Humphrey de Vielles

Humphrey de Vieilles (died c. 1050) was the first holder of the "grand honneur" of Beaumont-le-Roger, one of the most important groups of domains in eastern Normandy and the founder of the House of Beaumont. He was married to Albreda or Alberée de la Haye Auberie. Early life His early life and origins are the subject of much discussion. As reported by later Norman chronicler Robert of Torigni, he was the son of Thorold de Pont-Audemer and grandson of a Torf, from whose name derived that of the village of Tourville-sur-Pont-Audemer. Humphrey's mother, according to Robert of Torigni, was Duvelina, sister of Gunnor, concubine of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Thus Humphrey and his Beaumont descendants were kinsmen of the Norman Dukes and other members of the early Anglo-Norman nobility similarly descended from Gunnor's kindred. His ancestry remains controversial. Whatever the truth, there is no doubt that Humphrey is descended--at least in part--from a Scandinavian family. Besides Beaumont-le-Roger, he had lands dispersed through the whole of Normandy, in Cotentin, in Hiémois, in the Pays d'Auge, in Basse Seine (Vatteville-la-Rue), in Évrecin (Normanville) and in Vexin normand (Bouafles). These lands originated in the favour of the dukes Richard II and Robert II, from confiscated church lands. The "honneur" of Beaumont was, for example, constituted from the remains of the lands of the abbey of Bernay. The abbot of Bernay, Raoul, parent of Humphrey, would have entrusted to him between 1027 and 1040, part of the heritage of his]]. monastery. Like other lords of the beginning of the 11th century, such as the family of Bellême, he increased the family's power by recovering or winning of ecclesiastical lands. On the other hand, the possessions around Pont-Audemer came to him by family inheritance. In 1034, he 'founded' (or, rather, restored) the monastery at Préaux, a few kilometres from Pont-Audemer, with monks from the Saint-Wandrille.