Count Geoffrey "Crispin" deEu deBrionne DeNormandy^[1]

953 - 1026  (73 years)

• Name	Count Geoffrey "Crispin" deEu deBrionne DeNormandy
  Birth	953	Brionne, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France
  Gender	Male
  Death	28 Aug 1026	Fecamp, Normandie, France
  Person ID	I23135	Master
  Last Modified	17 Nov 2021

  
  

  Father	Richard I Fearless Normandy,   b. 28 Aug 933, Fecamp, Normandie, France d. 20 Nov 996, Fecamp, Normandie, France (Age 63 years)
  Mother	concubine of Richard I deNormandy,   b. 937, , Basse-Normandie, France d. 1033, Fecamp, Normandie, France (Age 96 years)
  Family ID	F6052	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Geoffrey Countess Brionne,   b. 958, , Normandy, France d. Yes, date unknown
  Children	+ 1. Gilbert "Crispin" Count De Brionne,   b. 1000, Brienne, Rance, Normandy, France d. 1040 (Age 40 years)
  Family ID	F1096	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 953 - Brionne, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France Death - 28 Aug 1026 - Fecamp, Normandie, France  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Geoffrey of Brionne (mid-10th century – 1015), also called Godfrey was Count of Eu and Brionne in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. He was a son of Duke Richard I of Normandy, by an unnamed wife or concubine. The county of Eu was an appanage created for Geoffrey by his half-brother Richard II of Normandy in 996 as part of Richard's policy of granting honors and titles for cadet members of his family. The citadel of Eu played a critical part of the defense of Normandy; the castle and walled town were on the river Bresle, just two miles from the English Channel. It had long been an embarkation point for England and in time of war was often one of the first places attacked. The castle of Brionne had been held by the Dukes of Normandy as one of their own homes but Richard II also made a gift of Brionne to his half-brother Geoffrey, who held it for life passing it to his son Gilbert and was only returned to the demesne of the Duke after his murder. Both Geoffrey and his son Gilbert are styled counts in a diploma to Lisieux given by Duke Richard II, but without territorial designations. Geoffrey died c. 1010. Geoffrey was married but the name of his wife is unknown. He was the father of: Gilbert, Count of Eu and Brionne Upon his death, Geoffrey was succeeded as Count of Eu and Count of Brionne by his son Gilbert. While there is little doubt Geoffrey (Godfrey) was Count of Eu, there is an open question as to whether Geoffrey was ever "Count" of Brionne. See: Douglas, Earliest Norman Counts, EHS 61, No. 240 (1946), p.134. The early Normans followed the Viking custom of marriage called mos danicus that they considered a legitimate form of marriage. It was the Church that considered this the same as concubinage. Legitimacy would not have been an issue at this time. Orderic in a speech attributed to Roger, Count of Mullent to Robert II, Duke of Normandy, in asking for the castle of Brionne stated that it was Duke Richard the elder (I) who gave Brionne to his son Geoffrey (Godfrey). See Ordericus Vitalis, Ecclesiastical History, Trans. Forester, Vol. II (1854),

  
  

• Sources

  [S23] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), (Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998).