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He was born around 1008 one of six children to Richard the Good and his wife Judith Of Brittany. Judith was the sister of the Breton Count Geoffrey who was brother in law to the Good twice on marrying his sister Hawisa. Richard was the eldest son, the youngest William was to become a monk at Fécamp while the other Robert count of Hiémois was to be seen as his nemesis.
Richard had established himself on campaign in Burgundy when we are led to believe he intervened in a dispute between Hugh the Count-Bishop of Chalons and Renaud the son of the former Duke of Burgundy. Renaud had, perhaps wisely, married a Norman girl from the Duke’s family and when he was captured and severely treated by Hugh family obligations were called upon.
After marching across the land of King Robert to Burgundy a certain amount of havoc and general mayhem ensued until Hugh fled to Chalons where he was besieged. The story goes that he feared so much for his life that he came out of the city gates with an old saddle on his back and rolled on the ground in front of Richard offering him a ride in complete humiliation.
Richard returned a hero and when his father died on 23 August 1026 he was acknowledged Duke by all the nobility. He went to swear allegiance to King Robert and was contracted to marry his young daughter Adela who as a part of the settlement was given the three pagi that made up the Northern part of the Cotentin. The duke was to have a son Nicholas who never laid claim to the Dukedom even though his claim would have been the strongest. Instead he was to become the Abbot of Saint Ouen for over fifty years. Adela was to marry Balwin V the Count of Flanders and their daughter Matilda was to marry William the Conqueror although the pope was to object to this for many years!
Richard’s brother Robert was the Count of Hiémois who controlled the are around Falaise. It is said that Robert resented the power that his brother held over him and a dispute broke out in the area but that Richard overcame any resistance that Robert may have put up. They reached an agreement and went back to Rouen where a banquet was held on 6 August 1027 in which Richard suddenly fell ill and died.
A series of political murders were to occur in the following decades in what was to become a bitter period for the Duchy. It is doubtful that Robert, who would only have been in his teens, was directly involved in the murder of his own brother but he was the main beneficiary however and poison was to prove a popular way to explain many unexpected deaths in the period though the lack of health inspectors in the kitchens may have to be seen as equally likely.