Bernard de Harcourt Lord of Harcourt ^{1 2 3 4}

   Other names for Bernard were Bernard "the Dane" Prince of Denmark, Bernard le Danois, Bernard the Dane Seigneur de Harcourt, Bernard "the Dane" de Harcourt and Torf de Tourville Seigneur de Pont-Audemer.

  Research Notes:

From http://cybergata.com/roots/417.htm :
Bernard was a nobleman of the royal blood of Saxony, being born in Denmark, was surnamed the Dane. He was the Chief Counsellor and second in command to the famous Rollo, progenitor of the Kings of England. He lived in 876, and obtained the lordships of Harcourt, Caileville Beauficel, after the invasion of Normandy from Rollo for his services. He was minister to Rollo's son and successor, Richard, Duke of Normandy, as well as Regent of the Norman territories during his minority. He married ____de Sprote, of the royal family of Burgundy and had one son and heir named Torf "le Riche".
~A Genealogical History of the Family of Montgomery, pg. 142, Pedigree 113
• Web Reference: Harcourt Pedigree .

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From Wikipedia, "Bernard the Dane" :

Bernard the Dane (French - Bernard le Danois; c.880 - before 960), was a Viking jarl (earl ) of Danish origins. He put himself in the service of another jarl installed at the mouth of the Seine , Rollo (before 911). After the accords of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte that officially gave birth to the duchy of Normandy (911), Bernard converted to the Christianity at Rouen the following year (912) and shortly afterwards received from Rollo , the county of Pont-Audemer in the Eure then, later, the city of Harcourt .

Under Rollo's son and successor Duke William , Bernard was charged at the beginning of the 930s with putting down the serious uprising led by a certain Riouf (a Norman from the west, who had besieged the Duke in Rouen ), then in around 935 he put down a revolt in Bessin and Cotentin by Viking communities completely independent from the young and fragile power of the dukedom, unlike the east of the duchy of Normandy where its ducal power was affirmed a little later.

Later, on William's premature death by assassination, Bernard became regent of the duchy of Normandy in December 942, beside Anslech de Bricquebec , Osmond de Conteville and Raoul Taisson .

In 945-946, he appealed to Harald Bluetooth and his Danes to defend the duchy when it was attacked by the Carolingian king Louis of Outremer and Hugh the Great , duke of the Franks . Louis was attempting to retake the lands of the west in Normandy that had been granted to the Viking bands thirty years earlier.

Bernard died a few years late (before 960). He was the ancestor of two great Anglo-Norman baronial families, the Beaumonts and the Harcourts .

  Noted events in his life were:

• Seigneur de Harcourt, Abt 911.

• Converted: to Christianity, 912, Rouen, (Seine-Inférieure), Normandy, France.

• Regent: of the Duchy of Normandy, Dec 942.

Bernard married Sprote de Bourgogne, daughter of Hubert Count of Senlis and Unknown. (Sprote de Bourgogne was born about 908 in <Normandy, (France)>.)