In a brief notice which would have been entirely modified if texts known since then had been used, M. H. d'Arbois de Jubainville had to content himself, on the origin of the lords of Ramerupt, with the following information provided by two old historians of the diocese of Troyes: in the 10th century there was a Countess of Arcis-sur-Aube, Lady of Ramerupt, named Hersende:
Becoming a widow of Count Helpuin (no doubt he inherited these two lands from her, since it was she who disposes of it), brother of Count Hilduin de Montdidier, she gave her county of Arcis to her son Hilduin, kept until her death Ramerupt where, in agreement with her eldest son, she had a church built within the walls of the castle and placed it under the patronage of Notre-Dame: this is where she had the relics of Saint Bausange. This was happening. around 970.
Should we point out that these old authors, Camuzat and Guerrois, nowhere mention the county of Montdidier among the possessions of the lords of Ramerupt? Aubry de Trois-Fontaines and, even better, the rare contemporary documents do the same. Hilduin, son of Hersende, succeeded him, after his death, in the lordship of Ramerupt. He had a brother named Manasses, whom contemporary testimonies represent as "vir sanctitate plenus" or "vir sanctus": having become bishop of Troyes, he left a revered memory and died in 991.
Hilduin, it must be admitted, on the contrary distressed his pious brother and, if we are to believe Camuzat, “multa crudelia commiserat facinora”. Des Guerrois says all the bad things possible. In short, they persuaded him to expiate his faults in a very benign way and, no doubt, that was all that could be obtained from these rough and difficult penitents: they persuaded him to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which had the advantage of letting its ordinary victims breathe.
He left in 992 with Adson, the holy abbot of Montierender; but Adson, who had announced his embarkation in a letter to his brothers, died at sea. Of Hilduin we know only his departure: we do not know whether he died in Palestine or after his return. He left two sons; the eldest, named Hilduin II, also succeeded his father in the lordship of Ramerupt; the second was Count of Dammartin-en-Goële; he was given the first name of his holy uncle Manasses, and it is permissible to wonder if it was not to his wife Constance that he owed the county of Dammartin; finally, he had a daughter, Isabelle.
Hilduin, second of the name, appears around 1025; representing Eudes, count of Blois and Champagne, he agrees with Francon, bishop of Paris, on the subject of the avorie of Rozoy-en-Brie.
[Note that the family patriarch, Helpuin, had a brother also named Hilduin who apparently died young and isn't counted among the Hilduins of the Ramerupt-Roucy line.]
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