From Where Does The Surname Originate? ^{meaning and history}

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I would like to clarify (and correct) information listed concerning the name and origin of the Nugent family.

In about 963, the Count of Blois and Chartres, under orders by the King of France, waged war on the Normans in the north of France. They were severely beaten by a combined army of the Duke of Normandy and many Viking mercenaries. Some years later, in order to protect the rich plains of l'Ile de France from Noman incursion, the count of Blois and Chartres (Thibault 'the Trickster'), ordered one of his army commanders to set up an armed garrison in a tiny town called 'Nogent-le-Châtel' (the term Nogent comes from the Latin "Novientum" meaning 'New Settlement'. ) Nogent-le-Châtel was one of many new settlements in France during the early Middle Ages, but we will see that the Nugent family nameoriginated in Nogent-le Rotrou, in the county of the Perche, just south of the Normandy border.

The army commander, named Rotrou, established a stronghold in this town, so began a protracted war between theRotrou Family and the Normans. The town of Nogent-le-Châtel would eventually become known as Nogent-le-Rotrou, as many of the suceeding members of the family of Rotrou were given the same name. The Rotrou family was at war with theNormans for nearly 100 years, before making the judicious decision to side with William in his invasion of England.

Nogent-le-Rotrou was not in Normandy, the 'de Nogent' family (for that is the name they later assumed) were not Norman. Several members of the family accompanied William to England as mercenaries, and were rewarded with lands in the south of England. More than 100 years later, Henry II, King of England, sent a small force of soldiers to Ireland in 1169, an expeditionary force which was most definitely not an invasion, but the result of a call for help from an Irish King who had lost his kingdom to a neighbouring king. Unfortunately, the head of this minute army sent by Henry began to conquer major parts of Ireland, and Henry feared that he would lose control of a country which was under his authority. He himself came to Ireland with a strong expeditionary force commanded by Hugh de Lacy to recover control of the situation. Later events would turn the initial call for help into an invasion, and many English and Norman families settled in Ireland. Hugh de Lacy was given the title of Viceroy of Ireland, and he created barons, and allocated land to them. Gilbert de Nogent and his brother Richard were given lands in Westmeath. Eventually, in about 1415, their descendant, Sir William Nugent changed the name of the family to the more English form.

For more detailed information concerning the early Nugent (de Nogent) family, see.