Baldric (Bauquencey) de Bocquencé (abt. 1030 - 1100)

Ancestors

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Biography

Baudri or Baldric of Lindsey, or de Bocquencé, was a son of Baldric "the German" (teutonicus) who arrived in Normandy before 1026.^[1]

Baldric (the son) apparently died by about 1091-1101, because his wife Billehildis made a grant in France in that period.^[2][3] Billehildis the wife of Baldric also made a grant of Cheshire lands (Peckforton) to St Werburgh in Cheshire "Billeheld uxor Baldrici [gave] Pecfortunam", thus confirming that Baldric the tenant of the Earl of Cheshire, was the same as Baldric of Bocquencé.^[4]

In England, George Sitwell proposed, and Keats-Rohan among others accepts, that Baldwin had a son Richard who was holding Hemingby in Lincolnshire in 1115/1118 when the Lindsey survey was compiled. This had been held by a Baldric in 1086 for Domesday Book. The identity of these Baldrics seems confirmed because that Baldric gave land to Saint-Evroult in Farforth and Oxcomb. This was confirmed by Count Ranulf of Chester about 1121-1129, and that was witnessed by Baldric's son named Richard.^[5][2][6]

In 1086, when Domesday Book was made, Baldric therefore apparently held several lands in Lincolnshire under Hugh, the earl of Chester:

• https://opendomesday.org/name/baldric-of-lindsey/
• https://domesday.pase.ac.uk/Domesday?op=5&personkey=49619

In a reply to a criticism by J. H. Round, doubting that Baldric of Lindsey and Cheshire were the same person, Stilwell pointed out that the Baldric in Lincolnshire and the Baldric of Cheshire and Bocquence (the husband of Billeheldis), were not only both tenants of the Earl of Cheshire, but also both families who made grants to Saint-Evroult.^[7]

Two sons are named in the French grant of Billehildis:^[2]

• Robert, lord of Bocquencé in the period 1091-1101 when his mother was a widow. Orderic Vitalis implies that Robert was still lord there in his time.^[8]
• Baldric

Perhaps Baldric of Lindsey's son Richard, who as Round pointed out is not mentioned by Billehildis, had a different mother?

Research notes

Although Keats-Rohan says Baldric of Lindsey was the same as Baldric de Bosco, her own source, Judith Green, says these two men must be distinguished, and suggests that Baldric de Bosco was a son of Nicholas of Basqueville, and therefore a nephew of Baldric of Lindsey.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Orderic Vitalis reported that the sons of Baldric the german were Nicolas de Baqueville, Foulques d'Aunou, Robert de Courcy, Richard de Neuville, Baudry de Bocquencé and Viger de Apulia. See Orderic Vitalis (Prévost ed.), Vol. II, Book III, V, pp. 75-76. (See also English translation https://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalhi01orde/page/428/mode/2up)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, pp. 35, 86 and 160.
3. ↑ The charter is given in Provost's edition of Orderic, Vol. V, Appendix, VI Rotulus primus monasterii sancti Ebrulfi, III, p.184
4. ↑ Cheshire grant: https://archive.org/details/Chartersoftheearlsofchester/page/41/mode/2up
5. ↑ Barraclough, The Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, https://archive.org/details/Chartersoftheearlsofchester/page/19/mode/2up, charter 11
6. ↑ George Sitwell, "The origin of the Lindseys", The Genealogist, vol 12. https://archive.org/details/genealogist12lond/page/n15/mode/2up
7. ↑ Sitwell's reply, The Genealogist, volume 13. https://archive.org/details/genealogist13lond/page/18/mode/2up
8. ↑ Orderic Vitalis, Book 3, [Latin https://archive.org/details/ordericivitalish02ordeuoft/page/74/mode/2up], English translation.
9. ↑ John Gillingham and J.C. Holt, editors. War and Government in the Middle Ages: Essays in Honour of J.O. Prestwich, p.50 (footnote) and p.62 (pedigree) https://archive.org/details/wargovernmentinm0000unse/

• Medieval Lands - FAMILY of BALDRIC