Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 29 May 2026 by Allen Gurney

Renaud de Gournay (c. 960–965 — dates uncertain)

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First Lord of Gournay confirmed in a surviving primary source document.

Born
c. 960–965, Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy. Estimated from son Hugh II's birth c. 985, allowing roughly 20–25 years between father and son. 1
Died
Dates uncertain. Attested in a charter of 989–996; active generation c. 970–1010. 2
Occupation / Status
Lord of Gournay-en-Bray and the Pays de Bray, Normandy. Military lord of the eastern Norman frontier. 3
Buried
Unknown. No record. 2
Marriage(s)
Alberade — named alongside Renaud in the La Ferté-en-Bray priory charter of 989–996. No further details known. 4

Highlights

  • The first ancestor named in a primary document. A charter of 989–996, preserved in connection with the priory of La Ferté-en-Bray, names "Renaud" and his wife "Alberarda" directly. Their son Gautier issued the document "*impetrante fratre meo Hugone*" — "at the entreaty of my brother Hugh." Witnesses: Duke Richard I (Sans-Peur), his son Richard II, Robert Archbishop of Rouen, a Count Robert (probably Robert, Count of Évreux, the Archbishop's brother in his secular role), and a dedicating Bishop named Hugues. Five churches given at foundation: Fry, Argueil, Saint-Samson, Boulay, Bruquedale. The dual presence of Richard I (d. 996) and Archbishop Robert (appointed 989) brackets the date 989–996. The charter survives only in transcription via M. de Gondeville's MS *Histoire de Gournay* — the original is lost; Léopold Delisle could not locate it in the Évreux archives. The charter remains the linchpin of Renaud's existence in the documentary record. 6
  • Two sons, two legacies. Son Gautier de la Ferté founded the priory. Son Hugh II (Renaud's heir as lord of Gournay) became one of the principal Norman commanders at the Battle of Mortemer in 1054 and went on to witness charters of Duke William of Normandy — who would conquer England in 1066. The family's trajectory from frontier warriors to players on the European stage accelerated sharply in Renaud's children's generation. 7
  • His wife's name survives — nothing else about her does. "Alberarda" (or Alberade) appears only in the La Ferté charter. She is the first named woman in the Gurney line. 4
  • Living in the transition from Norse sea-king to Norman gentleman. The historian Hannay placed Renaud "just into the transition time — the stage in which the Norman gentleman was developing out of the Norse sea-king." He would have spoken the Romance tongue, embraced the Church, encouraged architecture, and yet retained the martial habits of his ancestors. The Pays de Bray in his era was being transformed from frontier wildland into cultivated orchards and vineyards. 6

Children

Name Dates Mother Notes
Hugh de Gournay II c. 985 – d. c. 1074 Alberade G34 in direct line. Named in the La Ferté foundation charter (989–996) as the "*fratre Hugone*" — the brother Hugh whose consent his brother Gautier obtained. Inherited the lordship of Gournay; later the Norman commander at Mortemer (1054) and a figure of the Hastings generation. 6
Gautier de la Ferté fl. c. 989–996 Alberade Founded the priory of La Ferté-en-Bray with the consent of his elder brother Hugh, naming their father Renaud and mother Alberade. His line ended with his great-grandson Hugues II de la Ferté (monk at Saint-Ouen, 1060, no issue); the seigneurie reverted to the senior Gournay line. 68
Raoul (Radulphus) — Alberade A third son known only through later local tradition; not named in the La Ferté charter. Said to have died mort sans postérité — without descendants. 5

Narrative

Renaud de Gournay is where tradition gives way to documentation. His father Hugh I and grandfather Eudes are known only through later historical writing; Renaud himself is named in a surviving charter that can be dated to roughly 989–996. The document records the foundation of a priory at La Ferté-en-Bray by Renaud’s son Gautier, “with the consent of his elder brother Hugh” — establishing Renaud’s existence, his wife Alberade’s name, and the existence of at least two sons, one of whom inherited the lordship and one of whom directed his energies toward the church.

This kind of charter evidence is exactly how medieval genealogy graduates from oral tradition to verifiable record. Renaud is not confirmed by a deed in his own name — the document that attests him was issued by his son — but that is entirely normal for this period, when most records survive only as ecclesiastical copies. The charter is close enough in time to Renaud’s active years to be reliable evidence that he held the lordship.

About Renaud personally, almost nothing is known beyond what the charter implies: he held the lordship of Gournay at some point in the 980s–990s, he was married to a woman named Alberade, and he fathered at least two sons. He lived and ruled in the Pays de Bray during the reign of the early dukes of Normandy — the period of Richard I “the Fearless” (942–996) and Richard II “the Good” (996–1026). Normandy in these decades was still finding its institutional footing, consolidating control over its territory, and extending its ecclesiastical networks through exactly the kind of priory foundations that Gautier de la Ferté undertook.

Renaud’s lasting contribution to the family story was a son — Hugh II — who would become one of the most notable figures in the family’s Norman phase, a battle commander and ducal charter witness who stands on the threshold of the events of 1066.

Citations

  1. Dates estimated. Son Hugh II born c. 985; assuming Renaud fathered him at roughly 20–25 years of age gives a birth estimate of c. 960–965. Daniel Gurney's pedigree uses c. 970 as a conventional round figure (Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay, Part I (1848), pedigree p. 286). No birth record survives. ↩
  2. Attested in the charter of 989–996 (priory of La Ferté-en-Bray). Death date unknown. Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay, Part I (1848), p. 25. ↩
  3. Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay, Part I (1848), pp. 23, 25. As lord of Gournay, Renaud held the same military obligation as his predecessors: furnishing twelve knights to the duke and defending the eastern marches. ↩
  4. Charter of 989–996, priory of La Ferté-en-Bray, naming "Renaud" and "Alberade." Daniel Gurney, Record, Part I (1848), p. 25; Foundation for Medieval Genealogy MedLands (Charles Cawley), entries [883]–[885]. The "de Montdidier" surname sometimes attached to Alberade is later community-tree extrapolation with no primary support. ↩
  5. Pierre Potin de la Mairie, Recherches historiques sur la ville de Gournay-en-Bray (1842), p. 65; N.-R. P. de la Mairie, Recherches…sur les Possessions des Sires Normands de Gournay, Tome I (1852), p. 77. Both add a third son "Raoul (Radulphus), mort sans postérité" — a local-tradition addition not present in the La Ferté charter or in the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy MedLands entries. ↩
  6. The La Ferté priory foundation charter (989–996) is the primary attestation for Renaud and his wife Alberade. The original is lost; the charter survives only in transcription via M. de Gondeville's MS Histoire de Gournay. Léopold Delisle (cited in Daniel Gurney, Record of the House of Gournay, Supplement (1858), Note 8, p. 731) confirmed the original is not in the Évreux archives. Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay, Part I (1848), p. 25 (Source ID: dg-rec-pt1); Foundation for Medieval Genealogy MedLands entries [884]/[885] (Source ID: fmg-medlands-normacre); N.-R. P. de la Mairie, Recherches…sur les Possessions des Sires Normands de Gournay, Tome I (1852), pp. 77–78 (Source ID: nrp-recherches-possessions-1852) — together give the fuller witness list: Richard I, Duke of Normandy (d. 996); his son Richard II; Robert, Archbishop of Rouen (appointed 989); a count also named Robert (distinct from the Archbishop); and a dedicating Bishop Hugues, who consecrated the priory under Saints Peter and Paul. The dual presence of Richard I and Archbishop Robert brackets the date to 989–996. Étienne Pattou, Racines Histoire, "Seigneurs de Gournay," p. 2 (Source ID: pattou-racines-histoire-gournay-2025) hedges with "ou cette fondation peut-être légèrement antérieure à 1026 sous Richard II?" but the bracketed witness window is the better-supported reading. ↩
  7. Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay, Part I (1848), pp. 25–26 (Hugh II at Mortemer; charter witness). ↩
  8. The La Ferté cadet line: Gauthier de la Ferté → Turold → Hugues I de la Ferté → Hugues II de la Ferté, who became a monk at Saint-Ouen de Rouen in 1060 and died before 1047 without issue. With his death the la Ferté seigneurie reverted to the senior Gournay line, passing first to Hugues III de Gournay (G33), then to his son Girard (G32), and onward into the medieval Gournay holdings. The cadet line thus reattached to the senior line after four generations. N.-R. P. de la Mairie, Recherches…sur les Possessions des Sires Normands de Gournay, Tome I (1852), pp. 79–80; the reversion is also discussed in Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, Collectanea Archaeologica, vol. 2 (1871), pp. 180–182. Source IDs: nrp-recherches-possessions-1852, pettigrew-collectanea-house-gournay-1871. ↩