General Notes

1  NAME Gunnora (Gunnor) /de Crepon/
2  SOUR S033320
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001
1  BIRT
2  DATE ABT. 942
2  PLAC of, Normandy, France
2  SOUR S033320
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001
1  DEAT
2  DATE 1031
2  PLAC ,France
2  SOUR S033320
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001


[De La Pole.FTW]

Sources: RC 24, 89, 166, 168, 222; Kraentzler 1153, 1156, 1174, 1180, 1194,
1211, 1432, 1443; A. Roots 121E; Coe; Norr; Onslow; Pfafman; Davis.
Roots: (Danish wife) Gunnor, died 1027 or 1031, daughter of forester
of Arques.
K. calls her Gonnor de Crepon. Norr: Gunnor (Gunora), (952)-1031.
Onslow in "The Dukes of Normandy and Their Orgin" says:
Richard I heard about a charming woman married to the superintendent of
forests at Secheville near Arques. Richard visited Secheville, met the
forester's beautiful wife, Sainfrida, and "had the impudence to suggest
to her husband that he should be allowed to make her better acquaintance.
"The poor man was much perturbed and went in trouble to his wife. The lady
had no mind to become the mistress of the Duke, but her morals were not so
rigid as to prevent her from making capital our of the situation for her
family. Sainfrida had three sisters, Gunnor, Adelina and Veva (Wevia), and a
brother named Herfast. Gunnor was a very pretty girl and by no means
particular. Sainfrida told her husband to pretend to fall in with the Duke's
proposals and give Richard facilities to pay her a visit. But when Richard
arrived, Gunnor took Sainfrida's place. The Duke did not discover the trick
until the following day; but so delighted was he with Gunnor that not only did
he forgive Sainfrida, but thanked her for having saved him from mortal sin! The
result was that Gunnor became his wife by Danish custom and eventually the
mother of a numerous family, the eldest of which was Richard II of Normandy."
Gunnor apparently had children by Richard before they were married and before
his marriage to Emma. Evidently the Richard-Gunnor union was legitimized later.
RC 166 says Gunnor's father was Herbastus de Crepon, Forester of Arques (in
Denmark). Were there two foresters, the father of Gunnor and Sainfrida and also
the husband of Sainfrida? Or did the story become tangled over the years?
Coe spells name Gunore.
Davis: Gonnor, daughter of a forester of Sauqueville in Britanny. Second
wife of Richard I. She married (2) Eperleng, "farmer" of the mills of Pitres.

*****

SOURCES:
1.  Wingate, John.  _William the Conqueror_, genealogical tables and notes.
Gunnor was the sister of Herfast of Denmark.  She was the mistress, or
wife "by the Danish custom" of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and married
him after the death of his wife, Emma.  She had both legitimate and
illegitimate children by Richard.
2.  Douglas, David C.  _William the Conqueror_: The Norman Impact Upon
England_.  Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1964; page 145.  He calls Gunnor the sister of Herfast and the aunt of      Osbern, the steward of William the Conqueror's father, Duke Robert.
3.  Stuart, Roderick W.  _Royalty for Commoners_.  2nd Edition. Baltimore,
MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1992; lines 89-1 and 166-33.
4.  Norr, Vernon M.  _Some Early English Pedigrees_, page 60, generation 38,
and page 23a.  States that Richard I had issue by and later md (2) (after
Agnes died) Gunora, b. 952, d. 1031; sister of a forester's wife whom
Richard desired but who tricked him with her younger sister.
5.  Ancestral File (AFN:9HMD-WL).  One line gives her birth date as "abt 935"
and only refers to her as "Concubine 1".  She is also shown with the
following other parents in the Ancestral File (AFN:FLGR-TL):
Herbastus /DE CREPON/ (AFN:FLGR-SF) and Herbastus De C /MRS./