1. Gilbert Crispin I., held the border fortress of Tillieres as vassal of Gilbert de Brionne. He m. Gunnora d’Anet (I suggest), which would answer M. Le Prevost’s statement that there was an apparent association between the Crispin and FitzOsborn family, without the basis of that association being known. (‘Ordericus Vitalis’, ed. le Prevost et. al., p. 398, 1840). Gunnora d’Anet was the da. of Fulk d’Anet, from the vil of Anet, south of Ivry, son of a sister of Osborn de Crépon, who married Emma, da. of Raoul d’Ivri (Count Rodolph), uterine brother of Duke Richard I.
1.1. Hesilia Crispin, m. William Malet (Monasticon 3.405). His caput was Graville-sur-Honorine, near Le Havre, which had previously formed part of the Giffards barony, centred on Montvilliers.
1.1.1. Robert Malet, held the fief of Collavilla, near Harfleur, Seine-Inf. (Held by Jean Malet in 1349; see Revue historique de la noblesse, vol. 2, p. 392, 1841). “La route de Fécamp à Valmont, et celle de Valmont à Fécamp, en passant par Colleville, le Bec de Mortagne, pour l’aller, et pour le retour par Guerheville et Daubeuf” (Journal pour tous”, vol. xi., 1862). Domesday shows “Gilbert de Colavilla” as a considerable undertenant of Robert Malet at Rendlesham; he also held under Robert Malet’s mother, Hesilia Crispin (DB/Sf 6/19-21, 29-30, 34-37, etc.).
1.1.2. Gilbert Malet, among the few who were spared by the Danes sacking of York.
1.2. Gilbert Crispin II., alias Colavilla, held the border fortress of Damville as vassal of Richard de Clare, son of Gilbert de Brionne, and brother of Baldwin de Clare. A charter (undated) of Henry II. confirmed the gifts to Bec made by Baldwin de Clare, and his assent to the gifts of (1) Fulk d’Anet and his sister, Albreda; (2) William Crispin, who donated tithes of Druecort; (3) Roger, son of Richard de Clare, who donated tithes of “Colleville“; and (4) William Malet, who donated tithes of Conteville. (See Mon. Ang. II., 953). Fulk d’Anet and his sister, Albreda, donated tithes of “Mesnillo Simonis” to Bec. That is, “Fulconis de Aneto”, not d’Anou. Gilbert Crispin I’s vassal, William Pacy, held land in Mesnil Simon.
1.3. William Crispin, alias Colleville, held Druecort in Normandy. “Le nombre de fiefs relevant de l’église de Fécamp était considérable, et les possesseurs de fiefs rendaient foi et hommage à l’abbaye et s’obligeaient à lui appartenir, à défendre ses intérêts en toutes choses, à se réunir trois et quatre fois par an aux hommes de l’abbé, pour aller au besoin au delà de la Seine et des mers, venger les injures et les torts faits à l’église de Fécamp. Au reste, le service militaire était obligatoire non-seulement pour les vassaux de l’abbaye, mais encore pour les moines et pour l’abbé, qui devait se trouver à toutes les prises d’armes à la tête de ses hommes.11 était porté sur les rôles du ban et de l’arrièreban, et Fallue rapporte qu’au combat de Bouvines, on vit les abbés de Fécamp combattre auprès des Estouteville, des Guillaume Crépin et des Robert Malet” (Henri Gourdon de Genouillac, Histoire de l’abbaye de Fécamp, p. 122, 1875). According to Dudo, Richard I was born at Fécamp; and was buried in the Abbey he founded there, along with his sons, Robert and Richard II.
Some of the Norman elite can be identified when the method by which they formed familial associations is understood – “Foedus inter consobinos heredes” – inheritance (and close tenurial association) passing down non-consanguineous lines of cousins; a necessary element of colonisation in a hostile environment.
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