Gerberge de Lorraine

Gerberge married Count of Louvain Lambert II "The Bearded" about 994. Lambert (son of Count of Hainault III Rainer and Countess of Equisheim Adele (Alice)) was born in 954 in Louvain, Brabrant, Belgium; died in 1015. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lambert married Oda de Lorraine about 1020 in Lorraine, France. Oda (daughter of Duke of Lorraine Gonselon I "Le Grand" d'Ardenne and Princess of Italy Urracca) was born about 1000 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: I Eustace. I was born about 1004 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; died in 1047 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

II married Countess of Beteau Adele (Alix) about 1060 in Brabant, Lorraine, France. Adele (daughter of Eberhard de Beteau) was born about 1033 in of Brabant, Louvaine, France; died after 1086. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Conqueror and His Companions
by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874........

He was the son of Eustace I and Mahaut, daughter of Lambert the Bearded, Count of Louvain, and succeeded his father in or about 1047, being distinguished from him, who was called "l'oeil" (" with the eye") by the sobriquet of "aux Grenons," or "Als Gernons" ("with the whiskers"), the origin of the modern name of Algernon.

In 1050 he married Goda, daughter of Ethelred II, King of England, and widow of Gauthier, Count of Mantes, and in the following year, in the month of September, crossed the Channel from Wissant to Dover, on a visit to his brother-in-law, King Edward the Confessor, who was then at Gloucester. Returning via Canterbury and Dover, one of his attendants killed an inhabitant of the latter place, who had refused him a lodging, and was himself slain by a townsman, who avenged the deed.

The brawl soon swelled into a tumult. The English flew to arms, and attacked the Count and his followers, who fought for their lives, and, fearfully outnumbered, were at length compelled to flee for them. Roger of Wendover says this incident occurred on his first landing at Dover, and that the Count and his followers in their wrath slew a great number of men and women, and trod the children under their horses' feet. William of Malmesbury, who lays the scene at Canterbury, says that Eustace, on hearing of the murder of his servant, proceeded with all his retinue to avenge it, and killed the perpetrator of the crime and eighteen others; that the citizens, flying to arms, he lost twenty-one of his people, and had multitudes wounded (Roger of Wendover says he lost eighty men), himself and one companion with difficulty making their escape in the confusion. King Edward, on hearing from Eustace his account of the circumstances, sent for Earl Godwin, and ordered him to march with sufficient forces into Kent and punish the offenders. The Saxon Earl, jealous of the favour constantly shown to the Normans by King Edward, remonstrated, and subsequently taking up arms, demanded that the Count and Ins followers should be delivered up to him for trial, the affair resulting, after much altercation, in the banishment of Godwin and his family.

Much obloquy has been heaped upon Eustace for his conduct upon this occasion; but large allowance must be made for the bias of the English against the Normans, and save and except the main facts of the affray, the versions of it are too conflicting to enable us at the present day to come to any definite conclusion on the subject.

Returned to his dominions, Count Eustace, in 1053, gave an asylum to William Count of Talou and his family, who had been expelled from Normandy by Duke William, and in 1054 he succeeded his brother Lambert, the second husband of the Duke's sister, in the lordship of Lens, according to the same law which gave the county of Champagne to Thibaut, Count of Blois and Chartres, to the exclusion of Odo, the only child of Lambert being an infant in her cradle.

About the same period the Countess Goda died, whether without issue by Eustace is not satisfactorily settled, and in 1056, after escorting Pope Victor II to Rome from the Council of Cologne, he returned through Lower Lorraine, and paid a visit to its Duke, Geoffrey the Bearded, at Bouillon, where he saw and was captivated by the charms of the Duke's daughter, Ida, and received her hand in marriage, with the castle of Bouillon for her dowry. The nuptials were celebrated at Cambrai in December, 1057, and the second of their three sons was the famous "Godfrey of Bouillon," King of Jerusalem, born in 1060.

In 1066, Count Eustace was one of the French nobles who joined the army of the Conqueror, and of whose presence in the great conflict there can be no doubt. He is not only expressly named by William of Poitiers, and the author of the Latin poem of the battle of Hastings, but his conduct in the fight is particularly described, and he is also personally depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, the almost obliterated name of "Eustatius" over the figure having been detected by that accurate and excellent artist, the late Mr. Stothard.

Wace simply mentions a "Wiestace d'Abevile," in which Monsieur le Prévostt and Mr. Taylor hessssiitate to recognize the Count offf Boulogne,,, inn presence of the fact that both the Counts of Ponthieu and the Counts of Boulogne were occasionally called "of Abbeville." Without, however, contesting this point, there is evidence enough that Eustace II fought at Senlac, where at some period of the action he was grievously wounded. He is said to have advised William at a critical moment to retreat, and not rush upon certain death, counsel which the Conqueror was the last man to listen to. The stratagem of the feigned flight is also said to have been suggested by him, and on the Duke's second horse being killed under him, he dismounted and offered him his own. As darkness fell upon the fatal field, the headlong pursuit of the Normans led to a disaster which might have turned the scale in favour of the English. Unacquainted with the ground, a considerable body of the Norman cavalry, galloping down the north side of the hill of Senlac, suddenly found themselves floundering in a morass, and the flying foe, perceiving their hapless condition, turned upon them and slew the greater number.

The Norman panegyrist of the Conqueror tells us that Count Eustace, imagining that the English had been strongly reinforced, rode back with fifty knights to William, and again advised him to retreat, when at the moment he was speaking he was struck by some one between the shoulder-blades with such violence that the blood gushed from his mouth and nostrils, and he was borne from the field in a dying state. How and by whom such a blow -- a blow which Orderic says was heard -- could be struck at that moment upon that spot, even in the darkness, without the dealer of it being detected, I am at a loss to imagine. The enemy had been driven from that portion of the ground, and Eustace, with fifty knights at his back, was speaking confidentially to the Duke, who was certainly not without his own officers and attendants. They were both on horseback too, and so heavy a blow between the shoulder-blades could only have been dealt with a mace by a mounted man, or by one on foot with the long-handled axe of a Saxon soldier, and in neither case without observation, as the assailant must have been close to him, and could not have escaped instant death. Remember, it was on the summit of the hill, in the open air, with the sky for a background, and the darkness must have been Egyptian if the erect form of a man could escape the observation of so many surrounding friends and followers. If there be any truth in the story, the incident occurred at an earlier period, during the confusion of the fight, in the midst of the mélée, and not at the e e e e e e e e e time stated by ththe w writeter.r.

I have dwelt upon this point because it will be found of importance hereafter.

That Count Eustace was rewarded for his services, whatever they may have been, for they are not particularized, by large grants of land in England there can be little doubt, but he speedily forfeited them by his attempt, in 1067, to seize Dover Castle, at the instigation of the disaffected men of Kent, during William's absence in Normandy; and though many manors were probably restored to him on his subsequent reconciliation with the Conqueror, they cannot at present be distinguished from those which were added to them at a later period, or might have been acquired by his son, Eustace III, who is the tenant recorded in Domesday, and at the time of its compilation was about twenty-seven. The attempt on Dover failed, through the loyalty of the royal garrison and the personal hostility to Eustace entertained by the townsmen from the recollection of the fatal affray in 1051. A vigorous sally on the besiegers compelled them to retreat, and a report that Bishop Odo was advancing with a large force, created a panic that sent them flying in confusion back to their ships, which few of them reached in safety, many being slain, and more taken prisoners, amongst whom William of Poitiers mentions a young nephew of Eustace, of whose name or subsequent fate we have no information.

Eustace himself contrived to escape to his own country, but on the King's return to England in 1068, the Count of Boulogne was outlawed, and his honours and lands in this country forfeited. By what means he regained the favour and friendship of the Conqueror is unknown. William seems never to have thoroughly trusted him, as he took hostages for his good behaviour before the expedition to Hastings, and now, after this overt act of treason, the avowed object of which was to deprive him of his hardly won crown, forgiveness was out of the question, except from motives of that crafty policy which was throughout his life the sole guide of the Conqueror's conduct. What those motives were on this occasion must be left to conjecture, but Eustace was a dangerous neighbour, and owed fealty to Philip l King of France, as well as to William 1, King of England. It was at the instigation of the former over-lord that he had broken with the latter and allied himself with the Kentish insurgents, and William may have thought no price too dear to secure at least his neutrality in prospect of a war with France.

In 1071 he espoused the cause of Richilde and her son, Baldwin, Count of Flanders, and in the February of that year defeated their competitor, Robert the Frison, at Montcassel, and, pursuing him to St. Omer, took him prisoner. On regaining his liberty some few months afterwards, Robert in his turn defeated Eustace, and took him prisoner at the battle of Broqueroie.

Godfrey, the brother of Eustace, Chancellor of France and Bishop of Paris, ransomed him, and Robert, to obtain his alliance, ceded to him the Forest of Bethlo and the Castle of Sperli.

Various dates have been given of his death. One writer placing it in 1065, in which case he could not have fought at Senlac. The "Art de Vérifier les Dates," which denies this and also ttttthe date of 1080,,,,,, givenn by another author, prolongs las existence to 1093; but no authority is quoted, and the probability is in favour of 1080, as the late Sir Henry Ellis cites a charter in winch Ida, the second wife of this Eustace, is described as a widow in 1081. The point is of great importance, because if he did not die till 1093, he must have been the Count Eustace of Boulogne who was implicated in the rebellion against Rufus in 1088 (as stated by the compilers of the great work above mentioned), and also the Count Eustace of Domesday, which I think it is perfectly clear he was not.

The author of "Carmen de Bello," said to have been Guy, Bishop of Amiens, recounts with great gusto a barbarous outrage committed by Eustace and three other knights -- namely, Walter Giffard, Hugh de Montfort, and some one he calls "the heir of Ponthieu" [" Pontivi nobilis hæres"], on the still breathing but mortally-wounded Harold, who, pierced through the right eye by a falling arrow, had sunk in agony at the foot of his standard. One knight thrust his lance through the shield of the dying King, and stabbed him in the breast; another assailant finished the work by striking off his head with his sword: but even this vengeance was not enough; a third pierced the dead body and scattered about the entrails; the fourth coming, it would seem, too late for any more efficient share in the deed, cut off the king's leg as he lay dead!

Mr. Freeman, while reprobating in a proper spirit this "inglorious exploit," accepts it as a matter of fact, though it is not alluded to by any other contemporary, and is partially contradicted by their accounts of the death of Harold.

I place no faith in it whatever. William of Poitiers is silent altogether on the subject; Orderic simply says, "Harold was slain in the first onset." From Wace we receive the earliest account of the fall of the arrow, of Harold's attempting to extract it, and breaking the shaft; of his leaning for support, in his agony, on his shield, and being attacked by two knights, one of wbom struck him down by a blow on the head, and the other, as he attempted to regain his footing, severely wounded him in the thigh, which was cut to the bone; but he honestly adds that by whose arm he was slain he knew not, and never heard. The Bayeux Tapestry corroborates this account. Harold is first depicted with the fatal arrow in his eye, and then prostrate in front of a knight who, as he is attempting to rise (the action is unmistakable) is dealing him a blow on the thigh with his long Norman sword.

William of Malmesbury says that Harold fell from having his brain pierced with an arrow from a distance, and that one of the soldiers with a sword gashed his thigh as he lay prostrate, for which shameful and cowardly action he was branded with ignominy by William and dismissed the service.

Who was this nameless soldier? Certainly not one of the noble and distinguished warriors on whom the Latin libeller has flung his wretched calumnies. Who was the heir of Ponthieu he speaks of? Mr. Freeman says: "Nor are we amazed to find the son of Guy of Ponthieu foremost in showing despite to the man who had once been his father's prisoner." Why? -- what had Harold done to injure Guy of Ponthieu? He was the injured, not the offender! Guy I, Count of Ponthieu, who arrested Harold when thrown upon his coast in 1062, had succeeded his brother Enguerrand II, who was slain before Arques in 1053, and died circa 1100, leaving by his wife Ada, who died before him, an only child, Agnes, married to Robert de Belesme. He is said to have had a son named lvo, whom he had associated with himself in the government, but the boy as well as his inother preceded him to the grave, and the heir of Ponthieu in 1066 was, if not this young lvo -- in which case I give the Bishop joy of his great nephew -- no other than the Bishop himself ! As regards the person who is the especial subject of this memoir, the "cowardly" Eustace Count of Boulogne -- his share in the brutality, whatever it was, can only be brought home to him by some more credible witness than a romancer, who tells us that Duke William slew two thousand English at the battle of Hastings with his own hand ! I have already expressed my doubts about the period of the battle when Eustace received the terrible blow in the back, which caused the blood to burst from his mouth and nostrils and, according to Orderic, to be "borne from the field in a dying state."

If this incident occurred in the heat and confusion of the fight -- and otherwise it appears impossible -- Eustace was not present at the fall of Harold. Under any circumstances, if he were, and had been guilty of one of the dastardly acts the Bishop celebrates, the detestation, deserved or not, which the English seem to have held him in, would have caused them to spread the scandal far and wide. When it is proved to me that an heir to the County of Ponthieu was in the battle, I will reconsider the evidence against the Count of Boulogne.

II married Princess of England Goda (Godgifu) about 1050. Goda (daughter of King of England Æthelred II "The Unready" and of Normandy Emma) was born about 1009 in Wessex, England; died before 1056 in Lewes, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alix married Baldwin, Count of Hainaut II in 1084. Baldwin (son of Count of Flanders Baldwin VI "The Good" and Countess of Hainault and Namur Richilda) was born in 1056 in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium; died after 8 Jun 1098 in Antalya, Antalya, Turkey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Baldwin married Yolande von Guelders in 1107. Yolande (daughter of Count of Guelders Gerald (Gerhard) (Gueldres) de Wasseberg, I and Clemence de Poitou) was born in 1089 in Wassenberg, Heinsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; died on 10 Nov 1110 in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ida married Seigneur de Marl Thomas de Courcy about 1098 in Boves, Somme, France. Thomas (son of Count d'Amiens Enguerrand I de Courcy and Comtesse de Roucy Ade de Marle) was born about 1082 in Boves, Somme, France; died in 1131. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Baldwin married Alix de Namur about 1140 in Namur, Belgium. Alix (daughter of Count of Namur I Godfrey and Countess of Luxembourg Ermisende Luxembourg) was born in 1117 in Namur, Namur, Belgium; died on 31 Jul 1195 in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium; was buried in Mons, Mons, Hainaut, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Baldwin married of Flanders Marguerite I de Flandre in 1169. Marguerite (daughter of Duke of Alsace, Count of Flanders III Thierry and Sibylla d'Anjou) was born in 1135 in Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France; died on 15 Nov 1194 in France, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine, France; was buried in Bruges, Brugge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Seigneur de Mar Raoul I de Courcy about 1163 in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium. Raoul (son of Enguerrand II de Courcy and Agnes de Beaugency) was born about 1139 in Boves, Somme, France; died on 1 Nov 1191 in Siege of Acre, Palestine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabella married King of France Philip II Augustus Capet on 28 Apr 1180 in Bapaume, Normandy, France. Philip (son of King of France Louis VII "The Younger" Capet and Adele de Blois) was born on 21 Aug 1165 in Gonesse, France; died on 14 Jul 1223 in Mantes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Yolande married Emperor of Constantinople Peter (Pierre) Courtenay, II on 1 Jul 1193 in Soissons, Aisne, Ille-de-France, France. Peter (son of Emperor of Constantinople Pierre II Capet and Elizabeth) was born in 1155 in Courtenay, Galinois, France; died in Jun 1219 in Epirus, Turkey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Adrianople

Baldwin married Marie de Champagne on 6 Jun 1186. Marie (daughter of Count of Champagne and Brie Henry I "The Liberal" de Blois and of France Marie Capet) was born about 1174 in Champagne, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France; died on 9 Aug 1204 in Acre, Northern District, Israel; was buried in Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Yolande married Count of Dreux II Robert in 1184 in Dreux, Eure-et-Loire, France. II (son of Count of Dreux Robert Capet and Agnes de Baudement) was born about 1154 in France; was christened in 1218; died on 28 Dec 1218; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Louis married of Castile Blanche on 23 May 1200 in Bapaume, Normandy, France. Blanche (daughter of King of Castile VIII Alfonso and Princess of England Eleanor Plantagenet) was born on 4 Mar 1187/88 in Palencia, Castile, Spain; died on 30 Nov 1253 in Palais du Louver, Paris, Seine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Between 1191 and 1280, Flanders and the neighboring region of Hainaut were ruled as a united countship. In 1280, following the death of Margaret of Flanders, the union was dissolved. Margaret's son, Guy de Dampierre, succeeded to the countship of Flanders, and her grandson, John II of Avesnes, became count of Hainaut. In the early 14th century, Flanders was invaded and subjugated by King Philip IV of France. Although the countship was acknowledged nominally, France became the real ruler of Flanders. In 1369 Bourgogne acquired Flanders through the marriage of Philip the Bold, duke of Bourgogne, to Margaret of Flanders, daughter of Louis II, count of Flanders. The history of Flanders as an independent state ceased that year. In 1477 Flanders passed to the house of Habsburg.

Margaret married Bouchard d'Avesnes, Lord of Avesnes and Étrœungt IV before 23 Jul 1212, and was divorced in 1221. Bouchard (son of Jacques d'Avesnes, Seigneur de Avensnes and Adela de Guise) was born in 1182 in Avesnes, Pas-De-Calais, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, France; died on 7 Sep 1244 in Rupelmonde, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium; was buried in Arlon, Arlon, Luxembourg, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Leonore de St. Valery about 1211 in Dreux, Eure-et-Loire, France. Leonore (daughter of Thomas de St. Valery and Adela de Ponthieu) was born about 1185. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Matilde de Brabant on 14 Jun 1237. Matilde (daughter of Duke of Brabant II Henry and Marie von Hohenstaufen) was born in 1224 in Brabant, France; died on 29 Sep 1288 in Artois, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Louis married Marguerite Berenguer in 1234 in Sens, Yvonne, France. Marguerite (daughter of Count of Provence Ramon IV Berenguer and Beatrice de Savoy) was born about 1221 in St Maime, Alpes, France; died on 21 Dec 1295 in Paris, Seine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Beatrice Berenguer. Beatrice (daughter of Count of Provence Ramon IV Berenguer and Beatrice de Savoy) was born in 1234 in Provence, France; died on 12 Jul 1267. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Aleida Van Holland on 9 Oct 1246. Aleida (daughter of Floris Van Holland Count of Holland, IV and Mathilde de Brabant) was born in 1230 in 's-Hertogenbosch, S-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands; died on 9 Apr 1283 in Valenciennes, Pas-De-Calais, France; was buried in Flines-lez-Rachedu, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Yolande married Duke of Burgundy IV Hugh in 1229 in Burgundy, France. IV (son of Duke of Burgundy III Eudes and Alice de Vergy) was born about 9 Mar 1212 in Burgundy, France; died in Feb 1273 in Villaine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Blanche married King of Navarre Henry I "The Fat" in 1269. Henry (son of King of Navarre Thibault V (Theobald)) was born about 1244 in Troyes, Aube, France; died on 22 Jul 1274 in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Blanche married Edmund "Crouchback" Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster before 3 Feb 1275/76 in Paris, Seine, France. Edmund (son of King of England Henry III Plantagenet and Eleanor Berenguer) was born on 16 Jan 1245 in London, Middlesex, England; died on 5 Jun 1296 in Bayonne, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine, France; was buried on 15 Jul 1296 in Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Philip married of Aragon Isabelle de Aragon on 28 May 1262 in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-et-Dome, France. Isabelle (daughter of King of Aragon Jaime I "The Conqueror" and of Hungary Violant) was born in 1247 in Montpellier, Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon, France; died on 28 Jan 1271 in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy; was buried in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Philip married of Brabant Maria (Mary) in 1274. Maria (daughter of Duke of Brabant III Henry and of Bourgogne Alix) was born in 1260 in Louvain, Brabrant, Belgium; died on 12 Jun 1321 in Murel, France; was buried in Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Charles married Princess of Hungary Maria (Mary) Arpad about 1270. Maria (daughter of King of Hungary Stephen (Istvan), V and Princess of Cumania Elizabeth (Erzsebet)) was born in 1257 in Budapest, Hungary; died on 25 Mar 1323. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Philippa Luxembourg in 1270 in Luxembourg. Philippa (daughter of Henry V Luxembourg and Margaret Bar) was born in 1252 in Luxembourg; died on 6 Apr 1311 in Valenciennes, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; was buried in Valenciennes, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alix married Duke of Brabant III Henry about 1250 in Bourgogne, Marne, France. III (son of Duke of Brabant II Henry and Marie von Hohenstaufen) was born about 1226 in Brabant, Louvain, France; died on 28 Feb 1261. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jeanne married Philip IV "The Fair" Capet, King of France in 1284. Philip (son of King of France Philip III "The Bold" Capet and of Aragon Isabelle de Aragon) was born on 28 May 1268 in Isle, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died on 29 Nov 1314 in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France; was buried in Saint-Denis, Departement de Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Newark Abbey

Died:
Age: 64

Henry married Maud de Chaworth before 2 Mar 1297. Maud (daughter of Lord of Kidwelly Patrick de Chaworth and Isabel Beauchamp) was born on 2 Feb 1282 in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales; died on 19 Feb 1320 in Mottisfont Priory, Hampshire, England; was buried in Mottisfont Priory, Hamps, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (c. 1278 - March 22, 1322) was one of the leaders of the baronial opposition to Edward II of England. Thomas was the eldest son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster and Blanche of Artois. His paternal grandparents were Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. His maternal grandparents were Robert I of Artois and Matilda of Brabant. Matilda was a daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant. From his father Thomas inherited the Earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby. By his marriage to Alice de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln, daughter of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, he became Earl of Lincoln, Earl of Salisbury and the 11th Baron of Halton upon the death of his father-in-law in 1311. Master of five earldoms, he was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in England. He served in the coronation of his cousin, King Edward II of England, on February 25, 1308, carrying Curtana, the sword of St Edward the Confessor. At the beginning of the king's reign, Lancaster openly supported Edward, but as the conflict between the king and the nobles wore on, Lancaster's allegiances changed. He despised the royal favourite, Piers Gaveston, who mocked him as "the Fiddler", and swore revenge when Gaveston demanded that the king dismiss one of Lancaster's retainers. Lancaster was one of the Lords Ordainers who demanded the banishment of Gaveston and the establishment of a baronial oligarchy. His private army helped separate the king and Gaveston, and Lancaster was one of the "judges" who convicted Gaveston and saw him executed. His marriage to Alice de Lacy was not successful. They had no children, though he had two illegitimate sons. In 1317 she was abducted from her manor at Canford, Dorset by Richard de St Martin, a knight in the service of John de Warenne, 8th Earl of Surrey. This incident caused a feud between Lancaster and Surrey; Lancaster divorced his wife and seized two of Surrey's castles in retaliation. King Edward then intervened, and the two earls came to an uneasy truce. Although divorced from his wife, he continued to hold the powerful earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury. This was due to the marriage contract the two families had agreed, in effect upon the death of his father-in-law, Earl Thomas held these earldoms in his own right, not in right of his wife. Coats of Arms of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, and his successors.After the disaster at Bannockburn in 1314, Edward submitted to Lancaster, who in effect became ruler of England. He attempted to govern for the next four years, but was unable to keep order or prevent the Scots from raiding and retaking territory in the North. In 1318 a new faction of barons arose, and Lancaster was deposed from office. Pontefract Castle, Lancaster's favourite residence.The new leadership, eventually headed by Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester and his son Hugh the younger Despenser, proved no more popular with the baronage, and in 1321 Lancaster was again at the head of a rebellion. This time, however, he was defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge, and taken prisoner. He was tried by a tribunal consisting of, among others, the two Despensers, Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, and King Edward. Lancaster was not allowed to speak in his own defence, nor was he allowed to have anyone to speak for him. Because of their kinship and Lancaster's royal blood, the king commuted the sentence to mere beheading (as opposed to being drawn, quartered, and beheaded) and Lancaster was convicted of treason and executed near Pontefract Castle. Upon his death his titles and estates were forfeited, but in 1323 his younger brother Henry successfully petitioned to take possession of the Earldom of Leicester. In 1326 or 1327 Parliament posthumously reversed Thomas's conviction, and Henry was further permitted to take possession of the Earldoms of Lancaster, Derby, Salisbury and Lincoln. Thomas became venerated as a martyr and saint within a few months of his death. Hagiographies were written about him, and Edward III wrote three times to the Pope requesting his canonisation. He was never canonised, though rumours to that effect arose in the 1390s, when his cult experienced something of a revival. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Died:
Beheaded

Thomas married Alice de Lacy, 4th Countess of Lincoln in 1294, and was divorced in 1319. Alice (daughter of Henry de Lacy and Margaret Longespee, Countess of Salisbury) was born on 25 Dec 1281 in Grismond Castle, Monmouthshire, England; died on 2 Oct 1348 in Barlings Abbey, Birling, Kent, England; was buried in Barlings, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Princess of Sicily Margaret d'Anjou. Margaret (daughter of King of Naples Charles II "The Lame" d'Anjou and Princess of Hungary Maria (Mary) Arpad) was born in 1273 in Sicily; died on 31 Dec 1299; was buried in Jacobins, Paris, Seine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Matilda de Châtillon. Matilda died on 3 Oct 1358. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Philip married Queen of Navarre Jeanne I de Navarre in 1284. Jeanne (daughter of King of Navarre Henry I "The Fat" and of Artois Blanche Capet) was born on 14 Jan 1273 in Bar-sur-Seine, l'Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died on 4 Apr 1305 in Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, Ile-de-France, France; was buried in Paris, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Marguerite married Edward "Longshanks" Plantagenet, King of England on 10 Sep 1299. Edward (son of King of England Henry III Plantagenet and Eleanor Berenguer) was born on 17 Jun 1239 in Westminster Palace, London, Middlesex, England; died on 7 Jul 1307 in Burgh-on-the-Sands, near Carlisle, Northumberland, England; was buried in Westminster Palace, London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Duke of Anjou Charles III de Valois. Charles (son of King of France Philip III "The Bold" Capet and of Aragon Isabelle de Aragon) was born on 12 Mar 1270 in Fontainebleau, France; died on 15 Dec 1325. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Jeanne de Valois on 29 May 1305 in Chanay, Ain, Rhône-Alpes, France. Jeanne (daughter of Duke of Anjou Charles III de Valois and Princess of Sicily Margaret d'Anjou) was born about 1294 in Fontainebelau, Seine-et-Marne, France; died on 7 Mar 1342 in Fontenelle, Yonne, France; was buried in Maing, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maria married King of France Philip III "The Bold" Capet in 1274. Philip (son of King of France Louis IX "St. Louis" Capet and Marguerite Berenguer) was born on 1 May 1245 in Poissy, Yvelines, Ile-De-France, France; died on 5 Oct 1285 in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon, France; was buried in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]