"Alain Fergeant"
was Count of Brittany (d.1119). He assisted William, Duke of Normandy, in the
invasion and was awarded the earldom of
Eudes (Eudo, Eudo Fitzhubert, Eudo Dapifer)
Eudes the Sewer, Comte de Penthièvre, was
brother of the Breton Duke Alan III.1 He was born circa 1002. He was
the son of Geoffroy I, comte de Bretagne
and Hawise de Normandie.2,3 He
married Onven de Cornoüaille, daughter of Alain
Cangnard, comte de Cornoüaille and Judith de Nantes.4 Regent
of Brittany between 1040 and 1047.1 He died on 7 January 1079.( http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cousin/html/p132.htm#i8422)
Whether
it is the same Eudo is uncertain but Eudo married the daughter of Rohais of Eynesbury. Eudo was a dapifer, the Norman
equivalent of a steward to the king’s household. Having the title of ‘the
sewer’ is not a derogatory reference as it sounds. In Norman times it was a
position of trust and confidence. A sewer was responsible for the ewers,
the large clay pots, of water or ale brought into the great hall and served to
the king and his guests. They had to taste it first to guarantee its quality
and check that it wasn’t poisoned. Later they became responsible for all the
food served at table, a job their life depended on. Eudo Fitzhubert (Eudo Dapifer) was a powerful Norman who owned land in
Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire,
According
to the BBC History website, Picot, the sheriff
of Cambridge was a particularly nasty example of his kind: he was characterised
as: 'A hungry lion, a ravening wolf, a cunning fox, a dirty pig and an impudent
dog' by the Abbot of Ely, with whom he had more than one run-in.).