Alan Rufus Net Worth & Biography

Alan Rufus Net Worth & Biography

Alan Rufus was a Breton nobleman, and the 11th-century military companion and kinsman of William the Conqueror (Duke William II of Normandy), serving William during the Norman Conquest of England.  He held some properties in Rouen and became the first Lord of Richmont. His acquisitions around England included many lands that had been owned by Edith, King Harold’s wife. He was active in donating to a number of religious houses. He was born in 1040 and died in 1093 leaving behind a fortune estimated at almost a hundred and eighty billion dollars.

Biography, Early Life, Career

Alan Rufus  was born in 1040 to Eozen Penteur (Count of Penthièvre) and Orguen Kernev (Agnes of Cornouaille).

He was granted Alan Rufus a significant English fief by William the Conqueror in about 1071. That fief later became known as the Honor of Richmond.

Alan Rufus is first mentioned as a witness (along with his brothers Willelmus, Rotbertus, Gausfridus, Ricardus and mother Orguen) to a charter dated to 1056/1060, issued by his father to the Abbey of Saint-Aubin in Angers. He was lord of Richemont in Upper Normandy before September 1066 and already held properties in Rouen, the capital of Normandy

There is a probability that he was present at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.  His earliest acquisitions in England included numerous land titles that had been owned by King Harold’s wife Edith the Fair.

In the 1080s, Alan Rufus witnessed many documents of King William in England, and one of Queen Matilda in England. It is likely that Alan was present with King William I and many other members of the King’s Council at Gloucester in December 1085 when they discussed preparations for the survey of England, which later became known as the Domesday Survey. Through 1086, Alan and Robert, Count of Mortain served King William, e.g. in Wiltshire in southwest England and at Fécamp in Normandy.

By 1086 he had become one of the wealthiest and most influential men in England, behind only King William I and Robert of Mortain in the number of holdings. He was considered the most powerful magnate in Yorkshire and East Anglia and possessed property in Brittany, London, and in Normandy (in Rouen and Richemont).

Alan donated huge sums to many religious houses. He most famously founded, with King William, the Benedictine St Mary’s Abbey in York. He was one of the first four tycoons to support William II of England against the 1088 Rebellion in favor of Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy. Beginning in March 1088, Alan was granted more territories by King William from the land confiscated from his neighbors who had rebelled.

Alan Rufus died childless in the year 1093 at the age of 53. As Lord of Richmond, he was succeeded by his younger brother Alan Niger. Alan Niger also died without issue just like his predecessor and was succeeded by another brother Stephen, Count of Tréguier.

Alan Rufus Net Worth: Income Sources, Investments

Alan Rufus was a Breton nobleman, and the 11th-century military companion and kinsman of William the Conqueror (Duke William II of Normandy), serving William during the Norman Conquest of England.  He held some properties in Rouen and became the first Lord of Richmont. His acquisitions around England included many lands that had been owned by Edith, King Harold’s wife. He was active in donating to a number of religious houses. He was born in 1040 and died in 1093 leaving behind a fortune estimated at almost a hundred and eighty billion dollars. Alan Rufus, born in 1040, had an inflation-adjusted net worth of $180 billion as of the time he passed away in 1093. He was a relative and companion of William the Conqueror. He was the 1st Lord of Richmond and stood by William during the Norman Conquest of England. The second son of Euozen Penteur, Alan was given the “Honor of Richmond” by his kinsman William the Conqueror. The first known mention of Alan came as a witness to a charter. He was also mentioned in the Domesday report as Alan the holder of a carucate.

Rufus started building the Richmond Castle in 1071. He was the first constable of his new castle, and was the leader of England’s Bretons. By 1086 he was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in England. He founded the Benedictine St. Mary’s Abbey in 1088 and also donated large sums of money to religious organizations, for which he is still remembered to date.

Alan Rufus is third among the barons in terms of yearly income. It was said that he earned about £1,200 annually. His income in the year that he died, 1093, was £1,100.