Amaury I
de Montfort l'Amaury Amaury I
de Montfort l'AmauryAmaury witnessed charters of king Robert II of France in 1022 [RHF 10: 607], 1027×1028 [RHF 10: 618], and 1031 [RHF 10: 626]. [See Moriarty-Loyd-White]
Date of Birth: Unknown.
Place of
Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: After 1031.
Place of
Death: Unknown.
Father:
Uncertain (see Commentary
section).
Mother: Uncertain
(see Commentary section).
Spouse:
(said to be named) Bertrada.
[Anselme, 6: 72, evidently based on charter
evidence]
Children:
Simon I de Montfort, d. in or shortly after 1087.
Mainer, fl. 1066.
Mainer signs a charter in 1066 as a brother
of Simon ["... Simon de Monte Forti; Mainerius, fratre
ejus ..." Cart. S.-Père de Chartres, 185 (#59); see
also Moriarty-Loyd-White, 708, note i]
Eve (probable daughter), m. William
Crispin.
[The case for placing Eve as a probable daughter of Amaury, as
presented in CP 7, 708, note (h), can be outlined as follows: Miraculum
que B. Maria subvenit Guillelmo Crispino senioris calls Eve
"de gente Francorum claris natalibus progenita" (Migne
150: 741) and then states that her grandson William Crispin III
was related to Fulk, count of Anjou (a grandson of Simon I de
Montfort). Orderic states that the same William Crispin III was a
nepos of Amaury, count of Evreux (a son of Simon I de
Montfort). This appears to make her a member of the Montfort
family (although not certainly so), in which case chronology
would put her as a likely daughter of Amaury I.]
See Commentary for possible additional child.
Possible father:
Guillaume (William) "of
Hainaut"
Stated by Orderic Vitalis to have been the father of Amaury I de
Montfort [OV vii (vol. 4)], he is otherwise unknown. It is not
certain whether or not his name indicates any connection to the
counts of Hainaut [but see Moriarty-Loyd-White, 708, note (f),
where it is suggested that Amaury's grandson may have repudiated
his wife, a daughter of the count of Hainaut, because of
consanguinity].
Possible mother:
NN de Nogent.
The Chronicle of Saint-Denis has a confused
note which would appear to state that king Robert [II] of France
fortified Montfort and Êpernon, married a lady of Nogent, and
had son Amaury, who had two sons Simon and Amaury [RHF 10: 311,
which only quotes the French version of the text: "Au
tens de ce Roi fu faite banie de la segnurie de l'Abeie de S.
Denise. Cit Rois Robert ferma le chastel de Montfort et
d'Espernon; une Dame de Noject ot epousée; de cele ot un fil qui
ot non Amauris. Cil Amauris ot deulx fuix, Symon et Amauri, etc."].
Essentially the same statement was also interpolated into a
history of the abbots of Saint-Germain (with Saint-Germain
replacing Saint-Denis in the first sentence), which makes it
clearer that the reference is to the present Amaury [Ex
Continuatione Historiæ Aimoini Monachi Floriac., RHF 11:
275, where the interpolated passage begins: "... in
tempore Regis Roberti benia fuit de domino San Germani. Ipse
firmavit Montifortem et Sparnomum: quandam quoque dominam de
Novigento habuit uxorem; de qua unum filium habuit, nuncupatum
Almaricum. Idem Almaricus duos filios habuit, scilicet Simonem et
Almaricum. Symon procreavit Almaricum de Monteforti et Bertrandam
Comitissam Andegavensam. ..."; cf. also RHF 10: 221,
which does not have this interpolation] As pointed out by the
editors of RHF, there is an error here which is most likely to be
explained by an omitted name which would explain to whom the
"ipse" referred, but it is not clear why the
editors of RHF have suggested Almalricus as the omitted
name. Anselme makes a "dame de Montfort &
d'Espernon" the wife of Guillaume de Hainaut and mother of
Amaury [Anselme 6: 71], possibly the result of combining the
above account with Orderic.
While the account of Orderic Vitalis about Amaury's father and the account of the Chronicle of Saint-Denis about his mother have no obvious contradictions with each other, neither source has information which would confirm the other. While both accounts are possible, the documentation in both cases is less than ideal.
Possible additional child:
Amaury.
The Chronicle of Saint-Denis [RHF
10: 311] gives Amaury two sons Simon and Amaury [see also RHF 11:
275].
Supposed father (no
clear evidence): Amaury
(an earlier man of the name)
As noted above, this name was suggested by the
editors of RHF, for reason that are unclear.
Anselme = Père Anselme, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France, 9 vols (Paris, 1726-33).
Cart. S.-Père de Chartres = M Guérard, Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, 2 vols. (Paris, 1840).
CP = The Complete Peerage.
OV = Marjorie Chibnall, ed. & trans., The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, 6 vols. (Oxford, 1969-80).
Moriarty-Loyd-White = George Andrews Moriarty, L. C. Loyd, and Geoffrey H. White, "The Ancestors of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester", CP 7, Appendix D, 708-717.
PL = P. Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, series Latina, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844-1859).
RHF = Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
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