FitzNeel and St. Sauveur

[Reedpcgen]

I finally got my paws on Rev. Statham's _The Descent of the family of Statham_
(London, 1925). I will be studying it in detail over then next few days to see
what exactly is documented and what is assumption. He weaves an awfully lot
together, which makes me suspicious. This is why I haven't published the stuff
on the FitzNeels yet.

Statham provides an account of the family of Saint-Sauveur, in the Cotentin.
He shows that a daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, married Roger I de St.
Sauveur ("ob. c. 1014). They were parents of Nigel II (ob. s. 1041) who
married Gohilda "f. Raymond Bore." Their son Nigel III ("banished 1047, ob. a
monk 1092") is stated to have married a sister of William the Conqueror, being
daughter of Robert I by "Arlotta." They are given two children, a daughter who
married William de Vernon, and a son, Nigel IV ("Ob. c. 1072-3") who is given
as marrying Adela, daughter of Wililam de Vernon. Statham gives them a large
family:
i. Nigel V ("v. 1073 o. s. p.")
ii. Eudo (v. 1100) who married Rohais and was father of Nigel VI and Roger II
iii. William (a)
iv. William (b)
v. Girard
vi. Roger
vii. Richard
viii. Emma
ix. Bilelde
x. Maheldis

Statham states in his text:
"(8) Bilelde appears to have married Baldric de Lindsey, a tenant of the
Chester fee in Lincoln. He also held under Earl Hugh at Cocle in Cheshire (D.
B.). He is probably the Baudri de Lindessi who gave the tithe o fhis
Lincolnshire estates to S. Evroul (C. F. D. 636) [William Farrer also concludes
this in his Honours and Knights' Fees] and none other than the Baldric de
Bauquency mentioned by Orderic Vitalis. He must also have been one Robert fitz
Hugh's knights, for his wife Bilelde granted Peckforton to S. Werburgh in 1093
(D[ugdale's] M[on.] 1. 201). (7) (9) Emma, Mahildis. Nothing has been
discovered in connection with either of these daughters."

But James Tait, who was one of the greatest Cheshire historians, stated in 1939
[well after Statham's book was published], "Foundation Charter of Runcorn
Priory" [Chetham Society 100] that William FitzNeel was known to have a brother
named Richard who is attested in charters, but that there was no Richard among
the sons of the family of vicomte Neel.

So one of them is wrong.

Dr. Katherine S. B. Keats-Rohan, in her "Poppa of Bayeux and her family," TAG
july/October 1997, 72:187-204, verifies that Nigel [whom she numbers Nigel II]
married Adela ("sister of Richard, William and Baldwin I of Reviers and a
relative of William of Vernon") and had two sons named William and three
daughters, Emma, Bilelda (Bilihildis) and Matilda. She suggests that Nigel's
father, Nigel I de St. Sauveur, married a daughter of Robert, count of
Avranches, and his wife Bilihild of Maine.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

P. S. For those interested, Dr. Keats-Rohan told me she hopes the COEL data
base will be available in November, but is under contractual obligation not to
release any information until then.

pcr

PPS Does anyone have access to Fauroux, _Recueil des actes des ducs de
Normandie (911-1066), Caen, 1961 (Memoires de Societe des Antiquaires de
Normandie, t. 36), no. 147?
Or Delisle, _Saint-Sauveur_, pieces justificatives, no. 31, pp. 34-35,
published in Southeby and Co., _Bibliotheca Phillippica, Medieval Manuscripts:
New Series: Part VI Catalogue of Manuscripts on Papyrus, Vellum and Paper of
the 7th to the 18th Century. Date of Sale Tuesday 30th November at Eleven
o'clock." ?

[Reedpcgen]

Having now read through the whole of Rev. Statham's account of the early
family, I find only ONE DOCUMENT he cites that seems to be used to infer the
connection between William FitzNigel of Chester and Nigel St. Sauveur. Statham
refers to a document printed in J. Horace Round's Calendar of Documents
Preserved in France, no. 1166, which he says "is a charter of Nigel IV himself,
dated about 1060, in which he confirms the gift of six churches in Guernsey by
his lord William, count of the Normans, free from any claim on the part of him
or his, to S. Martin, Marmoutier, and its monks. His wife Adela and their sons
Roger, William, another William and Girard, with their sisters Emma, Bilelde
and Mahildis consenting to his grant."

NOW is seems awfully STRANGE that one person, among all of the sons and
daughters who relinquished their claims, was left out--Richard FitzNigel.
There is no RIchard in that document. We know from charters that William
FitzNigel, Constable of Chester, had a brother named Richard FitzNigel, yet
there is no Richard among the children of Nigel de St. Sauveur. Statham has
added him into the family without evidence.

So at this point I believe Tait was definitely right. Nigel, father of William
and Richard, of Cheshire, cannot be the Nigel de St. Sauveur to whom they are
attributed. They may have been closely related, but how? The evidence is not
here yet, but we know what isn't. [Further, there is NO evidence that Nigel
was ever Constable of Chester or in England. Accurate accounts begin with
William FitzNigel. I'll discuss this in a later post.]

pcr