Richard II, Duke of Normandy
| Richard II | |
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| Richard the Good as part of the "Six Dukes of Normandy" statue in the town square of Falaise. | |
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| Predecessor | Richard I |
| Successor | Richard III |
| Father | Richard I, Duke of Normandy |
| Mother | Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy |
| Born | Normandy |
| Died | 28 August 1026 Normandy |
Richard II ( –1026), called the Good (French: Le Bon), was the eldest son and heir of Richard I the Fearless and Gunnora.[1][2]
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[edit] Life
Richard succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 996.[1] During his minority, the first five years of his reign, his regent was Count Ralph of Ivry, his uncle, who wielded the power and put down a peasant insurrection at the beginning of Richard's reign.[3]
Richard had deep religious interests and found he had much in common with Robert II of France, who he helped militarily against the duchy of Burgundy.[3] He forged a marriage alliance with Brittany by marrying his sister Hawise to Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany and by his own marriage to Geoffrey's sister, Judith.[3]
In 1000-1001, Richard repelled an English attack on the Cotentin Peninsula that was led by Ethelred II of England.[4] He attempted to improve relations with England through his sister Emma of Normandy's marriage to King Ethelred.[4] This marriage was significant in that it later gave his grandson, William the Conqueror, the basis of his claim to the throne of England.[5] This proved to be beneficial to Ethelred when in 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard invaded England. Emma with her two sons Edward and Alfred fled to Normandy followed shortly thereafter by her husband king Ethelred.[5] Soon after the death of Ethelred, Cnut, King of England forced Emma to marry him while Richard was forced to recognize the new regime as his sister was again Queen.[4] Richard had contacts with Scandinavian Vikings throughout his reign. He employed Viking mercenaries and concluded a treaty with Sweyn Forkbeard who was en route to England.[6]
Richard II commissioned Dudo of Saint-Quentin his clerk and confessor to portray his ducal ancestors as morally upright Christian leaders who built Normandy despite the treachery of their overlords and neighboring principalities.[7] It was clearly a work of propaganda designed to legitimize the Norman settlement, and while it contains numerous historically unreliable legends, as respects the reigns of his father and grandfather, Richard I, Duke of Normandy|Richard I]] and {William I, Duke of Normandy|William I]] it is basically reliable.[8]
In 1025 and 1026 Richard confirmed gifts of his great-grandfather Rollo to Saint-Ouen at Rouen.[9] His other numerous grants to monastic houses tends to indicate the areas over which Richard had ducal control, namely Caen, the Éverecin, [Cotentin Peninsula|the Cotentin]], the Pays de Caux and Rouen.[10]
Richard II died 28 Aug 1026.[1]
[edit] Marriages
He married firstly, c.1000, Judith (982-1017), daughter of Conan I of Brittany,[1][11] by whom he had the following issue:
- Richard (c. 1002/4), duke of Normandy[1]
- Alice (c. 1003/5), married Renaud I, Count of Burgundy[1]
- Robert (c. 1005/7), duke of Normandy[1]
- William (c. 1007/9), monk at Fécamp, d. 1025[1]
- Eleanor (c. 1011/3), married to Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders
- Matilda (c. 1013/5), nun at Fecamp, d. 1033
Secondly he married Poppa of Envermeu, by whom he had the following issue:
- Mauger (c. 1019), Archbishop of Rouen
- William (c. 1020/5), count of Arques
[edit] Other marriages / children
Traditionally, Richard had a third wife named Astrid (Estritha), daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, and Sigrid the Haughty. This is extremely unlikely, however, given the political situation.[12][13]
An illegitimate daughter of Richard I, sometimes called "Papia", wife of the Advocate of Saint Valery-en-Caux, is sometimes instead given as a daughter of Richard II, but chronology favors her being his sister.[14][12] Tancred of Hauteville's two wives Muriella and Fredensenda are likewise given as daughters of "Duke Richard of Normandy", referring to either Richard I or Richard II, but the sources are late and untrustworthy.[12]
[edit] Genealogy
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II: Die Ausserdeutschen Staaten Die Regierenden Häuser der Übrigen Staaten Europas (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 79
- ^ The Normans in Europe, ed. & trans. Elisabeth van Houts (Manchester University Press, 2000), pp. 56-7
- ^ a b c François Neveux, A Brief History of The Normans (Constable and Robinson, 2008) p. 74
- ^ a b c François Neveux, A Brief History of The Normans (Constable and Robinson, 2008) pp. 94-5
- ^ a b David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (University of California Press,1964), p. 160
- ^ The Normans in Europe, ed. & trans. Elisabeth van Houts (Manchester University Press, 2000),pp. 20-21
- ^ David Crouch, The Normans: The History of a Dynasty, (Hambledon Continuum, 2007), p. 32
- ^ The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni, Ed. & Trans. Elizabeth M.C. Van Houts, Vol. I (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992), p. xx
- ^ The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni, Ed. & Trans. Elizabeth M.C. Van Houts, Vol. I (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992), p. 67 n. 5
- ^ Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840-1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), p. 128
- ^ David C. Douglas, William The Conqueror (University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1964), p. 15, n. 5
- ^ a b c Stewart Baldwin, The Henry Project: Richard II
- ^ Stewart Baldwin, The Henry Project: Robert I "le Magnifique" ("the Magnificent")
- ^ Stewart Baldwin, The Henry Project: Richard I "Sans Peur" ("the Fearless")
| French nobility | ||
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| Preceded by Richard I |
Duke of Normandy 996–1027 |
Succeeded by Richard III |
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