Mauger (Carteret) de Carteret (abt. 1045)

Born about 1045 in Carteret, Manche, Normandie, France

Ancestors

Biography

It is possible that Mauger and his elder brother Onfroi fought with William the Conqueror at Hastings (see Research Notes), but there is no reliable source to demonstrate this.

We do know that some twenty years after Hastings, Mauger appeared in Domesday Book holding lands in England which were acquired some time between 1066 and 1087^[1]. This shows Mauger holding land in Devon, Dorset and Somerset in 1086, with one piece of land directly from the king as tenant-in-chief and the other lands held from Robert de Mortain, the tenant-in-chief.

Mauger had a son, Drogo, who was mentioned in Domesday as Drogo FitzMauger (Son of Mauger) from Valognes, Normandy, the same as Onfroi and Mauger. Valognes was a fortified stronghold on the Contentin peninsular less than 30km from Carteret.

Research Notes

Parentage

Primary reference of Mauger’s birth have not been found but according to some internet sources^[2] and older books (see additional reading) he is said to be the son of Godefroi de Carteret.

Battle of Hastings

Although it cannot be confirmed, there is a possibility Mauger, together with his older brother Onfroi, took part in the Battle of Hastings in the forces of William the Conqueror. Mauger and his older brother Onfroi are mentioned in Wace's Roman de Rou:

E de Bohun, lo vieil Onfrei,

De Cartrai, Onfrei e Maugier,

Ki etoit novel chevalier.

Wace is considered unreliable by most modern historians, so his writing cannot be accepted as proof of fact. Professor Douglas was critical of Wace's list in that some names mentioned as being at Hastings can be shown to have been absent and others that were there are not mentioned.

Professor Douglas compiled a list of provisional and likely companions in his Companions of the Conqueror^[3] and did not consider there was sufficient evidence to place any Carteret on that list.

More recently, Professor Elisabeth Van Houts^[4] in her Wace as Historian concludes "...the likelihood of [Mauger and Onfroi] having taken part in the battle of Hastings is very great indeed". However her research would indicate that some of Wace’s information comes from oral witnesses, the grandchildren or great grandchildren of those who fought at Hastings, as particularly with the Carteret family, there are no existing written sources to confirm their involvement in Norman history of that period.

Conclusion: It is possible that one or more members of the Carteret family fought at Hastings, but there is no reliable source to demonstrate this: the same can be said of members of umpteen other families.

Drogo, son of Mauger

In her book Domesday People: A prosopography of Persons occurring in English Documents 1066-1166, vol 1 Domesday Book Katharine Keats-Rohan, p.180 has a Drogo de Cartrai (Carteret). He holds lands in the Domesday Book mostly in Devon, and is a son of Mauger de Cartrai. She thinks Humphrey de Cartrai is a kinsman of Drogo’s probably his brother. This would mean that Mauger is Humphrey’s father not his younger brother.

Keats-Rohan goes on to propose that it is Drogo who is the father of Rainald de Carteret, and grandfather of Philip de Carteret, not Onfroi/Humprhey as has been shown on WikiTree in the past. This may be based on the fact that Philip de Carteret is holding 14 fees in 1166 which were formally held by Drogo. There is an entry for Humfrid de Cartrai on p. 273 of the same volume, but no mention of descendants, just “probably son of Mauger and brother of Drogo” and also an entry for Malger de Cartrai on p. 293 “probably the father of Drogo de Cartrai and Humphrey de Cartrai”.

Sources

1. ↑ Powell-Smith, Anna. Open Doomsday, database online (accessed 17 Aug 2022) https://opendomesday.org/name/mauger-of-carteret/
2. ↑ Jerripedia, website of Jersey’s people, places and heritage (accessed 20 Nov 2022) https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/De_Carteret_biographies
3. ↑ Douglas, Professor David. Companions of the Conqueror published in "History", the Journal of the Historical Association (Vol. XXVIII, pp. 129-147) September 1943, not available online
4. ↑ Van Houts, Elizabeth M C. Wace as Historian, in ‘Family Trees and the Roots of Politics: The Prosopagraphy of Britain and France from the Tenth to the Twelfth Century, ed. by K S B Keats-Rohan, 1997, pp.104-132, not available online

See also:

• Du Moulin, Gabriel. Histoire générale de Normandie Published by Jean Osmont, Rouen 1631. Digitised for the internet by BnF Gallica https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8716583f.texteImage
• Collins, Arthur. A history of the noble family of Carteret, existing before the reign of William the Conqueror. With the most Memorable Actions, and Atchievements, of the principal Persons thereof, Humbly Inscribed to the Right Honourable John, Earl Granville. Collected from records, authentick manuscripts, our most approved Historians, and other Authorities, therein cited. Published by [sn] London 1756. Digitised for internet by Eighteenth Century Collections Online  https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=ECCO&u=nla&id=GALE|CW0101139929&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-ECCO&sPage=22&asid=3b7d8730
• Plees W. An Account of the Island of Jersey Published by T Baker, Southampton 1817, digitised for the internet by Google Books https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/An_account_of_the_island_of_Jersey/ZmEUAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
• Payne, James Bertrand. An Armorial of Jersey: being an account, heraldic and antiquarian, of its chief native families, with pedigrees, biographical notices, and illustrative data; to which are added a brief history of heraldry, and remarks on the mediaeval antiquities of the island. Published by A H Jack 1859. Digitised by the Internet Archive 2008 https://archive.org/details/armorialofjersey00paynrich/mode/1up
• Dupont, Gustav Jules. Histoire du Cotentin et de ses îles, Tome 1. Published by F. Le Blanc-Hardel, Caen 1870, Digitised by Google https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Histoire_du_Cotentin_et_de_ses_%C3%AEles/cLFCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en
• Dupont, Gustav Jules. Histoire du Cotentin et de ses îles, Tome2. Published by F. Le Blanc-Hardel, Caen 1873, Digitised by Google https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Histoire_du_Cotentin_et_de_ses_%C3%AEles/t6RCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en

Acknowledgements

• Thank you to Alan Davis for his work on this profile, and to John Atkinson for his input.