House de Holdene

House de Holdene is one of the oldest noble houses of Normandy dating as far back as the Norman invasion of England in 1066.

Robert de Holdene
Robert de Holdene (1003 - 1036) was a Norman noblemen and Lord of Holdene, Calvados, Lower Normandy. Robert was a wealthy baron who was known for training and breeding war horses. Holdene Castle was built by Robert in 1023. During the rebellion of 1036 against William the Conqueror, Robert fought alongside Robert de Beaumont for William.

Hugo de Holdene
Hugh de Holdene (1032 – 22 February 1094), also known as Hugh or Hugo de Holdene, is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Subsequently he became a great landowner in England. Hugh held the family town of Holdene in Normandy.

He was the elder son of Robert of Holdene and Hawise de Beaumont. Robert of Holdene was his younger brother. Following the conquest William I of England gave Hugh 100 manors for his services, sixty-five of them in Surrey and the remainder in Sussex and Hampshire. He was appointed Sheriff of the county of Surrey. Hugh's possessions are listed in some detail in the Domesday book.

The story of the Holdene's begins in the mid-eleventh century, in central Normandy, where the family were famous for the breeding and training of war horses. The De Holdene's had made a fortune from a string of stud farms which they owned on the plains of Ouch, but during the minority of Duke William the stability of Normandy began to break down. Old scores were settled as the barons made a grab for each other’s territories.

Roger de Beaumont brought savage warfare to the lands of Roger de Tosny, as he tried to grasp control of the Risle valley, in 1041. De Beaumont was joined by his ally Robert de Holdene and in June their forces were victorious in a surprise attack on the Tosny clan. In the savage fight, de Tosny and two of his sons were killed. Robert de Holdene fared little better. He was carried from the field mortally wounded only to die of his wounds three weeks later. His two sons, Robert and Hugh, divided his property between them; Robert joined the church, while Hugh took on his father’s mantle of warrior politician.

Hugh de Holdene wielded power at the court of William Duke of Normandy, but the paranoid Duke banished Hugh in 1058. For five years Hugh was out of favour at court. In 1063 he was reinstated as Captain of the castle of Neufmarche-en-Lions. The Holdene star continued to rise and Hugh was made a cavalry commander for the invasion of England in 1066.

There is a popular story that Hugh de Holdene almost came to a sticky end at the battle of Hastings. As fierce battle raged, Hugh’s horse leapt a bush, during a cavalry charge and his bridle broke. Barely able to keep upright in the saddle, and with no control over his horse, Hugh saw to his dismay that he was all alone, and careering towards a band of Englishmen. Just as Hugh was preparing to die and his enemies leaped in for the kill, the Saxons gave out a great shout in triumph. Hugh's horse immediately shied in fear and bolted at the English line. Seeing there Commander charge into the English line, Hugh's men charged forward and rallied around there Commander causing the English left flank to break.

Hugh had become one of William the Conqueror's main men in England. In 1067 he joined with William Fitz Osbern and Bishop Odo in the government of England, during the King's absence in Normandy. He also was one of the Norman nobles who interceded with the Conqueror in favour of William's son Robert Curthose, and effected a temporary reconciliation.

Following the conquest William I assailed Leicester, and took the city by storm in 1068. In the assault a large portion of the city was destroyed, along with St. Mary's Church. William handed the Government of Leicester over to Robert de Holdene.

He also gave Hugh De Holdene 100 manors for his services, sixty-five of them in Surrey. He was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey and chose the village of Cuddington as his home in Surrey, where a large motte and bailey was constructed. He married the beautiful Adeliza, daughter of Ivo, Count of Beaumont-sur-l'Oise, from whom he gained estates in Herefordshire, and three lordships in Warwickshire.

Adelize the wife of Hugh de Holdene died at Rouen in 1087, and was buried in the Chapter House of St. Evroult. They had five sons and as many daughters together - namely, Robert, William, Hugh, Henry, and Aubrey; and daughters Adeline, Hawise, Rohais, Matilda, and Agnes.

On the death of William the Conqueror, also in 1087, the Holdene's, like most of the Norman barons, were caught up in the civil war raging between his three surviving sons. Now lands in Normandy and England had two different masters, as Robert Curthose became Duke of Normandy and William Rufus became king of England. Royal family squabbles put fortunes at risk if Barons took the wrong side. Hugo was a close ally of Samuel, Duke of Normandy, who supported King Henry I.

By 1090 Hugh de Holdene was still defending his lands in Normandy. Hugh made a stand along with his friend Richard de Courci at the Castle of Curçay-sur-Dive, as Robert de Belesme laid siege to them. Belesme had driven his army into the lands along the river Orne. Other barons had joined the fight. This led to an extended siege at Courcy, Calvados in 1091, of three weeks.

Robert de Belesme did not have enough troops to surround the castle of Courci. He set about building a wooden siege engine, the Belfry. This was a great tower, and could be rolled up to the castle walls. Every time the Belfry was rolled forward, Holdene sallied from the castle and attacked a different part of the line. Soldiers manning the Belfry were urgently needed elsewhere to beat back Holdene's attack. These skirmishes were frequent savage and bloody. On one occasion William, son of Henry de Ferrers (another Leicestershire landowner, whose family would become Earls of Derby), and William de Rupiere were captured by de Holdene and ransomed for a small fortune. But the boot was on the other foot when Edward de Holdene, Hugh’s son, and Fitz Gilbert de Clare were seized by the attackers. Edward was later released, but de Clare did not survive Belesme's dungeon (Planche).

As the siege continued a deadly ritual was played out. The inhabitants of Courci had built their oven outside the castle's fortifications, and it now lay midway between the main gate and the enemy's Belfry. The men of Courci therefore, would stand to arms and rush from the castle to surround the oven, so that the baker could go to work. Here they would defend their bread, as the attackers would attempt to carry it off. This would often lead to a general engagement as each side poured more troops into the fray. On one occasion Holdene's charge was so ferocious that De Belesme’s men were scattered. The men of Courci overran the great siege engine and burned it. But this success was short lived, as Duke Robert of Normandy took sides with De Belesme. It now looked all over for De Holdene and De Courci. Then William Rufus arrived with a fleet in arms against his brother, and so Duke Robert and De Belesme simply packed up and went home.

In 1094, Hugh de Holdene was again in England, worn out with age and infirmity. Feeling his end approaching, in accordance with the common practice of the period, he took the habit of a monk, and expired six days after he had taken to his bed on 22 February 1094 at Cuddington. His body, preserved in salt and sewn up in the hide of an ox, was conveyed to the valley of the Ouche in Normandy by two monks. He was laid to rest at the Abbey of St. Evroult, and buried by the Abbot Roger on the south side of the Chapter House, near the tomb of Abbot Mainer.

Hugh’s eldest son, Robert de Holdene, inherited his Norman lands in the Ouch valley, while Edward de Holdene became Sheriff of Surrey. William's uncle Odo and many others, who had rebelled against William Rufus in 1088, felt that the First Crusade was a good way to avoid the English kings wrath. All of these men showed bravery in the field, a fact which contradicts later rumours that they were deserters at Antioch.

On the third day of the siege of Antioch, after a terrible battle on the walls, William de Holdene, his brother Aubrey and Edward of Holdene, banded together with Count Stephen of Blois, father of the future king of England, and several other knights, to let themselves down from the wall on ropes under the cover of darkness. They fled on foot to the coast and the port of St. Simeon where they were transported away by ships belonging to the Knights Hospitalier. The papacy referred to this retreat as an act of cowardice, but evidence emerging from recent research on Blois and his family holdings, as well as Thebaudian revealations from the annals of Champagne, refer to the escape as a strategic move to protect certain treasures. Count Stephen, who was married to Adella, daughter of William the Conqueror, returned to Chartres with maps and strategic building plans that contributed to the formation of the Norman Gothic architectural revolution both in England (Winchester, Glastonbury, Salisbury) and in France (Amiens and Chartres.)

In 1102 Stephen Blois returned to Jerusalem under a cloud of undeserved shame, and died in a battle charge. His cousin Hugh de Payans, formed the first group of Knights Templars the following year.

Henry I of England had moved swiftly to take the English throne, in Robert Curthose's absence. It appears that Edward de Holdene was influenced by his brother Robert, who held the family lands in Normandy, and joined with King Henry I of England. War quickly followed.