Sir Gauthier de Gyffarde 1st Earl Buckingham

   Another name for Gauthier was Walter de Giffard.

  General Notes:

Weis' Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, 8th Edition, 184:1, Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville, a companion of William I at Battle of Hastings, 1066, son of Osbern de Bolbec, seigneur of Longueville-sur-Scie in Normandy 1028-1035, and Duvelina, sister of the Duchess Gunnora; m. Agnes, daughter of Girard Flatel. ¹⁶⁰

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁹⁷
"We first hear of him in 1035, as a companion of Hugh de Gournay in the abortive attempt of Edward son of King Ethelred to recover the crown of England (vide vol. ii. p. 113). The next, in 1053, when he was left by Duke William in command of the forces blockading the Castle of Arques, and at that period was Lord of Longueville, and already past the prime of life, judging by his account of himself only thirteen years afterwards. In the following year Wace informs us he was entrusted by the Duke with the defense of the district of Caux, in which Longueville is situate, on the occasion of the invasion of Normandy by Henry, King of France. Subsequently he appears to have made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella, in Spain, or may perhaps have been sent there by the Duke on some mission to Alfonso King of Galicia, to whom William afterwards affianced his daughter Agatha, after the breaking off of the match with the Saxon Prince Edwin. All we learn from Wace is that in the great battle Giffard had brought William's first horse to him from Spain, "the gift of a king who had a great friendship for him." The Lord of Longueville accompanied his sovereign to England, having furnished his fleet, according to the List published by Taylor, with thirty vessels and a hundred men.

Previous to the battle, Raoul de Conches, the hereditary standard-bearer of Normandy, having prayed quittance of service on that day, that he might fight with greater freedom in the field, the Duke called to him Walter Giffard. He told him he desired him to bear his gonfanon, who also requested to be excused the honour on the plea of being too old and too feeble. "For the mercy of God, sire," said the old knight, "look upon my white and bald head; my strength is impaired, and I am short of breath," and in answer to the Duke's passionate reproaches, urged that he had a large contingent of men-at-arms in the field, whom he was bound to lead into action, and at the head of them he was ready to die in his sovereign's cause. Whereupon the Duke excused him, and assured him that he loved him more than ever and that if he survived that day it should be the better for him (Walter) as long as he lived.

We hear of no special exploit performed by him during the battle, Benoît de St.-More merely saying that he was struck down in the mélée, and rescued apparently by William himself. At its close, however, after Harold had been mortally wounded, this brave old Lord of Longueville, with his bald head and his white locks, is accused of assisting to mutilate the body of the heroic King!

It would be an indignity to the noble veteran to defend him against so infamous a charge. Fortunately there is no need to do so, for it is unsupported by any evidence, and the accuser stands convicted of falsehood and exaggeration sufficient to deprive him of any character for honesty whatever.

When the fight was over, and the victorious Duke had ordered a space on the top of the hill to be cleared of the dead and dying, that his tent might be pitched there, and signified his intention to sup and sleep on the spot, Walter Giffard galloped up to him. " Sire," he said, "what are you about? You are surely not fitly placed here among the dead. Many an Englishman lies bleeding and mingled with the slain, but yet living, and though wounded, only waiting to rise at night and escape in the darkness. They would delight to take their revenge, and would sell their lives dearly, no one caring who killed him afterwards, so he but slew a Norman first, for they say we have done them great wrong. You should lodge elsewhere, guarded by one or two thousand men whom you can best trust. Let a careful watch be set this night, for we know not what snares may be laid for us. You have made a noble day of it, but I like to see the end of the work." The Duke, however, adhered to his original determination. (Roman de Rou) There can be no doubt, I think, that this Walter Giffard who fought at Hastings was the person to whom William the Conqueror, in 1070, gave the earldom of Buckingham; for, old as he is said by Wace to have represented himself at that period, he lived nineteen years afterwards, and was one of the Commissioners intrusted by William to superintend the compilation of the great survey of England, and I can find no reason whatever for the ordinary assertion that his son, the second Walter, was the first earl.

There is evidence that in 1079 he founded the priory of St. Michel de Bolbec, and he is reported to have died about 1081, which we may fairly understand to be 1085, the year in which Domesday was begun and completed.

The wife of this Walter was Ermengarde, a daughter of Gerrard Flaitel, by whom he had a son, the second Walter, Earl of Buckingham, who died in 1102, and with whom he has been confounded. He had also a second son named William, who was Chancellor to William Rufus, made Bishop of Winchester by Henry I, 1107, and died in 1128, and a daughter, named Rohais or Rohesia, wife of Richard Fitz Gilbert, from whom descended the great house of Clare.

~J.R. Planché, The Conqueror and His Companions, Vol. I, pp. 160-166

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville in Normand, accompanied William the conqueror in the Norman invasion. He was the son of Osborn de bolebec, by Aveline, sister of Gunnor, wife of Ricahrd, Duke of Normandy. His son was also named Walter. (Gauthier)

~Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, (Buckingham), Vol. II, p. 386-386 footnote (a)

Gauthier married Agnes de Flaitel, daughter of Gerard de Flaitel and Unknown.¹⁶⁰ (Agnes de Flaitel was born about 1027.)