A previously unnoticed granddaughter of King Harold II

[transemacabre]

For some years, researchers had noted a peculiar epitaph for one William D'Eyncourt, preserved in Lincoln cathedral records, attesting that the aforesaid William was regia styrpe progenitus (of royal stock) and was raised in the court of King William II Rufus

Comments

[hollie_history]

Hi,

Great blog! I'm working on a research project about Gunhilda and I was just googleing her for the thousandth time and came across your blog.

How do you know that Alain attacked Wilton and abducted Gunhilda? Do you know which primary sources describe this?

thanks : )

[hollie_history]

I don't know of any source that claims that Alan "attacked" Wilton, and no contemporary source says he "abducted" her.

Anselm acknowledged that Alan and Gunhilda loved each other, which is mysterious in itself as Alan was one of the architects of her father Harold's defeat at Hasting.

The Gospatric who had been Earl of Northumbria, but was deposed by William I in 1070 and fled to Malcolm III's Scotland, had a son named Gospatric and another son named Waltheof of Allerdale whose wife, named Sigrid, is said to have been born about 1075 and died about 1126.

This Waltheof and Sigrid had at least 5 children; one son was Waltheof's heir Alan of Allerdale (hmm? Which Alan could they have named him after?) and a daughter they named GunhildLet that sink in. It looks like at least one parent was fond of both Alan Rufus and Gunhild. But why? Was Sigrid another daughter of Alan's and Gunhild's

[hollie_history]

Very interesting response. It would be nice to think of Alan Rufus and Gunhilda's love as becoming somewhat legendary at the time, but I suppose like most things in this period there is no evidence to enlighten us on their relationship, other than the two letters written by Anselm.

I asked about the reference to the 'attack on Wilton' and the 'abduction' / 'savouir' of Gunhilda in the original blog because having read the letters in Latin there is no mention of this. In fact, I agree with the anon commentator in that at least in Anselm's view Gunhilda acted out of love. This love caused great annoyance and concern from Anselm because to him, she turned her back on god for the pleasures of the carnal...absolute no no in Anselm's book. However, haven't quite made my mind up on Alan or Gunhilda's motives for their actions so I found the mention of their possible children very interesting so thank you for the reply.

[transemacabre]

Very intriguing about Sigrid, wife of Waltheof of Allerdale! Those names do stand out, don't they? And Sigrid would be an appropriate name for a granddaughter of King Harold (who's own mother was a Dane).

Anselm acknowledged that Alan and Gunhilda loved each other, which is mysterious in itself as Alan was one of the architects of her father Harold's defeat at Hasting.

I have a feeling there's a whole epic story here and we are only scratching the surface of it.

[ext_2491272]

Trevor Foulds is cited in Richard Sharpe's article as suggesting that perhaps Matilda d'Aincourt was a daughter of William the Conqueror. Orderic Vitalis doesn't mention her in his list of children of William I and Queen Matilda, which is I suppose why some historians have overlooked her, but several contemporary royal documents name "Matilda, daughter of the King

[ext_2491272]

Edith Swannesha (aka Edeva the fair, aka Edeva the Rich) owned over 100 properties in 1065, making her one of England's leading landowners. Why? Remember that this was before her husband Harold became king. If she was an heiress, then her father and/or mother were of high rank, so who were they

[ext_2491272]

To wit

[ext_2491272]

Alan was also an innovator: both Richmond Castle and St Mary's Abbey were architecturally many years ahead of their time. On his lands, he abolished the Danelaw. Boston in Lincolnshire he made into England's second port, spending his own money to encourage trade.

[ext_2491272]

Alan was buried in the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. His epitaph was fortunately copied down by a monk before the abbeys were demolished by that intemperate toddler Henry VIII. It reads

[ext_2491272]

Alan was a male-line descendant of King Alan I of Brittany (died 907) who was the younger son of Count Ridoredh of Vannes (Gwened in Breton), a town and county settled in the 4th to 6th centuries from the Kingdom of Gwynedd in Wales

[hollie_history]

I have since been advised that Gwened was more probably settled from Gwent in south-east Wales, home of the Silures who gave the illustrious Legio II Augusta much grief for 20 years. Vannes in Brittany was also the site of the First Battle of Morbihan Bay, in which Julius Caesar's best admiral had to resort to a novel stratagem to defeat the local fishing fleet. The same people defeated the Loire Vikings at sea and on land; combined with a recently returned King Louis IV they placed so much pressure on William "Longsword" that he was assassinated and version 1 of Normandy collapsed.

So the House of Vannes (aka House of Rennes) the cadet branch of which Alan Rufus belong to, was formidable on land and at sea. Napoleon recognised this by placing both his premier officer training academies, army and navy, in Brittany, where they remain to this day.

[hollie_history]

Read the paper by Eleanor Searle in Anglo-Norman Sudies 3, for the story of Gunnhilda and primary sources.