| Richard I "the Fearless" | |
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| Richard the Fearless as part of the Six Dukes of Normandy statue in the town square of Falaise. | |
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| Predecessor | William I |
| Successor | Richard II |
| Father | William I, Duke of Normandy |
| Mother | Sprota |
| Born | 28 August 933 Fécamp Normandy, France |
| Died | 20 November 996 Fécamp Normandy, France |
Richard I of Normandy (born 28 August 933, in Fécamp Normandy, France died 20 November 996, in Fécamp), also known as Richard the Fearless (French, Sans Peur), was the Duke of Normandy from 942 to 996; he is considered the first to have held that title.
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He was born to William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and Sprota. He was 10 years old when his father died on 17 December 942. His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a Danish marriage. After William died, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller; Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.
When his father died, Louis IV of France seized Normandy and split the lands, giving lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis kept Richard in confinement at Lâon, but he escaped with the assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Bellèsme, and Bernard the Dane (ancestor of families of Harcourt and Beaumont).
In 946, Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, Count of Paris. He then allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders, drove Louis out of Rouen, and took back Normandy by 947. The rest of his reign was mainly peaceful, apart from conflict with Theobald I, Count of Blois marked by the restoration of Church lands and monasteries.
Richard cemented his alliance with Hugh by marrying his daughter Emma. When Hugh died, Richard became vassal to his son Hugh Capet who became king in 987. Although married to Emma, they produced no offspring. His children were from his relationship with Gonnor, a woman of Danish origin who gave him an heir, Richard.[1]
He quarrelled with Ethelred II of England regarding Danish invasions of England because Normandy had been buying up much of the stolen booty.
Richard was bilingual, having been well educated at Bayeux. He was more partial to his Danish subjects than to the Franks. During his reign, Normandy became completely Gallicized and Christianized. He introduced the feudal system and Normandy became one of the most thoroughly feudalized states on the continent. He carried out a major reorganization of the Norman military system, based on heavy cavalry.
His first marriage (960) was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France, and Hedwiga de Sachsen. (She is not to be confused with Emma of France.) They were betrothed when both were very young. She died 19 March 968, with no issue.
According to Robert of Torigni, not long after Emma's death, Duke Richard went out hunting and stopped at the house of a local forester. He became enamoured of the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she being a virtuous woman, suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress, and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herefast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Norse descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimize their children:
Richard was known to have had several other mistresses and produced children with many of them. Known children are:
Late chroniclers claimed that two of the De Hautevilles of Naples/Sicily were nephews of "Duke Richard". As the two were children of Tancred of Hauteville by different mothers, this would mean that both of Tancred's wives had been sisters of a Duke Richard, and by chronology, of Richard II, although this is not backed up by contemporary source. If true, Richard would have had at least two more illegitimate children:
He died in Fecamp, France on 20 November 996 of natural causes.
The Little Duke, a Victorian Juvenile novel by Charlotte Mary Yonge is a fictionalized account of Richard's boyhood and early struggles.
| French nobility | ||
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| Preceded by William I |
Duke of Normandy 942–996 |
Succeeded by Richard II |
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