Wilhelm (Évreux)

Wilhelm von Évreux ( French : Guillaume d'Évreux , Latin : Willelmus Ebroicensis ; † April 18, 1118 ) was Count of Évreux from 1067 to 1118. He was the son of Count Richard of Évreux and Godehilde. Since Godehilde was married to Roger I. de Tosny , Lord of Conches , in his first marriage , Wilhelm was the half-brother of Raoul II. De Tosny . With him, the Évreux line of the Rollonids died out.

biography

In 1066 he took part in the conquest of England with 80 ships that his father had provided, and fought at the Battle of Hastings . As a reward he received goods from William the Conqueror in Hampshire , Berkshire and Oxfordshire , but in total a very small number - similar to Roger de Beaumont , another great baron of Normandy . However, it was not the result of an injustice, as he is seen shortly afterwards again commanding a ducal army in France. The case of Wilhelm seems to be an example of this - according to the historian David Bates - that not the entire aristocracy became Anglo- Norman in connection with the conquest of England : For some families, Normandy remained the center of their politics and power.

In 1067 he followed his father as Count of Évreux. In the following years he remained a loyal follower of his duke. In 1081, with the help of Roger II de Montgommery , he negotiated a peace treaty between his sovereign and Count Fulko IV of Anjou . From 1084 to 1086 he fought against Hubert de Sainte-Suzanne , Vice Count of Maine , who was in revolt against the Duke, where he was captured in January 1085 at the siege of Sainte-Suzanne (see: Camp de Beugy ). After his liberation, he profited from the Duke's death in 1087 and drove his garrison out of his home town of Évreux .

In the same year his brother-in-law Simon I von Montfort died , after which his daughter Bertrada was entrusted to him. This guardianship, as well as a renewed Maine uprising, worked to his advantage. The new Duke of Normandy , Robert II , called on the Count of Anjou to help put down the rebellion. He accepted, but demanded Bertrada's hand for it, whereupon Wilhelm expected compensation, which he also received in the form of the inheritance of Raoul de Gacés , his uncle who had died years ago, i.e. the reigns of Gacé and Varenguebec , who left William the Conqueror after Raoul's death had taken over ducal possession. The marriage was concluded in 1090 and the Maine rebellion was subdued.

A little later he suppressed a revolt in Rouen on the part of the supporters of the English King Wilhelm II , who tried to attract Normandy to himself. In the following two years he was engaged in a war within the family: a rivalry between his wife Helvide and Isabelle de Montfort , the wife of his half-brother Raoul II de Tosny , got out of control, whereupon Wilhelm and Raoul were at arms. Raoul won in 1095 and forced Wilhelm to sign a treaty in which he recognized the younger son of his half-brother, Roger, as heir. However, Roger's death in 1094 did not make the contract effective.

In 1096 Duke Robert II took part in the First Crusade and entrusted his duchy to his brother, King William II of England . In 1097 Wilhelm von Évreux was at the head of a campaign against the French King Philip I in the Vexin .

In 1098, as a result of another campaign in Maine , William II appointed him governor of Le Mans . Two years later the king died and William of Évreux benefited again - this time in alliance with Raoul II de Tosny , by devastating Beaumont-le-Roger , the property of Robert de Beaumont . Duke Robert II returned from the crusade shortly afterwards and took over the helm in Normandy , while Henry I ascended the throne in England .

A heated meeting of William and Henry then caused that the King of England sovereignty over Evreux took over. Nonetheless, William stood by his side in the battle of Tinchebray in 1106 , which led to the reunification of England with Normandy. Heinrich's drive - in contrast to the passivity of his predecessor - was not in the spirit of Wilhelm: When Heinrich had a royal donjon built in Évreux , Wilhelm had it torn down again immediately after its completion - after which he and Helvide had to go into exile in Anjou for 14 months (1112 / 13). During this time, Count Fulko V of Anjou allied with Amalrich III. von Montfort (Wilhelm's nephew and heir) against Heinrich, and it is possible that Wilhelm joined this coalition: When the peace treaty between Normandy and Anjou was signed in February 1113, Wilhelm was able to return to his county.

Helvide died within the next five years and was buried in Noyon . Wilhelm died on April 18, 1118 and found his final resting place in Fontenelle Abbey .

progeny

His wife Helvide (Helvise) was the daughter of Wilhelm I , Count of Nevers , and Ermengarde, Countess of Tonnerre . Their only child was a son, who probably died before 1092.

William's successor as Count of Évreux was thus Amalrich III. von Montfort, the son of Simon I von Montfort and Wilhelm's sister Agnes.

literature

• Pierre Bauduin : La première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles). 2004, pp. 333-337

Web link

• Guillaume "Crespin" d'Evreux at Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (fmg.ac) (English)

Footnotes

1. ↑ See also: Companion of Wilhelm the Conqueror
2. ^ David Bates: Normandy and England after 1066. In: English Historical Review. Volume 104, No. 413, Oct. 1989, p. 855
3. ↑ In a document from the Jumièges Abbey , it is called dux et comes Ebroacensis civitatis (Duke and Count of the city of Évreux).
4. ↑ This war is sometimes called "Guerre des Belles Dames".
5. ↑ This son is mentioned without a name in a document from the Abbey of Saint-Taurin (Pierre Bauduin: Ibid. P. 333). As agreed in 1092, Wilhelm calls his nephew Roger de Tosny the heir, so that one can assume that the son had already died by then.

predecessor	Office	successor
Richard	Count of Évreux 1067–1118	Amalrich of Montfort