• General Notes

  [SUSANNA KEENE.FTW]
  
  A cousin of William the Conqueror.
  
  Received one estate in Tellesford (or Tethford or Talesford)
  Norfolk, according to db.
  
  Excerpted from Les Seigneurs de Bohon by Jean LeMelletier,
  Coutances:
  Arnaud-Bellee, 1978: Humphrey I, also called The Old, was the
  founder of the house of Bohon. He is mainly known as a
  companion of William the Conqueror at the conquest of England
  and as the founder of the Bohon priory. Old English books
  designate him Humfridus cum Barba or Humphrey with the Beard.
  His
  beard distinguished him from other Norman knights of the period
  because they habitually shaved.  Humphrey was the godfather of
  William and was certainly close to him because we see the names
  of William, duchess Mathilde, and their children associated
  with Humphrey's children.  The oldest mention of Humphrey that
  we know of is in William's journals. It confirms a donation
  made at the abbey of St. Trinite du Mont at Rouen by Gilbert,
  Osbern's vassal. William's signature is accompanied by that of
  Humphrey, son of Richard, listed with the rest of William's
  men. In 1062 we find Humphrey again with William at the Hogue
  de Biville, along with Roger de Montgomery and William, son of
  Osbern. At a meal in the middle of the road, William said they
  should be free like the common people of the neighboring priory
  of Heauville. In recounting the story, a monk said that a
  fellow diner criticized William's liberalism. Not taking too
  kindly to criticism, William threatened to strike him with a
  shoulder of pork.  According to a paper from about 1060, the
  knight Humphrey, a rich and noble man, granted the priory he
  founded, St. Georges de Bohon, to the abbey of St. Martin of
  Marmoutier. Humphrey tells us:
  
  "with the inspiration of God and the patronage of lord earl
  William for the relief of my soul, and those of the late
  Richard of Mary, my father, and of the late Billeheude, my
  mother...in the octave of the Pentecost before the venerable
  father Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances... I protect the abbey of
  St. Martin, the servants Arnouf, Heribert, and Roger, and the
  other people whose names are inscribed here."
  
  The authenticity of this act, of which the original documents
  were unfortunately destroyed, does not seem to bear to be
  contested. The latest dates proposed for the founding of the
  priory come from dates of estate foundings (from Martene and
  Miss Gantier 1068; Gerville and the Bernard abbey 1092; L.
  Musset between 1066 & 1087). However, the title of earl was
  given to William before 1066 and the founding of the priory was
  earlier. Originally the priory was settled by four secular
  canons. The act of including the priory with the abbey was
  precisely to entrust it with the lands of a knight. (A knight
  cared for and protected his lands and those who lived there
  from thieves, warring lords, etc.)  In later years St. Martin
  became very popular. It was at Marmoutier that William himself
  joined the Battle Abbey, founded to commemorate the Battle of
  Hastings where it was fought. A document signed by Sir William,
  duke of the Normands, before 1066 shows that Humphrey de Bohon
  gave a garden from his fief (holdings) in Puchay to the nuns of
  St. Amand in Rouen for the repose of his soul and those of his
  three wives when one of his daughters became religious. The
  monastery of St. Leger in Preaux was given the deeds to
  Barbeville, St. Marie's Church, the town of Carentan, and the
  neighboring rectory. Later Humphrey bequeathed the monastery a
  convent that his second daughter entered. Humphrey's sons
  Robert and Richard agreed with his actions. By 1066 Humphrey
  had been married three times, two daughters had entered the
  convent, and sons Robert and Richard were old enough to assume
  their inheritance. Humphrey was a senior citizen.  Wace cited
  among the soldiers of Hastings: E de Bohon the older Humphrey.
  Humphrey's name, a bit distorted, is seen on a majority of
  other lists of William's battle companions. As Wace's poem was
  written more than a hundred years after the events happened,
  some feel that Humphrey was not among the people at the Battle
  of Hastings. Taking into account the type of document (poem),
  it is very probable that Humphrey did participate in the
  battle. He was also with several neighbors of Cotentin and
  probably vassals, whose names were associated with his.  On the
  Bayeux tapestry, in a meal scene presided over by Bishop Odo, a
  bearded man is sitting to William's right. It is possible that
  this is Humphrey de Bohon--with the Beard--who would occupy a
  place of honor at the table out of respect for his age. Ten
  years after Hastings, William was in England, so Queen Mathilda
  was left in charge of the government in Normandy. We know
  Humphrey was also in Normandy because of the act of Cherbourg,
  about 1076. Under the king's orders, he rendered justice with
  the monks at the Heauville priory against Bertram de
  Bricquebec, viscount of Cotentin, who had levied unfair taxes
  on his people. Humphrey is mentioned in the Domesday Book (a
  great census taken of all the lands and people in England as
  ordered by William, between 1080 and 1086) as a champion and
  defender of the throne, and as lord of Taterford in Norfolk.
  Much of his wealth is attributed to the goodwill of William and
  the spoils of the campaigns, which was not a unique situation.
  However, the possession of large estates and properties in
  England was not all fun; they were hard to protect from raiders
  and warring lords. Humphrey probably also benefitted from
  Normandy's continued growth and profits from his holdings.
  Humphrey's signature is on:
  
  A treaty at Bayeaux. The king presided over the treaty between
  the abbey of Mont St. Michel and William Paynel.
  
  Two documents of Boscherville on 30 January 1080, with the
  signatures of his son Richard, and William, Mathilda, and their
  two sons. One is the endowment of the church of St. Georges de
  Boscherville; the other documents a gift of St. Gervais Church
  and St. Portais to St. Florent de Saumur with other revenues by
  William de Briouze.
  
  A document of William the Conqueror at Caen confirming the
  foundation of the Lessay Abbey on 14 July 1080.
  
  Another document for the foundation of the Montebourg Abbey.
  
  Humphrey's decision to combine the priory with the abbey was
  contested by Geoffrey (son of Nervee) who reclaimed the priory.
  The case was settled in favor of Humphrey by a judgment of the
  king's court on 27 December 1080 at Cherbourg. Among the
  witnesses were Humphrey de Bohon, his son Richard, and
  Torchetil de Bohon.  Continually Humphrey added his border
  lands to his holdings. In answer to his request, he received a
  formal deed from King William at Bernouville, probably at the
  end of 1081. Other religious establishments benifitted from his
  generosity.  Humphrey died between 1080 and 1093. He had four
  sons that we know of: Robert, Humphrey, Richard, and Enguerran,
  and two daughters. Robert died young, before his father.
  Enguerran became a monk at Marmoutier in the Bohon priory.
  Richard began another branch, whose descendents include (in
  France) Enjuger de Bohon and Richard de Bohon, bishop of
  Coutances, and (in England) the Bohons of Midhurst, Jocelin,
  bishop of Salisbury, and Reginald and Savary, bishops of Bath.
  Humphrey became the illustrious ancestor of the earls of
  Hereford.

Details of Onfroy's family