Name Prefix:<NPFX> Princess
Name Suffix:<NSFX> Of England
The foundation charter of the Priory of Lewes, dedicated to St Pancras,
expressly states Gundreda to have been the Queen's daughter; the words of
William de Warenne on the occasion of his founding that house,
indubitably prove Queen Matilda to have been her mother, and can be taken
in no other sense: the words are, "pro salute domin ae meae Matildis
Reginae matrix uxoris meae." It is therefore self-evident fr om this fact,
that Gherbod the Fleming must equally have been Queen Matilda's son, but
although sufficient opportunity is afforded Ordericus, he never onc e
mentions him as her son, neither does he in any part of his "History"
rep resent the Queen to have been united to a previous husband, in fact no
trace of such an assertion can be found in any contemporary, or
subsequent chronicl er. As to the pretended marriage of (Queen) Matilda
with Gherbod the Fleming, and her subsequent divorce, which Mr Stapleton
endeavors to maintain, Mr Bla auw explains at some length how the
confusion may have arisen [Archaeol. xxxi i, 120], and we have elsewhere
given additional, and we believe conclusive, r easons in disproof of this
supposition. Not one of the Norman chroniclers, he observes, with any
exception, "has dropped the smallest hint of any husband or child, or
consequently any such divorce on the part of Matilda previous to her
marriage with the King." All authorities in fact concur in proving the
reverse; they all allude to Duke William's affianced bride as a young
unmarr ied girl, pucelle (puella), and the only inference is that William
of Normand y was Gundreda's father.
Sir H Ellis, in his "Introduction to Domesday" (i.507 ), observes;
"Gundreda was really a daughter of the Conqueror. William de War enne's
second charter of foundation, granted to Lewes Priory in the reign of
Rufus, states this fact distinctly:- Volo ergo quod sciant qui sunt et
qui futuri sunt, quod ego Willielmus de Warenna Surreiae comes, donavi et
confirm avi Deo et Sancto Pancratio, et monachis Cluniascensibus,
quicumque in ipsa e cclesia Sancti Pancratii Deo servient in perpetuum;
donavi pro salute animae meae, et animae Gundredae uxoris meae, et pro
anima domini mei Willielmi regi s, qui me in Anglecam terram adduxit, et
per cujus licentiam monachos venire feci, et qui meam prioreum donationem
confirmavit, et pro salute dominae meae Matildis reginae, matris uxoris
meae, et pro salute domini mei Willielmi reg is, filii sui, post cujus
adventum in Anglicam terram hanc cartam feci, et qu i me comitem Surregiae
fecit." (Cott. MS. Vesp. F. XV; Lappenberg, p 216.)
G undreda is also acknowledged by the Conqueror himself as his daughter.
The ch arter, by which the King gave the manor of Walton, in Norfolk, to
the same Pr iory, on its first foundation by W. de Warenne and his wife,5
distinctly styl es her his daughter. He gives it, "pro anima domini et
antecessoris mei Regis Edwardi ... et pro anima Gulielmi de Warenna, et
uxoris suae Gundredae filia e meae et haeredum suorum." (Intro. Domesd. I.
507.)
Again, in the Ledger Bo ok of Lewes are these words:- "Iste (William de
Warenne), primo non vocabatur nisi solummodo, Willielmus de Warenna,
postea vero processu temporis a Willi elmo Rege et Conquestore Angeliae,
cujus filiam desponsavit, plurium honoratu s est," etc. (Watson's Memoirs,
i. 36.)
Those who, relying on Ordericus Vita lis, seek to disprove this fact,
insist that the words, "filiae meae" in the Conqueror's charter are an
interpolation, but a minute inspection of the orig inal MS. In the
Cottonian Library (Vespas. F. iii. Fo. I), in no way warrants this
belief; on the contrary, the words "filiae meae" are simply interlined in
The Queen, her mother, gave Carleton, on the same occasion, to their
new ly-founded Priory at Lewes.
explanation of words which were originally written , but which have
disappeared from decay; indeed