In writing on one occasion from Bec to his uncles at Aosta, Anselm mentions that the bearer of his letter is a son of William Crispin. This was a brother of the future abbot of Westminster, and it is interesting to note the terms in which Anselm refers to him and his family. ‘He is rich, and of the first nobility of Normandy: yet his mother and brothers are so intimate with me, that his mother calls me her son, and her children call me their brother—only they say, elder brother.’

In tracing the history of this family, more than one of whom found a home in England, we are fortunate in possessing a curious document entitled, ‘The Miracle whereby Blessed Mary succoured William Crispin senior: wherein is an account of the noble family of the Crispins’ It is printed by Luc d'Achery in his appendix to Lanfranc's works: it comes immediately after Milo Crispin's Lives of the Abbots of Bec, and is probably written by Milo Crispin himself, of whom we shall speak lower down.

The first of the name, says the writer, was Gilbert, called Crispin from the fashion of his hair, which stood on end—a feature which he transmitted to his descendants, who are still distinguished from other Norman families both by this peculiarity and by the surname to which it gave rise.