Osbern the Steward, known in French as ''Osbern de Crépon'' († about 1040), was the Steward of two
Dukes of Normandy and the father of
William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil ( 1011 – 22 February 1071), was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Hereford ...
, one of
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
's closest counsellors.
Biography
Osbern was the son of
Herfast de Crepon 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
Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln ...
. Under
Robert the Magnificent (1027–1035), he had the role of Steward or
Seneschal.
[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
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
, 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 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, 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 Rodulf of Ivry (Rodolf, Raoul, comte d'Ivry) (died c. 1015) was a Norman noble, and regent of Normandy during the minority of Richard II.
Life
Rodolf was the son of Eperleng, a rich owner of several mills at Vaudreuil, and of his wife Sprota, w ...
and sister of Hugues, Bishop of Bayeux. He possessed land widely spread across Normandy: in the Bessin at
Crépon, at Hiémois (near
Falaise
Falaise may refer to:
Places
* Falaise, Ardennes, France
* Falaise, Calvados, France
** The Falaise pocket was the site of a battle in the Second World War
* La Falaise, in the Yvelines ''département'', France
* The Falaise escarpment in Quebe ...
), near the confluence of the rivers
Seine and
Andelle, around
Cormeilles, in Talou, in
Pays d'Ouche
The Pays d'Ouche (, literally ''Land of Ouche'') is an historical and geographical region in Normandy. It extends from the southwest of Évreux up to Bernay and Beaumont-le-Roger as a northern limit, and down to L'Aigle and to Gacé in the south. ...
at
Breteuil, and at
La Neuve-Lyre.
Family and descendants
Osbern married Emma d'Ivry, daughter of Count
Rodulf of Ivry Rodulf of Ivry (Rodolf, Raoul, comte d'Ivry) (died c. 1015) was a Norman noble, and regent of Normandy during the minority of Richard II.
Life
Rodolf was the son of Eperleng, a rich owner of several mills at Vaudreuil, and of his wife Sprota, w ...
,
who was half-brother of
Richard I, Duke of Normandy
Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln ...
. Their children included :
*
William Fitz Osbern (ca 1011–1071), 1st
Earl of Hereford
The title of Earl of Hereford was created six times in the Peerage of England. Dates indicate the years the person held the title for.
Earls of Hereford, First Creation (1043)
* Swegen Godwinson (1043–1051)
''earldom forfeit 1051–1052''
Earl ...
;
*
Osbern FitzOsbern
__NOTOC__
Osbern FitzOsbern (–1103) was a Norman churchman. He was a relative of King Edward the Confessor as well as being a royal chaplain.Barlow ''Edward the Confessor'' p. 164 During Edward's reign he received the church at Bosham, near ...
(† 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 in 1072 .
See also
*
Crépon (village in
Bessin, 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