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Sprota

10th-century wife and mother of Norman dukes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Sprota was an early 10th century woman of obscure origin who became wife "in the Viking fashion" (more danico)[1][2] of William I, Duke of Normandy, by her becoming mother of his successor, Duke Richard I. After the death of William, she married a wealthy landowner, Esperleng, by him having another son, Norman nobleman Rodulf of Ivry.[3][4][5]

Life

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The first mention of Sprota is by her contemporary, Flodoard of Reims. Although he does not name her, he identifies her under the year [943] as the mother of "William’s son [Richard] born of a Breton concubine".[6] Elisabeth van Houts wrote "on this reference rests the identification of Sprota, William Longsword’s wife 'according to the Danish custom', as of Breton origin",[7] and this could apply to someone of native Breton, Scandinavian, or Frankish ethnicity, the latter being the most likely based on her name spelling.[8] The first to provide her name was William of Jumièges,[9][10] writing in the second half of the 11th century. The name Sprota seems to contain the same root as the anthroponym Sprot found in the Domesday Book and in various place-names both in England such as Sprotbrough (Sproteburg 1086) and in Normandy like the Eprevilles, such as Epreville (Sprovilla 1025),[11] which is at the same time Anglo-Saxon as Sprota,[12] Anglo-Scandinavian and Scandinavian (see Sproti[13]).

The non-Christian nature of her relationship with William became a source of ridicule for her son Richard. The French King Louis "abused the boy with bitter insults", calling him "the son of a whore who had seduced another woman's husband."[14][15]

At the time of the birth of her first son Richard, Sprota was living in her own household at Bayeux, under William's protection.[4] William, having just quashed a rebellion at Pré-de Bataille (c. 936),[a] received the news by a messenger that Sprota had just given birth to a son; delighted at the news William ordered his son to be baptized and given the personal name of Richard.[10] William's steward Boto became the boy's godfather.[16]

After the death of William Longsword and the captivity of her son Richard, she had been "collected" from her dangerous situation by the "immensely wealthy" Esperleng.[3] Robert of Torigni identified Sprota's second husband[b] as Esperleng, a wealthy landowner who operated mills at Pîtres.[4][17]

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Family

By William I Longsword she was the mother of:

By Esperling of Vaudreuil she was the mother of:

Genealogy

Rollo
of Normandy
Theobald I
Count of Blois		Luitgarde
of Vermandois		William I
Longsword
of Normandy		SprotaEsperling
of Vaudreuil
Emma
of Paris		Richard I
of Normandy		GunnorHerfast
of Crépon		Rodulf
of Ivry		Aubrey
of Canville		several
daughters
Richard II
of Normandy		Robert
archbishop
of Rouen		others


Osbern
the Steward		Emma
of Ivrea		Hugh
Bishop of
Bayeux		John
Archbishop
of Rouen
Dukes of
Normandy
Kings of
England		William
Fitz Osbern
Earl of
Hereford		Osbern
Fitz Osbern
Bishop of
Exeter

Notes

  1. [a]
    The date of the battle and as such Richard's birth is commonly given as c.936 but according to the Annals of Jumièges (ed. Laporte, p. 53) Richard was baptized in 938. See Van Houts, Gesta Normannorum Ducum, 1992, 1:78-9 n. 5.
  2. [b]
    Probably also in the Viking or Danish fashion of marriage. See: Searle, Predatory Kinship, 1988, 291 n. 2

References

Sources

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