BELFOU, CADURCIS, CRAVANT, CUNELLE, AND DASTIN

(Something from my personal notes, at this quiet and strange time, in which I wish all to be well).

What follows leads to the family of Dastin, that also took the toponym of Cunelle, from a fief they held of their overlords, the Crispin family. To better understand the relationship between these families, and that of Albert de Cravant, it may be relevant to consider his family in the wider context of them being a branch of the seigneurs of “Isle Bouchard”.

The oldest of the most honest voices tell us that we can not know anything of the true descent of the premier family of “Isle Bouchard”. A chronological account of the seigneurie of “Isle Bouchard” can be deduced from ancient charters, but the same informs little as to genealogy – a father, a uncle, a son, a nephew, who knows? Within this labrynth of supposition may be gleaned a strand of this seigneurie; the family of Cadurcis (Chourses – Chaworth, in England).

The following construction of their lineage has not been taken from any “voices of old”, a mere copy of their suppositions, but is given as a result of reading the relevant cartularies in which they are mentioned, and applying the most relevant of questions in genealogical enquiry – are recorded instances of connections between families repeated in future generations; that is, is there any proof of “continuation of association”? It is this factor, and this alone, which suggests the origin of families, where “proof” is missing, or relies on the accounts of the chroniclers (propagandists) of the Norman Dukes, which is not really “proof” at all, but is taken as sacrasant by those who “validate” their work with reference – the modern taste format over substance.

BELFOU, CADURCIS, CRAVANT, CUNELLE, AND DASTIN

1. …
1.I. Ernaud de Brisay (Brisiaco), lord of Brisay in Touraine, born ca. 960, lord of Cadurcis (Chourses), in Maine.
1.1.1. Simon de Brisay, a witness in 1050 of the foundation charter of the priory of Saint-André de Mirebeau. (Cart. de Bourgueil).
1.1.1.1. Payen de Brisay, witnessed (with Robert de Blois and (n.b.) Guillaume de Rivière), a charter by which the sons of Renaud Maingot confirmed a donation made to the abbey of Noyers by Cadelon, son of Boson de Forniols, which was ratified at Isle-Bouchard by Garnier Maingot, in the presence of Boson, viscount of Châtellerauld (Cart. Abb. Noyers).
1.2. Hugues de Cadurcis (Chourses), witnessed (with Foucaud de Chevillé, Drogon de Saint-Denis, Habis de Chastillon, Garin l’Entrâmes, Robert de Montpinton, Lisiard d’Arquenay, and others), the foundation charter of the priory of Saint-Martin de Laval, made by Gui (see as follows), lord of Laval, and his children, Hamon, Hildelinde, Agnes, Hildeburge, Gui, and Gervais. (Cart. Marmoutier, t. iii, fol. 2 and 3).
1.2.1. Burchard, fl. 1020.
1.2.1.1. Burchard, d. 1070, succeded to the lands of his father at a young age, and was placed under the tutelage of his uncle:
1.2.2. Geffroi “Fuel”.

1.3. Burchard de Cadurcis (Chourses), witnessed (with Geoffroi Martel, count of Anjou, Eudes, son of Etienne II, count of Blois, Gui de Preuilly, Artaud de Bourgogne, Morin de Bretagne, and others), a donation made ca. 1045 to the monastery of Tavant, diocese of Tours, by Geoffroi, nicknamed “Fuel”, seigneure of Isle Bouchard, of the customs he had in Tavant, near his castle, and various pieces of land located in Lentigny, Cravant, Rambicornant, Anché, and Sazilly. (Cart. Marmoutier, t. ii., p. 287). He is named “Burchard de Chourses” in a charter of donation made to the priory of Laval (ca. 1050), by Gui, lord of Laval; other witnesses being “Guillaume, count of Normandy, Rivalon of Donges, Richard, viscount of Avranches, Ranulfe, viscount of Bayeux, Gautier Tyrel, Hamon of Laval, son of Gui, Lisiard d’Auvers”. (Cart. Marmoutier, t. iii., fol. iii.).
1.3.1. Patric de Cadurcis (Chourses). Cart. Abbey of la Couture, le Mans: “Notification by Patrick de Cadurcis and his wife Mathildis (de Hesdin) that they give and grant to the abbey of St. Pierre de la Couture (de Cultura) and the monks there serving God the church of Dedintona with all its appurtenances for the weal of their souls and those of their predecessors, and of their sons, and specially for the soul of Ernulf de Hodine (Hesdin), who held before them the land which they now hold, and for the weal of the soul of William father of their lord Henry (I.), and of another William his son, and for the weal of the soul and body of their most blessed king Henry”.

Patri de Chaources et Payen son fils, donnent à l’abbaye de S.-Vincent tout ce qu’ils possèdent dans l’église de Beaufai (Bello-Fago); ils scellent l’acte de leurs sceaux, en présence de l’évêque Hamelin, du doyen Nicolas, etc. ; Patrieius et Paganus de Chaureiis filius ejus … dedimus et concessimus in perpetuam elemosinam Deo et beato Vincentio Cenomanensi id juris quod hahebamus in ecclesia de Bellifagio … actum coram domino Hamelino tunc tempore episcopo … Micholao decano Cenomanensi. (Arch. Sart.).

Beaufai (Bello-Fago) is also recorded as Belfagium (Cart. S. Vinc.); synonomous with Bellofaeto. In 796, Bishop Merode granted it to Wilibert: “Domnus Karolus gloriosus rex villam sancti Gervasi Belfaidum, vicum publicum”. In the 9th century, “Belfaidissis Vicaria” included the parishes of Fyé, Béru, Mont-Saint-Jean, Crannes-sur-Fraubé, etc. In 900, Louis le Simple confirmed to the monastery of Saint-Evroul that which he owned in Béru, in “vicaria Belfaidisse”. (Ampl. Coll., I, 256.) In 1128, Henry I. granted to the abbey of Saint-Evroul two messuages of land in the parish of Fyé … “apud Belfai“. (Gal. Christ., XI. Inst. 207.)

Beaufai is situated in the parish of Ballon (arr. Beaumont-le-Vicomte, ca. 10 mls fr. le Mans); a fief in the posession of Herbert, Count of Maine in 1031, which later passed to the family of Cadurces.

1.3.2. Albert de Cravant, donated land in Mateneio to the church of Saint-Hilaire de Blaru in 1052, a gift approved by Pierre, son of Odard de Vernon,* with the consent of his suzerain lord, Simon de Neaufles; of which place, William Crispin II. was castelan.*Domesday tenant of Ralph de Bello-Fago.

Albert de Cravant m. Aubree, da. of Hugh, Archbishop of Bayeux, son of Rodolf d’Ivri. (See Astrid Lemoine-Descourtieux, La Frontière normande de l’Avre: From the founding of Normandy, p. 100, 2011).

COUNTS AND VICE-COUNTS OF MAINE

1. …
1.1. “Rodulfi vicecomitis”, in 967 witnessed a charter by which “Girardus” donated property to Tours Saint-Julien. He was probably appointed “vicecomitis” by Hugh I., Count of Maine (See Boussard, Mayenne Arch. Hist. 3, pp. 242-3, 1981).
1.1.1. Rodulf/Raoul, m. (1) Godehildis, probable dau. of Yves de Bellême, (2) Gunnor … Yves de Bellême was probably the son of Yves de Creil, who saved the young Richard 1 (uterine br. of Rodolf d’Ivri) fom being killed by King Louis IV of France, Yve de Creil’s overlord. Yves held Bellême was a vassal of the Count of Maine in the Sonnois. That is, Hugh II, Count of Maine.

This might suggest the ancestry of Richard de Bello-Fago, who m. a sister of Rodolf d’Ivri, and, thus, must have been of a family of the highest rank. As heretofore given, Beufou/Belfai/Bello-Fago was held at an early time by the Counts of Main, and, if Richard de Bello-Fago was a younger son of Hugh II, Count of Maine, and br. of Herbert, Count of Maine (in 991), then, the social qualification is met, and, as importantly, also a political/familial one: Herbert’s wife was probably the sister of Judith de Rennes, the wife of Richard II, Duke of Normandy, son of Richard I.

It was by such entangled networks that the Norman dukes consolidated their power. Marriages between the families under discussion were arranged as peace treaties, or to create alliances as a bullwark against rival factions. An example of this was the marriage of William Crispin II. to a dau. of Raoul Mauvoisin, sealing an alliance between two powerful (Norman/French) frontier lords, and, by extension, securing the territorial holdings of the Norman dukes.

Yves de Bellême was the father of William (Talvas) de Belesme, who m. a dau. of Rodulf III, Vicomte of Maine; their dau., Mabile, m. Roger de Montgomery; their dau., Maud,* m. Robert de Mortaine (son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva, mother of Duke William); their dau., Denise de Mortain, m. Gui, count of Laval.* *Maud m. (2) Richard FitzRichard de Clare (overlord of the Crispin family of Damville and Cunelle); (3) Gervaise de Châteauneuf, son of Albert de Châteauneuf, son of Ribauld de Thimerais (de Chateauneuf, de Brezolles). Gilbert Crispin II. m. a dau. of Ribauld, and became enfeoffed at Brezolles, naming a son, Ribaud, and Armentieres.

1.1.1.1. Rodulf III, Vicomte of Maine.
1.1.1.1.1. … m. William (Talvas) Belesme.
1.1.1.2. Geoffrey. “Le premier Seigneur de Laval dont le nom soit appuyé sur des titres authentiques, est Geoffroy-Guy, appelé Potentissimum dominum de Valle dans une charte d’Avesgaud, évêque du Mans. Elle porte la date de la cinquième année du règne du roi Robert (1002). (Martin Foucaul, “Seigneurs de Laval”). What is suggested here is that the first “two” Gui de Lavals have been compounded, with Gui, count of Laval being the son of Geoffrey de Sable.
1.1.1.2.1. Gui, count of Laval (overlord of the Cadurcis family in Bello-Fago, in 1031), m. Bertha de Tosni, sister of Robert, lord of Belvoir. William Crispin I., ob. ante 1084, m. Eve de Montfort, whose niece, Isabel de Montfort, m. Ralph de Tosny, br. of Robert de Tosny, Baron of Belvoir (Dictionnaire de la noblesse, p. 583, 1772). They were the sons of Roger ‘the Spaniard’ de Tosny, who, In 1013, with his father, Rodolf, guarded the castle at Tillières for Richard II., Duke of Normandy. A few years later, they were forced into exile, and the defence of Tillières was given to Gilbert Crispin 1. Adeliza de Tosny, sister of Ralph and Robert, m. William FitzOsborn.

MARRIAGES AS POLITICAL ALLIANCE

1. Sprotta (Scand. Sprottr), concubine of William Longsword.
1.1. Richard I., m. Gunnor, his former concubine.
1.1.1. Richard II., ‘the Great Prince’.
1. Sprotta, m. (2) Asperlenc.
1.1. Raoul (Rodolph) d’Ivri.
1.1.1. Hugh, Archbishop of Bayeux. Between 1042-1049, Hugh gave Celloville, that is Serlos villa (Seine-Maritime, cant. de Boos), and Sahurs (Seine-Maritime, cant. Grand-Couronne), to St Amand. (See Pierre Bauduin, ‘La première Normandie’, p. 206, 2004).
1.1.1.1. Aubree, m. Albert de Cravant.
1.1.1.1.1. Raoul, died in the lifetime of his father, who had him buried at Ouche, gifting his tithe at Lommoi, with the permission of his lord, Raoul Mauvoison, father-in-law of William Crispin II. This gift was confirmed by Albert’s heirs, one of which was Raoul de Connelles/Cunelle.
1.1.1.1.2. … de Cravant, m. Rodolf “de Connelles”,* alias Raoul d’Astin. The fortress of Dastin (d’Astin) was situated in the parish of Duranville (Durandivilla), Lisieux, the caput of the Crispin family; its castelans being the family of Astin, as vassals of the Crispins. Raoul d’Astin witnessed (ca.1050), the charter by which William Crespin I gifted land in Blangy to the abbey of Bec, a gift later ratified by his son, Gilbert Dastin, alias Gilbert de Cunelle. The family of Dastin were “seigneures de Vezins” (a mot vicinium), of canton d’Isigny, in Maine. Raoul Dastin and his brother* donated the church of Notre-Dame-de-Vézins to Couture Abbey, in the Diocese of Le Mans, in 1082, which Guillaume des Biards (of Domesday note, seneschal of Robert de Mortain), their overlord, approved and added to – an acre of land near his orchard, to make a vineyard. Johel d’Astin, their brother, was the abbot.

*Rodolf de la Cunelle (La Cunelle Eure, cant. de Damville, comm. de Buis-sur-Damville). Cunelle is taken from the general location of Damville/Cunelle, Thimerais, a pun being “wild thyme” (Cunelle), which is a different orthography from the Anglo-Saxon Cnoll (Knoll) and other derivatives, meaning a hill, summit; an extremely common source of toponyms in England. Some commentators of old have suggested Dastin to be a derivative of d’ astings (danois); be that as it may.

*”Regnauld l’Enfant, fils de Rannulfe Avenel, souscrivit la charte de l’an 1082, par laquelle Gautier et Raoul Dastin, frères, donnèrent l’église de Vezins à l’abbaye de la Couture avec la dixme de leurs animaux decinnables en toute la Normandie”. (Jacques-Joseph Villevieille, Trésor généalogique de Dom Villevieille, p. 204, 1875; cit. Cartul. de l’abb. de la Couture, au Alans, fol. 24, v.).

1.1.2. … m. “Richardus de Bello-fago”, probable grandfather of Ralph de Bello-Fago, aforementioned.
1.1.2.1. … m. Vicecomes Erchembald, who, on entering La Trinité du Mont, gave to the house his meadow in Sahurs, and all that he held by hereditary right in Celloville. (RADN, no. 82, 1030-1035).
1.1.2.1.1. Gilbert Crispin I, who attempted to defend Osmund the dapifer during the successful attempt to kill him in 1040. Gilbert made a gift to St. Amand to honour Osmund’s memory, a gift witnessed and approved of by Emma d’Ivri (Receuil, ed. Fauroux, no. 82).

1.3. Emma d’Ivri, Abbess of St Amand, m. Osborn the dapifer. Cart. St. Amand: “We donate from the area of Rothornagensi our mill in Rauleni villa, and our fields in Chevilly. In addition we give our cultivated land, which is near the valley Erchembald and the mountain called Cochetel”.
1.3.1. William FitzOsbern.
1.3.2. … de Crepon, m. Osmund de Centville.
1.3.2.1. Foulques d’Anet, from the vil of Anet, south of Ivry. To paraphrase D’Anisy (1842) – “We must note that, as a result of a false interpretation of the text of Orderic Vitalis and Guillaume de Jumièges, Foulques d’Aunou, son of Baudry the Teuton, was often confused with Foulques d’Anet, son of ‘Osmond de Centville, who are two different characters”. He points to the latin ‘primus Fulco de Aneio’, being wrongly translated, as shown by entries in the Norman Exchequer accounts of Simon d’Aneio being synonomous with Simon d’Aneto, descendant of Foulques d’Anet, citing Ducarel, pp. 229,230. There was a close and ongoing association between the Crispins and the d’Anets.
1.3.2.2. Gunnora d’Anet, m. Gilbert Crispin I. “Nous ignorons à quel titre Gislebert Crespin etait appele à ratifier cette donation; mais nous supposons que ce pouvait être à raison de quelque alliance avec la famille d’Ivri, dont le souvenir est perdu” (‘Ordericus Vitalis’, ed. le Prevost et. al., p. 398, 1840). Gilbert Crispin’s mother was probably a granddau. of Raoul d’ Ivri.
1.3.2.2.1. Gilbert Crispin ii., held the fief of Armentieres.
1.3.2.2.2. Robert Crispin. (It may have been a son of his who was Robert d’Armentiers).
1.3.2.2.3. William Crispin.
1.3.2.2.3.1. William Crispin II.

Henry II. Confirmation of earlier donations:

Henricus, Dei gratia rex Anglorum, et diix Normannorum et Aquitanorum, et cornes Andegavonim, archiepiscopis , episcopis, abbatibus, comitibus, baronibus, justiciis, vicecomitibus, et omnibus ministris et fidelibus suis totius … Sciatis me dédisse et concessisse et presenti carta confirmasse in puram et pe petuam eiemosinam, pro salute anime patris mei G[aufridi], comitis And[egavorum], et matris mee M[athildis] imperatricis, et pro salute mea et omnium antecessorum et heredum meorum, Deo et Sancte Marie et monachis de Becco omnes donationes et elemosinas ecclesiarum, decimarum, terrarum et reddituum, possessionum et omnium quarumlibet aliarum rerum, que eis facte sunt in tota terra mea, tam in Normannia quam in Anglia, videiicet: Ex dono Raduifi Dastin, ecclesiam de Duranvilla, cum terra et décima, etc. Ex dono Roberti Malet, sedem unius molendini juxta Rosteriam et unam acram terre. Ex dono Ricardi filii Herluini, medietatem ecclesie Sancti Christophori. Ex dono Ricardi, filii Gisleberti comitis, ecclesiam de Luceio cum terra et décima, etc. Ex dono Fulconis de Alno (d’Anet) et hominum suorum, manerium de Mesnillo Simonis, cum ecclesia et omnibus ecclesie et manerii pertinentiis. Ex dono Alberede, sororis ejusdem Fulconis, assensu et voluntate ipsius, terram de Groselers, que est juxta Landam sita, cum omnibus pertinenciis suis. … Ex dono Gaufridi de Berou et Agnetis uxoris sue, eccîesiam de Donna Maria, cum terra et décima, etc. … Ex dono Odonis filii Turoldi et Eustachie uxoris ejus, eccîesiam de Belsath, cum omnibus pertinenciis suis, et medietatem ecclesie de Contevilla, et quartam partem ville que dicitur Formeria, et eccîesiam de Longo Mesnillo cum terra et décima. … Ex dono Herluini filii Helgoti, eccîesiam de Fo(ul)kevilla, cum terra et décima, etc., et eccîesiam Sancti Pétri de Valle cum tota décima. … Ex dono Roberti de Belfou, quidquid habebat in burgo Sancti Georgii de Wivera, et eccîesiam de Beverone, cum terra et décima et omnibus aliis pertinenciis suis. … Ex dono Willelmi Malet, manerium quod vocatur Mesnil Joscelini, cum ecclesia et omnibus ejusdem manerii et ecclesie pertinenciis. … Ex dono Rogerii filii Ricardi, manerium de Colevilla (juxta Valmont) cum omnibus pertinenciis suis. Ex dono Roberti de Moritonio et Ricardi fratris ejus, LX. acras terre apud Lurreium. Ex dono Willelmi Malet, manerium de Contevilla (juxta Pont-Audemer).

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