Osbern the Steward, known in French as ''Osbern de Crépon'' († about 1040), was the Steward of two
Dukes of Normandy
In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy ...
and the father of
William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, one of
William the Conqueror's closest counsellors.
Biography
Osbern was the son of
Herfast de Crepon
Herfast or Arfast (died 1084) was the first Lord Chancellor of Norman England. He was also Bishop of Elmham and later Bishop of Thetford, after he moved his see there.
Life
Born in Normandy, Herfast joined William the Conqueror during the ...
and the nephew of
Gunnor,
Duchess of Normandy,
[David C. Douglas, ''William the Conqueror'', University of California Press, 1964, réédition 1992, p90, 145.][C. P. Lewis, « William fitz Osbern, earl (d. 1071) », ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004.] initially mistress and then second wife of
Richard I of Normandy. Under
Robert the Magnificent
Robert the Magnificent (french: le Magnifique;He was also, although erroneously, said to have been called 'Robert the Devil' (french: le Diable). Robert I was never known by the nickname 'the devil' in his lifetime. 'Robert the Devil' was a fic ...
(1027–1035), he had the role of Steward or
Seneschal
The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...
.
[David C. Douglas, ''op. cit.'', p35.] He kept this role after the Duke's death in 1035.
He became one of the legal protectors of the young successor to the duchy, William the Bastard, known later as
William the Conqueror, then aged 8.
[David C. Douglas, ''op. cit.'', p37.]
The young Duke William was in danger, as other members of the ducal family were trying to assassinate him to regain power in the duchy, and the Norman barons were rebelling. Osbern was murdered at
Le Vaudreuil
Le Vaudreuil () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France.
On 15 April 1969 the commune of Notre-Dame-du-Vaudreuil was joined with that of Saint-Cyr-du-Vaudreuil to form the present Le Vaudreuil.
A bronze statue of the d ...
in the winter of 1040-1041, while protecting the young Duke in the child's bedroom.
[David C. Douglas, ''op. cit.'', p40.] According to
Guillaume de Jumièges Guillaume may refer to:
People
* Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William
* Guillaume (surname)
Other uses
* Guillaume (crater)
See also
* '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem
* Guillaume affair, a Cold War ...
, his throat was cut by William, son of
Roger I of Montgomery. Barnon de Glos-la-Ferrières avenged the death of his lord by killing the murderer.
[David C. Douglas, ''op. cit.'', p42.]
Historians of the Normans disagree on the origin of the benefices held by Osbern, specifically which of them came from his father Herfast and which via his marriage to Emma, daughter of the powerful Count
Rodulf of Ivry and sister of Hugues, Bishop of Bayeux. He possessed land widely spread across Normandy: in the Bessin at
Crépon
Crépon () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...
, at Hiémois (near
Falaise), near the confluence of the rivers
Seine
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributarie ...
and
Andelle, around
Cormeilles, in Talou, in
Pays d'Ouche at
Breteuil, and at
La Neuve-Lyre.
Family and descendants
Osbern married Emma d'Ivry, daughter of Count
Rodulf of Ivry,
who was half-brother of
Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Their children included :
*
William Fitz Osbern (ca 1011–1071), 1st
Earl of Hereford ;
*
Osbern FitzOsbern († end of 1103
[C. L. Kingsford, « Osbern (d. 1103) », revised by Marios Costambeys, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004.]),
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell. in 1072 .
See also
*
Crépon
Crépon () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...
(village in
Bessin
Bessin () is an area in Normandy, France, corresponding to the territory of the Bajocasses, a Gallic tribe from whom Bayeux, its main town, takes its name.
History
The territory was annexed by the count of Rouen in 924.
The Bessin corresponds t ...
, Lower Normandy)
References
{{Reflist, 33em
Further reading
* David Douglas, « The Ancestors of William Fitz Osbern », The English Historical Review, vol. 59, n°233 (Jan 1944), p62-79.
Anglo-Normans
1040 deaths
Year of birth unknown