Odon of Conteville
Encyclopedia
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
, and was for a time second in power to the king of England.
Early life
He was the son of William the Conqueror's mother HerlevaHerleva
Herleva also known as Herleve, Arlette, Arletta and Arlotte, was the mother of William I of England. She had two other sons, Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who became prominent in William's realm....
, and Herluin de Conteville
Herluin de Conteville
Herluin de Conteville , also sometimes listed as Herlevin or Herlwin of Conteville, was the stepfather of William the Conqueror, and the father of Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, both of whom became prominent during William's reign.-Conteville and Sainte-Marie Eglise:No contemporary...
. Count Robert of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
was his younger brother. There is some uncertainty about his birth date. Some historians have suggested he was born as early as 1030, so that he would be about 19 instead of 14 when William made him bishop of Bayeux in 1049.
Norman Conquest and after
Although he was an ordained ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
cleric, he is best known as a warrior and statesman. He found ships for the invasion of England and is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror
Companions of William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror had men of diverse standing and origins in France, under his command at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, along with others completing his Norman conquest of England until after the Harrying of the North and before the Anarchy....
known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry
Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth—not an actual tapestry—nearly long, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings...
, probably commissioned by him to adorn his own cathedral, appears to labour the point that he did not actually fight, that is to say shed blood, at Hastings, but rather encouraged the troops from the rear. The Latin annotation embroidered onto the Tapestry above his image reads: "Hic Odo Eps (Episcopus) Baculu(m) Tenens Confortat Pueros", in English "Here Odo the Bishop holding a club strengthens the boys". It seems that his clerical status forbade him from using a sword. He was accompanied by William the carrier of his crozier and a retinue of servants and members of his household.
In 1067 Odo became earl of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
, and for some years he was a trusted royal minister. On some occasions when William was absent (back in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
), he served as de facto regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of England, and at times he led the royal forces against rebellions (e.g. the Revolt of the Earls
Revolt of the Earls
The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 was a rebellion of three earls against William I of England . It was the last serious act of resistance against William in the Norman Conquest.-Course:...
): the precise sphere of his powers is not certain, however. There are also other occasions when he accompanied William back to Normandy.
During this time Odo acquired vast estates in England, larger in extent than any one except the king: he had land in 23 counties, primarily in the south east and in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
.
Trial, imprisonment and rebellion
In 1076 Odo was triedTrial of Penenden Heath
The Trial of Penenden Heath occurred in the decade after Norman Conquest of England in 1066, probably in 1072, and involved a dispute between Odo Bishop of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror and Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury and others....
in front of a large and senior assembly over the course of three days at Penenden Heath
Penenden Heath
Penenden Heath is a suburb in the town of Maidstone in Kent, England.As the name suggests it is nucleated around a former heath .-History:...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
for defrauding the Crown and the Diocese of Canterbury
Diocese of Canterbury
The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent, founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. It is centred on Canterbury Cathedral, and is the oldest see of the Church of England....
. At the conclusion of the trial he was forced to return a number of properties and his assets were re-apportioned.
In 1082 he was suddenly disgraced and imprisoned for having planned a military expedition to Italy. His motivations are not certain. Chroniclers writing a generation later said Odo desired to make himself Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, but the contemporary evidence is ambiguous. Whatever the reason, Odo spent the next five years in prison, and his English estates were taken back by the king, as was his office as Earl of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
: Odo was not however deposed as Bishop of Bayeux.
William, on his deathbed in 1087, was reluctantly persuaded by his brother Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
to release Odo. After the king's death Odo returned to his earldom and soon organized a rebellion in support of William's son Robert Curthose, who had been made Duke of Normandy. The Rebellion of 1088
Rebellion of 1088
The Rebellion of 1088 occurred after the death of William the Conqueror and concerned the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between his two sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose...
failed and William Rufus
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
permitted Odo to leave the kingdom. Afterwards, Odo remained in the service of Robert in Normandy.
He joined the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
, and started in the duke's company for Palestine, but died on the way at Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
in January or February 1097.
Character and achievements
Little good is recorded of Odo. It was recorded that his vast wealth was gained by extortion and robbery. His ambitions were boundless and his morals lax. However, like many prelates of his age, he was a patron of learning and the arts. He was also a great architect. He founded the Abbaye de Troarn in 1059 and rebuilt the cathedral of his see, and is likely to have commissioned the celebrated Bayeux tapestryBayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth—not an actual tapestry—nearly long, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings...
. He may also have sponsored an early version of The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 14th centuries...
. More certain is his development of the cathedral school in Bayeux, and his patronage of a number of younger men who later became prominent prelates.
Portrayals on screen
On screen, Odo has been portrayed by John NettletonJohn Nettleton (actor)
John Nettleton is an English actor.One of his most notable roles was that of Sir Arnold Robinson, the Cabinet Secretary in Yes Minister and President of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in the follow-up Yes, Prime Minister...
in the two-part BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625
Theatre 625
Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line...
, and by Denis Lill
Denis Lill
Denis Lill is a New Zealand-born British actor.Some of his many film and television roles include Fall of Eagles , Edward the Seventh , Survivors , The Scarlet Pimpernel , as William Knox d-Arcy, the Australian oil pioneer in Persia, in Reilly: Ace of Spies , Rumpole of the Bailey , Mapp &...
in the TV drama Blood Royal: William the Conqueror (1990).
Further reading
- David BatesDavid Bates (historian)Professor David Bates is a British historian.He was Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow from 1994 until 2003. He then took up the post of director of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London between 2003 and 2008, and now holds a chair in Medieval...
, 'The Character and Career of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (1049/50–1097)', in: Speculum, vol. 50, pp. 1–20 (1975).
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