William of Talou

Wilhelm von Talou (* between 1018 and 1027; † after 1052) from the Rolloniden family was a Norman nobleman and Count of Talou (also called Count of Arques ).

He was the son of Richard II , Duke of Normandy . His half-brothers were the dukes Richard III. (1026 to 1027) and Robert I (1027 to 1035), the father of William II the Conqueror , and Mauger , who became Archbishop of Rouen in 1037 .

After the death of Robert I in 1135 on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem , he and Mauger came into opposition to Robert's underage son and heir, Duke Wilhelm II, especially as they themselves claimed the successor as duke. They tried to push their nephew aside through conspiracy and murder. The young Duke's regent, Robert the Dane , Archbishop of Rouen, died in 1037, rumored to be of poison. Probably to ensure that Wilhelm and Mauger would not jeopardize the security and power of Wilhelm II any further, both were then integrated into the ruling structure of the duchy. Mauger succeeded Robert as Archbishop of Rouen, and William was enfeoffed with the newly created County of Talou, later known as Arques .

At first Wilhelm and Mauger remained loyal to the duke. They managed to keep their distance from the uprising of 1047 and so that they kept their offices after the battle of Val-ès-Dunes .

It was not until 1052 that he revolted against the duke, when Arques became the center of an uprising. He was married to a sister of Count Enguerrand II von Ponthieu . Duke Wilhelm besieged Arques and defeated the relief army from France and the Ponthieu, Wilhelm was forced to submit and banished from the duchy for life. He went to the court of Eustach II , Count of Boulogne , where he eventually died. Mauger was deposed as archbishop by the Council of Lisieux in 1054 or 1055.

swell

• Elisabeth MC Van Houts (ed. And transl.): The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995.

literature

• David C. Douglas: William the Conqueror . University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles 1964.