Goda

From the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Goda:

"At Lambeth, the archbishops of Canterbury have had a palace. According to Mr Pennant, it was in the earlier times a manor, possibly a royal one: for the great Hardiknut (Hardicanute) died here in 1042, in the midst of the jollity of a wedding dinner; and here, without any formality, the usurper Harold is said to have snatched the crown and placed it on his own head. At that period it was part of the estate of Goda, wife to Walter Earl of Mantes, and Eustace Earl of Bologne; who presented it to the church of Rochester, but reserved to herself the patronage of the church."

In the International Geneological Index (IGI) at January 2002 there was only one entry for Goda: "Goda (or Godiva) Godgifu Countess Vexin married Eustace Count of ? in 1050". According to Pedigree E, Goda married Walter de Medantine, Count of Amiens. Both these entries seem confusing. Burke's Peerage refers to Goda's husband as Walter de Maunt, and the encyclopaedia refers to Mantes in Normandy - almost certainly the same place. There is no entry in the encyclopaedia for Medantine, Amiens is in Picardy, not Normandy, and Eustace might not be Walter.

There is however a note (below) in the Encyclopaedia which makes reference to Vexin and Mantes, in an article concerning William the Conqueror's later problems in Normandy. So if this Goda (Godgifu, an Anglo-Saxon name) - was not Goda the daughter of Emma, who was she? Perhaps a daughter of Goda and/or grand-daughter of Emma?

"William was preoccupied with the frontiers of Normandy. The danger spots were in Maine and the Vexin on the Seine, where Normandy bordered on the French royal demesne. After 1066 William's continental neighbours became more powerful and even more hostile. In 1068 Fulk the Surly succeeded to Anjou and in 1071 Robert the Frisian to Flanders. Philip I of France allied with Robert and Robert with the Danish king, Canute IV. There was also the problem of William's heir apparent, Robert Curthose, who, given no appanage and seemingly kept short of money, left Normandy in 1077 and intrigued with his father's enemies. In 1081 William made a compromise with Fulk in the treaty of Blancheland: Robert Curthose was to be count of Maine but as a vassal of the count of Anjou. The eastern part of the Vexin, the county of Mantes, had fallen completely into King Philip's hands in 1077 when William had been busy with Maine. In 1087 William demanded from Philip the return of the towns of Chaumont, Mantes, and Pontoise. In July he entered Mantes by surprise, but while the town burned he suffered some injury from which he never recovered. He was thwarted at the very moment when he seemed about to enforce his last outstanding territorial claim."