Herleva de Falaise

• Preferred Name: Herleva de Falaise^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]}
  
• Gender: F
  
• FSID: KDQH-DJG
  
• Marriage+Notes: with note: Description: Herleve was a concubine, she married Robert II, Duke of Normandy according to the "Danish Way." "A legitimate wife according to old Norman traditions," she eventually had William the Conqueror. At the same time, up-and-coming reformists like pope Gregory
  
• Birth: 1003 in France with note: GEDCOM data
  
• Burial: 1050 in Fatouville-Grestain, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France at LATI: N9.4271 LONG: E0.3315
  
• Death: 1050 in Fatouville-Grestain, Eure, Upper Normandy, France at LATI: N9.4271 LONG: E0.3315 with note: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90987094/herleva-de_falaise 1050 (aged 46–47) Caen, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France BURIAL Abbey of Grestain Fatouville-Grestain, Departement de l'Eure, Haute-Normandie, France
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Countess of Conteville; Comtess de Conteville in Conteville, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France at LATI: N9.4183 LONG: E0.397
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  READ THE FOLLOWING AND DO NOT MERGE! Mistress (1): a) ADELAIS (-[1082/84]). Robert de Torigny names "Aeliz" as the daughter of Duke Robert II "de alia concubina" from Herleve[233]. She retained the title Comtesse d'Aumâle after her first marriage. The foundation charter of Saint-Martin d´Auchy names “Engueranni consulis qui filius fuit Berte supradicti Guerinfridi filie et Adelidis comitisse uxoris sue sororis…Willelmi Regis Anglorum”[234]. Her second marriage is deduced from the same charter of Saint-Martin d´Auchy which also names “Judita comitissa domine supradicte filia”[235]. Orderic Vitalis records that King William I granted "comitatum Hildernessæ" to "Odoni...Campaniensi nepoti Theobaldi comitis" who had married "sororem...regis filiam...Rodberti ducis"[236]. William I King of England donated various properties to the abbey of La Trinité de Caen, including "burgum de Hulmo" with the consent of "Adelisa amita mea…cujus hereditas erat sed et comitissa A. de Albamarla…in vita sua", by charter dated 1082[237]. m firstly ENGUERRAND [II] Comte de Montreuil, son of HUGUES de Ponthieu Comte de Montreuil & his wife Berthe d'Aumâle (-killed in battle Château d'Arques 25 Oct [1053]). m secondly ([1053/54]) LAMBERT de Boulogne Comte de Lens, son of EUSTACHE [I] Comte de Boulogne & his wife Mathilde de Louvain (-killed in battle Phalampin 1054). m thirdly ([1060]) EUDES III Comte de Troyes et d'Aumâle, son of ETIENNE I Comte de Troyes [Blois] & his wife Adela --- (-after 1118). http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#Adelaisdied1081
  LESS
  
  Herleva or Arlette was the mother of William the Conqueror. She was the teenage daughter of a local tanner from a little French town of Falaise, where they lived. Herleva's Legend is that it all started when Robert, the young Duke of Normandy saw Herleva washing in the river near his castle. He was unable to resist her and took her for his mistress.
  
  She later gave birth to his son, William in 1027 or 1028. Their love affair didn't last. While Robert went on a pilgrimage, Herleva married Herluin de Conteville in 1029. From this marriage she had two sons: Odo and Robert, who both became prominent during William's reign. They also had at least one daughter, who married William, lord of La Fert-Mac. William the Conqueror had a (half or full) sister, Adelaide, who may have been Herleva's daughter, but could possibly have been a daughter of Robert by some other mistress. Adelaide married first Enguerrand, count of Ponthieu, second Lambert of Lens, and third Odo, count of Champagne.
  
  Inscription
  A translation from the French shown in the image:
  
  Abbey of Grestain
  1050-1790 [Although difficult restored today]
  
  Here rest under the ruins of the church of
  this abbey the remains
  of Arlette mother of William the Conqueror
  Herluin Lord of Conteville her Husband
  Robert Earl Comte's First Earl of
  Cournoualles. Matilda
  daughter of Roger de Montgomery first
  Earl of Shrewsbury
  
  Rest in Peace
  
  This plate was
  erected for those
  descendants of Arlette
  
  July 1928
  
  Robert I "The Devil"
  Born circa 1008
  Acceded on August 6, 1027
  Died between July 1 and 3, 1035 at Nicaea in Bithynia while returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Ancient Nicaea was located about 65 miles south e
  
  BIO
  BIO: from http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#Adelaisdied1081 as of 4/3/2016
  
  HERLEVE [Arlette], daughter of FULBERT [de Falaise] & his wife Doda [Duwa] ---. Guillaume of Jumièges names “He
  
  William son of Robert & Herleve Medlands capture 19 Feb 2023
  https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20Kings%201066-1603.htm#_ftnref1
  
  GUILLAUME de Normandie, illegitimate son of ROBERT II Duke of Normandy & his mistress Herlève --- (Château de Falaise, Nor
  
  === Herleva Arlette de Falaise ===
  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90987094/herleva-de_falaise
  
  === Placeholder ===
  This entry is more of a placeholder than a person. What is known is that William the Conqueror had a sister Adelaide, and one source says she was the daughter of Robert by a different woman.
  
  As such, it is deduced that this other woman must have existed, about whom absolutely nothing is known except that she had an extra-marital relationship with Robert that produced a daughter Adelaide. We cannot extrapolate her birth even within a decade, nor do we know whether she was a maiden or a widow.
  
  It is possible that this was identical to Herleve, if the source that specifies the relationship was on the father's side did so simply to emphasize this and distinguish her from his known siblings born to his moterh and her husband, but this is only one possibility. It is equally likely that Robert was not monogamous in his affairs, and that her mother was someone else, which could cover the range from a teenage milkmaid to a merry widow, so extrapolating a birthdate is completely arbitrary.
  
  As such, this is profile more represents the concept of Robert having a child while unmarried, with no further details known, than it represents a specific person.
  
  === Herleva, also known as Herleve, Arlette, ===
  Herleva, also known as Herleve, Arlette, Arletta Arlotte, and Harlette (c. 1003 – c. 1050) was an 11th century Norman woman known for having been mother of William the Conqueror, born to an extramarital relationship with Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and also of William's prominent half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, born to Herleva's marriage to Herluin de Conteville.
  
  === Sources ===
  Bates, David (2004). "William I (known as William the Conqueror)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29448. Retrieved 20 August 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  Bates, David (2001). William the Conqueror. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1980-3.
  Borman, Tracy (2011). Matilda: Wife of the Conqueror, First Queen of England. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-0995-4913-1.
  Douglas, David C. (1964). William the Conqueror. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  Damian-Grint, Damian (1999). "EN NUL LEU NEL TRUIS ESCRIT: RESEARCH AND INVENTION IN BENOIT DE SAINT MAURE'S CHRONIQUE DES DUCS DE NORMANDIE". In Harper-Bill, Christopher (ed.). Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998. 21. Woodbridge,Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-8511-5745-9.
  Freeman, Edward August (1867). The History of the Norman Conquest of England: its cause and results. I. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 499740947.
  Freeman, Edward August (1870). The History of the Norman Conquest of England: The reign of Eadward the Confessor. Revised. II (2 ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 971506352.
  Hirschman, Elizabeth Caldwell; Yates, Donald N. (2013). The Early Jews and Muslims of England and Wales: A Genetic and Genealogical History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-7684-8.
  van Houts, Elisabeth M. C. (1986). "The Origins of Herleva, Mother of William the Conqueror". English Historical Review. 101: 399–404.
  Trapnell, Deverell W. (1870). "The Norman conquest ; or the land question regarded from an historical standpoint". London: Hodder and Stoughton. JSTOR 60247374.
  External links

1. William I "the Conqueror" King of England, b. ABT 1028 in Falaise, Normandie, France     d. 9 SEP 1087 in Priory of Saint Gervase, Rouen, Duchy of Normandy
2. Robert de Mortain, b. 1031 in , Normandy, France     d. 1091

1. Isabella de Pays, b. 4 FEB 1024 in Pas-De-Calais, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, France     d. ABT 1085 in Wattlesborough, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom

• m. BEF 1034 in England

1. Nigelus de Plumpton, b. 1034 in Plumpton, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom     d. 1066

1. Muriel De Conteville, b. ABT 1041 in Conteville, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France     d. 1076 in St Edmunds, Suffolk, , England
2. Eudes 'Odo' de Conteville, Bishop of Bayeaux, b. 1030 in Conteville, Somme, Picardie, France     d. FEB 1097 in Palermo, Sicilia, Italy
3. Emma de Conteville, b. ABT 1029 in Conteville, Eure, Normandy, France     d. 3 JUL 1103 in Avranches, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France
4. Robert de Burgo Montaigne, b. 8 DEC 1031 in Mortaigne Au Perche, Orne, Normandy, France     d. 8 DEC 1095 in France

1. Title: Ancestry Family Trees
   Author: Ancestry Family Tree
   
2. Title: Millennium File
   Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7249&h=10179569&indiv=try;
   
3. Title: Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
   Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=9289&h=17052797&indiv=try;
   
4. Title: William, Duke of Normandy, in The Life and Times of William I, pgs. 53 and 217 [See document in the Memories section]
   Author: The Life and Times of William I, pgs. 53 and 217
   Note: William, Duke of Normandy, in The Life and Times of William I, pgs. 53 and 217 [See document in the Memories section]
   Page: William, Duke of Normandy, in The Life and Times of William I, pgs. 53 and 217 [See document in the Memories section]
   
5. Title: Herleva of Falaise
   Author: gini.com
   Publication: Name: https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/167469962;
   Note: She is the partner of Richard 1
   Page: Mother of William the Conqueror
   
6. Title: Richard II, Duke of Normandy, and Judith of Bretagne in English History in Rhyme, pg. 43 [See document in the Memories section]
   Author: English History in Rhyme, pg. 43
   Note: Richard II, Duke of Normandy, and Judith of Bretagne in English History in Rhyme, pg. 43 [See document in the Memories section]
   Page: Richard II, Duke of Normandy, and Judith of Bretagne in English History in Rhyme, pg. 43 [See document in the Memories section]
   
7. Title: Ancestry Family Trees
   Author: Ancestry Family Tree
   
8. Title: U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
   Author: Source number: 230.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: MA1
   Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7836&h=30358&indiv=try;
   
9. Title: Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
   Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=9289&h=11403436&indiv=try;
   
10. Title: U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
    Author: Source number: 230.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: MA1
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7836&h=30358&indiv=try;
    
11. Title: Millennium File
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7249&h=10179569&indiv=try;
    
12. Title: International, Find A Grave Index for Select Locations, 1300s-Current
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=60541&h=508709&indiv=try;
    
13. Title: Wikipedia - Herleva of Falaise
    Author: Bates, David (2004). "William I (known as William the Conqueror)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29448. Retrieved 20 August 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)Damian-Grint, Damian (1999). "EN NUL LEU NEL TRUIS ESCRIT: RESEARCH AND INVENTION IN BENOIT DE SAINT MAURE'S CHRONIQUE DES DUCS DE NORMANDIE". In Harper-Bill, Christopher (ed.). Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998. 21. Woodbridge,Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-8511-5745-9. Freeman, Edward August (1867). The History of the Norman Conquest of England: its cause and results. I. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 499740947. Freeman, Edward August (1870). The History of the Norman Conquest of England: The reign of Eadward the Confessor. Revised. II (2 ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 97150635
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herleva;
    Note: Herleva Born c. 1003 Falaise, Duchy of Normandy, France Died c. 1050 (age about 47) Normandy Burial place Grestain Abbey Nationality Norman Spouse(s) Herluin de Conteville Partner(s) Robert I, Duke of Normandy Children 5, including William the Conqueror, Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain Parent(s) Fulbert of Falaise (father) 13th-century façade of the ancient Abbey of Grestain in Normandy, which was founded in 1050 by Herluin of Conteville and Herleva, the mother of William, Duke of Normandy and King of England The three sons of Herleva of Falaise: William, Duke of Normandy, in the centre, Odo, the bishop of Bayeux, on the left and Robert, Count of Mortain, on the right (Bayeux Tapestry, 1070s) Herleva[a] (c. 1003 – c. 1050) was an 11th-century Norman woman known for having been mother of William the Conqueror, born to an extramarital relationship with Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and also of William's prominent half-brothers Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, born to Herleva's marriage to Herluin de Conteville. Life Herleva's background 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, but of all the Norman chroniclers only the Tours chronicler and William of Malmesbury, the latter thought to have simply copied the Tours source, assert that William's parents were subsequently joined in marriage.[8][b] According to Edward Augustus Freeman, the Tours chronicler's version cannot be true, because if Herleva married the Duke, then William's birth would have been legitimized, and thus he would not have been known as William the Bastard[c] by his contemporaries.[8] The most commonly accepted version says that she was the daughter of a tanner named Fulbert from the town of Falaise, in Normandy. The meaning of filia pelletarii burgensis[10] is somewhat uncertain, and Fulbert may instead have been a furrier, embalmer, apothecary, or a person who laid out corpses for burial.[11] Some argue that Herleva's father was not a tanner but, rather, a member of the burgher class.[13] The idea is supported by the appearance of her brothers 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 of these would have been nearly impossible if Herleva's father had been a tanner, which would place his standing little above that of a peasant. Orderic Vitalis described Herleva's father Fulbert as the Duke's Chamberlain (cubicularii ducis).[11][14] According to one legend,[15] her relationship with Robert began when he 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 to trample barefoot on the garments which were awash in the liquid dye 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 concubine.[16] She later gave birth to his son, William, in 1027 or 1028.[17] Marriage to Herluin de Conteville Herleva later married Herluin de Conteville in 1031. Some accounts 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.[18] 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 le Goz, Viscount of Avranches, and a daughter of unknown name who married William, lord of la Ferté-Macé.[19] Death According 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.[d] Notes ^ Also known as Herleve,[1] Arlette,[2] Arletta[3] Arlotte,[4] and Harlette.[5] Herleve is from the Old Danish / Old Norse names Herlef / Hærlæif, "warrior love relic", found on the Ingvar runestones. The forms in -ette, -otte are French pet names.[6] It is etymologically unrelated to harlot.[7] ^ Tours chronicle: "Dux Robertus, nato dicto Guillelmo, in isto eodem anno matrem pueri, quam defloraverat, duxit in uxorem." (When the said William had been born, in that same year Duke Robert took as his wife the boy's mother, whom he had deflowered.)[8] ^ He was regularly described as bastardus (bastard) in non-Norman contemporary sources.[9] ^ 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.[
    Page: Correct person
    
14. Title: Dukes of Normandy in William the Conqueror and the Rule of the Normans, pgs. 25, 27-29 and 63 [See document in the Memories section]
    Author: William the Conqueror and the Rule of the Normans, pgs. 25, 27-29 and 63
    Note: Dukes of Normandy in William the Conqueror and the Rule of the Normans, pgs. 25, 27-29 and 63 [See document in the Memories section]
    Page: Dukes of Normandy in William the Conqueror and the Rule of the Normans, pgs. 25, 27-29 and 63 [See document in the Memories section]
    
15. Title: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90987094/herleva-de_falaise
    Publication: Name: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90987094/herleva-de_falaise;
    
16. Title: International, Find A Grave Index for Select Locations, 1300s-Current
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=60541&h=508709&indiv=try;
    
17. Title: Mistress I GXLQ-FFJ
    Author: Mistress (1): a) ADELAIS (-[1082/84]). Robert de Torigny names "Aeliz" as the daughter of Duke Robert II "de alia concubina" from Herleve[233]. She retained the title Comtesse d'Aumâle after her first marriage. The foundation charter of Saint-Martin d´Auchy names “Engueranni consulis qui filius fuit Berte supradicti Guerinfridi filie et Adelidis comitisse uxoris sue sororis…Willelmi Regis Anglorum”[234]. Her second marriage is deduced from the same charter of Saint-Martin d´Auchy which also names “Judita comitissa domine supradicte filia”[235]. Orderic Vitalis records that King William I granted "comitatum Hildernessæ" to "Odoni...Campaniensi nepoti Theobaldi comitis" who had married "sororem...regis filiam...Rodberti ducis"[236]. William I King of England donated various properties to the abbey of La Trinité de Caen, including "burgum de Hulmo" with the consent of "Adelisa amita mea…cujus hereditas erat sed et comitissa A. de Albamarla…in vita sua", by charter dated 108
    Publication: Name: http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#Adelaisdied1081;
    
18. Title: Dukes of Normandy in The Conqueror and his Companions, Vol. 1, pg. 3-5 [See document in the Memories section]
    Author: The Conqueror and his Companions, Vol. 1, pg. 3-5
    Note: Dukes of Normandy in The Conqueror and his Companions, Vol. 1, pg. 3-5 [See document in the Memories section]
    Page: Dukes of Normandy in The Conqueror and his Companions, Vol. 1, pg. 3-5 [See document in the Memories section]
    
19. Title: Millennium File
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7249&h=10548912&indiv=try;
    
20. Title: wiki Herleva
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herleva;
    
21. Title: Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=9289&h=22714415&indiv=try;
    
22. Title: Richard II, Duke of Normandy, in the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy ~http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#RichardIIdied1026A [See document in the Memories section]
    Publication: Name: http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#RichardIIdied1026A ;
    Note: Father-in-law of Judith of Bretagne- Richard II, Duke of Normandy, in the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy ~http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#RichardIIdied1026A [See document in the Memories section]
    Page: Richard II, Duke of Normandy, in the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy ~http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORMANDY.htm#RichardIIdied1026A [See document in the Memories section]
    
23. Title: "Medieval English Ancestors of Certain Americans"
    Page: Rollo, Poppa of Bayeux and William Long Sword in Medieval English Ancestors of Certain Americans, pg. 181-183 [See document in the Memories section]
    
24. Title: Wikipedia: Herleva
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herleva;
    Page: Correct person
    
25. Title: Wikipedia: Arlette de Falaise
    Author: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlette_de_Falaise
    Publication: Name: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlette_de_Falaise;
    Page: Correct person
    
26. Title: Herleva de Falaise, "Find A Grave Index"
    Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLW-9HYW : 10 June 2021), Arlette, ; Burial, Fatouville-Grestain, Departement de l'Eure, Haute-Normandie, France, Abbey of Grestain; citing record ID 90987094, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
    Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLW-9HYW;
    Page: A match in every aspect of the information contained... Attach without delay if you please... Submitted in good faith... Thank You...