Sir John Wentworth

Notes:

About John Wentworth, of North Elmsall,

The Wentworth genealogy: English and American, Volume 1 By John Wentworth
http://books.google.com/books?id=KR8aAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc#v=onepage&q=Beaumont&f=false
Pg.50-51

We now return to the direct line from Reginald1 Wentworth, the Saxon, and take up the history of the eldest son of John13 (XIII) Wentworth, of North Elmsall, and Agnes (Dronsfiled), viz.--
XIV. JOHN14 WENTWORTH, Esq., of North Elmsall, who married JOAN (or ELIZABETH, according to some authorities), daughter of Richard BEAUMONT, Esq., of Whitley Hall, co. York, and had issue three sons, -- John, Roger, and William. Of the latter two nothing further is known. The eldest son
XV. John15 Wentworth, Esq., of North Elmsall, married Elizabeth, daughter of William Calverley, Esq., of Calverley, co. York, and had issue, a daughter Jane, who married William Goldthorpe, Esq., of Goldthorpe, co. York; and Thomas.
_______________________
From: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/WENTWORTH.htm#John WENTWORTH of North Elmsall1
John WENTWORTH of North Elmsall
Born: ABT 1370 / 1375 / 1416 / 25 Jun 1423, North Elmsall, York, England
Died: 11 Jun 1461 / 1465
Father: John WENTWORTH of North Elmsall (Esq.)
Mother: Agnes DRONSFIELD
Married: Elizabeth BEAUMONT (dau of Richard Beaumont of Whitley Hall) ABT 1419
Children:
1. John WENTWORTH of North Elmsall (Esq.)
2. Roger WENTWORTH of Nettlestead (Sir)
Married 2: Maud CLIFFORD (C. Cambridge) ABT 1429, North Elmsall, York, England
________________
From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p424.htm#i12725
John Wentworth, Esq.1
M
Father John Wentworth, Esq. d. a 1413
Mother Agnes Dornsfield
John Wentworth, Esq. was born at of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England. He married Joan Beaumont, daughter of Richard Beaumont, Esq..
Family Joan Beaumont
Children
John Wentworth, Esq.+
William Wentworth
Citations
1.[S3544] Unknown author, The Complete Peerage, by Cokayne, Vol. IV, p. 291; Burke's Dormant and Extinct Baronetcies, p. 559; The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, by Ronny O. Bodine, p. 62.
_____________________
The Wentworth genealogy, comprising the origin of the name, the family in England, and a particular account of Elder William Wentworth, the emigrant, and of his descendants (1870)
http://www.archive.org/stream/wentworthgenealo01inwent#page/n95/mode/2up
http://www.archive.org/stream/wentworthgenealo01inwent#page/n170/mode/1up
XII. John Wentworth, Esq., of North Elmsall, in Yorkshire, who inherited that estate from his uncle John, and which is at no great distance from Wentworth-Woodhouse, being in the parish of South Kirkby, about nine miles from Doncaster. He married Joan, daughter of Richard le Tyas, of Burghwallis, in Yorkshire, and was succeeded by his only son--
XIII. John Wentworth, Esq., of North Elmsall, who married Agnes, sister and co-heir of Sir William Dronsfield, of West Bretton, in Yorkshire, and living in 1413. He had four sons, viz:
1. John, of whom hereafter.
2. Sir Roger Wentworth, who married Margery, relict of John Lord de Roos (who died without issue, 22 March, 1421-2). She was daughter and heir of Philip le Despencer, of Nettlestead,* County Suffolk, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of Sir Robert Tiptoft, of Nettlestead, and relict of William Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire. Sir Roger settled at Nettlestead, and died before his wife. Lady Margery died 20 April 1478. Her Will was dated 30 August, 1477, and proved 28 May 1478. He was settled at Nettlestead, and became ancestor of the Barons Wentworth of Nettlestead and the Earl of Cleveland. His direct line terminated in Lady Anne Wentworth, who married John, Lord Lovelace. He was also the ancestor of the Wentworths of Gosfield, in the county of Essex, members of which family were scattered over the kingdom, especially in the counties of Bucks, Oxford, and Dorset. From Lady Anne Wentworth, who married John, Lord Lovelace, was descended Anna Isabel (born 1794, and died 16 May, 1860), daughter and heir of Sir Ralph Milbanke and grand daughter of Sir Edward Noel, Baronet, Lord Wentworth. She married, in 1815, the celebrated poet, Lord Byron, whose name was George Gordon, and left an only child, Ada, who married Earl Lovelace, and died, in 1852, leaving children.
3. Thomas, who settled at Doncaster, and died about 1450.
4. Richard, who married Matilda (or Maude), Countess of Cambridge, and became ancestor of the Wentworths of Bretton,* in Yorkshire, among whom was a line of Baronets, the last of whom died in 1792.
http://www.archive.org/stream/wentworthgenealo01inwent#page/n186/mode/1up
The direct line was continued by the eldest son--
XIV. John Wentworth, Esq., of North Elmsall, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Beaumont, Esq., of Whitley Hall, in Yorkshire (which estate has continued in that family till the present century), and was succeeded by his eldest son --
XV. John Wentworth, Esq., of North Elmsall, who married Elizabeth, daughter of William Calverley, Esq., of Calverley, in Yorkshire, and had issue: - one daughter, Jane, who married William Goldthorpe, Esq., of Goldthorpe, in Yorkshire; and on only son--
------------------------

end of this biography

John Wentworth
Born about 1395 in Yorkshire, England
HIDE ANCESTORS
Son of John Wentworth and Agnes (Dronsfield) Wentworth
Brother of Thomas Wentworth, Roger Wentworth, Elizabeth Wentworth and Richard Wentworth
Husband of Joan (Beaumont) Wentworth — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of John Wentworth Esq.
Died 11 Jun 1461 in Yorkshire, England

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Biography

John Wentworth was a member of aristocracy in England.
Father John Wentworth, Esq. d. a 1413 Mother Agnes Dornsfield

John Wentworth, Esq.[1] was born at of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England. [2][3]

He married Joan Beaumont, daughter of Richard Beaumont, Esq.[4]

Family

Joan Beaumont
Children

John Wentworth, Esq.
William Wentworth
Alternate Death Date
The duplicate profile which was merged into this one showed a death date of 15 Oct 1425.

Sources
? Burke's Dormant and Extinct Baronetcies, p. 559
? The Complete Peerage, by Cokayne, Vol. IV, p. 291
? The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, by Ronny O. Bodine, p. 62.
? Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. I, p. 262
Marlyn_Lewis
Joseph Lemuel Chester, A Genealogical Memorial of the Wentworth Family of England, in New England Historical and Genealogical Registor, vol. 22 (1868), starting on page 120.
Clay

end of this biography

John married Joan Beaumont in ~1419 in (Yorkshire) England. Joan (daughter of Richard Beaumont, Esguire and Cecilia Mirfield) was born in ~ 1385 in Whitley Hall, Yorkshire, England; died in (Yorkshire) England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. John Wentworth, IV was born about 1421 in North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England; died after 1459 in North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England.

Notes:

John Wentworth
Born about 1340 in North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of John Wentworth and Jane (Tyas) Wentworth
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of Agnes (Dronsfield) Wentworth — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Thomas Wentworth, John Wentworth, Roger Wentworth, Elizabeth Wentworth and Richard Wentworth
Died after 1413 in North Elmsall, par. South Kirkby, Yorkshire, England

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Wentworth-11 created 6 Jan 2010 | Last modified 21 Jun 2019
This page has been accessed 4,181 times.
Biography

John Wentworth was a member of aristocracy in England.
John Wentworth of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, and "Agnes, sister and co-heiress of William Dronsfield, of West Bernton, Yorkshire" had at least one son: Roger, who married (as her 2nd husband) Margery (or Margaret) le Despenser, widow of John Roos."[1]

Father John Wentworth, Esq. d. a 1314

Mother Joan de Tyas


John Wentworth, Esq. was born at of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England.

He married Agnes Dornsfield, daughter of William Dornfield.[2]

John Wentworth, Esq. died after 1413.


Family

Agnes Dornsfield
Children

Roger Wentworth, Esq.[3][4] d. 24 Oct 1452
John Wentworth, Esq.
Sir Roger Wentworth d. 21 Oct 1452
Thomas Wentworth
Richard Wentworth, Esq. b. c 1410
Sources
? Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol IV, pp 216-217 NETTLESTEAD #15
? Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 234-235
? Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. IV, p. 215-216
? Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. III, p. 456
John Wentworth, Esq., "Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors and Cousins" (website, compiled by Mr. Marlyn Lewis, Portland, OR; accessed 12 January 2018), citing Douglas Richardson's
Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), Vol. III, pp 234-235, 456
Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol. IV, p. 215-216
Cracroft Peerage
17F. John Wentworth, of North Emsall, co. York
18F. Agnes Dronsfield, dau. of Sir William Dronsfield, of West Bretton, co. York
Burke's Notable British Families 1600s-1900s Dormant, Abeyant, Forfieted and extinct Peerages; Page 575.
Visitation of Yorkshire: Page 342 Wentworth

end of this biography

John married Agnes Dronsfield. Agnes was born in ~1373 in West Bretton, Yorkshire,England; died on 3 Oct 1437 in North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Jane Tyas. Jane (daughter of Richard Tyas and Alice Tankersley) was born in ~1300 in Burghwallis, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Alice Tankersley. Alice (daughter of Sir Richard Tankersley and Sarah Thornhill) was born in ~1255. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Biography

Richard Tankersley was a member of aristocracy in England.
Richard had two daughters who were coheirs and married before 17 Edward I:[1]

Alice, m. Richard de Tyas or Teutonicus
Joan, m. Hugh de Eland
"Sir Richard Tankersley appears to have been dead, and his daughters to have succeeded to his inheritance, in 1290, the 18th of Edward I."[1]

Sources
? 1.0 1.1 Hunter, p. 300
Hunter, Joseph. South Yorkshire: The History and Topography of the Deanery of Doncaster, in the Dioceseand County of York. Vol. 2 of 2. (London: Printed for the author, by J.B. Nichols and Son, 1831).

end of this biography

Richard married Sarah Thornhill(Yorkshire) England. Sarah (daughter of John Thornhill and Olivia Mare) was born in ~1210 in Thornhill, Dewsbury, West Riding, Yorkshire, England; died in Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Biography

John (Thornhill) de Thornhill was a member of aristocracy in England.
Birth
John de Thornhull's birth is estimated as 1180.{citation needed}

Mary Emily Fauntleroy states that the history of the de Thornhull family can be traced back to records dated as early as 1200. The earliest de Thornhull was John, who had two sons, Ralph and Walter. [1]

Marriage
John de Thornhull married Olivia Mare or Olive de la Mare.[2]

Estimate the marriage as prior to 1205.

1227 Sons Transfer Land
In 1227 his son Walter grants an estate to Walter's brother Ralph. [1] This presumes Walter had achieved majority by the time. Therefore Walter's birth is estimated as, say, 1205.

In 1227, Walter granted his brother Ralph the estate of Alveston Manor, and estate which later appears among the Fauntelroy estates. [1]

Death
He died in 1249 in Fixby Hall.{citation needed}

Issue
Walter. Geni estimates Walter de Thornhill's birth as circa 1225 in Thornhill, Dewsbury, West Riding, Yorkshire, England. [2] However, Walter as an adult by 1227. [1]

end of biography

John married Olivia Mare(Yorkshire, England). Olivia was born in ~1193 in Yorkshire, England; died in ~1254 in Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Alice Senlis in 1165 in England. Alice (daughter of Sir Simon Senlis, II, 4th Earl of Northampton and Isabelle Beaumont) was born in ~1150 in England; died in 1204 in Thornhill, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Biography

Simon II (Senlis) de St Liz was a member of aristocracy in England.
Occupation: 4th Earl of Northampton
4th Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton
Listed in Common Peerage, v.6, p.339, fn, p.643, fn
(2) Simon (d. 1153, Earl of Northampton, married Isabel de Beaumont, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Gloucester who d. 1118 by whom he had a son Simon III who died without issue after having married Alice de Gant, daughter of Gilbert de Gant, Earl of Lincoln)-AEDC
Name
Simon SAINT LIZ (SENLIS)
Simon de St. Liz II, 5th Earl of Huntingdon
Simon II 4th Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton de Saint Liz
Birth
ABT 1103
ABT 1098 NTH, England
Marriage
ABT 1137 LEI, England
1090 HUN, England
Death
AUG 1153
Burial
Saint Andrews
Sources
Royal Ancestry 2013 D. Richardson Vol. I p. 280
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_II_de_Senlis,_Earl_of_Huntingdon-Northampton
Davis, Henry. Regesta Regum Anglo Normannorum, 1066–1154 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1969) Vol. 4, Plate XXX
Ancestry Family Trees (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com) Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.
http://trees.ancestry.ca/tree/24332216/person/1507262599
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=6835128&pid=-1092618895

end of this biography

Simon married Isabelle Beaumont before 1142. Isabelle (daughter of Sir Robert de Beaumont, Knight, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Lady Amice de Montfort, Countess of Leicester) was born in ~1130 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England; died after May 1188 in Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Saher (Saer) "Lord of Bushby, Lord of Long Buckby" de Quincy formerly Quincy
Born about 1098 in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of Richard (Quincy) de Quincy and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of Matilda (Senlis) Clare — married after 1134 [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Jueta (Quincy) Lancelin, Robert (Quincy) de Quincy, Roger Quincy and Alice (Quincy) de Huntingfield
Died about 1158 in Winchester, Hampshire, England

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Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Marriage
1.2 Notes
2 Sources
Biography
Research by Dr. Sidney Painter (Sidney Painter, "The House of Quency, 1136-1264", Medievalia et Humanistica, 11 (1957) 3-9; reprinted in his book Feudalism and Liberty) and The Complete Peerage has shown that the Quincy family was established in Cuinchy, France, near Bethune on the border of Artois and Flanders, before coming to England. The family name (also written Quency and Quincey) is believed to derive from their early home in France. "The pioneer Quincy in England was Saher I, who early records indicate was the tenant of Ansel de Chokes at Long Buckby in Northamptonshire after 1124. (Cuinchy is a short distance from Chocques, the original home of Saher's overlord, Anselm de Chokes. He was a tenant of the latter circa 1124-29.) In 1155-56 Henry II confirmed Saher I's right to Long Buckby. According to Saher IV de Quincy in 1208, Saher I also held the Advowson of Wimpole in Cambridge after 1154. Saher I died between 1156 and 1158.

Marriage
"Shortly after 1136, Saher married Maud St. Liz (St. Lis or Senlis), widow of Robert Fitz Richard de Clare, by whom she was the ancestor of the FitzWalters. This indicates a close relationship between the Quincy, Clare, and FitzWalter families, all of whom produced Magna Charta Sureties (q.v.p. 56 and 91).

Maud's father was Simon de St. Liz (d. abt. 1111), Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton, Crusader of about 1105 and 1111. In 1113, his wife Maud (Matilda) married David I of Scotland, and became the ancestor of succeeding Kings of Scotland, who were thus were closely related to the Quincys. This Maud was the daughter of Waltheof, Earl of Huntindon, Northampton, and Northumberland and Judith of Lens, daughter of Lambert de Boulogne, Count of Lens, and Adelaide (Adeliza or Alice), biological sister of William the Conqueror. Lambert was the son of Eustace I, Count of Boulogne, a descendent of Charlemagne, and his wife Mahaut (or Matilda) of Louvain."

Saher I and Maud de St. Liz had two sons: Saher II and Robert I. Saher II was highly regarded by Henry II, and performed important duties for that monarch. He died in 1190, and his male line became extinct with the death of his son Saher III de Quincy in 1192.

Robert, the younger son, went to Scotland quite young and married Scottish heiress, Orable ( Orabilis), daughter of Nes (or Ness), son of William, Lord of Leuchars, and through her obtained considerable lands in Scotland. But the couplele divorced and Robert remarried Eve, probably of the Scottish House of Galloway. Orable remarried Gilchrist, Third Earl of Mar, and died before June 30, 1210.

Robert was in high favor with Richard the Lion-hearted, whom he accompanied on the Crusade of 1190-1192. Robert died before Michaelmas 1197. After his death this second wife Eve married Walter de Chamberlain of Scotland. "Robert and Orable had two sons, Saher IV de Quincy and Robert II de Quincy. This Robert II married Hawise, sister and coheiress of Ranulph Blundeville, last Earl of Chester and Vicomte d'Avranches of the d'Avranches-Bayeux family, who also had been created Earl of Lincoln in 1217 (q.v.p. 198). Hawise and Robert II had a daughter Margaret who before June 21, 1221 married John de Lacy, Constable of Chester, Magna Charta Surety, and Crusader (q.v.p. 126). In 1231 Ranulph "resigned" his Earldom of Lincoln to Hawise. As her husband Robert II de Quincy died about then, Hawise in 1232 transferred her Earldom of Lincoln, with the King's approval, to her son-in-law John de Lacy, who thus became the first de Lacy Earl of Lincoln (q.v.p. 126 and 197).

Cawley (2006) lists the following:

Saher I de Quincy (d. 1156/8]) m.2 (after 1136 as second husband) Matilda de Senlis, widow of Robert FitzRichard de Clare, dau.of SIMON de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton and Matilda "Maud" of Huntingdon (d. bef. 1163). Issue: 3:

Saher II (1138-1190/2).
m. (1163 as second husband), ASCELINE Peverel, widow of GEOFFREY de Waterville [Wateville], dau. of ROBERT [Pain] Peverel & [Adelisia. (-before 1190). Issue: 1 son, SAHER [III] (-[1190/92]).
ROBERT (1140-after 1200 m. (1160/70 as first husband - separated), ORABILIS, dau. of NES of Mar (-before 30 Jun 1203). Issue: 1 son, Saher IV de Quincy (1165/70- 3 Nov 1219 Damietta, bur Acre). He was created Earl of Winchester before 10 Feb 1207.
JUETA [Judith]
m ROBERT, son of LANCELIN
Notes
Quincy/Quency family may have derived its name from Cuinchy, Pas-de-Calais, on the border between the counties of Artois and Flanders[1].

Saher de Quincy (died [1156/58]) first recorded in the 1120s in England. He evidently soon rose to prominence, judging by his marriage Maud de Senlis of Huntingdon.

The origin of the family is unknown. The key presumably lies in the unusual first name "Saher". This suggests several possibilities. There is some similarity to the Portuguese or Galician "Soeiro", numerous references to which are found among the Portuguese nobility from the late 11th/early 12th centuries. Alternatively there could be a connection with the Near East: "saher" means "dawn" in modern Arabic, and "Saher" is one of the Jewish surnames listed by Zubatsky & Berent[2].

Saher's younger son, Robert, settled in Scotland, presumably because of his family relationship with William "the Lion" King of Scotland: His mother was one of the older half-sisters of the king's father.

Robert's son, Saher, was still serving King William in 1200 but entered service of John King of England soon after. He must have had contacts with England before that time as he married his English wife before 1190. Saher settled permanently in England in early 1204 and was created Earl of Winchester, presumably as a reward for loyal service to the English king, some time during 1206 or early 1207. The earldom reverted to the crown on the death, without male issue, of Roger de Quincy in 1264. It revived in 1322 in favor of Hugh Le Despencer (senior), one of the favorites of Edward II, but forfeited when he was hanged in 1326. It was revived again in 1472 by Edward IV in favor of Louis de Bruges, a Flemish nobleman, as a reward for welcoming the king when he fled England during the brief restoration of Henry IV in 1471. Louis's son and successor, Jean de Bruges, resigned the earldom of Winchester to Henry VII in 1500.

In the reign of Henry II, Saier de Quincy had a grant from the crown of the manor of Bushby, co. Northampton, formerly the property of Anselme de Conchis. He m. Maud de St. Liz, and had two sons, Robert and Saier de Quincy. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 447, Quincy, Earls of Winchester]

Sources
? Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (2002) Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166. II. Pipe Rolls to Cartµ Baronum (Boydell) (“Domesday Descendants”), p. 652.
? Zubatsky, D. and Berent I. (1993) Sourcebook for Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories.
Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. I. p. 280
Gen-Medieval on Rootsweb: 23 Nov 2006 posting of tps@eject.co.za re: [MARKHAM-UK] Fulk de Lizours
Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest, by Jim Weber, rootsweb.com - https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I01843
Wikipedia: Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
http://www.robertsewell.ca/dequincy.html
Geni.com.[1][3]
Anglo-Norman: Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Lewis C. Loyd), Loyd, Lewis C., ((Baltimore:MD, Harleian Society, 1992)), p. 84 (Reliability: 3).
Nobility: Plantagenet Ancestry (William Harry Turton), Turton, William Harry, 1856-1938. (Main), ((Baltimore:MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984), L.A. Public Library GS #Q942.54 H2nic; LC CALL NO.: CS418.T81968; LCCN: 68-54254 //r92), 929.7..

end of this biography

Saher married Matilda Senlis after 1134. Matilda (daughter of Sir Simon Senlis, 1st Earl of Northampton and Maud of Huntingdon, Queen Consort of Scotland) was born in ~1093 in Huntingdonshire, England; died in 1140 in Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Matilda "Maud" Clare formerly Senlis aka de Senlis, de St. Liz, de Quincy
Born about 1093 in Huntingdonshire, England
ANCESTORS ancestors
Daughter of Simon (Senlis) de Senlis I and Maud (Huntingdon) of Scotland
Sister of Hugh (Senlis) de St Liz, Waltheof (Senlis) St Liz, Simon (Senlis) de St Liz, Unknown Prince of Scotland [half], Malcolm (Huntingdon) Canmore, Henry (Dunkeld) of Scotland [half], Claricia Huntington [half] and Hodierna (Dunkeld) of Huntingdon [half]
Wife of Robert (Clare) de Clare — married 1119 in Buckley, Northamptonshire, , England
Wife of Saher (Quincy) de Quincy — married after 1134 [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of Walter FitzRobert, Maud (Senlis) Luvetot, Jueta (Quincy) Lancelin, Robert (Quincy) de Quincy, Roger Quincy and Alice (Quincy) de Huntingfield
Died 1140 in Leicestershire, England

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Senlis-8 created 25 Sep 2010 | Last modified 1 May 2019
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British Aristocracy
Matilda (Senlis) Clare was a member of aristocracy in the British Isles.
Join: British Royals and Aristocrats Project
Discuss: EUROARISTO
Sources
Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. I. p. 280
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I05615
Magna Charta Sureties 1215, Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr, 5th Edition, 1999, Page: 157-1
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Edition, by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippard Jr., 1999, Page: 53-27
http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/getperson.php?personID=I5156&tree=00
http://www.celtic-casimir.com/webtree/6/15436.htm
http://www.mathematical.com/senlismaud1096.html
Anglo-Norman: Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families (Lewis C. Loyd), Loyd, Lewis C., ((Baltimore:MD, Harleian Society, 1992)), p. 84 (Reliability: 3).
Nobility: Plantagenet Ancestry (William Harry Turton), Turton, William Harry, 1856-1938. (Main), ((Baltimore:MD, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984), L.A. Public Library GS #Q942.54 H2nic; LC CALL NO.: CS418.T81968; LCCN: 68-54254 //r92), 929.7..
Genealogical Research of Kirk Larson.
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=16746257&pid=2310

Medieval Lands: Earls of Winchester 1207-1264 (Quincy)

end of this biography

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Justiciar of England, 1155-1168
• Military: The Anarchy

Notes:

Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1104 - 5 April 1168) was Justiciar of England 1155-1168.

The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert". Henry Knighton, the fourteenth-century chronicler notes him as Robert "Le Bossu" (meaning "Robert the Hunchback" in French).

Early life and education

Robert was an English nobleman of Norman-French ancestry. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and 1st Earl of Leicester, and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Waleran de Beaumont. It is not known whether they were identical or fraternal twins, but the fact that they are remarked on by contemporaries as twins indicates that they were probably identical.

The two brothers, Robert and Waleran, were adopted into the royal household shortly after their father's death in June 1118 (upon which Robert inherited his father's second titles of Earl of Leicester). Their lands on either side of the Channel were committed to a group of guardians, led by their stepfather, William, Earl of Warenne or Surrey. They accompanied King Henry I to Normandy, to meet with Pope Callixtus II in 1119, when the king incited them to debate philosophy with the cardinals. Both twins were literate, and Abingdon Abbey later claimed to have been Robert's school, but though this is possible, its account is not entirely trustworthy. A surviving treatise on astronomy (British Library ms Royal E xxv) carries a dedication "to Earl Robert of Leicester, that man of affairs and profound learning, most accomplished in matters of law" who can only be this Robert. On his death he left his own psalter to the abbey he founded at Leicester, which was still in its library in the late fifteenth century. The existence of this indicates that like many noblemen of his day, Robert followed the canonical hours in his chapel.

Career at the Norman court

In 1120 Robert was declared of age and inherited most of his father's lands in England, while his twin brother took the French lands. However in 1121, royal favour brought Robert the great Norman honors of Breteuil and Pacy-sur-Eure, with his marriage to Amice de Gael, daughter of a Breton intruder the king had forced on the honor after the forfeiture of the Breteuil family in 1119. Robert spent a good deal of his time and resources over the next decade integrating the troublesome and independent barons of Breteuil into the greater complex of his estates. He did not join in his brother's great Norman rebellion against King Henry I in 1123–24. He appears fitfully at the royal court despite his brother's imprisonment until 1129. Thereafter the twins were frequently to be found together at Henry I's court.

Robert held lands throughout the country. In the 1120s and 1130s he tried to rationalise his estates in Leicestershire. Leicestershire estates of the See of Lincoln and the Earl of Chester were seized by force. This enhanced the integrity of Robert's block of estates in the central midlands, bounded by Nuneaton, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough.

In 1135, the twins were present at King Henry's deathbed. Robert's actions in the succession period are unknown, but he clearly supported his brother's decision to join the court of the new king Stephen before Easter 1136. During the first two years of the reign Robert is found in Normandy fighting rival claimants for his honor of Breteuil. Military action allowed him to add the castle of Pont St-Pierre to his Norman estates in June 1136 at the expense of one of his rivals. From the end of 1137 Robert and his brother were increasingly caught up in the politics of the court of King Stephen in England, where Waleran secured an ascendancy which lasted till the beginning of 1141. Robert participated in his brother's political coup against the king's justiciar, Roger of Salisbury (the Bishop of Salisbury).

Civil war in England

The outbreak of civil war in England in September 1139 brought Robert into conflict with Earl Robert of Gloucester, the bastard son of Henry I and principal sponsor of the Empress Matilda. His port of Wareham and estates in Dorset were seized by Gloucester in the first campaign of the war. In that campaign the king awarded Robert the city and castle of Hereford as a bid to establish the earl as his lieutenant in Herefordshire, which was in revolt. It is disputed by scholars whether this was an award of a second county to Earl Robert. Probably in late 1139, Earl Robert refounded his father's collegiate church of St Mary de Castro in Leicester as a major Augustinian abbey on the meadows outside the town's north gate, annexing the college's considerable endowment to the abbey.

The battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141 saw the capture and imprisonment of King Stephen. Although Count Waleran valiantly continued the royalist fight in England into the summer, he eventually capitulated to the Empress and crossed back to Normandy to make his peace with the Empress's husband, Geoffrey of Anjou. Earl Robert had been in Normandy since 1140 attempting to stem the Angevin invasion, and negotiated the terms of his brother's surrender. He quit Normandy soon after and his Norman estates were confiscated and used to reward Norman followers of the Empress. Earl Robert remained on his estates in England for the remainder of King Stephen's reign. Although he was a nominal supporter of the king, there seems to have been little contact between him and Stephen, who did not confirm the foundation of Leicester Abbey till 1153. Earl Robert's principal activity between 1141 and 1149 was his private war with Ranulf II, Earl of Chester. Though details are obscure it seems clear enough that he waged a dogged war with his rival that in the end secured him control of northern Leicestershire and the strategic Chester castle of Mountsorrel. When Earl Robert of Gloucester died in 1147, Robert of Leicester led the movement among the greater earls of England to negotiate private treaties to establish peace in their areas, a process hastened by the Empress's departure to Normandy, and complete by 1149. During this time the earl also exercised supervision over his twin brother's earldom of Worcester, and in 1151 he intervened to frustrate the king's attempts to seize the city.

Earl Robert and Henry Plantagenet

The arrival in England of Duke Henry, son of the Empress Mathilda, in January 1153 was a great opportunity for Earl Robert. He was probably in negotiation with Henry in that spring and reached an agreement by which he would defect to him by May 1153, when the duke restored his Norman estates to the earl. The duke celebrated his Pentecost court at Leicester in June 1153, and he and the earl were constantly in company till the peace settlement between the duke and the king at Winchester in November 1153. Earl Robert crossed with the duke to Normandy in January 1154 and resumed his Norman castles and honors. As part of the settlement his claim to be chief steward of England and Normandy was recognised by Henry.

Earl Robert began his career as chief justiciar of England probably as soon as Duke Henry succeeded as King Henry II in October 1154.[1] The office gave the earl supervision of the administration and legal process in England whether the king was present or absent in the realm. He appears in that capacity in numerous administrative acts, and had a junior colleague in the post in Richard de Luci, another former servant of King Stephen. The earl filled the office for nearly fourteen years until his death,[1] and earned the respect of the emerging Angevin bureaucracy in England. His opinion was quoted by learned clerics, and his own learning was highly commended.

He died on 5 April 1168,[1] probably at his Northamptonshire castle of Brackley, for his entrails were buried at the hospital in the town. He was received as a canon of Leicester on his deathbed, and buried to the north of the high altar of the great abbey he had founded and built. He left a written testament of which his son the third earl was an executor, as we learn in a reference dating to 1174.

Church patronage

Robert founded and patronised many religious establishments. He founded Leicester Abbey and Garendon Abbeyin Leicestershire, the Fontevraldine Nuneaton Priory in Warwickshire, Luffield Abbey in Buckinghamshire, and the hospital of Brackley, Northamptonshire. He refounded the collegiate church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester, as a dependency of Leicester abbey around 1164, after suppressing it in 1139. Around 1139 he refounded the collegiate church of Wareham as a priory of his abbey of Lyre, in Normandy. His principal Norman foundations were the priory of Le Dâesert in the forest of Breteuil and a major hospital in Breteuil itself. He was a generous benefactor of the Benedictine abbey of Lyre, the oldest monastic house in the honor of Breteuil. He also donated land in Old Dalby, Leicestershire to the Knights Hospitallers who used it to found Dalby Preceptory.

Family and children

He married after 1120 Amice de Montfort, daughter of Raoul II de Montfort, himself a son of Ralph de Gael, Earl of East Anglia. Both families had lost their English inheritances through rebellion in 1075. They had four children:

Hawise de Beaumont, who married William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and had descendants.
Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester who married Petronilla de Grandmesnil and had descendants.
Isabel, who married: Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Huntingdon and had descendants.
Margaret, who married Ralph V de Toeni and had descendants through their daughter, Ida de Tosny.

Occupation:
In medieval England and Scotland the Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the Justiciar) was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister[citation needed] as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the European Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius ("man of justice", i.e. judge).

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justiciar

Military:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchy

Robert married Lady Amice de Montfort, Countess of Leicester after 1120 in Brittany, France. Amice was born in 1108 in Norfolk, England; died on 31 Aug 1168 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Click this link to view 5 generations of her issue ... http://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Gael-Descendants-3

Notes:

Simon "1st Earl of Northampton, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon" de Senlis I formerly Senlis aka de St. Liz
Born about 1046 in Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France
Son of Ranulph (Senlis) de Senlis and Judith (Unknown) de Senlis
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of Maud (Huntingdon) of Scotland — married 1090 (to Dec 1111) [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Hugh (Senlis) de St Liz, Waltheof (Senlis) St Liz, Matilda (Senlis) Clare, Simon (Senlis) de St Liz and Malcolm (Huntingdon) Canmore
Died about 1111 in Priory of La Charitâe-sur-Loire, Bourgogne, France

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[categories]
British Aristocracy
Simon (Senlis) de Senlis I was a member of aristocracy in the British Isles.
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Biography
1st Earl of Northampton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon; Crusader

"SIMON DE ST. LIZ, said to be a son of Ranulph the Rich, a Norman, appears to have come to England early in the reign of William II. Presumably in consequence of his marriage, he became EARL of HUNTINGDON and NORTHAMPTON after 1086 (for he is not named in Domesday Book) and in or before 1090, when he witnessed a charter to Bath Abbey as "Earl Simon." He witnessed another royal charter under the same designation a little later. He fought for William in Normandy in 1098, and was taken prisoner by Louis, son of the French King. On the accession of Henry I in 1100 he witnessed the charter of liberties issued by the King at his Coronation. He built the Castle of Northampton and founded or refounded the Priory of St. Andrew in that town, and made it dependent on the Cluniac house of La Charitâe-sur-Loire; this was probably in the time of William Rufus, but certainly before 1108, when he granted an ample charter to it in conjunction with Maud his wife. He was a benefactor also to Daventry Priory, and probably built St. Sepulchre's, Northampton, about this time. He went to Jerusalem cruce signatus, and returned safely, but setting out again he died on the way at the above named Priory of La Charitâe, and was buried there.

"He married, perhaps as early as 1090 when she would be aged about 18, Maud, eldest daughter of Waltheof, EARL OF HUNTINGDON and NORTHAMPTON, by Judith, niece of William I. He died, as aforesaid, at La Charitâe presumably in 1111 or shortly afterwards. His widow married DAVID I of Scotland. [Complete Peerage VI:640-1, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

Simon Senlis/St. Liz: (b. before 1045, d. 1109, buried at the priory of La Charite-Sur-Loire). He probably went to England from Normandy about the end of the reign of William the Conqueror, and he was offered by the Conqueror the hand of William's niece, Judith of Lens, the widow of Earl Watheof of Huntingdon whom William beheaded in 1076 for treason, but Judith refused to marry him on account of his lameness. He then recieved the earldom of Northampton and Huntingdon from the king and eventually married Waltheof and Judith's daughter Maud (d. 1131), probably not earlier than 1098. In 1098 he was fighting on the side of King William Rufus in Normandy and was taken prisoner by Louis, son of the king of France. He was one of the witnesses to the coronation charter of King Henry I of England in 1100. Afterwards he went on the crusade and died in 1109.

Earl Simon built Northampton Castle and founded the priory of St. Andrew, Northampton, probably in 1108. By his wife Maud he had two sons: Simon (d.1153, Earl of Northampton, married Isabel de Beaumont, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Gloucester who d. 1118 by whom he had a son Simon III who died without issue after having married Alice de Gant, daughter of Gilbert de Gant, Earl of Lincoln), and Waltheof III (d. 1159, Abbot of Melrose). His daughter Maud married Robert Fitz-Richard de Clare of Tonbridge and William d'Albini who died 1155/6.-AEDC

Burial
AFT 1111 Reinterred St. Neots, Vichy, France
Sources
Royal Ancestry 2013 D. Richardson Vol. I p. 278
Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest, by Jim Weber, rootsweb.com
http://www.geni.com/people/Ranulph-I-de-Bayeux-Vicomte-du-Bessin/4615364525630058469
Reports and Papers of the Architectural and Archaeological Societies of the Counties of Lincoln and Northampton (Savill and Edwards, London, 1850) Vol. 1, Page 236

end of this biography

Died:
at the Priory of La Charitâe-sur-Loire

Map, History & Photo ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Charit%C3%A9-sur-Loire

Simon married Maud of Huntingdon, Queen Consort of Scotland in 1090. Maud (daughter of Waltheof Huntington, Earl of Northumbria and Judith of Lens, Countess of Northumberland) was born in ~1074 in Northumberland, England; died in 1130-1131 in Scone, Perthshire, Scotland; was buried in Scone Abbey, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Maud or Matilda (c.1074—1130/31) was the queen consort of King David I of Scotland. She was the great-niece of William the Conqueror and the granddaughter of Earl Siward.

Biography

Maud was the daughter of the Waltheof, the Anglo-Saxon Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton, and his Norman wife Judith of Lens. Her father was the last of the major Anglo-Saxon earls to remain powerful after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and the son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. Her mother was the niece of William the Conqueror.

She was married to Simon de Senlis (or St Liz) in about 1090.[1] Earlier, William had tried to get Maud's mother, Judith, to marry Simon. He received the honour of Huntingdon (whose lands stretched across much of eastern England) probably in right of his wife from William Rufus before the end of the year 1090.[2][3]

She had three known children by him:[2]

Matilda of St Liz (Maud) (d. 1140); she married Robert Fitz Richard of Tonbridge; she married secondly Saer De Quincy.
Simon of St Liz (d. 1153)
Saint Waltheof of Melrose (c.1100 – 1159/60)
Her first husband died some time after 1111 and Maud next married David, the brother-in-law of Henry I of England, in 1113.[1][3] Through the marriage, David gained control over his wife's vast estates in England, in addition to his own lands in Cumbria and Strathclyde.[3] They had four children (two sons and two daughters):[1]

Malcolm (born in 1113 or later, died young)
Henry (c.1114 – 1152)
Claricia (died unmarried)
Hodierna (died young and unmarried)
In 1124, David became King of Scots. Maud's two sons by different fathers, Simon and Henry, would later vie for the Earldom of Huntingdon.[3]

She died in 1130 or 1131 and was buried at Scone Abbey in Perthshire, but she appears in a charter of dubious origin dated 1147.[1]

Depictions in fiction

Maud of Huntingdon appears as a character in Elizabeth Chadwick's novel The Winter Mantle (2003), as well as Alan Moore's novel Voice of the Fire (1995) and Nigel Tranter's novel David the Prince (1980).

References

^ Jump up to: a b c d Weir, Alison (1995). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised Edition. London: Random House. ISBN 0-7126-7448-9. p. 192
^ Jump up to: a b Matthew Strickland, "Senlis, Simon (I) de", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25091
^ Jump up to: a b c d G. W. S. Barrow, "David I (c.1085–1153)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2006 ; Maud (d. 1131): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49353

Buried:
Scone Abbey (originally Scone Priory) was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire (Gowrie), Scotland. Dates given for the establishment of Scone Priory have ranged from 1114 A.D. to 1122 A.D. However, historians have long believed that Scone was before that time the center of the early medieval Christian cult of the Culdees (Câeli Dâe in medieval Irish meaning "Companions of God"). Very little is known about the Culdees but it is thought that a cult may have been worshiping at Scone from as early as 700 A.D. Archaeological surveys taken in 2007 suggest that Scone was a site of real significance even prior to 841 A.D., when Kenneth MacAlpin brought the Stone of Destiny, Scotland's most prized relic and coronation stone, to Scone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scone_Abbey

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Battle of Hastings, 1066

Notes:

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester (Sometime between 1040 & 1050 – 5 June 1118), also known as Robert of Meulan, count of Meulan, was a powerful Norman nobleman, one of the Companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England, and was revered as one of the wisest men of his age. Chroniclers spoke highly of his eloquence, his learning, and three kings of England valued his counsel.

Biography

He was born between 1040-1050, the eldest son of Roger de Beaumont (1015-1094) by his wife Adeline of Meulan (died 1081), a daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan, and was an older brother of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick (c. 1050-1119)

Robert de Beaumont was one of only about 15 of the Proven Companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and was leader of the infantry on the right wing of the Norman army, as evidenced in the following near contemporary account by William of Poitiers:

"A certain Norman, Robert, son of Roger of Beaumont, being nephew and heir to Henry, Count of Meulan, through Henry's sister Adeline, found himself that day in battle for the first time. He was as yet but a young man and he performed feats of valour worthy of perpetual remembrance. At the head of a troop which he commanded on the right wing he attacked with the utmost bravery and success".[1]

His service earned him the grant of more than 91 English manors confiscated from the defeated English, as listed in the Domesday Book of 1086.

When his mother died in 1081, Robert inherited the title of Count of Meulan in Normandy, and the title, Viscount Ivry and Lord of Norton. He paid homage to King Philip I of France for these estates and sat as a French Peer in the Parliament held at Poissy.

He and his brother Henry were members of the Royal hunting party in the New Forest in Hampshire when King William II Rufus (1087-1100) was shot dead accidentally by an arrow on 2 August 1100. He pledged allegiance to William II's brother, King Henry I (1100-1135), who created him Earl of Leicester in 1107.

On the death of William Rufus, William, Count of âEvreux and Ralph de Conches made an incursion into Robert's Norman estates, on the pretence they had suffered injury through some advice that Robert had given to the king; their raid was successful and they collected a vast booty.

During the English phase of the Investiture Controversy, he was excommunicated by Pope Paschal II on 26 March 1105 for advising King Henry to continue selecting the bishops of his realm in opposition to the canons of the church. Sometime in 1106, Henry succeeded in having Anselm, the exiled archbishop of Canterbury, revoke this excommunication. Anselm's (somewhat presumptuous) act was ultimately ratified by Paschal.

According to Henry of Huntingdon, Robert died of shame after "a certain earl carried off the lady he had espoused, either by some intrigue or by force and stratagem." He was the last surviving Norman nobleman to have fought in the Battle of Hastings.[2]

Family

In 1096 he married Elizabeth (or Isabel) de Vermandois, daughter of Hugh Magnus (1053-1101) a younger son of the French king and Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois (1050-1120). After his death Elizabeth remarried in 1118 to William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. He had the following progeny:

Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester (b. 1104), eldest twin and heir.
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester & Earl of Hereford (b. 1104), twin
Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford (b. circa 1106)
Emma de Beaumont (born 1102)
Adeline de Beaumont, married twice:
Hugh IV of Montfort-sur-Risle;
Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147)
Aubree de Beaumont, married Hugh II of Chãateauneuf-Thimerais.
Agnes de Beaumont, a nun
Maud de Beaumont, married William Lovel. (b. c. 1102)
Isabel de Beaumont, a mistress of King Henry I. Married twice:
Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke;
Hervâe de Montmorency, Constable of Ireland

Sources

icon Normandy portal
Edward T. Beaumont, J.P. The Beaumonts in History. A.D. 850-1850. Oxford.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Wm. of Poitiers, per Douglas (1959), p.227
Jump up ^ Edward T. Beaumont, J.P. The Beaumonts in History. A.D. 850-1850. Oxford.

end

Robert married Lady Isabel de Vermandois, Countess of Leicester in ~ 1096. Isabel (daughter of Hugues de France, Count of Vermandois and Adelaide of Vermandois) was born on 13 Dec 1081 in Basse-Normandie, France; died on 17 Feb 1131 in France; was buried in Lewes Priory, Southover, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth: 1081
Basse-Normandie, France
Death: Feb. 17, 1131, France

Countess of Leicester, Countess of Surrey

Third daughter of Hugh Magnus and Adelaide of Vermandois, granddaughter of King Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev, Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois, and Adele of Valois. She was the heiress of the county of Vermandois and descendant of Charlemagne.

Wife of Sir Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, the son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan; Isabel became the Countess of Leicester. They married about 1096 and had three sons and at least five daughters:
* Emma b 1101, probably died young
* Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, twin
* Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, twin
* Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford
* Adeline, wife of Hugh Montfort & Richard de Granville
* Aubree, wife of Hugh II of Chãateauneuf-en-Thimerais
* Maud, wife of William Lovel
* Isabel, mistress of King Henry I, wife of Gilbert de Clare and mother of Richard Strongbow & wife of Hervâe de Montmorency

Secondly, the wife of William de Warenne, son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred; Isabel became the Countess of Surrey. They married in 1118 and had three sons and two daughters:
* William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey
Ralph de Warenne
* Reginald de Warenne
* Gundrada de Warenne, wife of Roger de Beaumont& William de Lancaster
* Ada de Warenne, wife of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, mother King Malcolm IV and King William I 'the Lion'

Sir Robert de Beaumont, described as being "the wisest man in his time between London and Jerusalem", and aged over fifty was determined to marry Isabel, aged about eleven. Bishop Ivo dismissed their request based on their being within a few degrees of kindred. Isabel's father was able to sway Bishop Ivo, and saw his daughter married by April of 1096 when he left on a crusade.

In 1115, Isabel was either carried away or willingly abducted by William de Warrene, revealing they had been lovers for some time. They were unable to marry until the death of Sir Robert, which occurred in 1118.

The Beaumont sons were on opposite sides of support for King Stephen and Queen Matilda, but were not enemies.

Sources vary on her death, reported as 1131 to outliving William who died in 1138.

Family links:
Parents:
Hugues de France (1057 - 1102)

Spouses:
Robert de Beaumont (1049 - 1118)
William II de Warenne (1065 - 1138)

Children:
Waleran de Beaumont (1104 - 1166)*
Robert de Beaumont (1104 - 1168)*
Reginald de Warenne (1113 - 1179)*
William de Warenne (1118 - 1148)*
Ada De Warenne De Huntingdon (1120 - 1178)*

Sibling:
Isabel Of Vermandois Beaumont de Warenne (1081 - 1131)
Raoul I de Vermandois (1094 - 1152)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Lewes Priory
Lewes
Lewes District
East Sussex, England

end

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: 1046, Northumberland, England

Notes:

Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northumbria (d. 31 May 1076) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I.

Earl of Northumbria
Reign 1072–1076
Predecessor Cospatrick of Northumbria
Successor William Walcher
Died 31 May 1076
St. Giles's Hill, Winchester
Buried Croyland Abbey
Spouse(s) Judith of Lens
Father Siward, Earl of Northumbria
Mother Aelfflaed



Early life

Waltheof was the second son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. His mother was Aelfflaed, daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia, son of Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria. In 1054, Waltheof’s brother, Osbearn, who was much older than he, was killed in battle, making Waltheof his father’s heir. Siward himself died in 1055, and Waltheof being far too young to succeed as Earl of Northumbria, King Edward appointed Tostig Godwinson to the earldom.

Waltheof was said to be devout and charitable and was probably educated for a monastic life. Around 1065, however, he became an earl, governing Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire. Following the Battle of Hastings he submitted to William and was allowed to keep his pre-Conquest title and possessions. He remained at William’s court until 1068.
First revolt

When Sweyn II invaded Northern England in 1069, Waltheof and Edgar Aetheling joined the Danes and took part in the attack on York. He would again make a fresh submission to William after the departure of the invaders in 1070. He was restored to his earldom, and went on to marry William's niece, Judith of Lens. In 1072, he was appointed Earl of Northampton.

The Domesday Book mentions Waltheof ("Walleff"): "'In Hallam ("Halun"), one manor with its sixteen hamlets, there are twenty-nine carucates [~14 km²] to be taxed. There Earl Waltheof had an "Aula" [hall or court]. There may have been about twenty ploughs. This land Roger de Busli holds of the Countess Judith." (Hallam, or Hallamshire, is now part of the city of Sheffield)

In 1072, William expelled Gospatric from the earldom of Northumbria. Gospatric was Waltheof’s cousin and had taken part in the attack on York with him, but like Waltheof, had been pardoned by William. Gospatric fled into exile and William appointed Waltheof as the new earl.

Waltheof had many enemies in the north. Amongst them were members of a family who had killed Waltheof’s maternal great-grandfather, Uchtred the Bold, and his grandfather Ealdred. This was part of a long-running blood feud. In 1074, Waltheof moved against the family by sending his retainers to ambush them, succeeding in killing the two eldest of four brothers.
Second revolt and death

In 1075 Waltheof joined the Revolt of the Earls against William. His motives for taking part in the revolt are unclear, as is the depth of his involvement. However he repented, confessing his guilt first to Archbishop Lanfranc and then in person to William, who was at the time in Normandy. He returned to England with William but was arrested, brought twice before the king's court and sentenced to death.

He spent almost a year in confinement before being beheaded on 31 May 1076 at St. Giles's Hill, near Winchester. He was said to have spent the months of his captivity in prayer and fasting. Many people believed in his innocence and were surprised when the execution was carried out. His body was initially thrown into a ditch, but was later retrieved and buried in the chapter house of Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire.
Cult of martyrdom
statue traditionally identified as Waltheof, at Croyland Abbey, west front of ruined nave, 4th tier

In 1092, after a fire in the chapter house, the abbot had Waltheof’s body moved to a prominent place in the abbey church. When the coffin was opened, it is reported that the corpse was found to be intact with the severed head re-joined to the trunk.[1] This was regarded as a miracle, and the abbey, which had a financial interest in the matter began to publicise it. As a result, pilgrims began to visit Waltheof’s tomb. He was commemorated on 31 August.[2][3]

After a few years healing miracles were reputed to occur in the vicinity of Waltheof’s tomb, often involving the restoration of the pilgrim’s lost sight.

Waltheof also became the subject of popular media, heroic but inaccurate accounts of his life being preserved in the Vita et Passio Waldevi comitis, a Middle English Waltheof saga, since lost, and the Anglo-Norman Waldef.
Family and children

In 1070 Waltheof married Judith de Lens, daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale. They had three children, the eldest of whom, Maud, brought the earldom of Huntingdon to her second husband, David I of Scotland, and another, Adelise, married the Anglo-Norman noble Raoul III of Tosny.

One of Waltheof's grandsons was Waltheof (d. 1159), abbot of Melrose.
In popular culture

Waltheof was portrayed by actor Marcus Gilbert in the TV drama Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990).
Waltheof is the subject of Juliet Dymoke's 1970 historical novel Of the Ring of Earls
Waltheof is a major character in Elizabeth Chadwick's 2002 historical novel The Winter Mantle

end of biography

Buried:
Images & History of Crowland Abbey: https://www.crowlandabbey.org.uk/

Waltheof married Judith of Lens, Countess of Northumberland after Jan 1070. Judith (daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Countess Adelaide of Normandy) was born in 1054-1055 in Lens, France; died in ~1090 in Fotheringay, Northamptonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Countess Judith (born in Normandy between 1054 and 1055, died after 1086), was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of his sister Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale and Lambert II, Count of Lens.
Life

In 1070, Judith married Earl Waltheof of Huntingdon and Northumbria. They had three children. Their eldest daughter, Maud, brought the earldom of Huntingdon to her second husband, David I of Scotland. Their daughter, Adelise, married Raoul III de Conches whose sister, Godehilde, married Baldwin I of Jerusalem.

In 1075, Waltheof joined the Revolt of the Earls against William. It was the last serious act of resistance against the Norman conquest of England. Judith betrayed Waltheof to her uncle, who had Waltheof beheaded on 31 May 1076.

After Waltheof's execution Judith was betrothed by William to Simon I of St. Liz, 1st Earl of Northampton. Judith refused to marry Simon and she fled the country to avoid William's anger. William then temporarily confiscated all of Judith's English estates. Finally, Simon married Judith's daughter, Maud, in or before 1090.

Judith founded Elstow Abbey in Bedfordshire around 1078. She also founded churches at Kempston and Hitchin.

She had land-holdings in 10 counties in the Midlands and East Anglia. Her holdings included land at:

Earls Barton, Northamptonshire
Great Doddington, Northamptonshire
Grendon, Northamptonshire
Ashby Folville, Leicestershire
Lowesby, Leicestershire
Merton, Oxfordshire
Piddington, Oxfordshire
Potton, Bedfordshire
Sawtry, Huntingdonshire

The parish of Sawtry Judith in Huntingdonshire is named after the Countess.
From the Domesday Book

In POTONE Hugh holds ½ virgate of land from the Countess. Land for 1 plough; it is there, with 1 smallholder. The value is and was 5s; before 1066, 2s. Earl Tosti held this land in Potton, his manor.

Countess Judith holds POTONE herself. It answers for 10 hides. Land for 12 ploughs. In lordship 3½ hides; 3 ploughs there. 18 villagers and 2 Freemen with 8 ploughs; a ninth possible. 13 smallholders and 3 slaves. 1 mill, 5s; meadow for 12 ploughs; pasture for the village livestock. In total, value ¹12; when acquired 100s; before 1066 ¹13. King Edward held this manor; it was Earl Tosti's. There were 4 Freemen who had 1 hide and 1 virgate; they could grant to whom they would.

In (Cockayne) HATLEY Countess Judith holds 3 hides and 2½ virgates as one manor. Land for 6½ ploughs. In lordship 1 hide and ½ virgate; 2 ploughs there. 8 villagers with 4½ ploughs; woodland, 4 pigs. Value ¹6 5s; when acquired 100s; before 1066 ¹6. Earl Tosti held this manor. It lies in Potton, the Countess' own manor. A Freeman had 1 virgate; he could grant and sell, and withdraw to another lord.

Ranulf brother of Ilger holds EVERTON from the Countess. It answers for 5 hides. Land for 5 ploughs; 2 ploughs there; 3 possible. 4 villagers; 5 smallholders. Meadow for 1 plough. Value ¹3; when acquired 100s; as much before 1066. Earl Tosti held this manor. It lay in Potton, the Countess' own manor.

end of biography

Other Events and Attributes:

• Burial: Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Prâeaux, France
• Possessions: Beaumont-le-Roger, Normandy, France
• Possessions: Pont-Audemer, Normandy, France
• Military: Battle of Hasings, 1066

Notes:

Roger de Beaumont (c. 1015 – 29 November 1094), feudal lord (French: seigneur) of Beaumont-le-Roger and of Pont-Audemer in Normandy, was a powerful Norman nobleman and close advisor to William the Conqueror.

Origins

He was a son of Humphrey de Vieilles (who was a great-nephew of the Duchess Gunnora of Normandy) by his wife Albreda de la Haye Auberie. Roger de Beaumont was thus a second cousin once removed of William the Conqueror. His Norman feudal lordship had its caput and castle at Beaumont-le-Roger, a settlement situated on the upper reaches of the River Risle, in Normandy, about 46 km SW of Rouen, the capital of the Duchy. He was also feudal lord of Pont-Audemer, a settlement built around the first bridge to cross the River Risle upstream of its estuary, shared with the River Seine.

Physical appearance[edit]
Roger was nicknamed La Barbe (Latinised to Barbatus) (i.e. "The Bearded") because he wore a moustache and beard while the Normans usually were clean shaven. This peculiarity is believed to be recognized in the thirty-second panel of the Bayeux Tapestry where he is depicted sitting at a feast near Hastings, well before the battle, at the right hand of Duke William, who in turn was seated at the right hand of his brother Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who is shown blessing the food at a feast.

Career

Planchâe described him as "the noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Normandy, and the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish (i.e. Norman) family". The explanation for his exalted position appears to be that as an older cousin who had never rebelled against the young Duke, he was part of the kinship group of noblemen that William relied upon in governing Normandy and fighting-off frequent rebellion and invasions. The historian Frank McLynn observed that William relied heavily on relatives on his mother's side, namely his half-brothers Bishop Odo and Robert, and brothers-in-law, and on relatives descended from the Duchess Gunnora's sisters, since his own paternal kin had proved unreliable.

Wace, the 12th century historian, wrote that: "At the time of the invasion of England, Roger was summoned to the great council at Lillebonne, on account of his wisdom; but he did not join in the expedition as he was too far advanced in years". Although Roger could not fight, he did not hesitate in contributing a large share of the cost, and provided at his own expense sixty vessels for the conveyance of the troops across the channel. Furthermore, his eldest son and heir fought bravely at Hastings as noted in several contemporary records. As a result, Roger's elder sons were rewarded generously with lands in England, and both eventually were made English earls by the sons of the Conqueror. Wace's statement may therefore cast doubt on the possibility of Roger being depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry feasting at Hastings. However it is possible that he crossed the Channel so he could continue to act as a valued member of the Duke's council, perhaps giving advice on military tactics, yet stayed well behind the line of battle at headquarters.

Marriage & progeny

He married circa 1048 or earlier Adeline of Meulan (c. 1014-1020 - 8 April 1081), who was buried at the Abbaye du Bec, the daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan by Oda de Conteville, and sister and heiress of a childless Count of Meulan. Meulan eventually passed to their elder son who became Count of Meulan in 1081. Their surviving children were:

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (c.1049-1118), the eldest son and heir. He succeeded his father in the major part of his lands, and was one of the few proven Companions of William the Conqueror who fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick (c.1050-1119). He was overshadowed by his elder brother, but was granted by his father one of his lesser lordships in Normandy, the lordship of Le Neubourg, about 12 km NE of Beaumont-le-Roger, from which his own family adopted the surname Anglicised to "de Newburgh". He established a more enduring line of Beaumont earls than his elder brother, Earls of Warwick seated at Warwick Castle.
William de Beaumont (not mentioned in most sources).
Alberâee de Beaumont (died 1112), Abbess of Eton.

Death & burial

He was buried at Les Prâeaux.

end

Roger married Adeline of Meulan in ~ 1048. Adeline (daughter of Waleran of Meulan, III, Count of Meulan and Oda de Conteville) was born in ~ 1014 in Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-De-France, France; died on 8 Apr 1081; was buried in Abbaye du Bec, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Leader of the 1st Crusade

Notes:

Birth: 1057
Death: Oct. 18, 1102

Nobility. Son of Henri I of France and his second wife Anna Iaroslavna of Kiev. He married Adelais de Vermandois who bore him nine children.

Family links:
Parents:
King Henri (1008 - 1060)
Anna Agnesa Yaroslavna (1036 - 1075)

Spouse:
Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois*

Children:
Isabel Of Vermandois Beaumont de Warenne (1081 - 1131)*
Raoul I de Vermandois (1094 - 1152)*

Siblings:
Philip I of France (1052 - 1108)*
Hugh I Count of Vermandois (1057 - 1102)*
Hugues de France (1057 - 1102)

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Church of St Paul
Mersin
Mersin, Turkey

Created by: Lutetia
Record added: Jan 13, 2013
Find A Grave Memorial# 103487897

end of profile

The PEDIGREE of
Hugh MAGNUS `the Great' de CREPI


Count of VERMANDOIS; Leader of 1st Crusade (Crusader); (inherited VERMANDOIS from his wife, whose brother Eudes, q.v., was disinherited)
Born: abt. 1057 Died: 18 Oct 1101 Tarsus d. from Battle wounds


HM George I's 15-Great Grandfather. HRE Ferdinand I's 13-Great Grandfather. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 19-Great Grandfather. PM Churchill's 22-Great Grandfather. HM Margrethe II's 23-Great Grandfather. Gen. Pierpont Hamilton's 23-Great Grandfather. `Red Baron' Richthofen's 20-Great Grandfather. Poss. Agnes Harris's 16-Great Grandfather. `Osawatomie' Brown's 23-Great Grandfather.
Wife/Partner: Adelheid (Adelaide) (Countess) de VERMANDOIS
Children: Raoul I (Count) de VERMANDOIS ; Isabelle (de) VERMANDOIS ; Agnes de VERMANDOIS ; Mathilda (Mahaut) de VERMANDOIS ; Constance de VERMANDOIS ; Henri de Chaumont
Possible Child: Alice de VERMANDOIS
________ ________ ________ ________ _______ _______ _______ _______ ______ _____ _____
/ -- Robert I (King) of FRANCE + ==&=> [ 255 ,,x,&]
/ -- Hugh (I) `the Great' (Duke) of the FRANKS
/ \ -- Beatrice (poss. de VERMANDOIS) + ====> [ 255 ,,x,&]
/ -- Hugh (Hugues) CAPET (King) of FRANCE
/ \ -- Hedwige (Hedwig) of SAXONY + ==&=> [ 255 ,c,ptm,&]
/ -- Robert II CAPET (King) of FRANCE
/ \ -- Adelais of the CAROLINGIANS + ====> [ 255 ,c,pt,&]
/ -- Henry I CAPET (King) of FRANCE (1008 - 1060)
| \ / -- Boso (Bozon; II) of PROVENCE + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,pt,&]
| | / -- William (I; II; Marquis/Duke) of PROVENCE
| | | \ -- Constance of ARLES (de VIENNE) + ==&=> [ 255 ,C,ptQD,&]
| | / | or: Constantia (of unknown ancestry)
| \ -- Constance of ARLES (TOULOUSE) (980? - 1032 Meulan)
/ \ -- Adelaide (Aelips) `Blanche' d' ANJOU + ====> [ 255 ,c,&]
- Hugh MAGNUS `the Great' de CREPI
\ / -- Vladimir (I; Saint; Grand Prince) of KIEV + ====> [ 255 ,,R,&]
| / -- Jaroslav (Yaroslav Laroslav) I WLADIMIROWWITSCH
| | \ -- Rogneida (Rognieda) (Princess) von POLOTZK + ====> [ 3]
| | | or: Anna PORPHYROGENITA, q.v.
| / | OR: poss. (Miss) von SCHWABEN + ==&=> [ 255 ,gC,tm,&]
\ -- Anna (Agnesa) JAROSLAVNA (Princess) of KIEV
\ | or: prob. not Matilda of GERMANY (1st wife)
| / -- Olaf III (II; King; Skot-konig) of SWEDEN + ====> [ 255 ,g,&]
\ -- Ingegarda (Ingrid) OLAFSDOTTIR (1001? - 1050)
\ / -- Mieceslas III (Prince) of the OBOTRITES + ====> [ 255 ,c,pt,&]
\ -- Astrid (Ingegerda) (Princess) of the OBOTRITES
\ -- Sophia (Sweden)


His (poss.) Grandchildren: Eleonore de VERMANDOIS ; Isabelle de VERMANDOIS ; Eleonore de VERMANDOIS ; Alice of LEICESTER ; Ada (of Surrey) de WARENNE ; Reginald de WARREN ; Isabel (Elizabeth) de BEAUMONT ; Robert II `Bossu' de BEAUMONT (BELLOMONT; BLANCHMAIN) ; William (III) de WARENNE ; Waleran II de BEAUMONT (Count) de MEULAN ; Gundred de WARREN (WARENNE) ; Adelina (de) BEAUMONT ; Rainald de WARENNE ; Ella de WARREN ; (Miss) de WARENNE ; Matilda (Aubreye) de BEAUMONT ; Emma of BEAUMONT ; Eleanor BEAUMONT ; Manfred I (Marquess) of SALUZZO ; Anselmo (Marquis) de CEVA (del VASTO) ; Guglielmo del VASTO ; Sibel (Sibyl) of SAVONA del VASTO ; Agnes de BAUGENCY ; Mathilde de BEAUGENCY ; Adelheid de la FERTE-GAUCHER ; Bernard de ST. VALERY

[ Start ]
FabPed Genealogy Vers. 86 © Jamie, 1997-2018

end of pedigree

Birth:
Vermandois was a French county that appeared in the Merovingian period. Its name derives from that of an ancient tribe, the Viromandui. In the 10th century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin (Aisne) and Pâeronne (Somme). In today's times, the Vermandois county would fall in the Picardy region of northern France.

Pepin I of Vermandois, the earliest of its hereditary counts, was descended in direct male line from the emperor Charlemagne. More famous was his grandson Herbert II (902–943), who considerably increased the territorial power of the house of Vermandois, and kept the lawful king of France, the unlucky Charles the Simple, prisoner for six years. Herbert II was son of Herbert I, lord of Pâeronne and St Quentin, who was killed in 902 by an assassin in the pay of Baldwin II, Count of Flanders. His successors, Albert I, Herbert III, Albert II, Otto and Herbert IV, were not as historically significant.

In 1077, the last count of the first house of Vermandois, Herbert IV, received the county of Valois through his wife. His son Eudes (II) the Insane was disinherited by the council of the Barons of France. He was lord of Saint-Simon through his wife, and the county was given to his sister Adela, whose first husband was Hugh the Great, the brother of King Philip I of France. Hugh was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, and died in 1102 at Tarsus in Cilicia. The eldest son of Hugh and Adela was count Raoul I (c. 1120–1152), who married Petronilla of Aquitaine, sister of the queen, Eleanor, and had by her three children: Raoul (Rudolph) II, the Leper (count from 1152–1167); Isabelle, who possessed from 1167 to 1183 the counties of Vermandois, Valois and Amiens conjointly with her husband, Philip, Count of Flanders; and Eleanor. By the terms of a treaty concluded in 1186 with the king, Philip Augustus, the count of Flanders kept the county of Vermandois until his death, in 1191. At this date, a new arrangement gave Eleanor (d. 1213) a life interest in the eastern part of Vermandois, together with the title of countess of St Quentin, and the king entered immediately into possession of Peronne and its dependencies.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermandois

Died:
from battle wounds...

Hugues married Adelaide of Vermandois. Adelaide was born in 1060-1062 in Valois, France; died on 28 Sep 1120 in Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Siward or Sigurd (/'su?w?rd/ or more recently /'si?w?rd/;[1] Old English: Sigeweard)[2] was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname Digri and its Latin translation Grossus ("the stout") are given to him by near-contemporary texts.[3] Siward was probably of Scandinavian origin, perhaps a relative of Earl Ulf, and emerged as a powerful regional strongman in England during the reign of Cnut ("Canute the Great", 1016–1035). Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, and Siward was one of the many Scandinavians who came to England in the aftermath of that conquest. Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria, that is, present-day Yorkshire, governing as earl on Cnut's behalf.

He entrenched his position in northern England by marrying ¥lfflµd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh. After killing Ealdred's successor Eadulf in 1041, Siward gained control of all Northumbria. He exerted his power in support of Cnut's successors, kings Harthacnut and Edward, assisting them with vital military aid and counsel. He probably gained control of the middle shires of Northampton and Huntingdon by the 1050s, and there is some evidence that he spread Northumbrian control into Cumberland. In the early 1050s Earl Siward turned against the Scottish ruler Mac Bethad mac Findlaâich ("Macbeth"). Despite the death of his son Osbjorn, Siward defeated Mac Bethad in battle in 1054. More than half a millennium later the Scotland adventure earned him a place in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Siward died in 1055, leaving one son, Waltheof, who would eventually succeed to Northumbria. St Olave's church in York and nearby Heslington Hill are associated with Siward.

read more...

Died:
"Siward, the stalwart earl, being stricken by dysentery, felt that death was near, and said, "How shameful it is that I, who could not die in so many battles, should have been saved for the ignominious death of a cow! At least clothe me in my impenetrable breastplate, gird me with my sword, place my helmet on my head, my shield in my left hand, my gilded battle-axe in my right, that I, the bravest of soldiers, may die like a soldier."

He spoke, and armed as he had requested, he gave up his spirit with honour".

— A description of Siward's death, taken from the Historia Anglorum of Henry of Huntingdon.

Buried:
at St Olave's Church, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Olave%27s_Church,_York

Siward married Aelfflaed(Northumbria, England). Aelfflaed (daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia and unnamed spouse) was born in ~1010 in (Northumbria, England); died in 1060 in Northumbria, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lambert married Countess Adelaide of Normandy(Normandie, France). Adelaide (daughter of Duke Robert de Normandie, II and Harriette de Falaise, Countess of Montaigne) was born in ~1030 in Normandie, France; died before 1090 in (Normandie, France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Adelaide of Normandy (or Adeliza) (c. 1030 – bef. 1090) was the sister of William the Conqueror and was Countess of Aumale in her own right.

Life

Born c. 1030,[1] Adelaide was an illegitimate daughter of the Norman duke Robert the Magnificent. Robert's likewise illegitimate son and successor, William the Conqueror, was Adelaide's brother or half-brother.[a]

Adelaide's first marriage to Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu potentially gave William a powerful ally in upper Normandy.[2] But at the Council of Reims in 1049, when the marriage of William with Matilda of Flanders was prohibited based on consanguinity, so were those of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne and Enguerrand of Ponthieu, who was already married to Adelaide.[3] Adelaide's marriage was apparently annulled c.1049/50 and another marriage was arranged for her, this time to Lambert II, Count of Lens, younger son of Eustace I, Count of Boulogne forming a new marital alliance between Normandy and Boulogne.[4] Lambert was killed in 1054 at Lille, aiding Baldwin V, Count of Flanders against Emperor Henry III.[5] Now widowed, Adelaide resided at Aumale, probably part of her dower from her first husband, Enguerrand, or part of a settlement after the capture of Guy of Ponthieu, her brother-in-law.[b][4] As a dowager Adelaide began a semi-religious retirement and became involved with the church at Auchy presenting them with a number of gifts.[4] In 1060 she was called upon again to form another marital alliance, this time to a younger man Odo, Count of Champagne.[6] Odo seems to have been something of a disappointment as he appears on only one of the Conqueror's charters and received no land in England; his wife being a tenant-in-chief in her own right.[6]

In 1082, William and his wife, Matilda, gave to the abbey of the Holy Trinity in Caen the town of Le Homme in the Cotentin with a provision to the Countess of Albamarla (Aumale), his sister, for a life tenancy.[7] In 1086, as Comitissa de Albatnarla,[7] as she was listed in the Domesday Book, was shown as having numerous holdings in both Suffolk and Essex,[8] one of the very few Norman noblewomen to have held lands in England at Domesday as a tenant-in-chief.[9] She was also given the lordship of Holderness which was held after her death by her 3rd husband, Odo, the by then disinherited Count of Champagne; the lordship then passed to their son, Stephen.[7] Adelaide died before 1090.[10]
Family

Adelaide married three times; first to Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu (died 1053)[11] by whom she had issue:

Adelaide, living 1096.[7]

She married secondly Lambert II, Count of Lens (died 1054),[10] they had a daughter:

Judith of Lens, m. Waltheof Earl of Huntingdon and Northumbria.[12]

Adelaide married thirdly in 1060 Odo, Count of Champagne (d. aft. 1096),[13] by whom she had a son:

Stephen, Count of Aumale.[13]

end of biography

Notes:

Biography

Waleran Meulan (Wakran de Moulcon)
Birth: 0990 • Mellent, Normandy, France
Death: 08 Oct 1069 • Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-De-France, France

Marriage & Family

Spouse: Oda de Conteville (994–1022)

Children:

Adeline de Maulâeon (de Beaumont)
Marie de Maulâeon (Talbot) (abt. 1005- )
Robert de Maulâeon (aft. 1013- )
Aremgarde de Maulâeon (Thouars) ( –1069)
Avelina de Maulâeon (1014 - 1081)
Hugh de Vernon(?)
Count Waleran

"...Count Waleran established an independent power base on a fortified island in the River Seine, around the year 1020."[1]
"Both he and his son, Count Hugh, maintained an independence from the Capetian king at Paris by a judicious if dangerous alliance with the dukes of Normandy downstream. This led to the marriage of Adeline, Count Hugh's sister, to the Norman magnate, Roger de Beaumont.[2]
"On Count Hugh's death in 1081 his nephew, Robert de Beaumont, acquired the county."[3]

Sources

Source: Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015: Name: Waleran De Meulan; Gender: m; Birth Date: 0990; Birth Place: Mellent, Normandy, France; Death Date: 8 Oct 1069; Death Place: Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-De-France, France; Death Age: 79; Spouse: Oda De Conteville; Children: Aurengarde De Mauleon; URL: https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/radford-family-tree/I964.php
Source: Waleran de Meulan, Comte de Meulan III. WeRelate.org. Last modified 19:52, 27 Sep 2016. Accessed: 21 Nov 2017. URL: https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Waleran_De_Meulan_%281%29
Waleran de Meulan, Comte de Meulan III
b. est 0990, probably Meulan, Yvelines, France
d. 8 Oct 1069, probably Meulan, Yvelines, France
?Facts and Events
Name[4][5][6][7]
Waleran de Meulan, Comte de Meulan III
Alt Name[8][9]
Galeran de Meulan
Gender: Male
Birth[10][11]: est 0990, probably Meulan, Yvelines, France
Marriage: bef 1015 to Oda de Conteville
Marriage: to Adelais
Death[12][13][14][15]: 8 Oct 1069, probably Meulan, Yvelines, France
Reference Number?: Q2195516?
?References
? Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999 (13), 2943.
? Weis, Frederick Lewis; Walter Lee Sheppard; and David Faris. Ancestral roots of certain American colonists, who came to America before 1700: the lineage of Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and some of their descendants. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 7th Edition c1992), 50-24.
? The Plantagenet Ancestry, by William Henry Turton, 1968 (4), 100.
? Stuart, Roderick W. Royalty for Commoners. (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992, 2nd ed.), p. 140.
Stuart, Roderick W. Royalty for Commoners. (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992, 2nd ed.), p. 79.
? The Plantagenet Ancestry, by William Henry Turton, 1968 (4).
? 7.0 7.1 Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom, by G. E Cokayne, Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2000.
? Gilman, Mariah Hope. Ancestors of Mariah Hope Gilman. (http://superjordans-home.com/MariahsAncestors/Index.htm, Cited 16 February 2004.).
Waleran III de Meulan, Comte de Meulan, in Lundy, Darryl. The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe.
? 10.0 10.1 Counts of Meulan, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia."Waleran III, Count of Meulan (ca. 990–ca. 1069)"
? 11.0 11.1 Normandy, Nobility: GALERAN [III] de Meulan, in Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families.
? Source: County of Meulan. Wikipedia.org. Last edited: 18 Aug 2016. Accessed: 21 Nov 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_of_Meulan
? ibid.
? ibid.
? Reference: Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999
? Reference: Weis, Frederick Lewis; Walter Lee Sheppard; and David Faris. Ancestral roots of certain American colonists, who came to America before 1700: the lineage of Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and some of their descendants
? Reference: The Plantagenet Ancestry, by William Henry Turton, 1968 (4), 100.
? Reference: Ancestors of Mariah Hope Gilman.
? References: Royalty for Commoners.
? Reference: Normandy, Nobility: GALERAN [III] de Meulan
? Reference: Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom
? Reference: Counts of Meulan
? Reference: The Plantagenet Ancestry
? Reference: Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom
? Reference: Counts of Meulan
? Reference: Normandy, Nobility: GALERAN [III] de Meulan

Also see:

Place sources here:
County of Meulan @Wikipedia
The PEDIGREE of Waleran III (II) de MEULAN

end of biography

Waleran married Oda de Conteville in ~1007. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Henry I (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) was King of the Franks from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. This is not entirely agreed upon, however, as other historians regard him as a strong but realistic king, who was forced to conduct a policy mindful of the limitations of the French monarchy.

King of the Franks
Junior king
Senior king 14 May 1027 – 20 July 1031;
20 July 1031 – 4 August 1060
Coronation 14 May 1027, Cathedral of Reims
Predecessor Robert II
Successor Philip I
Born 4 May 1008
Reims, France
Died 4 August 1060 (aged 52)
Vitry-aux-Loges, France
Burial Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France
Spouse Matilda of Frisia
Anne of Kiev
Issue Philip I
Emma of France
Robert of France
Hugh I, Count of Vermandois
House Capet
Father Robert II of France


Reign
A member of the House of Capet, Henry was born in Reims, the son of King Robert II (972–1031) and Constance of Arles (986–1034).[1] He was crowned King of France at the Cathedral of Reims on 14 May 1027,[2] in the Capetian tradition, while his father still lived. He had little influence and power until he became sole ruler on his father's death.

The reign of Henry I, like those of his predecessors, was marked by territorial struggles. Initially, he joined his brother Robert, with the support of their mother, in a revolt against his father (1025). His mother, however, supported Robert as heir to the old king, on whose death Henry was left to deal with his rebel sibling.[3] In 1032, he placated his brother by giving him the duchy of Burgundy[3] which his father had given him in 1016.[4]

In an early strategic move, Henry came to the rescue of his very young nephew-in-law, the newly appointed Duke William of Normandy (who would go on to become William the Conqueror), to suppress a revolt by William's vassals. In 1047, Henry secured the dukedom for William in their decisive victory over the vassals at the Battle of Val-áes-Dunes near Caen;[5] however, Henry would later support the barons against William until the former's death in 1060.[6]

In 1051, William married Matilda, the daughter of the count of Flanders, which Henry saw as a threat to his throne.[7] In 1054, and again in 1057, Henry invaded Normandy, but on both occasions he was defeated.[7]

Henry had three meetings with Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—all at Ivois. In early 1043, he met him to discuss the marriage of the emperor with Agnes of Poitou, the daughter of Henry's vassal.[8] In October 1048, the two Henries met again and signed a treaty of friendship.[9] The final meeting took place in May 1056 and concerned disputes over Theobald III and County of Blois.[9] The debate over the duchy became so heated that Henry accused the emperor of breach of contract and subsequently left.[9] In 1058, Henry was selling bishoprics and abbacies, ignoring the accusations of simony and tyranny by the Papal legate Cardinal Humbert.[10] Despite his efforts, Henry I's twenty-nine-year reign saw feudal power in France reach its pinnacle.

King Henry I died on 4 August 1060 in Vitry-en-Brie, France, and was interred in Basilica of St Denis. He was succeeded by his son, Philip I of France, who was 7 at the time of his death; for six years Henry's queen Anne of Kiev ruled as regent. At the time of his death, he was besieging Thimert, which had been occupied by the Normans since 1058.[11]

Marriages
Henry I was betrothed to Matilda, the daughter of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, but she died prematurely in 1034.[12] Henry then married Matilda of Frisia, but she died in 1044,[13] following a Caesarean section. Casting further afield in search of a third wife, Henry married Anne of Kiev on 19 May 1051.[13] They had four children:

Philip I (23 May 1052 – 30 July 1108).[14]
Emma (1054 – 1109?).
Robert (c. 1055 – c. 1060).
Hugh "the Great" of Vermandois (1057–1102).[15]

end of biography

Henri married Anna Agnesa Yaraslavna, Queen of France. Anna (daughter of Yaroslav, I, Czar of Russia and Ingigerd Olofsdottir, Princess of Sweden) was born in 1036 in Kiev, Ukraine; died on 5 Sep 1075 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The PEDIGREE of
Anna (Agnesa) JAROSLAVNA (Princess) of KIEV

aka Anne of RUSSIA; (YAROSLAVNA Iaroslavna) KIJEWSKAIA; (Capet's 2nd wife)
Born: Kiev 1036 Died: aft. 1076 France


HM George I's 16-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 13-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 19-Great Grandmother. PM Churchill's 23-Great Grandmother. HM Margrethe II's 24-Great Grandmother. Gen. Pierpont Hamilton's 24-Great Grandmother. `Red Baron' Richthofen's 21-Great Grandmother. Poss. Agnes Harris's 17-Great Grandmother. `Osawatomie' Brown's 24-Great Grandmother.
Husbands/Partners: Henry I CAPET (King) of FRANCE ; Raoul III de CREPY
Child: Philip I `the Amorous' (King) of FRANCE
Possible Child: Hugh MAGNUS `the Great' de CREPI
Alternative Mother of Possible Child: prob. not Matilda of GERMANY (1st wife)
________ ________ ________ ________ _______ _______ _______ _______ ______ _____ _____
/ -- Rurik (Grand Prince) of NOVGORAD + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&]
| | or: Ingwar (Rurik's son)
/ | OR: prob. not Rurik NOWGOROD [alt ped] + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&]
/ -- Igor I (Grand Prince) of KIEV (876? - 945?)
| \ | OR: prob. source: N1c1 y-Haplogroup + =====>
| \ -- Efanda of URMAN + ====> [ 1]
/ | OR: prob. not Marija of BULGARIA + ==&=> [ 255 ,,XQD,&]
/ -- Sviatoslav (Svatislav) I IGORJEWITSCH
/ \ -- Olga von PLESKAU (Grand Duchess) of KIEV + ====> [ 2]
/ -- Vladimir (I; Saint; Grand Prince) of KIEV
| \ / -- poss. Malk (Mal) de LUBECH + ====> [ 1]
| \ -- Malousha `the Slav' de LUBECH (944? - 1002?)
| \ | or: Fredslava (ARPAD ?), q.v.
/ \ -- Olga
/ -- Jaroslav (Yaroslav Laroslav) I WLADIMIROWWITSCH
| \ / -- poss. Randolph of POLOTSK + ====> [ 1]
| | / -- Rognwald (Rognvald) (Count) von POLOTZK
| \ -- Rogneida (Rognieda) (Princess) von POLOTZK
| | or: Anna PORPHYROGENITA, q.v.
/ | OR: poss. (Miss) von SCHWABEN + ==&=> [ 255 ,gC,tm,&]
- Anna (Agnesa) JAROSLAVNA (Princess) of KIEV
\ / -- Erik EDMUNDSSON of SWEDEN (Goten) + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&]
| / -- Bjorn (III) `the Old' (`a Haugi') ERIKSSON
| / -- Erik VII `Segersall' (King) of SWEDEN
| | \ | OR: Erik VII `Segersall' of SWEDEN [alt ped] + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&]
| / \ -- Ingeborg (? - 934+)
| / -- Olaf III (II; King; Skot-konig) of SWEDEN
| | \ / -- Skoglar-Toste (Skogul-Tosti) STORRADA
| | \ -- Sigrid (Sigrith) STORRADA (Queen) of DENMARK
| / | OR: prob. Gunhild MIEZKODOTTER av VENDEN + ====> [ 255 ,g,&]
\ -- Ingegarda (Ingrid) OLAFSDOTTIR (1001? - 1050)
\ / -- Mitsui II (Prince) of the OBOTRITES + ====> [ 255 ,,x,&]
| / -- Mieceslas III (Prince) of the OBOTRITES
| | \ -- poss. Sophia MIECESLAS + ====> [ 1]
| / | OR: poss. Margareta of SAXONY + ==&=> [ 255 ,c,pt,&]
\ -- Astrid (Ingegerda) (Princess) of the OBOTRITES
\ -- Sophia (Sweden)


Her (poss.) Grandchildren: Cecile de FRANCE ; Louis VI `the Fat' (King) of FRANCE ; Constance (Constansia) CAPET (Princess) of FRANCE ; Florent de FRANCE ; Raoul I (Count) de VERMANDOIS ; Isabelle (de) VERMANDOIS ; Agnes de VERMANDOIS ; Mathilda (Mahaut) de VERMANDOIS ; Constance de VERMANDOIS ; Alice de VERMANDOIS

[ Start ]
FabPed Genealogy Vers. 86 © Jamie, 1997-2018

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: (1000)

Notes:

Ealdred was Earl of Bernicia from 1020/25 until his murder in 1038. He was the son of Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria, who was murdered by Thurbrand the Hold in 1016 with the connivance of Cnut. Ealdred's mother was Ecgfrida, daughter of Aldhun, bishop of Durham.

Ealdred succeeded his uncle Eadwulf Cudel as Earl of Bernicia in 1020/25, and some time probably in the mid 1020s he killed Thurbrand in revenge for his father's death. In 1038 Ealdred was murdered by Thurbrand's son, Carl. He was succeeded as Earl of Bernicia by his brother, another Eadwulf. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle asserts that in 1041 Eadwulf was "betrayed" by King Harthacnut.[1] The "betrayal" seems to have been carried out by Siward, Earl of Northumbria; since when the Libellus de Exordio and other sources write about the same event, they say that Siward attacked and killed Eadulf.[2] It was thus that Siward became earl of all Northumbria, perhaps the first person to do so since Uhtred the Bold.

Ealdred's daughter Ealdgyth was married to Ligulf, who was murdered in 1080.[3] Ealdred's daughter, Aelfflaed, was the first wife of Siward and her son (Ealdred's grandson) was Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria.
References

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle manuscripts C, D, s.a. 1041
Rollason (ed.), Libellus de Exordio, pp. 170–71

Aird, William M. (2004). "Ligulf (d. 1080)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16791. Retrieved 20 January 2016.

Sources

Fletcher, Richard. Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England. Allen Lane 2002.

end of biography

Ealdred married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert I the Magnificent of Normandy, Duke of Normany, was born 1000 in Normandy, France to Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027) and Judith of Brittany (982-1017) and died 22 July 1035 in Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey of unspecified causes. Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

Robert, called "The Magnificent" (French, "le Magnifique") for his love of finery, and also called "The Devil" was the son of Duke Richard II of Normandy and Judith, daughter of Conan I, Duke of Brittany.

When his father died, his elder brother Richard succeeded, whilst he became Count of Hiâemois. When Richard died a year later, there were great suspicions that Robert had Richard murdered, hence his other nickname, "Robert le diable" (the devil). He is sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil. Robert aided King Henry I of France against Henry's rebellious brother and mother, and for his help he was given the territory of the Vexin. He also intervened in the affairs of Flanders, supported Edward the Confessor, who was then in exile at Robert's court, and sponsored monastic reform in Normandy.



Children

Offspring of Robert I of Normandy and Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Name Birth Death Joined with
William I of England (1027-1087) 9 September 1027 Falaise, France 1087 Rouen, France Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)

Robert married Harriette de Falaise, Countess of Montaigne. Harriette was born in 1003 in Falaise, Calvados, Normandie, France; died in ~1050 in Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Herleva[a] (c. 1003 – c. 1050) was a Norman woman of the 11th century, known for three sons: William I of England "the Conqueror", an illegitimate son fathered by Robert I, Duke of Normandy; and Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who were both fathered by her husband Herluin de Conteville. All three became prominent in William's realm.

Life

The background of Herleva and the circumstances of William's birth are shrouded in mystery. The written evidence dates from a generation or two later, and is not entirely consistent, but of all the Norman chroniclers only the Tours chronicler asserts that William's parents were subsequently joined in marriage.[b] The most commonly accepted version says that she was the daughter of a tanner named Fulbert from the town of Falaise, in Normandy. The meaning of filia pelletarii burgensis[6] is somewhat uncertain, and Fulbert may instead have been a furrier, embalmer, apothecary, or a person who laid out corpses for burial.[7]

Some argue that Herleva's father was not a tanner but rather a member of the burgher class.[8] The idea is supported by the appearance of her brothers in a later document as attestors for an under-age William. Also, the Count of Flanders later accepted Herleva as a proper guardian for his own daughter. Both of these would be nearly impossible if Herleva's father was a tanner, which would place his standing as little more than a peasant.

Orderic Vitalis described Herleva's father Fulbert as the Duke's Chamberlain (cubicularii ducis).[9]
Relationship with Robert the Magnificent

According to one legend, it all started when Robert, the young Duke of Normandy, saw Herleva from the roof of his castle tower.[10] The walkway on the roof still looks down on the dyeing trenches cut into stone in the courtyard below, which can be seen to this day from the tower ramparts above. The traditional way of dyeing leather or garments was to trample barefoot on the garments which were awash in the liquid dye in these trenches. Herleva, legend goes, seeing the Duke on his ramparts above, raised her skirts perhaps a bit more than necessary in order to attract the Duke's eye.[10] The latter was immediately smitten and ordered her brought in (as was customary for any woman that caught the Duke's eye) through the back door. Herleva refused, saying she would only enter the Duke's castle on horseback through the front gate, and not as an ordinary commoner. The Duke, filled with lust, could only agree. In a few days, Herleva, dressed in the finest her father could provide, and sitting on a white horse, rode proudly through the front gate, her head held high.[10][11] This gave Herleva a semi-official status as the Duke's concubine.[12] She later gave birth to his son, William, in 1027 or 1028.[13]

Some historians suggest Herleva was first the mistress of Gilbert of Brionne with whom she had a son, Richard. It was Gilbert who first saw Herleva and elevated her position and then Robert took her for his mistress.[14]
Marriage to Herluin de Conteville

Herleva later married Herluin de Conteville in 1031. Some accounts maintain that Robert always loved her, but the gap in their social status made marriage impossible, so, to give her a good life, he married her off to one of his favourite noblemen.[15]

Another source suggests that Herleva did not marry Herluin until after Robert died, because there is no record of Robert entering another relationship, whereas Herluin married another woman, Fredesendis, by the time he founded the abbey of Grestain.[16]

From her marriage to Herluin she had two sons: Odo, who later became Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert, who became Count of Mortain. Both became prominent during William's reign. They also had at least two daughters: Emma, who married Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches, and a daughter of unknown name who married William, lord of la Fertâe-Macâe.[17]
Death

According to Robert of Torigni, Herleva was buried at the abbey of Grestain, which was founded by Herluin and their son Robert around 1050. This would put Herleva in her forties around the time of her death. However, David C. Douglas suggests that Herleva probably died before Herluin founded the abbey because her name does not appear on the list of benefactors, whereas the name of Herluin's second wife, Fredesendis, does.[18]

end of biography

Notes:

Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus', known as Yaroslav the Wise or Iaroslav the Wise (Old East Slavic: ???????? ?????????????? ??????; Russian: ??????´? ??´????, translit. Jaroslav Mudryj [j?r?'slaf 'mudr?j]; Ukrainian: ??????´? ??´????, translit. Jaroslav Mudryj [j?ro'sl?u? 'mudr?j]; Old Norse: Jarizleifr Valdamarsson;[1]; Latin: Iaroslaus Sapiens; c. 978 – 20 February 1054) was thrice grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. Yaroslav's Christian name was George (Yuri) after Saint George (Old East Slavic: ?????i, Gjurigái).

A son of Vladimir the Great, the first Christian Prince of Novgorod, Yaroslav acted as vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father's death in 1015. Subsequently, his eldest surviving brother, Sviatopolk I of Kiev, killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian mercenaries, (Varangian defined: http://thehennesseefamily.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=3071&medialinkID=3073) defeated Svyatopolk and became the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019. Under Yaroslav the codification of legal customs and princely enactments was begun, and this work served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda ("Rus Truth [Law]"). During his lengthy reign, Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural flowering and military power.[2]

Yaroslav the Wise
Grand Prince of Kiev and Novgorod
Reign 1019–1054
Predecessor Sviatopolk the Accursed
Successor Iziaslav I
Prince of Rostov?
Reign 978–1010
Prince of Novgorod
Reign 1010–1019
Born c.?978
Died 20 February 1054 (aged c. 76)
Vyésgorod
Burial Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev
Spouse Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden
Issue
Details... Elisiv, Queen of Norway
Anastasia, Queen of Hungary
Anne, Queen of the Franks
Agatha, Queen of England (possibly)
Ilya
Vladimir of Novgorod
Iziaslav I
Sviatoslav II
Vsevolod I
Igor Yaroslavich
Vyacheslav Yaroslavich
Full name
Yaroslav Vladimirovich
Dynasty Rurikid
Father Vladimir the Great
Mother Rogneda of Polotsk (according to the Primary Chronicle)

Rise to the throne

The only contemporary image of Yaroslav I the Wise, on his seal.
Main article: Boleslaw I's intervention in the Kievan succession crisis
The early years of Yaroslav's life are shrouded in mystery. He was one of the numerous sons of Vladimir the Great, presumably his second by Rogneda of Polotsk,[3] although his actual age (as stated in the Primary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of his skeleton in the 1930s) would place him among the youngest children of Vladimir. It has been suggested that he was a child begotten out of wedlock after Vladimir's divorce from Rogneda and marriage to Anna Porphyrogenita, or even that he was a child of Anna Porphyrogenita herself. Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norse sagas under the name Jarisleif the Lame; his legendary lameness (probably resulting from an arrow wound) was corroborated by the scientists who examined his remains.[citation needed]

In his youth, Yaroslav was sent by his father to rule the northern lands around Rostov but was transferred to Veliky Novgorod,[4] as befitted a senior heir to the throne, in 1010. While living there, he founded the town of Yaroslavl (literally, "Yaroslav's") on the Volga River. His relations with his father were apparently strained,[4] and grew only worse on the news that Vladimir bequeathed the Kievan throne to his younger son, Boris. In 1014 Yaroslav refused to pay tribute to Kiev and only Vladimir's death, in July 1015, prevented a war.[4]

During the next four years Yaroslav waged a complicated and bloody war for Kiev against his half-brother Sviatopolk I of Kiev, who was supported by his father-in-law, Duke Boleslaw I Chrobry of Poland.[5] During the course of this struggle, several other brothers (Boris, Gleb, and Svyatoslav) were brutally murdered.[5] The Primary Chronicle accused Svyatopolk of planning those murders,[5] while the saga Eymundar ¤âattr hrings is often interpreted as recounting the story of Boris' assassination by the Varangians in the service of Yaroslav. However, the victim's name is given there as Burizaf, which is also a name of Boleslaus I in the Scandinavian sources. It is thus possible that the Saga tells the story of Yaroslav's struggle against Svyatopolk (whose troops were commanded by the Polish duke), and not against Boris.[citation needed]

Yaroslav defeated Svyatopolk in their first battle, in 1016, and Svyatopolk fled to Poland.[5] But Svyatopolk returned in 1018 with Polish troops furnished by his father-in-law, seized Kiev[5] and pushed Yaroslav back into Novgorod. Yaroslav at last prevailed over Svyatopolk, and in 1019 firmly established his rule over Kiev.[6] One of his first actions as a grand prince was to confer on the loyal Novgorodians (who had helped him to gain the Kievan throne), numerous freedoms and privileges. Thus, the foundation of the Novgorod Republic was laid. For their part, the Novgorodians respected Yaroslav more than they did other Kievan princes; and the princely residence in their city, next to the marketplace (and where the veche often convened) was named Yaroslav's Court after him. It probably was during this period that Yaroslav promulgated the first code of laws in the lands of the East Slavs, the Russkaya Pravda.

Reign

Coins of Yaroslav and his descendants represent the trident.

Depiction of Yaroslav the Wise from Granovitaya Palata.
Power struggles between siblings
Leaving aside the legitimacy of Yaroslav's claims to the Kievan throne and his postulated guilt in the murder of his brothers, Nestor the Chronicler and later Russian historians often presented him as a model of virtue, styling him "the Wise". A less appealing side of his personality is revealed by his having imprisoned his youngest brother Sudislav for life. Yet another brother, Mstislav of Chernigov, whose distant realm bordered the North Caucasus and the Black Sea, hastened to Kiev and, despite reinforcements led by Yaroslav's brother-in-law King Anund Jacob of Sweden (as Jakun - "blind and dressed in a gold suit"),[7] inflicted a heavy defeat on Yaroslav in 1024. Yaroslav and Mstislav then divided Kievan Rus' between them: the area stretching left from the Dnieper River, with the capital at Chernihiv, was ceded to Mstislav until his death in 1036.

Scandinavian allies
In his foreign policy, Yaroslav relied on the Scandinavian alliance and attempted to weaken the Byzantine influence on Kiev. In 1030, he reconquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles and concluded an alliance with King Casimir I the Restorer, sealed by the latter's marriage to Yaroslav's sister, Maria. In another successful military raid the same year, he captured Tartu, Estonia and renamed it Yuryev[8] (named after Yury, Yaroslav's patron saint) and forced the surrounding province of Ugaunnia to pay annual tribute.

Campaign against Byzantium
In 1043, Yaroslav staged a naval raid against Constantinople led by his son Vladimir of Novgorod and general Vyshata. Although his navy was defeated in the Rus'–Byzantine War (1043), Yaroslav managed to conclude the war with a favourable treaty and prestigious marriage of his son Vsevolod I of Kiev to the emperor's daughter. It has been suggested that the peace was so advantageous because the Kievans had succeeded in taking a key Byzantine possession in Crimea, Chersonesus.

Protecting the inhabitants of the Dniper from the Pechenegs
To defend his state from the Pechenegs and other nomadic tribes threatening it from the south he constructed a line of forts, composed of Yuriev, Bohuslav, Kaniv, Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, and Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi. To celebrate his decisive victory over the Pechenegs in 1036 (who thereupon never were a threat to Kiev) he sponsored the construction of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1037. That same year there were built monasteries of Saint George and Saint Irene. Some mentioned and other celebrated monuments of his reign such as the Golden Gate of Kiev perished during the Mongol invasion of Rus', but later restored.

Establishment of law
Yaroslav was a notable patron of book culture and learning. In 1051, he had a Slavic monk, Hilarion of Kiev, proclaimed the metropolitan bishop of Kiev, thus challenging the Byzantine tradition of placing Greeks on the episcopal sees. Hilarion's discourse on Yaroslav and his father Vladimir is frequently cited as the first work of Old East Slavic literature.

Family life and posterity

Eleventh-century fresco of Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev, representing the daughters of Yaroslav I, with Anne probably being the youngest. Other daughters were Anastasia, wife of Andrew I of Hungary; Elizabeth, wife of Harald Harºrâaºi; and possibly Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile.
In 1019, Yaroslav married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, daughter of the king of Sweden,[9] and gave Staraya Ladoga to her as a marriage gift.

Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev houses a fresco representing the whole family: Yaroslav, Irene (as Ingegerd was known in Rus), their four daughters and six sons.[10] Yaroslav had three of his daughters married to foreign princes who lived in exile at his court:

Elisiv of Kiev to Harald Harºrâaºi[9] (who attained her hand by his military exploits in the Byzantine Empire);
Anastasia of Kiev to the future Andrew I of Hungary;[9]
Anne of Kiev married Henry I of France[9] and was the regent of France during their son's minority; (she was Yaroslav the Wise's most beloved daughter).
(possibly) Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile, of the royal family of England, the mother of Edgar the ¥theling and Saint Margaret of Scotland.

Anne of Kiev.
Yaroslav had one son from the first marriage (his Christian name being Ilya (?-1020)), and six sons from the second marriage. Apprehending the danger that could ensue from divisions between brothers, he exhorted them to live in peace with each other. The eldest of these, Vladimir of Novgorod, best remembered for building the Cathedral of St. Sophia, Novgorod, predeceased his father. Three other sons—Iziaslav I, Sviatoslav II, and Vsevolod I—reigned in Kiev one after another. The youngest children of Yaroslav were Igor Yaroslavich (1036–1060) of Volhynia and Vyacheslav Yaroslavich (1036–1057) of the Principality of Smolensk. About Vyacheslav, there is almost no information. Some documents point out the fact of him having a son, Boris Vyacheslavich, who challenged Vsevolod I sometime in 1077-1078.

Grave

Sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise.
Following his death, the body of Yaroslav the Wise was entombed in a white marble sarcophagus within Saint Sophia's Cathedral. In 1936, the sarcophagus was opened and found to contain the skeletal remains of two individuals, one male and one female. The male was determined to be Yaroslav, however the identity of the female was never established. The sarcophagus was again opened in 1939 and the remains removed for research, not being documented as returned until 1964. Then, in 2009, the sarcophagus was opened and surprisingly found to contain only one skeleton, that of a female. It seems the documents detailing the 1964 reinterment of the remains were falsified to hide the fact that Yaroslav's remains had been lost. Subsequent questioning of individuals involved in the research and reinterment of the remains seems to point to the idea that Yaroslav's remains were purposely hidden prior to the German occupation of Ukraine and then either lost completely or stolen and transported to the United States where many ancient religious artifacts were placed to avoid "mistreatment" by the communists.[11]

Legacy

Yaroslav the Wise's consolidation of Kiev and Novgorod as depicted at Zoloti Vorota mosaics https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Yaroslav1.jpg/220px-Yaroslav1.jpg
Four different towns in four different countries were founded by and named after Yaroslav: Yaroslavl (in today's Russia), Yuryev (now Tartu, Estonia) and another Yuryev (now Bila Tserkva, Ukraine), and Jaroslaw in Poland. Following the Russian custom of naming military objects such as tanks and planes after historical figures, the helmet worn by many Russian soldiers during the Crimean War was called the "Helmet of Yaroslav the Wise". It was the first pointed helmet to be used by any army, even before German troops wore pointed helmets.

In 2008 Yaroslav was placed first (with 40% of the votes) in their ranking of "our greatest compatriots" by the viewers of the TV show Velyki Ukraèintsi.[12] Afterwards one of the producers of The Greatest Ukrainians claimed that Yaroslav had only won because of vote manipulation and that (if that had been prevented) the real first place would have been awarded to Stepan Bandera.[13]

Monument to Yaroslav the Wise in Kiev https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Monument_to_Yaroslav_the_Wise.jpg/220px-Monument_to_Yaroslav_the_Wise.jpg

Iron Lord was a 2010 film based on his early life as a regional prince on the frontier.

end of biography

*Yaroslav I "The Wise" Grand Duke of Kiev
born 0980 Kiev, Ukraine
died 20 February 1054 Kiev, Ukraine
buried 1054 Russia

father:
*Vladimir I "The Great" Grand Duke of Kiev
born 0960 Kiev, Ukraine
died 15 Jul 1015 Berestovo, Kiev, Ukraine
buried Church Of The Tithes, Kiev, Ukraine

mother:
*Rogneda Princess of Polotsk
born about 0962 Polotsk, Byelorussia
died 1002
married Abt 0977 Of Polotsk, Byelorussia

siblings:
Vsevolod Vladimirovich Prince of Vladimir Volynsk
born Abt 0983 Of, Vladimir Volynskij, Volyn, Ukraine died 1015
Iszyaslav Vladimirovich born Abt 0978 Of Kiev, Ukraine died 1001
Mstislav Vladimirovich Duke of Chernigov & Tmutorakan
born Abt 0988 Of Chernigov, Ukraine died 1035/1036
Premislava Vladimirovna Princess of Kiev born Abt 0980 Of Kiev, Ukraine
Predslava Vladimirovna Princess of Kiev born Abt 0984 Of Kiev, Ukraine
died Aft 1018

spouse:
*Ingrid (Ingegerda) Olafsdotter Princess of Sweden
born about 1001 Uppsala, Sweden
died 10 February 1050 Kiev, Ukraine
married 1019 Uppsala, Sweden

children:
*Anna Agnesa Yaroslavna Grand Duchess of Kiev born 1036 Kiev, Ukraine
died 1076/89 France buried Abbaye de Villiers, La-Ferte-Alais, France
*Anastasiya Agmunda Yaroslavna Princess of Kiev born about 1035 Ukraine died after 1074
*Vsevolod I Yaroslavich Prince of Kiev born 1030 Pereyaslavl, Russia died 13 April 1093
Igor Yaroslavich born about 1036 Vladimir Volynskiy, Volyn, Ukraine
died 1059/60 Vladimir Volunsky, Volyn, Ukraine
Vladimir Yaroslavich Duke of Novgorod born 1020 Novgorod, Russia died 4 October 1052
*Izyaslav I Dmitrij Yaroslavich born 1025 Turov, Polesye, Byelorussia died 3 October 1078
Svyatopolk I Yaroslavich Grand Duke of Kiev born 1027 Vladimir-Volynsk, Volyn, Ukraine
died 27 December 1076
*Elizaveta Yaroslavna of Kiev Queen of Norway born about 1032 Kiev, Ukraine

biographical and/or anecdotal:

notes or source:
LDS

end of profile

Yaroslav married Ingigerd Olofsdottir, Princess of Sweden in 1019 in Uppsala, Sweden. Ingigerd (daughter of Olof Skotkonung, King of Sweden and Estrid of the Obotrites, Queen Consort of Sweden) was born in ~1001 in Sigtuna, Sweden; died on 10 Feb 1050 in Kiev, Ukraine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, also known as Irene, Anna and St. Anna (1001 – 10 February 1050), was a Swedish princess and a Grand Princess of Kiev. She was the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skèotkonung and Estrid of the Obotrites and the consort of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev.

Ingegerd or St. Anna is often confused with the mother of St. Vladimir “the Enlightener” of the Rus. This is mainly because Ingegerd and Yaroslav also had a son named Vladimir. However, St. Vladimir was the father of Ingegerd’s husband Yaroslav I “the Wise”, thus making her St. Vladimir’s daughter-in-law. St. Vladimir was the son of Sviatoslav and Malusha.

Biography

11th-century fresco of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev representing the daughters of Ingegerd and Yaroslav I, with Anna probably being the youngest. Other daughters were Anastasia wife of Andrew I of Hungary, Elizabeth wife of Harald III of Norway, and perhaps Agatha wife of Edward the Exile.
Ingegerd was born in Sigtuna,[citation needed] Sweden. She was engaged to be married to Norwegian King Olaf II, but when Sweden and Norway got into a feud, Swedish King Olof Skèotkonung would no longer allow for the marriage to take place.

Instead, Ingegerd's father quickly arranged for a marriage to the powerful Yaroslav I the Wise of Novgorod.[1] The marriage took place in 1019.[1] Once in Kiev, she changed her name to the Greek Irene. According to several sagas, she was given as a marriage gift Ladoga and adjacent lands, which later received the name Ingria, arguably a corruption of Ingegerd's name. She placed her friend, jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson, to rule in her stead.

Ingegerd initiated the building of the Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev that was supervised by her husband.[citation needed] She also initiated the construction of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Novgorod. They had six sons and four daughters, the latter of whom became Queens of France, Hungary, Norway, and (arguably) England. The whole family is depicted in one of the frescoes of the Saint Sophia.

Death and burial

Ingegerd died on 10 February 1050. Upon her death, according to different sources, Ingegerd was buried in either Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv or Cathedral of St. Sophia in Novgorod.

Sainthood

Ingegerd was later declared a saint, by the name of St. Anna, in Novgorod and Kiev. The reason was that she initiated the building of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev as well as the local version, the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, along with many good doings.

The following was stated by the church in reference to her sainthood:

St. Anna, Grand Duchess of Novgorod, She was the daughter of Swedish King Olaf Sketktung, the "All-Christian King," who did much to spread Orthodoxy in Scandinavia, and the pious Queen Astrida.

In Sweden she was known as Princess Indegard; she married Yaroslav I “the Wise“, Grand Prince of Kiev, who was the founder of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1016, taking the name Irene.

She gave shelter to the outcast sons of British King Edmund, Edwin and Edward, as well as the Norwegian prince Magnus, who later returned to Norway.

She is perhaps best known as the mother of Vsevolod of , himself the father of Vladimir Monomakh and progenitor of the Princes of Moscow.

Her daughters were Anna, Queen of France, Queen Anastasia of Hungary, and Queen Elizabeth (Elisiv) of Norway. The whole family was profoundly devout and pious.

She reposed in 1050 in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (St. Sophia) in Kiev, having been tonsured a monastic with the name of Anna.

As saint, her hymn goes:

And 4 stichera, in Tone I: Spec. Mel.: Joy of the ranks of heaven

O joy of the Swedish people, thou didst gladden the Russian realm, filling it with grace and purity, adorning its throne with majesty, lustrous in piety like a priceless gem set in a splendid royal crown.

Named Ingegerd in the baptismal waters, O venerable one, thou wast called Irene by thy Russian subjects, who perceived in thee the divine and ineffable peace; but when thou didst submit to monastic obedience, thou didst take the new name, Anna, after the honoured ancestor of Christ, the King of kings.

Wed in honourable matrimony, O holy Anna, thou didst live in concord with thy royal spouse, the right-believing and most wise Prince Yaroslav; and having born him holy offspring, after his repose thou didst betroth thyself unto the Lord as thy heavenly Bridegroom.

Disdaining all the allurements of vanity and donning the coarse robes of a monastic, O wondrous and sacred Anna, thou gavest thyself over to fasting and prayer, ever entreating Christ thy Master, that He deliver thy people from the all want and misfortune.

Feast days: 10 February, 4 October.

Children

Ingegerd had the following children

Elisiv of Kiev, queen of Norway
Anastasia of Kiev, queen of Hungary
Anne of Kiev, queen of France
(possibly) Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile
Vladimir of Novgorod
Iziaslav
Sviatoslav
Vsevolod
Igor Yaroslavich

Notes:

Uchtred or Uhtred, called the Bold, (d. 1016) was the ealdorman of all Northumbria from 1006 to 1016, when he was assassinated. He was the son of Waltheof I, ealdorman of Bamburgh, whose ancient family had ruled from the castle of Bamburgh on the Northumbrian coast.

Career

In 995, according to Symeon of Durham, when the remains of St Cuthbert were transferred from Chester-le-Street to Durham, Uhtred went to Durham with his monks to clear the site of the new cathedral. The new cathedral was founded by Bishop Aldhun, and Uhtred married Aldhun's daughter, Ecgfrida, probably at about this time. From his marriage he received several estates that had belonged to the church. [1]

In 1006 Malcolm II of Scotland invaded Northumbria and besieged the newly founded episcopal city of Durham. At that time the Danes were raiding southern England and King Ethelred was unable to send help to the Northumbrians. Ealdorman Waltheof was too old to fight and remained in his castle at Bamburgh. Ealdorman ¥lfhelm of York also took no action. Uhtred, acting for his father, called together an army from Bernicia and Yorkshire and led it against the Scots. The result was a decisive victory for Uhtred. Local women washed the severed heads of the Scots, receiving a payment of a cow for each, and the heads were fixed on stakes to Durham's walls. Uhtred was rewarded by King Ethelred II with the ealdormanry of Bamburgh even though his father was still alive. In the meantime, Ethelred had Ealdorman ¥lfhelm of York murdered, and he allowed Uhtred to succeed ¥lfhelm as ealdorman of York, thus uniting northern and southern Northumbria under the house of Bamburgh. It seems likely that Ethelred did not trust the Scandinavian population of southern Northumbria and wanted an Anglo-Saxon in power there. [2]

After receiving these honours Uhtred dismissed his wife, Ecgfrida, and married Sige, daughter of Styr, son of Ulf. Styr was a rich citizen of York. It appears that Uhtred was trying to make political allies amongst the Danes in Deira. Through Sige, Uhtred had two children, Eadulf, later Eadulf III, and Gospatric. This Gospatric's grandson was the infamous Eadwulf Rus who murdered Bishop Walcher.[2]

In 1013 King Sweyn of Denmark invaded England, sailing up the Humber and Trent to the town of Gainsborough. Uhtred submitted to him there, as did all of the Danes in the north. In the winter of 1013 Ethelred was forced into exile in Normandy. After London had finally submitted to him, Sweyn was accepted as king by Christmas 1013. However he only reigned for five weeks, for he died at, or near, Gainsborough on 2 February 1014. At Sweyn’s death, Ethelred was able to return from exile and resume his reign. Uhtred, along with many others, transferred his allegiance back to Ethelred, on his return. Uhtred also married Ethelred’s daughter ¥lfgifu about this time. [2]

In 1016 Uhtred campaigned with Ethelred's son Edmund Ironside in Cheshire and the surrounding shires. While Uhtred was away from his lands, Sweyn's son, Cnut, invaded Yorkshire. Cnut's forces were too strong for Uhtred to fight, and so Uhtred did homage to him as King of England. Uhtred was summoned to a meeting with Cnut, and on the way there, he and forty of his men were murdered by Thurbrand the Hold, with assistance from Uhtred's own servant, Wighill and with the connivance of Cnut. Uhtred was succeeded in Bernicia by his brother Eadwulf Cudel. Cnut made the Norwegian, Eric of Hlathir, ealdorman ("earl" in Scandinavian terms) in southern Northumbria. [1]
Descendants

The killing of Uhtred by Thurbrand the Hold started a blood feud that lasted for many years. Uhtred's son Ealdred subsequently avenged his father by killing Thurbrand, but Ealdred in turn was killed by Thurbrand's son, Carl. Ealdred's vengeance had to wait until the 1070s, when Waltheof, Ealdred’s grandson had his soldiers kill most of Carl's sons and grandsons. This is an example of the notorious Northumbrian blood feuds that were common at this time. [3]

Uhtred's dynasty continued to reign in Bernicia through Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh (killed 1038) his son from his marriage to Ecgfrida, and Eadulf (killed 1041) his son from his marriage to Sige, and briefly Eadulf's son Osulf held the earldom of northern Northumbria 1067 until he too was killed. Eadulf's brother Cospatric began the Swinton Family dynasty, his son Eadulf Rus famously murdering William Walcher, Bishop of Durham which led to William the Conqueror sending an army northwards to harry the region again. Uhtred’s marriage to ¥lfgifu produced a daughter, Ealdgyth, who married Maldred, brother of Duncan I of Scotland and who gave birth to a son, Gospatric, who was Earl of Northumbria from 1068 to 1072. [4]

end of biography

Untred married Ecgfrida of Durham. Ecgfrida was born in 973 in Northumberland, England; died in 0Dec 1067 in Durham, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ecgfrida of Durham formerly Durham aka of Northumbria
Born 0973 in Northumberland, England
Daughter of Ealdhun Durham and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of Uhtred (Northumbria) of Northumbria — married about 0995 (to 1006) [location unknown]
Wife of Kilvert (UNKNOWN) FitzLigulf — married after 1006 [location unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of Ealdred (Northumbria) of Bamburgh and Sigrida FitzKilvert (Yorkshire) of Yorkshire
Died Dec 1067 in Durham, England

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[categories]
Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
2 Vitals
3 Parents
4 Marriage
5 Sources
Biography

Ecgfrida (Durham) of Durham was a member of aristocracy in England.
According to Simeon of Durham, Ecgfrida seems to have been left by both of her husbands. After her marriage with Kilvert fell apart, her father made her return to Durham ... where she became a nun, and was supposedly buried in the yard of the church.

Vitals
Ecgfrida[1]
bur. Durham[1]
Parents
Aldun, Bishop of Durham[2] and Unknown.
Marriage
m.1 Ughtred the Bold, Earl of Northumbria. Repudiated.[3] Issue:
Ealdred of Bamburgh[4]

m.2 Kilvert[5] Issue:
Sigrida m. Arkil[6][1][7]
Sources
? 1.0 1.1 1.2 Simeon of Durham
? Wikipedia: Aldhun; Medieval Lands
? Wikipedia: Uhtred the Bold
? Wikipedia: Ealdred of Bamburgh
? father: Ligulf
? son of Ecgfrid
? Issue: Cospatric m. dau. of Dolfin, son of Tolfin
Cawley, C. (2006). "England, AngloSaxon nobility: Northumbria." Medieval Lands v.3. fmg.ac
Stevenson, J., ed. (1855). "Simeon's account of the Siege of Durham." The historical works of Simeon of Durham ... (Vol.3, Part 2, pp765). Google eBook.

end of this biography

Notes:

Richard II of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, was born 23 August 963 in Normandy, France to Richard I, Duke of Normandy (933-996) and Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy (c936-1031) and died 28 August 1027 in Normandy, France of unspecified causes. He married Judith of Brittany (982-1017) 996 JL . He married Papia of Envermeu . Ancestors are from France.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany (982-1017)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Estrid of Normandy (1001)

William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Papia of Envermeu
Name Birth Death Joined with
Mauger de Rouen (c1019-c1055) 1019 1055
Guillaume de Talou (c1022-aft1054) 1022 1054 Beatrice de Ponthieu (c1035-c1082)

Noteworthy descendants include

Henry II of England (1133-1189)
William I of England (1027-1087)
Namesakes of Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)

Richard married Judith de Bretagne in ~1000. Judith (daughter of Conan of Rennes, I, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou) was born in 982 in Rennes, France; died in 1017 in Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Judith of Brittany was born 982 to Conan I of Rennes (927-992) and Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) and died 1017 of unspecified causes. She married Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027) 996 JL . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]
Judith is a 10th generation descendant of Charlemagne (747-814) through her mother. There are two disputed lines (through her father and her maternal grandfather) that place her in generations 9.



Children

Offspring of Judith of Brittany and Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
Estrid of Normandy (1001)

William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

Noteworthy descendants include

Henry II of England (1133-1189)
William I of England (1027-1087)

Notes:

Vladimir the Great (also (Saint) Vladimir of Kiev; Old East Slavic: ?????????? ????????????, Volodimer? Svetoslavic?,[3] Old Norse Valdamarr gamli;[4] c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestove) was a prince of Novgorod, grand prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015.[5][6]

Vladimir's father was prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty.[7] After the death of his father in 972, Vladimir, who was then prince of Novgorod, was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and conquered Rus'. In Sweden, with the help from his relative Ladejarl Hêakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, he assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk.[8] By 980, Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from modern-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and had solidified the frontiers against incursions of Bulgarian, Baltic tribes and Eastern nomads. Originally a follower of Slavic paganism, Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988[9][10][11] and Christianized the Kievan Rus'.[12]

Rise to power

Born in 958, Vladimir was the natural son and youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha. Malusha is described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity also connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga of Kiev, who was Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns. His place of birth is identified by different authors either as Budyatychi (modern Volyn Oblast, Ukraine)[13][14][15] or Budnik (ru:?????? (???????); modern Pskov Oblast, Russia).[16]

Transferring his capital to Pereyaslavets in 969, Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death at the hands of the Pechenegs in 972, a fratricidal war erupted in 976 between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977, Vladimir fled to his kinsman Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, collecting as many Norse warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod. On his return the next year, he marched against Yaropolk. On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod (Norse: Ragnvald), prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda (Norse: Ragnhild). The high-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, so Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, and took Ragnhild by force. Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, and capturing Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev in 978, where he slew Yaropolk by treachery and was proclaimed knyaz of all Kievan Rus.[17]

Years of pagan rule

Vladimir continued to expand his territories beyond his father's extensive domain. In 981, he seized the Cherven towns from the Poles; in 981–982, he suppressed a Vyatichi rebellion; in 983, he subdued the Yatvingians; in 984, he conquered the Radimichs; and in 985, he conducted a military campaign against the Volga Bulgars,[18][19] planting numerous fortresses and colonies on his way.

Although Christianity spread in the region under Oleg's rule, Vladimir had remained a thoroughgoing pagan, taking eight hundred concubines (along with numerous wives) and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods.[20]

He may have attempted to reform Slavic paganism in an attempt to identify himself with the various gods worshipped by his subjects. He built a pagan temple on the a hill in Kiev dedicated to six gods: Perun - the god of thunder and war "a Norse god favored by members of the prince’s druzhina (military retinue)". Slav gods Stribog and Dazhd'bog; Mokosh - a goddess representing Mother Nature "worshipped by Finnish tribes"; Khors and Simargl, "both of which had Iranian origins, were included, probably to appeal to the Poliane."[21]

Open abuse of the deities that most people in Rus' revered triggered widespread indignation. A mob killed the Christian Fyodor and his son Ioann (later, after the overall christening of Kievan Rus', people came to regard these two as the first Christian martyrs in Rus', and the Orthodox Church[citation needed] set a day to commemorate them, 25 July). Immediately after the murder of Fyodor and Ioann, early medieval Rus' saw persecutions against Christians, many of whom escaped or concealed their belief.[22]

However, Prince Vladimir mused over the incident long after, and not least for political considerations. According to the early Slavic chronicle called Tale of Bygone Years, which describes life in Kievan Rus' up to the year 1110, he sent his envoys throughout the civilized world to judge first hand the major religions of the time, Islam, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Byzantine Orthodoxy. They were most impressed with their visit to Constantinople, saying, "We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."[23]

Christianization of the Kievan Rus'
Main article: Christianization of Kievan Rus'

The Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir, by Viktor Vasnetsov (1890)

The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, after consultation with his boyars, Vladimir the Great sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them, only sorrow and a great stench. He also reported that Islam was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork.[24] Vladimir remarked on the occasion: "Drinking is the joy of all Rus'. We cannot exist without that pleasure."[25] Ukrainian and Russian sources also describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys and questioning them about their religion, but ultimately rejecting it as well, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence that they had been abandoned by God.

His emissaries also visited pre-schism Latin Rite Christian and Eastern Rite Christian missionaries.[citation needed] Ultimately Vladimir settled on Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Constantinople, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth", they reported, describing a majestic Divine Liturgy in Hagia Sophia, "nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it." If Vladimir was impressed by this account of his envoys, he was even more attracted by the political gains of the Byzantine alliance.


Saint Vladimir Monument on Saint Vladimir Hill in Kiev, often depicted in paintings and photographs of the city

In 988, having taken the town of Chersonesos in Crimea, he boldly negotiated for the hand of emperor Basil II's sister, Anna.[26] Never before had a Byzantine imperial princess, and one "born in the purple" at that, married a barbarian, as matrimonial offers of French kings and German emperors had been peremptorily rejected. In short, to marry the 27-year-old princess to a pagan Slav seemed impossible. Vladimir was baptized at Chersonesos, however, taking the Christian name of Basil out of compliment to his imperial brother-in-law; the sacrament was followed by his wedding to Anna. Returning to Kiev in triumph, he destroyed pagan monuments and established many churches, starting with a church dedicated to St. Basil,[27] and the Church of the Tithes (989).

Arab sources, both Muslim and Christian, present a different story of Vladimir's conversion. Yahya of Antioch, al-Rudhrawari, al-Makin, Al-Dimashqi, and ibn al-Athir all give essentially the same account.[28] In 987, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas revolted against the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Both rebels briefly joined forces, but then Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself emperor on 14 September 987. Basil II turned to the Kievan Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Christianity as his religion and to Christianize his people. When the wedding arrangements were settled, Vladimir dispatched 6,000 troops to the Byzantine Empire, and they helped to put down the revolt.[29]

In 988 and 991, he baptized Pecheneg princes Metiga and Kuchug, respectively.[30]

Christian reign

The Pontic steppes, c. 1015

Vladimir then formed a great council out of his boyars and set his twelve sons over his subject principalities. According to the Primary Chronicle, he founded the city of Belgorod in 991. In 992, he went on a campaign against the Croats, most likely the White Croats that lived on the border of modern Ukraine. This campaign was cut short by the attacks of the Pechenegs on and around Kiev.

In his later years he lived in a relative peace with his other neighbors: Boleslav I of Poland, Stephen I of Hungary, and Andrikh the Czech (questionable character mentioned in A Tale of the Bygone Years). After Anna's death, he married again, likely to a granddaughter of Otto the Great.

In 1014, his son Yaroslav the Wise stopped paying tribute. Vladimir decided to chastise the insolence of his son and began gathering troops against him. Vladimir fell ill, however, most likely of old age, and died at Berestove, near Kiev. The various parts of his dismembered body were distributed among his numerous sacred foundations and were venerated as relics.

During his Christian reign, Vladimir lived the teachings of the Bible through acts of charity. He would hand out food and drink to the less fortunate, and made an effort to go out to the people who could not reach him. His work was based on the impulse to help one’s neighbors by sharing the burden of carrying their cross.[31]

Family

Main article: Family life and children of Vladimir I

Vladimir and Rogneda (1770)

The fate of all Vladimir's daughters, whose number is around nine, is uncertain.

Olava or Allogia (Varangian or Czech), speculative she might have been mother of Vysheslav while others claim that it is a confusion with Helena Lekapena[citation needed]
Vysheslav (~977 – ~1010), Prince of Novgorod (988–1010)
a widow of Yaropolk I, a Greek nun
Sviatopolk the Accursed (~979), possibly the surviving son of Yaropolk
Rogneda (the daughter of Rogvolod), later upon divorce she entered a convent taking the Christian name of Anastasia
Izyaslav of Polotsk (~979, Kiev), Prince of Polotsk (989–1001)
Yaroslav the Wise (no earlier than 983), Prince of Rostov (987–1010), Prince of Novgorod (1010–1034), Grand Prince of Kiev (1016–1018, 1019–1054). Possibly he was a son of Anna rather than Rogneda. Another interesting fact that he was younger than Sviatopolk according to the words of Boris in the Tale of Bygone Years and not as it was officially known. Also the fact of him being the Prince of Rostov is highly doubtful although not discarded.
Vsevolod (~984–1013), possibly the Swedish Prince Wissawald of Volyn (~1000), was perhaps the first husband of Estrid Svendsdatter
Mstislav, other Mstislav that possibly died as an infant if he was ever born
Mstislav of Chernigov (~983), Prince of Tmutarakan (990–1036), Prince of Chernigov (1024–1036), other sources claim him to be son of other mothers (Adela, Malfrida, or some other Bulgarian wife)
Predslava, a concubine of Boleslaw I Chrobry according to Gesta principum Polonorum
Premislava, (?–1015), some source state that she was a wife of the Duke Laszlo (Vladislav) "the Bald" of Arpadians
Mstislava, in 1018 was taken by Boleslaw I Chrobry among the other daughters
Bulgarian Adela, some sources claim that Adela is not necessarily Bulgarian as Boris and Gleb were born from some other wife
Boris (~986), Prince of Rostov (~1010–1015), remarkable is the fact that Rostov Principality as well as the Principality of Murom used to border the territory of Volga Bolgars
Gleb (~987), Prince of Murom (1013–1015), as Boris, Gleb is being also claimed the son of Anna Porphyrogenita
Stanislav (~985–1015), Prince of Smolensk (988–1015), possible of another wife and a fate of whom is not certain
Sudislav (?–1063), Prince of Pskov (1014–1036), possible of another wife, but he is mentioned in Nikon's Chronicles. He spent 35 years in prison and later before dying turned into a monk.
Malfrida
Sviatoslav (~982–1015), Prince of Drevlians (990–1015)
Anna Porphyrogenita
Theofana, a wife of Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, a grandson of semi-legendary Dobrynya (highly doubtful is the fact of her being Anna's offspring)
a granddaughter of Otto the Great (possibly Rechlinda Otona [Regelindis])
Maria Dobroniega of Kiev (~1012), the Duchess of Poland (1040–1087), married around 1040 to Casimir I the Restorer, Duke of Poland, her maternity as daughter of this wife is deduced from her apparent age
other possible family
Vladimirovna, an out-of-marriage daughter (d. 1044), married to Bernard, Margrave of the Nordmark.
Pozvizd (prior to 988–?), a son of Vladimir according to Hustyn Chronicles. He, possibly, was the Prince Khrisokhir mentioned by Niketas Choniates.
Significance and legacy

Vladimir the Great portrait on obverse ?1 bill circa 2006

The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the feast day of St. Vladimir on 15 July.[32]

The town Volodymyr-Volynskyi in north-western Ukraine was founded by Vladimir and is named after him.[33] The foundation of another town, Vladimir in Russia, is usually attributed to Vladimir Monomakh. However some researchers argue that it was also founded by Vladimir the Great.[34]

St Volodymyr's Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in Kiev, is dedicated to Vladimir the Great, as was originally the University of Kiev. The Imperial Russian Order of St. Vladimir and Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States are also named after him.

The memory of Vladimir was also kept alive by innumerable Russian folk ballads and legends, which refer to him as Krasno Solnyshko (the Fair (or Red) Sun). The Varangian period of Eastern Slavic history ceases with Vladimir, and the Christian period begins. The appropriation of Kievan Rus' as part of national history has also been a topic of contention in Ukrainophile vs. Russophile schools of historiography since the Soviet era.[35]

During his leadership, all branches of the economy prospered under him.[36] He was able to mint coins and regulated foreign affairs with other countries such as trade. Through trade he brought in Greek wines, Baghdad spices, and Arab horses to trade at the markets of Kiev.


Vladimir the Great on the Millennium of Russia monument in Novgorod



Monument to Vladimir the Great and the monk Fyodor at Pushkin Park in Vladimir, Russia



Vladimir as a symbol of Ukrainian nationalism: "St Volodymyr – Ruler of Ukraine, 980–1015, erected by Ukrainians in Great Britain in 1988 to celebrate the establishment of Christianity in Ukraine by St. Volodymir in 988"

See also

Saints portal
List of Russian rulers
List of Ukrainian rulers
Family life and children of Vladimir I
List of people known as The Great
Saint Vladimir Monument
Prince Vladimir, Russian animated feature film (2006)
Viking (film)
Vladimir Putin

Notes

Dyba, Yury (2012). Aleksandrovych V.; Voitovych, Leontii; et al., eds. ?????????-?????? ?????? ???????? ??????????? ???????????? ??? ?????????? ????? ?????????? ??????????????: ??????????? ?????????? ???? [Historical-geographic figurative context of the chronicled report about the birth of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich: localisation of a busy village] (PDF). ????? ????: ??????? ? ???????? [Era of the Princes: history and culture] (in Ukrainian). Lviv. 6. ISSN 2221-6294. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
Harvard Ukrainian studies, Vol. 12–13, p. 190, Harvard Ukrainian studies, 1990
Volodimer? is the East Slavic form of the given name; this form was influenced and partially replaced by the Old Bulgarian (Old Church Slavonic) form Vladimer? (by folk etymology later also Vladimir?; in modern East Slavic, the given name is rendered Ukrainian: ????????? Volodymyr, Russian: ?????´??? Vladimir, Belarusian: ?????i?i? Uladzimir. See Vladimir (name) for details.
Fagrskinna ch. 21 (ed. Finnur Jâonsson 1902–8, p. 108).
Companion to the Calendar: A Guide to the Saints and Mysteries of the Christian Calendar, p. 105, Mary Ellen Hynes, Ed. Peter Mazar, LiturgyTrainingPublications, 1993
National geographic, Vol. 167, p. 290, National Geographic Society, 1985
Vladimir I (Grand Prince of Kiev), Encyclopµdia Britannica
Den hellige Vladimir av Kiev (~956–1015), Den katolske kirke website
Vladimir the Great, Encyclopedia of Ukraine
Saint Vladimir the Baptizer: Wetting cultural appetites for the Gospel, Dr. Alexander Roman, Ukrainian Orthodoxy website
Ukrainian Catholic Church: part 1., The Free Library
Vladimir I, Encyclopµdia Britannica
???? ?. ?????????-???????????? ???????? ??????????? ???????????? ??? ?????????? ????? ?????????? ??????????????: ??????????? ?????????? ???? // ????? ????. ??????? ? ????????. ?????: ???????? ??????????????? ??. ?. ????'??????? ??? ???????. — ???. VI. — ?. 37-70

References

Golden, P. B. (2006) "Rus." Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill Online). Eds.: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vladimir, St". Encyclopµdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Some historical analysis and political insights on the state affairs of Vladimir the Great (in Russian)
Moss, Walter G. (2002) "A History of Russia Volume I: To 1917" (London: Anthem Press).
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vladimir I of Kiev.
Velychenko, Stephen, How Valdamarr Sveinaldsson got to Moscow (krytyka.com), 9 November 2015.

Vladimir I Sviatoslavich
SuffixSuggest a change for this event Czar of Russia
BornSuggest a change for this event 960 , Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Gender Male
NameSuggest a change for this event Vladimir I "The Great" Sviatoslavich
ReligionSuggest a change for this event Abt 989 , Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Converted to Christianity
DiedSuggest a change for this event 15 Jul 1015 , Berestovo, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
BuriedSuggest a change for this event Church of Tithes, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Headstones Submit Headstone Photo Submit Headstone Photo
Person ID I3910 Full Tree
Last Modified 27 Sep 2013

Father Sviatoslav I Igorovich, Czar of Russia
b. 942, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 972, , Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Mother Duchess Malusha von Lèubeck
b. Abt 944, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1002
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Abt 959 , Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location [1, 2, 6]
StatusSuggest a change for this event Concubinage
Family ID F1903 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 1 Adlaga de Kiev, Grand Duchess of Kiev
b. Abt 959, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Yes, date unknown
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Abt 976 of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
1. Vysheslav Vladimirovich, Duke of Novgorod
b. Abt 977, of, Novgorod, Novgorod Oblast, Russia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1010
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1818 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 2 Olava de Kiev, Grand Duchess of Kiev
b. Abt 953, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Yes, date unknown
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Abt 977 of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1819 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 3 Predislava de Kiev, Grand Duchess of Kiev
b. Abt 960, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Yes, date unknown
MarriedSuggest a change for this event 980 of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1820 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 4 Milolika Asen, Princess of Bulgaria
b. Abt 963, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Yes, date unknown
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Bef 982 of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
1. Boris David Vladimirovich, Duke of Rostov
b. Abt 982, of, Rostov-Yaroslavski, Yaroslavski Oblast, Russia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 24 Jul 1015
2. Gleb Roman Vladimirovich, Duke of Murom
b. Abt 983, of, Murom, Vladimir Oblast, Russia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Abt 5 Aug 1015
3. Stanslav Vladimirovich, Duke of Smolensk
b. Abt 984, of, Smolensk, Smolensk Oblast, Russia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Aft 1015
4. Pozvizd Vladimirovich, Duke of Vladimir-Volnysk
b. Abt 985, of, Vladimir-Volynski, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Aft 1015
5. Sudislav Vladimirovich, Duke of Pskov
b. Abt 986, of, Pskov, Pskov Oblast, Russia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1063-1065
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1821 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 5 Malfriede Premysl, Princess of Bohemia
b. Abt 960, of, Prague, Praha, Czechoslovakia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Abt 987 of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
1. Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Duke of Drevlians
b. Abt 988, of, Ovruch, Zhitomir Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Aft 15 Jul 1015
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1823 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 6 Miss Oehringen
b. Abt 991, of Oehringen, Jagstkreis, Baden-Wèurttemberg, Schwaben, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Aft 14 Aug 1018
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Abt 1013 of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1824 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 7 Princess Rogneda zu Polotsk
b. Abt 962, of, Polotsk, Polotsk Oblast, Byelorussia Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1002
MarriedSuggest a change for this event Abt 977 of, Polotsk, Polotsk Oblast, Byelorussia Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
+ 1. Iszyaslav Vladimirovich, Duke of Polotsk
b. Abt 978, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1001
2. Vsevolod Vladimirovich, Prince of Vladimir
b. Abt 979, of, Vladimir-Volynski, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1015
+ 3. Yaroslav I Vladimirovich, Czar of Russia
b. 980, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 20 Feb 1054, , Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
4. Prâemieslawa Vladimirovna, Princess of Kiev
b. Abt 984, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Aft 1018
5. Mstislav Vladimirovich, Duke of Chernigov
b. Abt 988, of, Chernigov, Chernigov Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1035-1036, , Chernigov, Chernigov Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1828 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Wife 8 Anna Lekapene, Princess of the Byzantine Empire
b. 13 Mar 963, of, Constantinople, Constantinople, Byzantium Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1011
MarriedSuggest a change for this event 989 , Kherson, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
MARRIAGE: Married 7 Pagan wives (Rogneide was one) by whom he had 22 children (prior to Anna) [7]
Children
+ 1. Arlogia Vladimirovna, Countess of Orkney
b. Abt 1011, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. Yes, date unknown
+ 2. Dobronegra Mariya Vladimirovna, Princess of Kiev
b. Abt 1012, of, Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Find all individuals with events at this location
d. 1087
Last Modified 17 Aug 2010
Family ID F1933

Volodymyr the Great (Valdamar, Volodimer, Vladimir), b ca 956, d 15 July 1015 in Vyshhorod, near Kyiv. Grand prince of Kyiv from 980; son of Sviatoslav I Ihorovych and Malusha; half-brother of Yaropolk I Sviatoslavych and Oleh Sviatoslavych; and father of 11 princes by five wives, including Sviatopolk I, Yaroslav the Wise, Mstyslav Volodymyrovych, and Saints Borys and Hlib. In 969 Grand Prince Sviatoslav I named his son Volodymyr the prince of Novgorod the Great, where the latter ruled under the guidance of his uncle, Dobrynia. In 977 a struggle for power broke out among Sviatoslav's sons. Yaropolk I, who was then the grand prince of Kyiv, seized the Derevlianian land and Novgorod, thereby forcing Volodymyr to flee to Scandinavia. In 980 Volodymyr returned to Rus’ with a Varangian force, expelled Yaropolk's governors from Novgorod, and took Polatsk after a battle in which Prince Rogvolod of Polatsk was slain. Volodymyr took Rogvolod's daughter, Rohnida, as his wife. Later that year he captured Kyiv and had Yaropolk murdered, thereby becoming the grand prince , and married Yaropolk's Greek widow.

Over the next 35 years Volodymyr expanded the borders of Kyivan Rus’ and turned it into one of the most powerful states in Eastern Europe. After taking the Cherven towns and Peremyshl from Poland (981) and waging successful wars against the Viatichians (981–2) and Radimichians (984) he united the remaining East Slavic tribes, divided his realm into lands, and installed his sons or viceroys to govern them, dispense princely justice, and collect tribute. In 983 Volodymyr waged war against the Yatvingians and thereby gained access to the Baltic Sea. In 985 he defeated the Khazars and Volga Bulgars and secured his state's eastern frontier. Volodymyr devoted considerable attention to defending his southern borders against the nomadic Pechenegs and Chorni Klobuky. He had lines of fortifications built along the Irpin River, the Stuhna River, the Trubizh River, and the Sula River and founded fortified towns (eg, Vasylkiv, Voin, and Bilhorod) that were joined by earthen ramparts.

Volodymyr attributed his victory over Yaropolk I Sviatoslavych to the support he received from pagan forces, and had idols of the deities Perun, Khors, Dazhboh, Stryboh, Symarhl, and Mokosh erected on a hill overlooking his palace in Kyiv. Later he became convinced that a monotheistic religion would consolidate his power, as Christianity and Islam had done for neighboring rulers. His choice was determined after the Byzantine emperor Basil II turned to him for help in defeating his rival, Bardas Phocas. Volodymyr offered military aid only if he was allowed to marry Basil's sister, Anna, and Basil agreed to the marriage only after Volodymyr promised to convert himself and his subjects to Christianity. Volodymyr, his family, and his closest associates were baptized in December 987, when he took the Christian name Vasylii (Basil). Soon afterward he ordered the destruction of all pagan idols. The mass baptism of the citizens of Kyiv took place on 1 August 988 (see Christianization of Ukraine), and the remaining population of Rus’ was slowly converted, sometimes by force. In 988 Volodymyr sent several thousand warriors to help Basil regain power and married Anna, and in 989 he besieged Chersonese Taurica, took it from Bardas Phocas, and returned it to Basil.

The Christianization of Rus’ was essentially engineered by Byzantium. Byzantium supplied the first hierarchs and other missionary clergy in Rus’ and introduced Byzantine art, education, and literature there. During Volodymyr's reign the first schools and churches were built, notably the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv. The adoption of Christianity as the official religion facilitated the unification of the Rus’ tribes and the establishment of foreign dynastic, political, cultural, religious, and commercial relations, particularly with the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, and Germany. Relations with Poland improved after Volodymyr's son Sviatopolk I married the daughter of Prince Boleslaw I the Brave in 992. Volodymyr received papal emissaries in 986, 988, 991, 992, and 1000 and sent his own envoys to Rome in 993 and 1001.

After Anna's death in 1011, Volodymyr married the daughter of Count Kuno von Enningen. Toward the end of his life his sons Sviatopolk of Turiv and Yaroslav the Wise of Novgorod challenged his rule. Having defeated Sviatopolk, Volodymyr died while preparing a campaign against Yaroslav and was buried in the Church of the Tithes. He was succeeded briefly by Sviatopolk.

The Rus’ clergy venerated Volodymyr because of his support of the church, but he was canonized only after 1240. Thereafter he was referred to as ‘the holy, equal to the Apostles, grand prince of Kyiv.’ The oldest extant mention of him as Saint Volodymyr is found in the Hypatian Chronicle under the year 1254, and his feast day, 28 July (15 July OS), was first celebrated in 1263.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Zavitnevich, V. Vladimir Sviatoi kak politicheskii deiatel’ (Kyiv 1888)
Nazarko, I. Sviatyi Volodymyr Velykyi, Volodar i Khrystytel’ Rusy-Ukraèiny (960–1015) (Rome 1954)
Poppe, A. ‘The Political Background to the Baptism of Rus’: Byzantine-Russian Relations between 986 and 989,’ Dumbarton Oaks Papers, no. 30 (1976); repr in his Rise of Christian Russia (London 1982)
Volkoff, V. Vladimir the Russian Viking ([London] 1984)
Tolochko, Petro. Sviatyi Volodymyr; Iaroslav Mudryi (Kyiv 1996)

Birth:
What is the meaning of the word, "Ukraine"?

In most Slavic languages, "kraina" means "country" or "land". The word "krai" in Russian is used this way too (several regions within Russia are categorized as "krai"), but its second meaning "edge"/"boundary" is often pitched by Russia to interpret the word "Ukraine" as "borderlands" (of Russia, of course).

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-does-Ukraine-for-Ukrainians-mean

What is the meaning of the word, "Russia"?

1530s, from Medieval Latin Russi "the people of Russia," from Rus, the native name of the people and the country (source of Arabic Rus, Medieval Greek Rhos), originally the name of a group of Swedish merchant/warriors who established themselves around Kiev 9c.

Source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/russia

Religion:
converted to Christianity

Vladimir married Rogneda of Polotsk, Princess Consort of Rus. Rogneda (daughter of Rogvolod, Prince of Polotsk) was born in 0Apr 962 in Polotsk, Russia; died in 1002 in Berestovo, Kiev, Ukraine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Rogneda of Polotsk (962–1002) is the Slavic name for Ragnhild, was a Princess consort of Rus. She was the daughter of Ragnvald (Slavic: Rogvolod) came from Scandinavia and established himself at Polatsk in the mid-10th century.

Life

It has been speculated that Rogneda belonged to the Ynglings royal family of Norway. In or about 980, Vladimir, on learning that she was betrothed to his half-brother Yaropolk I of Kiev, took Polotsk and forced Rogneda to marry him. Having raped Rogneda in the presence of her parents, he ordered them to be killed, along with two of Rogneda's brothers.

Rogneda gave him several children. The four sons were Yaroslav the Wise, Vsevolod, Mstislav of Chernigov, and Izyaslav of Polotsk. She also bore two daughters, one of whom is named by Nestor the Chronicler as Predslava (taken as a concubine of Boleslaus I of Poland, according to Gallus). A later chronicle tells a story, most likely taken from a Norse saga, of Rogneda plotting against Vladimir and asking her elder son, Izyaslav, to kill him. As was the Norse royal custom, she was sent with her elder son to govern the land of her parents, i.e. Polotsk. Izyaslav's line continued to rule Polotsk and the newly found town of Izyaslavl until the Mongol invasion.

After Vladimir converted to Christianity and took Anna Porphyrogeneta as his wife, he had to divorce all his previous wives, including Rogneda. After that, she entered the convent and took the name Anastasia.

Legacy

Around 1825 Kondraty Ryleev wrote a narrative poem entitled Rogneda. This poem became a literary source for her portrayal in the nationalist Russian opera Rogneda by Alexander Serov, which premiered in 1865.

See also

Family life and children of Vladimir I
List of rape victims from history and mythology

Princess Consort of Rus
Rahvalod, Rahnieda (Polacak). ????????, ??????? (???????).jpg
Matchmakers Vladimir Svyatoslavich in Rogvolod (left side); Rogvolod talks with Rogneda (right side).
Reign 980–988
Predecessor Unknown wife of Yaropolk I
Successor Anna Porphyrogeneta
Born 962
Died 1002 [aged 40]
Spouse Vladimir the Great (divorced)
Issue Izyaslav of Polotsk
Yaroslav the Wise
Mstislav of Chernigov
Predlava
Premislava
Mstislava
Father Rogvolod

end of biography


end of biography

Notes:

Married:
List of rape victims from ancient history and mythology:

Rogneda of Polotsk from Belarus/Scandinavian history; raped by Vladimir, half-brother of her betrothed Yaropolk I of Kiev, in the presence of her parents (10th century)

... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rape_victims_from_ancient_history_and_mythology

Olof married Estrid of the Obotrites, Queen Consort of Sweden(Sweden). Estrid was born in ~979 in (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany); died in 1035 in (Sweden). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Estrid (or Astrid) of the Obotrites (c. 979 – 1035) was a Viking age Swedish queen and West Slavic princess, married to Olof Skèotkonung, the King of Sweden, c. 1000–1022, mother of King Anund Jacob of Sweden and the Kievan Rus' saint and grand princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter.

Biography
Legend says that Estrid was taken back to Sweden from a war in the West Slavic area of Mecklenburg as a war-prize. She was most likely given by her father, a tribal chief of the Polabian Obotrites, as a peace offering in a marriage to seal the peace, and she is thought to have brought with her a great dowry, as a great Slavic influence is represented in Sweden from her time, mainly among craftsmen.

Her husband also had a mistress, Edla, who came from the same area in Europe as herself, and who was possibly taken to Sweden at the same time. The king treated Edla and Estrid the same way and gave his son and his two daughters with Edla the same privileges as the children he had with Estrid, though it was Estrid he married and made queen.

Queen Estrid was baptised with her husband, their children and large numbers of the Swedish royal court in 1008, when the Swedish royal family converted to Christianity, although the king promised to respect the freedom of religion - Sweden was not to be Christian until the last religious war between Inge the Elder and Blot-Sweyn of 1084-1088.

Snorre Sturlasson wrote about her, that Estrid was unkind to the children (Emund, Astrid and Holmfrid) of her husband's mistress Edla;

" Queen Estrid was arrogant and not kind towards her stepchildren, and therefore the king sent his son Emund to Vendland, where he was brought up by his maternal relatives".
Not much is known of Estrid as a person. Snorre Sturlasson mentions her as a lover of pomp and luxury, and as hard and strict towards her servants.

Children
Ingegerd Olofsdotter (c. 1001-1054), Grand Princess of Kiev, in Kievan Rus' called Anna, married Yaroslav I the Wise, prince of Novgorod and Kiev.
Anund Jacob (c. 1010-1050), king of Sweden, succeeded Olof as king in c. 1022.
References
êAke Ohlmarks: "Alla Sveriges drottningar" (All the queens of Sweden) (In Swedish)
Snorri Sturluson

end of this biography

Notes:

Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: Richard Sans-Peur; Old Norse: Jarl Richart), was the Count of Rouen or Jarl of Rouen from 942 to 996.[1] Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write the "De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum" (Latin, "On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy"), called him a Dux. However, this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's renowned leadership in war, and not as a reference to a title of nobility.[2][3] Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, most important Norman landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.[4]


Birth
Richard was born to William Longsword, princeps (chieftain or ruler)[5] of Normandy, and Sprota.[1] His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a more danico marriage.[6] He was also the grandson of the famous Rollo. 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.[7] Richard was about ten years old when his father was killed on 17 December 942.[1] After William was killed, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller. Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.[8]

Life
With the death of Richard's father in 942, King Louis IV of France installed the boy, Richard, in his father's office. Under the influence of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders the King took him into Frankish territory[9]:32–4 and placing him in the custody of the count of Ponthieu before the King reneged and seized the lands of the Duchy of Normandy.[10] He then split up the Duchy, giving its lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis IV thereafter kept Richard in close confinement at Lãaon,[11] but the youth escaped from imprisonment[9]:36–7 with assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Belláesme, and Bernard the Dane[12] (ancestor to the families of Harcourt and Beaumont).[a]

In 946, at the age of 14, Richard allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders in France and with men sent by King Harold of Denmark. A battle was fought after which Louis IV was captured. Hostages were taken and held until King Louis recognised Richard as Duke, returning Normandy to him.[9]:37–41 Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, the Count of Paris, Hugh resolved to form a permanent alliance with Richard and promised his daughter Emma, who was just a child, as a bride, the marriage would take place in 960.[9]:41–2

Louis IV working with Arnulf I, Count of Flanders persuaded Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor to attack Richard and Hugh. The combined armies of Otto, Arnulf and Louis IV were driven from the gates of Rouen, fleeing to Amiens and being decisively defeated in 947.[9]:41–2[13] A period of peace ensued, Louis IV dying in 954, 13 year old Lothair becoming King. The middle aged Hugh appointed Richard as guardian of his 15-year-old son, Hugh Capet in 955.[9]:44

In 962, Theobald I, Count of Blois, attempted a renewed invasion of Rouen, Richard's stronghold, but his troops were summarily routed by Normans under Richard's command, and forced to retreat before ever having crossed the Seine river.[14][15] Lothair, the king of the West Franks, was fearful that Richard's retaliation could destabilize a large part of West Francia so he stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.[16] In 987 Hugh Capet became King of the Franks.

For the last 30 years until his death in 996 in Fâecamp, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and its petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm and reunited the Normans, forging the reclaimed Duchy of his father and grandfather into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[17]

Richard was succeeded in November 996 by his 33-year-old son, Richard II, Duke of Normandy.

Relationships with France, England and the Church
Richard used marriage to build strong alliances. His marriage to Emma of Paris connected him directly to the House of Capet. His second wife, Gunnora, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters formed the core group that were to provide loyal followers to him and his successors.[18]

His daughters forged valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.[18] Emma marrying firstly ¥thelred the Unready and after his death in 1016, the invader, Cnut the Great. Her children included three English kings, Edward the Confessor, Alfred Aetheling and with Cnut, Harthacnut so completing a major link between the Duke of Normandy and the Crown of England that would add validity to the claim by the future William the Conqueror to the throne of England.

Richard also built on his relationship with the church, undertaking acts of piety,[19]:lv restoring their lands and ensuring the great monasteries flourished in Normandy. His further reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.[18][20]

Marriages

Richard & his children
His first marriage in 960 was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France,[1][21] and Hedwig von Sachsen.[21] They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.[1]

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 enamored with the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she was a virtuous woman and suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herfast 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:[b]

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[1]
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux[1]
Mauger, Count of Corbeil[1]
Emma of Normandy, wife of two kings of England[1]
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[1]
Hawise of Normandy m. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[1]
Papia of Normandy
Orielda (963-1031) wife of Fulk Seigneur de Guernanville, Dean of Evreax [22][23]
Illegitimate children

Richard was known to have had several other mistresses and had children with many of them. Known children are:

Geoffrey, Count of Eu[1][24]
William, Count of Eu (ca. 972-26 January 1057/58),[24] m. Lasceline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057/58).
Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne[1] (d.1030 (divorced)
Possible children
Muriella, married Tancred de Hauteville[1][25][26]
Fressenda or Fredesenda (ca. 995-ca. 1057), second wife of Tancred de Hauteville.[1][26][27]
Guimara (Wimarc(a)) (b. circa 986), died Abbey of Montivilliers, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, wife of Ansfred (Ansfroi) II "le Dane" le Goz, vicomte of Exmes and Falaise, mother of Robert FitzWimarc[28]
Death
Richard died of natural causes in Fecamp, France, on 20 November 996.[29]

Depictions in fiction
The Little Duke, a Victorian juvenile novel by Charlotte Mary Yonge, is a fictionalized account of Richard's boyhood and early struggles.

Count of Rouen
Reign 17 December 942 – 20 November 996
Predecessor William Longsword
Successor Richard II
Born 28 August 932
Fâecamp Normandy, France
Died 20 November 996 (aged 64)
Fâecamp Normandy, France
Spouse Emma of Paris
Gunnor
Issue Richard II of Normandy
Robert II (Archbishop of Rouen)
Mauger, Count of Corbeil
Robert Danus
Willam?
Emma of Normandy
Maud of Normandy
Hawise of Normandy
Geoffrey, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
William, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
Beatrice of Normandy (illegitimate)
Robert (illegitimate)
Papia (illegitimate)
House House of Normandy
Father William I Longsword
Mother Sprota

end of biography

Richard married Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy. Gonor (daughter of Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark and Gunhild von Denmark) was born in 936-941 in Rouen, France; died on 5 Jan 1031 in Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Gunnora (or Gunnor) (circa 936 – 5 Jan 1031) was a Duchess of Normandy and the wife of Richard I of Normandy.

Life

The names of Gunnora's parents are unknown, but Robert of Torigni wrote that her father was a forester from the Pays de Caux and according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin she was of noble Danish origin.[2] Gunnora was probably born c.? 950.[3] Her family held sway in western Normandy and Gunnora herself was said to be very wealthy.[4] Her marriage to Richard I was of great political importance, both to her husband[b] and her progeny.[5] Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, was progenitor of a great Norman family.[4] Her sisters and nieces[c] married some of the most important nobles in Normandy.[6]

Robert of Torigni recounts a story of how Richard met Gunnora.[7] She was living with her sister Seinfreda, the wife of a local forester, when Richard, hunting nearby, heard of the beauty of the forester's wife. He is said to have ordered Seinfreda to come to his bed, but the lady substituted her unmarried sister, Gunnora. Richard, it is said, was pleased that by this subterfuge he had been saved from committing adultery and together they had three sons and three daughters.[d][8] Unlike other territorial rulers, the Normans recognized marriage by cohabitation or more danico. But when Richard was prevented from nominating their son Robert to be Archbishop of Rouen, the two were married, "according to the Christian custom", making their children legitimate in the eyes of the church.[8]

Gunnora attested ducal charters up into the 1020s, was skilled in languages and was said to have had an excellent memory.[9] She was one of the most important sources of information on Norman history for Dudo of St. Quentin.[10] As Richard's widow she is mentioned accompanying her sons on numerous occasions.[9] That her husband depended on her is shown in the couple's charters where she is variously regent of Normandy, a mediator and judge, and in the typical role of a medieval aristocratic mother, an arbitrator between her husband and their oldest son Richard II.[9]

Gunnora was a founder and supporter of Coutances Cathedral and laid its first stone.[11] In one of her own charters after Richard's death she gave two alods to the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, namely Britavilla and Domjean, given to her by her husband in dower, which she gave for the soul of her husband, and the weal of her own soul and that of her sons "count Richard, archbishop Robert, and others..."[12] She also attested a charter, c.?1024–26, to that same abbey by her son, Richard II, shown as Gonnor matris comitis (mother of the count).[13] Gunnora, both as wife and countess,[e] was able to use her influence to see her kin favored, and several of the most prominent Anglo-Norman families on both sides of the English Channel are descended from her, her sisters and nieces.[9] Gunnora died c.?1031.[3]

Family

Richard and Gunnora were parents to several children:

Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[14]
Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux, died 1037[14]
Mauger, Count of Corbeil[14]
Emma of Normandy (c.?985–1052), married first to ¥thelred, King of England and secondly Cnut the Great, King of England.[14]
Hawise of Normandy, wife of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[14]
Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[14]

end of biography

Notes:

Conan I le Tort of Rennes, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany, was born 927 to Judicael Berengar (-bef979) and died 27 June 992 at the Battle of Conquereuil of unspecified causes. He married Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) .

Conan may have married his second cousin once removed: Herbert I, Count of Vermandois (c848-907) may have been his great-grandfather and was his wife's great-great-grandfather.

Conan married Ermengarde of Anjou. Ermengarde (daughter of Geoffrey of Anjou and Adele of Meaux) was born before 967 in (Anjou, France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sviatoslav I Igorevich (Old East Slavic: ?~??????? / ??????????[1] ?????????, Sventoslavu / Svantoslavu Igorevici; Old Norse: Sveinald Ingvarsson) (c. 942 – 26 March 972), also spelled Svyatoslav was a Grand prince of Kiev[2][3] famous for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe, Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire. He also conquered numerous East Slavic tribes, defeated the Alans and attacked the Volga Bulgars,[4][5] and at times was allied with the Pechenegs and Magyars.

His decade-long reign over the Kievan Rus' was marked by rapid expansion into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe, and the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in Europe, eventually moving his capital in 969 from Kiev (modern-day Ukraine) to Pereyaslavets (identified as the modern village of Nufaru, Romania)[6] on the Danube.

In contrast with his mother's conversion to Christianity, Sviatoslav remained a staunch pagan all of his life.

Due to his abrupt death in ambush, his conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to a fratricidal feud among his three sons, resulting in two of them being killed.

Reign 945–972
Coronation 964
Predecessor Igor
Successor Yaropolk I
Born 942? AD
Kiev
Died 26 March 972 AD [aged ~30]
The island of Khortytsa Dnieper
Wives
Predslava
Malusha
Issue With unknown woman:
Yaropolk I
Oleg

With Malusha:
Vladimir the Great
Full name
Sviatoslav Igorevich
Dynasty Rurik Dynasty
Father Igor
Mother Saint Olga (regent 945-964)

Name

The Primary Chronicle records Sviatoslav as the first ruler of the Kievan Rus' with a name of Slavic origin (as opposed to his predecessors, whose names had Old Norse forms). The name Sviatoslav, however, is not recorded in other medieval Slavic countries. Nevertheless, Sveinald is the Old East Norse cognate with the Slavic form as attested in the Old East Norse patronymic of Sviatoslav's son Vladimir: Valdamarr Sveinaldsson. This patronymic naming convention continues in Icelandic and in East Slavic languages. Even in Rus', it was attested only among the members of the house of Rurik, as were the names of Sviatoslav's immediate successors: Vladimir, Yaroslav, and Mstislav.[7][need quotation to verify] Some scholars see the name of Sviatoslav, composed of the Slavic roots for "holy" and "glory", as an artificial derivation combining the names of his predecessors Oleg and Rurik (whose names mean "holy" and "glorious" in Old Norse, respectively).[8]

Early life and personality

Virtually nothing is known about Sviatoslav's childhood and youth, which he spent reigning in Novgorod. Sviatoslav's father, Igor, was killed by the Drevlians around 945, and his mother, Olga, ruled as regent in Kiev until Sviatoslav reached maturity (ca. 963).[9] Sviatoslav was tutored by a Varangian named Asmud.[10] The tradition of employing Varangian tutors for the sons of ruling princes survived well into the 11th century. Sviatoslav appears to have had little patience for administration. His life was spent with his druzhina (roughly, "company") in permanent warfare against neighboring states. According to the Primary Chronicle, he carried on his expeditions neither wagons nor kettles, and he boiled no meat, rather cutting off small strips of horseflesh, game, or beef to eat after roasting it on the coals. Nor did he have a tent, rather spreading out a horse-blanket under him and setting his saddle under his head, and all his retinue did likewise.[11]


Illustration of Sviatoslav wearing a vyshyvanka, by Fedor Solntsev

Sviatoslav's appearance has been described very clearly by Leo the Deacon, who himself attended the meeting of Sviatoslav with John I Tzimiskes. Following Deacon's memories, Sviatoslav was a blue-eyed man of average height but of stalwart build, much more sturdy than Tzimiskes. He shaved his blond head and his beard but wore a bushy mustache and a sidelock as a sign of his nobility.[12] He preferred to dress in white, and it was noted that his garments were much cleaner than those of his men, although he had a lot in common with his warriors. He wore a single large gold earring bearing a carbuncle and two pearls.[13]

Religious beliefs

Sviatoslav's mother, Olga, converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity at the court of Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in 957,[14] at the approximate age of 67. However, Sviatoslav remained a pagan all of his life. In the treaty of 971 between Sviatoslav and the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes, the Rus' are swearing by Perun and Veles.[15] According to the Primary Chronicle, he believed that his warriors (druzhina) would lose respect for him and mock him if he became a Christian.[16] The allegiance of his warriors was of paramount importance in his conquest of an empire that stretched from the Volga to the Danube.

Family

Svjatoslav's mother, Olga, with her escort in Constantinople, a miniature from the late 11th century chronicle of John Skylitzes.
Very little is known of Sviatoslav's family life. It is possible that he was not the only (or the eldest) son of his parents. The Russo-Byzantine treaty of 945 mentions a certain Predslava, Volodislav's wife, as the noblest of the Rus' women after Olga. The fact that Predslava was Oleg's mother is presented by Vasily Tatishchev. He also speculated that Predslava was of a Hungarian nobility. George Vernadsky was among many historians to speculate that Volodislav was Igor's eldest son and heir who died at some point during Olga's regency. Another chronicle told that Oleg (? - 944?) was the eldest son of Igor. At the time of Igor's death, Sviatoslav was still a child, and he was raised by his mother or under her instructions. Her influence, however, did not extend to his religious observance.


Sviatoslav I in the Tsarsky Titulyarnik, 1672

Sviatoslav had several children, but the origin of his wives is not specified in the chronicle. By his wives, he had Yaropolk and Oleg.[17] By Malusha, a woman of indeterminate origins,[18] Sviatoslav had Vladimir, who would ultimately break with his father's paganism and convert Rus' to Christianity. John Skylitzes reported that Vladimir had a brother named Sfengus; whether this Sfengus was a son of Sviatoslav, a son of Malusha by a prior or subsequent husband, or an unrelated Rus' nobleman is unclear.[19]

Eastern campaigns

The Kievan Rus' at the beginning of Sviatoslav's reign (in red), showing his sphere of influence to 972 (in orange)
Shortly after his accession to the throne, Sviatoslav began campaigning to expand Rus' control over the Volga valley and the Pontic steppe region. His greatest success was the conquest of Khazaria, which for centuries had been one of the strongest states of Eastern Europe. The sources are not clear about the roots of the conflict between Khazaria and Rus', so several possibilities have been suggested. The Rus' had an interest in removing the Khazar hold on the Volga trade route because the Khazars collected duties from the goods transported by the Volga. Historians have suggested that the Byzantine Empire may have incited the Rus' against the Khazars, who fell out with the Byzantines after the persecutions of the Jews in the reign of Romanus I Lecapenus.[20]

Sviatoslav began by rallying the East Slavic vassal tribes of the Khazars to his cause. Those who would not join him, such as the Vyatichs, were attacked and forced to pay tribute to the Kievan Rus' rather than to the Khazars.[21] According to a legend recorded in the Primary Chronicle, Sviatoslav sent a message to the Vyatich rulers, consisting of a single phrase: "I want to come at you!" (Old East Slavic: "???? ?? ?? ???")[22] This phrase is used in modern Russian (usually misquoted as "??? ?? ??") and in modern Ukrainian ("??? ?? ??") to denote an unequivocal declaration of one's intentions. Proceeding by the Oka and Volga rivers, he attacked Volga Bulgaria. He employed Oghuz and Pecheneg mercenaries in this campaign, perhaps to counter the superior cavalry of the Khazars and Bulgars.[23]


Sviatoslav's Council of War by Boris Chorikov

Sviatoslav destroyed the Khazar city of Sarkel around 965, possibly sacking (but not occupying) the Khazar city of Kerch on the Crimea as well.[24] At Sarkel he established a Rus' settlement called Belaya Vyezha ("the white tower" or "the white fortress", the East Slavic translation for "Sarkel").[25] He subsequently destroyed the Khazar capital of Atil.[26] A visitor to Atil wrote soon after Sviatoslav's campaign: "The Rus' attacked, and no grape or raisin remained, not a leaf on a branch."[27] The exact chronology of his Khazar campaign is uncertain and disputed; for example, Mikhail Artamonov and David Christian proposed that the sack of Sarkel came after the destruction of Atil.[28]

Although Ibn Haukal reports the sack of Samandar by Sviatoslav, the Rus' leader did not bother to occupy the Khazar heartlands north of the Caucasus Mountains permanently. On his way back to Kiev, Sviatoslav chose to strike against the Ossetians and force them into subservience.[29] Therefore, Khazar successor statelets continued their precarious existence in the region.[30] The destruction of Khazar imperial power paved the way for Kievan Rus' to dominate north-south trade routes through the steppe and across the Black Sea, routes that formerly had been a major source of revenue for the Khazars. Moreover, Sviatoslav's campaigns led to increased Slavic settlement in the region of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture, greatly changing the demographics and culture of the transitional area between the forest and the steppe.[31]

Campaigns in the Balkans

Main article: Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria

Sviatoslav invading Bulgaria, Manasses Chronicle
The annihilation of Khazaria was undertaken against the background of the Rus'-Byzantine alliance, concluded in the wake of Igor's Byzantine campaign in 944.[32] Close military ties between the Rus' and Byzantium are illustrated by the fact, reported by John Skylitzes, that a Rus' detachment accompanied Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phokas in his victorious naval expedition to Crete.

In 967 or 968,[33] Nikephoros sent to Sviatoslav his agent, Kalokyros, with the task of talking Sviatoslav into assisting him in a war against Bulgaria.[34] Sviatoslav was paid 15,000 pounds of gold and set sail with an army of 60,000 men, including thousands of Pecheneg mercenaries.[35][36]

Sviatoslav defeated the Bulgarian ruler Boris II[37] and proceeded to occupy the whole of northern Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the Byzantines bribed the Pechenegs to attack and besiege Kiev, where Olga stayed with Sviatoslav's son Vladimir. The siege was relieved by the druzhina of Pretich, and immediately following the Pecheneg retreat, Olga sent a reproachful letter to Sviatoslav. He promptly returned and defeated the Pechenegs, who continued to threaten Kiev.

[show] v t e
Rus'–Byzantine Wars
Sviatoslav refused to turn his Balkan conquests over to the Byzantines, and the parties fell out as a result. To the chagrin of his boyars and his mother (who died within three days after learning about his decision), Sviatoslav decided to move his capital to Pereyaslavets in the mouth of the Danube due to the great potential of that location as a commercial hub. In the Primary Chronicle record for 969, Sviatoslav explains that it is to Pereyaslavets, the centre of his lands, "all the riches flow: gold, silks, wine, and various fruits from Greece, silver and horses from Hungary and Bohemia, and from Rus' furs, wax, honey, and slaves".


Pursuit of Sviatoslav's warriors by the Byzantine army, a miniature from 11th century chronicles of John Skylitzes.

In summer 969, Sviatoslav left Rus' again, dividing his dominion into three parts, each under a nominal rule of one of his sons. At the head of an army that included Pecheneg and Magyar auxiliary troops, he invaded Bulgaria again, devastating Thrace, capturing the city of Philippopolis, and massacring its inhabitants. Nikephoros responded by repairing the defenses of Constantinople and raising new squadrons of armored cavalry. In the midst of his preparations, Nikephoros was overthrown and killed by John Tzimiskes, who thus became the new Byzantine emperor.[38]


Madrid Skylitzes, meeting between John Tzimiskes and Sviatoslav.

John Tzimiskes first attempted to persuade Sviatoslav into leaving Bulgaria, but he was unsuccessful. Challenging the Byzantine authority, Sviatoslav crossed the Danube and laid siege to Adrianople, causing panic on the streets of Constantinople in summer 970.[39] Later that year, the Byzantines launched a counteroffensive. Being occupied with suppressing a revolt of Bardas Phokas in Asia Minor, John Tzimiskes sent his commander-in-chief, Bardas Skleros, who defeated the coalition of Rus', Pechenegs, Magyars, and Bulgarians in the Battle of Arcadiopolis.[40] Meanwhile, John, having quelled the revolt of Bardas Phokas, came to the Balkans with a large army and promoting himself as the liberator of Bulgaria from Sviatoslav, penetrated the impracticable mountain passes and shortly thereafter captured Marcianopolis, where the Rus' were holding a number of Bulgar princes hostage.


Siege of Durostorum in Manasses Chronicle

Sviatoslav retreated to Dorostolon, which the Byzantine armies besieged for sixty-five days. Cut off and surrounded, Sviatoslav came to terms with John and agreed to abandon the Balkans, renounce his claims to the southern Crimea, and return west of the Dnieper River. In return, the Byzantine emperor supplied the Rus' with food and safe passage home. Sviatoslav and his men set sail and landed on Berezan Island at the mouth of the Dnieper, where they made camp for the winter. Several months later, their camp was devastated by famine, so that even a horse's head could not be bought for less than a half-grivna, reports the Kievan chronicler of the Primary Chronicle.[41] While Sviatoslav's campaign brought no tangible results for the Rus', it weakened the Bulgarian statehood and left it vulnerable to the attacks of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer four decades later.

Death and aftermath

The Death of Sviatoslav by Boris Chorikov
Fearing that the peace with Sviatoslav would not endure, the Byzantine emperor induced the Pecheneg khan Kurya to kill Sviatoslav before he reached Kiev. This was in line with the policy outlined by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in De Administrando Imperio of fomenting strife between the Rus' and the Pechenegs.[42] According to the Slavic chronicle, Sveneld attempted to warn Sviatoslav to avoid the Dnieper rapids, but the prince slighted his wise advice and was ambushed and slain by the Pechenegs when he tried to cross the cataracts near Khortitsa early in 972. The Primary Chronicle reports that his skull was made into a chalice by the Pecheneg khan.[43]

Following Sviatoslav's death, tensions between his sons grew. A war broke out between his legitimate sons, Oleg and Yaropolk, in 976, at the conclusion of which Oleg was killed. In 977 Vladimir fled Novgorod to escape Oleg's fate and went to Scandinavia, where he raised an army of Varangians and returned in 980. Yaropolk was killed, and Vladimir became the sole ruler of Kievan Rus'.

Art and literature

Ivan Akimov. Sviatoslav's Return from the Danube to His Family in Kiev (1773)
Sviatoslav has long been a hero of Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian patriots due to his great military successes. His figure first attracted attention of Russian artists and poets during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), which provided obvious parallels with Sviatoslav's push towards Constantinople. Russia's southward expansion and the imperialistic ventures of Catherine II in the Balkans seemed to have been legitimized by Sviatoslav's campaigns eight centuries earlier.

Among the works created during the war was Yakov Knyazhnin's tragedy Olga (1772). The Russian playwright chose to introduce Sviatoslav as his protagonist, although his active participation in the events following Igor's death is out of sync with the traditional chronology. Knyazhnin's rival Nikolai Nikolev (1758–1815) also wrote a play on the subject of Sviatoslav's life. Ivan Akimov's painting Sviatoslav's Return from the Danube to Kiev (1773) explores the conflict between military honour and family attachment. It is a vivid example of Poussinesque rendering of early medieval subject matter.

Interest in Sviatoslav's career increased in the 19th century. Klavdiy Lebedev depicted an episode of Sviatoslav's meeting with Emperor John in his well-known painting, while Eugene Lanceray sculpted an equestrian statue of Sviatoslav in the early 20th century.[44] Sviatoslav appears in the 1913 poem of Velimir Khlebnikov Written before the war (#70. ?????????? ?? ?????)[45] as an epitome of militant Slavdom:

?????????? ??? ?????, Pouring the famed juice of the Danube
??????? ? ????? ?????, Into the depth of my head,
????? ???? ?, ????????? I shall drink and remember
??????? ????: "??? ?? ??!". The cry of the bright ones: "I come at you!"[46]
Sviatoslav is the villain of the novel The Lost Kingdom, or the Passing of the Khazars, by Samuel Gordon,[47] a fictionalised account of the destruction of Khazaria by the Rus'. The Slavic warrior figures in a more positive context in the story "Chernye Strely Vyaticha" by Vadim Viktorovich Kargalov; the story is included in his book Istoricheskie povesti.[48]

In 2005, reports circulated that a village in the Belgorod region had erected a monument to Sviatoslav's victory over the Khazars by the Russian sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. The reports described the 13-meter tall statue as depicting a Rus' cavalryman trampling a supine Khazar bearing a Star of David and Kolovrat. This created an outcry within the Jewish community of Russia. The controversy was further exacerbated by Klykov's connections with Pamyat and other anti-Semitic organizations, as well as by his involvement in the "letter of 500", a controversial appeal to the Prosecutor General to review all Jewish organizations in Russia for extremism.[49] The Press Centre of the Belgorod Regional Administration responded by stating that a planned monument to Sviatoslav had not yet been constructed but would show "respect towards representatives of all nationalities and religions."[50] When the statue was unveiled, the shield bore a twelve-pointed star.

Sviatoslav is the main character of the books "Knyaz" ("?????") and "The Hero" ("?????"), written by Russian writer Alexander Mazin.

On 7 November 2011, a Ukrainian fisherman found a one metre long sword in the waters of the Dnieper on Khortytsia near where Sviatoslav is believed to have been killed in 972. The handle is made out of four different metals including gold and silver, and could possibly have belonged to Sviatoslav himself.[51]

end of biography

Sviatoslav married Malusha. Malusha was born in (0944) in (Kiev, Ukraine); died in (1002). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Malusha/Malfrida[1][2] (Old Ruthenian: ?????a, Old Norse: Mâalfrâiºr)[3] historically is known as a servant (kholopka) for Olga of Kiev and wife of Sviatoslav I of Kiev. According to Slavonic chronicles, she was the mother of Vladimir the Great and sister of Dobrynya. The Norse sagas describe Vladimir's mother as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha monuments in Korosten, Ukraine, with her young son Vladimir.[1]

Origin
As the chronicles are silent on the subject of Malusha's pedigree, 19th-century Russian and Ukrainian historians devised various theories to explain her parentage and name.

Alexei Shakhmatov considered Malusha to be the daughter of Mstisha Sveneldovich, son of Sveneld, a Varangian warlord. He believed that the name Malusha was a slavinized version of a Scandinavian name Malfried.[4] In this case, Malusha was of Norse origin.[5] The Primary Chronicle records that a certain Malfried died in 1000. This record follows that of Rogneda's death. Since Rogneda was Vladimir's wife, historians assume that Malfried was another close relative of the ruling prince, preferably his wife or mother.

The anti-Normanist historian Dmitry Ilovaisky managed to draw an opposite conclusion: that the Slavic name Malusha was turned into a Scandinavian Malfried. This claim received no wider support. Dmitry Prozorovsky believed that Malusha was the daughter of Mal, a Drevlyan leader.[6] The same one that wanted to marry Olga of Kiev after she became a widow.[7]

References
Vladimir Plougin: Russian Intelligence Services: The Early Years, 9th-11th Centuries, Algora Publ., 2000
History of Ukraine-Rus': From prehistory to the eleventh century, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 1997
Mâalfrâiºr nordicnames.de
Vladimir Plougin: Russian Intelligence Services: The Early Years, 9th-11th Centuries, Algora Publ., 2000
Harvard Ukrainian studies, Volumer 12-13, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 1990
?. ?. ???????. ?????? ??????? ? ?????????? ????????? ? ???????????? ?????. ISBN 9785860075351. Page 90.
Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. p. 210. ISBN 1-57607-063-8.

end of biography

Notes:

Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of Vèastergèotland or èOstergèotland, and married to a sister of Olav Tryggvason.[1]

Ragnvald is mentioned in the skaldic poem Austrfaravâisur, ascribed to Sigvatr ´âorºarson, skald of King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway (Olaf the Holy), who had been on a diplomatic mission to Sweden. This poem is quoted in the 13th century sagas Fagrskinna and Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. In addition to the poem, Fagrskinna only briefly mentions Ragnvald, while Heimskringla contains a more elaborate account of him. This 13th-century prose text is not considered historically reliable.

According to Snorri, Ragnvald was the son of jarl Ulf Tostesson and Ingeborg and the foster-son of ´orgnýr the Lawspeaker. He was the cousin of Olof Skèotkonung, through his aunt Sigrid the Haughty, and he was married to Ingeborg Tryggvasdotter.

During his days the Norwegians pillaged in Vèastergèotland, but then the Norwegian king, Olaf the Holy, proposed to the Swedish princess Ingigerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of Sweden's king Olof Skèotkonung. This pleased Ragnvald who was related to both.

However, at the Thing at Gamla Uppsala, Ragnvald and his foster-father ´orgnýr the Lawspeaker had to force Olof, the Swedish king, to promise his daughter to Olaf, the Norwegian king, whom he did not like. When the Swedish king failed to deliver his daughter, Ragnvald realized that he was in trouble. He has not only fallen out of grace with the Swedish king, but he could also expect the revenge of the Norwegians.

During a visit by the skald Sigvatr ´âorºarson, Ragnvald learned that Prince Jaroslav of Kievan Rus' has proposed to Ingigerd, and so he had the idea that Olaf the Holy should marry the illegitimate daughter of Olof Skèotkonung, Astrid, who was staying with Ragnvald. Sigvat promised to deliver the message, and the Norwegian king accepted.


Ragnvald and Astrid arrive at Sarpsborg.
Ragnvald delivered Astrid at Sarpsborg in Norway and she married the king after Christmas of 1019.

Olof Skèotkonung was now so upset that he intended to hang Ragnvald at the next Thing. However, when Ingigerd Olofsdotter married Jaroslav, Ingigerd managed to arrange that Ragnvald became the jarl of Staraja Ladoga (Aldeigjuborg) and Ingria, and Olof let him depart with Ingigerd in the summer of 1019.

Fagrskinna's account of Olaf the Holy's betrothal to Ingigerd, and eventual wedding with Astrid, differs significantly from the account in Heimskringla. In Fagrskinna's account, Ragnvald is not given a prominent role in the proceedings.

Married to Ingeborg Tryggvasdotter. Children:

Ulf Ragnvaldsson Jarl
Eilif Ragnvaldsson Jarl
Ostrida Ragnvalsdatter
He is considered to have fathered king Stenkil,[2] with Astrid Nialsdotter from Norway, but this is based on later Icelandic sources,[3] and the identification of Ragnvald with Ragnvald the Old of Hervarar saga.[4]

Notes

Winroth 1995–1997:616
The entry Stenkil in Larsson 2000:33
Stenkil anses ha varit son till Ragnvald jal i Vèastergèotland. Translation: Stenkil is considered to have been the son of earl Ragnvald in Vèastergèotland.
Lagerquist 1997:41
Den nye kungen hette Stenkil och den ganska kortlivade dynasti han grundade kallas efter honom den stenkilska. Enligt senare islèandska uppgifter var han son till jarlen Ragnvald i Vèastergèotland och Astrid Nialsdotter frêan Norge. Translation: The name of the new king was Stenkil and the rather shortlived dynasty that he founded is named the House of Stenkil after him. According to later Icelandic reports, he was the son of the earl Ragnvald in Vèastergèotland and Astrid Nialsdotter from Norway.
Larsson 2002:154–157
[...] ingenting om Ragnvald den gamle eller den norska hèovdingadottern Astrid som var Stenkils fèorèaldrar enligt den fornislèandska Hervararsagan. [...] Och lika lite kan jag fêa veta ifall Stenkils far Ragnvald var identisk med vèastgèotajarlen med samma namn, som det ofta pêastêas i den historiska literaturen - en hypotes som i och fèor sig ocksêa skulle leda till slèaktskap med den gamla kungaèatten genom att Ragnvald enligt sagorna var kusin till Olof Skèotkonung. Translation: [...] nothing on Ragnvald the Old or the Norwegian chieftain's daughter Astrid who were Stenkil's parents according to the Old Icelandic Hervarar saga. [...] And just as little can I be informed whether Stenkil's father Ragnvald was identical to the Vèastergèotland jarl by the same name, as it is often stated in history books - a hypothesis which, as it were, would lead to kinship with the old dynasty through the fact that Ragnvald according to the sagas was the cousin of Olof Skèotkonung.
Literature
Larsson, Lars-Ove (1993, 2000). Vem èar vem i svensk historia, frêan êar 1000 till 1900. Prisma, Stockholm. ISBN 91-518-3427-8
Larsson, Mats G (2002). Gèotarnas Riken : Upptèacktsfèarder Till Sveriges Enande. Bokfèorlaget Atlantis AB ISBN 978-91-7486-641-4
Lagerquist, Lars O. (1997). Sveriges Regenter, frêan forntid till nutid. Norstedts, Stockholm. ISBN 91-1-963882-5
Winroth, Anders (1995–1997) "Ragnvald Ulfsson", Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, volume 29, page 616.
Wisâen, Theodor, revised by Erik Brate (1915), "Ragnvald Ulfsson", Nordisk familjebok, volume 22, 913–914

Rogvolod (Russian: ????????, Rogvolod; Belarusian: ????????, Rahvalod) (c. 920 – 978) was first chronicled prince of Polatsk (945–978). In the Russian Primary Chronicle, he is known as ??????????, probably a slavicized version of the Old Norse name Ragnvald. He came from overseas (i.e., from Scandinavia or Southern Baltic) and established himself at Polatsk in the mid-10th century. According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, Vladimir the Great sought an alliance with him in 980 by marrying his daughter Rogneda, but she insultingly refused, prompting Vladimir to attack Rogvolod and his sons and kill them, after which he forcibly took Rogneda as his wife.[1]

References
Janet Martin, Medieval Russia 980-1584 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 1.
External links
Oleg Latyszonek, Ales’ Bely. On the Scandinavian origin of Rahvalod // Annus Albaruthenicus/??? ????????? ?6. 2005.

end of biography

Notes:

William Longsword (French: Guillaume Longue-âEpâee, Latin: Willermus Longa Spata, Old Norse: Vilhjâalmr Langaspjâot; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.[1]

He is sometimes anachronistically dubbed "Duke of Normandy", even though the title duke (dux) did not come into common usage until the 11th century.[2] Longsword was known at the time by the title Count (Latin comes) of Rouen.[3][4] Flodoard—always detailed about titles—consistently referred to both Rollo and his son William as principes (chieftains) of the Norse.[5]

Birth

William Longsword was born "overseas"[a][6] to the Viking Rollo (while he was still a pagan) and his Christian wife Poppa of Bayeux.[7][8] Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his panegyric of the Norman dukes describes Poppa as the daughter of a Count Beranger, the dominant prince of that region.[9] In the 11th century Annales Rouennaises (Annals of Rouen), she is called the daughter of Guy, Count of Senlis,[10] otherwise unknown to history.[b] Despite the uncertainty of her parentage she was undoubtedly a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[11] According to the Longsword's planctus, he was baptized a Christian probably at the same time as his father,[12] which Orderic Vitalis stated was in 912, by Franco, Archbishop of Rouen.[13]

Life

Longsword succeeded Rollo (who would continue to live for about another 5 years) in 927[14] and, early in his reign, faced a rebellion from Normans[15] who felt he had become too Gallicised and too soft.[16] According to Orderic Vitalis, the leader was Riouf of Evreux,[16][17][18] who was besieging Longsword in Rouen. Sallying forth, Longsword won a decisive battle, proving his authority to be Duke.[19]:25-6 At the time of this 933 rebellion Longsword sent his pregnant wife by custom, Sprota, to Fâecamp where their son Richard was born.[20]

In 933 Longsword recognized Raoul as King of Western Francia, who was struggling to assert his authority in Northern France. In turn Raoul gave him lordship over much of the lands of the Bretons including Avranches, the Cotentin Peninsula and the Channel Islands.[21][22][23]:lii The Bretons did not agree to these changes and resistance to the Normans was led by Alan Wrybeard, Duke of Brittany and Count Berenger of Rennes but ended shortly with great slaughter and Breton castles being razed to the ground,[19]:24 Alan fleeing to England and Beranger seeking reconciliation.[24]

In 935, Longsword married Luitgarde,[1] daughter of Count Herbert II of Vermandois whose dowry gave him the lands of Longueville, Coudres and Illiers l'Eveque.[18] Longsword also contracted a marriage between his sister Adela (Gerloc was her Norse name) and William, Count of Poitou with the approval of Hugh the Great.[25] In addition to supporting King Raoul, he was now a loyal ally of his father-in-law, Herbert II, both of whom his father Rollo had opposed.[26] In January 936 King Raoul died and the 16 year old Louis IV, who was living in exile in England, was persuaded by a promise of loyalty by Longsword, to return and became King. The Bretons returned to recover the lands taken by the Normans, resulting in fighting in the expanded Norman lands.[23]:lii


The funerary monument of William Longsword in the cathedral of Rouen, France. The monument is from the 14th century.
The new King was not capable of controlling his Barons and after Longsword's brother in law, Herluin II, Count of Montreuil, was attacked by Flanders, Longsword went to their assistance in 939,[19]:28-9 Arnulf I, Count of Flanders retaliated by attacking Normandy. Arnulf captured the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer expelling Herluin. Herluin and Longsword cooperated to retake the castle.[27][28] Longsword was excommunicated for his actions in attacking and destroying several estates belonging to Arnulf.[29]

Longsword pledged his loyalty to King Louis IV when they met in 940 and, in return, he was confirmed in lands that had been given to his father, Rollo.[30] [23]:liii In 941 a peace treaty was signed between the Bretons and Normans, brokered in Rouen by King Louis IV which limited the Norman expansion into Breton lands.[23]:liii The following year, on 17 December 942 at Picquigny on an island on the Somme, Longsword was ambushed and killed by followers of Arnulf while at a peace conference to settle their differences.[18][28] Longsword's son, Richard becoming the next Duke of Normandy.

Family
Longsword had no children with his wife Luitgarde.[31] He fathered his son, Richard the Fearless, with Sprota [c] who was a Breton captive and his concubine.[32] Richard, then aged 10, succeeded him as Duke of Normandy in December 942.[31]

end of biography

William married Sprota. Sprota was born in 0911 in Bretagne, France; died in 0940. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Fecamp, Normandie, France

Notes:

Sprota was the name of a Breton captive who William I, Duke of Normandy took as a wife in the Viking fashion (more danico)[1][2] and by her had a son, Richard I, Duke of Normandy. After the death of her husband William, she became the wife of Esperleng and mother of Rodulf of Ivry.[3][4][5]

Life

The first mention of her is by Flodoard of Reims and although he doesn't name her he identifies her under the year [943] as the mother of "William’s son [Richard] born of a Breton concubine".[6] Her Breton origins could mean she was of Breton, Scandinavian, or Frankish origin, the latter being the most likely based on her name spelling.[7] Elisabeth van Houts wrote "on this reference rests the identification of Sprota, William Longsword’s wife 'according to the Danish custom', as of Breton origin".[8] The first to provide her name was William of Jumiáeges.[9][10] The irregular nature (as per the Church) of her relationship with William served as the basis for her son by him being the subject of ridicule, the French King Louis "abused the boy with bitter insults", calling him "the son of a whore who had seduced another woman's husband."[11][12]

At the time of the birth of her first son Richard, she was living in her own household at Bayeux, under William's protection.[4] William, having just quashed a rebellion at Prâe-de Bataille (c.936),[a] received the news by a messenger that Sprota had just given birth to a son; delighted at the news William ordered his son to be baptized and given the personal name of Richard.[10] William's steward Boto became the boy's godfather.[13]

After the death of William Longsword and the captivity of her son Richard, she had been 'collected' from her dangerous situation by the 'immensely wealthy' Esperleng.[3] Robert of Torigni identified Sprota's second husband[b] as Esperleng, a wealthy landowner who operated mills at Pãitres.[4][14]

Harold married Gunhild von Denmark in ~935 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Gunhild was born in ~0920 in Copenhagen, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Geoffrey married Adele of Meaux. Adele (daughter of Robert De Vermandois, Count of Meaux and Adelaide-Werra de Chaton) was born in ~950 in Meaux, France; died in ~980. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Adele Carolingian of Meaux was born 950 to Robert de Vermandois (918-968) and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) and died 980 of unspecified causes. She married Lambert de Chalon (930-979) . She married Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

The French Wikipedia has her first husband marry her mother,[1] which is unlikely, given her age. The same source has her a daughter Gerberge marry King Adalberto of Italy. This would make Adele a grandmother at the age of 12. However, in the reconstruction shown here, Adele is married to two men at once, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage born around 972 and her eldest daughter from her second marriage born around 965.

Note that Genealogie Quebec merges her with her sister.[2]



Children

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Hugh I de Chalon (?-1039)
Mahaut de Chalon (?-1019) Henri I de Bourgogne (c948-1002)
Geoffroi de Semur (?-c990)

Aelis of Chalon (?-?) Guy I de Macon (975-1006)

Elizabeth de Chalon (970-1014)

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Gottfried of Anjou (?-987) 987
Fulk III, Count of Anjou (972-1040) 972 21 June 1040 Metz, France âElisabeth de Vendãome (c979-999)
Hildegarde de Beaugency (c990-)

Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) 967 Conan I of Rennes (927-992)

Gerberge of Anjou (965-1041) 965 1041 Guillaume III Taillefer of Angoulãeme (960-1028)
^ wikipedia:fr:Lambert de Chalon
^ http://genealogiequebec.info/testphp/info.php?no=23981

Noteworthy descendants include

William I of England (1027-1087)

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Norse Pagan

Notes:

Igor I (Old East Slavic: ?????, Igor'; Old Norse: Ingvar R²riksen; Ukrainian: ????, translit. Ihor ['i??r]; Russian: ?????, translit. Igor' ['ig?r?]; Belarusian: ????, translit. Ihar ['i?ar]) was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus' from 912 to 945. (Varangian defined: http://thehennesseefamily.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=3071&medialinkID=3073)

Ingvar the Rus
Prince of the Rus'
Igor RC.png
Ingvar the Rus. Illumination from the Radziwill Chronicle
Reign 914–945
Coronation 914
Predecessor Oleg
Successor Sviatoslav the Brave
Died 945
Iskorosten
Burial ?
Wife
Saint Olga
Issue Sviatoslav the Brave
Full name
Ingvar Roriksen
Dynasty Rurik Dynasty
Father Rurik
Religion Norse Pagan

Biography

Information about Igor comes mostly from the Primary Chronicle. This document has Igor as the son of Rurik, the first ruler of Kievan Rus':

6378–6387 (870–879). On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor', for he was very young.

6388–6390 (880–882). Oleg set forth, taking with him many warriors from among the Varangians, the Chuds, the Slavs, the Merians and all the Krivichians. He thus arrived with his Krivichians before Smolensk, captured the city, and set up a garrison there. Thence he went on and captured Lyubech, where he also set up a garrison. He then came to the hills of Kiev, and saw how Askold and Dir reigned there. He hid his warriors in the boats, left some others behind, and went forward himself bearing the child Igor'. He thus came to the foot of the Hungarian hill, and after concealing his troops, he sent messengers to Askold and Dir, representing himself as a stranger on his way to Greece on an errand for Oleg and for Igor', the prince's son, and requesting that they should come forth to greet them as members of their race. Askold and Dir straightway came forth. Then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askold and Dir, "You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth." Igor' was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik. They killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Ol'ma now stands.[1]

Igor' twice besieged Constantinople, in 941 and 944, and although Greek fire destroyed part of his fleet, he concluded with the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII a favourable treaty (945), the text of which the chronicle has preserved. In 913 and 944 the Rus' plundered the Arabs in the Caspian Sea during the Caspian expeditions of the Rus', but it remains unclear whether Igor' had anything to do with these campaigns.


Prince Igor Exacting Tribute from the Drevlyans, by Klavdiy Lebedev (1852-1916).
Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlians in 945. The Byzantine historian and chronicler, Leo the Deacon (born ca 950), describes how Igor met his death: "They had bent down two birch trees to the prince's feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince's body apart."[2] Igor's wife, Olga of Kiev, avenged his death by punishing the Drevlians. The Primary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he tried to collect tribute for a second time in a month. As a result, Olga changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe.

Controversy
Drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, Constantin Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. He explains the epic 33-year span of his reign in the chronicle to be the result of its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources.[3] Indeed, none of Igor's activities are recorded in the chronicle before 941.

See also

List of Ukrainian rulers
List of Russian rulers

References

Translated and edited by Cross, S. H. and Sherbowitz-Wetzor, O. P. (1953). "The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text" (PDF). Crimson Printing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
Tarasenko, Leonid (27 February 2008). "Korosten (Iskorosten): A small town with a great history". geocities.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
Zuckerman, Constantin (1995). "On the Date of the Khazars' Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus Oleg and Igor: A Study of the Anonymous Khazar Letter from the Genizah of Cairo" (PDF). Volume 53. Revue des âetudes byzantines (1): 237–270. doi:10.3406/rebyz.1995.1906. ISSN 0766-5598. Retrieved 5 July 2016.

end of biography

Igor married Olga of Kiev in 903. Olga was born in (Pskov) Russia; died on 11 Jul 0969 in Kiev, Ukraine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Notes:

Saint Olga (Church Slavonic: ?????, died 969 AD in Kiev) was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Svyatoslav from 945 until 960. She is known for her obliteration of the Drevlians, a tribe that had killed her husband Igor of Kiev. Even though it would be her grandson Vladimir that would convert the entire nation to Christianity, for her efforts to spread Christianity through the Rus' Olga is venerated as a saint. While her birthdate is unknown, it could be as early as AD 890 and as late as 5 June 925.[1]

Grand Princess of Kiev, Equal to the Apostles
Born Pskov
Died 11 July 969
Kiev
Venerated in Roman Catholicism
Eastern Catholicism, especially in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodoxy
Feast July 11/24

Early life
Olga was reportedly from Pskov. The Primary Chronicle gives 879 as her date of birth, which is unlikely, given the birth of her only son probably some 65 years after that date. She was, hypothetically, of Varangian extraction.

She married the future Igor of Kiev arguably in 903, but perhaps as early as 901-902.

Regency
After Igor's death on 945, Olga ruled Kievan Rus as regent on behalf of their son Svyatoslav.[2]

In 947, Princess Olga launched a punitive expedition against the tribal elites between the Luga and the Msta River.[3] Following this successful campaign, a number of forts were erected at Olga’s orders. One of them is supposed to be Gorodets in the Luga region[4] a fortification dated to the middle of the 10th century. Because of its isolated location, Gorodets does not seem to have been in any way associated with the pre-existing settlement pattern. Moreover, the fort produced another example of square timber frames designed to consolidate the rampart that was seen at Rurikovo Gorodische. The same building technique was in use a century later in the Novgorod fortifications.

Olga remained regent ruler of Kievan Rus with the support of the army and her people. She changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe. She continued to evade proposals of marriage, defended the city during the Siege of Kiev in 968, and saved the power of the throne for her son.

Drevlian Uprising

The following account is taken from the Primary Chronicle. Princess Olga was the wife of Igor of Kiev, who was killed by the Drevlians. At the time of her husband's death, their son Svyatoslav was three years old, making Olga the official ruler of Kievan Rus' until he reached adulthood. The Drevlians wanted Olga to marry their Prince Mal, making him the ruler of Kievan Rus', but Olga was determined to remain in power and preserve it for her son.

The Drevlians sent twenty of their best men to persuade Olga to marry their Prince Mal and give up her rule of Kievan Rus'. She had them buried alive. Then she sent word to Prince Mal that she accepted the proposal, but required their most distinguished men to accompany her on the journey in order for her people to accept the offer of marriage. The Drevlians sent the best men who governed their land. Upon their arrival, she offered them a warm welcome and an invitation to clean up after their long journey in a bathhouse. After they entered, she locked the doors and set fire to the building, burning them alive.

With the best and wisest men out of the way, she planned to destroy the remaining Drevlians. She invited them to a funeral feast so she could mourn over her husband's grave. Her servants waited on them, and after the Drevlians were drunk, Olga's soldiers killed over 5,000 of them.[2] She then placed the city under siege.[2] She asked for three pigeons and three sparrows from each house; she claimed she did not want to burden the villagers any further after the siege.[2] They were happy to comply with the request.

Now Olga gave to each soldier in her army a pigeon or a sparrow, and ordered them to attach by thread to each bird a piece of sulfur bound with small pieces of cloth. When night fell, Olga bade her soldiers release the pigeons and the sparrows. So the birds flew to their nests, the pigeons to the cotes, and the sparrows under the eaves. The dove-cotes, the coops, the porches, and the haymows were set on fire. There was not a house that was not consumed, and it was impossible to extinguish the flames because all the houses caught on fire at once. The people fled from the city, and Olga ordered her soldiers to catch them. Thus she took the city and burned it, and captured the elders of the city. Some of the other captives she killed, while some she gave as slaves to her followers. The remnant she left to pay tribute.[5]

The story, however, is most likely a myth.[2]

Relations with the Holy Roman Emperor

Seven Latin sources document Olga's embassy to Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in 959. The continuation of Regino of Prèum mentions that the envoys requested the emperor to appoint a bishop and priests for their nation. The chronicler accuses the envoys of lies, commenting that their trick was not exposed until later. Thietmar of Merseburg says that the first archbishop of Magdeburg, Saint Adalbert of Magdeburg, before being promoted to this high rank, was sent by Emperor Otto to the country of the Rus' (Rusciae) as a simple bishop but was expelled by pagan allies of Svyatoslav I. The same data is repeated in the annals of Quedlinburg and Hildesheim.

Christianity

Princess Olga meets the body of her husband. A sketch by Vasily Surikov.
Olga was the first ruler of Rus' to convert to Christianity, done in either 945 or 957. The ceremonies of her formal reception in Constantinople were detailed by Emperor Constantine VII in his book De Ceremoniis. Following her baptism, Olga took the Christian name Yelena, after the reigning Empress Helena Lekapena. The Slavonic chronicles add apocryphal details to the account of her baptism, such as the story of how she charmed and "outwitted" Constantine and spurned his proposals of marriage. In actuality, at the time of her baptism, Olga was an old woman, while Constantine already had a wife.

Olga was one of the first people of Rus' to be proclaimed a saint for her efforts to spread Christianity throughout the country. Because of her proselytizing influence, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church call Saint Olga by the honorific Isapâostolos, "Equal to the Apostles". She is also a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. However, she failed to convert Svyatoslav, and it was left to Vladimir I, her grandson and pupil, to make Christianity the lasting state religion. During her son's prolonged military campaigns, she remained in charge of Kiev, residing in the castle of Vyshgorod with her grandsons. She died in 969, soon after the Pechenegs' siege of the city.[6][7]

Gallery

Illuminations from the Radziwill Chronicle

Olga's revenge for her husband's death

Fourth revenge of Olga: Burning of Derevlian capital Iskorosten

Reception of Olga by Constantine VII

Notes

"Princess Olga of Kiev". Russiapedia. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
Clements 2012, p. 7.
Laurentian Codex (1997:60)
Lebedev 1982:225-238; Zalevskaia 1982:49-54
Russian Primary Chronicle
extracts of the Primary Chronicle in English translation, University of Oregon
Primary Sources - A collection of translated excerpts on Medieval Rus, University of Washington Faculty Web Server (November 6, 2004)
References
Clements, Barbara Evans (2012). A History of Women in Russia: From Earliest Times to the Present. Indiana University Press.
See also
Order of Princess Olga (established in Ukraine in 1997)
Christianization of Kievan Rus'
A Perfect Absolution - concept album by French band Gorod about Olga of Kiev
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olga of Kiev.

end of biography

Notes:

Ulf Tostesson was a jarl and the son of the legendary Viking Skogul Toste. He was the brother of Sigrid the Haughty, and his son, Ragnvald Ulfsson, a jarl, was the father of Stenkil, who was elected king when the old House of Munsèo died out.

end of biography

Ulf "den gamle" Tostesson
Born 0930 in Vestgotalnd, Sweden
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of Skoglar Skagul Toste and [mother unknown]
Brother of Ulf (UNKNOWN) Tostesson av Skara and Sigrid Storrada
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died 0950 in Sweden

Relationships between historical figures could have been simplified or even fabricated in the text to give the impression that succession remained within the same family….Precise chronology is also difficult to assess from the Sagas….The conclusion must be that the tight family network described in the Sagas is unlikely to be correct and that the relationships shown below should be treated with considerable caution.

Biography
(English below Swedish version.)

Ulf Tostesson var enligt de islèandska sagorna jarl och son till den legendariske vikingen Skoglar-Toste och bror till den historiskt omtvistade Sigrid Storrêada. Genom sonen Ragnvald Ulfsson pêastêas han ha varit farfar till Stenkil som blev vald till kung efter Emund den gamles dèod. Ulf ska ha varit gift med Ingeborg.

Fèodelse- och dèodsdatum fêar ses som vèaldigt osèakra. (Har lêatit dem vara kvar som en referens om vilket êarhundrade som avses). I originalbiografin fanns èaven "av Skara" i namnet

Barn: Ragnvald Ulfsson, (jarl av Vèastergèotland och uppgiven far till kung Stenkil av Svitjod)

Enligt svenska Wikipedia fèor "sonen" Ragnvald: Att Ragnvald hette Ulfsson och var jarl èar "fèorfalskningar" skapade av Snorre Sturlasson i Olav den heliges historia.[kèalla behèovs] Snorre uppger att Ragnvald var jarl i Skara i Vèastergèotland och bland annat fick en son vid namn Ulf som blev jarl. Austrfararvâisur èar en samtida (1000-tal) primèarkèalla och dèarmed mycket mer pêalitlig èan Snorres sekundèar/tertièara fantastiska kèallmaterial frêan 1200-tal.


Ulf Tostesson is said to be a "jarl" and the son of the legendary viking Skogul Toste. He was the brother of Sigrid the Haughty, and his son, Ragnvald Ulfsson, a jarl, was the father of Stenkil, who was elected king when the king Edmund died. Ulf is said to be married to Ingeborg.

The birth and death years should be considered as very uncertain. They should however be left to indicate what period of time this profile is referred to.

"Den gamle" translates to "the old/er".

There is some argumentation that the son Ragnvald really was a "jarl" and the son of Ulf, that it actually could be a "forgery" made by Snorre Sturlasson, it seems Snorre is the one mentioning that Ragnvald as a " jarl" in Skara (Vèastergèotland). Austrfararvâisur is an earlier source (1000-tal) that does not mention these facts.

Click here for EARLY KINGS OF SWEDEN [1] on WikiTree.


Sources

See also:

Book: Strinnholm, Anders Magnus (1834). Svenska folkets historia frêan èaldsta till nèarvarande tider. Bd 1, Skandinavien under hedna-êaldern, afd. 1. Stockholm. sid. 389. Libris 294689
Wikipedia pêa svenska:
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_Tostesson
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_Ulfsson
Wikipedia in English:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_Tostesson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_Ulfsson

Ulf married Ingeborg. Ingeborg was born in (Gothland, Sweden); died in (Kiev, Ukraine). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Rollo or Gaange Rolf[1] (Norman: Rou; Old Norse: Hrâolfr; French: Rollon; c. 846 – c. 930 AD) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, a region of France. He is sometimes called the 1st Duke of Normandy. His Scandinavian name Rolf was extended to Gaange Rolf because he as an adult became too heavy for a horse to carry, therefore he had to walk ("gaa" in older Dano-Norwegian). Rollo emerged as the outstanding personality among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine. Charles the Simple, the king of West Francia, ceded them lands between the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, and provide the Franks with protection against future Viking raids.[2]

Rollo is first recorded as the leader of these Viking settlers in a charter of 918, and he continued to reign over the region of Normandy until at least 928. He was succeeded by his son, William Longsword in the Duchy of Normandy that he had founded.[3] The offspring of Rollo and his followers became known as the Normans. After the Norman conquest of England and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily over the following two centuries, their descendants came to rule Norman England (the House of Normandy), the Kingdom of Sicily (the Kings of Sicily) as well as the Principality of Antioch from the 10th to 12th century, leaving behind an enduring legacy in the historical developments of Europe and the Near East.[4]

Name

The name Rollo is generally presumed to be a latinisation of the Old Norse name Hrâolfr – a theory that is supported by the rendition of Hrâolfr as Roluo in the Gesta Danorum. It is also sometimes suggested that Rollo may be a Latinised version of another Norse name, Hrollaugr.[5]

Rollo is generally identified with one Viking in particular – a man of high social status mentioned in Icelandic sagas, which refer to him by the Old Norse name Gèongu-Hrâolfr, meaning "Hrâolfr the Walker". (Gèongu-Hrâolfr is also widely known by an Old Danish variant, Ganger-Hrolf.) The byname "Walker" is usually understood to suggest that Rollo was so physically imposing that he could not be carried by a horse and was obliged to travel on foot. Norman and other French sources do not use the name Hrâolfr, and the identification of Rollo with Gèongu-Hrâolfr is based upon similarities between circumstances and actions ascribed to both figures.[citation needed]

The 10th-century Norman historian Dudo records that Rollo took the baptismal name Robert.[6] A variant spelling, Roul, is used in the 12th-century Norman French Roman de la Rou, which was compiled by Wace and commissioned by King Henry II of England (a descendant of Rollo).[citation needed]

Origins and historiography
Rollo was born in the latter half of the 9th century; his place of birth is unknown.

The earliest well-attested historical event associated with Rollo is his leadership of Vikings who besieged Paris in 885–886.[7]

Perhaps the earliest known source to mention Rollo's early life is the French chronicler Richer of Reims, who claims (in the 10th century) that Rollo was the son of a Viking named Ketill.[8] In terms of onomastics, it is interesting that Richer also names – without explicitly linking him to Rollo – a man named Ketill as being the leader of subsequent Viking raids (in 888), against areas on the coast of West Francia, between the Seine and the Loire.

Medieval sources contradict each other regarding whether Rollo's family was Norwegian or Danish in origin. In part, this disparity may result from the indifferent and interchangeable usage in Europe, at the time, of terms such as "Vikings", "Northmen", "Danes", "Norwegians" and so on (in the Medieval Latin texts Dani vel Nortmanni means "Danes or Northmen").

A biography of Rollo, written by the cleric Dudo of Saint-Quentin in the late 10th Century, claimed that Rollo was from Denmark. One of Rollo's great-grandsons and a contemporary of Dudo was known as Robert the Dane. However, Dudo's Historia Normannorum (or Libri III de moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum) was commissioned by Rollo's grandson, Richard I of Normandy and – while Dudo likely had access to family members and/or other people with a living memory of Rollo – this fact must be weighed against the text's potential biases, as an official biography. According to Dudo, an unnamed king of Denmark was antagonistic to Rollo's family, including his father – an unnamed Danish nobleman – and Rollo's brother Gurim. Following the death of Rollo and Gurim's father, Gurim was killed and Rollo was forced to leave Denmark.[9] Dudo appears to have been the main source for William of Jumiáeges (after 1066) and Orderic Vitalis (early 12th century), although both include additional details.[10]

A Norwegian background for Rollo was first explicitly claimed by Goffredo Malaterra (Geoffrey Malaterra), an 11th-century Benedictine monk and historian, who wrote: "Rollo sailed boldly from Norway with his fleet to the Christian coast."[11] Likewise, the 12th-century English historian William of Malmesbury stated that Rollo was "born of noble lineage among the Norwegians".[12]

A chronicler named Benoãit (probably Benoãit de Sainte-More) wrote in the mid-12th Century Chronique des ducs de Normandie that Rollo had been born in a town named "Fasge". This has since been variously interpreted as referring to Faxe, in Sjµlland (Denmark), Fauske, in Hêalogaland (Norway), or perhaps a more obscure settlement that has since been abandoned or renamed. Benoãit also repeated the claim that Rollo had been persecuted by a local ruler and had fled from there to "Scanza island", by which Benoãit probably means Scania (Swedish Skêane). While Faxe was physically much closer to Scania, the mountainous scenery of "Fasge", described by Benoãit, would seem to be more like Fauske.

The claim that Rollo was the brother of a King of Norway, Harald Finehair was made by an anonymous 12th-century Welsh author, in The Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan.[13]

Rollo was first explicitly identified with Hrâolf the Walker (Norse Gèongu-Hrâolfr; Danish Ganger-Hrâolf) by the 13th-century Icelandic sagas, Heimskringla and Orkneyinga Saga. Hrâolf the Walker was so named because he "was so big that no horse could carry him".[14] The Icelandic sources claim that Hrâolfr was born in M²re, western Norway, in the late 9th century and that his parents were the Norwegian jarl Rognvald Eysteinsson ("Rognvald the Wise") and a noblewoman from M²re named Hildr Hrâolfsdâottir. However, these claims were made three centuries after the history commissioned by Rollo's own grandson.

There may be circumstantial evidence for kinship between Rollo and his historical contemporary, Ketill Flatnose, King of the Isles – a Norse realm centred on the Western Isles of Scotland. If, as Richer suggested, Rollo's father was also named Ketill and as Dudo suggested, Rollo had a brother named Gurim, such names are onomastic evidence for a family connection: Icelandic sources name Ketill Flatnose's father as Bjèorn Grâimsson,[15] and "Grim" – the implied name of Ketill Flatnose's paternal grandfather – was likely cognate with Gurim. In addition, both Irish and Icelandic sources suggest that Rollo, as a young man, visited or lived in Scotland, where he had a daughter named Cadlinar (Kaºlâin; Kathleen).[16][17] Moreover, Ketill Flatnose's ancestors were said to have come from M²re – Rollo's ancestral home in the Icelandic sources. However, Ketill was a common name in Norse societies,[18] as were names like Gurim and Grim. It is also possible that the later sources were attempting to suggest an otherwise undocumented link between the historical figures of Rollo and Ketill Flatnose, by way of little-known, possibly apocryphal figures like Grim, Gurim and the Ketill said to be Rollo's father.[citation needed]

Biography

Statue of Rollo in Rouen. There are two bronze replicas of this statue: one at êAlesund (Norway) and the other one at Fargo, North Dakota (United States)
Dudo tells us that Rollo seized Rouen in 876. He is supported by the contemporary chronicler Flodoard, who records that Robert of the Breton March waged a campaign against the Vikings, who nearly levelled Rouen and other settlements; eventually, he conceded "certain coastal provinces" to them.[19]

According to Dudo, Rollo struck up a friendship in England with a king that Dudo calls Alstem. This has puzzled many historians, but recently the puzzle has been resolved by recognition that this refers to Guthrum, the Danish leader whom Alfred the Great baptised with the baptismal name Athelstan, and then recognised as king of the East Angles in 880.[20]

Dudo records that when Rollo took Bayeux by force, he carried off with him the beautiful Popa or Poppa, a daughter of Berenger, Count of Rennes, took her in marriage and with her had their son and Rollo's heir, William Longsword.[21]


Rollo's grave at the Cathedral of Rouen

There are few contemporary mentions of Rollo. The earliest record is from 918, in a charter of Charles III to an abbey, which referred to an earlier grant to "the Normans of the Seine", namely "Rollo and his associates" for "the protection of the kingdom." [22] Dudo retrospectively stated that this pact took place in 911 at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In return for formal recognition of the lands he possessed, Rollo agreed to be baptised and assist the king in the defence of the realm. Rollo took the baptismal name Robert. The seal of agreement was to be marriage between Rollo and Gisla, daughter of Charles. Dudo claims that Gisla was a legitimate daughter of Charles.[23] Since Charles first married in 907, that would mean that Gisla was at most 5 years old at the time of the treaty of 911 which offered her in marriage.[24] It has therefore been speculated that she could have been an illegitimate daughter.[25] However a diplomatic child betrothal need not be doubted.[26]

After pledging his fealty to Charles III as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, Rollo divided the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and settled with a de facto capital in Rouen.[27]

Charles was overthrown by a revolt in 923, and his successor, Robert I, was killed by the Vikings in 923. His successor, Ralph, conceded the Bessin and Maine to Rollo shortly afterwards, the chronicler Flodoard tells us.[28]

Rollo died sometime between a final mention of him by Flodoard in 928, and 933, the year in which a third grant of land, usually identified as being the Cotentin and Avranchin areas, was made to his son and successor William.[29]

Descendants

A genealogical chart of the Norman dynasty
Rollo's son and heir, William Longsword, and grandchild, Richard the Fearless, forged the Duchy of Normandy into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[30] The descendants of Rollo and his men assimilated with their maternal Frankish-Catholic culture and became known as the Normans, lending their name to the region of Normandy.

Rollo is the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, or William I of England. Through William, he is one of the ancestors of the present-day British royal family, as well as an ancestor of all current European monarchs and a great many claimants to abolished European thrones.

One daughter of Rollo, Gerloc (also known as Adele), who married William III, Duke of Aquitaine, was mentioned by Dudo. According to William of Jumiáeges, writing in the latter half of the 11th century, Gerloc's mother was named Poppa.[31]

According to the medieval Irish text An Banshenchas and Icelandic sources, another daughter, Cadlinar (Kaºlâin; Kathleen) was born in Scotland (probably to a Scots mother) and married an Irish prince named Beollâan mac Ciarmaic, later King of South Brega (Lagore). A daughter of Cadlinar and Beollâan named Nithbeorg was abducted by an Icelandic Viking named Helgi Ottarsson,[32][33] and became the mother of the poet Einarr Helgason and grandmother of Guºrâun Ósvâifrsdâottir (protagonist of the Laxdœla saga).

A genetic investigation into the remains of Rollo's grandson, Richard the Fearless, and his great-grandson, Richard the Good, was announced in 2011 with the intention of discerning the origins of the historic Viking leader.[34] On 29 February 2016 Norwegian researchers opened Richard the Good's tomb and found his lower jaw with eight teeth in it.[35] Unfortunately, the skeletal remains in both graves turned out to significantly predate Rollo and therefore are not related to him.[36]

Depictions in fiction

Rollo is the subject of the seventeenth-century play Rollo Duke of Normandy, written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

A character, broadly inspired by the historical Rollo but including many events before the real Rollo was born, played by Clive Standen, is Ragnar Lothbrok's brother in the History Channel television series Vikings.[37]

end of biography

Also known as Hrolf the Ganger or Rollon, 1st Duke of Normandy from 911 to 927, called also Rolf the Walker, because, being so tall, he preferred to go afoot rather than ride the little Norwegian horses. Also shown as Rollon, Row, or Robert. Originally a Norse Viking, he was noted for strength and martial prowess. In the reign of Charles II the Bald, he sailed up the Seine River and took Rouen, which he kept as a base of operations. He gained a number of victories over the Franks, and extorted the cession of the province since called Normandy.

By the famous treaty which Charles the Bald, http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I53974&tree=hennessee, and Rollo signed the latter agreed to adopt Christianity. He was born in 846 and died in 932, and was buried in the Cathedral at Rouen.
-------------------------------------------------------
From: http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/rollo000.htm

Commentary
Supposed father: Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re.

Supposed mother: Ragnhildr or Hildr.

The origin of Rollo is contraversial. There are several medieval sources which claim to give information about the origin of Rollo, the most widely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re by Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from the following brief notices, the various primary sources offer very contradictory information about Rollo's origin.

The earliest author to attribute an explicit origin to Rollo was Richer of Rheims, writing between 996 and 998, who called Rollo the son of another Viking invader of France named Catillus (presumably representing the Norse name Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138: 35)]. Since Catillus appears to be a legendary individual, this account has generally been discredited, probably correctly [see Douglas 420-1].

According to Dudo of St. Quentin (writing early 11th century), author of the earliest history of the Normans, Rollo had a younger brother named Gurim, presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo states that Rollo and Gurim were sons of a man who held many lands in "Dacia" (Dudo's word for Denmark, following other authors), and that after the death of the (unnamed) father of Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia fought against the sons, killing Gurim and driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp. 26-7)]. Dudo later refers to duke Richard I as being related to a "king of Dacia" named Haigrold [Dudo iv, 84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who must have been the Viking raider of France of that name [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 945, see PL 135: 463-4, van Houts 51], and not king Harald "Bluetooth" of Denmark. Note that Gurim cannot be the famous Gorm "the Old" of Denmark, who survived Rollo by many years.

William of Malmesbury (early 12th century) appears to be the earliest author to attribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5 (p. 125)].

As is well known, the Orkneyinga Saga (late twelfth century) [OrkS 4 (pp. 29-30)], followed by other Icelandic sources (such as the well known Heimskringla and Landnâamabâok), gives Rollo the name Hrâolfr, and make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M²re, and brother of (among others) jarl Torf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Earlier sources, such as Ari's Íslendingabâok (early to middle 12th century), mention Rognvald of M²re and his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, but not the supposed connection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61]. A poem allegedly written by Einar mentions his brothers, including a Hrâolfr, but does not connect Hrâolfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gorm among the brothers. (See the page on Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)

Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (ca. 1250), apparently a Welsh translation and/or revision of an earlier Latin life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, gives Haraldr Hâarfagri of Norway ("Harald Harfagyr") a brother named Rodulf (i.e., the Latin form of Hrâolfr) who is called the founder of Normandy [HGK, 3-4]. However, this is evidently a corrupt version of the Scandinavian version, and the suggestion that Rollo was a brother of Haraldr Hâarfagri need not be given any credence.

The most prominent argument of the case for accepting the Scandinavian account that Rollo was the same person as Hrâolfr, son of Rognvaldr of M²re, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 419-23], and those who accept this identification have generally followed the same arguments. On the other side, arguments against the identification were given by Viggo Starcke in his book Denmark in World History [Starcke 222-7].

Most of the argument of Douglas consists of accepting the tale of the sagas and rejecting evidence from the Norman sources which contradict the saga version, while explaining away the problems (on which more below). The evidence which Douglas puts forward as "a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf" concerns a passage in Landnâaamabâok that refers to a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr:

"... Annarr son Óttars vas Helge; hann herjaºe âa Skottland, ok feck ¤ar at herfange Niºbiorgo, dâottor Beolans konungs ok Caºlâinar, dâottor Gongo-Hrâolfs" (Another son of Óttarr was Helge. He harried in Scotland, and won there as his booty Niºbjorg, daughter of king Beolan and Caºlâin, daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr.) [OI 1: 66-7]

This passage, which Douglas attributed to "Ari the Learned" (who may or may not have been the author), is then compared with a passage from the nearly contemporary Plaintsong of Rollo's son William "Longsword" which was written soon after William's death:

"Hic in orbe transmarino natus patre
in errore paganorum permanente
matre quoque consignata alma fide
sacra fuit lotus unda"
(Born overseas from a father who stuck to the pagan error and from a mother who was devoted to the sweet religion, he was blessed with the holy chrism.)
[Douglas 422 (Latin); van Houts 41 (English translation)]

After explaining that the two stories are consistent with one another, Douglas then state that "[t]he suggestion of the Landnâamabâok is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century." While it is true that the two accounts as they stand are consistent with each other and with the claim that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man (ignoring all other evidence), it is surely a gross overstatement to claim that the Plaintsong "confirms" the other account, for there is not a single statement in the passage from Landnâamabâok that is confirmed by the Plaintsong. This is a clear case of circular reasoning, for without first assuming that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man, there is no evidence that the two passages have any relation whatsoever. Douglas's case is further undermined by the fact that another source [Laxdœla Saga chapter 32, see OI 1: 246] makes Niºbjorg's mother Caºlâin a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr, son of Oxna-´âorir, directly contradicting the thesis that Caºlâin was supposedly a granddaughter of Rognvaldr of M²re. Yet, Douglas apparently regarded this as the strongest part of his argument.

There are three main strands of evidence (somewhat related to each other) against the identification of Rollo with Hrâolfr son of Rognvaldr:

1. The discrepancies between the Norman and Icelandic sources.
Among other contradictions, the Norman sources give Rollo a brother named Gurim, while the Icelandic sources give Hrâolfr several brothers, none of them named Gormr (the presumed Old-Norse form for Gurim). Although both of the sources have their problems, earlier native sources would seem to have a higher priority than later foreign sources. While many elements of the Dudo's account are clearly legendary, there appears to be no clear motive on the part of Dudo (writing less than a century after Rollo's death) to invent a younger brother for Rollo who is then immediately killed off.

2. The general unreliability of Norse source for the early tenth century.
For the period under consideration, i.e., the early ninth century, the sagas have a poor record for reliability, even for Scandinavian history. For example, consider the following words of Peter Sawyer (written with regard to a different matter, but true in general), a well known expert on early Viking history: "... These sagas cannot, however, be accepted as reliable sources for the tenth century. The only trustworthy evidence for the tenth century in those sagas are the contemporary verses around which the saga writers wove their tales." [Sawyer 42] None of these verses confirm the identity of Rollo and Hrâolfr. The suspicion is made even larger by the fact that the Icelandic sources show no knowledge of Norman history other than the fact (well known throughout Europe at the time) that William the Conqueror was a descendant of the dukes of Normandy.

3. Rollo and Hrâolfr appear to be different names.
The natural Latinization of the name Hrâolfr would be Radulfus or Rodulfus. Yet, the Frankish and Norman sources consistently refer to the founder of Normandy as Rollo. Since these sources also include numerous individuals named Rodulfus, and consistently separate the two names, it appears that the names were regarded as different. Douglas explained this by suggesting a hypothetical hypochoristic form "Hrolle" of the name "Hroºwulf" as the basis for the name Rollo, and provides a single charter in which Rollo is referred to as "Rolphus" as evidence that the names were the same, acknowledging, however, that the charter itself was "not above suspicion." If the names were really regarded as the same, it would be expected that more convincing evidence to this effect could be offered.

Personally, I am inclined to believe that the identification of Hrâolfr and Rollo has no basis in fact, that it was likely to have been invented by a saga writer who wanted to give the jarls of Orkney some famous relatives (i.e., the kings of England), and that whatever the confusing Norman sources say are probably about the closest we are going to get to Rollo's origin. However, based on the surviving evidence, it is not possible to come to any definitive conclusion one way or the other, and Rollo's parentage should be listed as "unknown" unless further evidence becomes available.

Supposed second wife:

Gisla, said to be daughter of Charles the Simple, king of France [Dudo, 46-7, 53]. She is unknown in the Frankish sources. The fact that Charles the Simple's kinsman Charles the Fat had a daughter also named Gisla who married a Viking (Godefridus) in the ninth century has led to the natural suspicion that this Gisla is an invention based on the earlier woman of the name. If she existed at all, there is no reason to believe that she was a mother of any of Rollo's children.

Supposed additional child:

Caºlin (Kathleen), said by Norse sources to have married a certain king Beolan, who is otherwise unidentified. As discussed above, the evidence for her is less than satisfactory.

end of commentary

Rollo Ragnvaldsson
French: Robert Rognvalsson De Heidmark, Norwegian: Hrolf Ragnvaldsson, Norse, Old: Gange-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson
Also Known As: "Hrolf", "Rolf", "Rollo", "Gange-Rolv", "Gange-Rolf", "Gèongu-Hrâolfr", "le marcheur", "the walker", "the dane", "duke of normandy", "Rollo the Walker", "Viking", "Gange Rolf"
Birthdate: circa 860 (71)
Death: 931 (67-75)
Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France
Place of Burial: Rouen, Haute-Normandie, France
Immediate Family:
Son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re and Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir, of More
Husband of Poppa of Bayeux and Gisáele
Partner of Kaºlin's mother
Father of William "Longsword"; Adáele of Normandy and Kaºlin
Brother of Gutum Ragnvaldson
Half brother of Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hallad Ragnvaldsson Orkneyjarl, .; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl and Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèorºur, Íslands
Occupation: Duc de Normandie, Comte de Rouen, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy (911 - 932), duc de Normandie, Earl of Normandy, Viking chief, Count of Normandy, 'Agongah-woekh' Aeuello (Rollo Rognvaldsson), First Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy 1st, Norse Viking
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated: October 12, 2017

About Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' of Normandy
http://www.friesian.com/flanders.htm#norman

http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00020055&tree=LEO

Duke of Normandy was the title given to the rulers of the Duchy of Normandy in northwestern France, which has its origins as the County of Rouen, a fief created in 911 by King Charles III "the Simple" of France for Rollo, a Norwegian nobleman and Viking leader of Northmen.

Gangu-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson, or Rollo de Normandie was a Norse nobleman and the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. The name "Rollo" is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from the Old Norse name Hrâolfr, modern Scandinavian name Rolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolfr into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Parents: Ragnvald Eysteinsson M²rejarl & Hild Nefja (uncertain, see below)
Spouses:
1. Poppa de Bayeux
Children:
Vilhjalm Langaspjâot (Guillaume Longue âEpâee)
Geirlaug (Gerloc) who later took the name Adela
2. Gisela de France (betrothal, no children)
According to Landnâama (The book of Settlers in Iceland, written in the 12th century), Rollo had a daughter named Kaºlâin (Kathlin or Cathlin) her mother is not named (Notes by Anna Petursdottir):

Kaºlin (Kathlin)
Kaºlâin is mentioned along with her father Rollo in chapter 33 in Landnâamabâok (The Book of Settlers) and her father, Rollo, and his brothers, also their father, Ragnvald are mentioned in chapert 82 : https://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm

BIG NEWS
French and Norwegian scientists within several fields go together in a project to extract DNA from the remains of Rollo's grandson and great grandson in Fâecamp. This might give us the final answer to Rollo's origin (Note from Anna Petursdottir: Provided that the remains that are being researched, are in fact the persons in question and also are legitimate grandsons of Rollo). Excavations are expected in July 2011, results sometime autumn 2011.

Links and Resources
Snorre's saga
Dudo's account (eng): http://the-orb.arlima.net/orb_done/dudo/dudindex.html
Store Norske Leksikon
MEDIEVAL LANDS
[ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi".

According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].

ROLLO ["Ganger" Hrolf], son of [RAGNVALD "the Wise" Jarl of Mèore in Norway & his wife Ragnhild ---] (-Rouen [928/33], bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[6]). The parentage of Rollo/Rolf is uncertain and the chronology of his life confused. Richer names "Rollone filio Catilli" as leader of the Vikings who raided along the Loire and against whom "Robertus Celticµ Galliµ dux" campaigned[7]. No further reference has been found to "Catillus/Ketel". Flodoard provides no information on Rollo´s ancestry. The early 12th century William of Malmesbury states that "Rollo…[was] born of noble lineage among the Norwegians, though obsolete from its extreme antiquity" and adds that he was "banished by the king´s command from his own country"[8]. The later Orkneyinga Saga is more specific, naming “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[9]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[10]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[11]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". Guillaume de Jumiáeges accords a Danish origin to Rollo, stating that his father "possâedant presque en totalitâe le royaume de Dacie, conquit en outre les territoires limitrophes de la Dacie et de l´Alanie" and left "deux fils…l´aãinâe Rollon et le plus jeune Gurim"[12]. He records that the king of Denmark defeated the two brothers and killed Gorm, and that Rollo fled the country, first landing in England, where he made peace with "le roi…Alstem"[13]. If this refers to ¥thelstan King of Wessex, the account must be confused given King ¥thelstan´s succession in 924. Freeman suggests that Guillaume de Jumiáeges must be referring to "Guthrum-¥thelstan of East-Anglia"[14], although this does not resolve the chronological problems assuming that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is correct in recording Guthrum´s death in 890[15]. After recording Rollo´s expeditions in Frisia, Guillaume de Jumiáeges states that Rollo landed at Jumiáeges after sailing up the Seine in 876[16], another suspect date which Houts suggests should be corrected to [900][17]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo defeated "Renaud duc de toute la France", captured "le chãateau de Meulan", defeated and killed Duke Renaud in another campaign, besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, and attacked Paris again while his other troops devastated Evreux where they killed "son âevãeque…Sibor"[18]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo attacked Chartres but withdrew after being defeated by "Richard duc de Bourgogne" and "Anselme l âevãeque"[19].

William of Malmesbury records that "Rollo…experienced a check at Chartres" but escaped the "plentiful slaughter" of the Vikings by the townspeople, before capturing Rouen "in 876"[20]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", that "les princes de cette province…Bâeranger et Alain" swore allegiance to Rollo, and that Rollo was baptised in 912 by "l´archâevãeque Francon", adopting the name ROBERT after "le duc Robert" who acted as his sponsor[21].

William of Malmesbury records that "it was determined by treaty, that [Rollo] should be baptised, and hold the country of the king as his lord"[22]. The charter which confirms the original grant (assuming that there was such a document) has not survived. However, the grant of land is inferred from a charter dated 14 Mar 918, under which land was donated to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes specifying that the donation excluded "that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[23]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that Normandy was an enfeofment for which the ruling duke owed allegiance, and the later dukes of Normandy, who claimed that it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed[24].

The version of events recorded by Flodoard provides a different slant and names two Viking leaders. Firstly, Flodoard records that in 923 "Ragenoldus princeps Nortmannorum" who occupied "in fluvio Ligeri" devastated "Franciam trans Isaram", that "Nortmanni" made peace in 924 "cum Francis", that King Raoul granted them "Cinomannis et Baiocµ" [Maine and Bayeux], but that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted the land between the Loire and the Seine[25]. This passage makes no mention of the supposed earlier grant of land along the shore. Secondly, the same source records that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted Burgundy in 925, that Hâeribert [II] Comte de Vermandois besieged Norman castles "super Sequanam", that "Nortmanni" devastated "pagum Belvacensem atque Ambianensem" [Beauvais and Amboise], while Comte Hâeribert and Arnoul Count of Flanders forced "Rollo princeps" from his strongholds[26]. Thirdly, Flodoard states that "Hugo filius Rotberti et Heribertus comes" campaigned against "Nortmannos" in 927, that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles at "castellum…Auga", and that "Rollo" held "filius Heriberti Odo" as a hostage in 928, which suggests some sort of alliance between Rollo and Comte Hâeribert[27]. William of Malmesbury records that Rollo died at Rouen[28]. The date of his death is uncertain: Flodoard names Rollo as living in 928 (see above) but the same source names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[29]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of Robert's body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[30], which would date the event to [1064]. He is known to history as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie], although no early source has been identified which refers to him by this name or title.

[m] [firstly] ---. The identity of Rollo´s first wife or concubine is not known.

m [secondly] ([886] or after, repudiated, remarried after 912) POPPA, daughter of BERENGAR Comte de Bayeux & his wife ---. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Rollo took "Popa, fille de Bâerenger, homme illustre" when he captured Bayeux and "s´unit avec elle, áa la maniáere des Danois"[31]. According to Orderic Vitalis, Rollo "stormed and captured Bayeux, slew its count Berengar and took to wife his daughter Poppa"[32]. In another passage, the same source records that Rollo besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, killed "Berengarium comitem" and married his daughter Popa, in 886[33], although this date appears early in light of the likely birth date range of the couple's son Guillaume. The Chronico Rotomagensis records that "mortua a Gisla, accepit Rollo propriam uxorem filiam comitis Silvanectensis Widonis"[34]. Robert of Torigny combines the information, recording that "Rollo dux Northmannorum" married "Popam prius repudiatam uxorem…filiam…Berengarii comitis Baiocensis neptem vero Widonis comitis Silvanectensis"[35]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after capturing Rouen, "Rodulfus" married the daughter of its deceased count by whom he was father of "Willelmum…Longosped"[36]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that "le comte Bernard" welcomed "son neveu Richard" (grandson of Rollo) at Senlis after his escape from captivity[37], although in another passage he describes how Rollo captured Bayeux and took "une tráes-noble jeune fille Popa, fille de Bâerenger" in the town, marrying her "áa la maniáere des Danois"[38], in a later passage adding that Rollo married Poppa, whom he had previously repudiated, a second time after the death of his wife[39]. It would be possible to reconcile the different versions if Comte Bernard's mother was married twice, her first husband being Bâerenger Comte de Bayeux.

m thirdly (912) GISELA, daughter of CHARLES III "le Simple" King of the West Franks & his first wife Frederuna --- ([908/16]-before her husband). The Genealogica Arnulfi Comitis names (in order) "Hyrmintrudim, Frederunam, Adelheidim, Gislam, Rotrudim et Hildegardim" as the children of "Karolus rex…ex Frederuna regina"[40]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", and their marriage which took place after Rollo´s baptism[41]. Her marriage is recorded in the Norman annals for 912, which state that she died without issue, presumably soon after the marriage when Gisla must still have been an infant. The chronicle of Dudo of Saint-Quentin[42] describes her as of "tall stature, most elegant…", which is of course inconsistent with her supposed birth date range. The Liber Modernorum Regum Francorum records the marriage of "filiam suam [=rex Karolus] nomine Gillam" to "Rollo"[43]. Settipani considers that the marriage did not occur, and that the Norman sources confused it with the marriage of Gisela, daughter of Lothaire II King of Lotharingia, to the Viking leader Gotfrid[44].

Rollo & his [first wife] had two children:

1. [KADLINE . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the Landnâama-Boc which records that "son of Oht-here…Helge" captured and married [her daughter] "Nidh-beorg, daughter of king Beolan and Cadh-lina, daughter of Walking-Rolf [Gongo-Hrâolfs]" when he "harried in Scotland", and also records their descendants[45]. No other record has been found of "king Beolan" and the accuracy of this report is unknown. m BEOLAN King [in Scotland].]

2. [NIEDERGA . Niederga is shown in Europèaische Stammtafeln[46] as the second daughter of Rollo by his first wife but the primary source on which this is based has not been identified.]

Robert & his [second] wife had two children:

3. GUILLAUME (Rouen [900/05]-murdered Pequigny 17 Dec 942, bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[47]). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa[48]. However, the Planctus for William Longsword[49], composed shortly after the murder of Guillaume, states that he had a Christian mother of overseas origin. Dudo of Saint-Quentin states that he was born in Rouen and, in a later passage, describes him as a "young man" one year before his father's death[50]. His father chose him as heir one year before his death[51]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that he was born before his father's marriage to Gisela and his remarriage with Popa after Gisela's death[52]. Flodoard records that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles III "le Simple" at "castellum…Auga" in 927[53]. He succeeded his father in [928/33] as GUILLAUME I "Longuespee" Comte [de Normandie]. Flodoard names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[54]. He quelled a rebellion by the Viking chief Riulf after the latter besieged Rouen[55]. In return for swearing allegiance to Raoul King of France, he appears to have been granted rights to further territory along the coast in 933, maybe the Cotentin and Avranchin. If this is correct, it would have created rivalry with the dukes of Brittany. Dudo of Saint-Quentin describes Comte Guillaume's invasion of Brittany shortly after his accession to quell a rebellion against him, and his defeat of the rebels at Bayeux[56]. Responding to raids by Comte Guillaume, Arnoul I Count of Flanders invaded Ponthieu and in 939 captured Montreuil from Herluin Comte de Ponthieu, although it was recaptured by Comte Guillaume's forces. In 939, Guillaume joined the alliance against Louis IV King of France which was led by Otto I "der GroÏe" King of Germany who raided Frankish territory. Comte Guillaume, however, met King Louis at Amiens, receiving a confirmation of the grant of his lands in Normandy. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume was tricked into a meeting on the river Seine at Pecquigny by Arnoul Count of Flanders to settle their dispute over the castle of Montreuil, but was murdered on Count Arnoul's orders, recording his death on 17 Dec[57]. The Annalibus Rotomagensibus record that "Willermus dux Normannorum filius Rollonis" was killed "943 XVI Kal Jan"[58]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of his body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[59], which would date the event to [1064].

[m] firstly SPROTA, daughter of ---. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume married "une tráes-noble jeune fille Sprota…selon l'usage des Danois"[60]. From Brittany. It is possible that Sprota was Count Guillaume's concubine rather than wife, particularly as no reference has been found to a dissolution of any marriage before she married Esperleng. She married Esperleng de Pãitres, by whom she had Rodulf [Raoul] Comte d'Ivry.

m secondly ([940]) as her first husband, LUITGARDIS de Vermandois, daughter of HERIBERT II Comte de Vermandois & his wife Adela [Capet] (before 925-14 Nov after 985, bur Chartres, Abbaye de Saint-Páere). Rodulfus Glauber refers to the wife of Comte Guillaume as "sororem [Heribertum Trecorum comitem]", specifying that she was childless by her first husband, when recording her second marriage to "Tetbaldus"[61]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records the marriage of Guillaume and the daughter of Heribert, specifying that it was arranged by Hugues "le Grand"[62]. The source which confirms her name has not yet been identified. She married secondly Thibaut I Comte de Blois. "Hugonis ducis, Odonis comitis, Hugonis sanctµ Bituricensis archiprµsulis, Letgardis comitissµ, Bertµ comitissµ, Gauzfridi vicecomitis…" subscribed the charter dated 985 under which "Robertus" donated property to "Sancti Petri Carnotensis", on the advice of "Odonem, simul cum sua matre Ledgarde, pariterque dominam meam Bertam, ipsius µque coniugem"[63]. The necrology of Chartres cathedral records the death "XVIII Kal Dec" of "Letgardis comitissa"[64]. Guillaume & his first wife had one child:

a) RICHARD (Fâecamp [932]-20 Nov 996, bur Fâecamp). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names Richard as son of Guillaume and Sprota, recording that news of his birth was brought to his father when he was returning from his victory against the rebels led by "Riulf"[65]. After the death of Richard's father, Louis IV "d'Outremer" King of the West Franks briefly controlled Rouen, and kept Richard prisoner, before the latter was able to escape, whereupon he succeeded as RICHARD I "Sans Peur" Comte [de Normandie].

4. GERLOC (-after 969). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa, in a later passage records her marriage to "Guillaume comte de Poitou"[66]. Robert of Torigny also names "Willermum Longum Spatam et Gerloch" as children of "Rollo dux Northmannorum" and Poppa[67]. The Chronico Richardi Pictavensis records that "Heblus…Pictavorum Comes et Dux Aquitaniµ duxit Adelam filiam Rolli Rothomagensis"[68], although this is presumably an error for Guillaume son of Ebles. She adopted the name ADELA when baptised. "Guillelmi comitis, Adeleidis comitisse" subscribed a charter recording a donation to Cluny dated [963][69]. Lothaire King of France granted her 14 Oct 962 the right to dispose of extensive property in Poitiers, la Cour de Faye, this grant effectively putting an end to the long dispute between her husband and the family of Hugues "Capet". She used the property to found the Monastery of Sainte-Trinitâe[70]. m (935) GUILLAUME I "Tãete d'Etoupe" Comte de Poitou, son of EBLES "Mancer" Comte de Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine & his first wife Aremburga ([900]-3 Apr 963). He succeeded in 959 as GUILLAUME III Duke of Aquitaine.

Rollo's origin
He is named as Rollo and said to have come from Dacia by Dudo of St. Quentin (c. 965-after 1043), the historian of the Norman dukes and the earliest source. Dudo does not name Rollo's parents. The Orkneyinga saga, a later source (c. 1230), identifies him with Hrolf Gange, who is said to have been a son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, jarl of M²re. Modern scholars generally doubt the identification with Hrolf. See, for example, Stewart Baldwin, "Rollo of Normany" in soc.genealogy.medieval, Mar. 16, 1998.

There is much support for the claim of Rollo's homeland being Sykkylven in Sunnm²re (M²re), Norway.

Dacia, the country Dudo refers to as Rollo's homeland, was what people outside Scandinavia called the Nordic countries as a unity: Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland together. Dudo describes Dacia as a country of high mountains, surrounding Rollo's estate - just like Gange-Hrolf's Fauske in Sykkylven. (see photos)

At the time the language, Old Norse (called dèonsk tunga by Snorri and others) was still the same and had not started to divide into separate dialects or languages.

Fasge, the place Adam of Bremen describes as Rollo's home, can easily be placed in Sykkylven where Gangu-Hrolfr had his estate at the farm called Fauske, Aure or Aurum. The Danish historian Steenstrup identified (works from 1876-82) Fasge with the town Faxe in Denmark, but linguistic argument shows that this consonant change is highly unlikely, and that the Norwegian place-name Fauske is more probable.

The outstanding linguist Hêakon Melberg argued in his dissertation that linguistic studies could shed light on the origin of the Scandinavian people and their history. In particular he opposes Steenstrup's analysis and points at several discrepancies, making Denmark improbable as Gange-Hrolf's origin.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=no&id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&q=fauske#search_anchor

Sources
Linge, Per Eldar: Gangerolvs mektige M²re, Sunnm²rsposten forlag 1992.
More here: http://www.eutopia.no/Gangerolv.html

Melberg, Hêakon: Origin of the Scandinavian Nations and Languages : An Introduction (doctoral dissertation). University of Oslo, 1952.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kon_Melberg http://books.google.com/books?id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&hl=no&pgis=1 http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/show?pid=921271042&kid=biblio

Languages
Gangu-Hrolf's Languages: Old French and Old Norse (the language spoken in the Nordic countries at the time):

"Danish tounge", dansk tunga, would be the language spoken in all of Scandinavia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse_language

dèonsk tunga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Icelandic_language#The_Scandinavian_period_.28550.E2.80.931050.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_French

Snorri Sturlusson
From Heimskringla, Snorri: "24. ROLF GANGER DRIVEN INTO BANISHMENT.

Earl Ragnvald was King Harald's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him. He was married to Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia, and their sons were Rolf and Thorer. Earl Ragnvald had also three sons by concubines, -- the one called Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug; and all three were grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children Rolf became a great viking, and was of so stout a growth that no horse could carry him, and wheresoever he went he must go on foot; and therefore he was called Rolf Ganger. He plundered much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the eastward on a viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he landed there and made a cattle foray. As King Harald happened, just at that time, to be in Viken, he heard of it, and was in a great rage; for he had forbid, by the greatest punishment, the plundering within the bounds of the country. The king assembled a Thing, and had Rolf declared an outlaw over all Norway. When Rolf's mother, Hild heard of it she hastened to the king, and entreated peace for Rolf; but the king was so enraged that here entreaty was of no avail. Then Hild spake these lines: --

"Think'st thou, King Harald, in thy anger, To drive away my brave Rolf Ganger Like a mad wolf, from out the land? Why, Harald, raise thy mighty hand? Why banish Nefia's gallant name-son, The brother of brave udal-men? Why is thy cruelty so fell? Bethink thee, monarch, it is ill With such a wolf at wolf to play, Who, driven to the wild woods away May make the king's best deer his prey."

Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from which that land is called Normandy. Rolf Ganger's son was William, father to Richard, and grandfather to another Richard, who was the father of Robert Longspear, and grandfather of William the Bastard, from whom all the following English kings are descended. From Rolf Ganger also are descended the earls in Normandy. Queen Ragnhild the Mighty lived three years after she came to Norway; and, after her death, her son and King Harald's was taken to the herse Thorer Hroaldson, and Eirik was fostered by him." (Snorri Sturlasson )

Gange-Rolv (Gèongu-Hrâolfr), var en norsk vikingh²vding og sagafigur som egentlig het Hrâolfr Rèognvaldsson (ca 860-932) og var s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, kjent som jarlen som klippet Harald Hêarfagre etter at Norge var samlet til ett rike.

Gange-Rolv fikk tilnavnet fordi han var sêa stor at han alltid mêatte gêa til fots, underforstêatt at hesten ble for liten. I f²lge norsk og islandsk tradisjon er denne personen identisk med den historiske Rollo, som i 911 ble utnevnt til hertug over Normandie. Rollos opphav er imidlertid omdiskutert og nok umulig êa stadfeste helt sikkert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger. En sannsynlig slektning, Vilhelm Erobreren av Normandie, inntok England i 1066 og grunnla et nytt normannisk kongehus i der.

Gange-Rolv var med pêa mange tokt i Austerled, men ble forvist fra landet av Harald Hêarfagre etter et strandhogg han gjorde i Viken (Norge). I henhold til Snorre dro Rolv til Valland (Frankrike) etter landsforvisningen. Der ble han blant annet ble gift med kongsdatteren Gisela, og han skal ha blitt d²pt i Saint-Clair-katedralen.

WIKIPEDIA (Eng)
Rollo (c. 860 - c. 932) was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. He is also in some later sources known as Robert of Normandy.

The name Rollo is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from Scandinavian name Hrâolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolf Kraki into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Historical evidence Rollo was a Viking leader of contested origin. Dudo of St. Quentin, in his De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum (Latin), tells of a powerful Danish nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed. William of Jumiáeges also mentions Rollo's prehistory in his Gesta Normannorum Ducum however he states that he was from the Danish town of Fasge. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event in his Roman de Rou, also mentions the two brothers (as Rou and Garin), as does the Orkneyinga Saga.

Norwegian and Icelandic historians identified this Rollo with a son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re, in Western Norway, based on medieval Norwegian and Icelandic sagas that mention a Ganger Hrolf (Hrolf, the Walker). The oldest source of this version is the Latin Historia Norvegiae, written in Norway at the end of the 12th century. This Hrolf fell foul of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, and became a Jarl in Iceland. The nickname of that character came from being so big that no horse could carry him. [1]

The question of Rollo's Danish or Norwegian origins was a matter of heated dispute between Norwegian and Danish historians of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the run-up to Normandy's 1000-year-anniversary in 1911. Today, historians still disagree on this question, but most would now agree that a certain conclusion can never be reached.'

Invasion of France In 885, Rollo was one of the lesser leaders of the Viking fleet which besieged Paris under Sigfred. Legend has it that an emissary was sent by the king to find the chieftain and negotiate terms. When he asked for this information, the Vikings replied that they were all chieftains in their own right. In 886, when Sigfred retreated in return for tribute, Rollo stayed behind and was eventually bought off and sent to harry Burgundy.

Later, he returned to the Seine with his followers (known as Danes, or Norsemen). He invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy.

Rather than pay Rollo to leave, as was customary, the Frankish king, Charles the Simple, understood that he could no longer hold back their onslaught, and decided to give Rollo the coastal lands they occupied under the condition that he defend against other raiding Vikings.

In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with King Charles, Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required to kiss the foot of King Charles, as a condition of the treaty, he refused to perform so great a humiliation, and when Charles extended his foot to Rollo, Rollo ordered one of his warriors to do so in his place. His warrior then lifted Charles' foot up to his mouth causing him to fall to the ground. [2]

Settlement Initially, Rollo stayed true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time he and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet. Eventually, however, Rollo's men intermarried with the local women, and became more settled as Frenchmen. At the time of his death, Rollo's expansion of his territory had extended as far west as the Vire River.

Death Sometime around 927, Rollo passed the fief in Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshipped,[citation needed] and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true God in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, some of his pagan roots surfaced at the end.

Legacy Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. Through William, he is a direct ancestor and predecessor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The "Clameur de Haro" in the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

Depictions in Fiction Rollo is the subject of the 17th Century play Rollo Duke of Normandy written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

References ^ Gèongu-Hrâolfs saga in Old Norse from heimskringla.no ^ Holden, A.J. (1970). Le Roman de Rou de Wace. Paris: âEditions A.J. Picard. p.54. Lines 1147-1156 D.C. Douglas, "Rollo of Normandy", English Historical Review, Vol. 57 (1942), pp. 414-436 Robert Helmerichs, [Rollo as Historical Figure] Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdom under the Carolingians, 751-987, (Longman) 1983 Dudonis gesta Normannorum - Dudo of St. Quentin Gesta Normannorum Latin version at Bibliotheca Augustana Dudo of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum - An English Translation Gwyn Jones. Second edition: A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press. (1984). William W. Fitzhugh and Elizabeth Ward. Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian Institute Press. (2000) Eric Christiansen. The Norsemen in the Viking Age. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. (2002) Agnus Konstam. Historical Atlas of the Viking World. Checkmark Books. (2002) Holgar Arbman. Ancient People and Places: The Vikings. Thames and Husdson. (1961) Eric Oxenstierna. The Norsemen, New York Graphics Society Publishers, Ltd. (1965)

TEXT - SOURCE? Rollo was a Viking leader, probably (based on Icelandic sources) from Norway, the son of Ragnvald, Earl of Moer; sagas mention a Hrolf, son of Ragnvald jarl of Moer. However, the latinization Rollo has in no known instance been applied to a Hrolf, and in the texts which speak of him, numerous latinized Hrolfs are included. Dudo of St. Quentin (by most accounts a more reliable source, and at least more recent and living nearer the regions concerned), in his Gesta Normannorum, tells of a powerful Dacian nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed.(1) With his followers (known as Normans, or northmen), Rollo invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event, gives a Scandinavian origin, as does the Orkneyinga Saga, Danish or Norwegian most likely.

Unlike most Vikings whose intentions were to plunder Frankish lands, Rollo's true intentions were to look for lands to settle. Upon arrival in France, and after many battles with the Vikings, Charles the Simple understood that he could no longer hold back their advances, and decided as a tempory measure to give Rollo land around Rouen, as he did with his other barons, but under the condition that he would convert to Christianity and defend the Seine River from other raiding Vikings. In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with the French King Charles the Simple, "for the protection of the realm," Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required, in conformity with general usage, to kiss the foot of King Charles, he refused to stoop to what he considered so great a degradation; yet as the homage could not be dispensed with, he ordered one of his warriors to perform it for him. The latter, as proud as his chief, instead of stooping to the royal foot, raised it so high, that the King fell to the ground. It is important to note that Rollo did stay true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time Rollo and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de-facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet.

Rollo expanded his territory as far west as the Vire River and sometime around 927 he passed the Duchy of Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshiped, and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true god in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, at the end, some of Rollo's pagan roots eventually came to the surface. He was a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. By William, he was a direct ancestor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The "clameur de haro" on the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

TEXT - SOURCE??? Rollo (later Robert) "of Normandy" Viking leader in France, d. 932.

Although he is often referred to as the first Duke of Normandy, that title is an anachronism. Probably about 911, King Charles the Simple of France ceded a district around the city of Rouen to Rollo, which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy. He is said to have been baptized in 912, assuming the Christian name Robert. He was still living in 928, when he was holding Eudes, son of Heribert of Vermandois, as a captive and was probably dead by 932, when his son William was mentioned as leading the Normans.

end of biography

ROLLO THE VIKING

DIED 931 A.D.


For more than two hundred years during the Middle Ages the Christian countries of Europe were attacked on the southwest by the Saracens of Spain, and on the northwest by the Norsemen, or Northmen. The Northmen were so called because they came into Middle Europe from the north. Sometimes they were called Vikings, or pirates, because they were adventurous sea-robbers who plundered all countries which they could reach by sea.



Their ships were long and swift In the center was placed a single mast, which carried one large sail. For the most part, however, the Norsemen depended on rowing, not on the wind, and sometimes there were twenty rowers in one vessel.



The Vikings were a terror to all their neighbors; but the two regions that suffered most from their attacks were the Island of Britain and that part of Charlemagne's empire in which the Franks were settled.

endof commentary







Nearly fifty times in two hundred years the lands of the Franks were invaded. The Vikings sailed up the large rivers into the heart of the region which we now call France and captured and pillaged cities and towns. Some years after Charlemagne's death they went as far as his capital, Aix, took the place, and stabled their horses in the cathedral which the great emperor had built.



In the year 860 they discovered Iceland and made a settlement upon its shores. A few years later they sailed as far as Greenland, and there established settlements which existed for about a century.



These Vikings were the first discoverers of the continent on which we live. Ancient books found in Iceland tell the story of the discovery. It is related that a Viking ship was driven during a storm to a strange coast, which is thought to have been that part of America now known as Labrador.



When the captain of the ship returned home he told what he had seen. His tale so excited the curiosity of a young Viking prince, called Leif the Lucky, that he sailed to the newly discovered coast.



Going ashore, he found that the country abounded in wild grapes; and so he called it Vinland, or the land of Vines. Vinland is thought to have been a part of what is now the Rhode Island coast.



The Vikings were not aware that they had found a great unknown continent. No one in the more civilized parts of Europe knew anything about their discovery; and after a while the story of the Vinland voyages seems to have been forgotten, even among the Vikings themselves.



So it is not to them that we owe the discovery of America, but to Columbus; because his discovery, though nearly five hundred years later than that of the Norsemen, actually made known to all Europe, for all time, the existence of the New World.



II



THE Vikings had many able chieftains. One of the most famous was Rollo the Walker, so called because he was such a giant that no horse strong enough to carry him could be found, and therefore he always had to walk. However, he did on foot what few could do on horseback.



In 885 seven hundred ships, commanded by Rollo and other Viking chiefs, left the harbors of Norway, sailed to the mouth of the Seine, and started up the river to capture the city of Paris.



Rollo and his men stopped on the way at Rouen, which also was on the Seine, but nearer its mouth. The citizens had heard of the giant, and when they saw the river covered by his fleet they were dismayed. However, the bishop of Rouen told them that Rollo could be as noble and generous as he was fierce; and he advised them to open their gates and trust to the mercy of the Viking chief. This was done, and Rollo marched into Rouen and took possession of it. The bishop had given good advice, for Rollo treated the people very kindly.



Soon after capturing Rouen he left the place, sailed up the river to Paris, and joined the other Viking chiefs. And now for six long miles the beautiful Seine was covered with Viking vessels, which carried an army of thirty thousand men.



A noted warrior named Eudes was Count of Paris, and he had advised the Parisians to fortify the city. So not long before the arrival of Rollo and his companions, two walls with strong gates had been built round Paris.



It was no easy task for even Vikings to capture a strongly walled city. We are told that Rollo and his men built a high tower and rolled it on wheels up to the walls. At its top was a floor well manned with soldiers. But the people within the city shot hundreds of arrows at the besiegers, and threw down rocks, or poured boiling oil and pitch upon them.



The Vikings thought to starve the Parisians, and for thirteen months they encamped round the city. At length food became very scarce, and Count Eudes determined to go for help. He went out through one of the gates on a dark, stormy night, and rode post-haste to the king. He told him that something must be done to save the people of Paris.







So the king gathered an army and marched to the city. No battle was fought--the Vikings seemed to have been afraid to risk one. They gave up the siege, and Paris was relieved.



Rollo and his men went to the Duchy of Burgundy, where, as now, the finest crops were raised and the best of wines were made.



III



PERHAPS after a time Rollo and his Vikings went home; but we do not know what he did for about twenty-five years. We do know that he abandoned his old home in Norway in 911. Then he and his people sailed from the icy shore of Norway and again went up the Seine in hundreds of Viking vessels.



Of course, on arriving in the land of the Franks, Rollo at once began to plunder towns and farms.



Charles, then king of the Franks, although his people called him the Simple, or Senseless, had sense enough to see that this must be stopped.



So he sent a message to Rollo and proposed that they should have a talk about peace. Rollo agreed and accordingly they met. The king and his troops stood on one side of a little river, and Rollo with his Vikings stood on the other. Messages passed between them. The king asked Rollo what he wanted.



"Let me and my people live in the land of the Franks; let us make ourselves home here, and I and my Vikings will become your vassals," answered Rollo. He asked for Rouen and the neighboring land. So the king gave him that part of Francia; and ever since it has been called Normandy, the land of the Northmen.



When it was decided that the Vikings should settle in Francia and be subjects of the Frankish king, Rollo was told that he must kiss the foot of Charles in token that he would be the king's vassal. The haughty Viking refused. "Never," said he, "will I bend my knee before any man, and no man's foot will I kiss." After some persuasion, however, he ordered one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. The king was on horseback and the Norseman, standing by the side of the horse, suddenly seized the king's foot and drew it up to his lips. This almost made the king fall from his horse, to the great amusement of the Norsemen.



Becoming a vassal to the king meant that if the king went to war Rollo would be obliged to join his army and bring a certain number of armed men--one thousand or more.



Rollo now granted parts of Normandy to his leading men on condition that they would bring soldiers to his army and fight under him. They became his vassals, as he was the king's vassal.



The lands granted to vassals in this way were called feuds, and this plan of holding lands was called the Feudal System.



It was established in every country of Europe during the Middle Ages.



The poorest people were called serfs. They were almost slaves and were never permitted to leave the estate to which they belonged. They did all the work. They worked chiefly for the landlords, but partly for themselves.



Having been a robber himself, Rollo knew what a shocking thing it was to ravage and plunder, and he determined to change his people's habits. He made strict laws and hanged robbers. His duchy thus became one of the safest parts of Europe.



The Northmen learned the language of the Franks and adopted their religion.



The story of Rollo is especially interesting to us, because Rollo was the forefather of that famous Duke of Normandy who, less than a hundred and fifty years later, conquered England and brought into that country the Norman nobles with their French language and customs.

The Vikings in Normandy:
Timeline
Pre-Norman France map, http://www.viking.no/e/france/norm_col_gb.gif The chronology of the Vikings in Normandy can be encapsulated by a division into two successive centuries:

From AD 820 to c. AD 920, the Viking incursions on the lower Seine became more and more frequent, resulting finally in some permanent colonisation.
From c. AD 920 to AD 1020 was a consolidation period for Normandy, with the influx of numerous Scandinavian settlers, before turning increasingly to the Kingdom of France.

Timeline showing the Viking raids on the river Seine

820 Thirteen ships reach the Seine Bay. A force of Vikings lands but, having to face the shore guard, they are forced to re-embark, leaving five of their number dead on the Neustrian shore.
841 Asgeir's fleet sails up the River Seine (from 12th May), takes the city of Rouen (14th May) and burns it down. The loot is enormous. Aesgir's army continues its penetration of the Seine, plunders and burns the rich Jumiáege monastery (24th May). The nearby monastery of Fontenelle (the future Saint-Wandrille) is also assaulted and held to ransom. In this expedition, sixty-eight captives are taken and then returned on payment of a ransom by the monks of Saint-Denis (28th May).
845 Ragnar's fleet of 120 ships (therefore c. 6000 men) sails up the Seine and besieges Paris (28th March). Charles the Bald pays 7000 livres in order to spare Paris.
851 Asgeir and his men, back on the Seine, this time devastate the monastery of Fontenelle (13th October) and return there eighty-nine days later (9th January 852) and, finding nothing to plunder, burn it down.
852 Asgeir and his force raid on foot in the Beauvais region (Flanders county), from their base in Rouen. Engaged by a Frankish army, they have to withdraw and camp for the winter on Jeufosse island, securely controlling the entrance to the Seine. They stay there up to the 5th June. By the end of this year, a new group of Vikings, mainly Norwegians led by Sigtrygg (back from Ireland) and Godfrid, sails up the Seine to Jeufosse to establish their own base there. The Frankish army of Charles the Bald besieges the island.
853 (beg.) Charles the Bald negotiates with Godfrid, who afterwards retires. As for Sigtrygg, he stays to plunder and burn numerous places up to March.
855 Sigtrygg returns (18th July) to attempt to destroy a Frankish fort located on the Seine shore on the approach to Paris. He is reinforced by Bjèorn, leading a powerful fleet (17th August). The two armies join and carry out a raid in the south of the Seine, as far as Chartres, where they are stopped by the Frankish army of Charles the Bald. They have to withdraw to the Seine after heavy losses.
857 Again from Jeufosse, which has now become an established base, Sigtrygg's and Bjèorn's armies attack Paris (January). Chartres is assaulted again (12th June); on this occasion, revenging the reverse of AD 855, they take it, plunder it, and slaughter all its population. During the summer they also attack Evreux and many other places, the action taking place generally around Jeufosse island. Finally, Sigtrygg retires with his men.
858 Bjèorn is joined by a new group of Danes, led by Hasting (9th January). They lay again into the abbey of Fontenelle, which they burn down. Leading a mounted force, Bjèorn surrounds Paris and demands a ransom of the Parisian monasteries. Charles the Bald is defeated when he reacts and tries again to besiege the Viking base of Jeufosse.
859 The attacks from the Seine valley are redoubled. Charles the Bald is engaged in a struggle with his brother, Louis the German. The Vikings take advantage of this to attack freely far from their bases: Bayeux, Laon and Beauvais, where the bishops are executed.
860 The Viking chief, Veland, is paid 3000 silver livres by Charles the Bald to try to drive out the Vikings of the lower Seine.
861 From May, Veland besieges Jeufosse island, leading 200 Viking ships. The Vikings of Jeufosse have to retire from the Seine, with some 100 ships. This fleet then joins Veland's. Taking advantage of several years of respite, Charles the Bald builds forts which control the Seine at Pont-de-l'Arche.
865 Fifty Viking ships settle at Pãitres (near Pont-de-l'Arche), on the Seine.
876 100 new Viking ships make an incursion into the Seine. They sail away again after a payment of 5000 livres by Charles the Bald.
885 A huge fleet sails up the Seine (one report tells of some 700 ships) to besiege Paris. Losses are severe on both sides. The new Frankish king, Charles the Big, relieves the city by paying a heavy ransom to the besiegers.
887-911 Rolf (Rollo/Rollon) imposes himself as chief of the Vikings settled in the lower Seine region. He repels the Franks, pushing right up to the doors of the Ile-de-France. He attacks Chartres but, repulsed, withdraws again to the Seine.
911 Seeking to block the lower Seine, which had become a real "motorway" for the Viking invasions of the Kingdom of Frankia, the new king, Charles the Simple, concludes an agreement with Rolf at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, conceding to him the suzerainty of the territory of the lower Seine which, de facto, Rolf had already had for several years.

Timeline showing the Viking Raids in Western Neustria

From AD 836 Bjèorn and Hasting lead numerous raids in Cotentin and Avranchin.
860-989 There are no more resident bishops in Cotentin and Avranchin nor any ecclesiastical infrastructures in these bishoprics. Whole areas are deserted by the native population as they become untenable, particularly in Cotentin.
867 The Frankish king, Charles the Bald, concedes Cotentin and Avranchin to the Bretons, so that they might defend these territories.
889, 890 and 891 Respectively, Saint-Lão, Coutances and Avranches are plundered or burnt down.
890-892 Rolf makes several raids in Bessin (Bayeux).
905 Vire is plundered.
907 Since Brittany is too devastated by the Viking raids, the Breton sovereignty of Cotentin and Avranchin exists only theoretically.
911 Since Rolf is now Jarl of Rouen, and since they refuse to convert to Christianity, and seek new conquests, many of Rolf's companions settle in Cotentin and Bessin.
916 From Cotentin and Bessin, where they have settled, numerous Scandinavian forces attack the whole eastern region of Brittany.
924 Bessin is added to Rolf's territory.
925 Some unsubdued Scandinavian troops of Bessin, united with native Saxons, devastate the western part of the Seine colony.
927-928 Rolf erect many fortifications (Bayeux, Exmes, Saint-Lão, Brionne, etc.) to face a huge influx of new Viking contingents, resistant to his authority in Cotentin (Danes from the Danelaw, and Hiberno-Norse from Ireland) and in Bessin (especially Danes from the Danelaw).
931 Brittany is totally subdued: on the east by the Normans of the Seine and on the west by Normans who have settled on the River Loire. The Normans of the Seine take advantage of this to get a foothold in Cotentin and Avranchin, and on the Channel Islands, in order to control the Scandinavian troops which have to submit to the Jarl of Rouen's authority.
933 Cotentin and Avranchin are conceded officially by the King of France, Raoul, to the Normans of the Seine, who are also appointed to the protectorate of Brittany.

Rollo married Lady Poppa of Bayeux. Poppa (daughter of Berengar II of Neustria, Count of Bayeux and unnamed spouse) was born in (850) in Bayeux, France; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Place de Gaulle, Bayeux, France

Notes:

Poppa of Bayeux was the Christian wife or mistress[1] (perhaps more danico)[2] of the Viking conqueror Rollo.

She was the mother of William I Longsword and grandmother of Richard the Fearless, who forged the Duchy of Normandy into a great fief of medieval France.[3]

Dudo of Saint-Quentin, in his panegyric of the Norman dukes, describes her as the daughter of a "Count Berengar", the dominant prince of that region, who was captured at Bayeux by Rollo in 885 or 889.[4]

This has led to speculation that she was the daughter of Berengar II of Neustria. Despite the uncertainty of her parentage, she undoubtedly was a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[5]

A statue of Poppa stands at the Place de Gaulle in Bayeux.

Notes:

Married:
Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy.

Notes:

Gorm the Old (Danish: Gorm den Gamle, Old Norse: Gormr gamli, Latin: Gormus Senex[1][2]), also called Gorm the Languid (Danish: Gorm L²ge, Gorm den Dvaske), was the first historically recognized ruler of Denmark, reigning from c.? 936 to his death c.? 958.[3] He ruled from Jelling, and made the oldest of the Jelling Stones in honour of his wife Thyra. Gorm was born before 900 and died c.? 958.[3]

Ancestry and reign

Gorm is the reported son of semi-legendary Danish king Harthacnut. Chronicler Adam of Bremen says that Harthacnut came from Northmannia to Denmark and seized power in the early 10th century.[4] He deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, reigning over Western Denmark.[3] When Harthacnut died, Gorm ascended the throne.

Heimskringla reports Gorm taking at least part of the kingdom by force from Gnupa, and Adam himself suggests that the kingdom had been divided prior to Gorm's time. Gorm is first mentioned as the host of Archbishop Unni of Hamburg and Bremen in 936.[4] According to the Jelling Stones, Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, "won all of Denmark", so it is speculated that Gorm only ruled Jutland from his seat in Jelling.[4]

Marriage to Thyra

Runic stone for Thyra, back side
Gorm married Thyra, who is given conflicting and chronologically dubious parentage by late sources, but no contemporary indication of her parentage survives. Gorm raised one of the great burial mounds at Jelling as well as the oldest of the Jelling Stones for her, calling her tanmarkar but ("Denmark's Salvation" or "Denmark's Adornment"). Gorm was the father of three sons, Toke, Knut and Harald, later King Harald Bluetooth.[5]

His wife, Thyra, is credited with the completion of the Danevirke, a wall between Denmark's southern border and its unfriendly Saxon neighbors to the south. The wall was not new, but it was expanded with a ditch and earthen foundation topped by a timber stockade above it. The Danevirke ran between the Schlei and the Treene river, across what is now Schleswig.[6]

Death, burial and reburial

Gorm died in the winter of 958–959[5] and dendrochronology shows that his burial chamber was made from wood of timbers felled in 958.[7] Arild Huitfeldt explains how in Danmarks Riges Kr²nike:[citation needed]


Runic stone for Thyra, front side
The three sons were Vikings in the truest sense, departing Denmark each summer to raid and pillage. Harald came back to the royal enclosure at Jelling with the news that his son Canute had been killed in an attempt to capture Dublin, Ireland. Canute was shot with a coward's arrow while watching some games at night. No one would tell the king in view of the oath the king had made. Queen Thyra ordered the royal hall hung with black cloth and that no one was to say a single word. When Gorm entered the hall, he was astonished and asked what the mourning colors meant. Queen Thyra spoke up: "Lord King, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far afield and was set upon by other birds which tore off its beautiful feathers and is now useless to you. Meanwhile the gray falcon continues to catch fowl for the king's table." Gorm understood immediately the Queen's metaphor and cried out, "My son is surely dead, since all of Denmark mourns!" "You have said it, your majesty," Thyra announced, "Not I, but what you have said is true." According to the story Gorm was so grieved by Canute's death that he died the following day.

This account would contradict information on the Jelling Stones which point to Queen Thyra dying before Gorm. Some archaeologists and historians have suggested that Gorm was buried first in Queen Thyra's grave mound at Jelling, and later moved by his son, Harald Bluetooth, into the original wooden church in Jelling.[3] According to this theory it is believed, that the skeleton found at the site of the first Christian church of Jelling is in fact Gorm the Old, though the theory is still much debated. During the reign of Gorm, most Danes still worshipped the Norse gods, but during the reign of Gorm's son, Harold Bluetooth, Denmark officially converted to Christianity. Harald, accordingly, left the hill where Gorm had originally been interred as a memorial.

Legacy

Gorm was "old" in the sense that he was considered the traditional ancestral "head" of the Danish monarchy. Saxo Grammaticus in the Gesta Danorum asserts that Gorm was older than other monarchs and having lived so long was blind by the time his son Canute was killed.

end of biography

Gorm's pedigree: https://fabpedigree.com/s038/f790309.htm

end of comment

Buried:
Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark

Gorm married Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark. Elgiva (daughter of Aethelstan, King of the East Angles and unnamed spouse) was born in ~872 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in ~935 in Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark; was buried in Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Carolingian Vermandois de Meaux, Count of Meaux, Count of Troyes, was born circa 920 to Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) and Hildebranda of France (895-931) and died circa 968 in Seine-et-Marne, France of unspecified causes. He married Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.

Children

Offspring of Robert de Vermandois and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Herbert III of Meaux (c950-995) 950 995
Adele of Meaux (c950-c980) 950 980 Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)

Adelaide de Troyes (c955-c991) 955 991 Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953-993)
Noteworthy descendants include

William I of England (1027-1087)

Namesakes of Robert de Vermandois (918-968)

Birth place
Death place
Father
Mother
Joined with
Robert de Vermandois (918-968) Seine-et-Marne, France Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) Hildebranda of France (895-931) Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
Robert I of Senlis (?-1004) Bernard of Senlis (919-947)
Robert II of Senlis (?-1028) Robert I of Senlis (?-1004)

Robert married Adelaide-Werra de Chaton in 953 in Vermandois, France. Adelaide-Werra was born in 920 in (France); died in 967 in (France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Adele Carolingian of Meaux was born 950 to Robert de Vermandois (918-968) and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) and died 980 of unspecified causes. She married Lambert de Chalon (930-979) . She married Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]

The French Wikipedia has her first husband marry her mother,[1] which is unlikely, given her age. The same source has her a daughter Gerberge marry King Adalberto of Italy. This would make Adele a grandmother at the age of 12. However, in the reconstruction shown here, Adele is married to two men at once, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage born around 972 and her eldest daughter from her second marriage born around 965.

Note that Genealogie Quebec merges her with her sister.[2]



Children

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Hugh I de Chalon (?-1039)
Mahaut de Chalon (?-1019) Henri I de Bourgogne (c948-1002)
Geoffroi de Semur (?-c990)

Aelis of Chalon (?-?) Guy I de Macon (975-1006)

Elizabeth de Chalon (970-1014)

Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Gottfried of Anjou (?-987) 987
Fulk III, Count of Anjou (972-1040) 972 21 June 1040 Metz, France âElisabeth de Vendãome (c979-999)
Hildegarde de Beaugency (c990-)

Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) 967 Conan I of Rennes (927-992)

Gerberge of Anjou (965-1041) 965 1041 Guillaume III Taillefer of Angoulãeme (960-1028)
^ wikipedia:fr:Lambert de Chalon
^ http://genealogiequebec.info/testphp/info.php?no=23981

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Staraya Lagoda, Russia

Notes:

Rurik (also Riurik; Old Church Slavonic ?????? Rjuriku, from Old Norse Hr²râik?; c. 830 – 879), according to the 12th-century Primary Chronicle, was a Varangian chieftain of the Rus' who in the year 862 gained control of Ladoga, and built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod (Varangian defined: http://thehennesseefamily.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=3071&medialinkID=3073). He is the founder of the Rurik Dynasty, which ruled the Kievan Rus' and its successor states, including the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Tsardom of Russia, until the 17th century.[1]

The only information about Rurik is contained in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle written by one Nestor, which states that Chuds, Eastern Slavs, Merias, Veses, and Krivichs "...drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves". Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order. Rurik came in 860-862 along with his brothers Sineus and Truvor and a large retinue.

According to the Primary Chronicle, Rurik was one of the Rus', a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, Angles, and Gotlanders.

Sineus established himself at Beloozero (now Belozersk), on the shores of lake Beloye, and Truvor at Izborsk (or at Pskov). Truvor and Sineus died shortly after the establishment of their territories, and Rurik consolidated these lands into his own territory.

According to the entries in the Radzivil and Hypatian Chronicles[2] under the years 862–864, Rurik’s first residence was in Ladoga. He later moved his seat of power to Novgorod, a fort built not far from the source of the Volkhov River. The meaning of this place name in medieval Russian is 'new fortification', while the current meaning ('new city') developed later.

Rurik remained in power until his death in 879. On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin, and entrusted to Oleg's hands his son Igor, for he was very young. His successors (the Rurik Dynasty) moved the capital to Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus', which persisted until the Mongol invasion in 1240. A number of extant princely families are patrilineally descended from Rurik, although the last Rurikid to rule Russia, Vasily IV, died in 1612.

Historicity debate
Archaeological evidence

In the 20th century, archaeologists partly corroborated the chronicle's version of events. It was discovered that the settlement of Ladoga, whose foundation has been ascribed to Rurik, was actually established in the mid-9th century, although doubt is now cast on this by the dendrochronological evidence that Ladoga existed by the mid-8th century.[citation needed] Earthenware, household utensils, and types of buildings from the period of Rurik's purported foundation correspond to patterns then prevalent in Jutland.[citation needed] but mostly the excavations denied most of the chronicle's data about Rurik's arrival when it was apparent that the old settlement stretched to the mid-8th century and the excavated objects were mostly of Finno-Ugric and Slavic origin, dated to the mid-8th century, which showed the settlement was not Scandinavian from the beginning.[3][page needed]

Hypothesis of identity with Rorik of Dorestad
Main article: Rorik of Dorestad

Rorik of Dorestad, as conceived by H. W. Koekkoek
The only similarly named figure described in the Carolingian Annales Fuldenses and Annales Bertiniani was Rorik of Dorestad (also spelled R²rik, Rèorik, Roerik, Hrèorek, etc.), a Germanic king from the royal Scylding house of Haithabu in the Jutland Peninsula. Since the 19th century, there have been attempts to identify him with the Rurik of Russian chronicles.

Rorik of Dorestad was born about ca. 810–820 to Ali Anulo, 9th king of Haithabu. Frankish chroniclers mention that he received lands in Friesland from Emperor Louis I. This was not enough for him, and he started to plunder neighbouring lands: he took Dorestad in 850, captured Haithabu in 857, and looted Bremen in 859. The Emperor was enraged and stripped him of all his possessions in 860. After that, Rorik disappears from the Western sources for a considerable period of time, while only two years later, in 862, the Russian chronicle's Rurik arrives in the eastern Baltic, builds the fortress of Ladoga, and later moves to Novgorod.

Rorik of Dorestad reappeared in Frankish chronicles in 870, when his Friesland demesne was returned to him by Charles the Bald; in 882 Rorik of Dorestad is mentioned as dead (without a date of death specified). The Russian chronicle places the death of Rurik of Novgorod at 879, a three year gap prior than the Frankish chronicles. According to Western sources, the ruler of Friesland was converted to Christianity by the Franks. This may have parallels with the Christianization of the Rus', as reported by Patriarch Photius in 867.

The idea of identifying the Rurik of Nestor's chronicle with Rorik of Dorestad of the Carolingian chronicles was revived by the anti-Normanists Boris Rybakov and Anatoly H. Kirpichnikov in the mid-20th century,[4] while modern scholars like Alexander Nazarenko object to it.[5] The hypothesis of their identity currently lacks support among scholars,[6] though support for a "Normannic" (i.e. Norse, rather than Slavic) origin of the Rus' has increased.

Legacy

Further information: Rurikid dynasty

Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor arrive at Ladoga
The Rurik dynasty (or Rurikids) went on to rule the Kievan Rus', and ultimately the Tsardom of Russia, until 1598, and numerous noble Russian and Ruthenian families claim a male-line descent from Rurik. Vasily Tatishchev (a Rurikid himself) claimed that Rurik was of Wendish extraction and went so far as to name Rurik's wife, Efanda of Norway (Edvina); mother, Umila; his maternal grandfather, Gostomysl; and a cousin, Vadim (apparently basing his account on the lost Ioachim Chronicle).[citation needed]

References

Christian Raffensperger and Norman W. Ingham, "Rurik and the First Rurikids," The American Genealogist, 82 (2007), 1–13, 111–19.
Ipat’ievskaia letopis’ 1962:14; Radzivilovskaia letopis’ 1989:16
Kirpichnikov, Anatoliy N. (2004). "A Viking Period workshop in Staraya Ladoga, excavated in 1997" (PDF). Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
Kirpichnikov, Anatoly H. "???????? ? ????????? ???????. ?????? ? ??????????? ?????????". ?????? ????????????? ??????, ???; 1997; ch. 7–18.
Nazarenko, Alexander. "Rjurik ? Riis Th., Rorik", Lexikon des Mittelalters, VII; Munich, 1995; pp. 880, 1026.
Andrei Mozzhukhin (5 October 2014). «????? — ??? ???????» ["Rurik – is a legend"] (in Russian). Russian Planet. Retrieved 12 November 2014. Interview with Igor Danilevsky.

end of this biography

Alternative Titles: Hrorekr, Rorik, Rurik of Jutland, Ryurik

Rurik, also spelled Rorik or Hrorekr, Russian Ryurik, (died AD 879), the semilegendary founder of the Rurik dynasty of Kievan Rus.

(Rurik Dynasty, princes of Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy who, according to tradition, were descendants of the Varangian prince Rurik, who had been invited by the people of Novgorod to rule that city (c. 862); the Rurik princes maintained their control over Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy until 1598.

Rurik’s successor Oleg (d. 912) conquered Kiev (c. 882) and established control of the trade route extending from Novgorod, along the Dnieper River, to the Black Sea. Igor (allegedly Rurik’s son; reigned 912–945) and his successors—his wife, St. Olga (regent 945–969), and their son Svyatoslav (reigned 945–972)—further extended their territories; Svyatoslav’s son Vladimir I (St. Vladimir; reigned c. 980–1015) consolidated the dynasty’s rule.

Vladimir compiled the first Kievan Rus law code and introduced Christianity into the country. He also organized the Kievan Rus lands into a cohesive confederation by distributing the major cities among his sons; the eldest was to be grand prince of Kiev, and the brothers were to succeed each other, moving up the hierarchy of cities toward Kiev, filling vacancies left by the advancement or death of an elder brother. The youngest brother was to be succeeded as grand prince by his eldest nephew whose father had been a grand prince. This succession pattern was generally followed through the reigns of Svyatopolk (1015–19); Yaroslav the Wise (1019–54); his sons Izyaslav (1054–68; 1069–73; and 1077–78), Svyatoslav (1073–76), and Vsevolod (1078–93); and Svyatopolk II (son of Izyaslav; reigned 1093–1113).

The successions were accomplished, however, amid continual civil wars. In addition to the princes’ unwillingness to adhere to the pattern and readiness to seize their positions by force instead, the system was upset whenever a city rejected the prince designated to rule it. It was also undermined by the tendency of the princes to settle in regions they ruled rather than move from city to city to become the prince of Kiev.)

Rurik was a Viking, or Varangian, prince. His story is told in the The Russian Primary Chronicle (compiled at the beginning of the 12th century) but is not accepted at face value by modern historians. According to the chronicle, the people of Novgorod, tired of political strife, invited the Varangians about AD 862 to establish an orderly and just government there. Hence, Rurik came with his two brothers and a large retinue (druzhina) and became ruler of the city and region of Novgorod.

Some historians think that Rurik came from the Scandinavian peninsula or from Jutland (now in Denmark) and seized the town of Ladoga, on Lake Ladoga. After establishing a stronghold there (c. 855), he may have gone southward along the Volkhov and captured Novgorod. Another possibility is that Rurik and his army were mercenaries, hired to guard the Volkhov-Dnieper waterway, who turned against their employers.

Rurik’s kinsman Oleg founded the grand principality of Kiev. Oleg’s successor, Igor, believed to be Rurik’s son, is considered the real founder of the Russian princely house.

end of this biography

HISTORY

Rurik or Riurik ( from the Nordic East Rorik, means "famous leader") (?30 - ?79) was a Varangian who gained control of Ladoga in ?62 and built the Holmgard settlement (Rurikovo Gorodische) in Novgorod.

Rurik name is the Slavic name being the same Germanic name as the modern English Roderick, or Spanish and Portuguese Rodrigo. In Germanic languages: Hrodric in (Old High German), Hroºricus in (Old English). In Old Norse, Hrœrekr (Norwegian, Icelandic) and Hr²rikr or Rorik (Danish, Swedish), which is derived from Rurik. It also appears in Beowulf as Hreºrik.

Princes of Kievan Rus and later on, of Muscovy that, according to tradition, were descendants of Rurik Varangian Prince, who had been invited by the people of Novgorod to rule that town (C. 862), the Princes of Rurik remained their control over Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy until 1598.

The successor Oleg (D. 912) conquered Kiev Rurik (C. 882) and established control of the trade route that stretched from Novgorod, along the Dnieper River, to the Black Sea. Igor (alleged son of Rurik, reigned from 912 to 945) and his successor, to her wife, Olga or St. Olga Olga (ruler from 945 - to 969), and later his son Svyatoslav (945-972) - hereinafter extended their territories; Vladimir, son of Svyatoslav I (St. Vladimir; reigned from 980-1015) thus well consolidated the Varegiana Dynasty.
Vladimir compiled the first law code of Kievan Rus and introduced Christianity to the country.


HISTORICAL SUMMARY. RUSSIA

Russia means "Land of Rus'. Before the tenth century, Russia was formed by scattered cities which fought between them. In the year 862, an extranger warrior gripped the state of Novgorod and joined several cities under its power. Some say that he arrived under invitation to restore order and others say that he reached power by force. This legendary Viking was a warrior. His name was Rurik and belonged to the family of the Rus. Rurik and his two brothers Truvor and Sineus imposed their control over the Slavs of the area. Rurik's followers are also known as Varangians. "Varangians" means "allies". "Rus" comes from the Swedish rosti, which means "oar", since we know the Vikings were driving paddle boats. Then Russia means "Land of Oars".



SLAVIC AND nORMANDS

Does not seem being any doubt about the Indo-European affiliation descent of the Slavs, but there are little news about them because the Germans isolated them of the Roman Empire. When there were invasions that ended the Empire, the displacement of the Germans allowed the Slavic movement westward, and so, in the sixth century, penetrations were already seen by peoples of this race in present Poland and Bohemia, and Brandenburg (Germany). Furthermore the Slavic incursions also came to the South, settling on the Adriatic coast of the Balkans.

In the seventh century,the penetration of barbarians folks, as well as the Avars in Central Europe, disconnected thus these Slavs from their racial brothers, becoming known by the name of South Slavs, who still nowadays make up the most of the population of Yugoslavia.

The Slavs who remained in the current western Russia were limited in their expansion to the east and to south by the establishment of other barbarians folks: the Khazars (or Kazars), the Pechenegs and Magyars. But taking as the axis of their residence the Dnieper River, became merchants carrying southward, to the country of the Khazars and even the Byzantine Empire, skins, honey and wax.

Rurik-Russia-Rurikovich-History

At the mid-ninth century already existed in this territory a true urban culture, while in Western Europe began The Feudalism. A number of towns located in the axis just spoken ensured the commercial link between the Baltic See and the Byzantine Empire: Kiev, Smolensk, Novgorod, Tchernigov, Minsk, Ryazan, Pskov Iaroslav and were the main ones.



For the same time lies the penetration of Vikings groups from Sweden, called "Varangians". These Vikings took upon themselves trade and defense of Slav cities against attacks from other nations. And according the oldest Russian chronicle, was a Varangian, Rurik, the first prince who ruled that fusion of Slavs and Vikings, in which it seems certain that the Vikings were absorbed by the Slavs, being in the history of Russia as a mere episode.

The successors of Rurik, Oleg (879-912) and Igor (912-944), alternated trade relations with Byzantium and the attacks on the capital of the Empire, until that Olga times (945-965) succeeded to Byzantine influence when became that princess to Christianity in 955 by the name of Elena in a trip she did to Constantinople.
From then on, Kiev had already surpassed the importance of Novgorod, and the princes of that city dominated the other, which, however, left some autonomy on the condition that they pay taxes regularly. The same soldiers who perceive them-in-kind were engaged then transfer them for sale in the Byzantine Empire.

The fullness of the rising state was in the last third of the tenth century, under the rule of Prince of Kiev, Sviatoslav (965-973), son of Olga, who, still pagan, was the first to conceive the idea of reaching out to an open sea - the Mediterranean in this case - so repeatedly present since then on this Russian policy of all time. The distribution of territories that Sviatoslav did on his death caused struggle between his sons, in which the winner was Vladimir the Great (973-1015), who married a Byzantine princess, Anna, was converted to Christianity in 988 forcing his subjects to embrace mass.

The bad policy of dividing the kingdom, repeated by his successors, caused the decline of the bright state, which finished at casting down new Asian nomadic invasions. Among these princes can still be noted to Yaroslav, founder of the archbishop of Kiev in 1035 and editor of the Russian law code called Russkaya Pravda.

From Rurik was born the famous dynasty of Russian Tsars that ruled Russia for over 750 years. At the beginning of the tenth century the military company of the Princes of Novgorod from Constantinople to protect trade relations with Byzantium were concluded by the integration of East-Slavic tribes in the ancient state of Kievan Rus.


The title of Tzar, Czar or Csar, (????) was first adopted by Ivan IV as a symbol of the changing nature of the Russian Monarchy in 1547.


Ivan IV Vasilyevich (???? ?????????? IV), also known as Ivan the Terrible (Kolomenskoie, Russia, August 25, 1530 - Moscow, March 18, 1584) Tsar of Russia (1547-1584). Considered one of the creators of the Russian state. He married at least seven times, but his most important marriage was the first one, with Anastasia Romanova in 1547. His greatest contributions were Russian conquest of Siberia, creating a new legal code, the Sudiâebnik, the centralization of the power in the capital, the creation of institutions with popular participation, the conquest of the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars, the destruction of the Teutonic Order and big internal reforms, including the reform of the army and the revision of the legal code.

His Early years:

Grandson of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich III the Great and son of Vasily III and Elena Glinskaya, belongs to the lineage Varangian of Rurik and princess of Lithuania. According to the legend he was born with two teeth. He was crowned Grand Prince of Moscow within three years after the death of his father. However, the kingdom was administered by his mother, who was poisoned five years after the coronation of boyars clans who vied for power. He was recluded to the humiliation of the boyars, which overshadowed his character. He was held in the Kremlin Palace of living almost as a beggar. This fact led in Ivan a great hatred against boyars, and has as a consequence the constant persecution and massacres that he organized against these clans. In these early years Ivan suffered mental ramblings, now irreversibles, which led him to give vent to their anger and throwing torturing dogs from the towers. It is known that he had a deaf brother who nothing more is known.


With 13 years people began to respect him and ordered to one of his loyal groups to capture the Prince Andrei Shuisky in order to throw a pack of dogs against him, which brutaly tore him. With 16 years already stated in writing and was an avid reader of books, besides of being and a big, muscular young. He studied rhetoric from the hand of Bishop Macarius. During this time it was deeply religious.


To be respected as Tsar, Macario determined that Ivan came (according to a family tree) of the lineage of the first Roman Caesars.

© Sovereign Royal and Imperial House of Rurikovich

end of narrative

Residence:
Russian meaning, "Old Lagoda"...

Its history & map ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staraya_Ladoga

Died:
Rulers of Russia family tree - the Rurik Dynasty through the Romanovs (last of the Tsars):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulers_of_Russia_family_tree

Notes:

Skoglar Toste or Skoglar Tosti (there are several variations) was a legendary chieftain from the Swedish province of West Gèotaland. His name (skoglar, skauglar or skagul) was reportedly due to his experience in battle. [1]

Toste is mentioned in several sagas, most notable in Heimskringla. According to Snorri Sturluson, he was the father of Sigrid the Haughty. For some time he gave refuge to Harald Grenske, who later came back to woo Sigrid, only to be killed by her for his persistence. According to the sagas, Skagul Toste was also the father of Ulf Tostesson, father of Ragnvald Ulfsson and grandfather of Stenkil who became the King of Sweden in 1060.[2]

Toste is said to have collected great riches when he demanded danegeld as he led a Viking army to England in 970. At Vallentuna, near Stockholm, the runestone of Orkesta (U 344) reads:

in ulfr hafir onklati * ´ru kialtakat ´it uas fursta ´is tursti * ´a ---´urktil * ´a kalt knutr

Translation: "And Ulf of Borresta (Ulf) has taken three payments in England. That was the first that Toste (tursti) paid. Then Thorkell the Tall (´urktil ) paid. Then Canute the Great (knutr) paid. [3]

References

"Skoglar Toste". Bergans Historiasidor. May 15, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
Claus Krag. "Harald Grenske, Smêakonge". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
"Runes and Runic". An English Dictionary of Runic Inscriptions. May 5, 2006. Retrieved October 24, 2015.

Other sources

Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 241-5, 243A-20

end of biography

Skoglar Skagul "King of Sweden" Toste
Born 0910 in Venden, Tyskland (Vein, Germany)map
Son of Rane UNKNOWN and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Ulf Tostesson, Ulf (UNKNOWN) Tostesson av Skara and Sigrid Storrada
Died 0975 in Svitjod, Vèastergèotland, Swedenmap
Profile managers: Katherine Patterson private message [send private message] and Sheri Sturm private message [send private message]
Profile last modified 10 Nov 2017 | Created 5 Jul 2011
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Notes:

Rognvald Eysteinsson (fl. 865) was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of M²re in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rognvaldr Eysteinsson and in modern Norwegian as Ragnvald M²rejarl. He is sometimes referred to with bynames that may be translated into modern English as "Rognvald the Wise" or "Rognvald the Powerful".

The earliest available sources regarding Rognvald are mutually contradictory and were compiled long after he died. The best known are the Norse Sagas, although modern scholars highlight many inconsistencies and improbable claims regarding Rognvald in the sagas, and believe that they must be treated with caution:[2] The texts of the sagas were compiled three centuries after the events described and their accuracy in regard to Rognvald's life and historical significance is now questioned. Hence some scholars instead emphasise other accounts, closer to the historical period in question, such as Irish and Scottish sources.

While Rognvald does appear to have had some kind of role in the founding of the Norse Earldom of Orkney, most historians now doubt claims in the Sagas that Rognvald led one particular "great voyage" - a Norwegian expedition that attacked rebel vikings, who had been raiding Norway from bases on Orkney and Shetland, before raiding the Scottish mainland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is now generally believed that any such expedition would have occurred after Rognvald's lifetime. A modern authority on Orcadian history, William P. L. Thomson, comments that the story of the "great voyage is so thoroughly ingrained in popular and scholarly history, both ancient and modern, that it comes as a bit of a shock to realise that it might not be true."[3]

Modern scholars also highlight inconsistencies and improbable claims in the sagas' claims regarding: the relationship between Rognvald and Harald; the names and biographies of Rognvald's immediate family, and; the founding of the earldom of M²re.

Rognvald was the father of Torf-Einarr (d. circa 910) an earl of Orkney. Some Norse accounts claimed that another son, Hrâolfr, settled in France and, under the name Rollo (d. 930), founded the Duchy of Normandy. However, French sources suggest that Rollo's father was an unnamed Danish or Norwegian nobleman, or a viking named Ketill.


Contents
1 Traditional accounts
1.1 Sources
1.2 Family
1.3 Death and legacy
2 Modern interpretations
2.1 Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
2.2 Founding of the earldom of Orkney
2.3 Rognvald's brother and sons
2.4 Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
2.5 Broad themes
3 References
4 External links
Traditional accounts

Sources

The oldest account that may refer to Rognvald and the Earldom of Orkney appears to be the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. These annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic, who died in 1039,[4] although they survive only as incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (17th century).

...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkney Islands. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son.
Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor.
These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[5] and the mention of an eclipse confirms a date of 865.[6]

Dating the Orkneyinga saga has proven to be controversial but a recent analysis has the "majority of scholars in favour of dates between 1170 and 1220"[7] whilst admitting that "it remains to be established when, why, where, for whom and by whom it was written".[8] Much of the information it contains is "hard to corroborate".[2]

Rognvald is also referred to in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (written c. 1230), written in Iceland.


Christian Krohg's portrait of Snorri Sturluson, 13th century compiler of the Heimskringla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snorre_Sturluson-Christian_Krohg.jpg
While the Historia Norvegiae (written c. 1505) includes an account of the foundation of the Orkney earldom, as well as some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney, it has relatively little to say about Rognvald.

Family

It is not certain that the Ragnall of the Irish annals is synonymous with Rognvald Eysteinsson. The relevant entry goes on to describe Ragnall's older sons raiding in Spain and North Africa, but there is no specific mention of the Earldom of Orkney. There is also a separate piece of circumstantial evidence, suggesting a link between Ragnall and the 9th century figure Ragnar Lodbrok: runic inscriptions found inside Maeshowe, dating from the 12th century, state that the mound was "built before Loºbrâok".[6]

There is no agreement in the available sources on Rognvald's parentage. According to the Irish annals, Ragnall was the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make Ragnall the brother of King Harald Fairhair. This is contradicted by later Norse sagas, which suggest that Halfdan was Rognvald's grandfather.[9] The Orkneyinga saga says that Rognvald was the son of Eystein Ivarsson and grandson of Ívarr Upplendingajarl.[10]

He was married, according to the Orkneyinga saga to Ragnhild, the daughter of a man named Hrâolfr Nose,[11] although in the Heimskringla his wife is named Hild.[12]

Both sagas refer to six sons. The oldest, "by concubines", were Hallad, Einarr and Hrollaug, who were "grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children".[11][12] The latter were Ivar, Hrâolfr, and Thorir the Silent. Hrâolfr, who "was so big that no horse could carry him", hence his byname of "Ganger-Hrâolf",[11] is identified by the saga writers with Rollo, founder of Duchy of Normandy (in 911).[12]

In the Orkneyinga saga Rognvald was made the Earl of M²re by Harald Fairhair. The Saga of Harald Fairhair in Heimskringla recounts that Rognvald caused Harald Fairhair to be given his byname by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of his vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway.[13] Rognvald accompanied the king on a great military expedition. First the islands of Shetland and Orkney were cleared of vikings who had been raiding Norway and then continued on to Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. During this campaign Rognvald's son Ivarr was killed and in compensation Harald granted Rognvald Orkney and Shetland.

Rognvald thereafter returned to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[14][11] Sigurd had been the forecastleman on Harald's ship and after sailing back east the king "gave Sigurd the title of earl".[11] However, the Heimskringla states specifically that Sigurd was the first Earl of Orkney.[15] According to the Orkneyinga Saga, after Sigurd became earl he died in a curious fashion, following a battle with Mâael Brigte of Moray. Sigurd's son Gurthorm ruled for a single winter after this and died childless.[16][17] Rognvald's son Hallad then inherited the title. However, unable to constrain Danish raids on Orkney, he gave up the earldom and returned to Norway, which "everyone thought was a huge joke."[18] Still, there is a tradition among the folk at Strath Halladale, Sutherland, which is named for Hallad, that he returned and was slain in battle at the beginning of the tenth century and was buried near the battle site in a circular trench ten or twelve feet wide. His sword, it is said, was placed beside him in the grave, and a stone was placed in the center of the circle, part of which was still visible at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The site was near a little town called Dal Halladha, Halladha's field.[19]


A page from the Orkneyinga saga, as it appears in the 14th century Flateyjarbâok. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg/220px-Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg
The Danish raids caused Rognvald to fly into a rage and summon his sons Thorir and Hrolluag. He predicted that Thorir's path would keep him in Norway and that Hrolluag was destined seek his fortune in Iceland. Turf-Einar, the youngest, then came forward and offered to go to the islands. Rognvald said: "Considering the kind of mother you have, slave-born on each side of her family, you are not likely to make much of a ruler. But I agree, the sooner you leave and the later you return the happier I'll be."[20] His father's misgivings notwithstanding, Torf-Einarr succeeded in defeating the Danes and founded a dynasty which retained control of the islands for centuries after his death.[21]

Historia Norvegiae includes some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney - such as an account of the Picts as a small people who hid in the daytime - as well as the foundation of the Orkney earldom,.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[22]

This account does not specifically associate Rognvald with the earldom, attributing the "dominion" of the islands to the anonymous kinfolk of his son Hrâolfr.[23]

Death and legacy
Rognvald was killed by King Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg and Gudrod Gleam, who engineered a sudden attack, surrounding the house in which Rognvald was staying, and burned it to the ground with the earl and 60 of his men inside it. Harald "flew into a rage" when he heard about this and sent out a "great force" against Gudrod who was then banished. Halfdan escaped into the western seas and Rognvald's death was later avenged by Torf-Einarr, who killed him on North Ronaldsay and then made peace with Harald. Rognvald's son Thorir was then made Earl of M²re by Harald, who also gave Thorir his daughter Alof in marriage.[24][25][26]

The sagas thus identify Rognvald as the apical figure of the Norse Earls of Orkney who controlled the islands until the early 13th century, and a forerunner of important Icelandic families. Furthermore, through his son Hrolfr, Rognvald is portrayed as an ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy who, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, became the kings of England.[11]

Modern interpretations
Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
Black and white drawing of a snapshot showing shipmasts with flags and warriors marching below. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg/170px-Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg
Magnus Barefoot's army in Ireland. Magnus' actions in the west clearly form the basis of the saga narrative about the submission of Orkney and Shetland to Harald Fairhair's fleet.[27]
Rognvald's life occurs within the first eight short chapters within the Orkneyinga saga and it is clear that in this early period it contains generally less detail and historical accuracy than in the later events it describes.[28] Recorded in the 13th century, the sagas are informed by Norwegian politics of the day.

Harald Fairhair's supposed expeditions to the west, recounted by Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla are no longer accepted as historical realities by many modern historians, including Thomson.[3] Later (mid-13th century) rivalry between the Norwegians and the Kings of the Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man are seen to have driven Sturluson's account.[29] At least in part, the sagas aim to legitimise Norwegian claims to both the Northern Isles and the Kingdom of the Isles in the west.[27] The situation faced by Earl Harald Maddadsson of Orkney in 1195, when he was forced to submit himself to royal authority after an ill-judged intervention in Norwegian affairs, would have made legendary material of this nature of considerable interest in Orkney, at the time that the sagas were written.[30]

It is also clear that elements in the narrative are drawn from the much later expeditions undertaken by Magnus Barefoot.[27]

Nonetheless, the view that the Orkney earldom was created by "members of the M²re family" continues to receive academic support.[31]

Harald Fairhair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[32] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889-900).[33] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier. The entry in the Fragmentary Annals at an early date also makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.


The monument at Haraldshaugen, erected to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Norway's unification under the rule of King Harald Fairhair after the Battle of Hafrsfjord. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Haraldshaugen.JPG/220px-Haraldshaugen.JPG
Other saga material provides an alternative description. In the Eyrbyggja saga the same story of a great expedition to punish unruly Vikings who were raiding Norway is undertaken, but here it is Ketil flatnefr (Ketil Flatnose) who leads it. Although this is apparently done at Harald's behest, Ketil then claims the islands as his own. Once again, the chronology is flawed by Harald's inclusion in the tale as other information provided about Ketil gives him a floruit of the mid, rather than late, 9th century.[3]

Furthermore, contemporary Irish sources have a great deal to say about Viking raids on the coasts of Ireland and southern Scotland and those who led them, but none mention King Harald. The earliest of the large expeditions again belong to a period-the 840s-that pre-dates the time of Harald's kingship.[34]

Smyth (1984) credits the launching of the great voyage to the west to Olaf the White, whom he provides with a royal Vestfold origin along with various military activities in Scotland and for whom, assuming an identification of Olaf with Amlaib "Conung" the King of Dublin, there is a contemporary Irish reference dating to 853.[35] Icelandic sources also have Olaf marrying Aud the Deep-Minded, Ketil flatnefr's daughter, and the ''Annals of Ulster'' record what may be dynastic in-fighting between Olaf and his father-in-law in 857.[36][Note 1]

Founding of the earldom of Orkney
By implication the Orkneyinga saga identifies Rognvald as the founder of the earldom, although Heimskringla has his brother Sigurd as the first to formally hold the title. Other sources are less specific (see above) and the sagas have been interpreted in various other ways. Smyth (1984), having banished King Harald's role in the voyage to the west to the realms of myth concludes that the role of the brothers Eysteinsson can be similarly so dispatched and that Torf-Einarr "may be regarded as the first historical earl of Orkney".[38]

Drawing on Adam of Bremen's assertion that Orkney was not conquered until the time of Harald Hardrada, who ruled Norway from 1043-66, Woolf (2007) speculates that Sigurd "the Stout" Hlodvirsson, Torf-Einarr's great-grandson, may have been the first Earl of Orkney [39]

Rognvald's brother and sons

Orkney and Shetland at centre, in relation to nearby territories https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png/220px-Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png
The notion that Rognvald could hand over his Northern Isles estates to his brother has been interpreted in various ways. For example, it may be that he was aware of ongoing Viking raiding in the area and considered the gift from the king as a mixed blessing.[40] This is also one of a number of instances in which the writer of the Orkneyinga saga attempts to reconcile the conflicting themes of independence from Norway (Rognvald gifts the islands to Sigurd) and dependence on royal authority (Harald formalises the process by confirming Sigurd as earl).[41] Beuermann (2011) speculates that Rognvald's transfer of power to his brother may have been an attempt by the saga writers to imply that the Orkney earldom had more independence from Norway than that of M²re[42] and that Rognvald's holdings in Caithness may have allowed for an even greater degree of freedom of action. Such implications are more likely to be rooted in the writer's interest in emphasising Orcadian independence at the time of writing rather than the 9th/10th century events they purport to describe.[43]

After Hallad's failure in Orkney there is a dialogue between father and sons that has been interpreted as being about Rognvald's desire to cement his own position as Earl of M²re and an allusion to the early history of Iceland, where the sagas were written. Thorir is a compliant son who Rognvald is happy to keep at home. Hrolluag is portrayed as a man of peace who will go to Iceland. Einarr is aggressive and a threat to his father's position so can be spared for the dangers of Orkney.[44] In the Landnâamabâok version the equally aggressive Hrolfr is also present, and his destiny is anticipated to be in conveniently far-away Normandy.[45][Note 2]

Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
Alex Woolf suggests that saga authors may have synthesised elements of the life of Ragnall ua Ímair, a later figure, into the figure of Rognvald Eysteinsson of M²re. Ragnall ua Ímair, who was active between 914 and 921 in the Irish Sea region, was a grandson of Ímar, the "king of the Northmen of all Britain and Ireland", whose death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 873.[46]

There are at least two major similarities between the two figures include: both are grandsons of an Ímar/Ivarr and; like Rognvald, a close relative of Ragnall named Ímar was killed in battle in Scotland (Ímar ua Ímair, d. 904).[47]

Broad themes
There are several recurring themes in the Orkneyinga saga, including strife between brothers, relationships between the jarls and the Norwegian crown, and raiding in the Hebrides,[48] all of which are touched on during the saga's coverage of Rognvald's life and times. In part, the saga's purpose was to "explore such social and psychological tensions as these in the history of the people of Orkney, and to help them understand themselves through a knowledge of their origins".[49]

References
Notes
More controversially, Smyth also identifies Olaf the White with Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a legendary Norwegian king of the House of Yngling - a suggestion dismissed by Ó Corrâain (1979).[37]
In the Heimskringla Hrolfr is banished by King Harald.[12]
Footnotes
Muir (2005) Preface: Genealogical table of the Earls of Orkney.
Woolf (2007) p. 242
Thomson (2008) p. 25
Radner (1999) p. 322-23
Anderson (1990) p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865.
Thomson (2008) p. 22
Phelpstead (2001) p. xvi
Phelpstead (2001) p. ix, quoting Inger Ekrem.
Crawford (1987) pp. 53-54
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 3 - "The Sea-Kings" p. 25-26
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 4 - " To Shetland and Orkney" pp. 26-27
Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 24 - Rolf Ganger Driven Into Banishment.
Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23
Anderson (1990) pp. 332-334; Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 22- King Harald's Voyage To The West.
Heimskringla. "Chapter 99 - History Of The Earls Of Orkney".
Thomson (2008) p. 28.
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 5 - "A poisoned tooth" pp. 27-28
Thomson (2008) p. 30 quoting chapter 5 of the Orkneyinga saga.
Pinkerton, John (1809). A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and in All Parts of the World, Vol. 3. London. p. 152. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 6 - "Forecasts" pp. 28-29.
Thomson (2008) p. 29
Anderson (1990) pp. 330-331
Phelpstead (2001) p. 9
Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29-30
Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 8 - "Troublemakers from Norway" pp. 29-33
Heimskringla. "Harald Harfager's Saga, Part 30 - Earl Ragnvald Burnt In His House".
Thomson (2008) p. 27
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 11
Crawford (1987) pp. 52-53.
Thomson (2008) pp. 27-28
Helle, Knut (2006) "Earls of Orkney": The Vikings and Scotland - Impact and Influence, Royal Society of Edinburgh Conference 22-26 September 2006. Edinburgh (Rapporteur: Andrew Heald); retrieved 27 January 2014.
Crawford (1987) p. 55-56.
Anderson (1990) pp. 395-396.
Thomson (2008) p. 26
Smyth (1984) pp. 152-53
Smyth (1984) p. 156
Ó Corrâain (1979) p. 298
Smyth (1984) p. 153
Woolf (2007) p. 307
Muir (2005) p. 6
Thomson (2008) p. 31
Beuermann (2011) p. 120
Beuermann (2011) p. 121
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 13
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 14
Ó Corrâain (1998) p. 37
Woolf (2007) pp. 300-303
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" pp. 15-16
Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 19
General references
Anderson, Alan Orr (1990) Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500-1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
Beuermann, Ian "Jarla Sogur Orkneyja. Status and power of the earls of Orkney according to their sagas" in Steinsland, Gro; Sigurºsson, Jâon Viºar; Rekda, Jan Erik and Beuermann, Ian (eds) (2011) Ideology and power in the viking and middle ages: Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney and the Faeroes . The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 A.D. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. 52. Leiden. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20506-2
Crawford, Barbara (1987) Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0
Muir, Tom (2005) Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas. The Orcadian. Kirkwall. ISBN 0954886232.
Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (Mar 1979) "High-Kings, Vikings and Other Kings". Irish Historical Studies 22 No. 83 pp. 283-323. Irish Historical Studies Publications.
Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (1998) Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century CELT. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
Pâalsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey (1981). Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044383-5
Phelpstead, Karl (ed) (2001) A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Ólâafr. (pdf) Translated by Devar Kunin. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series. XIII. University of London.
Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). "Fragmentary Annals of Ireland". CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
Radner, Joan N. (1999) "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form" (PDF), Celtica. 23, pp. 312-325.
Smyth, Alfred P. (1984) Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80-1000. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
Sturluson, Snorri (1992) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin. ISBN 0-292-73061-6
Sturlson, Snorri Heimskringla. Wisdom Library ;retrieved 21 January 2014.
Thomson, William P. L. (2008) The New History of Orkney. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-696-0
Woolf, Alex (2007) From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5

end of this biography

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re
Norwegian: Ragnvald Eysteinsson, M²rejarl
Also Known As: "R²gnvald", "Rognvaldr Mœrajarl", "son Eysteins glumru", "den Rêadsnare", "Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson", "Rognvald I Eysteinsson", "Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl"
Birthdate: 825
Birthplace: Vestfold, Norway or, êAre Municipality, Jèamtland County, Sweden
Death: 894 (69)
Giske, M²re og Romsdal, Norway (Norway, Ragnvald, With 60 of His Men, Die In A Longhouse When Two of Harald's Jealous Sons Burned It Down With Them In It)
Place of Burial: Giske, M²re og Romsdal, Norway

Ragnvald is the 37th great grandfather of David Michael Cornett ... http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I848&tree=hennessee

Immediate Family:

Ragnvald is the 32nd through the 37th great grandfather to Martha Ann Millsaps

Son of Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» Glumra and N.N.
Husband of Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir
Partner of NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnvald M²rejarl, mother/s of Torf-Einar, Hrollaug and Hallad
Father of Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèorºur, Íslands; Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl and 3 others
Brother of Sigurd Eysteinsson, I, Jarl of Orkney and Svanhild Eysteinsdotter
Occupation: M²rejarl, Earl of M²re and Romsdal, Earl of More and Romsdal, Earl of More, also "The Wise", Earl of Shetland and Orkney, Count of Maer, Jarl of North and South More and Of Ramsdal, Jarl âa Mµri., Jarl âa Mµri, EARL OF MORE, Earl, Jarl
Managed by: Harald Tveit Alvestrand
Last Updated: January 22, 2019

Immediate Family

NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnv...partner

Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl, son

Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkn..., son

Hrollager Rognvaldsson, son

Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjèor..., son

Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, wife

Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl, son

Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' Ragnvaldsson, son

Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson, son

Gutum Ragnvaldson, son

Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» G...father

N.N., mother
About Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M²re
Rognvaldr Mèorejarl, son Eysteins glumru. Earl of M²re and father of Gange-Hrolf Rollo of Normandie.

Basics
Father: Eystein "Glumra" Ivarsson
Mother: Asdis (Ascrida) (undocumented)
Concubines: Names unknown
Son: Hallad
Son: Hrollaug, who settled in Iceland
Son: Torf-Einar, who settled in Orkney
Wife: Ragnhild (also called Hild) Hrolfsdatter
Son: Gange-Rolf, who settled in Normandie
Son: Ivar, killed in battle
Son: Tore Teiande, who became a jarl in Norway
LInks and notes
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORWEGIAN%20NOBILITY.htm#Ragnvalddied894A http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_Eysteinsson http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=&emne=nor&person=Ragnvald%20%D8ysteinsson

D²d omkring 892. Han var s²nn av ¢ystein Glumra. Ragnvald var gift med Hild Rolvsdatter. De hadde barna: 1. Gange-Rolv Ragnvaldson av Normandie. F²dt mellom 860 og 866. D²d 931. 2. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldson M²rejarl. F²dt omkring 862. D²d mellom 938 og 940.
I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Ragnvald levde pêa Harald Hêarfagres tid, og ble av ham forlenet med Nordm²re, Romsdal og Sundm²re i 865. Han var av sine samtidige h²yt ansett for sin klokskap og ble kalt «den mektige». Det var han som klipte Haralds hêar, som da ikke var klippet pêa 10 êar. ----------------------------- RAGNVALD "the Wise", son of [EYSTEIN "Glumra/Clatterer" Jarl in Norway & his wife ---] (-[894]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Eystein the Clatterer, father of the wise counsellor Earl Rognwald the Powerful…”, adding that “Earl Rognwald campaigned with King Harald Fine-Hair who gave him charge of North More, South More and Romsdale”[141].

Snorre names "Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein "Glumra" when recording that he had become a supporter of King Harald who had invested him with the districts of North More and Raumsdal[142]. Snorre records that he was created Jarl of North and South Mèore and of Raumsdal in Norway by Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway after his victory at Solskiel [869] against Hunthiof King of Mèore and Nokve King of Raumsdal[143].

Orkneyinga Saga and Snorre both record that King Harald granted Shetland and Orkney to Ragnvald in compensation for the death of his son Ivar[144]. The Historia Norwegie records that "principi Rogwaldi" crossed the Solund Sea, destroyed the peoples of the Orkney islands, in the days of "Haraldi Comati regis…Norwegie"[145].

Orkneyinga Saga records that “Halfdan Long-Leg and Gudrod Gleam, King Harald´s sons by Snµfrid” attacked “Earl Rognvald of More, killed him and assumed his authority”[146].

Snorre records that Ragnvald was ambushed in his hall and burned alive by Halfdan Haaleg and Gudred Liomi, two of King Harald's sons[147].

m [RAGNHILD, daughter of HROLF “Nevja/Nose” & his wife ---. Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Rognwald” married “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[148]. Snorre names "Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia" as the wife of "Earl Ragnvald"[149].]

[Ragnvald & his wife had three children:]

1. [IVAR (-killed in battle either Hafrsfiord [872] or Orkney [874]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that Ivar was killed in battle fighting with Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway in Scotland[150]. Snorre names "Ivar, a son of Ragnvald Earl of More" when recording his death in battle during a Viking campaign against the Scottish islands[151]. The Complete Peerage dates the appointment of Sigurd (Ivar´s reported paternal uncle) as Jarl of Orkney to [875][152], which means that Ivar must have been killed shortly before this date. However, as explained below this causes considerable chronological difficulties with the reported events in the career of Turf-Einar, Ivar´s youngest illegitimate half-brother, so should be considered as extremely approximate.

2. [ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gèongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].]

3. [THORE Ragnvaldsson "Tause/the Silent". Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[161]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild[162]. He succeeded his father in [894] as Jarl of Mèore, having dispossessed Gudrod "Ljome", son of King Harald, who had seized Mèore on the death of Jarl Ragnvald[163].

m ([890]) ALOF "Aarbod/Season-bettering", daughter of HARALD I "Hêarfagre/Harfagri/Fairhair" King of Norway & his second wife Gyda of Hordaland. Snorre records that King Harald gave Jarl Thore his daughter "Alof, called Arbot" after the king confirmed him as Jarl of Mèore[164].] [Thore & his wife had one child:]

a) [BERGLJOT Thoresdatter. The Historia Norwegie names "Bergliota filia Thoris Tacentis", from "nobilissima Morensium ac Halogensium comitum prosapia", as the wife of "Siwardo"[165]. Snorre names "Bergljot, a daughter of Earl Thorer the Silent" & his wife as the wife of Sigurd[166].

m SIGURD Jarl, son of HAAKON Grjotgardson Jarl of Haalogaland & his wife -- (-murdered Oglo 962).]

[Ragnvald had three illegitimate children by unknown mistresses:]

4. [HALLAD . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[167]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[168]. Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent “his son Hallad west to the islands” after hearing of the death of his brother and nephew, and that Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl” to Hallad who “came to Orkney and took up residence on Mainland”[169]. Snorre records that Earl Ragnvald installed his son Hallad as Jarl of Orkney after the death of his brother Sigurd, but that he resigned the earldom and returned to Norway[170]. Orkneyinga Saga records that, following complaints by farmers about Viking raids, Hallad “tiring of his rule, gave up the earldom and went back to Norway as a common landholder” which “made him a laughing stock”[171].

5. [HROLLAUG . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[172]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[173].

Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald told his son Hrollaug that “your fate will take you to Iceland [where] you´ll have plenty of descendants”[174]. His alleged descendants in Iceland shown below are as stated in Thorstein Side-Hallum's Saga and Flatey-book's St Olaf's Saga[175] but the accuracy of this information, which has not been corroborated in other sources, is unknown. m ---. The name of Hrollaug´s wife is not known.] [Hrollaug & his wife had one child:]

a) [JON Ozur . m ---. The name of Jon´s wife is not known.] [Jon & his wife had one child:]

i) [THOREY . m ---. The name of Thorey´s wife is not known.] [Thorey & his wife had one child:]

(a) [HALL of Sida . m ---. The name of Hall´s wife is not known.] [Hall & his wife had two children:]

(1) [THORSTEIN . Aged 20 at the battle of Clontarf 1014.

(2) [THORDIS . Orkneyinga Saga records that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[176]. m ---. The name of Thordis´s husband is not known.] Thordis & her husband had one child:

a. USPAK . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[177]. m ---. The name of Uspak´s wife is not known. Uspak & his wife had one child:

(i) SOMERLED . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”[178]. m ---. The name of Somerled´s wife is not known. Somerled & his wife had one child:

(a) THORA . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of this Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[179]. Orkneyinga Saga records that “his mother was married…to a man called Sigurd” when her son Magnus returned to Orkney, adding that she and her second husband had a son “Hakon Karl…[and] a farm at Paplay”[180]. m firstly ERLEND Thorfinsson Jarl of Orkney, son of THORFINN "the Black" Jarl of Orkney & his wife Ingibjèorg Finnsdatter (-in prison Nidaros 1098, bur Nidaros). m secondly SIGURD of Paplay .

b) [HALLBERA . m ASBIORN, son of HRAFUNKEL of Steinrodar-Stadir in Iceland.]

6. [EINAR "Turf-Einar” . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[181]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[182].

Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent his “youngest son Einar” to “the islands” after his brother Hallad returned to Norway and that Harald I "Hêarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl”, adding that his mother was “slave-born on each side of her family”, and stating that he killed “Thorir Tree-Beard and Kalf Scurvy” and succeeded in imposing his authority in Orkney where “he was the first man to dig peat for fuel…at Tarbat Ness in Scotland”, and that he “was tall and ugly…and…one-eyed”[183]. It should be noted that there are considerable chronological difficulties with the career of Turf-Einar and his sons, as reported in Orkneyinga Saga.

The starting point for the analysis of these problems is the date of the battle in Northumbria in which Turf-Einar´s two oldest sons were killed, which can with reasonable accuracy be placed in the early 950s. If these two sons were at least in their late thirties or forties when they died (a difficult assumption to make considering that they had no reported direct heirs), their births could not be placed before [905/15] at the earliest. The likelihood would then be that their father, Turf-Einar, was not born much earlier than [975/95]. The difficulty is that this date is completely incompatible with (a) the fact that the illegitimate sons of Ragnvald were reported as “grown men” when their legitimate half-brothers were children, and (b) that the date when Ivar, the oldest legitimate son, was killed is estimated to [874].

----------------------------- Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hêarfagres saga: «10. ... Ragnvald M²rejarl, s²nn til ¢ystein Glumra, var blitt kong Haralds mann da om sommeren. Kong Harald satte ham til h²vding over disse to fylkene, Nordm²re og Romsdal, og ga ham rett til hjelp bêade av stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Han ble kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og de sier at begge navnene var sanne. Kong Harald var i Trondheimen vinteren som fulgte.»

«23. Kong Harald var i gjestebud pêa M²re hos Ragnvald jarl; da hadde han lagt hele landet under seg. Da gikk kongen i bad der. Og nêa lot kong Harald hêaret sitt greie, og Ragnvald jarl skar hêaret hans; da hadde det ikke vµrt skêaret eller kjemmet pêa ti êar. F²r kalte de ham Harald Luva, men nêa ga Ragnvald jarl ham nytt navn, og kalte ham Harald Hêarfagre. Alle som sêa ham, sa at det var virkelig et sant navn, for han hadde et hêar som var bêade stort og vakkert.»

Ragnvald ble innebrent pêa sin gêard sammen med 60 mann av Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome, to av Haralds s²nner, som vill vµre jarler over M²re. 1)

1). Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hêarfagres saga, avsnitt 10, 23-24. Snorre Sturlason: Olav den helliges saga, avsnitt 96. Mogens Bugge: Vêare forfedre, nr. 278. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 50, 76. ----------------------------------------------- Ragnvald's life is described by Snorri Sturluson in The Saga of Harald Hêarfagre (Fairhair): http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=no&emne=asatru&person=&list=&vis=s_e_harald_harfagre#43 --------------------------------------- About the name Ragnvald in various versions: http://www.nordicnames.de/pojk_r/Ragnvald.html

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Original text: Snorri, Heimskringla, Haralds saga hins hâarfagra: "Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl, son Eysteins glumru, hafºi ¤âa um sumarit gerzt maºr Haralds konungs. Haraldr konungr setti hann hèofºingja yfir ¤essi tvau fylki, Norºmœri ok Raumsdal, ok fâekk honum ¤ar styrk til bµºi af râikismèonnum ok bâondum, svâa ok skipakost at verja landit fyrir âufriºi. Hann var kallaºr Rèognvaldr hinn râiki eºa hinn râaºsvinni, ok segja menn at hvâarrtveggja vµri sannnefni. Haraldr konungr var um vetrinn eptir âi ´râandheimi."
[...]

"12. Brenna Vemundar konungs.

Eptir ¤at lagºi Haraldr konungr undir sik Sunnmœri. Vemundr, brâoºir Auºbjarnar konungs, hâelt Firºafylki ok gerºist konungr yfir. ´etta var sâiºla um haust, ok gera menn ¤at râaº meº Haraldi konungi, at hann skyldi eigi fara suºr um Staº âa haustdegi. ´âa setti Haraldr konungr Rèognvald jarl yfir Mœri hvâaratveggju ok Raumsdal, ok hafºi hann ¤âa um sik mikit fjèolmenni. Haraldr konungr sneri ¤âa norºr aptr til ´râandheims. ´ann sama vetr fâor Rèognvaldr jarl hit iºra um Eiº, ok svâa suºr um Fjèorºu. Hann hafºi njâosn af Vemundi konungi, ok kom um nâott ¤ar sem heitir Naustdalr; Var Vemundr konungr ¤ar âa veizlu. Rèognvaldr jarl tâok hâus âa ¤eim, ok brendi konung inni meº nâiutigi manna. Eptir ¤at kom Berºlukâari til Rèognvalds jarls meº langskip alskipat, ok fâoru ¤eir bâaºir norºr âa Mœri. Tâok Rèognvaldr jarl skip ¤au, er âatt hafºi Vemundr konungr, ok alt lausafâe ¤at er hann fâekk. Berºlukâari fâor norºr til ´râandheims âa fund Haralds konungs ok gerºist hans maºr; hann var berserkr mikill."

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, The Wise (830-890), Earl of Sunnm²re, Nordm²re and Romsdal, was born in Maer Nord-Tr²ndelag, Norway and died at the Orkney Islands.
He was son of Eystein Glumra the Noisy, Earl of Oppland, and grandson of Halfdan the Old.

His second wife was Ragnhild Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir (Raghldr (Hldr) Hrolfsdâottir) daughter of Hrolfr Nefjaa. Ragnvald was the father of Hrolf Ganger, the founder of Normandy. He was also the father of Turf-Einar, the ancestor of the jarls of Orkney.

He was the direct ancestor to William I of England, Edward III of England, James I of England, and, therefore, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is therefore the ancestor of most of the royal families of Europe.

Ragnvald Eystemssèon, allmèant kallad Mèorejarl. norsk storman i 9:de êarh., êatnjèot i hèog grad Harald Hêarfagres fèortroende och styrde sêasom hans jarl Mèorerne (Nord- och Sèondmèore samt Romsdalen). R. blef genom sin ene son. Torv-Einar, stamfader fèor Orkenèo-jarlarna och genom den andre, Gêange-Rolf, stamfader fèor hertigarna af Normandie. Af sina samtida kallades han den »rêadmilde» och den »mèaktige». Trots sin êadagalagda trohet mot konungen èoverfèolls och drèaptes han af dennes sèoner omkr. 890. Y. s.
Frêan Nordisk Familjebok

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous kinfolk.

The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rognvald_Eysteinsson

Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More (1) M, #104777 Last Edited=28 Oct 2002
Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More is the son of Eystein 'the Noisy' Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Ascrida Ragnvaldsdottir. (1) He died circa 890, burnt to death in his house. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More gained the title of Earl of More. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More also went by the nick-name of 'The Mighty'.
Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Groa (?) -1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -2. Turf-Einar Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -3. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson (1) Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir -1. Ivar Ragnvaldsson (1) -2. Thori 'the Silent' Ragnvaldsson, Jarl of More+ (1) -3. Rollo Ragnvaldsson, 1st Duc de Normandie+ b. c 846, d. c 931 (1)

Forrâas: http://www.thepeerage.com/p10478.htm#i104777

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

Contents [hide] 1 Sagas 2 Historia Norvegiae 3 Fragmentary Annals of Ireland 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patrâaic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

[edit] Notes ^ Crawford, pp. 52–53. ^ Anderson, pp. 332–334; Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 22. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 24. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29–30. ^ Anderson, pp. 330–331. ^ Crawford, pp. 53–54. ^ Anderson, p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865. ^ Crawford, p. 55–56. ^ Anderson, pp. 395–396.

[edit] References Anderson, Alan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8 Crawford, Barbara. Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester, 1987. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0 Ó Corrain, Donnchad. "The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century", Peritia, vol 12, pp296–339. (etext (pdf) Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. Radner, Joan N. "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form", Celtica, volume 23, pp. 312–325. (etext (pdf)) Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1998. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7 Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992. ISBN 0-292-73061-6

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Innhold [skjul] 1 Ragnvalds µtt 2 Den rêadsnare 3 Orkn²yene 4 Innebrent

[rediger] Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

[rediger] Den rêadsnare If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

[rediger] Orkn²yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

[rediger] Innebrent Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Forgjenger:

- Jarl av M²re
(865–892) Etterf²lger:

Tore Teiande
Hentet fra «http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl»

Rognvald Eysteinsson "the Wise" Earl of More (830-) [Pedigree]

Son of Eystein Glumra Ivarsson Jarl of Hedemarken (810-) and Aseda Rognvaldsdottir (812-)

REF RFC. A Norwegian viking. Jarl of More b. ABT 830, Maer, Norway b. Abt 0857 r. Upland, Denmark d. 890, Orkney, Orkney Islands, Scotland d. ABT 890, Maer, Norway
Married first Rognhild (Hildir) Hrolfsdotter (848-892)

Children:

1. Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy (-927) m(1) Poppa de_Valois Duchess of Norway (872-)
Married second Ermina

Children:

1. Hrollager Rognvaldsson (874-)
Sources:

1. "Royalty for Commoners",

Roderick W. Stuart, 1992, 2nd edition. This book lists all of the known ancestors of John of Gaunt, which amounts to most of the Medieval royalty of Europe. Also see the following article: "A Mediaeval Miscellany: Commentaries on Roderick W. Stuart's Royalty for Commoners," The American Genealogist 69 (April 1994)
2. "Europaische Stammtafeln",

Isenburg.
3. "Plantagenet Ancestry",

Turton.
Ragnvald I Eysteinsson , 1st Earl of Orkne

B: abt 0825 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway S: Rognvald Mere-Earl and Ragnvald "the wise" S: abt 0872 as Jarl of More and 1st Earl of Orkney D: 0894 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland M: abt 0852

http://www.geneajourney.com/nrmndy.html
Eystein Glumra, Jarl of the Upplands, b abt 803, of Norway. The identity of his wife is not known. Known children of Eystein Glumra were: • Ragnvald I, the Wise, Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832. • Swanhild b abt 846, of Norway. She md Harald I, "Fairhair, 1st King of Norway, abt 866, son of Halfdan, "the Black, King of Vestfold, and Ragnhild. Ragnvald I, "the Wise", Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832, Norway, d 890. He md Hiltrude abt 850, daughter of Hrolf Nefia. She was b abt 834. Child of Ragnvald the Wise and Hiltrude was: Rollo/Robert I of Normandy [a], 1st Duke of Normandy, aka Ganger Rolf, b abt 855, Norway, d abt 927-931, prob Normandy, France. He md Poppa of Bayeux abt 886, daughter of Berenger,Count of Bayeux. She was b abt 876.

Ragnvald var jarl i Mèore, Norge, och èar nog inte lika omtalad som flera av sina sèoner. En son èar sannolikt 'Gêange-Rolf', som blev stamfader fèor hertigar och kungar i Normandie, Frankrike, och det engelska kungahuset samt den som skapade hertigdèomet Normandie. En annan son 'Torv-Einar' blev jarl pêa Orkneyèoarna liksom hans broder Hallad. Ragnvald var gift med med Ragnhild Rolfsdotter, men hade ocksêa barn med frillan Groa. Ragnvalds syster Svanhild blev gift med Harald 'Hêarfager'. Ragnvald (Mèorejarl) blev mèordad (innebrèand) av Harald 'Hêarfagers' sèoner Halvdan 'Hêalegg' og Gudrèod 'Ljome'. Jarl, dèod ca 890. Ragnvald var jarl pêa Mèore. Hans far skall ha varit èOystein 'Glumra'. Han levde pêa Harald Hêarfagers tid, och blev av honom fèorlèanad med Nordmèore, Romsdal og Sundmèore êar 865. Han var av sina samtida hèogt ansedd fèor sin klokskap och blev kallad 'den mèaktige'. Det var han som klippte Haralds hêar, som dêa icke varit klippt pêa 10 êar.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kèallor

1) Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, Hull, England
Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.

Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Viºar Sigurºsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare

If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene

Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent

Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl

ROGNVALD I ~
Rognvald , The Wise, Jarl (Earl) of More, Norway, the first Jarl of Orkney and a near relative of King Harold Fairhair.

The house of Rognvald was one of the oldest lines of rulers in Norway.

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway, and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.

Ragnvald ¢ysteinsson M²rejarl (norr²nt Rèognvaldr Mœrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pêa nordvestlandet i Norge pêa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omrêadet som i dag heter M²re og Romsdal.
Ragnvald var s²nn av ¢ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ¢ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn²yingenes saga gêar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s²nn var far til Sveide sj²konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ¢ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den rêadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hêarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M²rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h²yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s²nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles²nner ogsêa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef²dte br²drene deres var barn ennêa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sêa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

Ragnvald var sêaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld²mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Viºar Sigurºsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s²nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

Den rêadsnare

If²lge Snorre satte Harald Hêarfagre Ragnvald til êa vµre jarl over Nordm²re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm²re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bêade stormenn og b²nder, likesêa skip nok til êa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsêa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den rêadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hêar da han etter ti êar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F²r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hêaret var skêaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hêarfagre».

Orkn²yene

Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s²nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sêa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke êa ligne pêa forfedrene sine. Den andre s²nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn²yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st²rre hêap om at dine frender fêar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbêarne».

Ragnvald utstyrte s²nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pêa Orkn²yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pêa Orkn²yene og en mektig mann, en²yd og stygg êa se pêa.

Innebrent

Da Harald Hêarfagre tok til êa eldes ble s²nnene hans Halvdan Hêalegg og Gudr²d Ljome stadig mer misforn²yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da êa ikke vente mer pêa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M²rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

Da kongen h²rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr²d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sêa Tore Teiande, s²nn av Ragnvald M²rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren êAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «êArbot». Halvdan Hêalegg dro derimot over til Orkn²yene, kom uventet pêa Torv-Einar som mêatte flykte, men samme h²st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

Also known as Count Regnvald ("the Rich") and as "The Wise", Earl of North and South More, of Raumsdale in Norway.{"Royal Ancestors of Magna Charta Barons," Carr P. Collins, Jr., Dallas, 1959, p.201-02, states that he died about 894. (Rogenwald = Regnvald = Rognald)}

Earl of More/Moer in Norway and Jarl of Orkney and Shetland. He had his name Gallicized to Reginald. He supported King Harold Fairhair in an attempt to unify Norway. Norr: Jarl Rognwald (Rogvald, Raonwald, Regvald, Rouis), created Earl of Moer in 885. Roll: Rognwald, Earl of Maere. Norr: Jarl Rogwald (Raowald, Regvald, Rouis), Earl of Moer 885. Married Hilder. Beyond Rognvald, things get pretty confused. Norr has about 25 generations going back to Oden. RC doesn't agree. But some RC names coming down from RC's Odin agree in the upper portion. But the dates are some 250 years different. RC and Kraentzler agree in taking Rognvald back three more generations. Russell goes way back to Olaf the Sharp-eyed, King of Rerik.

Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

[edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M²re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hêalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

[edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

[edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had been influential in later writings on Iceland.

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Earl of More

Born: abt 830 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway Died: 890 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland
Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl1,2,3 b. circa 830, d. 894 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl|b. c 830\nd. 894|p314.htm#i5205|Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 800|p6.htm#i8264|Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir||p67.htm#i8832|Ivarr O., Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 760\nd. a 800|p305.htm#i8265|N. N. of Throndheim|b. c 780|p67.htm#i8831|Rèognvaldr H. H. Ó., King of Vestfold||p278.htm#i9457|Thâora Sigurdsdâottir||p111.htm#i13338| Father Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders4,5 b. circa 800 Mother Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir

Also called Jarl Ragnald I of Orkney.6 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl was King Harald Fairhair's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him.4 Also called Jarl Rognvaldr of M²re.7 He was per late Icelandic sources, for which there is no good reason to believe that these generations are historical, a son of Eysteinn Glumra, son of Ívarr, son of Hâalfdan the Old.7 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl also went by the name of Ragnvald "the Wise".4,5 He associated with unknown , a concubine.8 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl was born circa 830 at Maer, Norway. He was the son of Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Aseda Rèognvaldsdâottir.4,5 Rèognvaldr Eysteinsson, M²rejarl became one of H

Earl Rognvald joined Harold fair-hair when he seized the land, but he (Harold) gave him lordship over both the Mµren and Romsdale; (7) he had to wife Ragnhilda the daughter of Hrolf nosy; their son was Hrolf who won Normandy, he was so tall that horses could not carry him; for that he was called Ganging-Hrolf; from him are come the Rouen Jarls and the English Kings; their son was also Ivar, and Thorir the silent.

Rognvald had also base-born sons, their names were Hallad and Hrollaug and Einar, he was the youngest.

end of this commentary

Ragnvald married Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, Countess of MarVestfold, Norway. Ragnhild was born in 848 in Vestfold, Norway; died in 892 in Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir
Born 848 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Sex Woman
Baptism ca. 848
Age: About 0
Employment Countess of More, Countess of Maer, Condesa de More, Countess., Comtesse de Moer, COUNTESS OF MORE
Death 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Buried ca. 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Person ID I2578 My Family Genealogy | The Ravnholdt & Hansen family
Last modified Aug 1 2018

Family Ragnvald Eysteinsson, of M²re , b. 825, Vestfold county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 892, Giske, M²re and Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years)
Married ca. 845 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
Children
1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson Mœrajarl, Orkneyjarl , b. 850, Sunnm²re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 894, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years)
2. Ivar Ragnvaldsson M²rejarl , b. 850, Sunnm²re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 872, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 22 years)
3. Einarr Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl , b. 852, M²re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 910, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 58 years)
4. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Mœrajarls , b. 859, Giske, M²re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 896, Eyjafjèorºur, Iceland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 37 years)
+ 5. Rollo Ragnvaldsson , f. Ml. 860 and 866, d. Ca. 931, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 71 years)
+ 6. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldsson Rèognvaldsson , f. Ca. 862, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. Ca. 939, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 77 years)
7. Gutum Ragnvaldson , d. 875

end of this profile

Notes:

Berengar II (died 896) was the Count of Bayeux and Rennes and Margrave of the Breton March from 886 until his death a decade later.

In 874, Brittany's internal politics were thrown into turmoil when King Salomon was murdered by a rival. The resulting surge of Viking attacks made possible by the power vacuum was narrowly held at bay by a hasty Breton-Frankish alliance between Alan the Great of Vannes and Berengar of Rennes. Between 889-90, the Seine Vikings moved into Brittany, hard on the heels of the Loire fleet that Alan and Berengar had successfully driven out (this latter force had broken up into several small flotillas and sailed west). Alain again joined forces with Berengar of Rennes and led two Breton armies into the field. Finding their retreat down the Marne blocked, the Vikings hauled their ships overland to the Vire and besieged Saint-Lo, where the Bretons virtually annihilated the fleet.

Berengar's kin became the first Gallo-speaking lords holding residence within Brittany (Rennes and Penthiáevre, rather than the Loire Valley-predominant Nantes or Vannes), as a consequence of the Breton nobility being more or less broken under the Norman invasions of the 880s and as a reward for holding his ground against their attacks.

Berengar is speculated to have married the daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany, by which relationship he attained the countship of Rennes. This would make him brother-in-law of Judicael, Duke of Brittany. He is thought to be the Berengar of Bayeux whose daughter Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy. Various reconstructions make him father, grandfather, or great-grandfather of Judicael Berengar, later Count of Rennes.

References

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Sources

Price, Neil (1989). The Vikings in Brittany (PDF). Retrieved July 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
Arthur de la Borderie (1898). Histoire de Bretagne. p. 334.
Musset, Lucien (1965). Les invasions: le second assaut contre I'Europe Chrâetienne.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 890.

end of biography

Berengar married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Guthrum or Guºrum (died c. 890), christened ¥thelstan on his conversion to Christianity in 878, was King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw. He is mainly known for his conflict with Alfred the Great.

Guthrum, founder of the Danelaw

It is not known how Guthrum consolidated his rule as king over the other Danish chieftains of the Danelaw (Danish-ruled territory of England), but by 874 he was able to wage a war against Wessex and its King, Alfred.

In 875, the Danish forces, then under Guthrum and Halfdan Ragnarsson, divided, Halfdan's contingent returning north to Northumbria, while Guthrum's forces went to East Anglia, quartering themselves at Cambridge for the year.

By 876, Guthrum had acquired various parts of the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and then turned his attention to acquiring Wessex, where his first confrontation with Alfred took place on the south coast. Guthrum sailed his army around Poole Harbour and linked up with another Viking army that was invading the area between the Frome and Piddle rivers which was ruled by Alfred.[1] According to the historian Asser, Guthrum won his initial battle with Alfred, and he captured the castellum as well as the ancient square earthworks known as the Wareham, where there was a convent of nuns.

Alfred successfully brokered a peace settlement, but by 877 this peace was broken as Guthrum led his army raiding further into Wessex, thus forcing Alfred to confront him in a series of skirmishes that Guthrum continued to win. At Exeter, which Guthrum had also captured, Alfred made a peace treaty, with the result that Guthrum left Wessex to winter in Gloucester.

Surprise attack

Silver penny of ¥thelstan
On Epiphany, 6 January 878, Guthrum made a surprise night-time attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham, Wiltshire. It being a Christian feast day the Saxons were presumably taken by surprise—indeed it is possible that Wulfhere, the Ealdorman of Wiltshire, allowed the attack either through negligence or intent, for on Alfred's return to power later in 878 Wulfhere was stripped of his role as Ealdorman.

Alfred fled the attack with a few retainers and took shelter in the marshes of Somerset, staying in the small village of Athelney. Over the next few months he built up his force and waged a guerrilla war against Guthrum from his fastness in the fens. After a few months Alfred called his loyal men to Egbert's Stone, and from there they travelled to Edington to fight the invaders.

Defeat by Alfred

Guthrum's hopes of conquering all of Wessex came to an end with his defeat at the hands of Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. At Edington, Guthrum’s entire army was routed by Alfred's and fled to their encampment where they were besieged by Alfred's fyrd for two weeks. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Guthrum’s army was able to negotiate a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Wedmore.[2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the event:

“Then the raiding army granted him (Alfred) hostages and great oaths that they would leave his kingdom and also promised him that their king (Guthrum) would receive baptism; and they fulfilled it. And three weeks later the king Guthrum came to him, one of thirty of the most honourable men who were in the raiding army, at Aller - and that is near Athelney - and the king received him at baptism; and his chrism loosing was at Wedmore.” [2]
Conversion to Christianity and peace
Under the Treaty of Wedmore the borders dividing the lands of Alfred and Guthrum were established,[3] and perhaps more importantly, Guthrum converted to Christianity and took on the Christian name ¥thelstan with Alfred as his godfather.

Guthrum upheld his end of the treaty and left the boundary that separated the Danelaw from English England unmolested. Guthrum, although failing to conquer Wessex, turned towards the lands to the east that the treaty had allotted under his control. Guthrum withdrew his army from the western borders facing Alfred's territory and moved eastward before eventually settling in the Kingdom of Guthrum in East Anglia in 879. He lived out the remainder of his life there until his death in 890. According to the Annals of St Neots, a chronicle compiled in Bury St Edmunds, Guthrum was buried at Headleage, which is usually identified as Hadleigh, Suffolk.[4]

Popular culture

Guthrum appears in several works of fiction, including:

G. K. Chesterton's poem The Ballad of the White Horse.
C. Walter Hodges' juvenile historical novels The Namesake and The Marsh King.
Bernard Cornwell's first three novels of The Saxon Stories series The Last Kingdom, and The Pale Horseman, and The Lords of the North.
On screen, he was portrayed by Brian Blessed in episode 4 ("King Alfred") of Churchill's People, by Michael York in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, and Thomas W. Gabrielsson in The Last Kingdom.

References
Collingwood, M. A. and Powell, F. Y. Scandinavian Britain (New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1908), p. 94.
Anglo Saxon Chronicle Trans. by M. J. Swanton (New York, Routledge: 1996).
Davis, R. H. C. From Alfred the Great to Stephen (London, The Hambledon Press: 1991) p. 48.
Dumville, David; Lapidge, Michael (1985). The Annals of St Neots with Vita Prima Sancti Neoti, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: a Collaborative Edition. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-85991-117-7.

end of biography

Aethelstan married unnamed spouse. unnamed was born in ~0842 in (Wantage, Berkshire, England). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Herbert II Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, was born 884 to Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907) and died 23 February 943 of unspecified causes. Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Herbert II de Vermandois and Hildebranda of France (895-931)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Adele de Vermandois (910-960) 910 960 Arnulf I of Flanders (c890-965)

Eudes d'Amiens (910-aft946) 910 946
Robert de Vermandois (918-968) 920 968 Seine-et-Marne, France Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)

Hugues de Reims (920-962) 920 962
Liutgarde de Vermandois (c920-978) 920 9 February 978 William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (893-942)
Thibaut I de Blois (913-975)

Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) 913 982 Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)

Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) 915 Saint-Quentin 8 September 987 Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978)
Siblings
Siblings

Offspring of Herbert I de Vermandois and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Bâeatrice of Vermandois (c880-931) 880 Paris, France 26 March 931 Soissons, France Robert I of France (866-923)

Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) 884 23 February 943 Hildebranda of France (895-931)

Cunigunde of Vermandois (-943) 943 Udo I von der Wetterau (c900-949)

Adele of Vermandois (?-?) Gebhard von Ufgau (?-c947)

Berengar of Bayeaux (?-?) Daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany

Herbert married Hildebranda of France(France). Hildebranda was born in 895 in (France); died in 931 in (France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hildebranda of France was born 895 to Robert I of France (866-923) and Aelis and died 931 of unspecified causes. Ancestors are from Germany, France.

Children

Offspring of Hildebranda Capet and Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943)

Name Birth Death Joined with

Adele de Vermandois (910-960) 910 960 Arnulf I of Flanders (c890-965)

Eudes d'Amiens (910-aft946) 910 946
Robert de Vermandois (918-968) 920 968 Seine-et-Marne, France Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)

Hugues de Reims (920-962) 920 962
Liutgarde de Vermandois (c920-978) 920 9 February 978 William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (893-942)
Thibaut I de Blois (913-975)

Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) 913 982 Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)

Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) 915 Saint-Quentin 8 September 987 Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978)

Notes:

¥thelwulf (Old English for "Noble Wolf";[2] died 13 January 858) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.[a] In 825, his father, King Egbert, defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending a long Mercian dominance over Anglo-Saxon England south of the Humber. Egbert sent ¥thelwulf with an army to Kent, where he expelled the Mercian sub-king and was himself appointed sub-king. After 830, Egbert maintained good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by ¥thelwulf when he became king in 839, the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.

The Vikings were not a major threat to Wessex during ¥thelwulf's reign. In 843, he was defeated in a battle against the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset, but he achieved a major victory at the Battle of Aclea in 851. In 853 he joined a successful Mercian expedition to Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony, and in the same year his daughter ¥thelswith married King Burgred of Mercia. In 855 ¥thelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. In preparation he gave a "decimation", donating a tenth of his personal property to his subjects; he appointed his eldest surviving son ¥thelbald to act as King of Wessex in his absence, and his next son ¥thelberht to rule Kent and the south-east. ¥thelwulf spent a year in Rome, and on his way back he married Judith, the daughter of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald.

When ¥thelwulf returned to England, ¥thelbald refused to surrender the West Saxon throne, and ¥thelwulf agreed to divide the kingdom, taking the east and leaving the west in ¥thelbald's hands. On ¥thelwulf's death in 858 he left Wessex to ¥thelbald and Kent to ¥thelberht, but ¥thelbald's death only two years later led to the reunification of the kingdom.

In the 20th century ¥thelwulf's reputation among historians was poor: he was seen as excessively pious and impractical, and his pilgrimage was viewed as a desertion of his duties. Historians in the 21st century see him very differently, as a king who consolidated and extended the power of his dynasty, commanded respect on the continent, and dealt more effectively than most of his contemporaries with Viking attacks. He is regarded as one of the most successful West Saxon kings, who laid the foundations for the success of his son, Alfred the Great.

King of Wessex
Reign 839–858
Predecessor Egbert
Successor ¥thelbald
Died 13 January 858
Burial Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral[1]
Spouse Osburh
Judith
Issue ¥thelstan, King of Kent
¥thelswith, Queen of Mercia
¥thelbald, King of Wessex
¥thelberht, King of Wessex
¥thelred, King of Wessex
Alfred, King of Wessex
House House of Wessex
Father Egbert

Background

Southern British Isles 9th century
Southern Britain in the middle of the ninth century
At the beginning of the 9th century, England was almost completely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, with Mercia and Wessex the most important southern kingdoms. Mercia was dominant until the 820s, and it exercised overlordship over East Anglia and Kent, but Wessex was able to maintain its independence from its more powerful neighbour. Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the dominant figure of the second half of the 8th century. King Beorhtric of Wessex (786–802), married Offa's daughter in 789. Beorhtric and Offa drove ¥thelwulf's father Egbert into exile, and he spent several years at the court of Charlemagne in Francia. Egbert was the son of Ealhmund, who had briefly been King of Kent in 784. Following Offa's death, King Coenwulf of Mercia (796–821) maintained Mercian dominance, but it is uncertain whether Beorhtric ever accepted political subordination, and when he died in 802 Egbert became king, perhaps with the support of Charlemagne.[5] For two hundred years three kindreds had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Egbert's best claim was that he was the great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King Ine (688–726), and in 802 it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty.[6]

Almost nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, apart from campaigns against the Cornish in the 810s.[7] The historian Richard Abels argues that the silence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably intentional, concealing Egbert's purge of Beorhtric's magnates and suppression of rival royal lines.[8] Relations between Mercian kings and their Kentish subjects were distant. Kentish ealdormen did not attend the court of King Coenwulf, who quarrelled with Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury (805–832) over the control of Kentish monasteries; Coenwulf's primary concern seems to have been to gain access to the wealth of Kent. His successors Ceolwulf I (821–23) and Beornwulf (823–26) restored relations with Archbishop Wulfred, and Beornwulf appointed a sub-king of Kent, Baldred.[9]

England had suffered Viking raids in the late 8th century, but no attacks are recorded between 794 and 835, when the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was ravaged.[10] In 836 Egbert was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset,[7] but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[11]

Family

¥thelwulf was the son of Egbert, King of Wessex from 802 to 839. His mother's name is unknown, and he had no recorded siblings. He is known to have had two wives in succession, and so far as is known, Osburh, the senior of the two, was the mother of all his children. She was the daughter of Oslac, described by Asser, biographer of their son Alfred the Great, as "King ¥thelwulf's famous butler",[b] a man who was descended from Jutes who had ruled the Isle of Wight.[13][14] ¥thelwulf had six known children. His eldest son, ¥thelstan, was old enough to be appointed King of Kent in 839, so he must have been born by the early 820s, and he died in the early 850s.[c] The second son, ¥thelbald, is first recorded as a charter witness in 841, and if, like Alfred, he began to attest when he was around six, he would have been born around 835; he was King of Wessex from 858 to 860. ¥thelwulf's third son, ¥thelberht, was probably born around 839 and was king from 860 to 865. The only daughter, ¥thelswith, married Burgred, King of Mercia, in 853.[16] The other two sons were much younger: ¥thelred was born around 848 and was king from 865 to 871, and Alfred was born around 849 and was king from 871 to 899.[17] In 856 ¥thelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermentrude. Osburh had probably died, although it is possible that she had been repudiated.[d] There were no children from ¥thelwulf's marriage to Judith, and after his death she married his eldest surviving son and successor, ¥thelbald.[13]

Early life

¥thelwulf was first recorded in 825, when Egbert won the crucial Battle of Ellandun against King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending the long Mercian ascendancy over southern England. Egbert followed it up by sending ¥thelwulf with Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Wulfheard, Ealdorman of Hampshire, with a large army into Kent to expel sub-king Baldred.[e] ¥thelwulf was descended from kings of Kent, and he was sub-king of Kent, and of Surrey, Sussex and Essex, which were then included in the sub-kingdom, until he inherited the throne of Wessex in 839.[22] His sub-kingship is recorded in charters, in some of which King Egbert acted with his son's permission,[13] such as a grant in 838 to Bishop Beornmod of Rochester, and ¥thelwulf himself issued a charter as King of Kent in the same year.[23] Unlike their Mercian predecessors, who alienated the Kentish people by ruling from a distance, ¥thelwulf and his father successfully cultivated local support by governing through Kentish ealdormen and promoting their interests.[24] In Abels' view, Egbert and ¥thelwulf rewarded their friends and purged Mercian supporters.[25][f] Historians take differing views on the attitude of the new regime to the Kentish church. At Canterbury in 828 Egbert granted privileges to the bishopric of Rochester, and according to the historian of Anglo-Saxon England Simon Keynes, Egbert and ¥thelwulf took steps to secure the support of Archbishop Wulfred.[27] However, the medievalist Nicholas Brooks argues that Wulfred's Mercian origin and connections proved a liability. ¥thelwulf seized an estate in East Malling from the Canterbury church on the ground that it had only been granted by Baldred when he was in flight from the West Saxon forces; the issue of archiepiscopal coinage was suspended for several years; and the only estate Wulfred was granted after 825 he received from King Wiglaf of Mercia.[28]

In 829 Egbert conquered Mercia, only for Wiglaf to recover his kingdom a year later.[29] The scholar D. P. Kirby sees Wiglaf's restoration in 830 as a dramatic reversal for Egbert, which was probably followed by his loss of control of the London mint and the Mercian recovery of Essex and Berkshire,[30] and the historian Heather Edwards states that his "immense conquest could not be maintained".[7] However, in the view of Keynes:

It is interesting ... that both Egbert and his son ¥thelwulf appear to have respected the separate identity of Kent and its associated provinces, as if there appears to have been no plan at this stage to absorb the southeast into an enlarged kingdom stretching across the whole of southern England. Nor does it seem to have been the intention of Egbert and his successors to maintain supremacy of any kind over the kingdom of Mercia ... It is quite possible that Egbert had relinquished Mercia of his own volition; and there is no suggestion that any residual antagonism affected relations between the rulers of Wessex and Mercia thereafter.[31]

In 838 King Egbert held an assembly at Kingston in Surrey, where ¥thelwulf may have been consecrated as king by the archbishop. Egbert restored the East Malling estate to Wulfred's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, in return for a promise of "firm and unbroken friendship" for himself and ¥thelwulf and their heirs, and the same condition is specified in a grant to the see of Winchester. Egbert thus ensured support for ¥thelwulf, who became the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.[32] At the same meeting Kentish monasteries chose ¥thelwulf as their lord, and he undertook that, after his death, they would have freedom to elect their heads. Wulfred had devoted his archiepiscopate to fighting against secular power over Kentish monasteries, but Ceolnoth now surrendered effective control to ¥thelwulf, whose offer of freedom from control after his death was unlikely to be honoured by his successors. Kentish ecclesiastics and laymen now looked for protection against Viking attacks to West Saxon rather than Mercian royal power. [33]

Egbert's conquests brought him wealth far greater than his predecessors had enjoyed, and enabled him to purchase the support which secured the West Saxon throne for his descendants.[34] The stability brought by the dynastic succession of Egbert and ¥thelwulf led to an expansion of commercial and agrarian resources, and to an expansion of royal income.[35] The wealth of the West Saxon kings was also increased by the agreement in 838–39 with Archbishop Ceolnoth for the previously independent West Saxon minsters to accept the king as their secular lord in return for his protection.[36] However, there was no certainty that the hegemony of Wessex would prove more permanent than that of Mercia.[37]

King of Wessex

13th century depiction of ¥thelwulf
Depiction of ¥thelwulf in the late-13th-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings
When ¥thelwulf succeeded to the throne of Wessex in 839, his experience as sub-king of Kent had given him valuable training in kingship, and he in turn made his own sons sub-kings.[38] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on his accession "he gave to his son ¥thelstan the kingdom of the people of Kent, and the kingdom of the East Saxons [Essex] and of the people of Surrey and of the South Saxons [Sussex]". However, ¥thelwulf did not give ¥thelstan the same power as his father had given him, and although ¥thelstan attested his father's charters[g] as king, he does not appear to have been given the power to issue his own charters. ¥thelwulf exercised authority in the south-east and made regular visits there. He governed Wessex and Kent as separate spheres, and assemblies in each kingdom were only attended by the nobility of that country. The historian Janet Nelson says that "¥thelwulf ran a Carolingian-style family firm of plural realms, held together by his own authority as father-king, and by the consent of distinct âelites." He maintained his father's policy of governing Kent through ealdormen appointed from the local nobility and advancing their interests, but gave less support to the church.[39] In 843 ¥thelwulf granted ten hides at Little Chart to ¥thelmod, the brother of the leading Kentish ealdorman Ealhere, and ¥thelmod succeeded to the post on his brother's death in 853.[40] In 844 ¥thelwulf granted land at Horton in Kent to Ealdorman Eadred, with permission to transfer parts of it to local landowners; in a culture of reciprocity, this created a network of mutual friendships and obligations between the beneficiaries and the king.[41] Archbishops of Canterbury were firmly in the West Saxon king's sphere. His ealdormen enjoyed a high status, and were sometimes placed higher than the king's sons in lists of witnesses to charters.[42] His reign is the first for which there is evidence of royal priests,[43] and Malmesbury Abbey regarded him as an important benefactor, who is said to have been the donor of a shrine for the relics of Saint Aldhelm.[44]

After 830, Egbert had followed a policy of maintaining good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by ¥thelwulf when he became king. London was traditionally a Mercian town, but in the 830s it was under West Saxon control; soon after ¥thelwulf's accession it reverted to Mercian control.[45] King Wiglaf of Mercia died in 839 and his successor, Berhtwulf, revived the Mercian mint in London; the two kingdoms appear to have struck a joint issue in the mid-840s, possibly indicating West Saxon help in reviving Mercian coinage, and showing the friendly relations between the two powers. Berkshire was still Mercian in 844, but by 849 it was part of Wessex, as Alfred was born in that year at the West Saxon royal estate in Wantage, then in Berkshire.[46][h] However, the local Mercian ealdorman, also called ¥thelwulf, retained his position under the West Saxon kings.[48] Berhtwulf died in 852 and cooperation with Wessex continued under Burgred, his successor as King of Mercia, who married ¥thelwulf's daughter ¥thelswith in 853. In the same year ¥thelwulf assisted Burgred in a successful attack on Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony over the Welsh.[49]

In 9th-century Mercia and Kent, royal charters were produced by religious houses, each with its own style, but in Wessex there was a single royal diplomatic tradition, probably by a single agency acting for the king. This may have originated in Egbert's reign, and it becomes clear in the 840s, when ¥thelwulf had a Frankish secretary called Felix.[50] There were strong contacts between the West Saxon and Carolingian courts. The Annals of St Bertin took particular interest in Viking attacks on Britain, and in 852 Lupus, the Abbot of Ferriáeres and a protâegâe of Charles the Bald, wrote to ¥thelwulf congratulating him on his victory over the Vikings and requesting a gift of lead to cover his church roof. Lupus also wrote to his "most beloved friend" Felix, asking him to manage the transport of the lead.[51] Unlike Canterbury and the south-east, Wessex did not see a sharp decline in the standard of Latin in charters in the mid-9th century, and this may have been partly due to Felix and his continental contacts.[52] Lupus thought that Felix had great influence over the King.[13] Charters were mainly issued from royal estates in counties which were the heartland of ancient Wessex, namely Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, with a few in Kent.[53]

An ancient division between east and west Wessex continued to be important in the 9th century; the boundary was Selwood Forest on the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The two bishoprics of Wessex were Selborne in the west and Winchester in the east. ¥thelwulf's family connections seem to have been west of Selwood, but his patronage was concentrated further east, particularly on Winchester, where his father was buried, and where he appointed Swithun to succeed Helmstan as bishop in 852–853. However, he made a grant of land in Somerset to his leading ealdorman, Eanwulf, and on 26 December 846 he granted a large estate to himself in South Hams in west Devon. He thus changed it from royal demesne, which he was obliged to pass on to his successor as king, to bookland, which could be transferred as the owner pleased, so he could make land grants to followers to improve security in a frontier zone.[54]

Viking threat

Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 ¥thelwulf was defeated by the companies of 35 Danish ships at Carhampton in Somerset. In 850 sub-king ¥thelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere of Kent won a naval victory over a large Viking fleet off Sandwich in Kent, capturing nine ships and driving off the rest. ¥thelwulf granted Ealhhere a large estate in Kent, but ¥thelstan is not heard of again, and probably died soon afterwards. The following year the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records five different attacks on southern England. A Danish fleet of 350 Viking ships took London and Canterbury, and when King Berhtwulf of Mercia went to their relief he was defeated. The Vikings then moved on to Surrey, where they were defeated by ¥thelwulf and his son ¥thelbald at the Battle of Aclea. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the West Saxon levies "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen that we have heard tell of up to the present day". The Chronicle frequently reported victories during ¥thelwulf's reign won by levies led by ealdormen, unlike the 870s when royal command was emphasised, reflecting a more consensual style of leadership in the earlier period.[55]

In 850 a Danish army wintered on Thanet, and in 853 ealdormen Ealhhere of Kent and Huda of Surrey were killed in a battle against the Vikings, also on Thanet. In 855 Danish Vikings stayed over the winter on Sheppey, before carrying on their pillaging of eastern England.[56] However, during ¥thelwulf's reign Viking attacks were contained and did not present a major threat.[57]

Coinage

Coin of King ¥thelwulf
Coin of King ¥thelwulf: "E£ELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury[58]
The silver penny was almost the only coin used in middle and later Anglo-Saxon England. ¥thelwulf's coinage came from a main mint in Canterbury and a secondary one at Rochester; both had been used by Egbert for his own coinage after he gained control of Kent. During ¥thelwulf's reign, there were four main phases of the coinage distinguishable at both mints, though they are not exactly parallel and it is uncertain when the transitions took place. The first issue at Canterbury carried a design known as Saxoniorum, which had been used by Egbert for one of his own issues. This was replaced by a portrait design in about 843, which can be subdivided further; the earliest coins have cruder designs than the later ones. At the Rochester mint the sequence was reversed, with an initial portrait design replaced, also in about 843, by a non-portrait design carrying a cross-and-wedges pattern on the obverse.[13][59]

In about 848 both mints switched to a common design known as Dor¯b¯/Cant – the characters "Dor¯b¯" on the obverse of these coins indicate either Dorobernia (Canterbury) or Dorobrevia (Rochester), and "Cant", referring to Kent, appeared on the reverse. It is possible that the Canterbury mint continued to produce portrait coins at the same time. The Canterbury issue seems to have been ended in 850–851 by Viking raids, though it is possible that Rochester was spared, and the issue may have continued there. The final issue, again at both mints, was introduced in about 852; it has an inscribed cross on the reverse and a portrait on the obverse. ¥thelwulf's coinage became debased by the end of his reign, and though the problem became worse after his death it is possible that the debasement prompted the changes in coin type from as early as 850.[60]

¥thelwulf's first Rochester coinage may have begun when he was still sub-king of Kent, under Egbert. A hoard of coins deposited at the beginning of ¥thelwulf's reign in about 840, found in the Middle Temple in London, contained 22 coins from Rochester and two from Canterbury of the first issue of each mint. Some numismatists argue that the high proportion of Rochester coins means that the issue must have commenced before Egbert's death, but an alternative explanation is that whoever hoarded the coins simply happened to have access to more Rochester coins. No coins were issued by ¥thelwulf's sons during his reign.[61]

Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury throughout ¥thelwulf's reign, also minted coins of his own at Canterbury: there were three different portrait designs, thought to be contemporary with each of the first three of ¥thelwulf's Canterbury issues. These were followed by an inscribed cross design that was uniform with ¥thelwulf's final coinage. At Rochester, Bishop Beornmod produced only one issue, a cross-and-wedges design which was contemporary with ¥thelwulf's Saxoniorum issue.[62]

In the view of the numismatists Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn, the mints of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia were not greatly affected by changes in political control: "the remarkable continuity of moneyers which can be seen at each of these mints suggests that the actual mint organisation was largely independent of the royal administration and was founded in the stable trading communities of each city".[63]

Decimation Charters
Charter of King ¥thelwulf
Charter S 316 dated 855, in which ¥thelwulf granted land at Ulaham in Kent to his minister Ealdhere.[64]
The early 20th-century historian W. H. Stevenson observed that: "Few things in our early history have led to so much discussion" as ¥thelwulf's Decimation Charters;[65] a hundred years later the charter expert Susan Kelly described them as "one of the most controversial groups of Anglo-Saxon diplomas".[66] Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that ¥thelwulf gave a decimation,[i] in 855, shortly before leaving on pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Chronicle "King ¥thelwulf conveyed by charter the tenth part of his land throughout all his kingdom to the praise of God and to his own eternal salvation". However, Asser states that "¥thelwulf, the esteemed king, freed the tenth part of his whole kingdom from royal service and tribute, and as an everlasting inheritance he made it over on the cross of Christ to the triune God, for the redemption of his soul and those of his predecessors."[68] According to Keynes, Asser's version may just be a "loose translation" of the Chronicle, and his implication that ¥thelwulf released a tenth of all land from secular burdens was probably not intended. All land could be regarded as the king's land, so the Chronicle reference to "his land" does not necessarily refer to royal property, and since the booking of land – conveying it by charter – was always regarded as a pious act, Asser's statement that he made it over to God does not necessarily mean that the charters were in favour of the church.[69]

The Decimation Charters are divided by Susan Kelly into four groups:

Two dated at Winchester on 5 November 844. In a charter in the Malmesbury archive, ¥thelwulf refers in the proem to the perilous state of his kingdom as the result of the assaults of pagans and barbarians. For the sake of his soul and in return for masses for the king and ealdormen each Wednesday, "I have decided to give in perpetual liberty some portion of hereditary lands to all those ranks previously in possession, both to God's servants and handmaidens serving God and to laymen, always the tenth hide, and where it is less, then the tenth part."[j]
Six dated at Wilton on Easter Day, 22 April 854. In the common text of these charters, ¥thelwulf states that "for the sake of his soul and the prosperity of the kingdom and [the salvation of] the people assigned to him by God, he has acted upon the advice given to him by his bishops, comites, and all his nobles. He has granted the tenth part of the lands throughout his kingdom, not only to the churches, but also to his thegns. The land is granted in perpetual liberty, so that it will remain free of royal services and all secular burdens. In return there will be liturgical commemoration of the king and of his bishops and ealdormen."[k]
Five from Old Minster, Winchester, connected with the Wilton meeting but generally considered spurious.[l]
One from Kent dated 855, the only one to have the same date as the decimation according to Chronicle and Asser. The king grants to his thegn Dunn property in Rochester "on account of the decimation of lands which by God's gift I have decided to do". Dunn left the land to his wife with reversion to Rochester Cathedral.[m][72]
None of the charters are original, and Stevenson dismissed all of them as fraudulent apart from the Kentish one of 855. Stevenson saw the decimation as a donation of royal demesne to churches and laymen, with those grants which were made to laymen being on the understanding that there would be reversion to a religious institution.[73] Up to the 1990s, his view on the authenticity of the charters was generally accepted by scholars, with the exception of the historian H. P. R. Finberg, who argued in 1964 that most are based on authentic diplomas. Finberg coined the terms the 'First Decimation' of 844, which he saw as the removal of public dues on a tenth of all bookland, and the 'Second Decimation' of 854, the donation of a tenth of "the private domain of the royal house" to the churches. He considered it unlikely that the First Decimation had been carried into effect, probably due to the threat from the Vikings. Finberg's terminology has been adopted, but his defence of the First Decimation generally rejected. In 1994 Keynes defended the Wilton charters in group 2, and his arguments have been widely accepted.[74]

Historians have been divided on how to interpret the Second Decimation, and in 1994 Keynes described it as "one of the most perplexing problems" in the study of 9th-century charters. He set out three alternatives:

It conveyed a tenth of the royal demesne – the lands of the crown as opposed to the personal property of the sovereign – into the hands of churches, ecclesiastics and laymen. In Anglo-Saxon England property was either folkland or bookland. The transmission of folkland was governed by the customary rights of kinsmen, subject to the king's approval, whereas bookland was established by the grant of a royal charter, and could be disposed of freely by the owner. Booking land thus converted it by charter from folkland to bookland. The royal demesne was the crown's folkland, whereas the king's bookland was his own personal property which he could leave by will as he chose. In the decimation ¥thelwulf may have conveyed royal folkland by charter to become bookland, in some cases to laymen who already leased the land.[75]
It was the booking of a tenth of folkland to its owners, who would then be free to convey it to a church.[76]
It was a reduction of one tenth in the secular burdens on lands already in the possession of landowners.[76] The secular burdens would have included the provision of supplies for the king and his officials, and payment of various taxes.[77]
Some scholars, for example Frank Stenton, author of the standard history of Anglo-Saxon England, along with Keynes and Abels, see the Second Decimation as a donation of royal demesne. In Abels' view ¥thelwulf sought loyalty from the aristocracy and church during the king's forthcoming absence from Wessex, and displayed a sense of dynastic insecurity also evident in his father's generosity towards the Kentish church in 838, and in an "avid attention" in this period to compiling and revising royal genealogies.[78] Keynes suggests that "¥thelwulf's purpose was presumably to earn divine assistance in his struggles against the Vikings",[79] and the mid-20th-century historian Eric John observes that "a lifetime of medieval studies teaches one that an early medieval king was never so political as when he was on his knees".[80] The view that the decimation was a donation of the king's own personal estate is supported by the Anglo-Saxonist Alfred Smyth, who argues that these were the only lands the king was entitled to alienate by book.[81][n] The historian Martin Ryan prefers the view that ¥thelwulf freed a tenth part of land owned by laymen from secular obligations, who could now endow churches under their own patronage. Ryan sees it as part of a campaign of religious devotion.[84] According to the historian David Pratt, it "is best interpreted as a strategic 'tax cut', designed to encourage cooperation in defensive measures through a partial remission of royal dues".[85] Nelson states that the decimation took place in two phases, in Wessex in 854 and Kent in 855, reflecting that they remained separate kingdoms.[86]

Kelly argues that most charters were based on genuine originals, including the First Decimation of 844. She says: "Commentators have been unkind [and] the 844 version has not been given the benefit of the doubt". In her view ¥thelwulf then gave a 10% tax reduction on bookland, and ten years later he took the more generous step of "a widespread distribution of royal lands". Unlike Finberg, she believes that both decimations were carried out, although the second one may not have been completed due to opposition from ¥thelwulf's son ¥thelbald. She thinks that the grants of bookland to laymen in the Second Decimation were unconditional, not with reversion to religious houses as Stevenson had argued.[87] However, Keynes is not convinced by Kelly's arguments, and thinks that the First Decimation charters were 11th or early 12th century fabrications.[88]

Pilgrimage to Rome and later life

In the early 850s ¥thelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. According to Abels: "¥thelwulf was at the height of his power and prestige. It was a propitious time for the West Saxon king to claim a place of honour among the kings and emperors of christendom."[89] His eldest surviving sons ¥thelbald and ¥thelberht were then adults, while ¥thelred and Alfred were still young children. In 853 ¥thelwulf sent his younger sons to Rome, perhaps accompanying envoys in connection with his own forthcoming visit. Alfred, and possibly ¥thelred as well, were invested with the "belt of consulship". ¥thelred's part in the journey is only known from a contemporary record in the liber vitae of San Salvatore, Brescia, as later records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were only interested in recording the honour paid to Alfred.[13] Abels sees the embassy as paving the way for ¥thelwulf's pilgrimage, and the presence of Alfred, his youngest and therefore most expendable son, as a gesture of goodwill to the papacy; confirmation by Pope Leo IV made Alfred his spiritual son, and thus created a spiritual link between the two "fathers".[90][o] Kirby argues that the journey may indicate that Alfred was intended for the church,[92] while Nelson on the contrary sees ¥thelwulf's purpose as affirming his younger sons' throneworthiness, thus protecting them against being tonsured by their elder brothers, which would have rendered them ineligible for kingship.[93]

¥thelwulf set out for Rome in the spring of 855, accompanied by Alfred and a large retinue.[94] The King left Wessex in the care of his oldest surviving son, ¥thelbald, and the sub-kingdom of Kent to the rule of ¥thelberht, and thereby confirmed that they were to succeed to the two kingdoms.[25] On the way the party stayed with Charles the Bald in Francia, where there were the usual banquets and exchange of gifts. ¥thelwulf stayed a year in Rome,[95] and his gifts to the Diocese of Rome included a gold crown weighing 4 pounds (1.8 kg), two gold goblets, a sword bound with gold, four silver-gilt bowls, two silk tunics and two gold-interwoven veils. He also gave gold to the clergy and leading men and silver to the people of Rome. According to the historian Joanna Story, his gifts rivalled those of Carolingian donors and the Byzantine emperor and "were clearly chosen to reflect the personal generosity and spiritual wealth of the West Saxon king; here was no Germanic 'hillbilly' from the backwoods of the Christian world but, rather, a sophisticated, wealthy and utterly contemporary monarch".[96] According to the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury, he helped to pay for the restoration of the Saxon quarter, which had recently been destroyed by fire, for English pilgrims.[97]

The pilgrimage puzzles historians and Kelly comments that "it is extraordinary that an early medieval king could consider his position safe enough to abandon his kingdom in a time of extreme crisis". She suggests that ¥thelwulf may have been motivated by a personal religious impulse.[98] Ryan sees it as an attempt to placate the divine wrath displayed by Viking attacks,[84] whereas Nelson thinks he aimed to enhance his prestige in dealing with the demands of his adult sons.[99] In Kirby's view:

¥thelwulf's journey to Rome is of great interest for it did not signify abdication and a retreat from the world as their journeys to Rome had for Cµdwalla and Ine and other Anglo-Saxon kings. It was more a display of the king's international standing and a demonstration of the prestige his dynasty enjoyed in Frankish and papal circles.[100]

On his way back from Rome ¥thelwulf again stayed with King Charles the Bald, and may have joined him on a campaign against a Viking warband.[101] On 1 October 856 ¥thelwulf married Charles's daughter, Judith, aged 12 or 13, at Verberie. The marriage was considered extraordinary by contemporaries and by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims. Although empresses had been anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In addition West Saxon custom, described by Asser as "perverse and detestable", was that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband – she was just the king's wife.[102]

¥thelwulf returned to Wessex to face a revolt by ¥thelbald, who attempted to prevent his father from recovering his throne. Historians give varying explanations for both the rebellion and the marriage. In Nelson's view, ¥thelwulf's marriage to Judith added the West Saxon king to the family of kings and princely allies which Charles was creating.[103] Charles was under attack both from Vikings and from a rising among his own nobility, and ¥thelwulf had great prestige due to his victories over the Vikings; some historians such as Kirby and Pauline Stafford see the marriage as sealing an anti-Viking alliance. The marriage gave ¥thelwulf a share in Carolingian prestige, and Kirby describes the anointing of Judith as "a charismatic sanctification which enhanced her status, blessed her womb and conferred additional throne-worthiness on her male offspring." These marks of a special status implied that a son of hers would succeed to at least part of ¥thelwulf's kingdom, and explain ¥thelbald's decision to rebel.[104] The historian Michael Enright denies that an anti-Viking alliance between two such distant kingdoms could serve any useful purpose, and argues that the marriage was ¥thelwulf's response to news that his son was planning to rebel; his son by an anointed Carolingian queen would be in a strong position to succeed as king of Wessex instead of the rebellious ¥thelbald.[105] Abels suggests that ¥thelwulf sought Judith's hand because he needed her father's money and support to overcome his son's rebellion,[106] but Kirby and Smyth argue that it is extremely unlikely that Charles the Bald would have agreed to marry his daughter to a ruler who was known to be in serious political difficulty.[107] ¥thelbald may also have acted out of resentment at the loss of patrimony he suffered as a result of the decimation.[98]

¥thelbald's rebellion was supported by Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, even though they appear to have been two of the king's most trusted advisers.[108] According to Asser, the plot was concerted "in the western part of Selwood", and western nobles may have backed ¥thelbald because they resented the patronage ¥thelwulf gave to eastern Wessex.[109] Asser also stated that ¥thelwulf agreed to give up the western part of his kingdom in order to avoid a civil war. Some historians such as Keynes and Abels think that his rule was then confined to the south-east,[110] while others such as Kirby think it is more likely that it was Wessex itself which was divided, with ¥thelbald keeping Wessex west of Selwood, ¥thelwulf holding the centre and east, and ¥thelberht keeping the south-east.[111] ¥thelwulf insisted that Judith should sit beside him on the throne until the end of his life, and according to Asser this was "without any disagreement or dissatisfaction on the part of his nobles".[112]

King ¥thelwulf's ring
King ¥thelwulf's ring was found in a cart rut in Laverstock in Wiltshire in about August 1780 by one William Petty, who sold it to a silversmith in Salisbury. The silversmith sold it to the Earl of Radnor, and the earl's son, William, donated it to the British Museum in 1829. The ring, together with a similar ring of ¥thelwulf's daughter ¥thelswith, is one of two key examples of nielloed 9th-century metalwork. They appear to represent the emergence of a "court style" of West Saxon metalwork, characterised by an unusual Christian iconography, such as a pair of peacocks at the Fountain of Life on the ¥thelwulf ring, associated with Christian immortality. The ring is inscribed "¥thelwulf Rex", firmly associating it with the King, and the inscription forms part of the design, so it cannot have been added later. Many of its features are typical of 9th-century metalwork, such as the design of two birds, beaded and speckled borders, and a saltire with arrow-like terminals on the back. It was probably manufactured in Wessex, but was typical of the uniformity of animal ornament in England in the 9th century. In the view of Leslie Webster, an expert on medieval art: "Its fine Trewhiddle style ornament would certainly fit a mid ninth-century date."[113] In Nelson's view, "it was surely made to be a gift from this royal lord to a brawny follower: the sign of a successful ninth-century kingship".[13] The art historian David Wilson sees it as a survival of the pagan tradition of the generous king as the "ring-giver".[114]

¥thelwulf's will

King Alfred's will
A page from King Alfred's will
¥thelwulf's will has not survived, but Alfred's has and it provides some information about his father's intentions. The kingdom was to be divided between the two oldest surviving sons, with ¥thelbald getting Wessex and ¥thelberht Kent and the south-east. The survivor of ¥thelbald, ¥thelred and Alfred was to inherit their father's bookland – his personal property as opposed to the royal lands which went with the kingship – and Abels and Yorke argue that this probably means that the survivor was to inherit the throne of Wessex as well.[115] Other historians disagree. Nelson states that the provision regarding the personal property had nothing to do with the kingship,[13] and Kirby comments: "Such an arrangement would have led to fratricidal strife. With three older brothers, Alfred's chances of reaching adulthood would, one feels, have been minimal."[116] ¥thelwulf's moveable wealth, such as gold and silver, was to be divided between "children, nobles and the needs of the king's soul".[13] For the latter, he left one tenth of his hereditary land to be set aside to feed the poor, and he ordered that three hundred mancuses be sent to Rome each year, one hundred to be spent on lighting the lamps in St Peter's at Easter, one hundred for the lights of St Paul's, and one hundred for the pope.[117]

Death and succession

¥thelwulf died on 13 January 858. According to the Annals of St Neots, he was buried at Steyning in Sussex, but his body was later transferred to Winchester, probably by Alfred.[118] ¥thelwulf was succeeded by ¥thelbald in Wessex and ¥thelberht in Kent and the south-east. The prestige conferred by a Frankish marriage was so great that ¥thelbald then wedded his step-mother Judith, to Asser's retrospective horror; he described the marriage as a "great disgrace", and "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity".[13] When ¥thelbald died only two years later, ¥thelberht became King of Wessex as well as Kent, and ¥thelwulf's intention of dividing his kingdoms between his sons was thus set aside. In the view of Yorke and Abels this was because ¥thelred and Alfred were too young to rule, and ¥thelberht agreed in return that his younger brothers would inherit the whole kingdom on his death,[119] whereas Kirby and Nelson think that ¥thelberht just became the trustee for his younger brothers' share of the bookland.[120]

After ¥thelbald's death Judith sold her possessions and returned to her father, but two years later she eloped with Baldwin, Count of Flanders. In the 890s their son, also called Baldwin, married ¥thelwulf's granddaughter ¥lfthryth.[13]

Historiography

¥thelwulf's reputation among historians was poor in the twentieth century. In 1935 the historian R. H. Hodgkin attributed his pilgrimage to Rome to "the unpractical piety which had led him to desert his kingdom at a time of great danger", and described his marriage to Judith as "the folly of a man senile before his time".[121] To Stenton in the 1960s he was "a religious and unambitious man, for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank".[122] One dissenter was Finberg, who in 1964 described him as "a king whose valour in war and princely munificence recalled the figures of the heroic age",[123] but in 1979 Enright said: "More than anything else he appears to have been an impractical religious enthusiast."[124] Early medieval writers, especially Asser, emphasise his religiosity and his preference for consensus, seen in the concessions made to avert a civil war on his return from Rome.[p] In Story's view "his legacy has been clouded by accusations of excessive piety which (to modern sensibilities at least) has seemed at odds with the demands of early medieval kingship". In 839 an unnamed Anglo-Saxon king wrote to the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious asking for permission to travel through his territory on the way to Rome, and relating an English priest's dream which foretold disaster unless Christians abandoned their sins. This is now believed to have been an unrealised project of Egbert at the end of his life, but it was formerly attributed to ¥thelwulf, and seen as exhibiting what Story calls his reputation for "dramatic piety", and irresponsibility for planning to abandon his kingdom at the beginning of his reign.[126]

In the twenty-first century he is seen very differently by historians. ¥thelwulf is not listed in the index of Peter Hunter Blair's An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, first published in 1956, but in a new introduction to the 2003 edition Keynes listed him among people "who have not always been accorded the attention they might be thought to deserve ... for it was he, more than any other, who secured the political fortune of his people in the ninth century, and who opened up channels of communication which led through Frankish realms and across the Alps to Rome".[127] According to Story: "¥thelwulf acquired and cultivated a reputation both in Francia and Rome which is unparalleled in the sources since the height of Offa's and Coenwulf's power at the turn of the ninth century".[128]

Nelson describes him as "one of the great underrated among Anglo-Saxons", and complains that she was only allowed 2,500 words for him in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, compared with 15,000 for Edward II and 35,000 for Elizabeth I.[129] She says:

¥thelwulf's reign has been relatively under-appreciated in modern scholarship. Yet he laid the foundations for Alfred's success. To the perennial problems of husbanding the kingdom's resources, containing conflicts within the royal family, and managing relations with neighbouring kingdoms, ¥thelwulf found new as well as traditional answers. He consolidated old Wessex, and extended his reach over what is now Devon and Cornwall. He ruled Kent, working with the grain of its political community. He borrowed ideological props from Mercians and Franks alike, and went to Rome, not to die there, like his predecessor Ine, ... but to return, as Charlemagne had, with enhanced prestige. ¥thelwulf coped more effectively with Scandinavian attacks than did most contemporary rulers.[13]

Buried:
Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral

Aethelwulf married Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex. Osburga (daughter of Oslac and unnamed spouse) was born in ~810 in Wessex, England; died in ~849. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: ~831, (Wessex) England
• Alt Death: ~854

Notes:

Osburh or Osburga was the first wife of King ¥thelwulf of Wessex and mother of Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".[1]

Osburh's existence is known only from Asser's Life of King Alfred. She is not named as witness to any charters, nor is her death reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. So far as is known, she was the mother of all ¥thelwulf's children, his five sons ¥thelstan, ¥thelbald, ¥thelberht, ¥thelred and Alfred the Great, and his daughter ¥thelswith, wife of King Burgred of Mercia.

The Boyhood of Alfred the Great (1913).jpg
She is best known for Asser's story about a book of Saxon songs which she showed to Alfred and his brothers, offering to give the book to whoever could first memorise it, a challenge which Alfred took up and won. This exhibits the interest of high status ninth-century women in books, and their role in educating their children.[2]

Osburh was the daughter of Oslac (who is also only known from Asser's Life), King ¥thelwulf's pincerna (butler), an important figure in the royal court and household.[3] Oslac is described as a descendant of King Cerdic's Jutish nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar, who conquered the Isle of Wight.[4] and, by this, is also ascribed Geatish/Gothic ancestry.

Queen consort of Wessex
Tenure c. 839 – c. 854
Spouse ¥thelwulf, King of Wessex
Issue ¥thelstan of Wessex
¥thelswith, Queen of Mercia
¥thelbald, King of Wessex
¥thelbert, King of Wessex
¥thelred, King of Wessex
Alfred, King of Wessex
House House of Wessex (by marriage)
Father Oslac

Issue[edit]
Name Birth Death Notes
¥thelstan 851–855
¥thelswith 888 Married, Burgred of Mercia; no issue
¥thelbald 20 December 860 Married, Judith
¥thelbert Autumn 865
¥thelred c.847 23 April 871 Had issue
Alfred 849 26 October 899 Married 868, Ealhswith; had issue

See also

House of Wessex family tree; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

Notes

Jump up ^ Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge eds, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, London, Penguin Classics, 1983, p. 68
Jump up ^ Janet L. Nelson, Osburh, 2004, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography In Nelson's view, Osburh may have been dead by 856 or may have been repudiated.
Jump up ^ Keynes and Lapidge, pp. 68, 229.
Jump up ^ Asser states that Oslac was a Goth, but this is regarded by historians as an error as Stuf and Wightgar were Jutes. Keynes and Lapidge pp. 229-30 and Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford, Oxford UP, 3rd edition 1971, p. 23-4

References

Asser's Life of King Alfred; http://omacl.org/KingAlfred/

Lees, Clare A. & Gillian R. Overing (eds), Double Agents: Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2001. ISBN 0-8122-3628-9

end of biography

The PEDIGREE of
Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT

(1st wife); (Osburh Osburgh; of JUTIE)
Born: abt. 810 Died: aft. 876


HM George I's 23-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 20-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 26-Great Grandmother. Poss. PM Churchill's 24-Great Grandmother. Wm. von Bismarck's 28-Great Grandmother. Agnes Harris's 25-Great Grandmother. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 24-Great Grandmother.
Husband/Partner: Ethelwulf (2nd King) of ENGLAND
Children: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith ; Ethelbert (King) ; Athelstan (King)
_______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
/ -- Gebolf of the JUTES
/ -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
| \ / -- Freawine of ANCIENT S. + ==&=> [ 221 ,,qD,&]
| | / | (skip this generation?)
| | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
| | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
| | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
| | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
/ \ -- daughter of Elesa
/ -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
| \ | ( many missing generations)
| | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
| | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | (skip this generation?)
| | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
| | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
| | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
| | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
/ \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
/ -- Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (785? - ?)
/
- Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
\
\ -- (NN), first wife


Her (poss.) Grandchildren: Elgiva of WESSEX [alt ped] ; Edward (I) `the Elder' (King) of ENGLAND ; Aefthryth (Elfrida) of WESSEX ; Aethelflaed (Lady) of MERCIA ; Aethelweald (King) of NORTHUMBRIA ; Aethelhelm (Earldorman) of WILTSHIRE ; Elgiva of WESSEX ; Henry `with the Golden Wagon' of ALTDORF

[ Start ]
FabPed Genealogy Vers. 85 © Jamie, 1997-2018

Notes:

Herbert I Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, was born 848 in Paris, France to Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848) and died 907 in Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France of Assassinated by Baldwin II, Count of Flanders, for the capture (by Herbert) in 896 and murder of Baldwin's brother Raoul. He married Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]
Herbert forcibly took the county of Vermandois from his third cousin Rodulf of Flanders (c869-896).



Children

Offspring of Herbert I de Vermandois and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Bâeatrice of Vermandois (c880-931) 880 Paris, France 26 March 931 Soissons, France Robert I of France (866-923)

Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) 884 23 February 943 Hildebranda of France (895-931)

Cunigunde of Vermandois (-943) 943 Udo I von der Wetterau (c900-949)

Adele of Vermandois (?-?) Gebhard von Ufgau (?-c947)

Berengar of Bayeaux (?-?) Daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany
Noteworthy descendants include

Hugh Capet (c940-996)
Namesakes of Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907)

Birth place
Death place
Father
Mother
Joined with
Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) Paris, France Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848) Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
Herbert III of Meaux (c950-995) Robert de Vermandois (918-968) Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) Hildebranda of France (895-931) Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)
Herbert III de Vermandois (953-1015) Saint-Quentin Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978) Ermengard de Bar (946-aft1035)
Herbert IV de Vermandois (1032-1080) Otto de Vermandois (c1000-1045) Pavie de Ham (c990-1058) Adáele de Valois (c1052-c1096)

Herbert married Bertha de Morvois(France). Bertha was born in ~850. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ecgberht (771/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, or Ecgbriht, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Ecgberht was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Ecgberht returned and took the throne.

Little is known of the first 20 years of Ecgberht's reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain the independence of Wessex against the kingdom of Mercia, which at that time dominated the other southern English kingdoms. In 825 Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia, ended Mercia's supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. In 829 he defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove him out of his kingdom, temporarily ruling Mercia directly. Later that year Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrian king at Dore. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described Ecgberht as a bretwalda or 'wide-ruler' of Anglo-Saxon lands.

Ecgberht was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey; these territories were given to Ecgberht's son ¥thelwulf to rule as a subking under Ecgberht. When Ecgberht died in 839, ¥thelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after ¥thelwulf's death in 858.

King of Wessex
Reign 802 – 839
Predecessor Beorhtric
Successor ¥thelwulf
King of Kent
Reign 825 – 839
Predecessor Baldred
Successor ¥thelwulf
Born 771 or 775[1]
Died 839 (aged 64 or 68)
Burial Winchester
Issue ¥thelwulf, King of Wessex
House Wessex
Father Ealhmund of Kent

Family

Historians do not agree on Ecgberht's ancestry. The earliest version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Parker Chronicle, begins with a genealogical preface tracing the ancestry of Ecgberht's son ¥thelwulf back through Ecgberht, Ealhmund (thought to be Ealhmund of Kent), and the otherwise unknown Eoppa and Eafa to Ingild, brother of King Ine of Wessex, who abdicated the throne in 726. It continues back to Cerdic, founder of the House of Wessex.[2] Ecgberht's descent from Ingild was accepted by Frank Stenton, but not the earlier genealogy back to Cerdic.[3] Heather Edwards in her Online Dictionary of National Biography article on Ecgberht argues that he was of Kentish origin, and that the West Saxon descent may have been manufactured during his reign to give him legitimacy,[4] whereas Rory Naismith considered a Kentish origin unlikely, and that it is more probable that "Ecgberht was born of good West Saxon royal stock".[5]

Ecgberht's wife's name is unknown. A fifteenth century chronicle now held by Oxford University names Ecgberht's wife as Redburga who was supposedly a relative of Charlemagne that he married when he was banished to Francia, but this is dismissed by academic historians in view of its late date.[6] He is reputed to have had a half-sister Alburga, later to be recognised as a saint for her founding of Wilton Abbey. She was married to Wulfstan, ealdorman of Wiltshire, and on his death in 802 she became a nun, Abbess of Wilton Abbey.[7] He was believed at one time to also be the father of Saint Eadgyth of Polesworth and ¥thelstan of Kent.

Political context and early life

Ecgberht's name, spelled Ecgbriht, from the 827 entry in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Offa of Mercia, who reigned from 757 to 796, was the dominant force in Anglo-Saxon England in the second half of the eighth century. The relationship between Offa and Cynewulf, who was king of Wessex from 757 to 786, is not well documented, but it seems likely that Cynewulf maintained some independence from Mercian overlordship. Evidence of the relationship between kings can come from charters, which were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen, and which were witnessed by the kings who had power to grant the land. In some cases a king will appear on a charter as a subregulus, or "subking", making it clear that he has an overlord.[8][9] Cynewulf appears as "King of the West Saxons" on a charter of Offa's in 772;[10] and he was defeated by Offa in battle in 779 at Bensington, but there is nothing else to suggest Cynewulf was not his own master, and he is not known to have acknowledged Offa as overlord.[11] Offa did have influence in the southeast of the country: a charter of 764 shows him in the company of Heahberht of Kent, suggesting that Offa's influence helped place Heahberht on the throne.[12] The extent of Offa's control of Kent between 765 and 776 is a matter of debate amongst historians, but from 776 until about 784 it appears that the Kentish kings had substantial independence from Mercia.[12][13]

Another Ecgberht, Ecgberht II of Kent, ruled in that kingdom throughout the 770s; he is last mentioned in 779, in a charter granting land at Rochester.[12] In 784 a new king of Kent, Ealhmund, appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to a note in the margin, "this king Ealhmund was Egbert's father [i.e. Ecgberht of Wessex], Egbert was ¥thelwulf's father." This is supported by the genealogical preface from the A text of the Chronicle, which gives Ecgberht's father's name as Ealhmund without further details. The preface probably dates from the late ninth century; the marginal note is on the F manuscript of the Chronicle, which is a Kentish version dating from about 1100.[14]

Ealhmund does not appear to have long survived in power: there is no record of his activities after 784. There is, however, extensive evidence of Offa's domination of Kent during the late 780s, with his goals apparently going beyond overlordship to outright annexation of the kingdom,[12] and he has been described as "the rival, not the overlord, of the Kentish kings".[15] It is possible that the young Ecgberht fled to Wessex in 785 or so; it is suggestive that the Chronicle mentions in a later entry that Beorhtric, Cynewulf's successor, helped Offa to exile Ecgberht.[12]

Cynewulf was murdered in 786. His succession was contested by Ecgberht, but he was defeated by Beorhtric, maybe with Offa's assistance.[16][17] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ecgberht spent three years in Francia before he was king, exiled by Beorhtric and Offa. The text says "iii" for three, but this may have been a scribal error, with the correct reading being "xiii", that is, thirteen years. Beorhtric's reign lasted sixteen years, and not thirteen; and all extant texts of the Chronicle agree on "iii", but many modern accounts assume that Ecgberht did indeed spend thirteen years in Francia. This requires assuming that the error in transcription is common to every manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; many historians make this assumption but others have rejected it as unlikely, given the consistency of the sources.[18] In either case Ecgberht was probably exiled in 789, when Beorhtric, his rival, married the daughter of Offa of Mercia.[19]

At the time Ecgberht was in exile, Francia was ruled by Charlemagne, who maintained Frankish influence in Northumbria and is known to have supported Offa's enemies in the south. Another exile in Gaul at this time was Odberht, a priest, who is almost certainly the same person as Eadberht, who later became king of Kent. According to a later chronicler, William of Malmesbury, Ecgberht learned the arts of government during his time in Gaul.[20]

Early reign

Beorhtric's dependency on Mercia continued into the reign of Cenwulf, who became king of Mercia a few months after Offa's death.[11] Beorhtric died in 802, and Ecgberht came to the throne of Wessex, probably with the support of Charlemagne and perhaps also the papacy.[21] The Mercians continued to oppose Ecgberht: the day of his accession, the Hwicce (who had originally formed a separate kingdom, but by that time were part of Mercia) attacked, under the leadership of their ealdorman, ¥thelmund. Weohstan, a Wessex ealdorman, met him with men from Wiltshire:[14] according to a 15th-century source, Weohstan had married Alburga, Ecgberht's sister, and so was his brother-in-law.[22] The Hwicce were defeated, though Weohstan was killed as well as ¥thelmund.[14] Nothing more is recorded of Ecgberht's relations with Mercia for more than twenty years after this battle. It seems likely that Ecgberht had no influence outside his own borders, but on the other hand there is no evidence that he ever submitted to the overlordship of Cenwulf. Cenwulf did have overlordship of the rest of southern England, but in Cenwulf's charters the title of "overlord of the southern English" never appears, presumably in consequence of the independence of the kingdom of Wessex.[23]

In 815 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ecgberht ravaged the whole of the territories of the remaining British kingdom, Dumnonia, known to the author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the West Welsh; their territory was about equivalent to what is now Cornwall.[14][24] Ten years later, a charter dated 19 August 825 indicates that Ecgberht was campaigning in Dumnonia again; this may have been related to a battle recorded in the Chronicle at Gafulford in 823, between the men of Devon and the Britons of Cornwall.[25]

The battle of Ellandun

A map of England during Ecgberht's reign
It was also in 825 that one of the most important battles in Anglo-Saxon history took place, when Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellandun—now Wroughton, near Swindon. This battle marked the end of the Mercian domination of southern England.[26] The Chronicle tells how Ecgberht followed up his victory: "Then he sent his son ¥thelwulf from the army, and Ealhstan, his bishop, and Wulfheard, his ealdorman, to Kent with a great troop." ¥thelwulf drove Baldred, the king of Kent, north over the Thames, and according to the Chronicle, the men of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex then all submitted to ¥thelwulf "because earlier they were wrongly forced away from his relatives."[14] This may refer to Offa's interventions in Kent at the time Ecgberht's father Ealhmund became king; if so, the chronicler's remark may also indicate Ealhmund had connections elsewhere in southeast England.[21]

The Chronicle's version of events makes it appear that Baldred was driven out shortly after the battle, but this was probably not the case. A document from Kent survives which gives the date, March 826, as being in the third year of the reign of Beornwulf. This makes it likely that Beornwulf still had authority in Kent at this date, as Baldred's overlord; hence Baldred was apparently still in power.[25][27] In Essex, Ecgberht expelled King Sigered, though the date is unknown. It may have been delayed until 829, since a later chronicler associates the expulsion with a campaign of Ecgberht's in that year against the Mercians.[25]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not say who was the aggressor at Ellandun, but one recent history asserts that Beornwulf was almost certainly the one who attacked. According to this view, Beornwulf may have taken advantage of the Wessex campaign in Dumnonia in the summer of 825. Beornwulf's motivation to launch an attack would have been the threat of unrest or instability in the southeast: the dynastic connections with Kent made Wessex a threat to Mercian dominance.[25]

The consequences of Ellandun went beyond the immediate loss of Mercian power in the southeast. According to the Chronicle, the East Anglians asked for Ecgberht's protection against the Mercians in the same year, 825, though it may actually have been in the following year that the request was made. In 826 Beornwulf invaded East Anglia, presumably to recover his overlordship. He was slain, however, as was his successor, Ludeca, who invaded East Anglia in 827, evidently for the same reason. It may be that the Mercians were hoping for support from Kent: there was some reason to suppose that Wulfred, the Archbishop of Canterbury, might be discontented with West Saxon rule, as Ecgberht had terminated Wulfred's currency and had begun to mint his own, at Rochester and Canterbury,[25] and it is known that Ecgberht seized property belonging to Canterbury.[28] The outcome in East Anglia was a disaster for the Mercians which confirmed West Saxon power in the southeast.[25]

Defeat of Mercia

The entry for 827 in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, listing the eight bretwaldas
In 829 Ecgberht invaded Mercia and drove Wiglaf, the king of Mercia, into exile. This victory gave Ecgberht control of the London Mint, and he issued coins as King of Mercia.[25] It was after this victory that the West Saxon scribe described him as a bretwalda, meaning 'wide-ruler' or perhaps 'Britain-ruler', in a famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The relevant part of the annal reads, in the C manuscript of the Chronicle:[29]

? ¤y geare geeode Ecgbriht cing Myrcna rice ? eall ¤µt be su¤an Humbre wµs, ? he wµs eahta¤a cing se ºe Bretenanwealda wµs.

In modern English:[30]

And the same year King Egbert conquered the kingdom of Mercia, and all that was south of the Humber, and he was the eighth king who was 'Wide-ruler'.

The previous seven bretwaldas are also named by the Chronicler, who gives the same seven names that Bede lists as holding imperium, starting with ¥lle of Sussex and ending with Oswiu of Northumbria. The list is often thought to be incomplete, omitting as it does some dominant Mercian kings such as Penda and Offa. The exact meaning of the title has been much debated; it has been described as "a term of encomiastic poetry"[31] but there is also evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership.[32]

Later in 829, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrians at Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield); the Northumbrian king was probably Eanred.[33] According to a later chronicler, Roger of Wendover, Ecgberht invaded Northumbria and plundered it before Eanred submitted: "When Ecgberht had obtained all the southern kingdoms, he led a large army into Northumbria, and laid waste that province with severe pillaging, and made King Eanred pay tribute." Roger of Wendover is known to have incorporated Northumbrian annals into his version; the Chronicle does not mention these events.[34] However, the nature of Eanred's submission has been questioned: one historian has suggested that it is more likely that the meeting at Dore represented a mutual recognition of sovereignty.[35]

In 830, Ecgberht led a successful expedition against the Welsh, almost certainly with the intent of extending West Saxon influence into the Welsh lands previously within the Mercian orbit. This marked the high point of Ecgberht's influence.[25]

Reduction in influence after 829

Coin of King Ecgberht
In 830, Mercia regained its independence under Wiglaf—the Chronicle merely says that Wiglaf "obtained the kingdom of Mercia again",[14] but the most likely explanation is that this was the result of a Mercian rebellion against Wessex rule.[36]

Ecgberht's dominion over southern England came to an end with Wiglaf's recovery of power. Wiglaf's return is followed by evidence of his independence from Wessex. Charters indicate Wiglaf had authority in Middlesex and Berkshire, and in a charter of 836 Wiglaf uses the phrase "my bishops, duces, and magistrates" to describe a group that included eleven bishops from the episcopate of Canterbury, including bishops of sees in West Saxon territory.[37] It is significant that Wiglaf was still able to call together such a group of notables; the West Saxons, even if they were able to do so, held no such councils.[28][38] Wiglaf may also have brought Essex back into the Mercian orbit during the years after he recovered the throne.[25][39] In East Anglia, King ¥thelstan minted coins, possibly as early as 827, but more likely c. 830 after Ecgberht's influence was reduced with Wiglaf's return to power in Mercia. This demonstration of independence on East Anglia's part is not surprising, as it was ¥thelstan who was probably responsible for the defeat and death of both Beornwulf and Ludeca.[25]

Both Wessex's sudden rise to power in the late 820s, and the subsequent failure to retain this dominant position, have been examined by historians looking for underlying causes. One plausible explanation for the events of these years is that Wessex's fortunes were to some degree dependent on Carolingian support. The Franks supported Eardwulf when he recovered the throne of Northumbria in 808, so it is plausible that they also supported Ecgberht's accession in 802. At Easter 839, not long before Ecgberht's death, he was in touch with Louis the Pious, king of the Franks, to arrange safe passage to Rome. Hence a continuing relationship with the Franks seems to be part of southern English politics during the first half of the ninth century.[25]

Carolingian support may have been one of the factors that helped Ecgberht achieve the military successes of the late 820s. However, the Rhenish and Frankish commercial networks collapsed at some time in the 820s or 830s, and in addition, a rebellion broke out in February 830 against Louis the Pious—the first of a series of internal conflicts that lasted through the 830s and beyond. These distractions may have prevented Louis from supporting Ecgberht. In this view, the withdrawal of Frankish influence would have left East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex to find a balance of power not dependent on outside aid.[25]

Despite the loss of dominance, Ecgberht's military successes fundamentally changed the political landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. Wessex retained control of the south-eastern kingdoms, with the possible exception of Essex, and Mercia did not regain control of East Anglia.[25] Ecgberht's victories marked the end of the independent existence of the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex. The conquered territories were administered as a subkingdom for a while, including Surrey and possibly Essex.[40] Although ¥thelwulf was a subking under Ecgberht, it is clear that he maintained his own royal household, with which he travelled around his kingdom. Charters issued in Kent described Ecgberht and ¥thelwulf as "kings of the West Saxons and also of the people of Kent." When ¥thelwulf died in 858 his will, in which Wessex is left to one son and the southeastern kingdom to another, makes it clear that it was not until after 858 that the kingdoms were fully integrated.[41] Mercia remained a threat, however; Ecgberht's son ¥thelwulf, established as king of Kent, gave estates to Christ Church, Canterbury, probably to counter any influence the Mercians might still have there.[25]

In the southwest, Ecgberht was defeated in 836 at Carhampton by the Danes,[14] but in 838 he won a battle against them and their allies the West Welsh at the Battle of Hingston Down in Cornwall. The Dumnonian royal line continued after this time, but it is at this date that the independence of one of the last British kingdoms may be considered to have ended.[25] The details of Anglo-Saxon expansion into Cornwall are quite poorly recorded, but some evidence comes from place names.[42] The river Ottery, which flows east into the Tamar near Launceston, appears to be a boundary: south of the Ottery the placenames are overwhelmingly Cornish, whereas to the north they are more heavily influenced by the English newcomers.[43]

Succession

16th-century mortuary chest, one in a series set up by Bishop Foxe in Winchester Cathedral, which purports to contain Ecgberht's bones
At a council at Kingston upon Thames in 838, Ecgberht and ¥thelwulf granted land to the sees of Winchester and Canterbury in return for the promise of support for ¥thelwulf's claim to the throne.[28][37][44] The archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, also accepted Ecgberht and ¥thelwulf as the lords and protectors of the monasteries under Ceolnoth's control. These agreements, along with a later charter in which ¥thelwulf confirmed church privileges, suggest that the church had recognised that Wessex was a new political power that must be dealt with.[25] Churchmen consecrated the king at coronation ceremonies, and helped to write the wills which specified the king's heir; their support had real value in establishing West Saxon control and a smooth succession for Ecgberht's line.[45] Both the record of the Council of Kingston, and another charter of that year, include the identical phrasing: that a condition of the grant is that "we ourselves and our heirs shall always hereafter have firm and unshakable friendships from Archbishop Ceolnoth and his congregation at Christ Church."[44][46][47]

Although nothing is known of any other claimants to the throne, it is likely that there were other surviving descendants of Cerdic (the supposed progenitor of all the kings of Wessex) who might have contended for the kingdom. Ecgberht died in 839, and his will, according to the account of it found in the will of his grandson, Alfred the Great, left land only to male members of his family, so that the estates should not be lost to the royal house through marriage. Ecgberht's wealth, acquired through conquest, was no doubt one reason for his ability to purchase the support of the southeastern church establishment; the thriftiness of his will indicates he understood the importance of personal wealth to a king.[45] The kingship of Wessex had been frequently contested among different branches of the royal line, and it is a noteworthy achievement of Ecgberht's that he was able to ensure ¥thelwulf's untroubled succession.[45] In addition, ¥thelwulf's experience of kingship, in the subkingdom formed from Ecgberht's southeastern conquests, would have been valuable to him when he took the throne.[48]

Ecgberht was buried in Winchester, as were his son, ¥thelwulf, his grandson, Alfred the Great, and his great-grandson, Edward the Elder. During the ninth century, Winchester began to show signs of urbanisation, and it is likely that the sequence of burials indicates that Winchester was held in high regard by the West Saxon royal line.[49]

Egbert married Redburga. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: the Royal Cupbearer; Grand Butler of England

Notes:

The PEDIGREE of
Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT

the Royal Cupbearer; Grand Butler of England
Born: abt. 785


HM George I's 24-Great Grandfather. HRE Ferdinand I's 21-Great Grandfather. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 27-Great Grandfather. Poss. PM Churchill's 25-Great Grandfather. Agnes Harris's 26-Great Grandfather. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 25-Great Grandfather.
Wife/Partner: (NN), first wife
Child: Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
_______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
/ -- Gebolf of the JUTES
/ -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
| \ / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
| | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | (skip this generation?)
| | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
| | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
| | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
| | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
/ \ -- daughter of Elesa
/ -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
| \ | ( many missing generations)
| | / -- Brond of SCANDINAVIA + ==&=> [ 219 ,,qD,&]
| | / | or: Bernic (q.v. : Brond's son)
| | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | (skip this generation?)
| | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
| | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
| | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
| | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
| | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
/ \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
- Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
\
\ -- ?


His Grandchildren: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith

[ Start ]
FabPed Genealogy Vers. 86 © Jamie, 1997-2018

Oslac married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Pepin Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, was born 815 to Bernard of Italy (797-818) and Cunigunda of Laon (?-?) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Pepin de Vermandois and unknown parent
Name Birth Death Joined with
Bernard de Laon (c844-aft893) 844 893
Pepin de Senlis (c846-893) 846 28 January 907
Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) 848 Paris, France 907 Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)

Cunigunda de Vermandois (?-?)
Gunhilde de Vermandois (?-?) Berengar I of Neustria (?-?)
Guy de Senlis (?-?)
Noteworthy descendants include

Hugh Capet (c940-996)

Pepin married unnamed spouse(France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ealhmund was King of Kent in 784. He is reputed to be the father of King Egbert who was King of Wessex and, later, King of Kent.

Biography

He is not known to have struck any coins,[1] and the only contemporary evidence of him is an abstract of a charter dated 784, in which Ealhmund granted land to the Abbot of Reculver.[2] By the following year Offa of Mercia seems to have been ruling directly, as he issued a charter [3] without any mention of a local king.

General consensus among historians is this is the same Ealhmund found in two pedigrees in the Winchester (Parker) Chronicle, compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great.[4] The genealogical preface to this manuscript, as well as the annual entry (covering years 855–859) describing the death of ¥thelwulf, both make King Egbert of Wessex the son of an Ealhmund, who was son of Eafa, grandson of Eoppa, and great-grandson of Ingild, the brother of King Ine of Wessex, and descendant of founder Cerdic,[5] and therefore a member of the House of Wessex (see House of Wessex family tree). A further entry has been added in a later hand to the 784 annal, reporting Ealhmund's reign in Kent.

Finally, in the Canterbury Bilingual Epitome, originally compiled after the Norman conquest of England, a later scribe has likewise added to the 784 annal not only Ealhmund's reign in Kent, but his explicit identification with the father of Egbert.[6] Based on this reconstruction, in which a Wessex scion became King of Kent, his own Kentish name and that of his son, Egbert, it has been suggested that his mother derived from the royal house of Kent,[7] a connection dismissed by a recent critical review.[4] Historian Heather Edwards has suggested that Ealhmund was probably a Kentish royal scion, whose pedigree was forged to give his son Egbert the descent from Cerdic requisite to reigning in Wessex.[8]

See also

List of monarchs of Kent; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Kent

end of commentary

After Cheddar Man: How the mongrel English found their home during the Dark Ages

An early Anglo-Saxon Christian burial site in Trumpington and another burial site in Derbyshire with Great Viking Army remains are two great clues to our history.

Two archaeological finds caught my eye recently, for they seemed to shed light on what we often call the “Dark Ages”. This was the period between the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain in the early 400s AD and the Norman Conquest in 1066. Obscure though it may be, it was an important era, as a multiplicity of independent kingdoms eventually merged together to form one country, England, with its mongrel people, the English.

As Robert Tombs puts it in The English and Their History, the England that emerged from the Dark Ages had a population of more than 1.5 million, which was densest in the eastern and southern shires. An export trade in wool, an economic mainstay for centuries to come, was being established. Roads, bridges and harbours were publicly maintained under royal authority. Investment had accumulated. There were some 6,000 water mills, the most complex machinery of the time.

Anything that illuminated that period would be valuable. The first finding I mentioned was the discovery of an early Anglo-Saxon Christian burial site in Trumpington outside Cambridge. In the grave were the remains of a teenage girl from the mid 7th century AD. There was a gold and garnet cross on her chest; this had probably been sewn into her clothing. She had been placed on an ornamental bed. Archaeologists believe the grave was dug between 650 and 680 AD.

The second was final confirmation that a burial site in Derbyshire first uncovered in the 1980s does indeed contain remains from a Great Viking Army. In 873 or 874, a Great Viking Army overwintered at Repton, one of only a few places in England where a winter camp has been located. Excavations from 1974 to 1988 found their D-shaped earthwork on the riverbank and identified a mass grave of some 250 individuals, covered by the kerb stone of its former cairn. Now inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dating have been resolved.

We are thus dealing with two of the four large-scale invasions of England that took place in the first millennium AD. It starts with the Romans, then the Anglo-Saxons, who were followed by the Vikings and, finally, the Normans. That Britain had these uninvited visitors is not surprising, for England’s wealth was well known to its neighbours. As soon as the armed Roman presence disappeared, England was vulnerable.

A historian who has written well about these events is Peter Heather in his book, Empires and Barbarians, which has also been translated into French. Heather is Professor of Medieval History at Kings College, London. He tackled the once widely held idea that the Anglo-Saxons engaged in ethnic cleansing and pushed the Romano-British population of Celtic origin westwards into Wales, Devon and Cornwall or across the sea to Brittany. I don’t remember if I was taught this story at school, but it is roughly what I thought had happened.

Apart from anything else, according to Professor Heather, the population of late Roman Britain was in fact extremely large, between some 3 to 7 million people. The idea that such a large group could be driven westwards by newcomers doesn’t make sense. Furthermore, unlike the Vikings, who were invaders, albeit without a master plan, the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons was a migration, in other words, a flow of people across the North Sea during the 400s and 500s AD – with Anglo-Saxon kings following a little later. Of course, the Anglo-Saxons came prepared to engage in whatever fighting was necessary to establish themselves. They rewarded themselves by diverting Roman taxes into their own pockets and by dividing up the deserted Roman estates once run from Roman villas.

As a result, the bulk of the Romano-British population remained in place and massively outnumbered the immigrants, but over time, absorbed the latter’s material and non-material culture until immigrant and native became indistinguishable. At first glance this is a surprising process. But the newcomers must have applied just enough pressure to hasten integration.

Now what adds interest to the discovery of the Christian burial site is that Heather emphasises that by 600 AD the region’s Latin speaking Christian âelite had been replaced by Germanic speaking non-Christians. In fact, the teenager’s grave also contained other items – an iron knife and a chain that would have hung from the waist along with some glass beads, which seemed to have been kept in a purse on the end of the chain.

Dr Sam Lucy, a specialist in Anglo-Saxon burial from Newnham College, Cambridge, said: “The custom of grave goods was long established in the pagan period, but it doesn’t mean that the burials at Trumpington weren’t Christian." Dr Lucy added: “The church never issued any edicts against the use of grave goods, but it’s something that does seem to fade away by the 8th century, just at the point where Christianity was becoming the dominant religion. There is, though, a time through the second half of the 7th century, where clearly Christian people were still making use of a limited range of goods within their burials, and these often carried explicitly Christian symbolism, such as the cross here…The Trumpington burial does seem to belong at that transition between the two religions."

By now Christianity was spreading across northern Europe. Ireland was the first, in the fifth and sixth centuries; there followed Pictish Scotland, England and central Germany in the seventh century, Saxony by force after Charlemagne’s conquests in the eighth, Bulgaria, Croatia and Moravia in the ninth, Bohemia in the tenth, Norway, Iceland and Hungary in the years around 1000, Sweden more slowly across the eleventh century.

In England, the kings of Kent were the first to convert to Christianity, thanks to a mission from Rome. This took place in 597. Another missionary converted the kings of Wessex (ie, Hampshire and Berkshire) in the 630s. The Northumbrian kings in the north were finally converted from Ireland at the same time. However, after 670, a new archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, a Byzantine appointed by the Pope, united all the bishops of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into a single hierarchy. The Anglo-Saxon church was, from then on, fully integrated into that of the rest of western Europe, and increasingly resembled it.

In the 800s and 900s, Europe was attacked by the Vikings (or Danes or Northmen) from the north and the west. The Vikings, or we should more appropriately call them, the “Scandinavians”, active between 800 and 1000 AD, could scarcely have been more different from the Anglo-Saxons. They were a waterborne force that exploded out of the Baltic Sea. They didn’t pause when they reached a coastline, but they travelled many miles up navigable rivers. They hunted for material wealth wherever they could find it. Essentially they were pirates.

In most cases, Scandinavian settlement in a given locality was preceded by a lengthy period during which that same place was targeted for moveable wealth. There was a huge amount to be made by raiding. Viking assaults on ninth century France extracted 340kg of gold and 20,000kg of silver. Raiding produced loot of all kinds, including slaves.

One of the Vikings’ favourite targets was a rich monastery. In western Europe, for instance, Viking raiding began with the sacking of the famous island monastery of Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast in 793. Between 786 and 802, three Viking ships landed at Portland on the south coast of Britain.

In his book, Viking Britain, Thomas Williams quotes the account given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: “There came for the first time three ships of Northmen…” and they “landed in the island which is called Portland”. The King’s reeve, who was then in a town called Dorchester, “leapt on his horse, sped to the harbour with a few men (for he thought they were merchants rather than marauders), and admonishing them (the Northmen) in an authoritative manner, gave order that they should be driven to the royal town. And he and his companions were killed by them on the spot.”

Monasteries within Ireland, so long as they could be reached by river, became subject to attack for the first time in 836. Ten years later, a Viking leader led his followers up the Seine as far as Paris itself. They were aiming at the Abbey of St Germain des Prâes on the left bank. It was probably the richest monastic foundation of western Europe.

The monks, however, notes Professor Heather, had shifted their treasures up river for safety. And the abbey church of St Germain still stands, with its clock tower dating back to Viking times, the oldest church in Paris.

Now the Great Viking Army was a coalition of warriors, primarily originating from Denmark but with elements from Sweden and Norway, who came together under a unified command to invade the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that constituted England in AD 865. This wasn’t to be a flow of people across the seas to Britain, the purpose of the Great Viking Army was to conquer.

In 867 units of the Viking army broke into York and attacked Northumbria. They conquered East Anglia in the 870s, and eventually achieved a further victory over Mercia in 874. King Alfred, however, repulsed the Viking Army from Wessex with a famous victory at Edington, Wiltshire, in 878.

In a crucial turn in the whole story, the Viking leader, Guthrum, accepted Christian baptism and then retreated into East Anglia. There was formed so-called Danelaw, an area in which the laws of the Danes led sway. It comprised York, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, Cambridge, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford and Hertford together with parts of the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Middlesex.

Heather analyses Danelaw as follows: the basic migration unit was the individual Great Army contingent of up to a thousand men, whose leaders organised the allocations of lands to those who were ready to settle. The new dominant Norse class lived much more cheek by jowl with their Anglo Saxon peasant labourers than the Normans who were to follow. Norse became the prevalent language. And many Norse words have remained in spoken English, such as ransack, window, slaughter, aloft, husband, blunder, happy, heathen, scales (for weighing).

There were kings in Danelaw after 878, but never a king of Danelaw. The centre of Lincoln, for instance, probably saw some Viking construction; outside the town, settlement seems to have come in two forms. Some of the estates were received intact by leading Vikings. Other Anglo-Saxon estates were broken up and parcelled out in individual holdings to Vikings of lesser but still free status. Such landed estates were taken from secular owners who had been killed or exiled or from Church institutions.

Meanwhile in England, Alfred, having fortified the major West Saxon towns, occupied the non-Scandinavian controlled southern half of Mercia. This was the basis for his son Edward “the Elder” and daughter ¥thelflµd (who ruled Mercia) to conquer the Scandinavian kingdoms of southern England in the 910s, and for his grandson, notably ¥?thelstan (924-39) to push north as well. By 954 Northumbria was in their hands, except for the autonomous earldom of Bamburgh in the far north. This West Saxon conquest unified, indeed created, England for the first time; already Alfred called himself “King of the Anglo-Saxons” and the term “England” slowly began to be used from now on. A mongrel people had at last secured a safe place in which to live.

More about: Cheddar Man Romans Dark Ages Vikings celtics Anglo-Saxon England

end of report

Ealhmund married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Bernard married Cunigunda of Laon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Pepin Carolingian of Italy, King of the Lombards, was born 773 in Vermandois, Normandy, France to Charlemagne (747-814) and Hildegard (758-783) and died 8 July 810 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy of unspecified causes. He married Bertha of Gellone (?-?) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from Germany, Belgium, France.
Contents[show]



Children

Offspring of Pepin I of Italy and Bertha of Gellone (?-?)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Adelaide of Italy (?-?) Lambert I de Nantes (-c836)

Adula of Italy (?-?)
Goundrade of Italy (?-?)
Berthe of Italy (?-?)
Theodrade of Italy (?-?) Lambert II de Nantes (-852)

Offspring of Pepin I of Italy and Ingeltrude (?-?)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Bernard of Italy (797-818) 797 Vermandois 17 April 818 Milan Cunigunda of Laon (?-?)

Namesakes of Pepin of Italy (773-810)

Birth place
Death place
Father
Mother
Joined with
Pepin de Senlis (c846-893) Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848)
Pepin of Italy (773-810) Vermandois, Normandy, France Milan, Lombardy, Italy Charlemagne (747-814) Hildegard (758-783) Bertha of Gellone (?-?)+Ingeltrude (?-?)
Pippin (873-874) Charles the Bald (823-877) Richildis de Provence (c845-910)
Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848) Bernard of Italy (797-818) Cunigunda of Laon (?-?)
Pepin II of Senlis (876-922) Pepin de Senlis (c846-893)
Pippin the Hunchback (c769-811) Prèum Charlemagne (747-814) Himiltrude (c742-c780)
Pepin II of Aquitaine (823-aft864) Senlis Pepin I of Aquitaine (797-838) Ingeltrude de Madrie (808-876)
Pepin I of Aquitaine (797-838) Louis the Pious (778-840) Ermengarde of Hesbaye (c778-818) Ingeltrude de Madrie (808-876)

Pepin married Ingeltrude. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt Birth: 747, Herstal, Belgium

Notes:

Charlemagne Carolingian, Duke of Bavaria, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Holy Roman Emperor, was born 747 in Herstal, Belgium to Pepin the Short (714-768) and Bertrada of Laon (720-783) and died 28 January 814 in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany of unspecified causes. He married Himiltrude (c742-c780) . He married Gerperga 768 JL . He married Hildegard (758-783) 771 JL . He married Fastrada (?-794) . He married Luitgard (?-800) . Ancestors are from France, Belgium, Germany.

CharlemagneStatue
Siblings

Offspring of Pepin the Short Carolingian and Bertrada of Laon (720-783)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Charlemagne (747-814) 747 Herstal, Belgium 28 January 814 Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Himiltrude (c742-c780)
Gerperga
Hildegard (758-783)
Gersuinda (?-?)
Madelgard (?-?)
Fastrada (?-794)
Luitgard (?-800)
Amaltrud of Vienne (?-?)
Regina (c780-?)
Ethelind (?-?)

Carloman (751-771) 28 June 751 4 December 771 Samoussy Gerberga

Gisela (757-810) 757 810

Introduction

Charlemagne (Latin: Carolus Magnus, meaning Charles the Great) was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 which temporarily made him a rival of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of France, Germany (where he is known as Karl der GroÏe), and the Holy Roman Empire.

The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, he succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother Carloman I. The latter got on badly with Charlemagne, but war was prevented by the sudden death of Carloman in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain, to which he was invited by the Muslim governor of Barcelona. Charlemagne was promised several Iberian cities in return for giving military aid to the governor, however, the deal was withdrawn. Subsequently, Charlemagne's retreating army experienced its worst defeat at the hands of the Basques, at the Battle of Roncesvalles (778) memorialised, although heavily fictionalised, in the Song of Roland. He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. By forcibly converting them to Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian dynasty.

Today he is regarded not only as the founding father of both French and German monarchies, but also as the father of Europe: his empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, and the Carolingian renaissance encouraged the formation of a common European identity.[1]

Family
Charlemagne had at least twenty children over the course of his life time with three wives and five concubines. He had five wives but no offspring with his second and his last.

Details of his children
See the children subpage for details of his children, including notes about disagreements among published writers.

Grandchildren and beyond
Only five or six of his children had children of their own, producing about 26 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren, and 60 great-great-grandchildren. In that 5th generation, lines first reconnect, with Wipert de Nantes (860-) the first double descendant of Charlemagne, and the brothers Hildebert I de Limoges (865-916) and Ranulphe I d'Aubusson (872-926), who are the first double descendants of mixed generation (5 and 6). The numbers of Charlemagne's descendants per generation do not grow as fast as one might expect, partly because of intermarriage, but also because of intense rivalry (including murder). To reduce such rivalry, many descendants were clergy.



Children

Offspring of Charlemagne and Himiltrude (c742-c780)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Pippin the Hunchback (c769-811) 769 811 Prèum
Amaudru (c770-)

Offspring of Charlemagne and Hildegard (758-783)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Rotrude (775-810) 770 6 June 810 Rorgon of Maine (c770-839)

Charles the Younger (c772-811) 772 4 December 811 Bavaria
Adelaide (c773-774) 774 Pavie, Lombardy, Italy Error: Invalid time. Italy
Pepin of Italy (773-810) 773 Vermandois, Normandy, France 8 July 810 Milan, Lombardy, Italy Bertha of Gellone (?-?)
Ingeltrude (?-?)

Louis the Pious (778-840) 778 Chasseneuil, France 20 June 840 Ingelheim am Rhein Theodelinde of Sens (?-?)
Ermengarde of Hesbaye (c778-818)
Judith of Bavaria (795-843)

Lothair (778-c779) Error: Invalid time. Casseneuil, Lot-et-Garonne, France 779
Bertha (779-823) 779 823 Angilbert (c750-814)

Gisela (781-808) 781 Milan 808
Hildegarde (783-783) Error: Invalid time. Thionville, France Error: Invalid time.

Offspring of Charlemagne and Gersuinda (?-?)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Adaltrude (774-) 774

Offspring of Charlemagne and Madelgard (?-?)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Ruodhaid (c775-852) 775 24 March 852 France

Offspring of Charlemagne and Fastrada (?-794)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Theodrada (784-) 784 9 January 849 Argenteuil
Hiltrude (787-) 787

Offspring of Charlemagne and Amaltrud of Vienne (?-?)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Alpaida (794-) 794 Begon de Paris (c757-816)

Offspring of Charlemagne and Regina (c780-)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Drogo of Metz (801-855) 17 June 801 8 December 855 Luxeuil
Hugh (802-844) 802 844

Offspring of Charlemagne and Ethelind (?-?)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richbod (805-844) 805 844
Theodoric (807-819) 807 819

More biography & life of Charlemagne ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne

Alt Birth:
Charlemagne Picture Gallery: https://www.thoughtco.com/charlemagne-picture-gallery-4122735

More images of Charlemagne:

https://www.google.com/search?q=charlemagne+picture&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS591US591&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr-e6uu5vZAhWIv1MKHQ6NBsAQ7AkITA&biw=1440&bih=809

Buried:
One of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of the emperor Charlemagne, who was buried there in 814. From 936 to 1531, the Palatine Chapel saw the coronation of thirty-one German kings and twelve queens. The church has been the mother church of the Diocese of Aachen since 1802.

Photos ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen_Cathedral

Charlemagne married Hildegard. Hildegard was born in 758; died on 30 Apr 783 in Thionville, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hildegard was born 758 to Gerold of Vinzgouw (c725-799) and Emma of Alamannia (730-789) and died 30 April 783 in Thionville of unspecified causes. She married Charlemagne (747-814) 771 JL . Ancestors are from Germany.
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Children

Offspring of Hildegard and Charlemagne (747-814)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Rotrude (770-810) 770 6 June 810 Rorgon of Maine (c770-839)

Charles the Younger (c772-811) 772 4 December 811 Bavaria
Adelaide (c773-774) 774 Pavie, Lombardy, Italy Error: Invalid time. Italy
Pepin, King of Italy (773-810) 773 Vermandois, Normandy, France 8 July 810 Milan, Lombardy, Italy Bertha of Gellone (?-?)
Ingeltrude (?-?)

Louis the Pious (778-840) 778 Chasseneuil, France 20 June 840 Ingelheim am Rhein Theodelinde of Sens (?-?)
Ermengarde of Hesbaye (c778-818)
Judith of Bavaria (795-843)

Lothair (778-c779) Error: Invalid time. Casseneuil, Lot-et-Garonne, France 779
Bertha (779-823) 779 823 Angilbert (c750-814)

Gisela (781-808) 781 Milan 808
Hildegarde (782-783) Error: Invalid time. Thionville, France Error: Invalid time.