Hugues De Lexhy

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Breton De Waroux was born in 1138; died in 1210.
2. Otton De Lexhy was born in 1140; and died.

Raes married Alix De Warfusee in 1112. Alix (daughter of Libert De Warfusee) was born in 1091; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Pierre married Eustachia De Dampmartin in 1088. Eustachia was born in 1076 in Dammartin-En-Goele, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hugh + Rohais De Bulles. Rohais (daughter of Richard Fitzgilbert) was born in 1046 in Bulles, Oise, France; died in 1081 in , , , France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Died in Siege of Bar-le-Duc.

Manasses married Constance Capet in 1032 in Orléans, Loiret, Centre, France. Constance (daughter of Robert II Capet and Constance of Toulouse) was born in 1014 in Orléans, Loiret, Centre, France; died in 1042 in Dammartin-En-Goele, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Richard fitz Gilbert (bef. 1035–c. 1090), was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and was styled "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and of "Tonbridge" from his holdings.

Biography
He was the son of Gilbert, Count of Brionne in Normandy (fitz was a variant spelling of filz > French fils, that means "son"). Gilbert was a guardian of the young duke William and when he was killed by Ralph de Wacy in 1040, his two older sons Richard and Gilbert fled to Flanders.[4] On his later return to Normandy Richard was rewarded with the lordship of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy. In 1066, Richard came into England with his kinsman William the Conqueror, and received from him great advancement in honour and possessions.

The Dictionary of National Biography and other sources are vague and sometimes contradictory about when the name de Clare came into common usage, but what we do know is that Richard fitz Gilbert (of Tonbridge), the earliest identifiable progenitor of the family, is once referred to as Richard of Clare in the Suffolk return of the Domesday Book.

Rewards
He was rewarded with 176 lordships and large grants of land in England, including the right to build the castles of Clare and of Tonbridge. Richard fitz Gilbert received the lordship of Clare, in Suffolk, where parts of the wall of Clare Castle still stand. He was thus Lord of Clare. Some contemporaneous and later sources called him Earl of Clare, though many modern sources view the title as a "styled title".

He served as Joint Chief Justiciar in William's absence, and played a major part in suppressing the revolt of 1075.

Rebel baron
On the Conqueror's death, Richard and other great Norman barons, including Odo of Bayeux, Robert, Count of Mortain, and Geoffrey of Coutances, led a rebellion against the rule of William Rufus in order to place Robert Curthose on the throne. However, most Normans in England remained loyal. William Rufus and his army successfully attacked the rebel strongholds at Tonbridge, Pevensey and Rochester.

Death and succession
He was buried in St. Neot's Priory in 1091. His widow was still living in 1113. His lands were inherited by his son, Gilbert fitz Richard.

Marriage
Richard married Rohese Giffard, daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Flaitel, and they had the following children:

Roger fitz Richard de Clare, received Norman lands and d. 1131, apparently without issue.
Gilbert fitz Richard, d. 1115, succeeded his father as Earl of Clare.
Walter de Clare, Lord of Nether Gwent, d. 1138.
Isabel de Clare, d. 1088, m. Humphrey d'Isle.
Richard fitz Richard de Clare, Abbot of Ely.
Robert fitz Richard, Lord of Little Dunmow, Baron of Baynard, d. 1136.
Alice (or Adeliza) de Clare, d. 1138. m. Walter Tirel.
Rohese de Clare, d. 1121, m. (ca. 1088), Eudo Dapifer.

Robert married Constance of Toulouse in 1000. Constance was born in 986 in Toulouse, Languedoc, Haute Garonne, France; died on 28 Jul 1032 in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France; was buried in Abbaye de Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Born c. 986 Constance was the daughter of William I, count of Provence and Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou. She was the half-sister of Count William II of Provence. Constance was married to King Robert, after his divorce from his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy. The marriage was stormy; Bertha's family opposed her, and Constance was despised for importing her Provençal kinfolk and customs. Robert's friend, Hugh of Beauvais, count palatine, tried to convince the king to repudiate her in 1007. Possibly at her request 12 knights of her kinsman Fulk Nerra then murdered Beauvais in 1008.

In 1010 Robert went to Rome, followed by his former wife Bertha, to seek permission to divorce Constance and remarry Bertha. Pope Sergius IV was not about to allow a consanguineous marriage which had been formally condemned by Pope Gregory V and Robert had already repudiated two wives. So the request was denied. After his return according to one source Robert "loved his wife more."

In 1022, a trial accused clergy members of heresy--Constance's previous confessor Stephen included, Robert had his wife Queen Constance stand at the door to prevent any mob violence. However, as the condemned clerics left the trial the queen "struck out the eye of Stephen... with the staff which she carried". This was seen as Constance venting her frustration at anyone subverting the prestige of the crown.

At Constance's urging, her eldest son Hugh Magnus was crowned co-king alongside his father in 1017. But later Hugh demanded his parents share power with him, and rebelled against his father in 1025. Constance, however, on learning of her son's rebellion was furious with him, rebuking him at every turn. At some point Hugh was reconciled with his parents but shortly thereafter died, probably about age eighteen. The royal couple was devastated; there was concern for the queen’s mental health due to the violence of her grief.

Robert and Constance quarrelled over which of their surviving sons should inherit the throne; Robert favored their second son Henry, while Constance favored their third son, Robert. Despite his mother's protests and her support by several bishops, Henry was crowned in 1027. Constance, however, was not graceful when she didn't get her way. The ailing Fulbert, bishop of Chartres told a colleague that he could attend the ceremony "if he traveled slowly to Reims—but he was too frightened of the queen to go at all".

Constance encouraged her sons to rebel, and they began attacking and pillaging the towns and castles belonging to their father. Son Robert attacked Burgundy, the duchy he had been promised but had never received, and Henry seized Dreux. At last King Robert agreed to their demands and peace was made which lasted until the king's death.

King Robert died on 20 July 1031. Soon afterwards Constance fell ill; she was also at odds with both her surviving sons. Constance seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them. Henry fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons and soldiers from his brother Robert. He returned to besiege his mother at Poissy but Constance escaped to Pontoise. She only surrendered when Henry began the siege of Le Puiset and swore to slaughter all the inhabitants.

Constance died after passing out following a coughing fit on 28 July 1032 and was buried beside her husband Robert at Saint-Denis Basilica.

Notes:

Gilbert (or Giselbert) de Brionne, Count of Eu and of Brionne (c. 1000 – c. 1040), was an influential nobleman in the Duchy of Normandy in Northern France. He was one of the early guardians of Duke William II in his minority, and a first cousin to William's father Duke Robert. Had Lord Brionne not been murdered, the senior house of de Clare would probably have been titled de Brionne. Lord Brionne was the first to be known by the cognomen Crispin because of his hair style which stood up like the branches of a pine tree.

Gilbert de Brionne was son of Geoffrey, Count of Eu (otherwise cited as 'Godfrey'), who was an illegitimate child of Richard I of Normandy. He inherited Brionne, becoming one of the most powerful landowners in Normandy. Gilbert was a generous benefactor to Bec Abbey founded by his former knight Herluin in 1031. When Robert I died in 1035, his illegitimate son William inherited his father's title and several powerful nobles, including Gilbert of Brionne, Osbern the Seneschal and Alan of Brittany, became William's guardians.

A number of Norman barons, including Ralph de Gacé, refused to accept William as their leader. In 1040 an attempt was made to kill William but the plot failed. Gilbert however was murdered while he was peaceably riding near Eschafour. It is believed two of his killers were Ralph of Wacy and Robert de Vitot. This appears to have been an act of vengeance for the wrongs inflicted upon the orphan children of Giroie by Gilbert, and it is not clear what Ralph de Gacé had to do in the business. Fearing they might meet their father's fate, Gilbert's sons Richard and Baldwin were conveyed by their friends to the court of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. Gilbert's children would accompany Duke William on his conquest of England and his descendants would become one of the most powerful noble families in the British isles. They would rule over vast lands in modern-day Ireland, Scotland, and England and become powerful Marcher Lords.

The name of the wife of Gilbert de Brionne is not known; however, they were known to have the following children:
Sir Richard fitz Gilbert (Richard de Clare) (bef. 1035 – c. 1090), m. Rohese Giffard (1034 – aft. 1113), daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville[9]
Baldwin FitzGilbert (d. 1090)[5]
William (died after 29 August 1060)
Adela (died August 1092), m. Neel II, Viscount of Cotentin (fr)
Emma, m. Hugh de Waft[10]
Hesilia, m. William Malet, Honour of Eye[11]
Through his eldest son, Gilbert was ancestor of the English house of de Clare, of the Barons FitzWalter, and the Earls of Gloucester and Hertford. After Gilbert's death, his uncle William I became Count of Eu whereas Brionne reverted to duke.

Gilbert and an unknown woman had the following children:
Osbern of Cailly (c. 1020 – c. 1090), m. Hildeburge of Beaudemont[b]

Gilbert married Gunnora D'aunou, , , England. Gunnora was born about 984 in , , , France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]