Eustace II "aux Gernons", Count of Boulogne and Lens

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: Aux Gernons translates to with moustaches.
• Military: 1047; He joined Godfrey II, duke of Lotharingia, in an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Henry III in 1047.
• Religion: 1049; As a consequence of his revolt against the Emperor, Pope Leo IX, a close ally of the emperor, excommunicated Eustace at the Council of Rheims in 1049. "Excommunicavit etiam Comites Angelrai et Eustacium propter incestum, et Hugonem de Braina, quia legitimam uxorem dimiserat, et aliam sibi in matrimonio sociaverat”. The reason given for the excommunication was incest. Pope Leo IX had been attempting to reform the papacy by condemning marriages within seven degrees of consanguinity. Although neither wife is mentioned by name both were related to Eustace within the prohibited degree.
• Title(s): 1049; Eustace succeeded his father in 1049 as Count of Boulogne.
• Travel: 1051, England; Eustace visited England in 1051, and was received with honor at the court of Edward the Confessor. Edward and Eustace were former brothers-in-law and remained political allies.
• Title(s): 1054; In 1054 he became the Count of Lens.
• Military: 14 Oct 1066, Hastings, Sussex, England; He fought at the Battle of Hastings and is one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror. Sources vary regarding the details of his conduct during the battle. The contemporary chronicler William of Poitiers wrote concerning him: With a harsh voice he (Duke William) called to Eustace of Boulogne, who with 50 knights was turning in flight and was about to give the signal for retreat. This man came up to the Duke and said in his ear that he ought to retire since he would court death if he went forward. But at the very moment when he uttered the words Eustace was struck between the shoulders with such force that blood gushed out from his mouth and nose and half dead he only made his escape with the aid of his followers. The depiction in the Bayeux Tapestry shows a knight carrying a banner who rides up to Duke William and points excitedly with his finger towards the rear of the Norman advance. William turns his head and lifts up his visor to show his knights following him that he is still alive and determined to fight on. This conforms therefore with Eustace having somewhat lost his nerve and having urged the Duke to retreat while the Battle was at its height with the outcome still uncertain. Other sources suggest that Eustace was present with William at the Malfosse incident in the immediate aftermath of the battle, where a Saxon feigning death leapt up and attacked him, and was presumably cut down before he could reach William.
• Military: 1067; After playing a prominent part in the battle of Hastings, Eustace supported an uprising by the townsfolk of Dover against William’s half-brother, Bishop Odo in 1067. The attack was unsuccessful; Eustace escaped but left his nepos, probably Geoffrey, behind in captivity. Eustace was exiled from England following the disaster in Dover, and his English estates were forfeited. But clearly he was more useful to William I as an ally than as an enemy, and the two were reconciled in the early 1070s. William I, who could have been holding the nepos to ensure Eustace’s compliance as a future ally, may have released him during this time. Eustace received a generous new allocation of estates.
• Last Full Review: 9 Dec 2020

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Name:

Military:

Eustace married Godgifu, Princess of England after 1035. Godgifu (daughter of Æthelred II "the Unrede", King of England and Emma of Normandy) was born about 1010 in England; died in by 1049. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Geoffrey de Boulogne

Eustace married Ida of Lorraine in Dec 1057. Ida (daughter of Geoffrey II "the Bearded", Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine, Count of Verdun and Doda) was born about 1040 in Bass, Lower Lorraine, France (not found); died on 13 Aug 1113. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and Lens was born about 1058; died after 1125.
2. Godfrey of Bouillon, Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem was born in 1061 in Baisy-Thy, Walloon Brabant, Belgium; died on 18 Jul 1100 in Jerusalem, Holy Land.
3. Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem died on 2 Apr 1118 in Jerusalem, Holy Land.
4. Ida of Boulogne died on 13 Apr 1113; was buried in Abbey of Le Wast, Le Wast, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France.

Eustace married Dode on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Charter/Grant/Gift: 1038; He is named in a charter of 1038 as Baron of Flanders.

Eustace married Matilda of Louvain on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: She was also called Maud.

Baldwin married Aleida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
He was killed in battle.

Lambert married Gerberga of Lower Lorraine about 990. Gerberga (daughter of Charles of Laon, Duke of Lower Lorraine and Bonne d'Ardennes) was born about 975; died after 1017; was buried in Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude, Nivelles, Wallonia, Belguim. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Title(s): 964; In 964 he succeeded as the Count of Boulogne.
• Last Full Review: 9 Jun 2020

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Arnulf married Luitgarde of Luxemburg about 980. Luitgarde (daughter of Siegfried, Count of Luxemburg and in the Moselgau and Hedwig) died on 14 May 1005. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Regnier married Adele of Louvain on Yes, date unknown. Adele (daughter of Lambert, Count of Louvain and daughter) died in 961. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: Prince Charles was removed from succession to the throne of France by Hugh Capet.

Notes:

Death: Weis (1982) states he died in 994.

Charles married Bonne d'Ardennes before 979. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: She was also known as Adelaide.