Gilbert (Brionne) de Brionne (aft. 979 - 1040)

Born after 0979 in France

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1040 before age 61 in Bec, Eure, Normandy, France

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Disambiguation: Gilbert Crispin de Bec is not this Gilbert Comte de Brionne and d'Eu.

There is a great deal of disagreement and there has been much confusion about one or several Gilberts (Giselbertus) who were living in Normandy in the early 11th century, one or more of whom may have been called "Crispin". It appears that some historical sources have merged all of these into one while others keep them separate. The same children (and wives, in many cases) have been attributed to any and all, which males it very difficult to establish any credible family lineages.

One, the most historically prominent, due to his murder, was Gilbert, the Count de Brionne et d"Eu. Another is sometimes attributed as the Baron of Bec, while a fourth title is that of Castellan or Seigneur de Tillieres. Finally, the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy's Medieval Lands Project has a category for "Untitled English Nobility" and includes "Crispin" as among this group [1]. In this research, based on a 12th century manuscript by Miles Crispin, the Gilbert and Gunnora who were the parents of Hesilia (Esilia) who married Sir William Malet were not Gilbert Count of Brionne and Gunnora d'Aunou, as many claim, but were Gislebert Crispin and Gunnora FitzBaldric.

Biography

Gilbert (or Giselbert) "Crespin" (c. 1000 – c. 1040) was a Norman noble, Count of Eu, and Count of Brionne in northern France. He was a guardian of young Duke William in his minority.

Gilbert was son of Geoffrey, Count of Eu (b. 962) who was an illegitimate child of Richard the Fearless. He inherited Brionne, becoming one of the most powerful landowners in Normandy. Gilbert was a generous benefactor to Bec Abbey founded by his former knight Herluin in 1031.^{[citation needed]}

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

Marriage

The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy has been unable to identify Gilbert's wife. ^[1]

Death

In 1040, Gilbert was murdered while he was peaceably riding near Eschafour. It is believed two of his killers were Ralph of Wacy and Robert de Vitot. This appears to have been an act of vengeance for wrongs inflicted upon the orphan children of Giroie by Gilbert, and it is not clear what Raoul de Gacé had to do in the business. Fearing they might meet their father's fate, his sons Richard and his brother Baldwin were conveyed by their friends to the court of Baldwin, Count of Flanders.

Per Castle Wales website: Gilbert's sons accompanied William, duke of Normandy in his invasion of England in the late eleventh century. They were suitably rewarded for their support - Baldwin de Clare became Sheriff of Devonshire, and his brother Richard de Clare was given control of 170 estates in Suffolk (95 of which were attached to Clare Castle). Richard's marriage to Rohais Giffard produced three sons (Richard, Roger and Gilbert) and two daughters (Rohais and one unknown). Richard and Rohais de Clare also set about building a priory at St Neots (now in Cambridgeshire), which was finished around 1100; Richard never saw the dedication service however, as he died around 1090.

Richard and Rohais' children, Roger and Gilbert were present at the murder of William II in 1100, and the unknown daughter was married to Walter Tyrol, who was William's murderer. Gilbert had also been involved in rebellion in 1088 and 1095, so it would seem that the de Clare family were keen to establish a leading role in British politics from an early stage. The third of Richard's sons, named Richard after his father, seemed more content with his lot, as he is not believed to have been involved in any such high level intrigue as his siblings; saying this however, his son Gilbert kept up family tradition through being one of the twenty five barons involved in the administration of the Magna Carta in 1215. The younger Richard also married Amicia, daughter of the Earl of Gloucester, inheriting the title and passing it down through an unknown son after his death in 1217.

• Some of the immediately following needs to be moved to Gilbert Crispin-3

The below is a mixture of info for Gilbert Brionne & Gilbert Crispin ...

Gilbert Crispin DE BEC Seigneur de Tillieres et Bec and Gunnora D' AUNOU.

Gilbert de Brionne other names were Giselbert and Gilbert "Crispin" de Brionne.

A manuscript history of the Crispin family, probably written by Miles Crispin, records that the first family member was "Gislebertus" who was the first named "Crispini" because of his erect hair.

m GUNNORA, daughter of BALDRIC The identity of her father is confirmed by Orderic Vitalis who names "…Fulco de Alnou…" as one of the sons of Baldric. Gilbert and his wife had five children:

4th. Child EMMA . The De nobili genere Crispinorum names "Emmam, Petri de Conde to genetricem, atque Esiliam, matrem Willelmi Malet" as the two daughters of "Gislebertus…Crispini cognomen" and his wife. m ---. One child: i) PIERRE de Condé . Parentage The some references state that he was the son of Geoffrey, Count of Eu (b. 962) who was an illegitimate child of Richard the Fearless . Some sources say Gislebert was the son of Godfrey of Brionne and Eu , others that he was the son of Gilbert, Baron of Bec . Still others claim that his father was Crispin de Bec (b. 940). Gislebert's mother was apparently Haloise de Guînes (b. 942).

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

Research Notes

It is uncertain whether Osbern de Cailly was a son of Gilbert de Brionne. See the Parentage section in Osbern’s profile.

Sources

1. ↑ MedLands COMTES d'EU

• Medieval Lands - COMTES d'EU

• Willelmi Gemmetencis Historiæ (Du Chesne, 1619), Liber IV, XVIII, p. 247.

• Orderic Vitalis (Chibnall), Vol. III, Book V, p. 89, and Vol. IV Book VIII, p. 209.

• Orderic Vitalis (Prévost), Vol. II, Liber III, I, p. 13.

• Orderic Vitalis (Prévost), Vol. II, p. 13 footnote (2).

• Orderic Vitalis (Chibnall), Vol. III, Book V, p. 89.

• Sharpe, Rev. J. (trans.), revised Stephenson, Rev. J. (1854) William of Malmesbury, The Kings before the Norman Conquest (Seeleys, London, reprint Llanerch, 1989), 230, p. 218, and Orderic Vitalis (Chibnall), Vol. IV, Book VIII, p. 209.

• Orderic Vitalis (Prévost), Vol. II, Liber III, VIII, p. 104.

• Chronique de Robert de Torigny I, 965, p. 25.

• Willelmi Gemmetencis Historiæ (Du Chesne, 1619), Liber VII, II, p. 268.

• Obituaires de Sens Tome II, Prieuré de Saint-Nicaise de Meulan, p. 239.

• The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries By Daniel Power

• Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700 (7th ed., Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992.), 132D-27, 246B-25, Los Angeles Public Library, Gen 974 W426 1992.

• Waters, Robert Edmond Chester. Genealogical Memoirs of the Counts of Eu in Normandy (Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., Whitefriars, E.C., 1886) Page 1

• Again,the below is a mixture of info for Gilbert Brionne & Gilbert Crispin. It needs to be gone through carefully, sorted out and placed on the respective profile ...

Gilbert [Gislebert] was "Surnamed Crispin [for his tightly curled hair], earl of Brionne, in Normandy." He succeeded his father at Brionne as well as at Eu. However, after the death of his father, Godfrey, Count of Eu, he soon quarreled with his uncle, Duke Richard II, and was deprived of his patrimony. Eu was given to William--another of Duke Richard II's bastard sons--and Gilbert was left with only the lordship of Brionne. He afterwards regained his position, and in the reign of duke Robert was in high favor at court, when the castle of Brionne was restored to him.

Gilbert assumed the title of count of Brionne while not relinquishing his claim to Eu. Neither Gilbert nor his descendants ever recovered possession of Eu. Even so, when count William of Eu died shortly before 1040, Gilbert assumed the land and title. Gilbert was selected in 1035, when Duke Robert was starting for the Holy Land, to be one of the guardians of the young count William {the Conqueror}, and for the next five years he was one of the most powerful nobles in Normandy.

His duty to his ward was not unfaithfully discharged, but he abused his position to plunder the orphan heirs of his neighbour, the sieur de Montreuil, and in revenge the "sons of Giroie" cruelly murdered him in 1040, as he was riding peaceably on his mule near Echaufré, "expecting no evil." His cruel death caused his faults to be forgotten and King William the Conqueror retained to the last a kindly recollection of his guardian. When the King on his death bed was recounting the horrors of his early life, he mentioned Count Gilbert, "the father of his country," among the pillars of the state who were perfidiously murdered by his enemies.

After Gilbert's assassination in 1040, his young sons--Richard and Baldwin--were forced to flee Normandy, finding safety at the court of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. When William the Conqueror married Count Baldwin's daughter Matilda, he restored Richard and Baldwin to Normandy, but he did not invest them with either Brionne or Eu or a comital title {the title of Comte [Count]}. William granted the lordships of Bienfaite and Orbec to Richard. Although Gilbert's descendants later pressed a claim for Brionne, it was never restored.

Count Gilbert probably married a relation of the count of Flanders, for his infant sons Richard and Baldwin were taken after his death to that country and were brought up under the protection of Count Baldwin. They returned to their native country when William of Normandy married Matilda of Flanders and, by count Baldwin's intercession, were reinstated in as much of their father's fiefdoms as had not been otherwise disposed of.

Both brothers were in attendance on their kinsman during his conquest of England. The one, as Baldwin de Meules, was left in charge of Exeter on its submission (1068) and made Sheriff of Devonshire. Large estates in Devonshire and Somersetshire are entered to him in Domesday as "Baldwin of Exeter" or "Baldwin the Sheriff."

Richard now obtained the fiefdoms of Bienfaite and Orbec and, after the conquest of England, he was rewarded with 176 Lordships, 95 of which were in Suffolk. Richard also received Tonbridge Castle in Kent as compensation for his hereditary claims to the castle of Brionne. He became known to history as Richard FitzGilbert de Clare. At the same time, Le Sap et Meules were given to Baldwin for his share and he was allowed to marry the King's cousin. His wife, Albreda, was a granddaughter of Duke Richard II and was probably a sister of Guy de Burgundy.

Death: The necrology of Saint-Nicaise de Meulan records the death of "Gislebertus comes Briognensis" as undated but listed among other deaths recorded in March 1040. --Murdered by assassins hired by Raoul de Gace (son of Archbishop Robert) following Robert I Duke of Normandy's death.

Marriage 1 Herleva DE FALAISE (Harlette Lioness DeFalaise) b: 1003 d:1050 in Falaise, Calvados , France Children: Baldwin Fitz-Gilbert of EXETER b: 1039 d. 1090 in Exeter, Devonshi re, England Emma DeConteville 1025 –

Marriage 2 Gunnora D'AUNOU b: 1010 Children:

Lord Richard FitzGilbert DeClare 1000 – 1040

Agnes FitzGilbert 1009 – 1076

Hesilia deBrionne 1015 – 1072

Baldwin Fitz Gilbert DeMoels 1020 – 1053

Elise Crispin 1020 – 1086

Richard de Brionne Fitz Gilbert Ist Clare 1024 – 1089

Richard deTonbridge deClare Fitzgilbert 1024 – 1090

Baldwin FitzGilbert de BRIONNE 1025 – 1090

Emma DeConteville 1025 –

William Crispin I 1025 –

RICHARD FitzGilbert deClare 1030 – 1090

Emma Crispin 1030 – 1072

Richard Fitz Scrob 1030 – 1067

Roger Fitzgilbert 1035 – 1130

Ives Fitzrichard DeRoumare DeTaillebois 1036 –

Ivo DeRoumare DeTaillebois FitzGilbert 1036 – 1094

GILBERT LORD deTELLIERES 1037 – 1058

Ann deClare 1038 –

Ann Fitzgilbert 1038 –

Elise Crispin 1038 – 1072

Gilbert DeCrispin 1038 – 1109

Baldwin Fitz Gilbert Exeter 1039 – 1090

Guillaume I Crespin 1040 –

Osbern DeCailly 1040 – 1107

William I De Braose 1040 – 1089

Emma Crispin 1042 – 1100

Milo Crispin 1046 – 1085

Eleanor Crispin 1118 – Richard Tonebridge FitzGilbert I Earl DE CLARE b: 1035 i n Beinfaite,Normandy, France Elsie Hesilia CRISPIN b: 1038 in France Baldwin FitzGilbert DE MOELS b: 1040 in Meules, Normandy , France Gilbert DE CRISPIN b: 1046 in Normandy, France NAME: DISPLAY Count Gilbert Crispin I of Brionne FORMAT Custom NAME: MIDDLE Crispin I

Marriage 3 Constance de dEu 1009 – 1032

Elise Crispin 1020 – 1086

Richard de Brionne Fitz Gilbert Ist Clare 1024 – 1089

Elise Crispin 1038 – 1072

Emma Crispin 1042 – 1100

Father: Godfrey Fitz-Richard De Brionne b: 967 in Brionne, Normandy, France Mother: Heloise De Guisnes b: 942 in Castle At Guines, Pas-De-Calais, France

Marriage 1 Gunnora "Constance" D' Anjou b: 1009 in Eu, Seine Inferieure, Normandy, France Married: 1020 in France Change Date: 19 Jan 2014 Children Has Children Baldwin Fitz Gilbert Meules De Crispen b: Abt 1025 in Meules, Normandy, France Has Children Richard Fitz Gilbert De Clare b: 1030 in Brionne, Eure, Normany, France Has No Children Emma Crispin b: Abt 1030

Marriage 2 Harlette Herleve "Arlrtte" De Falaise b: 9 Jun 1003 in Falaise, Calvados, Normandy, France Married: Abt 1032 Change Date: 19 Jan 2014 Children Has No Children Hesilia "Elsie" De Crispin b: 1038 in Tilliers, Normandy, France Has No Children Giblert De Crispin b: 1046 in Poix, Picardy, France