by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022
Constance of Normandy, Duchess of Brittany; Credit – Wikipedia
Constance was born circa 1057-1061 in the Duchy of Normandy, now part of France. She was the daughter of William III, Duke of Normandy and Matilda of Flanders. In 1066, Constance’s father, William III, Duke of Normandy, invaded England and defeated the last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. The Duke of Normandy was then also King William I of England, known as “the Conqueror”. Constance’s paternal grandparents were Robert I the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy and his mistress Herleva of Falaise. Her maternal grandparents were Baldwin V, Count of Flanders and Adèle of France, daughter of King Robert II of France.
Constance had at least nine siblings. The birth order of the boys is clear, but that of the girls is not. The list below is not in birth order. It lists Cecilia’s brothers first in their birth order and then his sisters in their probable birth order. Constance and her sisters were educated and taught to read Latin at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity (also known as the Abbaye-aux-Dames, Abbey of the Women) in Caen, Duchy of Normandy, which their mother Matilda of Flanders had founded.
- Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy (1051-1054 – 1134), married Sybil of Conversano, had one son
- Richard of Normandy (circa 1054 – circa 1070), died in a hunting accident in the New Forest
- William II Rufus, King of England (1056-1060 – 1100), unmarried, killed in the New Forest
- Henry I, King of England (1068 – 1135), married (1) Matilda of Scotland, had one son and one daughter (2) Adeliza of Louvain, no children
- Agatha of Normandy died before 1074, unmarried
- Adeliza of Normandy (circa 1055 – before 1113), probably a nun at the Abbey of St Léger in Préaux, Duchy of Normandy
- Cecilia of Normandy (circa 1056 – 1127), Abbess of Holy Trinity in Caen, Duchess of Normandy
- Matilda of Normandy (circa 1061 – circa 1086)
- Adela of Normandy (circa 1067 – 1137), married Stephen II, Count of Blois, had ten children including King Stephen of England
There had been a traditional rivalry between the Duchy of Normandy, where Constance’s family had been the reigning Dukes of Normandy since 911, and the neighboring Duchy of Brittany. The Breton-Norman War of 1064 – 1065 was the result of William III, Duke of Normandy (Constance’s father and later William I, King of England) supporting the rebels in Brittany against Conan II, Duke of Brittany. When the unmarried Conan II died in 1066, he was succeeded by his sister Hawise as sovereign Duchess of Brittany and her husband Hoël of Cornouaille, who was co-ruler and Duke of Brittany jure uxoris (by the right of his wife). In 1072, Hawise died, and Hoël acted as regent for his son Alain IV, Duke of Brittany until 1084.
In 1086, Willam I, King of England forced an alliance on Alain IV and arranged a marriage between him and his daughter Constance. The couple married in a magnificent ceremony in Caen, Duchy of Normandy but they had no children. Two chroniclers of the time had very different views of Constance. Orderic Vitalius wrote that Constance was caring and attentive to the subjects of her husband and that her death on August 13, 1090, was the greatest loss for the inhabitants of the duchy. However, William of Malmesbury wrote that her “harsh and conservative manner” of government made Constance unpopular in the duchy, and her husband ordered her servants to poison her. Constance was buried at the abbey church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine (link in French) in Rennes, Duchy of Brittany, now in France.
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Works Cited
- En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Constance of Normandy – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Normandy> [Accessed 9 July 2022].
- Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King William I of England (the Conqueror). [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-william-i-of-england-the-conqueror/> [Accessed 89 July 2022].
- Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Констанция Нормандская — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F> [Accessed 9 July 2022].
- Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.