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William of Évreux (c1040-1118)

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Biography

William of Évreux was born 1040 in France to Richard I of Évreux (c1010-1067) and Godechildis (c1010-1079) and died 16 April 1118 of unspecified causes. He married Helvise de Nevers (c1045-1114) .

William, Count of Évreux (died 16 April 1118) was a powerful member of the Norman aristocracy during the period following the Norman conquest of England. William was the son of Richard, Count of Évreux, and his wife, Godchildis (Adelaide).[1]


Norman Conquest 1066

He was one of the Norman Knights that accompanied William the Conqueror in the Norman Conquest of England and their historic victory at the Battle of Hastings.

William, referred to as Count of Évreux in early 1066, contributed 80 ships towards the planned invasion of England later that year.[2] However, as William did not succeed his father until the year following, this seems to be the lists only anachronism "as far as Norman names are concerned."[3] William is one of the few known companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.[4]

Another indicator of his youth in 1066 was that he fought for King Henry I at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106, some 40 years later.[5]

""There were present in this battle: Eustace, Count of Boulogne; William, son of Richard, Count of Evreux; Geoffrey, son of Rotrou, Count of Mortagne; William FitzOsbern; Haimo, Vicomte of Thouars; Walter Giffard; Hugh of Montfort-sur-Risle; Rodulf of Tosny; Hugh of Grantmesnil; William of Warenne, and many other most renowned warriors whose names are worthy to be commemorated in histories among the bravest soldiers of all time." (Source: William of Poitiers)


See Also

Domesday Book 1086

Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror (1027-1087). The first draft was completed in August 1086 and contained records for 13,418 settlements in early England.

His service earned him the grant of many English manors confiscated from the defeated English, as listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.

For his participation he was rewarded with a modest tenancy-in-chiefdom.[5] However, he was probably not yet of age in 1066 which might have prevented him from taking a more profitable share in England.[6]

Other Noteworthy Items

As Count William became older and somewhat feeble, his wife assumed the governing of Évreux.[7] Orderic Vitalis described her: "The Countess was distinguished for her wit and beauty; she was one of the tallest women in all Evreux, and of very high birth, being the daughter of William, the illustrious count of Nevers."[7] But she was headstrong and bold in her political affairs, often ignoring the council of her husband's barons.[7] After numerous complaints against her to the king, and that she had the king's donjon leveled at Évreux; this caused both William and Helvise to be exiled on two occasions.[7]

In 1114, Countess Helvise died and was buried at Noyon.[8] William d'Évreux was "struck down by apoplexy" on 16 April 1118, and was buried in Fontenelle Abbey, next to his father.[7] The fact he died without children caused King Henry I of England problems as Count William's nearest relative was Amaury III of Montfort, a vassal of Louis VI of France.[9]

Count William and his wife, Helvise, donated property to the abbey of Saint-Martin, Troarn by charter dated to [1100/14]. With council from Roger, abbot of Saint-Evroul, they founded a monastery at Noyan.[10] In 1108 William and his wife, out of their own funds, laid out the foundation of a church devoted to St. Mary, mother of God, but with interruptions due to their exile and other troubles, they died before the project was completed.[11].

Family

William married Helvise de Nevers, daughter of William I, Count of Nevers, and his first wife Ermengarde of Tonnerre.[12] They had no issue.[9]






Siblings





See Also

References

  1. ^ George Edward Cokayne, The complete peerage; or, a history of the House of lords and all its members from the earliest times, Volume XII, Part 1, ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1953), p. 757
  2. ^ Elisabeth M. C. van Houts, 'The Ship List of William The Conqueror', Anglo-Norman Studies X; Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1987, ed. R. Allen Brown (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1988), Appendix 4, p. 179
  3. ^ Elisabeth M. C. van Houts, 'The Ship List of William The Conqueror', Anglo-Norman Studies X; Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1987, ed. R. Allen Brown (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1988), p. 167
  4. ^ George Edward Cokayne, The complete peerage; or, a history of the House of lords and all its members from the earliest times, Volume XII, Part 1, ed. Geoffrey H. White (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1953), Appendix L, pp. 47-8
  5. ^ a b K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166, Vol. I (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1999), p. 469
  6. ^ Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840-1066 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988, p. 134
  7. ^ a b c d e Ordericus Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester, Vol. III (Henry G. Bohn, London, 1854), p. 420
  8. ^ Ordericus Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester, Vol. III (Henry G. Bohn, London, 1854), p. 420 & n. 2
  9. ^ a b David Crouch, The Normans; The History of a Dynasty (London; New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), p. 186
  10. ^ Ordericus Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester, Vol. III (Henry G. Bohn, London, 1854), p. 419
  11. ^ Ordericus Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, trans. Thomas Forester, Vol. III (Henry G. Bohn, London, 1854), pp. 419–20
  12. ^ Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 4 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1989), Tafel 716



Footnotes (including sources)

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