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

Notes:

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]

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]

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

Notes:

Name:
As his father was excommunicated, Geoffrey was considered illegitimate.

Family/Spouse: Beatrice de Mandeville. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: 1125;

Notes:

Birth: Weis (1976) gives his birth as about 1105.

Death: Weis (1976) states he died in 1157.

Name:
In later life he became a monk.

Military:
He went on the First Crusade.

Eustace married Mary, Princess of Scotland in 1102. Mary (daughter of Malcolm III "Canmore", King of the Scots and Saint Margaret of Scotland) died on 31 May 1116; was buried in Bermondsey Abbey, Southwark, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Between 1096 and 1099;

Notes:

Military:
He was a leader of the first Crusade.

Died:
He died without issue.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Between 1096 and 1099;

Notes:

Name:


He was also the Count of Edessa.

Military:
He was one of the leaders of the First Crusade.

Died:
He died without issue.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: say 1090; Ida was always religiously and charitably active, but the death of her husband provided her wealth and the freedom to use it for her projects. She founded several monasteries: Saint-Wulmer in Boulogne-sur-Mer Our Lady of the Chapel, Calais Saint-Bertin Abbey of Cappelle Abbey of Le Wast She maintained a correspondence with Anselm of Canterbury. Some of Anselm's letters to Ida have survived. She became increasingly involved in church life. However, current scholarship feels that she did not actually become a Benedictine Nun, but that she was a "Secular Oblate of the Benedictine Order".

Notes:

Buried:
Traditionally, her burial place has been ascribed to the monastery of Le Wast. Her remains were moved in 1669 to Paris and again in 1808 to Bayeux.

Family/Spouse: Herman von Malsen. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Conon, Count of Montaigu. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Title(s): 1125; In 1125 she became the Countess of Boulogne.
• Crowned: 22 Mar 1136, Westminster Abbey, London, England; On 22 March 1136 she was crowned Queen Consort in Westminster Abbey.
• Military: 1141; After Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, she rallied the king's partisans, and raised an army with the help of William of Ypres. While the Empress Matilda waited in London to prepare her coronation, Matilda and Stephen's brother Henry of Blois had her chased out of the city. The Empress Matilda went on to besiege Henry of Blois at Winchester. Matilda of Boulogne then commanded her army to attack the besiegers. There was a rout in which the Empress's half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, was captured. The two Matildas then agreed to exchange prisoners and Stephen ruled as king again.
• Last Full Review: 17 Jul 2020

Notes:

Death: Stuart (2002) gives her death as 3 July 1151 in Faversham, England.

Name:

Buried:
Her tomb was destroyed during the Reformation.

Died:
She died of a fever.

Matilda married Stephen of Blois, King of England in 1125 in Westminster Abbey, London, England. Stephen (son of Stephen III, Count of Blois and Adele of Normandy, Princess of England) was born in 1095/96 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France; died on 25 Oct 1154 in Dover Castle, Dover, Kent, England; was buried in Faversham Abbey, Faversham, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Title(s): 1150

Notes:

Stuart (2002) states he was unmarried, and that Eustace de Champagne's mother was an unknown mistress of Eustace IV.

Title(s):
Eustace became the Count of Boulogne.

Died:
He died without heirs.

Eustace married Constance in Feb 1140. Constance (daughter of Louis VI "le Gros", King of France) was born in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
He died on the Toulouse expedition.

Family/Spouse: Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey. Isabel (daughter of William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Ela de Talvas) was born in 1137 in Surrey, England; died on 12 Jul 1203; was buried in Lewes Priory, Lewes, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Matilda married Waleran IV, Count of Meulan, Earl of Worcester about 1134. Waleran (son of Sir Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester and Isabel de Vermandois, Countess of Leicester) was born about 1104 in Meulan-en-Yvelines, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France; died on 10 Apr 1166 in Les Préaux, Normandy, France; was buried in Préaux Abbey, Les Préaux, Eure, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: say 1155
• Religion: 1173

Notes:

Birth: von Redlich (1941) and Weis (1976) give her birth year as 1136.

Death: von Redlich (1941) and Weis (1976) give her death year as 1182.

Religion:
She became the Abbess of Romsey in Hamshire until 1160. She was then forcibly abducted from the convent and forced to marry.

Religion:
After the end of her marriage, she returned to the convent of St. Austrebert, near Montreuil, France.

Mary married Matthew of Alsace, Comte de Boulogne in 1160, and was divorced on 1169 - 1170. Matthew (son of Dietrich von Lothringen II, Count of Alsace and Flanders and Sybil of Anjou) was born about 1137; died on 25 Jul 1173; was buried in Saint-Josse, Hauts-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]