Fulbert de L'Aigle ¹

  General Notes:

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Fulbert de Beine de l'Aigle, 1st baron de l'Aigle, the founder of the castle and dynasty of l'AIGLE, on the river Risle, arrondissement of Mortain (Orderic II, 26) may have taken his name from Beynes, west of Paris (Yvelines) ar. Rambouillet, cant. Montfort-l'Amaury). Kathleen Thompson wrote: In the ducal period it was a site of some strategic importance, for within 12 kilometres of Laigle the three river valleys of the Risle, the Iton and the Avre run south west to north east in parallel courses before taking their various routes to the sea. It was the course of the River Avre which came to form the boundary of the historic coutume of Normandy, but in a period when boundaries were represented by zones of fluctuating loyalties rather than by fixed lines all three river valleys were vital to the defence of Normandy. It was here that the authority of the counts of Rouen began to wear thin and lordship became uncertain. Beyond the River Avre the forested uplands of the Perche between Laigle and Chartres could easily shelter brigands and the lords of the area themselves were not above raiding their neighbours, as William the Conqueror well knew when he attempted in 1077 to launch the expedition from Laigle which was disrupted by the squabbling of Curthose and his younger brother, Henry. It was at Laigle in the reign of Duke Richard II of Normandy, that is before 1026, that we encounter the earliest known member of the Laigle lineage, Fulbert of Beina. His origins have proved impossible to trace. He may have been the Fulbert who appears among the extensive witness list appended to Duke Richard II's confirmation to the abbey of Bernay, made in 1025, but the name Fulbert was not uncommon in Normandy in the mid eleventh century, and his toponymic has not been identified. The earliest information about the family is derived, therefore, from Orderic Vitalis, who was interested in Fulbert and his descendants because they were patrons of his monastery of Saint-Evroul, but even Orderic's acquaintance with Fulbert was limited. He knew Fulbert of Beina chiefly as the father of Hiltrude, who was married to William Giroie, one of the founders of Saint-Evroul, and he knew that Fulbert had constructed a castle.

Fulbert married Richeride. (Richeride was born about 984 in L'Aigle, Orne, Normandy, France and died about 1010 in France.)