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Birth:          ABT  995 
Death:          ABT 1052 

Notes
d 1060/1070
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_Talvas
William I Talvas (c. 995 – 1052), seigneur of Alençon. According to Orderic Vitalis his 
nickname Talvas meaning shield, presumably alluded to his hardness or callousness 
like that of a shield. He was a member of the House of Bellême.
Life[edit]

He was a son of William of Bellême and Mathilde of Condé-sur-Noireau. He held lands 
at Bellême, Domfront and Alençon,[1] He obtained the lands of Bellême from his 
brother Yves de Bellême, Bishop of Séez[a][2] who held them of the King of France 
while Alençon was held of the Duke of Normandy and Domfront of the Count of Maine
[3]

While as treacherous and self-serving as any of his family before him he surpassed 
them in wickedness and cruelty.[4] He had married a Hildeburg, daughter of a 
nobleman named Arnulf, but he had his wife strangled on her way to church, 
according to Orderic, because she loved God and would not support his wickedness.
[4] William married secondly a daughter of Ralf de Beaumont, Viscount of Le Mans.[5]

Among the private feuds going on during the minority of Duke William was one that 
erupted between William Talvas and William fitz Giroie. William fitz Giroie was a vassal 
of William Talvas and his father Giroie, Lord of Échauffour had assisted Talvas' father 
and uncle in the struggles against Herbert I Wake-dog, Count of Maine.[b] William fitz 
Giroie himself had greatly assisted William Talvas in obtaining his own lands, 
apparently by force.[4] But William fitz Giroie was also a vassal of Geoffrey de 
Mayenne, an adherent, in turn, of the Count of Maine. About 1044 William Talvas 
attacked the castle of Montaigu which was being defended by William fitz Giroie. 
Unable to defeat the castle William Talvas captured Geoffrey de Mayenne and held 
him prisoner until William Fitz Giroie destroyed the castle of Montaigu.[6] William fitz 
Giroie immediately razed his own castle to free his lord and in return Geoffrey de 
Mayenne built fitz Giroie a new castle at St. Cenery on the river Sarthe.[7] This 
apparently caused great resentment in William Talvas.[6]

On the occasion of his second wedding, William Talvas invited William fitz Giroie to 
attend. Suspecting nothing fitz Giroie while a guest at the festivities was suddenly 
seized by Talvas' men and imprisoned, then according to Orderic horribly mutilated 
and blinded before being released.[6] Somehow William Giroie survived his torture and 
mutilation and retired to Bec Abbey to live out the remainder of his life as a monk.[8] 
To avenge this atrocity the sons and kinsmen of William fitz Giroie sacked and 
destroyed the lands of William Talvas who would not face them in the field.[9] Finally, 
Talvas' son Arnulf rebelled and exiled his father, now reviled by everyone.[9] He 
wandered until he was taken in by the de Montgomery family whose son Roger agreed 
to marry his daughter Mabel in return for the lands William lost.[6] It seems certain that 
after the death of Arnulf the following year, that William Talvas recovered his lands.[6] 
William confirmed a gift to St. Aubin of Angers made by his brother Yves circa 1060-2 
and after that nothing more is heard of him.[6]

Family[edit]

By Hildeburg, his first wife, William had two children:
Arnulf de Bellême, who deprived his father of his estates and wealth[5] and was dead 
by 1049.[7]
Mabel de Bellême, who married Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 
was murdered 2 Dec 1079[10]

His second wife, a daughter of Ralf de Beaumont, may have been the mother of his 
son:
Oliver who after long service in the wars, became a monk at Bec.[c][5]

William Talvas is said to have cursed the infant William, later to become William the 
Conqueror, in his cradle predicting the child would be the downfall of the house of 
Bellême.[11]

Parents
TALVAS DE BELLEME William I (ABT  965 - ABT 1028)
OF CONDE-SUR-NOIREAU Matilda ()

Siblings
TALVAS DE BELLEME William II "de Alencon" (ABT  995 - ABT 1052)
DE BELLEME (DE DOMFRONT) Warin (Guerin) (ABT 1005 - 1026)

Marriage To DE BEAUMONT Hildeburge ()
    m.  his 1st

Notes

Parents
____ Arnulf ()
----- ----- ()

Children by DE BEAUMONT Hildeburge 
TALVAS (DE ALENCON) Mabel (ABT 1024 - 2 Dec 1079)

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