Eudo was the fourth son of Hubert of Ryes,[3] who is legendarily known as the loyal vassal who hosted Duke William of Normandy prior to his flight from Valognes during a revolt in 1047.[4]
Eudo's brothers were Ralph,[5] Robert, Bishop of Séez,[5] Hubert,[5][6] William,[7] and Adam.[5] A sister, Albreda, was married to Peter de Valognes.[8] There was also another sister, named Muriel, who was married to Osbert.[3]
Eudo is known as "dapifer" because of his position as a steward[a][9] or server[10] which in Latin is "dapifer".[11]
There is no evidence of Eudo having been at the Battle of Hastings, although some have speculated that Wace may have designated him as the Sire de Préaux which Eudo was in possession of by 1070. After the Norman Conquest of England all five brothers and their father were in England.
Eudo was a steward to William II also, and was one of the early adherents, witnessing charters and serving in the royal household.[16] In 1096/7 Eudo founded Colchester Abbey,[3] as well as St Mary Magdalene's Hospital in Colchester.[17][page needed] During William II's reign, Eudo witnessed 27 royal writs.[18] The historian Francis West, who studied the office of the justiciarship, asserts that Eudo, along with Haimo and Urse d'Abetot, as well as Ranulf Flambard, could be considered the first English justiciars,[19] a position that the historian Emma Mason has modified towards them being the first barons of the exchequer.[20] By that time Eudo's position was so powerful that he was able to impede efforts by the monks of Westminster Abbey to recover a church in London that had previously belonged to the abbey but had been alienated.[21]
Eudo continued as a steward to King Henry I of England, William's younger brother who succeeded as king in 1100.[22] Eudo was one of the witnesses to Henry's coronation charter, issued shortly after his coronation in August 1100.[23] Eudo was also a royal witness to the treaty between Henry and his brother Robert Curthose in 1101.[24] From his service to Henry, Eudo acquired more lands, including the town of Colchester and several manors.[22] Eudo continued to be a frequent witness to the royal charters and writs, along with Urse and Haimo.[25]
In 1103, Eudo's son-in-law William de Mandeville had lands confiscated which were then granted to Eudo. The punishment was likely for allowing Ranulf Flambard to escape from the Tower of London in 1101.[26] In addition Henry I removed William de Mandeville as Constable of the Tower of London and appointed Eudo to the position.
^Some sources state that Eudo died childless, apparently basing this on the fact that his estates went to the king on his death.[28]
^The household office of steward (sewer, or dapifer) in the mid to late eleventh century had not yet evolved into the great office of state, later called the Lord High Steward. It paralleled the dapifer’s position in the French court, that of a chef-du-service, or server at the royal banquet table. The rapid rise to prominence of the dapifer in the English court was more due to the officers themselves than the position they held. See Harcourt, His Grace The Steward, pp. 5-6.
Bates, David R. (January 1975). "The Character and Career of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (1049/50-1097)". Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies. 50 (1): 1–20. doi:10.2307/2856509. JSTOR2856509. S2CID163080280.
Crummy, Philip (1997). City of Victory; The story of Colchester— Britain's first Roman town. Colchester Archaeological Trust. ISBN1-897719-04-3.
Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN0-85115-863-3.
