Breteuil

     LES SEIGNEURS DE BRETEUIL EN BEAUVAISIS
Les rapports fréquents et la parenté probable du comte de Beauvais avec la famille de Blois aident à comprendre comment, au commencement du XI^e siècle, son principal vassal et peut-être son gendre, Gilduin, comte de Breteuil, était en même temps vicomte de Chartres, occupant un des premiers rangs en Beauce comme dans le Beauvaisis. Reculant devant des questions qui demanderaient une étude spéciale fort difficile, notre généalogie commencera par lui en laissant de côté l'époque antérieure si obscure par la rareté des documents.
I^er degré. GELDUIN, comte de Breteuil et vicomte de Chartres, 1020 à 10б0.
2. Gelduin, Gilduin ou Hilduin, possédant à la fois Breteuil en Beauvaisis et dans la Beauce le vicomté de Chartres, se trouve avoir dans l'histoire une double existence, ce qui, sans quelques documents précis, permettrait de croire à deux personnages distincts, quoique parents et portant le même nom.
D. Grenier lui donne pour père Hilduin, noble Danois, frère de Manassės, comte de Dammartin; Ducange (Hist. d'Amiens) le fait fils d'Hilduin III, comte de Montdidier, Arcis, Rameru et de Breteuil; d'autres auteurs proposent des généalogies différentes. D'un autre côté, nous trouvons dès 985 un Gilduin et un Harduin parmi les fidèles d'Eudes I^er, comte de Blois et de Chartres; mais rien n'indique qu'ils appartinssent à cette famille ou qu'ils fussent vicomtes de Chartres¹.
D'après D. Grenier, Gelduin est nommé comte de Breteuil dès 1020 et 1023 et, comme il mourut fort âgé en 1060, il avait déjà à cette époque trente-cinq ou quarante ans.
3. Ce fut peu après qu'il restaura l'abbaye de Notre-Dame de Breteuil et qu'il lui donna pour premier abbé un moine nommé Eberard, qu'il est permis de croire son parent². Cet abbé était en 1030 exilé de son monastère et réfugié dans l'abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres. Il en fut expulsé peu après à la suite de quelques contestations avec Thierry, évêque de Chartres, et était en 1033 de retour dans son abbaye¹. Cependant une histoire manuscrite de cette abbaye date sa fondation de l'an 1035².
4. Gelduin avait un neveu, Avesgaud, évêque du Mans, fils de Ives de Creil, seigneur de Bellême. Ce prélat fut presque toujours en lutte avec Herbert, Eveille-chiens, comte du Maine, et cette lutte dégénéra trois fois en guerre ouverte. D'abord vers 1017, puis vers 1029, enfin en 1032 que l'évêque fut réduit à quitter son diocèse pour faire le pèlerinage de Jérusalem. A son retour, il trouva un refuge à l'abbaye de Sainte-Vanne de Verdun où il mourut en 1036. Gelduin, ayant porté un secours efficace à son neveu dans une de ces guerres, en reçut pour son abbaye de Notre-Dame de Breteuil les reliques de saint Constantien. A son tour, il donna à l'église du Mans une rente de vingt livres sur le domaine de Clermont, laquelle fut toujours payée jusqu'à la Révolution. Cette donation porterait à croire que Clermont faisait alors partie du comté de Breteuil. L'histoire de l'abbaye citée plus haut date de 1052 l'arrivée des reliques de saint Constantien.
5. M. de Lépinois dit que Gelduin était vicomte de Chartres dès 1019³. Nous ne connaissons pas de mention de lui avant 1028 qu'il souscrivit comme vicomte de Chartres la charte de confirmation donnée par le roi Robert à l'abbaye de Coulomb. Ce monastère, construit à une époque inconnue sur les bords de l'Eure, en face du château de Nogent, possédait autour de cette ville des biens considérables qui avaient appartenu au IX^e siècle à l'abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés et dont le Polyptique de l'abbé Irminon nous a conservé le détail. Les seigneurs de Nogent s'emparèrent de ces biens en laissant l'abbaye tomber en ruines. Roger, évêque de Beauvais, ayant succédé à son oncle le comte Hugues, restaura le monastère et l'église, y mit six chanoines et leur rendit les biens de la fondation primitive. L'historien de l'abbaye cité par M. Merlet⁴ met cette fondation en 1001. Si cette date est exacte, Roger aurait possédé Nogent longtemps avant la mort du comte de Beauvais. Mais il est possible que cette date soit trop reculée, car il mourut le 23 juin 1022 sans avoir pu terminer son entreprise et en confiant le soin de la poursuivre à son neveu et héritier, Odolric de Broyes, évêque d'Orléans, fils de sa sœur Héloïse. Celui-ci remplaça les chanoines par des moines et obtint en leur faveur la charte de confirmation royale que nous venons de citer. Cette charte est signée par le roi, par l'évêque Odolric, par son frère Isambert et son neveu Hugues Bardoul, par cinq évêques et par neuf comtes au nombre desquels est Mannassés, comte de Dammartin. Après lui vient notre vicomte Gelduin: Signum Gelduini vicecomitis Carnotensis; puis suivent les noms de Lancelin de Beaugency, d'Amaury de Montfort, d'Albert de Galardon, des vicomtes de Nogent, de Dreux et de Châteaudun et ceux d'un grand nombre de seigneurs de la région¹.
6. Vers la même époque, Gelduin souscrit une charte du comte Eudes en même temps que le chevecier Thierry qui devint évêque de Chartres en 1029.
7. En 1032, le même comte fonde l'abbaye d'Epernay en Champagne. On lit parmi les noms des témoins: Gilduinus vicecomes, Harduinus, filius ejus, et alter filius Vualerannus².
8. Une charte pour Marmoutier, donnée par le comte Eudes qui mourut en 1037, nous donne le nom de Gelduin de Breteuil à côté de celui de Gilduin de Saumur, personnage fort important de l'époque et qu'il est d'autant plus facile de confondre avec le vicomte de Chartres qu'il prend aussi plusieurs fois le titre de vicomte. On y lit S. Gelduini Salmuriensis. S. Gilduini Britoliensis³.
9. En 1037, Gelduin suivit son seigneur le comte de Blois et de Champagne dans l'invasion de la Lorraine. Il fut blessé à la bataille de Bar, mais il n'y périt point, comme dit Duchesne, car nous allons voir plusieurs actes de lui. Comme ils sont presque tous relatifs à la Beauce, il est à croire qu'il fit à Chartres son principal séjour. Au retour de cette expédition, il fit plusieurs fondations pour l'âme du comte Eudes qui y avait trouvé la mort. La principale fut le don à l'abbaye de Marmoutier de l'alleu de Morteuvre près Châteaudun. Il spécifie qu'il fait cette aumône pour son âme, celle de son seigneur Eudes, comme pour le salut de sa femme Emmeline, de ses enfants, Evrard, Harduin, Hugues, évêque, et Gelduin, et pour celle de son parent Foucher de Chartres dont il a reçu cet héritage. Cette cession n'était pas cependant tout à fait gratuite, car l'abbé Albert dut lui donner quatre livres d'or pur valant cent livres de deniers. Ermengarde, veuve du comte Eudes, confirma l'acte et le fit souscrire par ses fils Thibaut et Étienne. On lit ensuite S. Gelduini vicecomitis. S. Harduini vicecomitis filii ejus. S. Ebrardi fratris ejus. S. Gualerandi fratris ejus. S. Guarnerii, capellani Gelduini, etc.¹. Le nom d'Hervé, vicomte de Blois, qui se fit moine en 1040, place cette charte en 1038 ou 1039.
10. A la même époque et le même Hervé étant témoin, Rahier de Montigny, voulant aussi fonder un anniversaire pour le comte Eudes, vint en présence de la comtesse Ermengarde et du vicomte de Chartres et donna à Marmoutier l'alleu de Mersante². En 1039, le même Rahier ajouta au premier don les terres de Saint-Pèlerin et de Homblières. Parmi les signatures on trouve: S. Gelduini de Bretulio. S. Harduini, vicecomitis³.
11. Nous trouvons les noms des enfants et des petits-enfants de Gelduin dans un acte de 1037 à 1042, par lequel, de concert avec son fils Harduin, il donne la liberté à un serf, moine de Marmoutier, pour lui permettre d'entrer dans les ordres. S. Gelduini, vicecomitis. S. Ebrardi filii ejus. S. Ebrardi, filii Ebrardi. S. Hugonis fratris ejus. S. Adelaidis sororis eorum⁴.
12. Le 29 avril 1046, diverses franchises dans les faubourgs de Chartres sont accordées à l'abbaye de Saint-Père par Gilduinus vicecomes Carnotinæ urbis, par son épouse Ermeline et par leurs enfants. Les souscriptions sont: Gilduinus vicecomes qui hanc donationem fecit. Harduinus, vicecomes, filius ejus. Elisabeth, uxor ejusdem⁵. Au bas d'une charte de Henri I^er, roi de France, du 17 avril 1048, confirmant au chapitre de Chartres la possession d'Ingré, on lit: Signum Gilduini vicecomitis. Signum Evrardi, filii Gilduini⁶. Entre 1048 et 1060, Gelduin et son fils Harduin confirment la fondation du prieuré de Chuines, faite par leur vassal Ives de Courville¹.
13. Toutes ces pièces nous montrent Gelduin comme vicomte de Chartres, et l'on pourrait croire qu'il n'était plus comte de Breteuil, si nous ne le retrouvions le 22 mai 1048 assistant avec tous les grands du royaume au concile de Senlis et souscrivant le dernier des douze comtes présents un acte en faveur de l'abbaye de Saint-Médard de Soissons. S. Gelduini comitis². L'année suivante 1049, il se rendit auprès du pape Léon IX qui voyageait en France et en obtint la confirmation de l'abbaye de Breteuil restaurée par lui. On lit dans cet acte: Gilduinus in partibus Galliarum prepotens et dives nostram adiit presentiam observans ut monasterium quoddam nomine sancte Dei Genitricis sacratum, quod ipse antiquitus desolatum restauraverat, nostre preceptionis vigore fulciremur³. Mais il ne put obtenir du pape le pardon de son fils Hugues, évêque de Langres, que ses crimes firent déposer au concile de Reims le 3 octobre 1049.
Ce chagrin, celui de la mort de son fils Harduin, son grand âge, enfin les exhortations du bienheureux Richard, abbé de Saint-Vanne de Verdun, et celles de son fils Valeran, moine de la même abbaye, le décidèrent à s'y retirer avec eux. La vie du bienheureux Richard, après avoir parlé de Valeran de Breteuil, ajoute: Cujus pater, Gilduinus nomine, tam filii amore quam beati viri allocutione, seculo renunciavit, et in senectute bona, plurimis donariis huic loco traditis, felice fine consummatus, in fine quievit^4. L'abbé Richard lui fit une épitaphe qui ne contient que des louanges banales:
    Post senium fessus, jacet hic funere pressus,
    Gelduinus pater, monachili schemate frater,
    Te, comes illustris, divus perflorabat ignis, etc.⁵.
L'histoire manuscrite de l'abbaye de Breteuil met sa mort à l'année 1060. Le jour est donné par le nécrologe de cette abbaye: XV^o calendarum junii obiit dominus Gelduinus, hujus loci fundator. Ce que confirme l'obituaire de la cathédrale de Chartres qui la met au 18 mai: Obiit Gelduinus, ex vicecomite monachus, qui pro suâ et filii sui Harduini anima, reddidit nobis terram Ciconiolas nomine, et longe nobis inde factam injuriam tali satisfactione correxit¹.
14. Dans quelques chartes du comte Thibaut signées de son fils Henri-Étienne, dont les premiers actes connus datent de 1065, on trouve un vicomte Gilduin, qui n'est pas de la famille de Breteuil, mais fils d'Hervé, vicomte de Blois, et ayant succédé à son père, lorsque celui-ci devint moine à Marmoutier en 1040.
15. Le cartulaire de Saint-Père de Chartres (p. 172 et 180) renferme deux chartes données sous le règne de Henri I^er par le vicomte Hilduin, dont le père Hugues et le grand-père Hilduin étaient aussi vicomtes et qui avait un frère nommé Hugues. Le savant auteur des Comtes de Champagne l'identifie avec notre Gelduin; mais toutes les localités sur lesquelles il abandonne son droit de vicomte sont dans le Vexin, hors du comté et du diocèse de Chartres. Il était donc un des deux ou trois vicomtes qui se partageaient le Vexin français.
16. Emeline, femme de Gelduin, est nommée en 1038 et 1046 (n^os 9 et 12). Il serait possible qu'elle fût fille de ce Foucher de Chartres nommé au no 9, et c'est peut-être elle qui apporta la vicomté de Chartres dans la famille de Breteuil.
Leurs enfants furent:
A. Ebrard ou Everard, qui suit.
B. Harduin. Dans l'acte du n^o 9, il est nommé après Ebrard, mais il signe avant lui, ce qui pourrait faire douter qu'il fût le second. Il fut vicomte de Chartres en même temps que son père de 1036 à 1042. Si l'on admet que la vicomté de Chartres entra dans la famille de Breteuil par sa mère, la possession de l'héritage maternel indique un puîné, l'aîné ayant l'héritage paternel ou Breteuil.
En 1042, Harduin, fils de Gelduin, et Gelduin, son frère, souscrivent la charte donnée à Epernay par les comtes Thibaut et Étienne, en faveur de l'église d'Amiens². Tous les autres actes où l'on trouve son nom sont relatifs à la Beauce. Il mourut avant son père vers 1048 et ne laissa pas d'enfants de sa femme Elisabeth, nommée au n^o 12, puisque son frère Ebrard fut son héritier. A son lit de mort, du consentement de son père, il donna à l'abbaye de Marmoutier l'église de Merroles.
C. Hugues, chanoine de Chartres, puis évêque de Langres de 1031 à 1049: Hugo, filius Gilduini comitis Britolii in pago Belvacensi, designatus episcopus Lingonensis a rege Roberto et in possessione missus a rege Henrico qui Lingonibus erat dum obitum patris didiscit¹. Ce prélat se conduisit avec si peu de retenue qu'au bout de dix-huit ans d'épiscopat, il fut déposé le 3 octobre 1049, au concile de Reims, par le pape Léon IX. Ne pouvant résister ni se purger des accusations de simonie, de mauvaises mœurs et d'homicide, il vint se mettre à la discrétion du pape et le suivit en prisonnier jusqu'à Rome. Il y comparut devant un nouveau concile, nu-pieds, en chemise et portant des verges dans sa main. Le pape, touché de son repentir, lui donna l'absolution et lui rendit son évêché. Mais il mourut pendant le retour, à Biterne (Viterbe), en 1051. Avant sa mort, ses compagnons le revêtirent de l'habit de moine de l'abbaye de Verdun².
18. D. Valeran ou Galeran, nommé avec son père et son frère Harduin en 1032 (n^o 7), se trouvait en 1037 au combat de Bar. Grièvement blessé au pied et poursuivi par des adversaires furieux, il n'échappa à la mort que par l'intervention de Richard, abbé de Verdun, qui le revêtit sur le champ de bataille de l'habit religieux, le fit porter dans son monastère et, après sa guérison, le reçut au nombre des moines. Le biographe du bienheureux Richard lui donne le titre de comte de Breteuil: Comitem etiam Brituliensem Vualerannum in ipso prælio graviter vulneratum, ne prorsus ab insectatoribus extingueretur, religionis veste amictum defendit, huc delatum curatumque, etc. Douze ans après, en 1049, il fut nommé abbé de Saint-Vanne de Verdun: Regimen Virdunensis cœnobii Vualerannus suscepit, homo in saeculo nobilisssimus, Gelduini comitis filius; qui Vualerannus in bello apud Bar castrum vulneratus, claudicabat. Cujus frater fuit Hugo, Lingonensis episcopus, postea a sancto Leone nono in Remensi concilio depositus³. Il fut plus tard abbé de Montiéramé et mourut en 1063.
E. Gelduin, nommé avec ses frères en 1038 et 1042 (n^os 9 et 16).
F. Selon André Duchesne¹, une fille de Gilduin épousa Raoul, frère de Dreux, comte du Vexin, et, lui apportant en dot la terre de Nanteuil-le-Hauduin, fut la tige des seigneurs de ce nom.
19. G. Elisabeth, dame de Sours près Chartres, et femme de Hugues Bardoul, seigneur de Pithiviers, Broyes et Nogent-l'Erembert, est dite dans une notice de l'abbaye de Coulomb tante d'Ébrard II le Moine et de Hugues Blavons. Si c'était du côté paternel, elle était sœur d'Ébrard Ier et fille de Gelduin; mais il est plus probable qu'elle était leur tante maternelle, sœur de leur mère Humberge. Sa fille Elisabeth porta la châtellenie de Nogent à Simon I^er de Montfort, dont une fille du même nom la fit passer dans la famille des seigneurs de Conches.
1. Cartulaire de S.Père de Chartres, p. 65, 76, etc.
2. Annales bénédictines, IV, 352.
1. Cartulaire de S.-Père, p. 120.
2. Hist. de l'abbaye de Breteuil, par l'abbé de La Motte-Villebret. Bibl. nat., Fonds français, n^o 12020.
3. Histoire de Chartres, I, 51.
4. Histoire de l'abbaye de Coulomb, p. 3.
1. Cet acte a été publié: Duchesne, Hist. de Broyes, 6; Bouquet, X, 617; Gallia christ., VIII, instr., 295; Lefèvre, Canton de Nogent, 151.
2. D'Arbois de Jubainville, Comtes de Champagne, I, 470.
3. Bibl. nat., coll. Moreau, t. XVII, fol. 244.
1. Cartul. de Marmoutier pour le Dunois, n^o 21.
2. Orig., Arch. d'Eure-et-Loir. Publié dans le Cartul. du Dunois, n^o 99.
3. Cartul. du Dunois, n^o 100.
4. Bibl. nat., Coll. D. Housseau, XII, n^o 6373.
5. Cart. de S.-Père, p. 161.
6. Cart. de Notre-Dame de Chartres, n^o 14.
1. Cart. du Dunois, n^o 110.
2. Comtes de Champagne, I, 483.
3. Gallia christ., IX, 799.
4. AA. SS. O. S. Bened., VI, 515.
5. Mabillon, Vetera analecta, t. II, p. 864.
1. Cartul. de Notre-Dame de Chartres, t. III.
2. D'Arbois de Jubainville, Comtes de Champagne, I, 482.
1. Chronique de Dijon. D'Achery, Spicilège, I, 459.
2. D. Grenier.
3. Hugues de Flavigny, dans Hist. de France, XIV, 63.
1. Hist de Châtillon, p. 559.

    THE LORDS OF BRETEUIL IN THE BEAUVAISIS
The frequent dealings and probable kinship between the Count of Beauvais and the Blois family help explain how, in the early 11th century, his principal vassal, and perhaps his son-in-law, Gilduin, count of Breteuil, was simultaneously viscount of Chartres, holding a position of high rank in both the Beauce and Beauvaisis regions. Steering clear of questions that would require a highly complex, specialized study, our genealogy will begin with him, setting aside the earlier period, which remains obscure due to a scarcity of documents.
1st Generation. GELDUIN, count of Breteuil and viscount of Chartres, 1020–1060.
2. Gelduin (also known as Gilduin or Hilduin), who held both Breteuil in the Beauvaisis and the viscountcy of Chartres in the Beauce, appears in historical records with a dual identity; without specific documentation, one might easily assume there were two distinct individuals, albeit kinsmen sharing the same name.
D. Grenier identifies his father as Hilduin, a Danish nobleman and brother of Manassès, Count of Dammartin; Ducange (History of Amiens) names him the son of Hilduin III, count of Montdidier, Arcis, Rameru, and Breteuil; other authors propose different genealogies. On the other hand, as early as 985, we find a Gilduin and a Harduin among the loyal followers of Odo I, count of Blois and Chartres; yet there is no indication that they belonged to this family or held the title of viscount of Chartres¹.
According to D. Grenier, Gelduin is recorded as count of Breteuil as early as 1020 and 1023; given that he died at a very advanced age in 1060, he would have been between thirty-five and forty years old at that time.
3. It was shortly thereafter that he restored the abbey of Notre-Dame de Breteuil and appointed as its first abbot a monk named Eberard, who may well have been his kinsman². In 1030, this abbot had been exiled from his own monastery and had taken refuge at the abbey of Saint-Père in Chartres. He was expelled from there soon after following disputes with Thierry, the Bishop of Chartres, and by 1033 he had returned to his own abbey¹. However, a manuscript history of the abbey dates its foundation to the year 1035.
4. Gelduin had a nephew, Avesgaud, bishop of Le Mans, who was the son of Ives de Creil, lord of Bellême. This prelate was almost constantly in conflict with Herbert Eveille-chiens ("Wake-the-Dogs"), count of Maine; this struggle escalated into open warfare on three occasions: first around 1017, then around 1029, and finally in 1032, when the bishop was forced to leave his diocese to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he found refuge at the Abbey of Sainte-Vanne in Verdun, where he died in 1036. Having provided effective aid to his nephew during one of these wars, Gelduin received the relics of saint Constantien for his abbey of Notre-Dame de Breteuil. In turn, he granted the church of Le Mans an annuity of twenty pounds charged against the estate of Clermont, a payment that continued until the Revolution. This donation suggests that Clermont was part of the county of Breteuil at the time. The aforementioned history of the abbey dates the arrival of saint Constantien's relics to 1052.
5. M. de Lépinois states that Gelduin was already viscount of Chartres in 1019³. We know of no mention of him prior to 1028, when he subscribed, in his capacity as viscount of Chartres, to the charter of confirmation granted by king Robert to the abbey of Coulomb. This monastery, built at an unknown date on the banks of the Eure opposite the castle of Nogent, held considerable estates around the town; these lands had belonged to the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the 9th century, and details regarding them have been preserved in the Polyptych of abbot Irminon. The lords of Nogent had seized these properties, allowing the abbey to fall into ruin. Roger, bishop of Beauvais, having succeeded his uncle, count Hugh, restored the monastery and the church, installed six canons there, and returned the original endowment's properties to them. The abbey's historian, cited by M. Merlet⁴, dates this foundation to 1001. If this date is accurate, Roger would have held Nogent long before the death of the count of Beauvais. However, it is possible that this date is too early, for he died on June 23, 1022, without having completed the undertaking, entrusting the task of continuing it to his nephew and heir, Odolric de Broyes, bishop of Orléans and son of his sister Héloïse. The latter replaced the canons with monks and obtained the aforementioned royal charter of confirmation on their behalf. This charter is signed by the king, by Bishop Odolric, by his brother Isambert and his nephew Hugh Bardoul, by five bishops, and by nine counts, among whom is Manasses, count of Dammartin. Following him is our viscount Gelduin: Signum Gelduini vicecomitis Carnotensis; Then follow the names of Lancelin de Beaugency, Amaury de Montfort, Albert de Galardon, the viscounts of Nogent, Dreux, and Châteaudun, and those of a large number of lords from the region¹.
6. Around the same time, Gelduin subscribed to a charter issued by count Odo, alongside Thierry, the chevecier [a type of canon] who would become bishop of Chartres in 1029.
7. In 1032, the same count founded the abbey of Épernay in Champagne. Among the names of the witnesses, one reads: Gilduinus vicecomes, Harduinus, filius ejus, et alter filius Vualerannus².
8. A charter for Marmoutier, issued by count Odo (who died in 1037), lists the name of Gelduin de Breteuil alongside that of Gilduin de Saumur, a highly significant figure of the era who is all the more easily confused with the viscount of Chartres because he, too, frequently adopted the title of viscount. The text reads: S. Gelduini Salmuriensis. S. Gilduini Britoliensis³.
9. In 1037, Gelduin accompanied his lord, the count of Blois and Champagne, on the invasion of Lorraine. He was wounded at the Battle of Bar but did not perish there, contrary to Duchesne's claim, for we shall see several documents issued by him. Since these almost all relate to the Beauce region, it is likely that he made Chartres his principal place of residence. Upon returning from this expedition, he established several religious foundations for the soul of count Eudes, who had lost his life in the campaign. The most significant was the gift to the abbey of Marmoutier of the allodial estate of Morteuvre, near Châteaudun. He specifies that he makes this pious donation for the soul of his lord Eudes, as well as for the salvation of his wife Emmeline and his children, Evrard, Harduin, Hugh (a bishop), and Gelduin, and for that of his kinsman Foucher of Chartres, from whom he had inherited the property. This transfer was not, however, entirely without cost, for abbot Albert had to give him four pounds of pure gold, valued at one hundred pounds in deniers. Ermengarde, count Eudes' widow, confirmed the deed and had her sons Thibaut and Stephen subscribe to it. The signatures read as follows: S. Gelduini vicecomitis. S. Harduini vicecomitis filii ejus. S. Ebrardi fratris ejus. S. Gualerandi fratris ejus. S. Guarnerii, capellani Gelduini, etc¹. The name of Hervé, viscount of Blois, who became a monk in 1040, dates this charter to 1038 or 1039.
10. At the same time and the same Hervé being a witness, Rahier de Montigny, also wanting to found an anniversary for count Eudes, came in the presence of the countess Ermengarde and the viscount of Chartres and gave Marmoutier the alleu de Mersante². In 1039, the same Rahier added to the first donation the lands of Saint-Pèlerin and Homblières. Among the signatures we find: S. Gelduini de Bretulio.S. Harduini, vicecomitis³.
11. We find the names of Gelduin's children and grandchildren in an act from 1037 to 1042, by which, together with his son Harduin, he gave freedom to a serf, a monk of Marmoutier, to allow him to enter the orders. S. Gelduini, vicecommittee. S. Ebrardi filii ejus. S. Ebrardi, filii Ebrardi. S. Hugonis fratris ejus. S. Adelaidis sororis eorum⁴.
12. On 29 April 1046, various franchises in the suburbs of Chartres were granted to the abbey of Saint-Père by Gilduinus vicecomes Carnotinæ urbis, by his wife Ermeline and by their children. The subscriptions are: Gilduinus vicecomes qui hanc donationem fecit. Harduinus, vicecomes, filius ejus. Elisabeth, uxor ejusdem⁵. At the bottom of a charter from Henry I, king of France, of 17 April 1048, confirming in the chapter of Chartres the possession of Ingré, we read: Signum Gilduini vicecomitis. Signum Evrardi, filii Gilduini⁶. Between 1048 and 1060, Gelduin and his son Harduin confirmed the foundation of the priory of Chuines, made by their vassal Ives de Courville¹.
13. All these documents present Gelduin as viscount of Chartres, and one might assume he was no longer count of Breteuil, were it not for the fact that, on 22 May 1048, we find him attending the council of Senlis alongside the kingdom's great nobles; there, he subscribed, as the last of the twelve counts present, to a charter in favor of the abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons S. Gelduini comitis². The following year, 1049, he visited pope Leo IX, who was traveling through France, and obtained papal confirmation regarding the abbey of Breteuil, which he had restored. The document reads: "Gilduinus, a powerful and wealthy man from the regions of Gaul, came into our presence, requesting that we uphold with the authority of our decree a certain monastery consecrated to the holy Mother of God, one that had long been desolate and which he himself had restored.³" However, he failed to secure the pope's pardon for his son Hugh, bishop of Langres, whose crimes led to his deposition at the council of Reims on 3 October 3 1049.
This sorrow, combined with the death of his son Harduin and his own advanced age, along with the exhortations of the blessed Richard, abbot of Saint-Vanne de Verdun, and those of his son Valeran, a monk at the same abbey, persuaded him to retire there with them. The life of the blessed Richard, after mentioning Valeran de Breteuil, adds: "His father, named Gilduinus, moved by both love for his son and the words of the holy man, renounced the world; in a blessed old age, having bestowed many gifts upon this place, he reached a happy end and found his rest.⁴" Abbot Richard gave him an epitaph which contains only banal praise:
    Weary after old age, here lies pressed by death,
    Gelduinus the father, brother in the monastic form,
    You, illustrious count, a divine fire bloomed through you, etc.⁵.
The manuscript history of Breteuil Abbey places his death in the year 1060. The day is given by the obituary of this abbey: On the 15th day of the calends of June [18 May], lord Gelduinus, founder of this place, died. This is confirmed by the obituary of Chartres Cathedral which places it on 18 May: Gelduin, a monk who was formerly a viscount, died, who, for his own life and that of his son Harduin, returned to us the land called Ciconiolas, and with such satisfaction corrected the long-standing injury done to us¹.

14. In a few charters of count Thibaut signed by his son Henri-Étienne, whose earliest known acts date from 1065, we find a viscount Gilduin; he did not belong to the Breteuil family but was the son of Hervé, viscount of Blois, having succeeded his father when the latter became a monk at Marmoutier in 1040.
15. The cartulary of Saint-Père de Chartres (pp. 172 and 180) contains two charters issued during the reign of Henry I by viscount Hilduin, whose father, Hugues, and grandfather, Hilduin, were also viscounts, and who had a brother named Hugues. The learned author of thr Comtes de Champagne identifies him with our Gelduin; however, all the localities over which he relinquished his viscountial rights lie in the Vexin, outside the county and diocese of Chartres. He was, therefore, one of the two or three viscounts who shared authority over the French Vexin.
16. Emeline, wife of Gelduin, is named in documents 9 and 12 (dated 1038 and 1046). It is possible that she was the daughter of the Foucher de Chartres mentioned in document 9, and she may well have been the one who brought the viscountcy of Chartres into the Breteuil family.
Their children were:
A. Ebrard (or Everard), who follows.
B. Harduin. In the charter of document 9, he is named after Ebrard but signs before him, which might cast doubt on whether he was the second son. He served as viscount of Chartres concurrently with his father from 1036 to 1042. If one accepts that the viscountcy of Chartres entered the Breteuil family through his mother, his possession of the maternal inheritance suggests he was a younger son, with the eldest holding the paternal inheritance of Breteuil.
In 1042, Harduin, son of Gelduin, and Gelduin, his brother, witnessed the charter issued at Epernay by counts Thibaut and Étienne in favor of the church of Amiens. All other documents mentioning his name relate to the Beauce region. He died before his father, around 1048, and left no children by his wife Elisabeth (named in document 12), as his brother Ebrard became his heir. On his deathbed, with his father's consent, he granted the church of Merroles to the abbey of Marmoutier.
C. Hugues, canon of Chartres and later bishop of Langres (1031–1049): Hugh, son of count Gelduin of Breteuil in the Beauvaisis, designated bishop of Langres by king Robert and installed by king Henry, who was in Langres when he learned of the father's death¹. This prelate conducted himself with such a lack of restraint that, after an episcopate of eighteen years, he was deposed on 3 October 1049, at the council of Reims, by Pope Leo IX. Unable to resist or clear himself of the charges of simony, immorality, and homicide, he placed himself at the pope's mercy and accompanied him to Rome as a prisoner. There, he appeared before a new council barefoot, clad only in a shirt, and carrying rods in his hand. The pope, moved by his repentance, granted him absolution and restored his bishopric. However, he died on the return journey at Viterbo in 1051. Before his death, his companions invested him with the monastic habit of the abbey of Verdun².
18. D. Valeran (or Galeran), named alongside his father and his brother Harduin in 1032 (n^o. 7), was present at the Battle of Bar in 1037. Gravely wounded in the foot and pursued by furious adversaries, he escaped death only through the intervention of Richard, abbot of Verdun, who clothed him in the religious habit right on the battlefield, had him carried to his monastery, and, after his recovery, admitted him into the ranks of the monks. The biographer of blessed Richard accords him the title of count of Breteuil: He also defended count Vualerannus of Britulles, who was seriously wounded in the battle itself, so that he would not be completely destroyed by his pursuers. He dressed him in religious garb, brought him here and cared for him, etc. Twelve years later, in 1049, he was appointed abbot of Saint-Vanne de Verdun: The government of the monastery of Virdun was taken over by Vualeran, a man of the highest rank in the world, the son of count Geldwin; which Vualeran was wounded in the battle at Bar Castle and was lame. His brother was Hugh, bishop of Lingon, who was afterwards deposed by saint Leo IX at the council of Reims. He subsequently became abbot of Montiéramé and died in 1063.
E. Gelduin, named alongside his brothers in 1038 and 1042 (n^os. 9 and 16).
F. According to André Duchesne¹, a daughter of Gilduin married Raoul, brother of Dreux, count of the Vexin, and bringing the lands of Nanteuil-le-Hauduin as her dowry, became the ancestress of the lords bearing that name.
19. G. Elisabeth, lady of Sours near Chartres and wife of Hugh Bardoul lord of Pithiviers, Broyes, and Nogent-l'Erembert, is described in a record from the abbey of Coulomb as the aunt of Ébrard II "the Monk" and Hugh Blavons. If this relationship was on the paternal side, she would have been the sister of Ébrard I and the daughter of Gelduin; however, it is more probable that she was their maternal aunt, the sister of their mother, Humberge. Her daughter Elisabeth brought the castellany of Nogent to Simon I de Montfort; a daughter of the latter, also named Elisabeth, subsequently passed the estate into the family of the lords of Conches.
1. Cartulaire de S.-Père de Chartres, p. 65, 76, etc.
2. Annales bénédictines, IV, 352.
1. Cartulaire de S.-Père, p. 120.
2. Hist. de l'abbaye de Breteuil, for the abbey of La Motte-Villebret. Bibl. nat., Fonds français, n^o 12020.
3. Histoire de Chartres, I, 51.
4. Histoire de l'abbaye de Coulomb, p. 3.
1. This act was published: Duchesne, Hist. de Broyes, 6; Bouquet, X, 617; Gallia christ., VIII, instr., 295; Lefèvre, Canton de Nogent, 151.
2. D'Arbois de Jubainville, Comtes de Champagne, I, 470.
3. Bibl. nat., coll. Moreau, t. XVII, fol. 244.
1. Cartul. de Marmoutier pour le Dunois, n^o 21.
2. Orig., Arch. d'Eure-et-Loir. Publié dans le Cartul. du Dunois, n^o 99.
3. Cartul. du Dunois, n^o 100.
4. Bibl. nat., Coll. D. Housseau, XII, n^o 6373.
5. Cart. de S.-Père, p. 161.
6. Cart. de Notre-Dame de Chartres, n^o 14.
1. Cart. du Dunois, n^o 110.
2. Comtes de Champagne, I, 483.
3. Gallia christ., IX, 799.
4. AA. SS. O. S. Bened., VI, 515.
5. Mabillon, Vetera analecta, t. II, p. 864.
1. Cartul. de Notre-Dame de Chartres, t. III.
2. D'Arbois de Jubainville, Comtes de Champagne, I, 482.
1. Chronique de Dijon. D'Achery, Spicilège, I, 459.
2. D. Grenier.
3. Hugues de Flavigny, in Hist. de France, XIV, 63.
1. Hist. de Châtillon, p. 559.

Gilduin's founding of an abbey was recognised by the pope in this papal bull, which desribes him as a "noble and religious man named Gilduin, who was very powerful and wealthy in the parts of Gaul"
Nouvelle histoire de Breteuil en Beauvaisis pp37-41 (C.-A. Baticle, 1891)

Les premiers seigneurs connus de Breteuil furent aussi recommandables par la noblesse de leur extraction et leur bravoure sur les champs de bataille, que par leur piété et leurs libéralités envers leurs vassaux. Ils paraissent descendre du comte palatin Hugues de Beauvais, personnage influent s’il en fut, sous Hugues Capet, qui le nomma gouverneur de son fils (988). La riche succession de Hugues de Beauvais fut partagée (1015) entre Eudes, comte de Chartres, Roger, évêque de Beauvais et comte de Sancerre (que l’on croit frère utérin d’Eudes), et les seigneurs de Breteuil.
Roger, évêque de Beauvais et comte de Sancerre, ayant obtenu d’échanger (?) ce dernier comté contre celui de Beauvais, les rois de France, pour lui en substituer un autre dans le Beauvaisis, créèrent le comté de Breteuil dont devint titulaire Gilduin ou Ihlduin. Issu de Gilduin ou Ihlduin, noble danois, frère de Manassès, comte de Dammartin et probablement gendre de Roger, évêque de Beauvais, ce seigneur vivait en 1020; il était en même temps vicomte de Chartres, ce qui lui donna, dans l’histoire, comme une double existence (1).
« La ruine, dit P. Louvet, qu’avoient apporté les Normans aux églises et temples dédiez à Dieu, causa et incita les Chrestiens non seulement de renouveler les anciennes mais aussi d’en édifier et bastir de nouvelles: à joindre que par la réformation qui avoit esté faite en l’église une loy s’estoit ensuivie que quiconque se voudroit dire comte, viconte, baron ou chastellain, il falloit qu’il eust ville close, collège, abbaye ou prieuré conventuel, aumosnerie et maladeries, foires et marchez et certaines marques, cause pourquoy la noblesse qui de fresche et récente datte estoit devenue propriétaire des plus belles terres et seigneuries, afin d’avoir puissance et pouvoir de porter telles qualitez, commença de faire fermer ses villes, de bastir abbayes, prieurez, collèges ou autres remarques ès bourgs et ès terres qu’ils luy appartenoient.
« Le comte de Breteil appelé Gilduin ou plustot Hilduin, voyant que l’eglise de Breteil avoit estée ruinée, tant par les Normans que par les guerres, se proposa du temps de l’évesque Druon (duquel nous avons parlé cy-dessus), de bastir et édifier l’abbaye de Breteil: ce qu’il fit en peu de temps, laquelle il enrichist de plusieurs richesses et de moyens, tant pour l’entretenement des bastiments que pour la nourriture des religieux qu’il y mit de l’ordre de Saint-Benoist: à l’imitation de la noblesse de la France, laquelle lors s’estudioit fort à décorer les églises et temples dediez à Dieu. … »
Le pape Léon IX, à la prière de Gilduin, s’empressa de reconnaître sa donation par la bulle suivante:
Leo Episcopus servus servorum Dei, omnibus Christianæ religionis cultoribus. Quia nos propitia divinitas universalem Papam et esse voluit et appellari: universalem omnibus per orbem Ecclesiis solicitudinem exhibere debemus, ut quod nostro congruit officio nostra quoque prohteatur actio, et illam studeamus curam impendere subditis, quam à nobis exigit vigilantia pastoralis, licet enim indigni, ejus tamen vice credimus fungi, cui dictum est confirma fratres tuos, et iterum super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam. Et procul dubio constat quod infirmum et invalidum est omne, quod in Ecclesia geritur, nisi hujus authoritate sedis corroboretur. Unde non aspernanda consuetudo inolevit, ut si quis conventionem aliquam aut donationem fecerit quam in futurum prævaleri cupiat ad nostram recurrat cathedram, ubi ad sacratissimum Ecclesiæ fundamentum sedemus et inde actionis suæ robur acquirat ne alicui imbecillitati succumbat. Hujus rei gratia vir quidam nobilis ac religiosus nomine Gilduinus in partibus Galliarum præpotens et dives nostram adiit præsentiam, obsecrans ut Monasterium quoddam nomine et honore S. Dei Genitricis sacratum, quod ipse antiquitus desolatum restauraverat, nostræ præceptionis vigore fulciretur, ne quando ab impiis destruatur nevè res ibi divino cultui attributas quispiam diripere audeat aut devastare. Monasterium vero illud situm est in belvacina regione infra quoddam castrum ejusdem Gilduini, quod Britolum nuncupatur, ubi consilio Drogonis ejusdem regionis Episcopi, Monachos et Abbatem nomine Ebrardum constituit et quæ subter relate sunt, pro salute sua et parentum et filiorum offerens Deo, usibus eorum deputavit.
Circa predictum castrum hospites quindecim, cambas tres, inter quas unam Berengarii cum novem hospitibus, unum molendinum, unum furnum liberum sicut ipse tenebat, terram arabilem quæ duobus sufficit carrucis et sylvam, vinæ arpennos 24. Ecclesiam S. Cirici cum altari et uno curticulo et teloneum et bannum et latronem et omnes consuetudines atrii ejusdem Ecclesiæ, medietatem Ecclesiæ S. Dionysii et altaris, et medietatem Ecclesiæ Sancti Martini et altaris cujusdam villæ quam dicunt Vendolium et medietatem Telonci et banni et latronis et omnium consuetudinum ad easdem Ecclesias pertinentium.
Item hospitem in Vendolio, tertiam quoque partem Ecclesiæ et altaris Sancti Petri de Bonolio cum tertia parte Telonei et banni et latronis et aliarum consuetudinum. In Allonay hospites duo et dimidium decimæ ipsius villæ. In Patronis-curte hospitem unum et duas partes decimæ ipsius villæ. In Amondi valle hospites tres, decimam de Camiaco medietatem villæ, quam nominant Proneredum et altare ipsius villæ cum consuetudinibus atrii, altare etiam cujusdam quam vocant Monasteria cum atrio.
In Cavilliaco omnia quæ ibi possidebat, hospites, terram arabilem et vineas, mancipia quoque ista, Berengerum cum uxore et infantibus, Letbertum cum uxore et infantibus suis, Villesendem cum infantibus suis et infantes Roberti.
Præteræa concessit eis Vicarium et omnes consuetudines prædict. Villarum et terrarum et possessionum : ita ut etiam omnes hospites eorum ab omni consuetudine sint liberi. Et ut nullus hec res ejus nec successor neque aliquis minister ejus in domibus eorum caballos suos stabulare audeat neque lectum ad jacendum ab eis accipiat, nec captionem panis et vini, carnisque et piscis nec alicujus rei ibi habeat. Concessit etiam ut quicumque suorum hominum cujuscumque conditionis sivè de propria terra sivè de fisco quem de eo tenet, vel de qualibet substantia prædicta, quoquo modo augere voluerit Ecclesiam, absque ulla sui suorumque hæredum et successorum calumnia augeat.
Nos igitur denunciamus et interdicimus cunctis viventibus et victuris ne quisquam huic devotæ constitutioni vim aut calumniam inferre præsumat, nec filius, nec filia ipsius Gilduini, nec quispiam de parentela ejus, nec ullus hominum prorsus : quoniam qui hoc egerit reus erit perpetuæ mortis.
Et si quis hoc præceptum temerare non timuerit, a limine S. Matris Ecclesiæ et Christianorum consortio sequestratus velut Etnicus et Publicanus habeatur, et post hujus vitæ decursum in exteriores projectus tenebras, ubi fletus et stridor dentium соттоrantur, cum Diabolo et Angelis ejus per infinita puniatur sup plicia.
Datum 3 nonas Octobris per manus Petri Diaconi Bibliothecarii Cancellariæ S. Apostolicæ Sedis, anno Domini Leonis noni Papæ primo, Indictione tertia (1).
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, par A. de Dion.
(1) Louvet: Histoire et Antiquités du pays de Beauvaisis, liv. I, p. 568.

This roughly translates as:

The first known lords of Breteuil were as distinguished for the nobility of their lineage and their battlefield valor as for their piety and generosity toward their vassals. They appear to have descended from count palatine Hugh of Beauvais, a figure of immense influence under Hugh Capet, who appointed him tutor to his son (988). Hugh of Beauvais’s vast estate was divided (1015) among Eudes, count of Chartres; Roger, bishop of Beauvais and count of Sancerre (believed to be Eudes’s maternal half-brother); and the lords of Breteuil.
After Roger, bishop of Beauvais and count of Sancerre, arranged to exchange (?) the latter county for that of Beauvais, the kings of France, seeking to grant him a replacement territory within the Beauvaisis region, created the county of Breteuil, the title to which was held by Gilduin (or Ihlduin). Descended from Gilduin (or Ihlduin), a Danish nobleman, brother of Manassès (count of Dammartin), and likely son-in-law to Roger, Bishop of Beauvais, this lord was active in 1020; he simultaneously held the title of viscount of Chartres, a circumstance that gave him, historically speaking, a sort of dual existence (1).
"The ruin," says P. Louvet, "that the Normans had brought upon the churches and temples dedicated to God prompted and encouraged Christians not only to restore the old ones but also to build and erect new ones; furthermore, following a reform within the church, a rule was established requiring that anyone wishing to style himself count, viscount, baron, or castellan must possess a walled town, a collegiate church, an abbey or conventual priory, an almshouse and leper hospital, fairs and markets, and certain distinguishing marks. Consequently, the nobility, who had recently acquired the finest lands and lordships, began, in order to gain the authority and standing to claim such titles, to wall in their towns and to build abbeys, priories, collegiate churches, and other notable structures within the market towns and lands they owned.
"The count of Breteil, named Gilduin, or rather Hilduin, seeing that the church of Breteil had been ruined both by the Normans and by warfare, resolved during the time of bishop Druon (whom we mentioned earlier) to build and erect the abbey of Breteil. He accomplished this in a short time, endowing it with ample wealth and resources, both for the upkeep of the buildings and for the sustenance of the religious of the order of Saint Benedict whom he installed there, following the example of the French nobility, who at that time were keenly intent on adorning the churches and temples dedicated to God. … "
At Gilduin’s request, Pope Leo IX hastened to formally recognize his donation through the following bull:
Leo Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all worshippers of the Christian religion. Because the propitious divinity has willed that we should be and be called universal Pope: we must show universal solicitude for all the Churches throughout the world, so that our action may also benefit from what is fitting for our office, and we should strive to extend that care to our subjects which pastoral vigilance demands of us, for although unworthy, we believe that we are acting in his stead, to whom it was said: Strengthen your brothers, and again upon this rock I will build my Church. And it is beyond doubt that everything that is done in the Church is weak and invalid unless it is confirmed by the authority of this see. Hence a not to be despised custom has grown up, that if anyone makes any agreement or donation which he desires to prevail in the future, he should have recourse to our chair, where we sit at the most sacred foundation of the Church and from there acquire strength for his action so that he may not succumb to any weakness. For this purpose, a certain noble and religious man named Gilduin, who was very powerful and wealthy in the parts of Gaul, came to our presence, begging that a certain monastery, consecrated in the name and honor of the Holy Mother of God, which he himself had restored after it had been desolate in ancient times, be supported by the vigor of our precepts, lest it ever be destroyed by the wicked, nor that anyone dare to plunder or devastate the things there attributed to divine worship. That monastery is situated in a wild region below a certain castle of the same Gilduin, which is called Britolum, where, by the advice of Drogon, Bishop of the same region, he established monks and an Abbot named Ebrard, and, offering to God the things related below for the salvation of himself and his parents and children, he entrusted them to their use.
Around the aforesaid castle, fifteen lodges, three lodges, including one of Berengaria with nine lodges, one mill, one free oven as he held it, arable land sufficient for two carts and a forest, 24 acres of vines. The church of St. Ciric with the altar and one small court and the toll and ban and robber and all the customs of the court of the same church, half of the church of St. Denis and the altar, and half of the church of St. Martin and the altar of a certain town which they call Vendolium and half of the Telonci and the ban and robber and all the customs pertaining to the same churches.
Likewise, a lodge in Vendolium, also a third part of the church and altar of St. Peter of Bonolio with a third part of the Telon and ban and robber and other customs. In Allonay, two and a half tithes of the same town. In Patronis-curte, one and two parts of the tithes of the same town. In the valley of Amond, three guests, a tenth of Camiac, half of the village, which they call Proneredum and the altar of the village itself with the customs of the courtyard, also the altar of a certain one they call Monasteria with the courtyard.
In Cavilliac, all that he possessed there, guests, arable land and vineyards, also those slaves, Berenger with his wife and children, Letbert with his wife and children, Villesende with his children and the children of Robert.
Furthermore, he granted them the Vicar and all the customs of the aforementioned villages and lands and possessions: so that all their guests are also free from all customs. And that no one of his subjects nor his successor nor any of his ministers dare to stable their horses in their houses, nor take a bed to lie on from them, nor have a receipt for bread and wine, meat and fish or anything else there. He also granted that whoever of his men, of whatever condition, whether from his own land or from the treasury which he holds from it, or from any of the aforementioned substances, in any way he wished to increase the Church, he should increase it without any calumny of himself or his heirs and successors.
We therefore denounce and forbid all living and future generations that no one should presume to inflict violence or calumny on this devoted constitution, neither the son nor the daughter of Gilduin himself, nor any of his relatives, nor any man at all: since whoever does this will be guilty of perpetual death.
And if anyone does not fear to disregard this precept, let him be sequestered from the threshold of Holy Mother Church and the company of Christians as a Gentile and a Publican, and after the course of this life cast into outer darkness, where weeping and gnashing of teeth are bound, and he be punished with infinite torments with the Devil and his Angels.
Given on the 3rd of October by the hands of Peter, Deacon, Librarian of the Chancellery of the Holy Apostolic See, in the first year of our Lord, Pope Leo the ninth, with the third Indiction (1).
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, by A. de Dion.
(1) Louvet: Histoire et Antiquités du pays de Beauvaisis, vol I, p. 568.

pp46-50

La donation que Gilduin fit à l’abbaye des reliques d’un saint justement vénéré, qui avait joint à la vie la plus simple le pouvoir d’opérer de nombreux prodiges, acheva de transporter les cœurs.
On sait de quel culte les restes mortels des saints étaient autrefois entourés.
Gilduin les avait rapportés. du Mans, les avait reçus de son cousin, évêque de la cité, en reconnaissance d’une glorieuse campagne entreprise pour réprimer les tracasseries, les vexations du seigneur du pays. C’est du moins ce que les annales de l’abbaye nous rapportent en ces termes:
« Et si apporta cheens le dis messire Geduin le corps de Monseigneur saint Constantian don Mans la cité, que uns Evesques, qui estoit ses cousins luy donna, pour chou kil le délivra d’une moult grand vuerre, qu’il adont avoit. … »
Gilduin s’estima si heureux de posséder ces saintes reliques, qu’il consentit à donner par reconnaissance une rente de vingt livres, somme considérable pour le temps, à prendre sur son domaine de Clermont, expression qui porterait à croire, au sentiment de M. de Dion luimême, que Clermont faisait alors partie du comté de Breteuil (1).
Posséder une relique soit de Notre-Seigneur, soit de la sainte Vierge ou de quelque saint remarquable, c’était, autrefois, posséder un véritable trésor d’autant plus apprécié que de telles reliques étaient considérées comme des sauvegardes assurées contre les événements malheureux.
La translation et l’arrivée à Breteuil des restes précieux de Constantien donnèrent lieu à une splendide manifestation religieuse qui se renouvela tous les ans, le lundi de la Pentecôte et encore le jour de l’Ascension, jusqu’à la Révolution.
… La compagnie d’Evrard et celle de ses religieux étaient telles, pour employer des expressions de l’auteur du manuscrit, que le seigneur Gilduin ne trouvait pas de plus doux divertissement ni de récréation plus suave que de converser avec eux. »
Ce comte était à la tête de toutes les bonnes œuvres : en 1028, il avait signé avec le roi Robert une charte de confirmation donnée à l’abbaye de Colomb, dont les biens avaient été ursurpés par les seigneurs de Nogent; en 1029 il en signe une du comte Eudes, puis une autre du même comte en faveur de l’abbaye d’Epernay, en 1032. Ses fils, Harduin et Valéran, signent avec lui: « Gilduinus vicecomes (de Chartres), Harduinus, filius ejus et alter filius Vualeranus » (2). Sur une charte délivrée encore en 1037 par le comte Eudes, dont il fut l’inséparable ami, Gilduinus Britoliensis est appelé saint.
En cette même année, Gilduin, toujours aussi brave que pieux, suivit son seigneur le comte de Blois et de Champagne dans l’invasion de la Lorraine et il se battit avec tant de résolution à la bataille de Bar, qu’il fut blessé (3) à côté du comte Eudes qui y trouva la mort. Jamais il n’oublia cet ami, et, pour lui, nous voyons qu’il fit plusieurs fondations (4). Son fils Vualeran ou Galéran n’échappa aussi au trépas que grâce à l’intervention de Richard, abbé de Verdun, qui le revêtit de l’habit religieux sur le champ de bataille après qu’il eut promis d’entrer en religion (1). Il tint parole et devint même abbé de Saint-Vanne de Verdun.
La Gallia Christiana le dépeint en ces termes: « Homo in sæculo nobilissimus, Gelduini comitis filius qui in bello apud Bar castrum vulneratus claudicabat » (2). Son frère nommé Hugues était devenu évêque de Langres; accusé de simonie et de fautes graves, il fut déposé au Concile de Langres, le 3 octobre 1049 (3).
Cependant, Gilduin était revenu, non à Breteuil cette fois, mais à Chartres, où il accorda, le 29 avril 1046, diverses franchises à l’abbaye de Saint-Père, de concert avec Ermeline, son épouse, et avec ses enfants (4). Le 12 mai 1048 il assistait avec tous les grands du royaume au Concile de Senlis, dans lequel, le dernier des douze comtes présents, il souscrivit un acte en faveur de l’abbaye de Saint-Médard de Soissons (5).
L’année suivante, 1049, il se rendit auprès de Léon IX qui voyageait en France, pour lui demander la confirmation de l’abbaye de Breteuil et la grâce de son fils Hugues, l’évêque de Langres déposé. Il obtint facilement la première faveur et, nous l’avons vu, dans les termes les plus flatteurs qui nous révèlent de quel crédit il jouissait dans le monde.
Il ne put malheureusement obtenir le pardon de son fils; celui-ci ne reçut du Pape l’absolution de ses crimes qu’après l’avoir suivi en prisonnier jusqu’à Rome, et encore après avoir comparu devant un nouveau Concile, nu-pieds, en chemise, avec des verges à la main. Selon un auteur, il mourut à Biterne (Viterbe), pendant son retour en 1051. Selon un autre, son innocence ayant été reconnue, il devint abbé de Montiéramé et mourut en 1063 (1).
Quoiqu’il en soit, son père, accablé par ce chagrin, par celui de la mort de sa femme et de son fils Herduin, qu’il aimait tendrement, étant parvenu à un àge avancé, se décida à renoncer entièrement au monde, pour entrer au monastère de Saint-Vanne de Verdun, sur les exhortations du bienheureux Richard, abbé, et de son fils Valeran de Breteuil, entre les bras duquel, sous l’humble froc, il s’éteignit doucement dans le Seigneur, en l’année 1060, le 15 des calendes de juin, d’après l’Histoire manuscrite de l’abbaye de Notre-Dame de Breteuil, alors régie par Guillaume troisième abbé, successeur de Hubert (2). On croit que sa femme Emeline était la fille de Foucher de Chartres, et que ce serait elle qui aurait apporté le vicomté de Chartres dans la famille de Breteuil.
Jamais, dit Robert Wuyart, le bourg de Breteuil n’eut de plus pieux ni de plus puissant seigneur que le comte Gilduin (3). La vie du bienheureux Richard, après avoir parlé de Valeran, ajoute en effet: Cujus pater, Gilduinus nomine, tam filii amoré quam beati viri allocutione, sæculo renunciavit, et in senectute bond, plurimis denariis huic loco traditis, felice fine consummatus, in pace quievit (4). Il était âgé de 80 ans. L’abbé Richard lui fit une épitaphe dont voici les trois premiers vers:
    Post senium fessus jacet hic funere pressus
    Gelduinus pater, monachili schemate frater.
    Te, comes illustris, divus perflorabat ignis, etc.
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil en Beauvaisis, par M. de Dion, p. 4.
(2) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, p. 4.
(3) Ibid., p. 5.
(4) Ibid.
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, cité p. 9.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid., p. 6.
(5) Ibid., p. 7.
(1) Les seigneurs de Breteuil, par M. de Dion, p. 9.
(2) Ibid., p. 7.
(3) Abrégé, imp. du manuscrit, cité p. 24.
(4) Ibid., p. 7.

This roughly translates as:

The gift Gilduin made to the abbey, relics of a rightly venerated saint who combined the simplest of lives with the power to work many miracles, stirred hearts profoundly.
We know the reverence with which the mortal remains of saints were once regarded.
Gilduin had brought them back from Le Mans, having received them from his cousin, the city’s bishop, in recognition of a glorious campaign undertaken to put an end to the harassment and oppression caused by the local lord. At least, this is how the abbey’s annals recount the event:
"And the said Lord Gilduin brought hither the body of the holy Saint Constantian from the city of Le Mans, which a bishop, his cousin, gave to him, because he had delivered him from a great war in which he was then engaged. …"
Gilduin considered himself so fortunate to possess these holy relics that, out of gratitude, he agreed to grant an annuity of twenty livres, a considerable sum for the time, drawn from his estate at Clermont; a detail that suggests, in the opinion of M. de Dion himself, that Clermont was at that time part of the County of Breteuil (1).
In times past, possessing a relic of Our Lord, the blessed Virgin, or a notable saint meant possessing a true treasure, one all the more prized because such relics were viewed as sure safeguards against misfortune.
The translation and arrival of Saint Constantian’s precious remains in Breteuil sparked a magnificent religious observance, which was repeated annually on Whit Monday and Ascension Day right up until the Revolution.
… The company of Evrard and his fellow religious was such, to use the words of the manuscript’s author, that lord Gilduin found no sweeter pastime or more delightful recreation than conversing with them.
This count was a leader in all manner of good works: in 1028, he signed, alongside king Robert, a charter confirming the rights of the abbey of Colomb, whose lands had been usurped by the lords of Nogent; in 1029, he signed a charter issued by count Eudes, and later, in 1032, another from the same count in favor of the abbey of Epernay. His sons, Harduin and Valéran, signed alongside him: “Gilduin, viscount (of Chartres), Harduin, his son, and another son, Vualeran” (2). In a charter issued in 1037 by Count Eudes, whose inseparable friend he was, Gilduinus Britoliensis is referred to as a saint.
That same year, Gilduin, ever as brave as he was pious, accompanied his lord, the count of Blois and Champagne, on the invasion of Lorraine; he fought with such determination at the Battle of Bar that he was wounded (3) beside count Eudes, who lost his life there. He never forgot that friend, and we see that he established several foundations in his memory (4). His son Vualeran (or Galéran) also escaped death only through the intervention of Richard, abbot of Verdun, who invested him with the religious habit on the battlefield after he had promised to enter the monastic life (1). He kept his word and even became abbot of Saint-Vanne de Verdun.
Gallia Christiana describes him in these terms: “The most noble man in the world, the son of count Geldwin, who was wounded in the battle at Bar Castle and limped.” (2). His brother, named Hugh, had become bishop of Langres; accused of simony and serious misconduct, he was deposed at the Council of Langres on October 3, 1049 (3).
Meanwhile, Gilduin had returned, not to Breteuil this time, but to Chartres, where, on 29 April 1046, he granted various privileges to the abbey of Saint-Père, acting in concert with his wife, Ermeline, and his children (4). On 12 May 1048, he attended the Council of Senlis alongside the kingdom's great nobles; there, as the last of the twelve counts present, he signed a charter in favor of the abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons (5).
The following year, 1049, he sought out Leo IX, who was traveling through France, to request confirmation regarding the abbey of Breteuil and clemency for his son Hugh, the deposed Bishop of Langres. He easily secured the first favor, granted, as we have seen, in the most flattering terms, which reveal the high standing he enjoyed in the world.
Unfortunately, he could not obtain a pardon for his son; the latter received absolution for his crimes from the Pope only after following him to Rome as a prisoner, and even then, only after appearing before a new council barefoot, clad only in a shirt, and holding a bundle of rods. According to one author, he died at Viterbo on his return journey in 1051. According to another, his innocence having been established, he became Abbot of Montiéramé and died in 1063 (1).
Be that as it may, his father, overwhelmed by this grief, as well as by the loss of his wife and his son Herduin (whom he loved dearly), and having reached an advanced age, decided to renounce the world entirely and enter the monastery of Saint-Vanne de Verdun. He did so at the urging of the blessed Richard, the abbot, and his own son Valeran de Breteuil; it was in Valeran’s arms, and clad in the humble monk’s habit, that he peacefully passed away in the Lord in the year 1060, on the 15th day before the Kalends of June, according to the manuscript history of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Breteuil, which was then governed by William, the third abbot and successor to Hubert (2). It is believed that his wife, Emeline, was the daughter of Foucher de Chartres, and that she was the one who brought the viscountcy of Chartres into the Breteuil family.
Never, says Robert Wuyart, did the town of Breteuil have a more pious or powerful lord than count Gilduin (3). Indeed, the Life of the Blessed Richard, after mentioning Valeran, adds: His father, Gilduin by name, renounced the world, both out of love for his son and the words of a blessed man, and in a good old age, having given many denarii to this place, having met a happy end, he rested in peace. (4). He was 80 years old. Abbot Richard composed an epitaph for him, the first three lines of which are as follows:
    After old age, weary, he lies here, pressed by death
    Gelduinus the father, brother in the monastic style.
    You, illustrious count, divine fire flourished through you, etc.
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil en Beauvaisis, by M. de Dion, p. 4.
(2) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, p. 4.
(3) Ibid., p. 5.
(4) Ibid.
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, cited p. 9.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid., p. 6.
(5) Ibid., p. 7.
(1) Les Seigneurs de Breteuil, by M. de Dion, p. 9.
(2) Ibid., p. 7.
(3) Abstract, imp. from the manuscript, cited on p. 24.
(4) Ibid., p. 7.

Death: 18 May 1060

Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres vol 3 p115 (Eugène de Lépinois and Lucien Merlet, 1865)

NECROLOGIUM INSIGNIS ECCLESIÆ BEATÆ MARIÆ CARNUTENSIS.
XV KALENDAS JUNII (18 mai).
l. — Obiit Gelduinus, ex vice-comite monachus, qui, pro sua et filii sui Harduini anima, reddidit nobis terram Ciconiolas nomine, et longam nobis inde factam injuriam tali satisfactione correxit.

This roughly translates as:
NECROLOGY OF THE DISTINGUISHED CHURCH OF BLESSED MARY OF CHARTRES.
15th KALENDS OF JUNE (18 May).
1. — Gelduin, a monk who was formerly a viscount, died, who, for his own life and that of his son Harduin, restored to us the land called Ciconiolas, and by such satisfaction corrected the long-standing injury done to us.

Buried: in the monastery of St. Vitton, county of Verdun

Vetera analecta pp380-381 (Jean Mabillon, 1723)

ALIA EPITAPHIA.
…    X.
      GELDUINI.
    Ex Comite Monachi.
Poſt ſenium feſſus, jaces iſl hic funere preſſus
Gelduine Pater, monachili ſchemate Frater.
Te, Comes illuſtris, divus perflaverat ignis;
Qui dum vixiſti, Monachatum ſic coluiſti;
Ut Domino gratus, confratribus eſſes amatus.
Unde Dei pietas tandem dedit has tibi metas,
Tot tantiſque bonis præſtans gaudere patronis,
Quorum nunc meritis ſocieris 6ne beato,
Id regno ſupero cumulatus ſchemate vero.

ADNOTATlONES IN EPITAPHIA.
…   IN EPITAPHIUM X.
Gelduinus Comes paterfuit Waleranni Abbatis Cœnobii ſanƈti Vitoni, & Hugonis Epiſcopi Lingonenſsis, qui à Leone Papa IX in Remenſi Conſilio depoſitus eſt, referente Hugone Abbate. Sepultus eſt Gelduinus in moneſterio ſanƈti Vitoni, quo ex loco eruditus ac religioſus vir Bartholomaus Senochus, nunc in ſanƈ ti Agerici Abbatia Prior, præmiſſa oƈto epitaphia mihi ſuppeditavit.

This roughly translates as:

OTHER EPITAPHS.
… X.
GELDUIN.
A monk who was formerly a Count.
After old age, weary, he lies here, pressed by death
Gelduinus the father, brother in the monastic style
You, illustrious Count, were imbued with divine fire;
Who while you lived, you worshipped the monastic life;
As you were grateful to the Lord, beloved by your brethren.
Whence the piety of God at length gave you these goals,
Giving so many good things to your patrons,
Whose merits now you share with the blessed,
That kingdom, heaped with the true style,

NOTES ON THE EPITAPHS.
… ON EPITAPH X.
Count Gelduin was the father of Waleran, Abbot of the Monastery of St. Vitton, and of Hugh, Bishop of Lingon, who was deposed by Pope Leo IX in the Council of Reims, with Hugh as Abbot as his representative. Gelduin was buried in the monastery of St. Vitton, from which place the learned and religious man Bartholomew Senochus, now Prior of the Abbey of St. Ageric, has furnished me with the above-mentioned eight epitaphs.

Sources:

Marriage: Cartulaire de Marmoutier pour le Dunois pp24-25 (ed. Émile Mabille, 1874); Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres vol 1 pp161-162 (ed. Benjamin Guérard, 1840); Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 p198 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Medieval Lands (HILDUIN)
Children: Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp198-200 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Cartulaire de Marmoutier pour le Dunois pp24-25 (ed. Émile Mabille, 1874); Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres vol 1 pp161-162 (ed. Benjamin Guérard, 1840); Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674); Medieval Lands (HILDUIN)
Occupation: Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674); Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp193-200 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Nouvelle histoire de Breteuil en Beauvaisis pp37-50 (C.-A. Baticle, 1891); Medieval Lands (HILDUIN)
Notes: Cartulaire de Marmoutier pour le Dunois pp24-25 (ed. Émile Mabille, 1874); Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres vol 1 pp161-162 (ed. Benjamin Guérard, 1840); Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres vol 1 pp89-91 (Eugène de Lépinois and Lucien Merlet, 1862); Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674); Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp193-200 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Nouvelle histoire de Breteuil en Beauvaisis pp37-50 (C.-A. Baticle, 1891); Medieval Lands (HILDUIN)
Death: Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres vol 3 p115 (Eugène de Lépinois and Lucien Merlet, 1865); Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp197-198 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Medieval Lands (HILDUIN)
Burial: Vetera analecta pp380-381 (Jean Mabillon, 1723)

_____ de Breteuil

Father: Gilduin de Breteuil

Mother: Emmeline

Married: Raoul I of Valois

Children:

Raoul II of Valois ( ? - 1074)
Thibaud

Notes:
Du Chesne here states that Raoul and the daughter of Hilduin had, as a daughter, Alix who became countess of Bar sur Aube, but it is now believed that Alix was actually their daughter-in-law, the first wife of their son, Raoul II.
Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621)

RAOVL frere de Dreux Comte de Vvexin eut pour portion hereditaire la Cõté de Creſpy, autrement dite de Valois, & eſpouſa la fille de GELDVIN, ou HILDVIN Comte de Bretueil & de Clairmont en Beauuoiſin: qui luy apporta en dot la terre de NANTVEIL ſurnommée de là Nantueil le Hildouin, ou Haudouin, en memoire du Comte Hilduin ſon pere. Le meſme RAOVL fut auſſi Comte de Bar ſur Aube en Champagne, & procrea deux fils & vne fille, aſſauoir RAOVL Comte de Creſpy, qui ſuit: THIBAVT de CRESPY Seigneur de Nantueil, dont la deſcente ſera repreſentée cy-apres: & ALIX de CRESPY femme de Thibaut I. du nom Comte de Champagne, lequel à cauſe d’elle obtint depuis la Comté de Bar ſur Aube.

This roughly translates as:

Raoul, brother of Dreux, Count of Vexin, received the County of Crépy, also known as the County of Valois, as his hereditary share; he married the daughter of Gelduin (or Hilduin), Count of Breteuil and Clermont-en-Beauvaisis. She brought him the lands of Nantueil as her dowry, a place subsequently named Nantueil-le-Hildouin (or Haudouin) in memory of her father, Count Hilduin. This same Raoul was also Count of Bar-sur-Aube in Champagne and fathered two sons and a daughter: namely Raoul, Count of Crépy (who follows); Thibaut de Crépy, Lord of Nantueil (whose lineage is set out hereafter); and Alix de Crépy, wife of Thibaut I, Count of Champagne, who subsequently acquired the County of Bar-sur-Aube through her.

La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674)

Raoul frere de Dreux, Comte de Vexin, eut pour ſa portion hereditaire, la Comté de Creſpy, autrement dite de Valois. Il épouſa la fille de Hilduin, Comte de Breteüil, & de Clemont en Beauvoiſis; & fut auſſi Comte de Bar ſur Aube en Champagne. Il eut deux fils Raoul II. Comte de Creſpy, & Thibaud, Seigneur de Nanteüil.

This roughly translates as:

Raoul, brother of Dreux, Count of Vexin, received as his hereditary portion the County of Crépy, otherwise known as Valois. He married the daughter of Hilduin, Count of Breteuil and Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, and was also Count of Bar-sur-Aube in Champagne. He had two sons: Raoul II, Count of Crépy, and Thibaud, Lord of Nanteuil.

Sources:

Father: Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp198-200 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674); Medieval Lands (--- de Breteuil)
Mother: Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp198-200 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883) Medieval Lands (--- de Breteuil)
Marriage: Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674); Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France vol 10 pp198-200 (Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 1883); Medieval Lands (RAOUL de Mantes); wikipedia (Ralph III of Valois)
Children: Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674)
Notes: Histoire de la maison de Chastillon sur Marne p657 (André Du Chesne, 1621); La France dans sa splendeur vol 2 p30 (Pierre Louvet, 1674); Medieval Lands (--- de Breteuil)

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