3Humphrey with the Beard
Humphrey with the Beard (died before 1113) was a
Norman soldier and landed aristocrat, the earliest known member of the Bohun family who took part in the
Norman conquest of England as one of the original
companions at Hastings.
Humphrey may have been a relative of
William the Conqueror, probably through one of Humphrey's marriages. He was married three times, as his donation of a plow and garden to the nuns of
Abbaye Saint-Amand at
Rouen states, but the names of his wives are unknown. This donation is witnessed by William as comes (count), indicating that he had not yet succeeded to the throne of England and was still only
Duke of Normandy. This suggests that Humphrey was advanced in age by 1066, which corroborates the description of him given at line 13,583 of the
Roman de Rou of
Wace: De Bohun le Vieil Onfrei ("from Bohun the old Humphrey").
His nickname, "with the beard" (cum barba), was a distinguishing one in eleventh-century Normandy, where the custom was to shave the face and back of the head.
At the time of the Conquest Humphrey possessed the
honour of Bohun (today comprising two communes,
Saint-André-de-Bohon and
Saint-Georges-de-Bohon) in western Normandy. After the Conquest he received an honour with its seat at
Tatterford in
Norfolk, as recorded in
Domesday Book (1086). The small size of his reward in England, despite his relations with William's family, may be a result of his age. He later donated the church of Saint-Georges-de-Bohon to the
Abbey of Marmoutier. By his wives he left three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Robert, predeceased him unmarried, and his second son, Richard, was the progenitor, in the female line, of the Bohuns of
Midhurst. His youngest son and namesake is commonly numbered
Humphrey I because by his marriage he was "the founder of the fortunes of his family".