Richard I (v. 932 – Fécamp, 996), count of Rouen (942 – 996)

Son of William I Long Sword and his Breton concubine Sprota, Richard was a minor at the death of his father. He was placed under guardianship and exiled to Laon by the Carolingian King Louis IV d’Outremer who took Rouen in his name. The Normans who had remained loyal to Richard obtained the support of a fleet sent by Harald Blue Tooth, King of Denmark. Louis IV was defeated and captured (945). In 946 Rouen was again unsuccessfully threatened by a coalition army under Louis IV d'Outremer, Otto I of Germany, and Arnulf of Flanders, but Richard aligned himself with the camp of the Robertians, founders of the Capetian kings. On the death of Hugh the Great, Richard became tutor to Hugh Capet (king in 987) whose sister Emma he married (960). A new threat from the Carolingian King Lothar and his ally the Count of Chartres was repelled in 962 with the help of Viking mercenaries. Richard was able to devote himself to the organisation of his Duchy, in particular providing support to the Church. As a widower, he married the Danish concubine Gonnor, with whom he had many children, including his heir, Richard, and Robert, who was to be Archbishop of Rouen, and made Fécamp his favourite residence, choosing its abbey for his burial.

Bibliography :

- François Neveux. - La Normandie des ducs aux rois, Xe-XIIe s. - Rennes : Ouest-France, 1998.
- Yves Sassier. - Hugues Capet. - Paris : Fayard, 1987.
- Michel de Boüard. - Guillaume le Conquérant. - Paris : Fayard, 1984.