General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> Bernard the /Dane/
REFN: 574AN
REFN: P574
Known as "The Dane" and "The Rich"
The following is quoted from Crispin and Macary, "Falaise Rolls," p. 14:
"This family is one of the most illustrious in both France and England. Er
rand De Harcourt is mentioned by La Roque, the French historian of this gr
eat house, Pere Anselm, and other genealogists as the personage referr
ed to by Wace which reads "sire De Herevourt was there also, riding a ve
ry swift horse." They are not supported in this conclusion by Le Prevos
t, as he favors Anchetil, the father of Errand, or Robert, his younger bro
ther. The burden of opinion is, however, against this eminent historian. T
urquetil, Seigneur De Turqueville, and De Tanqueraye, circa 1001, appea
rs in several charters concerning the abbeys of Fecamp and Bernay. He w
as lord of Nuefmarche-en-Lions, governor of the boy-Duke, William, and w
as treacherously assassinated between 1035 and 1040 by hirelings of Rao
ul De Gace. Turquetil was the second son of Torf, the son of Bernard the D
ane, which latter was the governor and regent of Normandy in 912, from wh
om descended the sires De Beaumont, comtes De Meulent, the barons of Cance
lles and Saint-Paer, the lords of Gournay and Milly, the barons of Neubour
g, the vicomtes of Evreux, the earls of Leicester, and many other noble Fr
ench and English houses. Tuequetil married Anceline, sister of Toustain, S
eigneur De Montfort-sur-Risle, and had issue Anchetil, and Walter De Lesce
lina who married Beatrice, abbess of Montivilliers, natural daughter of Ri
chard I., Duke of Normandy, as well as Leceline De Turqueville, the wi
fe of William, Comte d'Exmes (later d'Eu), an illegitimate son of the sa
me duke. Anchetil was the first to assume the name of Harcourt from the bo
urg of Harcourt, near Brionne, and married Eve De Boessey-le-Chapel, by wh
om he had seven sons and one daughter. The eldest was Errand, who predecea
sed his father, and was succeeded by Robert as head of the house. Jean, Ar
noul, Gervais, Yves, and Renauld were the other sons. Errand De Harcourt c
ommanded the archers of Val De Ruel at the battle of Hastings, but return
ed to Normandy in 1078 and probably died soon after. His younger brothe
r, Robert, who accompanied him in the Conquest, was the ancestor of this d
istinguished house." And further on pg. 93-94: "Robert De Harcourt, surnam
ed le Fort, was the son of Anchetil and the younger brother of Errand De H
arcourt... He built the castle of Harcourt in Normandy and was by his wi
fe Colette d'Argouges the father of seven sons, the eldest of whom, Willia
m, having arrayed himself with King Henry I. against his brother Robert Cu
rthose (Courteheuse), rendered his monarch signal service; he also command
ed the troops which defeated the count of Meulent in Normandy in 112
4. He was on this account awarded with large estates in England, which we
re inherited by his second son, Ivo, who became permanently settled ther
e. The English Harcourts were seated at Stanton-Harcourt in Oxfordshire, w
hich was obtained through the heiress of the Camvilles, whose mother recei
ved it as a marriage gift from her cousin, Queen Adeliza of Louvain, the s
econd wife of King Henry I."[small file HUNT.FTW]
Ancestor to the Putnam and Hamilton familites.