Fitzrandolph Continued
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he stabilized it and united his followers into a cohesive and formidable principality. Richard also used marriages to build the strong alliances noted earlier. Richard I’s first marriage in 960 to Emma, daughter of Hugh the Great of France and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, connected him to the Capet family. Emma died in 968 childless. By his Danish wife Gunnora, they had children: 1) Richard II the Good, Duke of Normandy who m. Judith daughter of Conan I of Rennes & Ermengarde of Anjou; 2) Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux; 3) Mauger, Earl of Corbei; 4) Emma of Normandy, wife of two kings of England: (Ethelred II & Cnut the Great, son of Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark and England’s Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex1); 5) Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres; +6) Hawisa4 who m. Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany; 7) Papia of Normandy; and 8) William, Count of Eu. By the end of Richard I’s reign in 996 important landholders were in feudal tenure. Hawisa of Normandy and Geoffrey Duke of Brittany’s third and youngest son: FitzRandolph Continued Eudes7 or Odo, Count of Penthièvre, was born about 999. After his brother, Duke Alan died in 1040, Eudes became the ducal regent for Alan’s young son Conan II and took custody of him. When Conan II became old enough to be Duke of Brittany a conflict arose because Eudes refused to relinquish his power but Conan’s supporters freed him in 1047. Ambitious Conan II was fighting the Geoffrey III, Count of Anjou, an enemy of William, Duke of Normandy. Eudes was on Geoffrey’s side. In Feb 1054 Eudes fought on the side of King Henry I of France in the Battle of Mortemer against Duke William. Even though William won Eudes kept his alliance with Geoffrey III of Anjou. Sometime afterward, Eudes granted land in Beauvais, Picardy, to the Abbey of Angers Saint-Aubin which his wife and five sons witnessed. Around 1056 Conan II acquired the upper hand in Brittany and captured his uncle Eudes in 1057 who was put in chains in a prison. But Eudes oldest son Geoffrey continued the fight. In the midst of these struggles, Conan II and Geoffrey resolved their differences in 1062 and Eudes was finally set free. Meanwhile Brittany was facing threats from Duke William of Normandy and the Normans who were living in Brittany. This led to the Breton-Norman war between the two starting in 1064. Conan II had a legitimate claim for the title of Duke of Normandy which concerned Duke William of Normandy. Since William was planning an invasion of Britain, he told those Normans living in Brittany and Anjou to stop their attacks. So Conan II used the time to consolidate his authority by neutralizing Anjou and Maine. Then he went after Normandy in William’s absence in 1066. During a siege on Angers, Conan II was found dead of poisoning. He was succeeded by his sister as Duchess of Brittany which was now divided into six independent regions. She had married Hoèl of Cornouaille who ruled as Duke over their personal lands. However, Hoèl also had bigger ideas and reignited the feud between Brittany and Normandy. Meanwhile Eudes helped Duke William in his quest for Britain by training and equipping soldiers for William’s army. Some were professionals comprised of light and heavy cavalry, archers, crossbowmen and axemen. He also conscripted spearmen. They were put on ships under the command of Eudes’ sons Alan Rufus, Stephen, and Brien and set sail to join William’s Norman forces at a staging point to get ready to cross the English Channel. Eudes felt he was too old to join in the invasion of Britain. 1 Social structure divided Northumbria from Kent, East Anglis from the west Midlands, and Danelaw from the rest of England. 25.