Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Record Number: 2910
Author(s)/Creator(s): van Houts , Elisabeth.
Contributor(s):
Title: Countess Gunnor of Normandy (c. 950-1031)
Source: Collegium Medievale 12, ( 1999): Pages 7 - 24.
Description:
Article Type: Journal Article
Subject (See Also): Biography Concubines Dowager Countesses Garnier de Rouen, Author- Moriuht Gunnor, Countess of Normandy, Wife of Richard I, Duke of Normandy Latin Literature Literature- Verse Patronage, Ecclesiastical Sexuality in Literature Widows
Award Note:
Geographic Area: France
Century: 10-11
Primary Evidence:
Illustrations: One figure. Figure One Manuscript illumination portraying Countess Gunnor in the cartulary of Mont Saint-Michel, mid-twelfth century (Avranches, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 210, fol. 23v).
Table: One Table. Table One Family tree for both Countess Gunnor and Duke Richard including their children and grandchildren.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to present a synthesis of all known information about Countess Gunnor of Normandy (c. 950-1031). She was of Danish origin and married Duke Richard I of Normandy (943-996) as his second wife after having been his concubine. She survived her husband by more than thiry years. During this time she married off her daughters and, judging by the many charters she witnessed, remained active at the Norman court. Apart from conventional source material consisting of chronicles and charters, some intriguing Latin poetry has survived which also throws light on her career as a dowager countess. Particular emphasis is here given to the poem "Moriuht" by Warner of Rouen and its sexually explicit nature is explained with reference to Gunnor's Scandinavian background. [Reproduced by permission of Collegium Medievale: Interdisciplinary Journal of Medieval Research].
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation: Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge
Conference Info: - , -
Year of Publication: 1999.
Language: English
ISSN/ISBN: 08019282