Peur" - "Duke of Normandy"

Richard I, known as “Sans-Peur” and “the Fearless,” was born on 28 August 932. He was the son of William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and Sprota. The notes describe Sprota as a Breton concubine who had been captured in war and joined to William by a Danish marriage. After William’s death, she became the wife of Esperleng, described as a wealthy miller. Their son, Rodulf of Ivry, was Richard’s half-brother.

Richard was still a boy when his father died in 942. The notes state that Louis IV of France seized Normandy and held Richard in confinement at Lâon during his youth. Richard reportedly escaped with the help of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis, Ivo de Bellèsme, and Bernard the Dane. Bernard de Senlis is described as a companion of Rollo of Normandy, while Bernard the Dane is identified in the notes as an ancestor of the Harcourt and Beaumont families.

In 947, Richard allied himself with Norman and Viking leaders, drove Louis from Rouen, and recovered Normandy. In 968, he agreed to “commend” himself to Hugh, Count of Paris. The notes also state that he became guardian of the young Hugh, Count of Paris, after the death of the elder Hugh in 956. He later quarrelled with Ethelred II of England over Viking invasions of England, as Normandy was said to have been buying much of the stolen booty.

Richard was reportedly bilingual and educated at Bayeux. The notes characterize him as more partial to his Danish subjects than to the French. During his reign, they state that Normandy became fully Gallicized and Christianized, that he introduced the feudal system, and that he reorganized the Norman military system around heavy cavalry.

In 960 Richard married Emma, daughter of Hugh “the Great” of France and Hedwiga de Sachsen. The notes say that Richard and Emma had been betrothed while both were very young. Emma died on 19 March 968, and no children are recorded from this marriage.

According to Robert of Torigni, soon after Emma’s death Richard went hunting and stopped at the home of a local forester. He became enamoured of the forester’s wife, Seinfreda, who reportedly urged him instead to court her unmarried sister, Gunnor. Gunnor became Richard’s mistress, and he later married her in order to legitimize their children. Her brother, Herefast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial.

The supplied notes name the following children in connection with Gunnor: Richard II “the Good,” Duke of Normandy, born 966; Robert, Archbishop of Rouen and Count of Evreux, called le Danois or Danus, who died in 1037; Mauger, Earl of Corbeil, who died after 1033; Emma of Normandy, about 985–1052, later wife of two kings of England; Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne, and Chartres; Hawise of Normandy, born about 978 and died 21 February 1034, wife of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany; Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers, who died in 1034 and is said to have married Ebles of Turenne and divorced him; Papia, wife of Gilbert de St Valery; Fressenda, about 995–about 1057, wife of Tancred of Hauteville; and Muriella, also wife of Tancred of Hauteville. The notes further state that Mauger’s alleged grandson, or perhaps great-grandson, was Robert Fitzhamon, an important Anglo-Norman baron.

Richard is also said to have had several other mistresses and children. The notes name Geoffrey, Count of Brionne, born about 970, and William, Count of Eu, about 972 to 26 January 1057/58, who married Leseline de Turqueville. Hawise of Normandy is repeated in this separate list of children, creating an uncertainty in the supplied account concerning her parentage.

Richard died of natural causes at Fécamp, France, on 20 November 996.