Source: Cawley says he was born about 997, but also says that he subscribed to his father's charter in 1002, so a date as later as 997 seems unlikely. To clarify where he got his birthdate from he says, "It is unlikely that Bodon, assuming he was the oldest child by his father's marriage to Mathilde de Mâcon, could have been born before [997], given the estimated birth date of his maternal grandfather. Bouchard raises the possibility that Bodon and Landry were sons of an earlier marriage as "they seem to have had no claim to Nevers". However, it looks likely that they both predeceased their father, and it would have been improbable for [a] surviving infant issue to be installed as count instead of their adult paternal uncle. Bodon succeeded his wife's maternal uncle in [1016/20] as Comte de Vendôme, by right of his wife".