Hugh Barbatus
Born: Normandy, France
Died: Mound, Scotland
<p>from Montfort-sur-Rille, near Brionne, in the arrondissement of Pont Audemer. The site of their castle can still be traced near the present town. This great baronial house derived from a common ancestor with the Bertrams, Oslac, Baron de Briquebec, who lived in the tenth century. His son Thurstan de Bastenberg was the father of Hugh Barbatus—Hugh with the beard—whom both Dugdale and Sir Henry Ellis believe to have been the companion of the Conqueror. But Wace expressly tells us that he had been slain in a private quarrel soon after William became Duke of Normandy—in those early and evil days "when the feuds against him were many, and his friends few; when the barons warred upon each other, and the strong oppressed the weak. A mighty feud broke out between Walkelin de Ferrieres, and Hugh Lord of Montfort I know not which was right and which wrong; but they waged fierce war with each other, and were not to be reconciled; neither by bishop nor lord could peace or love be established between them. Both were good knights, bold and brave. Once upon a time they met, and the rage of each against the other was so great that they fought to the death. I know not which carried himself most gallantly, or who fell the first, but the issue of the affray was that Hugh was slain, and Walkelin fell also; both lost their lives in the same affray, and on the same day." This combat is mentioned by William de Jumieges. It was therefore another Hugh—his son Hugh II., who furnished fifty ships and sixty knights for the expedition to England, and was the "Constable" spoken of by Ordericus at the battle of Hastings; for the De Montforts were hereditary Marshalls of Normandy. He had gained his reputation in arms twelve years before, when he had been one of the leaders at the famous battle of Mortemer. Wace describes how he helped to save William Malet's life (see p. 262) and "he is one of the four knights named by Guy, Bishop of Amiens, as the mutilators of the body of Harold at the close of the conflict; but I need only here repeat my utter disbelief in so improbable a statement, supported by no other contemporary writer."—Planche. He received a barony of one hundred and thirteen English manors, with a large proportion of Romney Marsh, and "was one of the barons intrusted by the Conqueror with the administration of justice throughout England, under Bishop Odo and William Fitz Osbern in 1067; and by the Bishop himself, Hugh de Montfort was made Governor of the Castle of Dover, the chief fortress in Odo's own Earldom, and the key of the kingdom. His absence on other duties with the Bishop south of the Thames was taken advantage of by the Kentish malcontents, and led to the assault of the Castle by the Count of Boulogne. The attempt failed, through the loyalty of the Royal garrison and the personal hostility to Eustace entertained by the townsmen from the recollection of the fatal affray in 1051."—Ibid.</p>