Herbastus I 'the Dane' de Crépon - Alternative data from Merges

Forename Herbastus OR Herfast d'Arques

This man, father of Gunnora de Crepon, is not known from contemporary sources. The names of his children make it probable that he was of Scandinavian origin. He is commonly said to have been a forester somewhere in Normandy, variously said to have been in Crepon, Arques, Scheceville and Equiqueville. His ancestry is also unknown.

Even his name is in doubt. He has been called Herbastus de Crepon, but that name seems to have been derived from the name of his son, Herfast de Crepon. That he was a forester of Arques seems to be an inference based on his son-in-law being forester of the area of Saint-Vaast d'Equiqueville.

Thanks Justin, & for your updates on the name. I locked them in, so that changes can be discussed here & agreed to by everyone first.

I added your usefully succinct comment above to The Curator comment that Anne had put there in 2010.

Please take over Curatorship.

PS: I also unlocked the profile as a whole in case the reason for locking was specific to something in 2010: although I'd appreciate it if everyone screams so we can re-lock if we see it being mismerged

Will do.

I was hoping Justin Durand or Pam Wilson (on hiatus) would chime in here. I worked around some of these profiles and they are problematic.

I did take a look, Hatte. I helped a bit with Herfast and Herbastus. But, yes. I agree, the whole area could use some cleaning.

There was a discussion a few years ago at soc.genealogy.medieval that sorted out the many problems around Gunnora's family. In the early days of merging on Geni people were following that template, but it seems to have been either abandoned or lost. The area is falling back into fantasy land.

I saw (and read) that you took a look :) I didn't tag you, but when Sharon started posting these profiles, which touched the early de Montfort and other Norman lines I worked on, I knew there were only a handful of people who understood them -- you, AM, Pam, and probably others I have forgotten.

You go guys ;-)

So can someone tell me if this is a real person whose actual name is unknown, or the figment of someone's imagination as I'm [supposedly] a descendant of his.

Actual person, but few details are known. If you're descended from any of the English kings, you're descended from our chum Herbastus.

@Herbastus I "the Dane - this is what the history books say. "All that is known of Gunnora's parentage is that she belonged to a family who had settled in the Pays de Caux.[2] Robert of Torigni wrote she was a forester's daughter from the Pays de Caux and according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin she was of noble Danish origin.[3] Gunnora was probably born c. 950.[4] Her family held sway in western Normandy and Gunnora herself was said to be very wealthy.[5] Her marriage to Richard I was of great political importance, both to her husband[a] and her progeny.[6] Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, was progenitor of a great Norman family.[5] Her sisters and nieces[b] married some of the most important nobles in Normandy.[7]"
R

Entering this discussion a couple of years late ....

two suggestions for this profile:

1) Make the display name "Father of Herbastus de Crepon and Gunnora", so that it doesn't look like a real name on casual display.

2) Make his parents "Unknown father" and "Unknown mother" and lock them.

He keeps on getting linked to Gorm the Old, it seems.

Good idea, Harald.