Gunnora

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gunnora was the lover, perhaps also the wife of Richard I , Duke of Normandy (933-996) from the House of the Rollonids .

biography

Following a report by Robert von Torignis , Gunnora married Duke Richard only according to Danish law ( More danico ), but not according to the Christian rite. However, marriage seems to have been legalized in the Christian sense around 980/990.

Among the wives of the dukes, she is one of the few who played an essential role. According to a controversial thesis by Eleanor Searle , Gunnora comes from one of those Scandinavian families who only settled in eastern Normandy at the time of Richard, and the marriage therefore marked an alliance between the now-established Normans and the newcomers (see FitzOsbern ), whose rise they saw promoted to the best of his ability. However, it is not certain that Gunnora actually came from eastern Normandy. After Richard's death in 996, Gunnora appears to have exercised the de facto rule over the duchy.

The historian Dudo von Saint-Quentin claims to have received much of the information he shares in his De Gestis Normannaie ducum directly from Gunnora.

progeny

Gunnora is the mother of most of Richard's children:

  1. Gottfried von Brionne († probably 1015), Count of Eu after 996
  2. Richard II († August 28, 1026), around 1015 Duc de Normandie ; ⚭ I. 1000 Judith von Rennes (* 982; † June 16, 1017), daughter of Count Conan I ( House of Rennes ); ⚭ II. 1017 Astrid († May 9?), Daughter of Sven Gabelbart , King of Denmark , King of England and King of Norway , she was second married to Ulf Jarl , Earl in England, Imperial Administrator of Denmark († murdered 1026) ; ⚭ III. Poppa
  3. Robert († 1037), Count of Évreux , 989 Archbishop of Rouen
  4. Wilhelm (Guillaume) , Count of Hiémois and Eu ; ⚭ Lesceline
  5. Mauger, Count of Corbeil iure uxoris ; ⚭ Germaine de Corbeil, daughter of Count Albert
  6. Emma (985-6 March 1052); ⚭ I. around 1002 Æthelred II († April 23, 1016), 979/1013 and 1014/1016 King of England ; ⚭ July II, 1017 Canute the Great († November 12, 1035), 1016 King of England, 1017 King of Denmark , 1030 King of Norway
  7. Beatrix († January 18, 1035); ⚭ Ebles Vicomte de Turenne ( Comborn House )
  8. Hawise († February 21, 1034); ⚭ 996 Gottfried I, Duke of Brittany († November 20, 1008) ( House of Rennes )
  9. Mathilde († probably 1005); ⚭ 1003/04 Count Odo II of Blois († November 15, 1037) ( House of Blois )

Web links

literature

  • François Neveux , La Normandie des ducs aux rois (Xe-XIIe siècle) , Rennes, Ouest-France Université, 1998
  • Pierre Bauduin , La Première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles) , Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2002
  • Elisabeth Van Houts, "Countess Gunnor of Normandy," Collegium Medievale , 12, 1999, p. 7-24

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Eleanor Sarle, "Fact and Pattern in Heroic History: Dudo of Saint-Quentin," Viator , n ° 15, 1984, p. 119-137 et Eleaor Searle, Predator Kinship and the creation of Normand Power, 840-1066 , Berkeley, University of California Press, 1988, p. 61-67
  2. ↑ David Douglas considers an origin from the Cotentin to be possible.
  3. ^ Pierre Bauduin, La Première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles) , Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2002, p. 66
personal data
SURNAME Gunnora
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Beloved, perhaps also wife of Richard I.
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 10th century or 11th century