Gundred of Normandy b. 1053 d. 1085

1053 - 1085 (32 years)

Expand all | Collapse all

Personal Information | Notes | All

Name Gundred of Normandy

Birth 1053

Gender Female

Death 1085

Siblings 2 siblings

	1. Gundred of Normandy, b. 1053 d. 1085 (Age 32 years)
	2. Adela of Normandy, b. 1067 d. 1137 (Age 70 years)
	3. Henry I Beauclerc, b. 1068 d. 1135 (Age 67 years)

Person ID I1606 Database

Last Modified 7 Feb 2020

Father	William the Conquerer, b. 1028 d. 9 Sep 1087 (Age 59 years)
Mother	Mathilda of Flanders, b. 1031, Flanders, Belgium d. 2 Nov 1083, Caen, Basse-Normandie, France (Age 52 years)
Family ID	F419	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Spouse / Partner William I de Varennes, b. 1055 d. 1088 (Age 33 years)

Children

William II de Warenne, b. 1071 d. 1138 (Age 67 years)

Family ID F707 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 26 Dec 2015

Notes

Gundrada's parentage has long been a subject of debate among historians. Monks at Lewes Priory (in Sussex England), in a very early charter, claimed she was the daughter of Matilda of Flanders. Lewes was founded as a Cluniac monastery by William and Gundrada.
In the sixteenth century Leland believed that she was the Conqueror's daughter, while Orderic Vitalis had stated that she was Sister of Gherbode, a Fleming, to whom King William the First had given the City and Earldom of Chester. By the 1800s some thought that Gundrada was not a daughter of the King, but of the queen, Matilda, by an earlier, forgotten marriage to a Flemish nobleman called Gerbod. Other suggestions have included that she was an adopted daughter, raised alongside William and Matilda's own children who were of a similar age.
Many still believe that is the case.
However, the daughter assumptions is supported by Matilda's gift to Gundrada of the manor of Carlton in Cambridge \endash a manor Gundrada later gave to Lewes Priory.
Since there are several theories about her parentage, we have her down as the daughter of William the Conquerer and his wife Mathilda of Flanders, but with an *.

Gundred of Normandy (1053-1085)
Gundred was a daughter of William the Conqueror by his spouse Matilda of Flanders. Some historians believe that she might have been born before the marriage. Girls were not always describes as well as boys (heirs).

Gundred married (before 1070) William de Warenne (spelled "Varennes" in French), 1st Earl of Surrey.
Sometime between 1078 and 1082, Gundrada (French spelling) and her husband set out for Rome visiting monasteries along the way. In Burgundy they were unable to go any further due to a war between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII.

They visited Cluny Abbey and were impressed with the monks and their dedication. William and Gundred decided to found a Cluniac priory on their own lands in Sussex (40 miles south of London). It became the Lewes Priory dedicated to St. Pancras.

Gundred died in childbirth on 27 May 1085 at Castle Acre, Norfolk, one of her husband's estates, and was buried at the Chapter house of Lewes Priory. Her husband William was later buried beside her.