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Notes

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Note    N2799         Index

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died on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (at Nicaea, Bursa, Turkey)

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Note    N2802         Index

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Norman Barons, not wanting to accept an illegitimate son as their leader, attempted to kill Duke William; the plot failed. Gilbert was murdered in ambush while he was peaceably riding near Eschafour.

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Note    N2803         Index

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Gilbert (or Giselbert) (1000-1040) was a Norman noble, Count of Eu, and Count of Brionne in northern France.

Parentage

Gilbert was son of Geoffrey, Count of Eu (b. 962) who was an illegitimate child of Richard the Fearless.

Life

He inherited Brionne, becoming one of the most powerful landowners in Normandy. He married Gunnora d'Aunou in 1012. He had children by his wife and a mistress.

Gilbert was a generous benefactor to Bec Abbey founded by his former knight Herluin in 1031.

When Robert II, Duke of Normandy died in 1035 his illegitimate son William inherited his father's title. Several leading Normans, including Gilbert of Brionne, Osbern the Seneschal and Alan of Brittany, became William's guardians.

Death

A number of Norman barons including Raoul de Gacé would not accept an illegitimate son as their leader. In 1040 an attempt was made to kill William but the plot failed. Gilbert however was murdered while he was peaceably riding near Eschafour. It is believed two of his killers were Ralph of Wacy and Robert de Vitot. This appears to have been an act of vengeance for wrongs inflicted upon the orphan children of Giroie by Gilbert, and it is not clear what Raoul de Gacé had to do in the business. Fearing they might meet their father's fate, his sons Richard and his brother Baldwin were conveyed by their friends to the court of Baldwin, Count of Flanders.

Children
Basse-Normandie flag.svg Normandy portal

Gilbert was ancestor of the English house of de Clare, of the Barons Fitz Walter, and the Earls of Gloucester and Hertford.

Sir Richard Fitz Gilbert(Richard de Clare) (1030-1091), m. Rohese Giffard (1034-aft. 1113)[1]
Baldwin FitzGilbert (d. 1090)[2]

Notes

1. ^ Mackenzie, Sir James Dixon, The castles of England: their story and structure, Vol.1, (The Macmillan Co., 1896), 47.
2. ^ Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Vol.11, British Archaeological Association, (J.R.Smith, 1855), 216.

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Note    N2806         Index

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Hartz Mountains, Germany - He died at Bodfeld, the imperial hunting lodge

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Notes

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Note    N2808         Index

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Norman magnate based in Northern & Central Eng., originating in Bessin in Normandy. He made his career in Eng. thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avrances, earl of Chester, & patronage of Kings Wm. II Rufus & Henry I & his marriage to Lucy. /Briquessart, Livry, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France

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Note    N2810         Index

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Norham, Northumberland, England

Ubbanford now Norham, Northumberland, England

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Notes

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Note    N2811         Index

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He is considered the first to have held the title, Duke of Normandy.

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Notes

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Note    N2812         Index

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He was bilingual and more partial to his Danish subjects than to the Franks. During his reign, Normandy became completely Gallicized and Christianized. He introduced the feudal system and Normandy became one of the most feudalized states on the continent.

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Notes

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Note    N2813         Index

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He carried out a major reorganisation of the Norman military system based on Heavy Cavalry.

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Note    N2814         Index

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When his father died, Louis IV of France seized Normandy and split the lands, giving lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis kept Richard in confinement at Laon.

Richard excaped with the assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Sentis, Ivo de Bellesme and Bernard the Dane.

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