Fearless Duke Richard DeNormandy 1

• General Notes
  • Richard was born to William I of Normandy, princeps[4] or ruler of Normandy, and Sprota.[1] He was also the grandson of the famous Rollo. He was about 10 years old when his father was killed on 17 December 942.[1] His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a Danish marriage.[5] William was told of the birth of a son after the battle with Riouf and other Viking rebels, but his existence was kept secret until a few years later when William Longsword first met his son Richard. After kissing the boy and declaring him his heir, William sent Richard to be raised in Bayeux.[6] After William was killed, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller; Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.[7]
    [edit]Life
    
    When his father died, Louis IV of France seized Normandy, installed the boy Richard in his father's office, then placed him in the care of the count of Ponthieu.[8] The king then split the lands, giving lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis kept Richard in confinement at Lâon,[9] but he escaped with the assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Bellèsme, and Bernard the Dane[10] (ancestor of families of Harcourt and Beaumont).[b]
    In 946, Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, Count of Paris. He then allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders, drove Louis out of Rouen, and took back Normandy by 947.[11]
    In 962 Theobald I, Count of Blois attacked Rouen, Richard’s stronghold, but his army was defeated by the Normans and retreated never having crossed the Seine.[12][13] Lothair king of the West Franks stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.[14]
    Afterwards, and until his death in 996, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm, and united his followers into a cohesive and formidable principality.[15]
    Richard used marriage to build strong alliances . His marriage to Emma connected him to the Capet family. His wife Gunnor, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters form the core group that was to provide loyal followers to him and his successors.[16] His daughters provided valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.[16]
    He also built on his relationship with the church, restoring their lands and insured the great monasteries flourished. His reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.[16][17]
    [edit]Marriages
    
    His first marriage (960) was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France,[1][18] and Hedwig von Sachsen.[18] They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.[1]
    
    
    Richard & his children
    According to Robert of Torigni, not long after Emma's death, Duke Richard went out hunting and stopped at the house of a local forester. He became enamoured of the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she being a virtuous woman, suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress, and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herefast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Viking descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimize their children

Click here for details of Richard's family with Gunnora Decrepon

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