Guillame "le Blanc" Turstain du Bec, Seigneur du Bec

Wife's name is unknown. Some say she was Bertha de Vermandois, supposed daughter of Heribert II, but evidence is lacking.

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.com/~mainegenie/STANHOPE.htm):

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]