Richard II, Duke of Normandy (996 – 1026)

The son of Richard I and Gonnor. Richard II’s reign began with the suppression of a peasant insurrection against the demands of the great lords (997). Richard obtained support from members of his family - the Richardides - whom he placed in all the important roles, but also from the reformers of the church, especially the Cluniac order. Richard maintained his alliance with King Robert the Pious, to whom he became a close advisor and supported his campaigns in Flanders, Burgundy and Champagne. Richard pursued an active policy of matrimonial alliances: his sister Emma married the English King Ethelred (1002). His daughter, Alice, married the son of the Count of Burgundy, Renaud (1005 / 1006). Richard himself married Judith (1008), sister of the Count of Rennes, thereby opposing the Count of Anjou, Fulk Nerra in this region. He entered into a war with Count Eude of Blois (1013/1014), widower of his daughter Matilda. Richard II was the first to have the title of Duke of Normandy. He fell ill in 1026 and died in the abbey of Fécamp.

Bibliography :

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- Jean Favier. - Dictionnaire de la France médiévale. - Paris : Fayard, 1993.
- Michel de Boüard. - Guillaume le Conquérant. - Paris : Fayard, 1984.