| Richard I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Count of Rouen | |
| Reign | 17 December 942 – 20 November 996 |
| Predecessor | William Longsword |
| Successor | Richard II |
| Born | 28 August 932 Fécamp, Duchy of Normandy |
| Died | 20 November 996 (aged 64) Fécamp, Duchy of Normandy |
| Spouses | |
| Issue more... | |
| House | House of Normandy |
| Father | William Longsword |
| Mother | Sprota |
Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: Richard Sans-Peur; Old Norse: Jarl Rikard), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.[1] Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write the "De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum" (Latin, "On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy"), called him a dux. However, this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's renowned leadership in war, and not as a reference to a title of nobility.[2][3] Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, the most important Norman landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.[4]
- ^ Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 79
- ^ Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), pp. 125–6
- ^ For different meanings of Latin word dux (pl. duces).
- ^ Emily Zack Tabuteau, 'Ownership and Tenure in Eleventh-Century Normandy', The American Journal of Legal History, Vol. 21, No. 2, (April 1977), p. 99