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Birth:          28 Aug  933 Fecamp, Seine-Inferieure, France
Death:          20 Nov  996 Fecamp, Seine-Inferieure, France

Notes
also married c 978 Emma (Agnes) dtr of Hihg le Grand. Unclear if any children, but she 
was not the mother of the concubines' children
unclear who is mother of Fredesende (and her sister Muriella) but probably another 
concubine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_Normandy
Richard I (28 August 933 – 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[edit]

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[edit]

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 Lâon,[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 
Bellèsme, 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 
the 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 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 Fécamp, 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[edit]

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 Æthelred 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[edit]


 


 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, Herefast 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[edit]

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[edit]
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), Wife of Ansfred (Ansfroi) II "le Dane" le Goz, 
vicomte d'Exmes et de Falaise, Mother of Robert FitzWimarc, Death:Abbey of 
Montivilliers, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy[28]

Death[edit]

Richard died of natural causes in Fecamp, France, on 20 November 996.[29]

Depictions in fiction[edit]

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


Parents
____ William I "Longsword" (ABT  893 - 17 Dec  942)
DE BRETAGNE Sprote "Danish Wife" (ABT  911 - )

Siblings
____ Richard I "the Fearless" (28 Aug  933 - 20 Nov  996)

Marriage To ----- ----- (concubine) ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- (concubine) 
DE NORMANDY Muriella (ABT  970 - BEF 1020)

Marriage To ----- ----- (concubine) ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- (concubine) 
____ ----- (daughter of Richard I Fearless) (ABT  949 - )

Marriage To ----- ----- ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- 
DE BRIONNE Godfrey (Geoffroy) (ABT  953 - ABT 1015)

Marriage To DE CREPON Gunnora (ABT  942 - 5 Jan 1031)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE ARQUE Herbastus (ABT  911 -  979)
OLAFSDOTTIR Gunild (ABT  920 - )

Children by DE CREPON Gunnora ABT  942 - 5 Jan 1031
____ Richard II "the Good" (23 Aug  963 - 28 Aug 1026)
____ Robert (ABT  964 - 1037)
____ Mauger ( 974 - 1040)
____ Avicia (Hawise) (ABT  977 - 21 Feb 1034)
OF NORMANDY Beatrice (ABT  980 - 18 Jan 1035)

Marriage To ----- ----- (concubine) ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- (concubine) 
____ Pappa (Pappia) (ABT  980 - )

Marriage To ----- ----- ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- 
DE HEIMOIS William (Guillaume) (ABT  970 - BEF 4 Jan 1039)
OF NORMANDY Emma ( 986 - 6 Mar 1052)

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