Turstin FitzRolf

He appears to have originated from Bec-de-Mortagne, Pays de Caux, Normandy, As the prefix fitz indicates, Turstin was the son of a man called Rolf (> Rouf > Rou in later French), names that are synonymous with their latinized equivalent Rollo, only used for the first Viking count of Rouen Rollo, with the notable exception of Orderic Vitalis that writes Turstinus filius Rollonis about Turstin le Blanc.

The given name Turstin originated in the Old Norse Þórstæinn (Thorstein; "Thor's stone") and is sometimes spelt Tostein, Thurstan, Tostain and similar variants.

[2] Turstin appears to have originated in Bec-de-Mortagne, Pays-de-Caux, Normandy, about five miles south-east of Fécamp, according to the Roman de Rou poem written by Wace (c. 1115 - 1183):[3] Tustein Fitz-Rou out non, Al Bec en Caux aveit meison ([Modern French]: "Turstain fils de Rou le Blanc eut pour nom, au Bec-en-Caux avait maison"; [Modern English]: "Turstin FitzRou the White was his name, had home at Bec-en-Caux.")

Orderic Vitalis wrote, sometime after 1110, “Turstinus filius Rollonis vexillum Normannorum portavit” ("Turstin son of Rollo carried the standard of the Normans.

But at the very moment when he uttered the words Eustace was struck between the shoulders with such force that blood gushed out from his mouth and nose and half dead he only made his escape with the aid of his followers.

Walter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham(died 1102) was a Norman magnate and fellow proven Companion of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Clearly Turstin had "kindred" and "heirs" as referred to by Wace, yet these may have been in Normandy only, since no record of any familial inheritance exists for his English holdings.

Most of Turstin's lands, which later constituted a feudal barony, did not pass to his son, if indeed such existed, but to another apparently unrelated Norman magnate Wynebald de Ballon, who served for a time as seneschal of Caerleon Castle, whilst his elder brother Hamelin de Ballon had founded Abergavenny Castle 15 miles higher up the River Usk, and founded a barony seated at Much Marcle, i.e. next to, and possibly subsuming, Turstin's own manor of Little Marcle.

This knight depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry is sometimes stated to depict Turstin FitzRolf, but is in fact more likely to be Eustace II, Count of Boulogne as the knight appears below the marginal legend E[...]TIUS , a Latinised version of Eustace. [ 1 ] His finger pointing to Duke William, whose left hand holding a club before the word DUX can be seen on the left side of the frame, seems to depict his urging the Duke to retreat, as the account in William of Poitiers relates of Eustace. The attribution to Turstin FitzRolf might otherwise have been plausible, due to the depicted figure's carrying of a pennon depicting a cross, apparently the Papal Banner. Turstin was described as having carried the " Gonfannon of the Normans" by Orderic Vitalis