Companions of William the Conqueror

Companions of the Conqueror fighting at Hastings. The Duke is on the right, and shows his face to encourage his followers. Legend above: Hic Est Dux Wilel(mus), "Here is Duke William". At the left is Bishop Odo. Legend above: Hic Odo Eps (Episcopus) Baculu(m) Tenens, "Here (is) Odo the Bishop holding a club" (see detail below). To the far right, holding a standard, is Eustace, Count of Boulogne (see detail below), with legend above, in upper margin: E[...]TIUS, a Latinised version of "Eustace".^[1] The figure is said by others to be Turstin FitzRolf, said by Orderic Vitalis to have carried the Norman standard: Turstinus filius Rollonis vexillum Normannorum portavit, "Turstin son of Rollo carried the standard of the Normans". The Tapestry however depicts it as the Papal Banner, a cross, granted to the Duke by Pope Alexander II to signify papal approval of the Conquest of England. (Bayeux Tapestry)

William the Conqueror had men of diverse standing and origins in France, under his command at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, along with others completing his Norman conquest of England until after the Harrying of the North and before the Anarchy.

The term “Companions of the Conqueror” in the widest sense signifies those who planned, organised and joined with William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, in the great adventure which was the Norman Conquest of England (1066–1071). The term is however more narrowly defined as those nobles who actually fought with Duke William in the Battle of Hastings.^[2] This article is concerned with the latter narrow definition.

Proof versus legend

This knight depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry (detail of above) appears below the marginal legend E[...]tius, a Latinised version of Eustace. He has therefore been identified as Eustace, Count of Boulogne.^[3] His finger pointing to Duke William seems to depict his urging the Duke to retreat, as the account in William of Poitiers relates. However, others state the figure to be Turstin FitzRolf, due to its carrying of a standard depicting a cross, apparently the Papal Banner. Turstin was described as having carried the "Standard of the Normans" by Orderic Vitalis

Many ancient English families of Norman origin have claimed amongst their ancestors a participant at the Battle of Hastings as a matter of great pride giving them legitimacy in the higher echelons of the British aristocracy. The large majority of these claims are based on legend and cannot be proven by historical evidence.

Many hundreds of Norman nobles of varying degrees certainly fought with the Duke at Hastings, yet the fact remains that the names of only 15 of these are recorded in contemporary historical sources considered to be unimpeachable.^[4] This very select group is therefore known as the “Proven Companions”,^[5] as distinct from the several hundred “Likely”, “Probable” or “Possible” Companions. Many lists and "rolls" of so-called Companions have been drawn up over the ages, and continue so to be, yet the 3 unimpeachable sources remain as follows:

Unimpeachable sources

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, fighting at Hastings, holding a club. Legend above: Hic Odo Eps (Episcopus) Baculu(m) Tenens Confortat Pueros, "Here Odo the Bishop holding a club gives strength to the boys". The club may reflect his clerical status which might have precluded the shedding of blood by sword,^[6] yet in the same scene Duke William himself also holds a club. (Bayeux Tapestry)

The following 3 sources constitute the only generally accepted reliable contemporary evidence which names participants at the Battle of Hastings. Between all three sources only 15 names result.^[7]

• Gesta Guillelmi II Ducis Normannorum ("The Deeds of William II, Duke of the Normans") by William of Poitiers, written between 1071 and 1077. William was born in about 1020 in Les Préaux, near Pont-Audemer, and belonged to an influential Norman family. After serving as a soldier he studied at Poitiers then returned to Normandy to become chaplain to Duke William and archdeacon of Lisieux. He died in 1090. His work is a eulogistic biography of the Duke. The earlier and concluding parts are lost, but the extant part covers the period between 1047 and 1068 and contains details of the Conqueror's life, although untrustworthy with regard to affairs in England. It gives a detailed description of the preparations for the Norman Conquest of England, the Battle of Hastings and its aftermath. The work forms the basis for much of the writing of Orderic Vitalis.

• Historia Ecclesiastica ("The Ecclesiastical History"), by Orderic Vitalis, particularly books 4 & 5.^[8] Orderic was born in England in about 1075, the son of a Norman priest, and at the age of 11 became a novice monk in Normandy in the monastery of St Evroul-en-Ouche. He started his great work, commissioned to be primarily a history of his monastery, in about 1110 and continued it until his death in 1142.

• The Bayeux Tapestry, an annotated pictorial representation of the Norman Conquest. It was probably made at Bayeux, Normandy, shortly after the event, 11th century.

List of 15 "Proven Companions"

(The order of listing is that given in the respective sources)

• (1) Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester (Source: William of Poitiers)

"A certain Norman, Robert, son of Roger of Beaumont, being nephew and heir to Henry, Count of Meulan, through Henry's sister Adeline, found himself that day in battle for the first time. He was as yet but a young man and he performed feats of valour worthy of perpetual remembrance. At the head of a troop which he commanded on the right wing he attacked with the utmost bravery and success".^[9]

• (2) Eustace II, Count of Boulogne (Source: William of Poitiers)

"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".^[10]

• (3) William, 3rd Count of Évreux (Source: William of Poitiers)

"There were present in this battle: Eustace, Count of Boulogne; William, son of Richard, Count of Evreux; Geoffrey, son of Rotrou, Count of Mortagne; William FitzOsbern; Haimo, Vicomte of Thouars; Walter Giffard; Hugh of Montfort-sur-Risle; Rodulf of Tosny; Hugh of Grantmesnil; William of Warenne, and many other most renowned warriors whose names are worthy to be commemorated in histories among the bravest soldiers of all time".^[11]

• (4) Geoffrey of Mortagne, later Count of Perche (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (5) William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (6) Aimeri, Viscount of Thouars (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (7) Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville, later 1st Earl of Buckingham (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (8) Hugh de Montfort, Lord of Montfort-sur-Risle (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (9) Ralph de Tosny, Lord of Conches (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (10) Hugh de Grandmesnil (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (11) William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey (Source: William of Poitiers)
• (12) William Malet, Lord of Graville (Source: William of Poitiers)

"His (King Harold's) corpse was brought into the Duke's camp and William gave it for burial to William, surnamed Malet, and not to Harold's mother, who offered for the body of her beloved son its weight in gold".^[12]

• (13) Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, later Earl of Kent (Source: Bayeux Tapestry)

"Hic Odo Eps (Episcopus) Baculu(m) Tenens Confortat Pueros". (Here Odo the Bishop holding a club strengthens the boys).^[13]

• (14) Turstin FitzRolf^[14] (Source: Orderic Vitalis)
• (15) Engenulf de Laigle (Source: Orderic Vitalis)

Sources of secondary merit

• Carmen de Hastingae Proelio (Song of the Battle of Hastings), a poem, said to be by Bishop Guy of Amiens and written shortly after 1066.
• Roman de Rou (The Romance of Rolf), written by Wace, about 1160-70. Lists 116 names.
• Cronicques de Normendie, by William Le Talleur. Published at Rouen, Normandy, in 1487.^[15]
• Collectanea by John Leland (d.1552). Based on a Roll of Battle Abbey.
• Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, by Raphael Holinshed (1529–1580), first published in 1577, in England. Said to be based on Le Talleur, and Leland.^[16]
• Roll of Battle Abbey, various in number, date and reliability, surviving from 16th.c. The original version, now long-lost, is said to have been placed in Battle Abbey, built by William the Conqueror on the spot of King Harold's death, shortly after the Battle.
• Roll of Dives-sur-Mer, Normandy, 1862. Names were engraved in 1862 under the auspices of the French Archaeological Society, on the wall of the nave of the Norman church (11th.c.) of Dives-sur-Mer. 475 names are listed, based mainly on names contained in the Domesday Book. The names are therefore merely those of Normans holding land in England in 1086, many of whom may have fought at Hastings.
• Roll of Falaise, Normandy, 1931. This consists of a bronze plaque erected on the initiative of the French government in 1931 in the Chateau de Falaise. It lists 315 names, based on the Roman de Rou and one of the Battle Abbey Rolls.

Sources for this article

• French Wikipedia, Compagnons de Guillaume le Conquérant
• Cokayne's Complete Peerage. Revised edition, vol.12, Appendix L, pp. 47–48
• Douglas, David C. & Greenaway, George W. (Eds.) English Historical Documents 1042-1189, London, 1959. "William of poitiers: the Deeds of William, Duke of the Normans and King of the English", pp. 217–232 & "The Bayeux Tapestry", pp. 232–279.

External sources

• French Wikipedia, Compagnons de Guillaume le Conquérantfr:Compagnons de Guillaume le Conquérant
• C. P. Lewis, Companions of the Conqueror (1066–1071), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. read online.
• Battle Abbey Roll Liste de l'abbaye de la Bataille
• Roll of Dives-sur-Mer. Liste de Dives-sur-Mer
• Roll of Falaise. Liste de Falaise

Further reading

• Douglas, David C. Companions of the Conqueror, Jnl of History, vol.28, 1943, pp. 129–147
• Mason, J.F.A. The Companions of the Conqueror: An Additional Name. English Historical Review, vol.71, no.278, 1956, pp. 61–69

References

1. ^ Attribution to Eustace of this person depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry given by Douglas (1959), p.238, re plate LXXIII
2. ^ As for example defined by Cokayne's Complete Peerage, revised edition, vol. 12, postscript to Appendix L, pp.47-48: “Companions of the Conqueror”
3. ^ Douglas (1959), p.238
4. ^ Douglas (1959) states the number of proven companions to be less than 35, but does not list them: "Express evidence vouching the presence of particular persons at Hastings can be found in the case of less than 35 persons" (p.227, footnote 2
5. ^ Cokayne's Peerage, op.cit.
6. ^ This explanation of the club was proposed by Douglas (1959), p.238
7. ^ Other names are provided which feature before or after the Battle
8. ^ Histoire de la Normandie, éd. Guizot, Caen, 1825-1827. Accès en ligne BnF (4 vol.); Tome I, Tome II, Tome III, Tome IV
9. ^ Wm. of Poitiers, per Douglas (1959), p.227
10. ^ Wm. of Poitiers, per Douglas (1959), pp.228-9
11. ^ Wm. of Poitiers, per Douglas (1959), pp. 227-8
12. ^ Wm. of Poitiers, per Douglas (1959), p.229. Malet is not described by Wm. of Poitiers as active during the battle, but rather as present in the Duke's camp after the battle. This should suffice to deem him a participant in the battle.
13. ^ Bayeux Tapestry, embroidered annotation above and forward between horses' legs
14. ^ Alternatively Toustain the Fair/White, FitzRou, son of Rou/Rolf. Said to have come from Bec, Pays de Caux
15. ^ Les cronicques de Normendie, Guillaume Le Talleur, Rouen, 1487. En ligne sur bnf.fr, voir paragraphe cxxxviii, p.115-116.
16. ^ Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, first published in London, 1577. Further edition of 1587 : Holinshed’s chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, J. Johnson & Co., London, 1805: le projet Gutenberg.