Fressenda
Fressenda | |
|---|---|
| Seigneuresse of Hauteville-la-Guichard | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | Unknown |
| Buried | Benedictine Abbey of Sante-Eufemia |
| Noble family | House of Normandy (possibly) House of Hauteville (by marriage) |
| Spouse(s) | Tancred of Hauteville |
| Issue | Robert Guiscard Roger I Mauger William Aubrey Hubert Tancred Fressenda (wife of Richard I of Capua) |
| Father | Richard II of Normandy (possibly) |
Fressenda (Latin: Frensendis or Fredesendis) was an 11th-century Norman noblewoman and the wife of Tancred of Hauteville. She is known as the mother of Robert Guiscard and Roger I of Sicily.
Name
Goffredo Malaterra recorded her name as Frensendis[1] and Orderic Vitalis as Fredesendis[2] in latin. Her name has been anglized as Fresenda[3] or Fressenda[4] in English literature.
Origin
Fressenda's origin is not known. Contemporary historian, Goffredo Malaterra, wrote that she was "a lady who in birth and morals was by no means inferior to his first wife."[3]
Some historians have suggested that Fressenda was a illegitimate daughter of Richard II of Normandy.[5][6] Historian Elisabeth van Houts dismisses this claim as a 16th-century myth without evidence.[7]
Historian Graham Loud wrote that Girard of Buonalbergo might have been related to Fressenda to explain his unwaivering loyalty towards Robert Guiscard, her son, despite Robert's divorce of Gerard's paternal aunt. He admits that it is only speculation.[8]
Biography
Fressenda's early life is unknown, but at some point she married Tancred of Hauteville in Normandy. He was a widower petty lord of Hauteville-la-Guichard in western Normandy. Tancred's first wife was close to him but died when he was still of reasonable age.[9]
Issue
With Tancred, Fressenda had at least seven sons and one daughter:
- Robert Guiscard (d. 1085), duke of Apulia and Calabria[10][11]
- Mauger (d. 1064)[11]
- William (d. 1080)[11]
- Aubrey[11]
- Hubert[11]
- Tancred[11]
- Roger (d. 1101), grand count of Sicily[10][11]
- Fressenda (d. 1078), wife of Richard I of Capua[11]
Death
It is unknown when she died but she was buried in the Abbey of Sainte-Eufemia which Duke Richard, her son, had founded in 1062 for the abbot Robert de Grandmesnil who fled from Normandy.[12]
References
- ^ Goffredo Malaterra 2007.
- ^ Ordericus Vitalis 1840, p. 90.
- ^ a b Van Houts 2000, p. 239.
- ^ Loud 2000, p. 2.
- ^ Schwennicke 1984, p. Table 79 & 205.
- ^ Stasser 1990, p. 55.
- ^ Van Houts 2000, p. 224.
- ^ Loud 2000, p. 113.
- ^ Van Houts 2000, p. 238.
- ^ a b Luscombe & Riley-Smith 2004, p. 760.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Van Houts 2000, p. 298.
- ^ Van Houts 2000, p. 247.
Primary sources
- Ordericus Vitalis (1840). "Liber III". In Le Prévost, Augustus (ed.). Orderici Vitalis Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ. Vol. 2. Paris. p. 90.
- Goffredo Malaterra (2007). "Incipit liber primus". De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guiscardi Ducis fratris eius. Eulotech.
Secondary sources
- Loud, Graham A. (2000). The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781315846224.
- Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan, eds. (2004). "Appendix: genealogical tables". The New Cambridge Medieval History: Part 2. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 760.
- Stasser, Thierry (1990). "'Mathilde, fille du Comte Richard.' Essai d'identification". Annales de Normandie (in French). Vol. 40. pp. 49–64. doi:10.3406/annor.1990.1855.
- Schwennicke, Detlev (1984). "Die ausserdeutschen Staaten: Die regierenden Häuser der übrigen Staaten Europas" [The States Outside of Germany: The Reigning Houses of the Remaining European States]. Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten (in German). Vol. 2. Marburg: J.A. Stargardt. pp. Tables 79, 205.
- Van Houts, Elizabeth (2000). The Normans in Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 1–320. ISBN 9780719047510.