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Renaud de Carteret (abt.1063 - abt. 1125)

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Biography

Renaud (also referred to as Rainald, Regnaud or the Anglicised Reginald) is from Carteret, Manche, Normandy. We are not sure who is father was. Katherine Keats-Rohan proposes Drogo de Carteret may have been his father[1]. Alternatively, the Cartulaire des Iles Normandes[2] suggests his father was probably Onfroi de Carteret.

In 1125 Renaud gave by charter the church of St. Germaine in Carteret, with all it's appurtences and with the land of the king's alms belonging to St. Germain in Jersey plus a tithe on his household goods to the Abbey of Mont St. Michel[3]. It is apparent from this charter that he was the Seigneur de Carteret in Manche, Normandy and also held lands in Jersey (see Research Notes).

It is probable that this charter was made shortly before he died, because his eldest son Philippe initially sought to deny his father's gift but in 1135 visited the Abbey of Mont St. Michel accompanied by his mother and brothers and confirmed his fathers wishes, subsequently signing a charter to that effect[4]. This charter also confirms that Renaud was married to Lucia and they probably had three sons, Philippe, Onfroi, and Godefroi.

We don't have primary sources that allow us to estimate Renaud's year of birth or year of marriage to Lucia. However, based on the date of the charters detailed in his profile, his death probably occurred between 1125 and 1135. Cartulaire des Iles Normandes [2] states he died shortly after 1125.

Research Notes

Profile Based on Secondary Sources

Payne's Armorial of Jersey[5] provides a more extensive profile of Renaud de Carteret, although much of the detail is questionable being unconfirmed by prime references. Payne relies heavily on other secondary sources, particularly Arthur Collins A History of the Noble Family of Carteret 1756[6]. Arthur Collins in turn uses other secondary sources such as Gabriel Du Moulin's Histoire Generale de Normandie 1631[7]. He also quotes potential primary sources which cannot be found. These include:

  • Cartularies of the Cathedral of Coutances
  • Cartularies of the Abbeys of Fontenelle (St. Wandrille) and Bec
  • Annals of Normandie
  • Lois (or Lewis) de Couis Histoire des Croisades

Those aspects of Renaud's life that are confirmed by prime references are in the "Profile section" above. Other key points made by a range of secondary sources which cannot yet be confirmed by primary sources are:

  • He lived from abt.1063 to abt. 1125[8][9].
  • He became Seigneur de Carteret and Angeville on the death of his father[5] about 1100[8][9]. It is likely that the Angeville referred to is the former commune of Angoville-sur-Ay on the Cotentin, 24km south of Barneville-Carteret.
  • He is the first De Careret to hold the title of Seigneur of St. Ouen[5]. According to oral tradition he took St Ouen by the sword, the previous occupants being all killed, and built the manor of St Ouen[9]. There is no written evidence to support this claim directly, although he did gift land in St. Germain, Jersey to the abbey of Mont St. Michel in 1125[3] and evidence exists that his son Philippe was the Seigneur de St. Ouen in 1135, just ten years after his father's death[4]. So it follows that the seigneurie de St. Ouen was first gained by either Renaud or his son.
  • Sir Renaud accompanied Robert Courte-heuse, and Godfrey De Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, at the taking of Jerusalem in 1096 and was in the train of the Compte d'Eu[5]. This is unlikely, see the paragraph below headed "1st Crusade".
  • In the archives of Saint Lô exists a charter, dating from the 1st Crusade, on which is found the seal of Renaud de Carteret. This seal shows that during the latter part of the 12th century the de Carterets discarded their non-heraldic "equestrian" seal, and took into use the following arms: Blazon of Gules, en Fess Three Fusier Argent, Etiqueter Azure. (Red Shield, a Horizontal Stripe with Three Silver Lozenges (fusils) with a Blue Label). The 'Etiqueter Azure', or blue label, is a device of cadency (brisure) used by a first son. A label is removed on the death of the father, and the son inherits the plain coat. This proves that his father was still alive in 1099[8]. These facts are unlikely, see the paragraph below headed "Coat of Arms".

1st Crusade

It is unlikely Sir Renaud was on the 1st Crusade as his name is not included by reliable sources in the contingents of either Robert Courte-heuse[10] or Godfrey De Bouillon[11]. Nor is he in the database of Crusaders to the Holy Land |1095 - 1149 compiled by the University of Leeds[12].

Coat of Arms

It is more likely that Sir Renaud was the first Carteret to adopt an equestrian seal rather than heraldic arms. According to Jean-François Nieus[13] general use of seals on the Cotentin occurred between 1101-1125.

Sources

  1. Keats-Rohan, Katherine Domesday People: A prosopography of Persons occurring in English Documents 1066-1166, vol 1 Domesday Book p.180 (not available online )
  2. 2.0 2.1 Cartulaire des Iles Normandes : recueil de documents concernant l'histoire de ces îles. Jersey : Société Jersiaise, 1924..P56, Charter No. 37 (accessed 5 Feb 2023) not available on line
  3. 3.0 3.1 Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, illustrative of of the history of Great Briton and Ireland, Vol 1 A.D. 918-1206, edited by J. Horace Round, M.A., Published by authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1899, digitised by the Internet Archive (accessed 9 Dec 2022) Page 262
  4. 4.0 4.1 Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, illustrative of of the history of Great Briton and Ireland, Vol 1 A.D. 918-1206, edited by J. Horace Round, M.A., Published by authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1899, digitised by the Internet Archive (accessed 9 Dec 2022), Page 263
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 j. Bertram Payne 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 1859 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 (accessed 8 Dec 2022) Page 67
  6. Collins, Arthur. A history of the noble family of Carteret, existing before the reign of William the Conqueror. With the most Memorable Actions, and Achievements, 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. By Arthur Collins, Esq; Author of the Peerage of England, &c. &c. London: [s.n.], Printed in the Year 1756. Eighteenth Century Collections Online (accessed December 7, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CW0101139929/ECCO?u=nla&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=3b7d8730&pg=22
  7. Du Moulin, Gabriel.Histoire générale de Normandie. France: Osmont, 1631, digitised by Google 2010 (accessed 12 Nov 2022) Page 12
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Jerripedia, online database of Channel Islands hosted by Mike Bisson (accessed 12 Dec 2022) https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Renaud_de_Carteret_I
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Le Cercle De Carteret online database of Carteret family tree (accessed 17 Aug 2022) http://database.decarteret.org.uk/wc02/wc02_141.htm
  10. Charles Wendell David Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy volume XXV of the "Harvard Historical Studies". Database online (accessed 8 Nov 2022) Gutenberg
  11. Alan V Murray The army of Godfrey of Bouillon, 1096-1099 : Structure and dynamics of a contingent on the First Crusade. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 70, fasc. 2, 1992. Histoire médiévale, moderne et contemporaine — Middeleeuwse, moderne en hedendaagse geschiedenis. Database online (accessed 8 Nov 2022) Pages 301 - 329
  12. Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land |1095 - 1149 compiled by the University of Leeds Database online (accessed 8 Nov 2022) https://www.dhi.ac.uk/crusaders/
  13. Jean-François Nieus EARLY ARISTOCRATIC SEALS: AN ANGLO-NORMAN SUCCESS STORY, Université de Namur, database online (accessed 19 Nov 2022) Pp 7-8 https://www.academia.edu/16796038/Early_Aristocratic_Seals_An_Anglo_Norman_Success_Story?email_work_card=view-paper




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Hi Susie, John & Mike,

I've been following up on the pages from the Keats-Rohan publications John sent me regarding the relationship between Drogo and Renaud's son Philippe [DE_Carteret-140]. I am still chasing up some of her sources, but it seems to me this will not affect Renaud's profile, so I've moved the issue to Philippe's FSP (Space:Philippe De Carteret (abt. 1085 - abt. 1156)).

I think I've gone as far as possible with this profile at the moment and suggest it is suitable for updating [De_Carteret-141]. Could you please give it a final review & comments.

Could you also give (Space:Philippe De Carteret (abt. 1085 - abt. 1156) a first review & provide feedback please.

Regards Alan

posted on Renaud de Carteret ( (merged) by Alan Davis
Hi Alan, 1st and 2nd citation are duplicated I think. The Drogo section is empty - still researching?

It's been great cricket hasn't it! SusieO.

posted on Renaud de Carteret ( (merged) by Susie (Potter) Officer
Hi Susie, The 2nd citation is now corrected to the correct page. Drogo is still being researched. I am awaiting some copies of Keats-Rohan's articles regarding Drogo from John so I can investigate further. I have another reference which suggests Drogo may have been appointed by Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances to oversee his interests in SW England. At this point my view is that it is more logical that Drogo was Mauger's son and left his estates to his cousin Philippe because he had no children himself. I think we should consider Drogo as part of a close knit extended family rather than in terms of just father/son relationship.

Thanks for your comments, Alan

posted on Renaud de Carteret ( (merged) by Alan Davis
Hi John,

The 2nd test was convincing, eh? Pat Cummins seems to be riding a big wave at the moment Yet to be tested I think, but I do like the way things are going.

Thanks for your comments. I've made the easy adjustments. Also realised I was still too close to my work (Michael previously said the same), so I've cut out the 'Taking of St Ouen' and tweeked the other bits to hopefully make it clearer what my point is. If it's still too fuzzy let me know - I'm happy with straight talk.

Your correct about the 1135 charter mentioning Lucia & Philippe's brothers. I misread Michael's comments & thought he had the full transcript of the 1125 charter which showed them as witnesses too, but on re-reading I suspect I'm wrong so I've adjusted the profile.

I came across Drogo several months ago in Open Domesday and Keats-Rohan 'Domesday people : a prosopography of persons occurring in English documents, 1066-1166'. My info comes from pages 180 & 273, but I haven't got a copy of her book, so I'd appreciate the scans you offered.

- I can’t find any separate information regarding Drogo de Cartrai. If he was a son of Mauger it is unlikely he was at Hastings as Mauger himself was a new knight & only 21years old (according to Wace). That relationship doesn't explain why Drogo had so much more land than Mauger or Onfroi(Humphrey). Is it possible that Mauger & Onfroi transferred most of their holdings to Drogo to manage as they were back in Normandy?

- There is clearly a family relationship somewhere with Drogo's holdings passing to Renaud's son Philippe.

We need to find some dusty old cartularies!! Alan

posted on Renaud de Carteret ( (merged) by Alan Davis
edited by Alan Davis
Hello Alan,

Thanks for working on this. Now the latest Test match is over, I'll add some comments.

- It's the 1135 charter, where Lucy as Philip's mother and Godfrey and Humphrey as his brothers are signatories, none of them are named or confirmed in the 1125 charter, at least as far as we know.

- I would move the section 'Estimate of Key Life Dates' to the biography section, and it might not need a separate heading,

- I know it's difficult because you haven't actually seen the source, but I would mention that because Philip held 13 or 14 knight's fees in 1166, that had been held by Drogo de Carteret in the Domesday Book, Renaud as the intermediate person, is thought to be Drogo's son. I'm happy to scan those sections of Keats-Rohan's books and send them to you.

- With the Research sections (a minor point but the heading should be Research Notes) there seems to be some repetition there that might not be needed. For instance in the first section there is a short paragraph about the 'taking of St Ouen' and the fact there is no evidence, then there is a much longer section (which doesn't cite any sources) which comes to the same conclusion?

- You might also need to think about what you are wanting to achieve with the Research section? There is obvious value in discussing facts, for which there is some evidence, but nothing concrete - Drogo as the father of Renaud for instance, or in debunking information that is found all over the Internet, that we know or are fairly sure is incorrect. Reading the Research section, I must admit to being a bit puzzled as to what conclusions you were trying to make? But it could just be my fuzzy brain. :)

posted on Renaud de Carteret ( (merged) by John Atkinson
edited by John Atkinson