House of Tosny
Encyclopedia
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, though it did not include any comtes or vicomtes. Its founder was Raoul I of Tosny (died after 1024).
Notable members
Coming from Île-de-FranceÎle-de-France (province)
The province of Île-de-France or Isle de France is an historical province of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history...
, the Tosnys first based themselves in Normandy in the 10th century to collaborate with the descendants of the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s. They formed part of this new elite which appeared around dukes Richard I and Richard II
Richard II, Duke of Normandy
Richard II , called the Good , was the eldest son and heir of Richard I the Fearless and Gunnora.-Biography:...
at the turn of the 10th to 11th century. In 991, Raoul I of Tosny witnessed the first surviving international treaty in Norman history (an accord between Duke Richard I and the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred II). As one of the top Normans, he set out to fight in southern Italy. His grandson Raoul II
Raoul II of Tosny
Raoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche was a Norman nobleman of the house of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales.-Victor at Hastings in 1066:...
took part with the premier barons in the court of William the Conqueror (1035–1087). He was the Norman standard bearer in 1054.
Narratives, more or less legendary, gathered around the family : the chroniclers report the exploits of Roger I
Roger I of Tosny
Roger I of Tosny or Roger of Hispania was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny who took part in the Reconquista of Iberia. He was the son of Raoul I of Tosny....
, the Moor-Eater, in Hispania. His wife, Godehildis/Gotelina, was linked to a miracle at Sainte-Foy de Conques. At the start of the 12th century, the Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
explains that the family was descended from Malahulce, uncle of Rollo
Rollo
Rollo has multiple meanings. It may mean:a first name*Rollo Armstrong, member of British dance act Faithless* Rollo May, American psychologist...
.
Formation of its power
As with several Norman families (such as the BeaumontHouse of Beaumont
The Norman family of Beaumont was one of the great baronial Anglo-Norman families which became rooted in England after the Norman conquest.Roger de Beaumont, lord of Pont-Audemer, of Beaumont-le-Roger, of Brionne and of Vatteville, was too old to fight at Hastings, staying in Normandy to govern...
), the origin of the house of Tosny's power derived from two sources :
- recovery of church goods. According to Lucien Musset, Hugues, archbishop of RouenArchbishop of RouenThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the ecclesiastical province of the archdiocese comprises the majority of Normandy....
(942-989) split off lands from his cathedral's lands and gave them to his brother Raoul I of Tosny - grants of land by the dukes of Normandy, notably Richard II
More unusually, the house of Tosny probably acquired part of its fortune from foreign adventures - Raoul I and Roger I fought in the County of Apulia and in Iberia
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
in the first quarter of the 11th century.
The dangers in its history
Raoul II of TosnyRaoul II of Tosny
Raoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche was a Norman nobleman of the house of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales.-Victor at Hastings in 1066:...
participated in the Norman Conquest in 1066, and was rewarded with domains in England, most notably the two baronies of Flamstead
Flamstead
Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original Verulamstead...
(Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
) and Wrethamthorpe (Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
). Three other family members were also rewarded : Raoul's brother Robert de Stafford
Robert de Stafford
Robert de Stafford was a Norman nobleman, the builder of Stafford Castle in England. He may or may not be the same as Robert de Tosny Lord of Belvoir or of the Robert de Tosny who was son of Raoul II of Tosny ; primary evidence is lacking to determine his parentage, according to Cawley...
, Robert de Beauvoir and his son Béranger, belonging to a collateral branch. However, it seems that on the whole the Tosnys did not play an important role in England. In the Duchy of Normandy
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
, they were particularly active during the troubles which followed William I's death (1087) and the subsequent conflict
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
between Empress Mathilda and Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
(1135–1144). Nevertheless, the 12th century gives the impression of a decline in the Tosny family fortunes in comparison to some of the neighbouring houses in eastern Normandy, such as the houses of Beaumont-Meulan
House of Beaumont
The Norman family of Beaumont was one of the great baronial Anglo-Norman families which became rooted in England after the Norman conquest.Roger de Beaumont, lord of Pont-Audemer, of Beaumont-le-Roger, of Brionne and of Vatteville, was too old to fight at Hastings, staying in Normandy to govern...
, Montfort and Harcourt
House of Harcourt
The House of Harcourt is a Norman family, descended from the Viking Bernard the Dane and named after its seigneurie of Harcourt in Normandy. Its mottos were "Gesta verbis praeveniant" , "Gesta verbis praevenient" , and "Le bon temps viendra .....
.
In 1204 Roger IV of Tosny lost his continental fiefdoms as a result of his support for John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
and thus the family had to withdraw to England to begin again. In 1309, its male line became extinct.
The management of its goods
Like all Norman barons, the Tosnys had fiefdoms scattered throughout Normandy and England. In 1077, a marriage between Raoul IIRaoul II of Tosny
Raoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche was a Norman nobleman of the house of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales.-Victor at Hastings in 1066:...
and Isabelle de Montfort allowed the Tosnys to direct the châtellenie of Nogent-le-Roi
Nogent-le-Roi
Nogent-le-Roi is a commune in the department of Eure-et-Loir in the Centre region in northern France.It is located some 20 kilometres north of Chartres and a shorter distance to the southeast of Dreux.-Population:-Royal deaths:...
, which they held onto until around 1200. The family possessions thus stretched as far as the border of the duchy of Normandy
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
. Nevertheless, the heart of their continental lands was centred around Conches-en-Ouche
Conches-en-Ouche
Conches-en-Ouches is a commune in the Eure department in northern France.-Geography:It is located by the Rouloir river, southwest of Évreux in the Haute-Normandie region. The town is located on a plateau known as the Pays d'Ouche.-Population:-References:...
. Part of their fiefdoms was let out to a small clientele of vassals.
The family made grants to abbeys, notably to those they had founded themselves (the Saint-Pierre de Castillon monastery c.1035). After 1066, as Lucien Musset remarks, the Tosnys showed themselves especially liberal to their English fiefdoms but avoided diminishing their Norman lands.
The texts give little information on the administration of these lands, though we know prévôts
Provost (civil)
A provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
were installed in the main centres.
The honour of Conches and of Tosny
With its two axes, Conches-en-OucheConches-en-Ouche
Conches-en-Ouches is a commune in the Eure department in northern France.-Geography:It is located by the Rouloir river, southwest of Évreux in the Haute-Normandie region. The town is located on a plateau known as the Pays d'Ouche.-Population:-References:...
and Tosny
Tosny
Tosny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France, some ten miles south of Rouen.-Population:...
(in the bend of the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
immediately upstream of Andelys), the barony of Tosny was a two-headed one.
According to the 1172 state of its fiefdoms, the "honneur" amounted to 50 or 51 knights' fiefs. The lands were mostly found in Haute-Normandie
Haute-Normandie
Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...
, more precisely between Risle
Risle
The Risle is a long river in Normandy, left tributary of the Seine.The river begins in Orne west of L'Aigle, crosses the western part of the department of Eure flowing from south to north and out into the estuary of the Seine on the left bank near Berville-sur-Mer...
and Iton
Iton
The Iton is a river in Normandy, France, left tributary of the Eure River. Its source is near Moulins-la-Marche. For about 10 km between Orvaux and Glisolles, it disappears and pursues a subterranean course....
. The vast forêt de Conches formed its centre. It also had scattered domains in the Eure valley (Fontaine-sous-Jouy
Fontaine-sous-Jouy
Fontaine-sous-Jouy is a commune in the Eure department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
, Cailly-sur-Eure
Cailly-sur-Eure
Cailly-sur-Eure is a commune in the Eure department and Haute-Normandie region of France.-Population:-References:*...
, Planches
Planches
Planches is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France....
, Acquigny
Acquigny
Acquigny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-External links:*...
), the Seine valley (Tosny
Tosny
Tosny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France, some ten miles south of Rouen.-Population:...
, Villers-sur-le-Roule
Villers-sur-le-Roule
Villers-sur-le-Roule is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
, Bernières-sur-Seine
Bernières-sur-Seine
Bernières-sur-Seine is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
), in Vexin Normand (Vesly
Vesly
Vesly may refer to the following communes in France:*Vesly, Eure, in the Eure département*Vesly, Manche, in the Manche département...
, Guerny
Guerny
Guerny is a commune in the Eure department in northern France.-Population:...
, Villers-en-Vexin
Villers-en-Vexin
Villers-en-Vexin is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
, Hacqueville
Hacqueville
Hacqueville is a commune in the Eure department in north western France.-Population:-See also:* Marc Isambart Brunel is born in Hacqueville in 1769.* Communes of the Eure department...
, Heuqueville, Val de Pîtres
Pîtres
Pîtres is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France. It lies on the Seine.-History:Historically, it had a bridge to prevent Vikings from sailing up the river to Paris. It was here that King Charles the Bald promulgated the Edict of Pistres in...
), in Pays de Caux
Pays de Caux
The Pays de Caux is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French département of Seine Maritime in Haute-Normandie. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs on the English Channel coast - its coastline is known as the Côte d'Albâtre...
and Talou around Blainville-Crevon
Blainville-Crevon
Blainville-Crevon is a commune in the Seine-Maritime département of the Haute-Normandie region of northern France.-Geography:A farming village situated by the banks of the river Crevon in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Rouen, at the junction of the D12, D7 and the D98 roads.-Toponymy:Medieval...
, Mortemer
Mortemer
Etymology: Romance morte = dead, and Frankish mari/meri = "mere", pond.Mortemer is the name of 2 communes in France:* Mortemer, in the Oise département, Picardy* Mortemer in the Seine-Maritime département, Haute-Normandie...
(Seine-Maritime, Mortemer-sur-Eaulne), Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
and Yerville
Yerville
Yerville is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small farming and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some northwest of Rouen at the junction of the D929 with the D142 road...
. Many of these lands were let out to vassals, notably les Clères.
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
mentions four main castles in the barony in 1119 : Conches-en-Ouche
Conches-en-Ouche
Conches-en-Ouches is a commune in the Eure department in northern France.-Geography:It is located by the Rouloir river, southwest of Évreux in the Haute-Normandie region. The town is located on a plateau known as the Pays d'Ouche.-Population:-References:...
, Tosny
Tosny
Tosny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France, some ten miles south of Rouen.-Population:...
, Portes
Portes
-In France:*Portes, Eure, in the Eure département*Portes, Gard, in the Gard département*Portes-en-Valdaine, in the Drôme département*Portes-lès-Valence, in the Drôme département*Les Portes-en-Ré, in the Charente-Maritime département...
, Acquigny
Acquigny
Acquigny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-External links:*...
.
Genealogy
Hugues de Calvacamp│
├─>Hugues, archbishop of Rouen (942-989)
│
│
└─>Raoul I of Tosny († 1024/1025)
│
├─>...
│ │
│ ?
│ └─>Robert of Tosny († 1088), lord de Belvoir
│ │
│ │
│ ├─> Béranger de Tosny
│ │
│ │
│ └─> Alice de Tosny († après 1129)
│ X Roger Bigot
│
└─>Roger I of Tosny
Roger I of Tosny
Roger I of Tosny or Roger of Hispania was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny who took part in the Reconquista of Iberia. He was the son of Raoul I of Tosny....
, Or Roger d'Espagne († c.1040)
X Godehildis/Gotelina
│
├─>Herbert († c.1040)
│
├─>Helinant († c.1040)
│
├─>Raoul II de Conches
Raoul II of Tosny
Raoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche was a Norman nobleman of the house of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales.-Victor at Hastings in 1066:...
and de Tosny († 1102)
│ X Isabelle de Montfort
│ │
│ ├─>Raoul III of Tosny
Raoul III of Tosny
Raoul III of Tosny , seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman of the house of Tosny.-Life:In the war between the two surviving sons of William the Conqueror, Raoul III chose to support the younger brother, Henry I "Beauclerc", recently crowned king of England...
, called the young († 1126)
│ │ X Adelise daughter of Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ ├─>Roger III († c.1157/1162)
│ │ │ X Ida de Hainaut
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ └─>Raoul IV († 1162)
│ │ │ X Marguerite of Leicester
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ └─>Roger IV († 1208/1209)
│ │ │ X Constance de Beaumont
│ │ │
│ │ └─>Hugues († c.1140)
│ │
│ │
│ ├─>Roger II († 1090/1091)
│ │
│ └─>Godehilde († 1097)
│ X (1) Robert I of Meulan (doubtful)
│ X (2) Baldwin of Boulogne
Baldwin I of Jerusalem
Baldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? – 2 April 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem...
, king of Jerusalem
│
├─>Robert de Stafford
Robert de Stafford
Robert de Stafford was a Norman nobleman, the builder of Stafford Castle in England. He may or may not be the same as Robert de Tosny Lord of Belvoir or of the Robert de Tosny who was son of Raoul II of Tosny ; primary evidence is lacking to determine his parentage, according to Cawley...
(† 1088)
│ │
│ └─>Nicolas de Stafford († vers 1138)
│ │
│ └─>Robert II de Stafford († c.1177-1185)
│ │
│ └─>Robert III de Stafford († c.1193/1194)
│
│
├─>Herbert († c.1040)
│
├─>Helinant († c.1040)
│
├─>Béranger l'Espagnol
│
├─>Adelise
│ X Guillaume Fils Osbern
William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...
│
└─>Berthe († c.1040)
See also
- Duchy of NormandyDuchy of NormandyThe Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
- Roger I of TosnyRoger I of TosnyRoger I of Tosny or Roger of Hispania was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny who took part in the Reconquista of Iberia. He was the son of Raoul I of Tosny....
- Raoul II of TosnyRaoul II of TosnyRaoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche was a Norman nobleman of the house of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales.-Victor at Hastings in 1066:...
- TosnyTosnyTosny is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France, some ten miles south of Rouen.-Population:...
- Anglo-NormanAnglo-NormanThe Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...