General Notes

Curt Hofemann, curt_hofemann@@yahoo.com, in a post-em, wrote:

Apparently she was not "de Crepon" & her parentage is unknown:

The name of the father of Gunnor is unknown. Herbastus is derived from the name of her brother Herfast/Arfastus, but is unsupported. [Ref: Todd A Farmerie <taf2@@po.cwru.edu> message to Gen-Medieval 6 Nov 1996]

The greater part of our information about Gunnor and her relations is derived from those additions to the History of William of Jumieges for which Robert de Rotigny is responsible. It is Robert who preserved the story of how Richard I of Normandy became enamoured of the beautiful Senfrie, wife of one of his foresters, and how Senfrie contrived to substitute her sister Gunnor for herself, to the Duke's ultimate satisfaction. [Ref The Sisters and Nieces of Gunnor, Duchess of Normandy by G.H. White in the Genealogist, New Series 1921 v37 p57]

Parentage of Gunnor and her siblings is unknown. While some sources call her father Herfastus, this was in fact the name of her brother. She has also been claimed as a daughter of the Danish royal family, but there is no evidence for this, and the context of her coming to attention of Richard I and the family's subsequent rise to power militates against her being a royal daughter. Douglas argued, based on the donations of brother Arfast to the monastery of St. Pere, that the root of the family was in the Cotetin region of Normandy, but van Houts has suggested that the Cotetin land was granted to Arfast, rather than inherited by him. Thus we are left with the more ambiguous statement of Torigny and others that she was a member of a Norman family of Danish origins. [Ref: Todd A Farmerie <taf2@@po.cwru.edu> message to Gen-Medieval 5 Jan 1997]

Gunnora ... was not "de Crepon", nor was she daughter of Herbastus de Crepon of Denmark - her brother Herfastus/Arfast appears to have received Crepon only after Gunnora took up with Richard I, and thus the family was not originally from there.  Likewise, while she is said to be of a noble family of Danish ancestry, it is not stated that her father was from Denmark (the family probably arrived with Rollo, in the generation of her (unknown) grandfather. [Ref: Todd A Farmerie <taf2@@po.cwru.edu> message to Gen-Medieval 28 Jul 2000]

Research note 1: Was her father Herfast de CREPON or King Haraldblaafand of DENMARK? There is a lack of consensus on this. -Charlotte's Web Geneology http://www.charweb.org/gen/rjones/d0042/g0000020.htm#I239

Research note 2: father: Harald I Blaatand, Bluetooth, King of Denmark [Ref: McBride2 (possibly citing Wurts)]

My notes on Gunnora:
This is the same Gunnora known as Gunnora of Crepon, but both are of little value.  Gunnora was NOT of Denmark.  Some inventive genealogist somewhere along the line decided to make her daughter of Harald Bluetooth, but there is no basis for this, and what we know of her indicates it is not really a possibility worthy of consideration.  Her nephew later was called "of Crepon" but he likely gained his posessions through Gunnora's marriage to the Duke, rather than this representing the original home of the clan.

What can be said of Gunnora's parents?  Nothing!  She was not daughter of Harfast, as (too) often stated.  Her family was likely of the minor Norman nobility, since her oldest sister was married to a forester at the time Richard first bumped into the girls.  That's it.

Richard I of Normandy first bedded, and later married Gunnora, whose ancestry is entirely unknown.  She is sometimes said to be daughter of a King of Denmark, but this is incorrect. [taf]

There are several things going on here.  First of all, the father of Gunnora and siblings is not known.  Attempts to name him Herbastus probably originated in confusion with her brother.  Second, Gunnora had three sisters, Senfria/Senfreda, Wevia, and (Avelina).  The first married an otherwise unknown forester.  The latter two are confused by our two sources, one claiming that it was Wevia who married Osbern, and the other that Wevia married Turold of Pont Audemer, and by deduction, (Avelina) married Osbern.  We know that Osbern married one of them, and a recent analysis suggests that it was Wevia for nomenclatural reasons. (Specifically, Turold and wife had a granddaughter named Duvelina, and it is hyposthesized that she was named for her grandmother, and that Duvelina is the authentic name of the sister, rather than Avelina. Finally, in which generation was Osbern's.  This is unambiguous.  She was sister of Gunnora and the others.  There is no source before recent times that claims otherwise.  There are two probable origins for the error that she was niece of Gunnora.  First, due to the error in naming her father Herfastus, someone aware that this was the name of Gunnora's brother assumed then that Avelina's father was Gunnora's brother (the name of Gunnora's father being unknown, and probably unknowable).  The second possibility is a confusion of uncle and nephew.  Harfastus/Arfast had a son Osbern of Crepon, and perhaps someone confused this man with Osbern of Bolbec.  Still, we know for certain that Osbern of Bolbec married a sister of Gunnora. [Ref: Dave Utzinger <UTZ@@aol.com> message to Gen-Medieval 29 Jul 2000]

Regards,
Curt