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

Abt 1020 - 1093  (73 years)

• Photos

  Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, possible depiction of Eustace II, with moustaches, inscribed in margin above in Latin: E...TIUS, possibly Latinised form of his name

  
  

• Name	Eustace II
  Relationship	with Robert Alan Roy
  Birth	Abt 1020	Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France   [4]
  General Information	Aux Gernons translates to with moustaches.  [7]
  Military	1047 (Age 27)  [1, 7]
  He joined Godfrey II, duke of Lotharingia, in an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Henry III in 1047.
  Religion	1049 (Age 29)  [1, 7]
  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 (Age 29)  [1, 7]
  Eustace succeeded his father in 1049 as Count of Boulogne.
  Travel	1051 (Age 31)	England   [7]
  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 (Age 34)  [4]
  In 1054 he became the Count of Lens.
  Military	14 Oct 1066 (Age 46)	Hastings, Sussex, England   [4, 6, 7]
  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 (Age 47)  [4, 7]
  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.
  Death	1093  [4, 5, 7]
  Siblings	2 Siblings
  + 1. Eustace II "aux Gernons", Count of Boulogne and Lens,   b. Abt 1020, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France d. 1093  (Age 73 years) ▻ Godgifu, Princess of England,  m. After 1035 ;   Ida of Lorraine,  m. Dec 1057 ;   Dode + 2. Gerberge   d. Before 1049 ▻ Frederick II, Duke of Lower Lorraine, Count in the Moselgau, and Lord of Saarbrucken   3. Lambert of Boulogne, Count of Lens in Artrois,   b. Abt 1022, Lens, Hauts-de-France, France d. 1054, Phalampin, Hauts-de-France, France  (Age 32 years) ▻ Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale,  m. 1053/54
  Person ID	I3278	| Roy Line, Boudreau Line
  Last Modified	15 May 2023

  
  

  Father	Eustace I, Count of Boulogne,   b. Abt 1004   d. 1049 (Age 45 years)
  Mother	Matilda of Louvain
  Marriage	Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F1930	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Godgifu, Princess of England,   b. About 1010, England d. by 1049 (Age 39 years)
  Marriage	After 1035  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8]
  Age at Marriage	He : ~ 16 years - She : ~ 26 years.
  Information	Eustace used the union to cement military alliances with Godgifu’s sons and with her brother, Edward the Confessor.  [2]
  Children	1. Geoffrey de Boulogne
  Family ID	F2674	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Sep 2021

  
  

  Family 2	Ida of Lorraine,   b. About 1040, Bass, Lower Lorraine, France (not found) d. 13 Aug 1113 (Age 73 years)
  Marriage	Dec 1057  [1, 2, 4, 6, 7]
  Age at Marriage	He : ~ 38 years - She : ~ 18 years.
  Children	+ 1. Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and Lens,   b. Abt 1058   d. After 1125 (Age 68 years)   2. Godfrey of Bouillon, Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem,   b. 1061, Baisy-Thy, Walloon Brabant, Belgium d. 18 Jul 1100, Jerusalem, Holy Land (Age 39 years)   3. Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem   d. 2 Apr 1118, Jerusalem, Holy Land   4. Ida of Boulogne   d. 13 Apr 1113
  Family ID	F2673	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Sep 2021

  
  

  Family 3	Dode
  Marriage	Yes, date unknown  [4]
  Family ID	F8829	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Sep 2021

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - Abt 1020 - Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France Travel - 1051 - England Child - Godfrey of Bouillon, Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem - 1061 - Baisy-Thy, Walloon Brabant, Belgium Military - 14 Oct 1066 - Hastings, Sussex, England  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S1943] Anderson, Kim & Richard Joscelyne. "The Parentage of Geoffrey fitz Eustace (c.1045-1105)", (Vowchurch, UK: Foundations: Journal of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Volume 10, 2018). [S1940] Panton, Kenneth J. Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy, (Lanham, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2011). [S1715] Searle, William George. Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1899). [S60] Stuart, Roderick W. Royalty for Commoners, The Complete Known Lineage of John of Gaunt, Son of Edward III, King of England, and Queen Philippa Fourth Edition, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002). [S1682] Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families, (London: Vintage Books, 1989). [S59] Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists Who Came to New England Between 1623 and 1650 Fifth Editionif, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982). [S304] Wikipedia, Eustace II, Count of Boulogne. [S304] Wikipedia, Godgifu, daughter of Æthelred the Unready.