Gundred of Flanders

- 1085

• Name	Gundred of Flanders
  Birth	Flanders   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Death	27 May 1085	Castle Acre, Norfolk, England   [2, 3, 4]
  Burial	Lewes Priory, Sussex, England   [2, 3]
  Person ID	I4268	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	1 Sep 2021

  
  

  Family	William de Warenne   d. 24 Jun 1088, Lewes, Sussex, England
  Marriage	Bef 1070  [1]
  Children	1. Ediva de Warenne   2. William II de Warenne,   b. Abt 1071   d. 11 May 1138 (Age ~ 67 years)
  Family ID	F2676	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Jul 2015

  
  

• Notes

  Countess of Surrey. Also called Gundreda de Gand; Gundrada. "Possibly da. of Gerbod, hereditary advocate of the abbey of St. Bertin at St. Omer." [Complete Peerage] "[She] was called 'daughter of the Conqueror,' although no evidence was advanced." [Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., "Royal Bye-Blows: The Illegitimate Children of the English Kings from William I to Edward III", The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 119:94, 1965] From Wikipedia: Gundred or Gundreda (Latin: Gundrada) (died 27 May 1085) was the Flemish-born wife of an early Norman baron, William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey. She and her husband established Lewes Priory in Sussex. Gundred was almost certainly born in Flanders, and was a sister of Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester. She is explicitly so called by Orderic Vitalis, as well as the chronicle of Hyde Abbey. She was also sister of Frederick of Oosterzele-Scheldewindeke, who was killed c. 1070 by Hereward the Wake. Legends based in part on late Lewes priory cartulary suggested Gundred was a daughter of William the Conqueror by his spouse Matilda of Flanders, but this is not accepted by most modern historians. The early-19th-century writer Thomas Stapleton had argued she was a daughter of Matilda, born prior to her marriage to Duke William. This sparked a debate consisting of a series of published papers culminating with those of Edmond Chester Waters and Edward Augustus Freeman who argued the theories could not be supported. Regardless, some genealogical and historical sources continue to make the assertion that she was the Conqueror's daughter. Gundred married before 1070 William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey (d. 20 June 1088), who rebuilt Lewes Castle, making it his chief residence. Sometime between 1078 and 1082, Gundrada and her husband set out for Rome visiting monasteries along the way. In Burgundy they were unable to go any further due to a war between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. They visited Cluny Abbey and were impressed with the monks and their dedication. William and Gundred decided to found a Cluniac priory on their own lands in England. They sent to Hugh the abbot of Cluny for monks to come to England at their monastery. Hugh was reluctant yet eventually sent several monks including Lazlo who became the first abbot. The house they founded was Lewes Priory, dedicated to St. Pancras. Gundred died in childbirth 27 May 1085 at Castle Acre, Norfolk, one of her husband's estates, and was buried at the Chapter house of Lewes Priory. He was later buried beside her.

  
  

• Sources

  [S160] Wikipedia. [S128] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant ed. Vicary Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, Duncan Warrand, Howard de Walden, Geoffrey H. White and R. S. Lea. 2nd edition. 14 volumes (1-13, but volume 12 spanned two books), London, The St. Catherine Press, 1910-1959. Volume 14, "Addenda & Corrigenda," ed. Peter W. Hammond, Gloucestershire, Sutton Publishing, 1998. [S1016] Medieval English Ancestors of Robert Abell by Carl Boyer III. Santa Clarita, California, 2001. [S4342] Norfolk Families by Walter Rye. Two volumes, 1911-13., year and place only.