Family of Harlevin of CONTEVILLE and Herleva * + of FALAISE

Husband:	Harlevin of CONTEVILLE (1001-1066)
Wife:	Herleva * + of FALAISE (1003-1078)
Children:	Odo of BAYEUX (1032-1097)
	Robert + (1037-1090)
	Muriel of CONTEVILLE (1041-1076)
Marriage	1031

Husband: Harlevin of CONTEVILLE

Name:	Harlevin of CONTEVILLE
Sex:	Male
Father:	Jean + of CONTEVILLE (969- )
Mother:	-
Birth	3 Sep 1001	Conteville, Calvados, Basse-Normandy, France
Death	1066 (age 64-65)	Mortain, Manche, Basse-Normandy, France

Wife: Herleva * + of FALAISE

Name:	Herleva * + of FALAISE
Sex:	Female
Father:	Fulbert + of FALAISE (978-1017)
Mother:	Doda + MCMALCOM (980- )
Birth	9 Jun 1003	Falaise, Bassee-Normandie, France
Death	23 Apr 1078 (age 74)	Grestain, Eure, Haute-Normandy, France
Burial		Abbey of Grestain

Child 1: Odo of BAYEUX

Child 2: Robert +

Child 3: Muriel of CONTEVILLE

Name:	Muriel of CONTEVILLE
Sex:	Female
Spouse 1:	Eudo of CHAPEL (1035-1068)
Spouse 2:	William of FERTE-MACE (1042-1076)
Birth	1041	Conteville, Calvados, Basse-Normandy, France
Death	1076 (age 34-35)	St. Edmonds, Suffolk, England

Note on Husband: Harlevin of CONTEVILLE

Herluin de Conteville (1001–1066[1]), also sometimes listed as Herlevin or Herlwin of Conteville[2], was the stepfather of William the Conqueror, and the father of Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, both of whom became prominent during William's reign.[3]

 

Conteville and Sainte-Marie EgliseNo contemporary record provides the parentage for Herluin,[4] although much later sources have assigned him parents (such as the otherwise unknown Jean de Conteville (965) and Harlette de Meulan[citation needed]). Herluin was a lord of moderate income and some land on the south side of the river Seine. He was viscount of Conteville, probably so created by his stepson, and held the honour of Sainte-Marie Église, a portion of the county of Mortain. There he founded the Grestain Abbey around 1050 with his son Robert.[5]

 

Herluin's marriage to HerlevaTowards the beginning of the 11th century, Conteville and its dependencies appear to be in the hands of Herluin, who married Herleva, the mistress of Robert I, Duke of Normandy and already mother of William the Bastard, called William the Conqueror later. Herluin and Herleva had two sons and one daughter: Odo or Eudes, who became Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert who became Count of Mortain; both were prominent in the reign of their half-brother William. The daughter, sometimes called Muriel, married Guillaume, Seigneur de la Ferté-Macé.[1] Herluin is said to have loyally borne William's body to his grave at Caen after he died in the burning of Mantes.[6]

 

Herluin later married Fredesendis, who is named as a benefactor[7] of the Grestain Abbey, and as Herluin's wife[1] in the confirmation charter of the abbey, dated 1189. The abbey was founded by Herluin himself around 1050,[8] in hopes of achieving a cure to his leprosy or some similar disease.[citation needed] Herluin and Fredesendis had two sons: Raoul de Conteville (d. aft. 1089), who later held land in Somerset and Devon,[1] and Jean de Conteville. Little is known of the sons of his second marriage

Note on Wife: Herleva * + of FALAISE

Herleva (c. 1003 – c. 1050) also known as Herleve,[1] Arlette,[2] Arletta[3] and Arlotte,[4] was the mother of William I of England. She had two other sons, Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who became prominent in William's realm.

 

The background of Herleva and the circumstances of William's birth are shrouded in mystery. The written evidence dates from a generation or two later, and is not entirely consistent. The most commonly accepted version says that she was the daughter of a tanner named Fulbert from the town of Falaise, in Normandy. Translation being somewhat uncertain, Fulbert may instead have been a furrier, embalmer, apothecary, or a person who laid out corpses for burial.[5]

 

It is argued by some that Herleva's father was not a tanner but rather a member of the burgher class.[6] The idea is supported by the fact that her brothers appear in a later document as attestors for an under-age William. Also, the Count of Flanders later accepted Herleva as a proper guardian for his own daughter. Both facts would be nearly impossible if Herleva's father (and therefore her brothers) was a tanner, which would place his standing as little more than a peasant.

 

Orderic Vitalis described Herleva's father Fulbert as being the Duke's Chamberlain (cubicularii ducis).[7][8]

 

[edit] Relationship with Robert the MagnificentAccording to one legend, still recounted by tour guides at Falaise, it all started when Robert, the young Duke of Normandy saw Herleva from the roof of his castle tower. The walkway on the roof still looks down on the dyeing trenches cut into stone in the courtyard below, which can be seen to this day from the tower ramparts above. The traditional way of dyeing leather or garments was for individuals to trample barefoot on the garments which were awash in the dyeing liquid in these trenches. Herleva, legend goes, seeing the Duke on his ramparts above, raised her skirts perhaps a bit more than necessary in order to attract the Duke's eye. The latter was immediately smitten and ordered her brought in (as was customary for any woman that caught the Duke's eye) through the back door. Herleva refused, saying she would only enter the Duke's castle on horseback through the front gate, and not as an ordinary commoner. The Duke, filled with lust, could only agree. In a few days, Herleva, dressed in the finest her father could provide, and sitting on a white horse, rode proudly through the front gate, her head held high. This gave Herleva a semi-official status as the Duke's mistress.[citation needed]

 

She later gave birth to his son, William, in 1027 or 1028, and probably a daughter, Adelaide, in 1030.

 

[edit] Marriage to Herluin de ContevilleHerleva later married Herluin de Conteville in 1031. Some accounts however, maintain that Robert always loved her, but the gap in their social status made marriage impossible, so, to give her a good life, he married her off to one of his favourite noblemen.[citation needed]

 

Another source suggests that Herleva did not marry Herluin until after Robert died because there is no record of Robert ensuing another relationship, whereas Herluin married another woman, Fredesendis, by the time he founded the abbey of Grestain.[9]

 

From her marriage to Herluin she had two sons: Odo, who later became Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert, who became Count of Mortain. Both became prominent during William's reign. They also had at least two daughters, Emma, who married Richard LeGoz (de Averanches), and a daughter of unknown name who married William, lord of la Ferté-Macé.[10]

 

[edit] DeathAccording to Robert of Torigni, Herleva was buried at the abbey of Grestain, which was founded by Herluin and their son Robert around 1050. This would put Herleva in her forties around the time of her death. However, David C. Douglas suggests that Herleva probably died before Herluin founded the abbey because her name does not appear on the list of benefactors, whereas the name of Herluin's second wife, Fredesendis, does.[11]