And if you were wondering what the women were doing.....

Judith De Bretange, wife of Richard the II.

A Benedictine Abbey was founded at Bernay in the beginning of the 11th century By Judith De Bretange, wife of Richard the II. Bernay was founded in 1025 on the lands which Richard II gave to his wife Judith of Brittany when they married. On her death the Duke recalled that she had dedicated her dower for the construction of the Abbey and he wished to continue her work, entrusting the new community directly to William of Dijon abbot of Fecamp, and his successors.

Constructed in stone, the abbey church included a nave, seven bays with aisles, a transept, a choir of two bays that culminated in a cul-de-sac four(vaulting formed by a semi cupola). Fragments from Gallo-Roman construction were used in the foundation. Despite modifications and attempts at deconstruction and reconstruction, this Abbey Church is one of the most interesting monuments of Romanesque architecture in Normandy.

The abbey-church, the nave of which is remarkable for its severe simplicity and unadorned elegance, is now used as a corn and linen market. In the abbey-building3 the sub prefect and the mayor reside, and the courts of justice are held. The other important buildings are the churches of Sainte-Croix and De-laCouture, the college and the hospital.

The town was fortified in the 13th century, and was then a place of importance for its market, its fairs, and its woollen manufactures. It was often taken in the wars between the French and English. The fortifications were demolished in 1589.

 The chief manufactures of Bernay are woolen-cloth; but flannels, tape, linen, leather, &c, are made. There are also dye-houses and bleaching establishments, and a good trade in corn, cider, iron, paper, hides, and cattle. One of the greatest horse-fairs in France is held here during the fifth week of Lent. Beaumont-lc-Roger, on the right bank of the Rille, and near the fine forest of Beaumont, was formerly defended by a castle, which was for centuries an object of contention with the Normans, French, and English, but which is now in ruins. The town has cloth-factories, bleach-works, glass-works, and 2063 inhabitants.

Of the castle, which was originally built about 1040, there are scarcely any remains; but on the summit of the rocky height on which it stood are the picturesque ruins of an ancient abbey. Brionnc, N.E. of Bernay, an ancient town on though right bank of the Rille, has 3098 inhabitants, who manufacture broad-cloth, oil, and cotton-yarn.

Four Roman roads met at Brionne: some Roman remains are seen in the adjacent forest. The Norman castle that formerly commanded the town is now in ruins.

Richard ‘The Fearless” and Richard ‘The Good’.

The continued history of The Dukes of Normandy
 
Richard ‘The Fearless”

 Richard I of Normandy was born 28 August 933, in Fécamp Normandy, France died 20 November 996, in Fécamp. He was the Duke of Normandy from 942 to 996; he is considered the first to actually have held that title. He was called Richard the Fearless (French, 'Sans Peur').

He was born to William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and Sprota.. Richard, though not born in legitimate wedlock—this was almost the rule in the Norman line—was unanimously accepted as his successor. His mother was a Breton concubine who was captured in war and bound to William by a Danish marriage. After William died, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller; Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.

Richard The Fearless being young found the administration of public affairs was undertaken by four Norman nobles, the chief of whom was Bernard, Count of Harcourt, usually called Bernard the Dane. Louis d' Outremer, King of France, who owed his crown to William Long-sword, with base ingratitude, plotted with Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, to deprive William's youthful son and successor of his dominions. For this purpose Louis led a large army into Normandy, under the pretext of avenging the murder of William Long-sword; but after being received at Rouen as a friend, he seized on the person of the youthful Duke Richard the Fearless, and sent him off to Paris under the pretense of having him properly educated.

Louis kept him in confinement in his youth at Lâon but he escaped with the assistance of his tutor Osmond de Centville , Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Bellèsme, and Bernard the Dane (ancestor of families of Harcourt and Beaumont).This faithful attendant went to the castle of Laon, where Richard was confined, and, under the pretense of going to feed his horse, conveyed him out of the castle enveloped in a truss of hay. They proceeded to the residence of the Count de Senlis, Richard's maternal uncle, safely.

In the meantime the gratitude of a prince who had been benefited by William Longsword was about to be displayed by the restoration of William's son to his dominions. Bernard, Count of Harcourt, had successfully exerted himself to arouse discord between the King of France and the Count of Paris, and had also sent a secret message to Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark, informing him of the condition of affairs, and entreating him to assist in delivering Normandy from the dominion of the King of France.
King Harald Bluetooth came at the first summons; and the Normans, under the leadership of Bernard of Harcourt, joined him. The King of France was unable to stand up against the combined forces in the field, and requested an interview to arrange terms of peace. While Kings Harald Bluetooth and Louis d' Outremer were discussing the conditions, a Norman who recognized Herbin, Count of Montreuil, in the French king's army, bitterly reproached him for his ingratitude; and when Herbin made a haughty reply, a Dane who was present struck him dead. This was the signal for a general engagement, which began before the Kings of France and Denmark were aware of it. The battle ended in the total defeat of the French, and King Louis d' Outremer was taken prisoner. The captive monarch was treated with great respect, but was obliged to restore Normandy to young Richard the Fearless, and to pay a heavy ransom for his freedom.

Richard the Fearless inherited noble qualities of the Norman race, and preserved the security and tranquillity of his dominions, though surrounded by formidable foes. His marriage with the daughter of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, alarmed King Louis d' Outremer, who accordingly entered into an alliance with King Otho II. of Germany, King Conrad of Burgundy and Count Arnold of Flanders, to overwhelm both the Duke of Normandy and the Count of Paris. But the allies were unsuccessful. After failing to make any impression on Paris they marched into Normandy, but Richard cut off some of their best troops in an ambush, and kept them from the walls of Rouen with great loss.

He married 1st (960) Emma (not to be confused with Emma of France), daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France, and Hedwiga de Sachsen. They were betrothed when both were very young. She died 19 Mar 968, with no children. According to Robert of Torigni, not long after Emma's death, Duke Richard went out hunting and stopped at the house of a local forester. He became charmed by the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she was a virtuous woman and suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor. She became his mistress, and her family rose to prominence. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Norse descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married and legitamized their children.


On the death of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, Duke Richard the Fearless was appointed guardian to his minor children, and by his fidelity in the execution of that office he again aroused the hostility of the King of France. The Normans were everywhere successful, after a long struggle, and Richard finally triumphed over them and the forces of his enemies, forcing them to beg for peace. In A. D. 987 Hugh Capet, the son of Count Hugh the Great, with the aid of his former guardian, made himself King of France; so that the Norman duke had a friend on the French throne. Duke Richard the Fearless spent the rest of his reign in profound peace; and at his death, in A. D. 996, the duchy of Normandy was one of the most flourishing states in Europe.
Richard was bilingual, having been well educated at Bayeux. He was more partial to his Danish subjects than to the Franks. During his reign, Normandy became completely Gallicized and Christianized. He introduced the feudal system and Normandy became one of the most thoroughly feudalized states on the continent. He carried out a major reorganization of the Norman military system, based on heavy cavalry.
At the period which we have reached in English history, Richard the Fearless was a middle-aged man of fifty-five years. He had been reigning for forty-five years, and was the father of a numerous progeny. In the year 996 he died and was succeeded by his son Richard the Good

Richard ‘The Good’
Richard II-‘The Good’ succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 996 but the first five years of his reign were spent with Count Ralph of Ivry wielding power and putting down a peasant insurrection .The early portion of his reign was disturbed by a peasant insurrection and by a rebellion of his illegitimate brother, the Count de Hiemes. After subduing the rebels, Richard the Good confined his brother in prison for five years. The brother finally made his escape, when he suddenly appeared in a squalid dress before Richard while hunting, and earnestly besought forgiveness. The duke granted him his pardon and restored all his former possessions.

When he took power he strengthened his alliance with the Capetians by helping Robert II of France against the duchy of Burgundy.

At this period Ethelred the Unready was King of England, and maintained himself against the Danes with great difficulty. In order to obtain a powerful ally, he married Emma, sister to Duke Richard the Good of Normandy; but all the assistance that he could procure failed to repel the invasion of Sweyn, King of Denmark. King Ethelred the Unready was obliged to flee from England and to live for some time in exile at the court of his Norman brother-in-law.

Robert the Pious, King of France, having united with some of the princes bordering on Normandy, Duke Richard the Good found himself unable to resist the allies without aid, and he accordingly solicited the aid of the Danes. The Danes sent a large army to Richard's aid, but the Norman duke soon discovered that his allies were more injurious to his cause than were his enemies. The King of France having agreed on terms of peace, the Danes were so enraged at losing the prospect; of plunder that they turned their arms against Brittany and perpetrated the most dreadful outrages in that province; so that Duke Richard the Good was obliged to bribe them to retire by the payment of a large sum of money. The intercourse between Denmark and Normandy seems to have declined thenceforth.

The character of Duke Richard the Good for honor was so great that Geoffrey, Count of Brittany, with whom the duke had been frequently at war, nominated Richard for regent of that province while he was absent on a pilgrimage. Geoffrey was killed by accident, but Richard acted as a faithful guardian to his children, and when they attained their majority he gave them immediate possession of their father's territories.
On the death of King Ethelred the Unready, in A. D. 1016, Canute the Great, King of Denmark, Sweyn's son, became King of England; whereupon Ethelred's widow, Emma, and her two children were obliged to take refuge at her brother's court in Normandy. The Norman duke prepared to invade England in his sister's behalf, but his fleet was shattered by a storm, whereupon he concluded peace with Canute the Great and gave him Emma as his wife.

The sons of Ethelred the Unready seemed thus to have lost all chance of inheriting the throne of England; but the sons and successors of Canute the Great died several years later without heirs, and Edward the Confessor, one of Ethelred's sons, returned from exile and became King of England.

Richard the Good died in A. D. 1027, after a long and peaceful reign, leaving behind him two sons, Richard and Robert. RICHARD III. died the next year after his father (A. D. 1028), after a reign of eighteen months, suspected of having been poisoned by his brother Robert, who became his successor on the ducal throne of Normandy, and who is called ROBERT THE DEVIL.

The early portion of Robert's reign was disturbed by uprisings, but he subdued his foes so completely that he considered it safe for him to go on a pilgrimage to Palestine. His health was thoroughly undermined by the climate of Asia, so that he was obliged to complete his journey in a litter. Another Norman pilgrim, returning from Jerusalem, met Robert, who was carried by four Saracens, and asked the duke what account he should give of him on his return. Robert replied: "Tell my friends that you saw me borne into Paradise by four devils." The invalid duke died on his return at Nice, in Bithynia, without any legitimate heir.

An illegitimate daughter of Richard I, sometimes called "Papia", is also at times given as a daughter of Richard II. Tancred of Hauteville's two wives Muriella and Fredensenda are likewise given as daughters of "Duke Richard of Normandy", referring to either Richard I or Richard II.

Should you have the good fortune to visit this regions Touring by car can be fun, but if you really want to feel the nature and history of your holiday destination, you might want to leave the car behind and enjoy the delights of Normandy on foot, horseback or bicycle. Normandy is literally criss-crossed with rivers and abundant opportunities for first class fishing and exploration by canoe and kayak.

An ideal region for touring by bicycle, with quiet roads and respect from drivers. Its countryside is friendly and cycling not too arduous, its coastline beautiful and interior lush. The coast, the inland farms and villages provide enchanting and varied vistas. So, plan your route, make sure you can get to a pretty destination like Barfleur or Honfleur for lunch and get to know this rich part of France in person.

Renowned for its green landscapes, horses, cider and cheeses has an added rare asset - its rivers. This is one of the best regions in France to fish for salmon, and is undisputedly the best region for sea-trout. Its rivers contain the famous brown trout, and the lakes and marshlands are also populated with good quantities of pike and other carnivorous fish.



REF:

The world's history illuminated: containing a record of the human ..., Volume 4

By Israel Smith Clare

Wikipedia

The history of England from the earliest times to the Norman conquest

By Thomas Hodgkin
"Legends of Richard the Good, Duke of Normandy." The London Journal 1.4. Print.