The following is based on very controversial material and represents only one version of many as to the paternity of Crispin le Bec., who is often claimed as the son of Grimaldus of Monaco and Crispina, a daughter of Rollo--though this account seems to have been fabricated and is not generally accepted.

Michael Stanhope writes (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mainegenie/STANHO...):

That Guillaume de Bec was the progenitor of the family of Bec-Crispin is shown in charters of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, diocèse d'Avranches, c. 990, relating to the foundation of its priory at Abbayette near Lindivy, and in charters relating to the Benedictine Priory of Saint-Ymer-en-Auge et de Briquebec. The lineage of the early Crispins, and those closely related to them, was recorded in these charters, and notable French antiquaries, such as d'Anisy and de Sainte-Marie, used them as a basis for their work. Guillaume de Bec's ancestry and progeny are also recorded, as given above, in the work of the Duchess of Cleveland.(1): 'Hrollager's three grandsons each became the founder of an illustrious Norman stock. From the eldest, Anslac de Bastembourg, came the Bertrams, second, William, the barons of Bec-Crespin, and from the third, Ansfrid the Dane, who was Viscount of Exmers, or Hiesmes, before 978, the house of Avranches. He was the first Viscount of Hiesmes that is on the record, and his descendants inherited this dignity, as well as the surname of Le Gotz or Gois. Toustain Le Gois, his grandson, was Chamberlain to Duke Robert.'

As stated by d'Anisy and de Sainte-Marie, it is accurate to describe Guillaume/William as the immediate ancestor of the Seigneurs du Bec-Crespin. It was at a much later date - Guillaume Crespin IV. - that those of their lineage became the Barons of Bec-Crespin. It should also be noted that he was the first of his lineage to hold the name of William, a distinction wrongly given to his great-grandson, William Crispin I.

Guillaume de Bec, c. 960, gave land to the Benedictine Priory of Saint-Ymer-en-Auge et de Briquebec; a confirmation charter sanctioned by Duke Richard I., and witnessed by Count Robert de Vermandois. One of Guillaume's fiefs was Bec-de-Mortagne, situated some three miles from Colleville-sur-Mer. As will be shown, it is from this latter commune of the Seine-Maritime that a branch of the Crispin family took its name. An act of Guillaume, son of Robert, granted tithes at Lisieux to Mont-Saint-Michel 'for the souls of his father and wife, Bertha'.

Issue-

10 I. CRISPIN de BEC- b.c.945, m. HELOISE de GUINES (b.c.958, d. 1015), d. 1010

Ref:

(1) The Battle Abbey Roll: With Some Account of the Norman Lineages, pp. 43-44, 1889 [PW: This is a less than fully credible document]

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Crispin de Bec is often said to have been the son of fictitious Grimaldus, prince of Monaco and his fictitious wife Crispina.

According to the work of Michael Stanhope at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mainegenie/NORMAN...:

"What is not supported by any contemporary or recent evidence are claims that Rolf had a number of sons and daughters in addition to William Longsword. The only possible addition, according to Dudo de Saint-Quentin, Guillaume de Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni, is Gerloc, a.k.a Adele, wife of Guillaume, Count of Poitou. 19th Century attempts to identity additional children, such as Crispina, a proposed mother of Crispin de Bec, by Grimaldus, Prince of Monaco, are without any known foundation.(3)"

"The Crispin/Grimaldi genealogy was composed in 1646 by Charles de Venasque-Ferriol, secretary of Honore II, Prince of Monaco. He was assisted by Jean Le Laboureur, the historian; Renee du Bec-Crispin, and her husband, Jean Baptiste de Budes, comte de Guebriant. Their composition bore the title of Historica Et Genelogica Grimalda Gentis Arbor.

"The powerfiul families who composed the Historica had a desire to obtain a Carolingian descent. Charles III, Prince of Monaco [1856-89], branding this pedigree as untrue - there was no Prince of Monaco until the 13th. Century - gave an order to his successive archivists, Cais de Pierlas, Saige, and Labande, to write a correct one, founded on authentic documents, and not falsified as this one. The only relationship between the Crispins of Normandy and the family of Grimaldi is that they both had the same armorial bearings, both of whom bore fusily argent and gules, but, with so simple a coat, no great importance can be attached to it."

CRISPIN de BEC

b.c.945 d. 1010

m. HELOISE de GUINES (b.c.958, d. 1015)

Crispin de Bec, a.k.a. Crespin-Ansgot, married his second cousin, Heloise de Guines. Heloise was the daughter of Siegfried, Count of Guines, (b.912, d. 965), and Elftrude de Flandre, (b.932, d.990), g.g. grandaughter of King Alfred, and daughter of Arnulf the elder and Adele de Vermandois.(1) Siegfried was the grandson of Godfried de Guines and Gisela de Lotharingia.

Issue-

I. GILBERT CRISPIN- b.c.985, m. GUNNOR d'ANJOU (b.c.1000, d.c.1090), d. 1045

II. Raoul de Bec- father of Goisfrid de Bec, the Marshal

III. Hellouin de Bec-b.c.994, d. 1078. Hellouin founded the Abbey of Bec. 'In the wooded valley of the Rille, not far from Rouen. A rude old soldier, named Herluin, had with some trouble obtained permission of his feudal lord to devote himself and his patrimony to religion; and had retired to this spot with his mother and a few companions, over whom he presided as superior. All day long he was employed in building: most of the night he spent in learning to read, and in getting the Psalter by heart; his mother baked for the monks, washed their clothes, and performed all the menial offices of the house. Herluin was with his own hands building the bakehouse of the monastery.'(2)

IV. Odo de Bec-

V. Roger de Bonneville-

Ref:

(1) The Plantagenet Ancestry- W. H. Turton, 1928 (2) Essays and reviews- Richard William Church- p. 138, 1834

Crispin De Bec

   * Marriage: Haloise De Guines

   * Died: 968 or 1028 (note: 968 would make him only age 13, so this is unlikely)

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See:

Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants, Compiled by J. Orton Buck, and Timothy Beard, 1978, published by the Order of the Crown of Charlemagne, page 292.

Crispin married Haloise De Guines, daughter of Siegfred Count Of Guines and Elstrude Of Flanders.