1. Rollo.

1.1. William, m. (more danico) Sprota. She m. (2) Esperleng, having ‘Rodulphum … et filias plures, quae posteà per Normanniam Nobilium matrimonio sunt copulatae’ (Will. Gemet, Historia). Thus, it was claimed, Rolph de Ivri’s many sisters were the bloodline of Norman families of nobility.

This is similar to the claim made for Gunnor’s “many nieces”, and is a result of the Norman chroniclers being propagandists for their masters, weaving the elite into a tapestry which had at its heart the ducal family. Justification to rule was claimed by such links, and, consequently its God-given nature – a common claim of ruling tyrannies for centuries to come. It is easier to decode the chronicler’s propaganda message than to make sense of the glaring inconsistencies within and between their accounts – moreso when compared to the Norse Sagas.

1.1.1. Richard, m. Gunnor.
1.1.1.1. Richard, Duke of Normandy, 996-1026.
1.1.1.1.1. Robert, Duke of Normandy, 1027-1035.
1.1.1.1.1.1. William, Duke of Normandy, 1035-1087, and king of England, 1066-1087.
1.1.1.2. Emma m. Cnut, king of England, 1016-1035, and Denmark, 1018-1035; son of Swein Forkbeard, king of Denmark, 986-1014, and England, 1013-1014. Cnut’s sister, Estrith, m. Jarl Ulf, son of Jarl Thorgils, and br. of (1) Gytha, the wife of Godwine, Earl of Wessex; they the parents of (1) Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor, Harold, king of England, 1066, Tostig, Gyrth, and Leofwine. Jarl Ulf and Estrith had issue, Swein, king of Denmark, 1047-1076. (2) Eilaf Thorgilsson.

Thorgils Sprakling was a Danish chieftain, around whom a great deal of myth-making, has ocurred, such as giving him as the father of Fulbert of Falaise. Knitlinga Saga gives an account of him being the son of Thyra, dau. of king Harald Gormsson, of Denmark (born ca. 935; died 986), and Styrbjorn, son of king Olaf Bjornarson, of Sweden. In this regard, he was a dynastic link; his descendants, thus, being throne-worthy.

Eilaf Thorgilsson (born ca. 980) is recorded as being in the Scandinavian army which invaded England in 1006. His father was born ca. 955. Any (Danish) relationship between his family and that of Gunnor and Herfast is unknown, though not improbable.

Returning to:

1. Rolph de Ivri, who m. Eremberg.
1.1. One of their daus, Emma, m. Osbern, son of Herfast, br. of Gunnor, wife of Richard I. A charter of Herfast points to him inheriting (or being given) land by his brother-in-law:

‘In nomine Domini. Ego Arefastus notum esse volo omnibus christianis, quia res hereditatis meae Sancto Petro concedo Carnotensi cœnobio, pro salute mea et antecessorum meorum nec non et pro salute comitis Richardi et matris sua Gonnoridis’ etc.

Herfast, ante 1028, gave to St Pere de Chartres a third of ‘Torgis Villa (farmstead of a Scandinavian chief named Thorgils, Turgis), identified as Teurteville-Hague, canton Octeville, by M. Guerard (ed., Cartulaire de I’abbaye de Saint-Pere de Chartres, ed., pp. 108-15, 1840).

1.1.1. William and Osborn. They donated land to S. Trinité de Rouen, with the consent of “matre eorum Emma”, for the soul of their father:

‘Christi fidelibus pateat quod Willelmus et frater ejus Osbernus, annuente matre eorum Emma, pro anima patris sui Osberni, cognomento Pacifici, et pro semetipsis, totam terram quam Herchembaldus vicecomes et Turoldus, comitissae Gunnoris camerarius, de illis tenebant, sanctae et individual Trinitati Rotomagensi, abbate Isemberto praesente, jure hereditario tradiderunt. Quam donationem Willelmus, dux Normannorum, laudavit, et manu propria roboravit. Sed, quia terra supradicti Erchembaldi magna ex parte in vadimonio erat, abbas predictus de ejusdem Sanctae Trinitatis pecunia redemit earn, datis scilicet pro S. Jacobi terra duodecim libris denariorum, et aliis duodecim libris pro Sanctae Trinitatis capella, et quatuor libris et uno equo pro Pissei terra, et pro terra de Pleiediz viginti quatuor libris denariorum; quosreceperunt Croco et Erchembaldus, filii ejus‘.

Signum ejusdem Willelmi , comitis. Signum Willelmi , filii Osberni. Signum Osberni, fratris ejus. Signum, matris eorum, quorum est haec donatio. Signum Croci , filli supradicti Erchembaldi. Signum Erchembaldi, fratris ejus. Signum Godeboldi. Signum Daneboldi. Signum Ansfredi, filii Osberni. Signum Gisleberti, filii Turgisi. Signum Rogerii, filii Salomonis. Signum Normanni de Pleiediz.

This charter is probably dated between 1047, when Duke William quashed a rebellion, and 1060, when his power was more fully established.

The signatories are part of the Norman elite, whose land-ownings were usually centred around kinship connections of some sort – a known of the mostly unknown.

Whoever Gilbert was is of the unknown. If he was a younger son of Jarl Thorgils (Turgis), he would have had the necessary connections to have married into the Norman elite; this probably being a prerequisite. He would also have had some connection to the Saxon elite, as did the family of Malet.

copyright m stanhope 2018