General Notes

REFN: 7630AN
The Conqueror and His Companions
by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tin sley Brothers, 1874.
The "Sire d'Estoteville" of the Roman De Rou (l. 13,561) was in all
probability Robert, surnamed Fronteboeuf, Granteboef, or, accordin g to
the French antiquaries, Grand-bois; but whether he was of
Estouteville -sur-Cailly or Estouteville-sur-Mer may be an open question.
There was a knig htly family deriving their name from the former (at
present a commune in the canton of Bouchy, arrondissement De Rouen), one
of whom, Nicholas d'Estoutevi lle, the great-great-grandson of Robert,
married Gunnor or Gunnora, daughter of Hugh IV De Gournay, and widow of
Robert De Gant, in the 12th century, and received with her in dower the
manors of Beddingfield and Kimberly in Norfolk , which remained for many
generations in the family of Stuteville, as it is c alled in England. This
Estouteville was formerly a mouvance, i.e, a dependenc y on the fief of La
Ferté en-Brai, of which the Gournays were the lords, and it is therefore
likely that Robert d'Estouteville followed Hugh II De Gournay to England
in the invading army.
Dugdale's account of him and his son is ve ry meagre and incorrect, and
neither M. le Prévost nor Mr. Edward Taylor has taken any trouble on the
subject, although some information has been furnishe d us by Orderic which
enables me to correct Dugdale and answer the observatio n of M. le
Prévost, echoed by Mr. Taylor, that he (Robert) must have been ver y young
if he was the same who fell forty years after at Tenchebrai, in 1106, by
the simple assurance to them that he was not the same.
Some ten or eleve n years previous to the Conquest, Robert I
d'Estouteville was governor of the Castle of Ambriegrave;res, and stoutly
defended it against Geoffrey Martel u ntil relieved by the approach of
Duke William. He could not therefore have be en very young even at that
time-say between twenty and thirty, and in 1066 he would have been
between thirty and forty. Of his exploits at Senlac we hear nothing, and
his name does not appear in Domesday, so we are in ignorance of the
reward, if any, which he received for his services. The latest mention of
him is by Orderic, who records him as a witness to a confirmation charter
of William son of Fulk De Querneville, Dean of Evreux, to the Abbey of
Ouche or St. Evroult, before the year 1089.
The date of his death is unascertained; but he was succeeded by his son
Robert II d'Estouteville, altogether omitted by Dugdale, but in
connection with whom the following strange story is told b y Orderic (lib.
xi, cap. xiii.): --
" The same year (1106) the following occ urrence happened in Normandy: --
Robert d'Estoteville, a brave and powerful b aron, was a strong partizan
of the Duke (Robert Court-heuse), and superintend ed his troops and
fortresses in the Pays De Caux. It chanced on Easter-day (9 th of April,
1105/6), as his chaplain was administering the holy sacrament to the
baron and his household, that a certain knight having approached the
a ltar for the purpose of reverently receiving the Eucharist, the priest
took t he consecrated wafer in his hand for the purpose of putting it into
the mouth of the communicant, but found that he was quite incapable of
lifting his han d from the altar. Both parties were exceedingly terrified
by this circumstanc e, but at length the priest said to the knight, 'Take
it if you can; for myse lf, it is out of my power to move my hand and
deliver the Lord's body to you. ' Upon this the knight stretched his neck
over the altar, with some effort re ached the chalice, and received the
Host in his open mouth from the priest's hand. This extraordinary
occurrence covered him with confusion, and apprehend ing some misfortune,
but of what nature he knew not, he distributed in conseq uence the
greatest portion of his wardrobe and other property amongst the poo r and
clergy. He was slain soon after Easter in