by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Portrait of Richard of Normandy in a 14th-century family tree of the Kings of England: Credit – Wikipedia

Like his younger brother King William II Rufus of England and his nephew Richard, the illegitimate son of his brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, Richard of Normandy was killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest near Winchester Castle in England. Richard was the second of the four sons of William I (the Conqueror), King of England and Matilda of Flanders. He was born circa 1054 in the Duchy of Normandy, now in France. Richard’s paternal grandparents were Robert I the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy and his mistress Herleva of Falaise. His maternal grandparents were Baldwin V, Count of Flanders and Adèle of France, daughter of King Robert II of France.

Richard’s elder brother Robert Curthose; Credit – Wikipedia

Richard had at least nine siblings. The birth order of the boys is clear, but that of the girls is not. The list below is not in birth order. It lists Richard’s brothers first in their birth order and then his sisters in their probable birth order.

• Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy (1051-1054 – 1134), married Sybil of Conversano, had one son
• William II Rufus, King of England (1056-1060 – 1100), unmarried, killed in the New Forest
• Henry I, King of England (1068 – 1135), married (1) Edith of Scotland, had one son and one daughter (2) Adeliza of Louvain, no children
• Agatha of Normandy died before 1074, unmarried
• Adeliza of Normandy (circa 1055 – before 1113), probably a nun at the Abbey of St Léger in Préaux, Duchy of Normandy
• Cecilia of Normandy (circa 1056 – 1127), Abbess of Holy Trinity in Caen
• Matilda of Normandy (circa 1061 – c. 1086)
• Constance of Normandy (1057-1061 – 1090, married Alan IV, Duke of Brittany, no issue
• Adela of Normandy (circa 1067 – 1137), married Stephen II, Count of Blois, had ten children including King Stephen of England

In 1066, Richard’s father, William III, Duke of Normandy, invaded England and defeated the last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. The Duke of Normandy was now also King William I of England. Richard’s elder brother Robert Curthose had been designated as their father’s successor in 1063. In their chronicles, both William of Malmesbury and Matthew Paris indicated that Richard had a promising future.

The New Forest; Credit – By Jim Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13444789

Sometime between 1069 and 1075, Richard died suddenly during a hunt in the New Forest, close to Winchester Castle. Chroniclers of the time offered several causes of his death including divine retribution and contracting an illness caused by infected air. The most plausible cause, written in the chronicles of Matthew Paris, William of Jumièges, and Orderic Vital, is that Richard received fatal injuries while he was chasing prey and was crushed between a low-hanging solid tree branch and the pommel of his saddle. Richard was buried at Winchester Cathedral in England.

Richard’s brother Willliam Rufus; Credit – Wikipedia

After the sudden death of his second son, the political projects of William I, King of England, who was also the Duke of Normandy, were disrupted. William I had likely intended to give his deceased second son Richard either the Duchy of Normandy or the Kingdom of England. It appears that William I’s third son William Rufus had been destined for a career in the Roman Catholic Church. Instead, William Rufus, who had moved to be the second surviving son, was called to his father’s court to prepare him for a different future.

Ironically, Richard’s father King William I died in 1087 after his horse stumbled and he was violently flung against his saddle pommel. He received serious internal injuries, most likely a ruptured bladder. As he knew he was dying, William I composed a letter to Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury stating that the Duchy of Normandy should go to his eldest son Robert Curthose, the Kingdom of England should go to his second son William Rufus, and his youngest son Henry should receive money. The youngest son later became King Henry I of England and would have his own succession issues.

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Richard (son of William the Conqueror) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard,_son_of_William_the_Conqueror> [Accessed 2 July 2022].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King William I of England (the Conqueror). [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-william-i-of-england-the-conqueror/> [Accessed 2 July 2022].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Richard de Normandie (fils de Guillaume le Conquérant) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Normandie_(fils_de_Guillaume_le_Conqu%C3%A9rant)> [Accessed 2 July 2022].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ричард Нормандский — Википедия. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B4_%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9> [Accessed 2 July 2022].
• Williamson, David, 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.