Gislebert dit “Le Grand” van Gent, baron de Folkingham, seigneur de Hunmanby

A good introduction to current scholarship on this family is Who were the parents of Gilbert de Gant? by Raymond W. Phair (Jul. 1999).

Vital Statistics

• He was the son of Raoul (Rudolf) de Gand (Gant/van Gent), seigneur d'Alost and Gisela de Luxembourg.
• FMG (Cawley believes) that Gilbert, the son of Baudouin Count of Flanders. and Giselbert, son of Rudolf van Gent are the same person, although the primary source which confirms that this is correct has not yet been identified.
• The Stemma fundatoris of Bardney Abbey records that ”Gislebrictus de Gaunt” came [to England] with “Willielmo Bastardo avunculo suo," namely with William the Conqueror.
• He married Alice (Alix) de Montfort-sur-Risle, daughter of Hugues II de Montfort-sur-Risle.
• Their son, Hugues van Gent, adopted his mother's name and succeeded her as Seigneur de Montfort-sur-Risle.
• They had nine children:

1. Hugues IV, died after 1147
2. Robert, Chancellor of Stephen King of England. Dean of York.
3. Gilbert,
4. Walter, died after 1139
5. Henri
6. Ralph
7. Emma de Gant, died between 1130 and July 1138, married Alan de Percy son of William de Percy and Emma de Port
8. unnamed daughter who married Ivo de Grantmesnil, son of Hugues de Grantmesnil & his wife Adelisa [Aelis] de Beaumont-sur-Oise (-after 1102)
9. unnamed daughter, daughter . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the undated charter under which "Walter de Gaunt" donated the phylactery which "Baldwin sororius suus sent him from Jerusalem" to Bridlington Priory, witnessed by "Matilda his wife"[438]. m Baldwin, son of ---.

Fm Wikitree————-

Biography

Keats-Rohan has an entry for him under the title "Gislebert De Gand":[1]

Gilbert I de Gand, from Ghent in Flanders. The most nobly born of the English Flemings, he was distantly related to the queen. (Sherman, "Origins of the Ghent family", Nottingham Med. Studies 22 (1978).) Son of Ralph, lord of Alost, near Ghent, and Gisla. Married Alice, daughter of Hugh de Montfort. Refounded the monastery of of Bardney in Lincolnshire as a cell of Sainte-Foi de Conques. Father of Emma, wife of Alan de Percy, a daughter who married Ivo de Grandmesnil and possibly another daughter who married a Baldwin, Gilbert (d.v.p.), Robert, chancellor 1153-4 and his heir Walter, by whom he was succeeded c. 1095. The place-names:

During the period in question Ghent was seat of the Count of Flanders. These counts were perhaps the first to call themselves Marcher Counts (Marquises), claiming special authority because of their frontier position. Flanders was (like Normandy) a powerful semi-independent country, technically within the kingdom of France. But (as today) it had a very international perspective, not only involved in sea-going trade, but also closely connected with the Holy Roman empire. It had close connections with the counties on the other side of the border. Aalst, a Dutch speaking town which in French is called Alost, was where Gilbert's own family had a lordship. It was technically not within France, but the Holy Roman Empire. Flanders had made a successful land grab over the Schelde river which marked the boundary. The older idea is that Gilbert was directly in the male line of the Counts of Flanders, and this made him a relative to the wife of William the Conqueror. The latest thinking represented by Sherman is that Gilbert is related to the lords of Aalst, who sometimes were called "of Ghent" in records, apparently because they were also hereditary advocates of the abbey of Saint Peter of Mount-Blandin in Ghent.

Name

First name. Gilbert is a modern French and English spelling of the common name which derives from an old Frankish name Giselbercht. There are many spellings in both the contemporary documents, and in modern works about the era, but common compromises are "Gislebert" and "Giselbert". In Latin documents there will of course be grammatical endings attached.

Second name. Gilbert was described as being "from Ghent", as it is known in modern English. It is spelled today locally, in Dutch, as "Gent", and in modern French as "Gand". In contemporary French used in France, England and Belgium a wide range of spellings were used including "Gant" and "Gaunt", made famous in Shakespere because of "John of Gaunt", who was born there. The Latin name is "Ganda".

Parents

Already from an early time it was stated even that, to quote Dugdale, he was "Son" to Baldwin Earl of Flanders, and Nephew to "William Duke of Normandy (Maud Wife to the same Duke being Sister to that Baldwin)".[2] This exact relationship is no longer commonly believed, but it was from an old document called the "Descencus de Gant", from Vaudey Abbey in Lincolnshire.[3] One problem is that any male heir to of the possible Baldwins (Mathilda's brother, father and grandfather were all Baldwins, and all counts of Flanders) would have been well-known, because of the various inheritance disputes that occurred.

Gilbert is most often now described as the son of Raoul (Radulph, Ralph) de Gant, lord of Aalst (Alost) in Flanders, and Advocate of St. Peter of Ghent, c. 1026-c. 1056, and his wife Gisele, daughter of Giselbert, Count of Vaudrevange/Wallerfangen (in Moselgau). Richardson (apparently following Sherman's reasoning) even describes him specifically as the third son.[4]

Sherman does not argue that the connection to Aalst is certain, only highly likely. The evidence for this relationship to Ralph is based on an interpretation of one of the few English records about Ralph's relatives, which says his brother's name was Baldwin, a very common name in the Flemish nobility. It requires a dismissal of other old ideas such as the one which says King William was his uncle. (William's Flemish wife had at least one nephew named Baldwin.)

Sherman gives the following information as part of his article:

"The initial evidence touching on the problem dates from the year 1075. The chronicle of the abbey of Watten (dépt. Nord, arrond. Dunkerque, cent. Bourbourg) notes the transfer of a benefice to the abbey. Among the witnesses to the transfer it lists ‘Gilbert, brother of Baldwin of Ghent, who had come from England. . . .’"[5] As explained above, "of Ghent" was a known surname used by the lords of Aalst. And in roughly this period (in fact a few decades earlier) it seems that the advocate of the abbey of Saint Peter of Mount-Blandin in Ghent was named Baldwin. Through a series of similar probable identifications it is suggested that Baldwin's father was named Ralph. Interestingly, although Sherman has put together the facts and arguments in a more complete way than any predecessor, the idea is old. Farrer (EYC II, p.432) attributed the original idea to the 17th century French antiquarian André Duchesne. It is also attributed to Duchesne here.[6] The reference leads here.[7] Duchesne does not express certainty, but mainly based his proposal on the use of the names Gislebert and Baldwin. (Baldwin would be common for any member of the greater Flemish nobility, but Gislbert a little less so.)

In the 12th century, one of the family charters had a witness with a second name "de Alost". Wife?

Alice de Montfort? See Mon. Ang. Vol I, charter VI, p.630. Mentioned also by Keats-Rohan in DD under Gand, Hugo de (DD, pp. 471-2)

1066 Arrival in England

Gilbert de Gant probably arrived early in England with William I, in 1066 or soon after. There are only a small number of people who are actually named in contemporary sources as having been present at the Battle of Hastings, and Gilbert is not one of them, although he may well have been there.[8]

Lands

Gilbert de Gant was of Folkingham, Claxby, Croft, Holme Spinney, Well, and Withern, Lincolnshire, Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire, Stanton (in Fen Stanton), Huntingdonshire, Rufford and Eakring, Nottinghamshire, Burley and Empingham, Rutland, Hunmanby, Yorkshire. [4]

He had large grants in Lincolnshire and, according to Domesday Book, in Yorkshire he had Hunmanby, Riestorp, and Neuton, and afterwards acquired Bridlington. [8]

He refounded Bardney Abbey. [8]

Marriage

He married Alice de Montfort, daughter of Hugues, seigneur of Montfort-sur-Risle, by Alice de Beaufort. [4][8]

1068 York

He was a commander in York in 1068 and was taken prisoner there by the Danes in 1069. [4][8]

1086 Lincolnshire

In the Domesday Book he was a tenant-in-chief and one of the largest landholders in Lincolnshire in 1086. He also had considerable estates in Yorkshire and lands in other counties. [4]

Advowsons

He gave the advowson of the chuches of Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire, and Hunmanby, Yorkshire to the monks of Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire. [4]

1095 Death

He died about 1094, and is said to have been buried at Bardney.[8][4]

Issue

According to Richardson, they had six sons and three daughters:[4]

Walter (Gant) de Gant, died 4 Stephen (1138); succeeded to his father’s lands in England; he was a commander at the battle of the Standard; probably founded Bridlington Priory, and buried there; mar. Maud, dau of Stephen, Earl of Brittany and Richmond, who brought with her all Swaledale. They had issue. [8] Gilbert II de Gant, died without issue. [8] Hugh (Gant) de Gant, born 1072 Normandy Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Hugh (or Hughes), seigneur of Montfort-sur-Risle[4] Hugh, had his mother’s lands, and took the name of Montfort. [8] Robert (Gant) de Gant, born 1071 Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Robert, Dean of York, Chancellor of King Stephen[4] Robert de Gand, provost of Beverly, Chancellor to King Stephen; died circ. 1153. (Ellis). [8] Henry (Gant) de Gant, born 1072, Folkingham Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Henry[4] Ralph (Gant) de Gant, born 1074 Folkingham Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Ralph [4] Ralph de Gand. [8] Emma (Gant) de Percy, born 1071 Date and place from Wikitree Data Field Emma[4] Emma, mar. Alan de Percy, and had the manor of hunmanby. [8] Miss (Gant) de Grandmesnil, born 1066. Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Daughter, wife of Ives de Grantmesnil[4] Daughter, wife of Baldwin[4] Documented by Clay but not Richardson

Agnes, ? mar William Fitz-Nigel, Constable of Chester [8] Alice (Gant) FitzNigel. Keats-Rohan has an entry for and Agnes, but she is a grand-daughter. Problems: William fitz Nigel's wife seems to have been called Alice, not Agnes. While maybe William had a daughter named Agnes, who was apparently sometimes called Agnes de Gand, in another charter it seems William himself is the connection to the de Gand family.[9] Undocumented but linked on WikiTree

Geoffrey (Gant) de Gant, born 1080, Folkingham Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Matilda (Gant) de Gant, born 1082, Folkingham Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Robert (Gant) de Gant, born 1084, Folkingham Date and place from Wikitree Data Field. Surely just a duplicate? Merge.

Sources

↑ Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, p.210 ↑ Dugdale, Baronage, Vol I, Gant. ↑ Monasticon Anglicanum, sub Vaudey, Vol.V, p.491 ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry. Volume III, page 59 ↑ Sherman cites Chronica monasterii Watinensis in MGH :SS, xiv, ed. Oswald Holder-Egger (Hanover, 1883), pp. 168-9: ‘Giselbertus frater Balduini Gandensis, qui ab Anglia tunc venerat. . . .’ ↑ Ellis, A.S. "Biographical Notes on Yorkshire Tenants in Domesday Book", The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Volume 4, p.230 ↑ Du Chesne, André (1631) Histoire généalogique des Maisons de Guines, d'Ardres, de Gand, et de Coucy, livre iv. See pp.108-110, 136, and 148-150. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 John William Clay. The Extinct and Dormant Peerages of the Northern Counties of England. London: James Nisbet & Co, 1913. Gaunt or Gant, Earls of Lincoln Pages 83-84. Accessed Sept 14, 2018 jhd ↑ Richardson's concern with Agnes apparently comes from Farrer's observation that in one charter Walter de Gand calls William the constable his nepos instead of brother in law. See SGM discussion of 2005, and the charter. Another charter reproduced by Ormerod apparently indicates Agnes used the Gand surname herself which might hint that it came from her father. Keats-Rohan also seems to distinguish Agnes in her entry for Agnes cites RRAN III, no.119 which shows both William the constable and William son of Nigel (same person?) making concessions with the family. It also cites Round's article on the Leicestershire Survey, which is reproduced in "Feudal England". (Possible sighting of a William fitz Nigel noted in final footnote, and Agnes de Gaunt in appears in Botlesford Hundred.) See also:

L.V.J.A. Vanderkindere, Histoire de la formation territoriale des principautes belges au moyen age, vol.1 (1899). W. Farrer, Early Yorkshire Charters (EYC), 2:432 (1915). Complete Peerage (CP), 7:672n (1929).

M. Rubincam, 'The true origin of the house of Gaunt', Genealogists' magazine, 9:1-7 (1940). F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 1st ed., 1941, p.621; 3rd ed., 1971, p.629 (no source). D.C. Douglas, William the Conqueror, 1964, p.267, only cited Stenton for it. G.A. Moriarty, 'The ancestry of Gilbert de Gant', The American Genealogist, 34:39-40 (1958). R.M. Sherman, 'The continental origins of the Ghent family of Lincolnshire', Nottingham Medieval Studies, 22:23-35 (1978). Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest, by Jim Weber, rootsweb.com Wikipedia page

Other Sources and Notes

Gilbert & his wife had [nine] children:

1. HUGUES van Gent (-after [1147]). Guillaume de Jumièges names "Hugues le quatrième" as son of "Gilbert de Ganz" & his wife[430]. He adopted his mother's name and succeeded her as Seigneur de Montfort-sur-Risle.

- SEIGNEURS de MONTFORT-sur-RISLE.

2. ROBERT . A manuscript genealogy of the Gant family names “Walterum et Robertum” as sons of “Giselbertus de Gaunt…[et] uxorem Aliciam de Montfort”[431]. Chancellor of Stephen King of England. Dean of York.

3. GILBERT (-before [1095]). The Stemma fundatoris of Bardney Abbey names “Giselbrictum et Walterum” as children of ”Gislebrictus de Gaunt” & his wife, adding that Gilbert predeceased his father[432].

4. WALTER (-1139). The Stemma fundatoris of Bardney Abbey names “Giselbrictum et Walterum” as children of ”Gislebrictus de Gaunt” & his wife[433]. ”Walterus de Gant, filius et hæres Gisilberti de Gant” restored Bardney Abbey in 1115, witnessed by “Roberto de ---, Willielmo nepote meo constabulario Cestriæ, Willielmo de Mandevill…”[434].

- ENGLISH NOBILITY, EARLS of LINCOLN.

5. HENRI . The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified.

6. RALPH . The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified.

7. [EMMA de Gant . A charter dated to [1190/95] confirmed a donation of property to the canons of Bridlington by “Emma de Gant…et Willelmus de Percy filius eius”[435]. The primary source which confirms her parentage has not yet been identified. However, it is chronologically consistent for her to have been the daughter of Gilbert van Gent. It should be noted that "Alan de Percy…" was the first witness in a charter under which his supposed brother-in-law "Walter de Gaunt" founded Bridlington priory, with the assent of Henry I King of England[436]. m ALAN de Percy, son of WILLIAM de Percy & his wife Emma de Port (-[1130/Jul 1138]).]

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He was the son of Raoul de Gand, seigneur d'Alost and Gisela von Lothringen.2,3,4 Gislebert I de Gand, seigneur de Folquingham said to have accompanied his uncle, William the Conqueror, into England, and participated in the triumph of Hastings, and obtained a grant of the lands of a Danish proprietor, named Tour, with many other holdings, but is not recorded as being at Hastings on 14 October 1066.9,10 He was in England when he and William Malet unsuccessfully defended York castle against the Danish invasion and local rebellion in 1069.11 He married Alice de Montfort-sur-Risle, daughter of Hugh II, comte de Montfort sur Risle and Alice de Beauffou.12 Gislebert I de Gand, seigneur de Folquingham witnessed a transaction, and described as having come from England as the brother of Baldwin of Ghent, in 1075 at Watten abbey, Nord, Flanders, France.

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Gilbert was born in 1048 in Alost, Flanders, Belgium. Gilbert's father was Ralph de Ghent and his mother was Gisele. His paternal grandparents were Adalbert de Ghent and Ermengarde de Flanders. He was an only child. He died at the age of 46 in 1094 in Bardney, Lincolnshire, England.

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Gilbert de Gant, son of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, by Maud,sister of William the Conqueror, accompanied his uncle intoEngland and, participating in the triumph of Hastings, obtaineda grant of the lands of a Danish proprietor named Tour, withnumerous other lordships. This Gilbert happened to be at York,anno 1069, and had a narrow escape when the Danes in greatforce, on behalf of Edgar Etheling, entered the mouth of theHumber and, marching upon that city, committed lamentabledestruction by fire and sword, there being more than 3,000Normans slain. Like most of the great lords of his time, Gilbertde Gant disgorged to the church a part of the spoil which he hadseized, and amongst other acts of piety restored Bardney Abbey,co. Lincoln, which had been utterly destroyed many years beforeby the Pagan Danes, Inquar and Hubba. He m, Alice, dau. of Hughde Montfort, and had issue, Hugh, who assumed the name Montfort;Walter, his successor; Robert, Lord Chancellor of England, anno1153; and Emma, m. to Alan, Lord Percy. This great feudal chiefd. in the reign of William Rufus. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant,Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd.,London, 1883, p. 227, Gant, Earls of Lincoln]

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The name of Gislebert I de Gand, seigneur de Folquingham, appears to have come from his mother's family; her older brother was Gilbert count of Luxembourg (1047-59), and she had a paternal uncle also named Gilbert.

He was said to have accompanied his uncle, William the Conqueror, into England, and participated in the triumph of Hastings, and obtained a grant of the lands of a Danish proprietor, named Tour, with many other holdings; however, Gislebert is not recorded as being at Hastings on 14 October 1066.

He was in England when he and William Malet unsuccessfully defended York castle against the Danish invasion and local rebellion in 1069.

He was described as having come from England as the brother of Baldwin of Ghent, in 1075, at Watten abbey, Nord, Flanders, France.

Gislebert died between 1088 and 1100--during the reign of William Rufus.

See "My Lines"

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/p352.htm#i18750 )

from Compiler: R. B. Stewart, Evans, GA

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/index.htm )

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Citations

[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 950. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.

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http://www.thepeerage.com/p23116.htm#i231156

Gilbert de Ghent1

M, #231156

Last Edited=21 May 2007

Child of Gilbert de Ghent

Sir Walter de Lindesay+ 1

Citations

[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 950. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.