Count of Ardennes Theodore

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married of Auxerre Adelheid about 892 in Burgundy, Burgundy, France. Adelheid (daughter of Count of Auxerre II Conrad and Ermentrude) was born about 860 in of Burgundy, France; died after 14 Sep 929. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermengarde married Duke of Burgundy Gislebert before 956 in Bourgogne, France. Gislebert (son of Manasses "The Old" Chalons and Princess of Burgundy Ermengarde) was born about 890; died on 8 Apr 956. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Count of Hainault II Rainer about 923 in Hainault, Belgium. II (son of Count of Lorraine Rainer (Regnier), I and of France Hersent) was born about 886; died about 892. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Count of Troyes Robert de Vermandois, Count of Meaux and Troyes about 938 in Vermandois, France. Robert (son of Herbert de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois Count of Meaux and Count of Soissons II and Adele Capet) was born about 918 in Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France; died on 29 Aug 968 in Champagne, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France; was buried in Saint-Aubin, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Robert I de Meulan about 960 in Meulan, Seine-et-Oise, France. Robert (son of Galeran II de Meulan) was born about 939 in Meulan, Seine-et-Oise, France; died on 18 Dec 967. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Count of Macon Otto Letald about 936 in Bourgogne, Marne, France. Otto (son of Letald de Macon and Ermengarde de Chalons) was born about 919 in Macon, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

III married Countess of Equisheim Adele (Alice) about 949 in Hainault, Belgium. Adele (daughter of Count of Equisheim Hugh and Hawise von Dagsburg) was born about 929 in Germany. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death: 12 Mar 976, Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France

Adelaide married Geoffrey "Greymantle" d'Anjou on 7 Dec 965 in Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France. Geoffrey (son of Fulk II "The Good" d'Anjou and Gerberge d'Arles) was born on 11 Nov 938 in Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France; died on 21 Jul 987 in Marcon, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France; was buried in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Count of Chalon Lambert d'Autun about 947 in Chalons sur Saône, Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. Lambert was born about 924 in Autun, Loire, Rhone-Alpes, France; died on 22 Feb 977 in Chalons sur Saône, Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Geoffrey, Count of Anjou I. Geoffrey was born on 11 Nov 938 in Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France; died on 21 Jul 987 in Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gerberge married King of Italy, Marquis of Ivrea Adalbert about 954 in Burgundy, France. Adalbert (son of King of Italy, Marquis of Ivrea II Berenger and of Tuscany Willa) was born in 936 in of Lombardy, Italy; died on 30 Apr 971 in Italy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gerberge married Duke of Burgundy I Henri in 972 in Seine, France. I was born in 946 in France; died on 15 Oct 1001/1002. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lambert married Gerberge de Lorraine about 994. Gerberge (daughter of Duke of Lorraine Charles and Bonne Adelaide) was born about 985 in of Lower, Lorraine, France; died in 1015/1018. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fulk married Elizabeth de Vendome before 990 in France. Elizabeth (daughter of Bouchard IV "The Old" de Vendome and Elizabeth de Corbiel) was born about 960 in Vendome, Anjou, France; died in 1000. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fulk married Hildegarde de Lorraine in 1001 in Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France. Hildegarde (daughter of Adalbert von Metz and Judith von Ohningen Comtesse Konradiner) was born in 987 in Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France; died on 1 Apr 1046 in Jerusalem; was buried in Jerusalem. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermengarde married Conan I "The Crooked", Duke of Brittany Count of Rennes about 970 in Le Mont Saint Michel, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France,. Conan (son of Juhel Beranger and Gerberge) was born in 944 in Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France; died on 16 Jun 1017 in Conquereuil, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France; was buried in Pontorson, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Gerard de Vergy about 974 in Vergy, France. Gerard (son of of Burgundy Uralon Vergy and Judith de Fonvens) was born about 954 in of Vergy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Count of Semur II Geoffroy about 967 in France. II was born about 952 in of Semur, Cote-d'Or, France; died about 1015. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Duke of Burgundy I Henri in Jun 992 in France. I was born in 946 in France; died on 15 Oct 1001/1002. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Stuart's "Royalty For Commoners" (94:33) calls him King of Lombardy and Count of Burgundy and Macon. This is also the source for his 2nd marriage to ADELAIDE/BLANCHE OF ANJOU.

Quoting from Christopher Cope's "The Lost Kingdom of Burgundy": "CONRAD was succeeded as King of Burgundy in 993 by his son Rudolph III. In 1006 the EMPORER HENRY II siezed Basel and extracted a promise from Rudolph to name him as his heir. Rudolph was childless and HENRY was his oldest nephew; however the prospect was anethema in Burgundy to high and low alike, and when Otto William, the most powerful lord in the kingdom, raised the standard of revolt in 1016, many rallied to him; few Burgundians wished to be ruled by the alien Germans. But Otto William was more than a folk hero, he was a man of high ambition. A contemporary wrote of him, 'Though nomially a vassal of the King of Burgundy, Otto William was resolved to be soverign master of his own territories.' "Otto Willam whose mother was Burgundian, was the son and grandson of the last 'national' kings of Italy, now ousted by the OTTONIAN EMPORERS. He was initially Count of Macon and Count of Burgundy, which means he held the lands north and west of the Jura known today as Franche Compte. In 1002 he was chosen by the bishops and barons of the area to succeed his stepfather [Henry I Capet] as Duke of Burgundy, but he was expelled from the Duchy after a long conflict by the KING OF FRANCE, ROBERT CAPET. The latter's younger son, also ROBERT, became Duke of Burgundy, founding the junior branch of the Capetian dynasty...." "Unhappily Otto William divided his efforts between his ambitons in Italy and in Burgundy and was defeated in both - perhaps the first case of a Burgundian prince failing in Burgundy because of involvement in Italy. But he and his allies continued to defy Rudolph and to challenge HENRY's claims to the succession. Their efforts seemed rewarded when HENRY died in 1024, for his successor, CONRAD, THE FIRST FRANCONIAN EMPORER, had only a very distant claim of blood to the Burgundian throne. However, he had married one of Rudolph's nieces and in 1026 Otto William died, and so Rudolph set aside the rights of his [i.e. Rudolph's) nephew and heir ODO OF BLOIS [aka EUDES II, COUNT OF BLOIS AND CHAMPAIGN] and on his death-bed in 1032 he sent Burgundy's regalia to CONRAD."

Otto married Adelaide d'Anjou before 1016. Adelaide (daughter of Fulk III "The Black", Count of Anjou and Hildegarde de Lorraine) died in 1026. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Otto married of Rheims Ermentrude de Roucy about 978 in Bourgogne, Marne, France. Ermentrude (daughter of Count of Rheims and Roucy Renaud of Roucy, Count of Roucy and Alberade de Roucy) was born about 963 in Rheim, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died before 5 Mar 1005 in Macon, Loire, Rhone-Alpes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Bertha married Olderico Manfredo di Torino about 995 in Susa, Torino, Italy. Olderico (son of Count of Torino I Manfredo and Prangarda di Canossa) was born about 972 in Torino, Italy; died on 23 Dec 1035. [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]

Ermengarde married Robert I "The Old" Capet, Duke of Burgundy about 1048 in France. Robert (son of King of France Robert II "The Pious" Capet and of Toulouse Constance d'Arles) was born about 1011 in Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France; died on 21 Mar 1076 in Fleury-Sur-Ouche, Yonne, Bourgogne, France; was buried in St Seine Abbey, Semur. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermengarde married Count of the Gatinais Aubri Geoffrey, Cunt of the Gatinals about 1035 in France. Aubri (son of Count of the Gatinais Geoffrey III "Ferreol" and Beatrice de Macon) was born about 1000 in Chateau Landon, Seine-et-Marne, France; died on 1 Apr 1046 in Jerusalem. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Angers Abbey, Angers, Anjou, France

Family/Spouse: Comtesse de Bourgogne Agnes de Macon. Agnes (daughter of Otto, King of Lombardy I and of Rheims Ermentrude de Roucy) was born in 995 in of Bourgogne, France; died on 10 Nov 1068. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gunnora married Gilbert de Clare, Count of Brionne in 1021 in Tillieres, Eure, France. Gilbert (son of Geoffrey, Count of Brionne and Hawise de Guines) was born in 1000 in Brionne, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France; died on 24 Nov 1040 in Eschafour,, Eu, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gilbert de Bec,, Seigneur de Tillieres et Bec. Gilbert was born about 990 in Tillières, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France; died in 1046 in Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Otto, King of Lombardy I before 1016. Otto (son of King of Italy, Marquis of Ivrea Adalbert and Countess of Burgundy Gerberge) was born in 966 in Ivrea, Torino, Piemonte, Italy; died on 21 Sep 1026 in Dijon, Cantal, Auvergne, France; was buried in Dijon, Cantal, Auvergne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Judith married Richard, Duke of Normandy II in 996 in France. Richard (son of Richard I "The Fearless", Duke of Normandy and Gunnora de Crepon) was born on 28 Aug 962 in Fécamp, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France; died on 28 Aug 1026 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France; was buried in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Geoffrey married Hedwig de Normandy in 996 in Bretagne, France. Hedwig (daughter of Richard I "The Fearless", Duke of Normandy and Gunnora de Crepon) was born in 977 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France; died on 21 Feb 1034 in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France; was buried in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Aremburge married Count of Semur I Dalmace in 1015 in France. I (son of Count of Semur II Geoffroy and Maud (Mathilda) de Chalons) was born about 976 in of Semur, Cote-d'Or, France; died in 1032. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

I married Aremburge de Vergy in 1015 in France. Aremburge (daughter of Gerard de Vergy and Elizabeth de Chalons) was born about 980 in of Vergy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Count of Aquitaine William VII "The Great" in 1018 in France. William (son of Count of Aquitaine William IV "Ironarm" and of Blois Emma) was born in 969 in of Poiter, France; died on 31 Jan 1030 in Abbey Saint Cyprien of Poitiers. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Geoffroy II "Martel" d'Anjou. Geoffroy (son of Fulk III "The Black", Count of Anjou and Hildegarde de Lorraine) was born on 13 Oct 1006 in Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France; died on 14 Nov 1061. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Renaud married Countess of Burgundy Alice (Adelaide) de Normandie before 1 Sep 1016 in Burgundy, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France.. Alice (daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy II and Judith de Rennes) was born on 22 Apr 1003 in Reims, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died on 27 Jul 1037 in Bourgogne, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Marchese of Montferrat Enrico in 1042 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Count of Maurienne and Chablais Oddon in 1046 in Savoy, France. Oddon (son of Count of Savoy I Humbert and Ancelie von Lenzburg) was born about 1017 in of Suze, France; died on 1 Mar 1060. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adelaide married Duke of Swabia IV Hermann about 1021 in of Torino, Germany, Italy. IV (son of Duke of Swabia and Margrave of Austria Ernst and Duchess of Swabia Gisele) was born about 1005 in of Swabia, Bavaria; died on 28 Jul 1038. [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]

Hildegard married Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitiers William VIII (Guillaume) about 1069. William (son of Count of Aquitaine William VII "The Great" and Comtesse de Bourgogne Agnes de Macon) was born about 1026; died on 25 Sep 1086 in Chateau de Chize, Deux-Sevres, Poitou-Charentes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fulk married Hildegard de Beaugency in 1070 in Anjou, Isere, Rhone-Alpes, France. Hildegard was born in 1044 in Beaugency, Loiret, Centre, France; died on 14 Feb 1116 in Anjou, Isere, Rhone-Alpes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fulk married Bertrade de Montfort about 1077. Bertrade (daughter of Simon de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort and Agnès d'Évreux) was born in May 1059 in Montfort-l'Amaury, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France; died on 14 Feb 1117 in Fontevrault, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France; was buried in Saint-Remy-l'Honore, des Yvelines, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fulk married in 1090. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1030, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England

Notes:

also Sheriff of Devon

Family/Spouse: Rohese Giffard. Rohese (daughter of Count of Longueville Walter Giffard and Ermentrude (Ermengarde) Fleitel) was born about 1035 in Longueville, Normandy, France; died after 1133. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Baldwin de Brionis, who, for the distinguished part he had in the Conquest, obtained from King William the Barony of Okehampton, the custody of the co. of Devon, and the government of the castle of Exeter in fee. He m. Albreda, dau. of Richard, surnamed Gos, Count of Avranche, and had, with other issue,
I. Richard, surnamed de Redvers.
II. Robert, governor of Brione.
I. Emma, m. 1st to William Avenal, and 2ndly, to William de Abrincis.

[Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, p. 140, Courtenay, Barons Courtenay, Earls of Devon]

Family/Spouse: Albreda d'Avranches. Albreda was born about 1020 in Avranches, Normandy, France; died in Okehampton, Devonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Emma. Emma was born about 1030 in Brionne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Esilia married William Malet about 1041 in Normandy, France. William (son of Earl of Mercia III Ælfgar and Alversa Malet) was born in 1014 in Graville, Normandy, France; died about 1071. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gilbert married Eva de Montfort in 1074 in France. Eva (daughter of Amaury de Montfort, Lord of Montfort I and Bertrade de Gometz) was born in 1045 in Isle, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died after 1086 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert contributed to the restoration of Henry King of France to his throne and received from the gratitude of that monarch the Vexin as an addition to his patrimonial domains. In the 8th year of his reign, curiosity or devotion induced him to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where the fatigues of the journey and the heat of the climate so impaired his constitution he died on his way home.

Some sources call him Robert I the Magnificent!

Robert married Officer of the Household Hariette de Falaise about 1023. Hariette (daughter of Fulbert "The Tanner" de Falaise and Doda (Duxia)) was born in 1003 in Falaise, Normandy, France; died in 1035; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Adèle Capet, Princess of France in Jan 1026 in Nevers, Nièvre, Bourgogne, France. Adèle (daughter of King of France Robert II "The Pious" Capet and of Toulouse Constance d'Arles) was born in 1009 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees, France; died on 8 Jan 1078 in Monastere de Lordre de St Benoist, Messines, France; was buried in Mesen, Ieper, West Flanders, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Renaud, Count of Burgundy I before 1 Sep 1016 in Burgundy, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France.. Renaud (son of Otto, King of Lombardy I and of Rheims Ermentrude de Roucy) was born in 990 in Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France; died on 4 Sep 1057 in Fecamp, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France; was buried in Besancon, Franche-Comté, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Emma married Ivo, Vicomte de Cotentin on 2 Apr 1043 in Bretagne, France. Ivo (son of Niel, Vicomte de St. Sauveur II and Adela d'Eu) was born in 1026 in Bellomontensis, Cotentin Manche Normandy, France; died on 22 May 1059 in Contentin, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Helie married Robert I "The Old" Capet, Duke of Burgundy about 1033 in France. Robert (son of King of France Robert II "The Pious" Capet and of Toulouse Constance d'Arles) was born about 1011 in Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France; died on 21 Mar 1076 in Fleury-Sur-Ouche, Yonne, Bourgogne, France; was buried in St Seine Abbey, Semur. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Founded the Priory of St. Gemma in Xaintonge. Some sources say died 1021, but no Duke of Aquitaine died then according to Stammtafeln.

William married of Burgundy Hildegard about 1069. Hildegard (daughter of Robert I "The Old" Capet, Duke of Burgundy and Ermengarde Blanche d'Anjou) was born in 1050; died after 1104. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Mathide de la Marche about 1058. Mathide (daughter of Hugh V "The Fair" de Lusignan and Almodis de la Marche, Countess of Limoges Toulouse and Barcelona) was born in 1035. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Ermesin about 1050 in Namur, France. Ermesin was born about 1030 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich (Henry) III "The Black" on 21 Nov 1043 in France. Heinrich (son of Holy Roman Emperor Konrad (Conrad) II "The Salic" and Duchess of Swabia Gisele) was born on 28 Oct 1017 in Germany; died on 5 Oct 1056. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Count of Savoy Peter I de Savoie about 1058 in France. Peter (son of Count of Maurienne and Chablais Oddon and of Torino Adelaide) was born about 1048 in Savoie, France; died on 9 Jul 1078. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Stephanie de Longwy before 1060 in Bourgogne, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France. Stephanie (daughter of Adalbert de Longwy and Clemence de Foix) was born in 1035 in Longwy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France; died on 19 Oct 1092 in Besançon, Doubs, Franche-Comte, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Bertha married Holy Roman Emperor IV Heinrich about 1072 in Schwaben, Germany. IV (son of Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich (Henry) III "The Black" and Princess of Aquitaine Agnes) was born on 11 Nov 1050 in Goslar, Germany; died on 7 Aug 1106 in Liege, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Amadeus married Joan de Geneva about 1061 in Savoy, France. Joan (daughter of Count of Geneva Gerold and Gisela) was born about 1040 in of Geneva, Switzerland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Peter married Princess of Aquitaine Agnes about 1058 in France. Agnes (daughter of Count of Aquitaine William VII "The Great" and Comtesse de Bourgogne Agnes de Macon) was born about 1018 in Aquitaine, France; died on 14 Dec 1077. [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]

Notes:

Assisted Philip I of France against William the Conqueror. He erected the Palace of Poictou, and, after conferring large donations on the Church, died.

The dates and name are unclear. Some label him as William VII.

William married Philippa de Toulouse in 1094 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees, France. Philippa (daughter of William, Count of Toulouse Margrave of Provence and Duke of Narbonne IV and Emma de Mortain) was born on 22 Oct 1073 in Toulouse, Jura, Franche-Comte, France; died on 28 Nov 1118 in Fontevrault Abbey, Anjou, Isere, Rhone-Alpes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Ermengard d'Anjou in 1088. Ermengard (daughter of Fulk IV "The Rude" d'Anjou, Count of Anjou and Hildegard de Beaugency) was born on 18 Mar 1066 in Anjou, Isere, Rhone-Alpes, France; died on 1 Jun 1147 in Acquitaine, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermengard married Duke of Aquitaine William IX "The Troubadour" in 1088. William (son of Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitiers William VIII (Guillaume) and of Burgundy Hildegard) was born on 22 Oct 1071 in Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France; died on 10 Feb 1126 in Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Duke of Brittany Alan IV Fergant. Alan died on 13 Oct 1119. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Became King of Jerusalem 1131 on the death of his 2nd Father-in-Law.

Fulk married Princess of Jerusalem Melisende de Rethel on 2 Jun 1129 in Jerusalem, Palestine. Melisende (daughter of Baldwin de Rethel, King of Jerusalem II and Morphia) was born about 1110 in Jerusalem, Palestine; died on 11 Sep 1161 in Nablus, Israel; was buried in Jerusalem, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem District), Israel. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fulk married of Maine Ermengarde de la Fletche on 11 Jul 1110 in France. Ermengarde (daughter of Count of Maine Baldwin II de la Fletche and of Chateau du Loire Mathilda) was born about 1096 in Maine, France; died in 15 January or 12 October 1126 in Maine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rohese married Eudo de Rie about 1088. Eudo (son of Baron de Rie Hubert de St Clair and Albreda De Preaux) was born in 1047 in Ryes near Bayeux, Calvados, Normandy, France; died after 12 Jul 1080 in Oxfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Heir in England; granted Cardigan in Wales.

Lord of Tunbridge, founded Priory of Clare, Lord of Cardigan

Gilbert de Tonebruge, who resided at Tonebruge and inherited all his father's lands in England, joined in the rebellion of Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, but observing the king (William Rufus) upon the point of falling into an ambuscade, he relented, sought pardon, and saved his royal master. We find him subsequently, however, again in rebellion in the same reign and fortifying and losing his castle at Tunbridge. Hem. In 1113, Adeliza, dau. of the Earl of Cleremont, and had issue, Richard, his successor, Gilbert, Walter, Hervey, and Baldwin. Gilbert de Tonebruge, who was a munificent benefactor to the church, was s. by his eldest son, Richard de Clare. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, p. 119, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls of Hertford, Earls of Gloucester]

Gilbert m. Adeliza, dau, of the Earl of Claremont, and was father of Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, and Gilbert de Clare, created Earl of Pembroke. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, England, 1883, p. 230, Giffard, Earls of Buckingham]

Gilbert married Adeliza (Alice) de Clermont about 1086. Adeliza (daughter of Count of Clermont Hugh de Clermont and Margaret de Roucy) was born about 1072 in Clermont, Beauvais, Oise, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Emma married William d'Avranches, Baron of Okehampton in 1065 in Avranches, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France. William (son of Guillaume d'Avranches and Beatrice de Buillt) was born in 1037 in Avranches, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France; died in 1087 in Okehampton, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Guillaume d'Arques. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Beatrice married Sheriff of Lincoln Thorold de Taillebois about 1065 in of Lincolnshire, England. Thorold was born about 1040 in of Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Wolfric de Hatton, 1st Baron Hatton of Runcorn. Wolfric (son of Ivo, Vicomte de Cotentin and Emma) was born in 1055 in Cotentin, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France; died in 1100 in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Count of Lens Lambert II von Boulogne. Lambert died in 1054. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Reigned 1066-1087. Duke of Normandy 1035-1087. Invaded England defeated and killed his rival Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became King. The Norman conquest of England was completed by 1072 aided by the establishment of feudalism under which his followers were granted land in return for pledges of service and loyalty. As King William was noted for his efficient if harsh rule. His administration relied upon Norman and other foreign personnel especially Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1085 started Domesday Book.

William married of Flanders Matilda in 1053 in Cathedral of Notre Dame d'Eu, Normandy, France. Matilda (daughter of Baldwin V "The Pious", Count of Flanders and Adèle Capet, Princess of France) was born on 24 Nov 1031 in Flanders, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; died on 2 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; was buried in Holy Trinity Abbey, Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alix married Ranulf "The Rich" de Briquessart, Vicomte De Bessin on 1 May 1045 in Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. Ranulf (son of Ancitel de Bayeux, Viscount of Bessin and Poppa de Senlis) was born on 17 Jan 1021 in Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; died on 21 May 1089 in Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Stephanie de Longwy before 1060 in Bourgogne, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France. Stephanie (daughter of Adalbert de Longwy and Clemence de Foix) was born in 1035 in Longwy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France; died on 19 Oct 1092 in Besançon, Doubs, Franche-Comte, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eleanor de Crispin. Eleanor (daughter of Gilbert de Crispin and Eva de Montfort) was born in 1070 in Runcorn, Cheshire, England; died after 1114 in Somme, Picardie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Countess of Barcelona Sibylle in 1056 in Burgundy, France. Sibylle (daughter of de Barcelona Ramon Berenger and Guisle d'Ampurias) was born about 1032 in Barcelona, Spain; died in 1066. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Margaret about 1070 in Burgundy, France. Margaret was born about 1050. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Constance married King of Castile and Leon Alfonso VI "The Brave" on 8 May 1081. Alfonso (son of King of Castile and Leon Ferdinand "The Great" and of León Sancha) was born in Jun 1040; died on 29 Jun 1109 in Toledo, Spain; was buried in Monastery of Sahegun. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married King of Leon and Castile Alfonso VI Fernandez in 1069. Alfonso died on 29 Jun 1109 in Toledo, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Clemence married Count of Luxembourg I Konrad about 1080 in France. I (son of Count of Luxembourg Giselbert) was born about 1019 in of Trier, Rheinland, Germany; died on 8 Aug 1086. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Clemence married Count of Guelders Gerald (Gerhard) (Gueldres) de Wasseberg, I about 1087 in France. Gerald (son of Count of Teiste Dirk Flamens and de Montaigu) was born about 1063 in Gueldres, Wassenberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; died in 1134 in Zutphen, Gelderland, Netherlands. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

IV married Bertha de Savoy about 1072 in Schwaben, Germany. Bertha (daughter of Count of Maurienne and Chablais Oddon and of Torino Adelaide) was born on 21 Sep 1051 in Maurienne, France; died on 27 Dec 1087. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The sources conflict on who was Gisele's father. Some show Otto William of Burgundy, grandson of Gerbega; another shows William I of Burgundy. I have picked the Stammtafeln version.

Gisela married Count of Maurienne and Savoy, Marquis of Turin Humbert II de Maurienne in 1090 in Savoy, France. Humbert (son of Count of Savoy Amadeus (Amadeo) de Maurienne, II and Joan de Geneva) was born about 1062 in of Savoie, France; died on 17 Oct 1103; was buried on 19 Oct 1103. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gisela married Marquess of Montferrat Renier in 1105 in Bourgogne, Marne, France. Renier was born about 1084 in of Bourgogne, France; died in May 1135. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Matilda married Duke of Burgundy Eudes I "The Red" Borel de Bourgogne in 1077/1098 in Burgundy, France. Eudes (son of Duke of Burgundy Henry Capet and Countess of Barcelona Sibylle) was born in 1058 in Burgandy, France; died on 23 Mar 1103 in Tarsus, Cilicia, Asia Minor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Murdered

Stephen married of Lorraine Beatrix about 1087. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sibylla married Duke of Burgundy Eudes I "The Red" Borel de Bourgogne in 1080. Eudes (son of Duke of Burgundy Henry Capet and Countess of Barcelona Sibylle) was born in 1058 in Burgandy, France; died on 23 Mar 1103 in Tarsus, Cilicia, Asia Minor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Raymond married Countess of Castile Urraca in 1087 in Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Urraca (daughter of King of Castile and Leon Alfonso VI "The Brave" and of Burgundy Constance Capet) was born in Apr 1079 in Castile, Leon, Castilla-Leon, Spain; died on 8 Mar 1126 in Saldaña, Palencia, Castilla-Leon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermentrude married Duke of Alsace-Lorraine II Thierry about 1089. II (son of Count of Alsace-Lorraine Gerard, Count of Metz and Chatenois Duke of Lorraine I and of Namur Hedwig) was born about 1044 in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse, Lorraine, France; died on 23 Jan 1115. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Ida Clementia
• Death: 1133, Nottinghamshire, England

Ida married Robert, Count of Flanders II in 1096 in Flanders, Belgium, Netherlands. Robert (son of Robert, Count of Flanders and Artois I and Gertrud Wettin) was born in 1065 in Ghent, Flanders, Belgium; died on 5 Oct 1111 in Brie, Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Margrave of Austria III Leopold about 1106 in Germany, Klosterneuburg, Niederoesterreic, Austria. III was born in 1073 in of Klosterneuburg, Niederosterreich, Austria; died on 15 Nov 1136; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Duke of Swabia Frederick I von Büren about 1089 in Hohenstauffen, Germany. Frederick (son of Frederick von Büren and Hildegarde von Swabia) was born about 1050 in Hohenstauffen, Germany; died on 21 Apr 1105. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

V married Princess of England Matilda Normandy on 7 Jan 1113 in Mainz, Germany. Matilda (daughter of King of England Henry I "Beauclerc" and Princess of Scotland Matilda (Edith) mac Maíl Coluim) was born on 5 Aug 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; died on 10 Sep 1167; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Humbert married Countess of Burgundy-Ivrea Gisela Burgundy in 1090 in Savoy, France. Gisela (daughter of William I "The Great", Count of Burgundy and Macon and Stephanie de Longwy) was born in 1075 in Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine, France; died after 1133 in Chambéry, Savoie, Rhone-Alpes, France. [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]

Notes:

Burke says he died in 1156. Some call him William VIII.

William married Eleanor Chatellerault de Rochefoucald in 1112/1134. Eleanor was born in 1103; died after 1130. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death: 8 Mar 1159; Abbey of Fontevraud, Aquitaine, France

Notes:

Died:
Abbey of Fontevraud, Aquitaine, France

Agnes married King of Aragon Ramiro "The Monk", II in 1134 in Spain. Ramiro (son of King of Aragon and Navarre Sancho Ramirez Aragon and Felicia de Roucy) was born on 24 Apr 1075 in Huesca, Huesca, Aragon, Spain; died on 16 Aug 1157 in San Pedro Monastery, Jaca, Huesca, Aragon, Spain; was buried in Huesca, Provincia de Huesca, Aragon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Princess of England Maud. Maud (daughter of King of England Henry I "Beauclerc" and Sibyl Corbet) was born in 1102 in England; died on 10 Sep 1166 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Amalric married Agnes Courtenay in 1157. Agnes (daughter of Joscelin III Courtenay) was born about 1136 in Edessa, Syria; died about Sep 1184. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Amalric married Maria Comnena on 29 Aug 1167 in Tyre. Maria was born about 1150; died in 1208. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Philippa de Perche. Philippa (daughter of Rotrou II "The Great" de Perche and Matilda) was born in 1113. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sibylla married Duke of Alsace, Count of Flanders III Thierry about 1134. III (son of Duke of Alsace-Lorraine II Thierry and Gertrude De Flanders) was born about 1099 in Alsace, France; died on 17 Jan 1167/68. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sibylla married Count of Flanders William Clito in 1123. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Duke of Normandy William (Ætheling) Adelin. William (son of King of England Henry I "Beauclerc" and Princess of Scotland Matilda (Edith) mac Maíl Coluim) was born before 5 Aug 1103 in Winchester Castle, Hampshire, England; died on 25 Nov 1120 in White Ship, English Channel near Barfleur, Normandy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Burke says the marriage was 3 Apr 1127. The name Plantagenet, according to Rapin, came from when Fulk the Great being stung from remorse for some wicked action, in order to atone for it, went a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and was scourged before the Holy Sepulcher with broom twigs. Earlier authorities say it was because Geoffrey bore a branch of yellow broom (Planta-genistae) in his helm.

Duke of Normandy 1144-1150.

Geoffrey IV, also called GEOFFREY PLANTAGENET, byname GEOFFREY THE FAIR, French GEOFFROI PLANTAGENET, or GEOFFROI le BEL (b. Aug. 24, 1113--d. Sept. 7, 1151, Le Mans, Maine [France]), count of Anjou (1131-51), Maine, and Touraine and ancestor of the Plantagenet kings of England through his marriage, in June 1128, to Matilda (q.v.), daughter of Henry I of England. On Henry's death (1135), Geoffrey claimed the duchy of Normandy; he finally conquered it in 1144 and ruled there as duke until he gave it to his son Henry (later King Henry II of England) in 1150.

Geoffrey was popular with the Normans, but he had to suppress a rebellion of malcontent Angevin nobles. After a short war with Louis VII of France, Geoffrey signed a treaty (August 1151) by which he surrendered the whole of Norman Vexin (the border area between Normandy and Isle-de-France) to Louis. [Encyclopedia Britannica CD '97]

Geoffrey married of Angers Adelaide about 1128. Adelaide was born in 1112. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Geoffrey married Princess of England Matilda Normandy on 22 May 1127 in Le Mans Cathedral, Anjou, France. Matilda (daughter of King of England Henry I "Beauclerc" and Princess of Scotland Matilda (Edith) mac Maíl Coluim) was born on 5 Aug 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; died on 10 Sep 1167; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married William de Mandeville about 1083 in England. William (son of Geoffrey de Mandeville and Adeliza de Balts) was born about 1058 in Great Waltham, Essex, England; died about 1130 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Lord Great Chamberlain of England Aubrey II de Vere about 1108 in Suffolk, England. Aubrey (son of Lord of Cheniston Alberic (Aubrey) de Vere and Countess of Ghisnes Beatrice (Beatrix)) was born about 1080 in Hedingham, Essex, England; died on 15 May 1141 in London, Middlesex, England; was buried in Earls Colne, Braintree District, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Geoffrey St. Leger in 1112 in Fairlight, Sussex, England. Geoffrey (son of William St. Leger and Cecilla De Romney) was born in 1087 in Fairlight, Sussex, England; died in 1144 in Fairlight, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lord of Cardigan in Wales

Richard de Clare first bore the title of Earl of Hertford and, being one of those who, by power of the sword, entered Wales, there planted himself and became lord of vast territories as also of divers castles in those parts, but requiring other matters of moment from the king, in which he was unsuccessful, he reared the standard of revolt and soon after fell in an engagement with the Welsh. His lordship in 1124 removed the monks out of his castle at Clare into the church of St. Augustine at Stoke, and bestowed upon them a little wood, called Stoke-Ho, with a doe every year out of his part at Hunedene. He m. Alice, sister of Ranulph, 2nd Earl of Chester, and had issue, Gilbert, his successor, with two other sons, and a dau. Alice who m. Cadwalader-ap-Griffith, Prince of North Wales. His lordship d. 1139 and was s. by his eldest son, Gilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, p. 119, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls of Hertford, Earls of Gloucester]

Richard de Clare first bore the title of Earl of Hertford and, being one of those who, by power of the sword, entered Wales, there planted himself and became lord of vast territories as also of divers castles in those parts, but requiring other matters of moment from the king, in which he was unsuccessful, he reared the standard of revolt and soon after fell in an engagement with the Welsh. His lordship in 1124 removed the monks out of his castle at Clare into the church of St. Augustine at Stoke, and bestowed upon them a little wood, called Stoke-Ho, with a doe every year out of his part at Hunedene. He m. Alice, sister of Ranulph, 2nd Earl of Chester, and had issue, Gilbert, his successor, with two other sons, and a dau. Alice who m. Cadwalader-ap-Griffith, Prince of North Wales. His lordship d. 1139 and was s. by his eldest son, Gilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, p. 119, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls of Hertford, Earls of Gloucester]

Died:
Age: 46

Richard married Alice de Meschines about 1115. Alice (daughter of Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester and Lucy de Taillebois) was born about 1094 in Gernons Castle, Normandy, France; died in 1154. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lord of Deeping and Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire.

Baldwin married Heiress of Bourne, Deeping and Skellingthorpe Adeline de Rollos about 1113. Adeline was born in 1092 in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married William de Montfitchet about 1111 in of Suffolk, England. William was born about 1091 in Essex, Cambridge, England; died in 1156 in London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rohese married Baderon FitzWilliam, Lord of Monmouth II after 1130 in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales. Baderon (son of William FitzBaderon, Lord of Monmouth and Hawise) was born about 1100 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales; died in 1176 in Monmouth Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gilbert married Isabel (Elizabeth) de Beaumont before 1130 in Tunbridge, Kent, England. Isabel (daughter of 1st Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont, Count Meulan I and Isabel (Elizabeth ) de Vermandois) was born in 1098 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England; died on 6 Jan 1147 in Tunbridge, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Geoffrey de Say. Geoffrey (son of William de Say and Agnes de Grandmesnil) was born about 1088 in Sawbridgeworth, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert de Abrincis, who, upon the resignation of his uncle, Richard de Redvers, obtained a grant of the Barony of Okehampton, the office of hereditary sheriff of Devon, and the government of Exeter Castle. He m. a dau. of Godwyn Dole, and left an only dau. and heiress, Maud de Abrincis. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, p. 140, Courtenay, Barons Courtenay, Earls of Devon]

Family/Spouse: Emma Geldwin de Dol. Emma was born in 1080 in Dol De Bretagne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France; died in Nov 1097 in Okehampton, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Maud de Monville. Maud (daughter of Nele de Monville and Heiress of Folkstone Emma d'Arques) was born about 1095 in Folkstone, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Judith married Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland Waltheof Siwardsson in 1070 in Artois, France. Waltheof (son of Siward Bjornsson and III Æfleda) was born about 1025 in Huntington, Northumberland, England; died on 31 May 1076 in Beheaded at St. Giles Hill, Winchester, Hampshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Became a Nun at Cluniac Priory in widowhood.

Adela married Count of Blois Stephen Henry II (Etienne Henri) "The Sage" about 1081 in Chartres Cathedral, France. Stephen (son of Count of Blois and Champagne III Theobald and of Maine Garsende) was born about 1045 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France; died on 19 May 1102 in Ramula, Holy Land. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

CHAPTER II: THE FAMILY OF THE CONQUEROR
The Conqueror and His Companions
by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874........

I introduce here the few observations I have to make on the uncertain and disputed points in the history of William the Conqueror, his queen and family, to which I alluded at the commencement of the former chapter, in lieu of placing them as an appendix at the end of the volume, as they principally turn on questions of date, and those who care to discuss them would naturally desire to do so before passing to other subjects. The less curious reader can "skip and go on."

The first and most important date open to controversy is that of the birth of William-most important because it affects all the rest...

The latest investigators place it in 1027 or 1028, and one (Mons. Deville) endeavours to fix it exactly to the month of June or of July in the former year.

Were it a question of only a few weeks or a few months I should not have thought it necessary to moot it here; but it is one of years, and of much more consequence than it appears at first sight.

The calculations of the upholders of the dates 1027-28 are founded on:

1. The contract of marriage of Duke Richard II and Judith, the parents of Robert, said to be dated in 1008. According to this date, Robert being their second son, would hardly have been born before 1010, and could be only seventeen or eighteen at the birth of William, and consequently his passion for Herleve was that of a boy of sixteen or seventeen at the utmost.

2. A charter granted by Robert previous to his departure on pilgrimage to Jerusalem dated in the ides of January, 1035, and as it is agreed on all hands that William was between seven and eight years old when his father left Normandy, that would place his birth in 1027-28.

3. The cartulary recently discovered at Falaise recording William's birth and baptism therein 1027.

4. The statement of Guillaume de Jumièges that William was not quiteeeeee sixty at his death iiin 1087.

A sort of collateral substantiation of the date of the pilgrimage I find also in the story told by the author of the "Gesta Consulum Andegavensium," of the meeing of Duke Robert with Fulk Nera, Count of Anjou, at Constantinople in 1035, and their travelling thence to the Holy Land together, escorted by some merchants of Antioch, who had offered to be their guides. Robert becoming fatigued was carried in a litter by four Moors. A Norman pilgrim returning from Jerusalem, meeting his sovereign with this equipage, asked if he had any message to send to his friends. "Tell them," said the Duke, "that thou sawest me borne to Paradise by four devils." But it is to be observed that Fulk was also a pilgrim to the Holy Land in 1028, and that the compiler of "L'Art de Vérifierrr lesssss Dates" remarks that the work I have quoted "ne mérititite ppp papass beaucouppp de créance."""""""""

On the other hand we have also to consider the statement of William himself, who, according to Orderic, declared on his death-bed that he was sixty-four, which would make him born in 1023; that he was eight years old when his father went into what he calls voluntary exile, and that he had ruled the duchy fifty-six years, thus placing the death of Robert in 1031. That date is supported by the perfectly independent testimony of the Saxon Chronicle, which becomes more trustworthy in the eleventh century, wherein we read, "A 1031. . . . and Robert, Earl of Normandy, went to Jerusalem and there died, and William, who was afterwards king in England, succeeded to Normandy, though he was but a child." The words I have printed in italics, however, detract from the value of the evidence; as they must have been written at least thirty-five years after the event, and perhaps much later.

The Peterborough and Canterbury chronicles follow the Saxon, and Roger of Wendover and Matthew of Westminster are merely copyists of the earlier writers.

I have seen too many errors in the dates of charters and other MSS., arising from clerical or typographical carelessness, to pin my faith upon any copy, printed or other, even when the original document is undoubtedly genuine, and therefore hesitate to accept the date accorded to the contract of marriage of Richard and Judith, particularly as there are several obvious inaccuracies in the copy printed in Martene (Thesaurus Novus Anecdotorum, vol. i.).

Judith was the only child of Conan le Tort, Count of Rennes, by his second wife Ermengarde, daughter of Geoffrey Grisegonelle, married according to the "Chroniques de Mont St. Michel" in 9 70. Conan was slain at the battle of Conquereux in 992. Now, if these dates can be at all relied on, what age was Judith likely to be in 1008, if not married till then? At what period of the two-and-twenty years of her parents' married life was she born? If in the ordinary course of nature, she must have been five- or six-and-thirty in 1008!

Judith died in 1017, the mother of five children: Richard, Robert, Guillaume, Alix (also called Judith), and Eleanore; and if only married in 1008 her eldest son Richard could scarcely have been born before 1009, and Robert, as already remarked, 1010. Whether Guillaume or Alix was their third child is uncertain, but before 1025 Alix was the wife of Renaud, son of Otto-Guillaume, Count of Burgundy, who, having fallen into the power of Hugues, Bishop of Auxerre and Count of Chalons, was strictly confined in prison by that prelate. Richard II, Duke of Normandy, thereupon sent his sons, Richard and Robert, with an army to relieve their brother-in-law, and Count Hugues was compelled to present himself with a saddle on his back (the usual custom at that period) and crave mercy at the hands of the sons of the Duke of Normandy.

Now, doubting that young warriors were mere boys of fifteen and sixteen years of age in 1025 (Richard, the eldest, dying in 1027, and leaving a natural son named Nicholas, who was Abbot of St. Ouen in 1042), I cannot bring myself to believe in the "extreme youth" of Robert, as pointed out by Mons. Deville, and without presuming to fix an exact date, believe that both Richard and Robert were nearly of full age at the death of their father, whether that event occurred in 1026 or 1027.

Leaving, therefore, the precise period of the birth of William the Conqueror still undecided, the weight of evidence inclining rather to 1027, let us hasten to the consideration of the equally vexed question concerning the number and ages of his family, consisting undoubtedly of four sons, and presumably of five or six daughters. [Freeman: Nor. Con., vol. v. [. 468, note4.]

Notwithstanding the various and conflicting dates suggested for the marriage of William and Matilda, ranging from 1047 to 1053, I think we may consider it sufficiently proved that it was solemnized at the close of 1053 or beginning of 1054, and that Robert, their first child, was born in the course of the latter year.

Their second child I take to have been Adeliza, eldest daughter, born apparently in 1055, being seven years old in 1062, when betrothed to Harold, and dead before 1066, as her decease was the undeniable answer of the Saxon king to one of William's charges of broken faith.

Cecilia must have been the third child, as she was clearly born in 1056, dedicated to the service of God by her father and mother at the consecration of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Caen, 18th June, 1066, was elected abbess on the death of Matilda, the first abbess, in 1112, and died on the 30th of July, 1125, in the seventieth year of her age.

The fourth child appears to have been Richard, born 1057-58, who, with his younger brother, William (fifth child), born 1060, witnessed the consecration of the Church of the Holy Trinity at Caen in 1066.

Richard was killed in the New Forest by accident during the reign of his father in England; and his brother William, surnamed Rufus, who succeeded the Conqueror as King of England, met his death, as is well known, A.D. 1100, in the same forest, doomed apparently to be fatal to the progeny of the heartless despot who had sacrificed to his passion for the chase the homes and hearths of thousands of his unfortunate subjects.

The sixth child I take to be Constance, born in 1061, married to Alain, Duke of Brittany, in 1086, and who died, poisoned by her own servants, according to some writers, on the 13th of August, 1094, at the early age of thirty-three.

Mrs. Green, notwithstanding she places her birth "most likely about 1057," subsequently tells us, upon the authority of no less than four chronicles, that she died in 1094 " when she had scarcely attained her thirty-third year." If the latter statement is to be depended upon, she must have been born in 1061, and the probabilities are all in favour of that date. Miss Strickland, by a curious inadvertency, makes Constance die some years before her mother, "after seven years' unfruitful marriage." The marriage having taken place three years after her mother's death!

The seventh child I believe to have been Adela, born circa 1062, married, at Chartres in 1080, to Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres, and deceased in 1137, in tbe seventy-fourth year of her age.

Agatha, believed by Mrs. Green to be also Matilda, whose name appears in Domesday, the eighth and last child born in Normandy, circa 1064, was promised to Edwin, the Saxon Earl of Chester, in 1067, when only three years old, and after his death contracted to Alfonso 1, King of Castile and Galicia. She died on her journey to Spain, having, as the story goes, prayed she might not live to be married, and by unceasing genuflections caused a horny substance to form on her knees.

More incredible is the sentimental account of "blighted hopes" and "crushed affections" indulged in by Mrs. Green, as the child was but three years old when she first saw the "fair-haired Saxon," seven when her "lover" was murdered, and scarcely fifteen when she was contracted to Alfonso; for she must have been dead in 1080, as in that year the Castilian monarch married the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy.

This is of course according to my calculation, which I by no means presume to be irrefutable, and also applies solely to Agatha, leaving it to others to identify her with Matilda "filiae regis," whose chamberlain (Geoffrey) held lands in Hampshire of the King for service rendered to his said daughter. That there was a Matilda, daughter of King William, is undeniable, not only from the entry in Domesday, but from her being named with her sisters Adelaide and Constance in an encyclical letter to the nuns of the Holy Trinity at Caen in 1112. But as the survey was only begun in 1085, and completed in 1086, it will be difficult, I think, to prove that Agatha, who must have been dead in 1080, was the same daughter as Matilda, supposed to be living five or six years later.

Henry, afterwards King Henry 1, the youngest of the whole family, was the only child born in England, and the date of his birth is generally acknowledged to be 1068, his mother having come over from Normandy for her coronation in that year. Now let us see when it would be possible that a tenth child, if not a twin, could have been born to William by his duchess, and of sufficient age to have a chamberlain appointed to her before 1085.

Robert, born 1054.
Adeliza, born 1055; dead before 1066.
Cecilia, born 1058.
Richard, born 1057-58.
William, born 1060.
Constance, born 1061.
Adela, born 1062.
Agatha, born 1064; dead before 1080.
Henry, born 1068.

The ingenious theory that Matilda was no other than the mysterious Gundrada, the former name being simply a translation of the latter, is negatived by the fact that Gundrada died wife of William de Warren in 1085, while the survey was in the course of compilation. That one daughter should have been named after her mother is most natural. That the King had a daughter so named, and that she was apparently living in 1085, must be conceded; but that she was the same person as Agatha "the inexorable logic of facts" positively contradicts. There is just the possibility of its being Constance, who survived her mother, and was married to Alain, Duke of Brittany, as before stated, in 1086. She is said to have been the favourite daughter and companion of Queen Matilda, and for nearly six years the only princess at Court. At the period of her niother's death she would have been twenty-three, and previous to her marriage would no doubt have had a chamberlain and other officers appointed for her service. That she was ever called Matilda there is no evidence yet discovered; but there is no daughter of Matilda's more likely to have been so. But then we have to get over the awkward fact of Matilda and Constance being separately named in the encyclical letter of 1112. ["Matildem Anglorum reginam, nostri cnobii fondatricem, Adelidem, Mathildem Constantiam, filias ejus." Also in the Bouleau des Morts of the same Abbey we read: Ç "Orate pro nostria Mathilde Regina etttt Wiiiiillielmoooo ejus filio atque pro filiabus ejus Adelide, Mathilde, Constancia." -- Recherches sur le Domesday, p. 234.] Matilda is consequently, as Mr. Freeman truly describes her, "without a history." The vexed question of Gundrada will be discussed in the chapter comprising the biography of her husband, William, Earl of Warren and Surrey, and in connection with it the presumed widowhood of Matilda of Flanders, and her passion for Brihtric Meaw.

Robert married of Conversano Sybil in 1071/1104. Sybil was born in 1050/1070; died in 1071/1154. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Henry I (of England) (1068-1135), third Norman king of England (1100-1135), fourth son of William the Conqueror. Henry was born in Selby. Because his father, who died in 1087, left him no land, Henry made several unsuccessful attempts to gain territories on the Continent. On the death of his brother William II in 1100, Henry took advantage of the absence of another brother-Robert, who had a prior claim to the throne-to seize the royal treasury and have himself crowned king at Westminster. Henry subsequently secured his position with the nobles and with the church by issuing a charter of liberties that acknowledged the feudal rights of the nobles and the rights of the church. In 1101 Robert, who was duke of Normandy, invaded England, but Henry persuaded him to withdraw by promising him a pension and military aid on the Continent. In 1102 Henry put down a revolt of nobles, who subsequently took refuge in Normandy (Normandie), where they were aided by Robert. By defeating Robert at Tinchebray, France, in 1106, Henry won Normandy. During the rest of his reign, however, he constantly had to put down uprisings that threatened his rule in Normandy. The conflict between Henry and Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, over the question of lay investiture (the appointment of church officials by the king), was settled in 1107 by a compromise that left the king with substantial control in the matter.

Because he had no surviving male heir, Henry was forced to designate his daughter Matilda as his heiress. After his death on December 1, 1135, at Lyons-la-Faret, Normandy, however, Henry's nephew, Stephen of Blois, usurped the throne, plunging the country into a protracted civil war that ended only with the accession of Matilda's son, Henry II, in 1154.

"Henry I (of England)," Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia copyright 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Henry I was born in the year 1068---a factor he himself regarded as highly significant, for he was the only son of the Conqueror born after the conquest of England, and to Henry this meant he was heir to the throne. He was not an attractive proposition: he was dissolute to a degree, producing at least a score of bastards; but far worse he was prone to sadistic cruelty---on one occasion, for example, personally punishing a rebellious burgher by throwing him from the walls of his town.

At the death of William the Conqueror, Henry was left no lands, merely 5,000 pounds of silver. With these he bought lands from his elder brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, only to see them taken back again a few years later by Robert, in unholy alliance with his brother William Rufus.

Henry could do little to avenge such treatment, but in England he found numerous barons who were tired of the exactions and ambitions of their king. He formed alliances with some of these, notably with the important de Clare family. He and some of the de Clares were with William Rufus on his last hunting expedition, and it is thought that the king's death was the result of Henry's plotting.

Certainly he moved fast to take advantage of it; leaving Rufus's body unattended in the woods, he swooped down on Winchester to take control of the treasury. Two days later he was in Westminster, being crowned by the Bishop of London. His speed is understandable when one realizes that his elder brother, Robert [Curthose], was returning from the crusade, and claimed, with good reason, to be the true heir.

Henry showed great good sense in his first actions as King. He arrested Ranulph Flambard, William's tax-gatherer, and recalled Anselm, the exiled Archbishop. Furthermore, he issued a Charter of Liberties which promised speedy redress of grievances, and a return to the good government of the Conqueror. Putting aside for the moment his many mistresses, he married the sister of the King of Scots, who was descended from the royal line of Wessex; and lest the Norman barons should think him too pro-English in this action, he changed her name from Edith to Matilda. No one could claim that he did not aim to please.

In 1101 Robert Curthose invaded, but Henry met him at Alton, and persuaded him to go away again by promising him an annuity of 2000 pounds. He had no intention of keeping up the payments, but the problem was temporarily solved.

He now felt strong enough to move against dissident barons who might give trouble in the future. Chief amongst these was the vicious Robert of Belleme, Earl of Shrewsbury, whom Henry had known for many years as a dangerous troublemaker. He set up a number of charges against him in the king's court, making it plain that if he appeared for trial he would be convicted and imprisoned. Thus Robert and his colleagues were forced into rebellion at a time not of their own choosing, were easily defeated and sent scuttling back to Normandy.

In Normandy Robert Curthose began to wreak his wrath on all connected with his brother, thus giving Henry an excellent chance to retaliate with charges of misgovernment and invade. He made two expeditions in 1104-5, before the great expedition of 1106 on which Robert was defeated at the hour-long battle of Tinchebrai, on the anniversary of Hastings. No one had expected such an easy victory, but Henry took advantage of the state of shock resulting from the battle to annex Normandy. Robert was imprisoned (in some comfort, it be said); he lived on for 28 more years, ending up in Cardiff castle whiling away the long hours learning Welsh. His son William Clito remained a free agent, to plague Henry for most of the rest of his reign.

In England the struggle with Anselm over the homage of bishops ran its course until the settlement of 1107. In matters of secular government life was more simple: Henry had found a brilliant administrator, Roger of Salisbury, to act as Justiciar for him. Roger had an inventive mind, a keen grasp of affairs, and the ability to single out young men of promise. He quickly built up a highly efficient team of administrators, and established new routines and forms of organization within which they could work. To him we owe the Exchequer and its recording system of the Pipe Rolls, the circuits of royal justiciars spreading the king's peace, and the attempts at codification of law. Henry's good relationships with his barons, and with the burgeoning new towns owed much to skilful administration. Certainly he was able to gain a larger and more reliable revenue this way than by the crude extortion his brother had used.

In 1120 came the tragedy of the White Ship. The court was returning to England, and the finest ship in the land was filled with its young men, including Henry's son and heir William. Riotously drunk, they tried to go faster and faster, when suddenly the ship foundered. All hands except a butcher of Rouen were lost, and England was without an heir.

Henry's only legitimate child was Matilda, but she was married to the Emperor Henry V of Germany, and so could not succeed. But in 1125 her husband died, and Henry brought her home and forced the barons to swear fealty to her---though they did not like the prospect of a woman ruler. Henry then married her to Geoffrey of Anjou, the Normans' traditional enemy, and the barons were less happy---especially when the newly-weds had a terrible row, and Geoffrey ordered her out of his lands. In 1131 Henry, absolutely determined, forced the barons to swear fealty once more, and the fact that they did so is testimony of his controlling power. Matilda and Geoffrey were reunited, and in 1133 she produced a son whom she named for his grandfather. If only Henry could live on until his grandson was old enough to rule, all would be well.

But in 1135, against doctor's orders, he ate a hearty meal of lampreys, got acute indigestion, which turned into fever, and died. He was buried at his abbey in Reading---some said in a silver coffin, for which there was an unsuccessful search at the Dissolution. [Source: Who's Who in the Middle Ages, John Fines, Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1995]

Henry I was born in the year 1068---a factor he himself regarded as highly significant, for he was the only son of the Conqueror born after the conquest of England, and to Henry this meant he was heir to the throne. He was not an attractive proposition: he was dissolute to a degree, producing at least a score of bastards; but far worse he was prone to sadistic cruelty---on one occasion, for example, personally punishing a rebellious burgher by throwing him from the walls of his town.

At the death of William the Conqueror, Henry was left no lands, merely 5,000 pounds of silver. With these he bought lands from his elder brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, only to see them taken back again a few years later by Robert, in unholy alliance with his brother William Rufus.

Henry could do little to avenge such treatment, but in England he found numerous barons who were tired of the exactions and ambitions of their king. He formed alliances with some of these, notably with the important de Clare family. He and some of the de Clares were with William Rufus on his last hunting expedition, and it is thought that the king's death was the result of Henry's plotting.

Certainly he moved fast to take advantage of it; leaving Rufus's body unattended in the woods, he swooped down on Winchester to take control of the treasury. Two days later he was in Westminster, being crowned by the Bishop of London. His speed is understandable when one realizes that his elder brother, Robert [Curthose], was returning from the crusade, and claimed, with good reason, to be the true heir.

Henry showed great good sense in his first actions as King. He arrested Ranulph Flambard, William's tax-gatherer, and recalled Anselm, the exiled Archbishop. Furthermore, he issued a Charter of Liberties which promised speedy redress of grievances, and a return to the good government of the Conqueror. Putting aside for the moment his many mistresses, he married the sister of the King of Scots, who was descended from the royal line of Wessex; and lest the Norman barons should think him too pro-English in this action, he changed her name from Edith to Matilda. No one could claim that he did not aim to please.

In 1101 Robert Curthose invaded, but Henry met him at Alton, and persuaded him to go away again by promising him an annuity of 2,000 pounds. He had no intention of keeping up the payments, but the problem was temporarily solved.

He now felt strong enough to move against dissident barons who might give trouble in the future. Chief amongst these was the vicious Robert of BellÃssme, Earl of Shrewsbury, whom Henry hhhhhad known for manyy yearrssss asss aaa dangerous troublemaker. He set up a number of charges against him in the king's court, making it plain that if he appeared for trial he would be convicted and imprisoned. Thus Robert and his colleagues were forced into rebellion at a time not of their own choosing, were easily defeated and sent scuttling back to Normandy.

In Normandy Robert Curthose began to wreak his wrath on all connected with his brother, thus giving Henry an excellent chance to retaliate with charges of misgovernment and invade. He made two expeditions in 1104-5, before the great expedition of 1106 on which Robert was defeated at the hour-long battle of Tinchebrai, on the anniversary of Hastings. No one had expected such an easy victory, but Henry took advantage of the state of shock resulting from the battle to annex Normandy. Robert was imprisoned (in some comfort, it be said); he lived on for 28 more years, ending up in Cardiff castle whiling away the long hours learning Welsh. His son William Clito remained a free agent, to plague Henry for most of the rest of his reign.

In England the struggle with Anselm over the homage of bishops ran its course until the settlement of 1107. In matters of secular government life was more simple: Henry had found a brilliant administrator, Roger of Salisbury, to act as Justiciar for him. Roger had an inventive mind, a keen grasp of affairs, and the ability to single out young men of promise. He quickly built up a highly efficient team of administrators, and established new routines and forms of organization within which they could work. To him we owe the Exchequer and its recording system of the Pipe Rolls, the circuits of royal justiciars spreading the king's peace, and the attempts at codification of law. Henry's good relationships with his barons, and with the burgeoning new towns owed much to skilful administration. Certainly he was able to gain a larger and more reliable revenue this way than by the crude extortion his brother had used.

In 1120 came the tragedy of the White Ship. The court was returning to England, and the finest ship in the land was filled with its young men, including Henry's son and heir William. Riotously drunk, they tried to go faster and faster, when suddenly the ship foundered. All hands except a butcher of Rouen were lost, and England was without an heir.

Henry's only legitimate child was Matilda, but she was married to the Emperor Henry V of Germany, and so could not succeed. But in 1125 her husband died, and Henry brought her home and forced the barons to swear fealty to her---though they did not like the prospect of a woman ruler. Henry then married her to Geoffrey of Anjou, the Normans' traditional enemy, and the barons were less happy---especially when the newly-weds had a terrible row, and Geoffrey ordered her out of his lands. In 1131 Henry, absolutely determined, forced the barons to swear fealty once more, and the fact that they did so is testimony of his controlling power. Matilda and Geoffrey were reunited, and in 1133 she produced a son whom she named for his grandfather. If only Henry could live on until his grandson was old enough to rule, all would be well.

But in 1135, against doctor's orders, he ate a hearty meal of lampreys, got acute indigestion, which turned into fever, and died. He was buried at his abbey in Reading---some said in a silver coffin, for which there was an unsuccessful search at the Dissolution. [Source: Who's Who in the Middle Ages, John Fines, Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1995]

Henry married Adeliza de Leuven on 2 Feb 1121 in Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England. Adeliza (daughter of Count of Leuven and Brussels, Landgraves of Brabant Godfrey de Leuven, Duke of Lorraine I and of Chiny Ida) was born about 1094 in Affligem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium; died on 23 Apr 1151 in Affligem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Ansfride about 1089. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Nest verch Rhys about 1090. Nest (daughter of King of Deheubarth Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr and Gwladus verch Rhiwallon) was born about 1073 in Dynevor, Llandyfeisant, Caemarvonshire, Wales; died about 1163. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Sibyl Corbet about 1089. Sibyl (daughter of Burgess of Caen Robert Corbet) was born about 1077 in Alcester, Warwickshire, England; died after 1157. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Isabel (Elizabeth) de Beaumont about 1119. Isabel (daughter of 1st Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont, Count Meulan I and Isabel (Elizabeth ) de Vermandois) was born in 1098 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England; died on 6 Jan 1147 in Tunbridge, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Edith FitzForne about 1089. Edith (daughter of 1st Lord of Greystoke Forne FitzSigulf) was born about 1072 in Greystoke, Cumberland, England; died in 1152 in Oseney Abby, Oxfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Princess of Scotland Matilda (Edith) mac Maíl Coluim on 11 Nov 1100 in Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England. Matilda (daughter of King of Scots Malcolm III "Canmore" mac Dhonnchaidh and Margaret "of Scotland" Ætheling) was born about 1080 in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland; died on 1 May 1118 in Westminster Palace, London, Middlesex, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

It was thought that Matilda (Gundred) married William de Warren, 1st Earl of Surrey. That has since been disproved. For details see "Early
Yorkshire Charters" by C. T. Clay or "tudes sur Quelques Points de
l'Histoire de Guillame le Conqurant" by H. Prentout described under
Surrey in "The Complete Peerage" by G.E. Gibbs.

Ranulf married Margaret d'Avranches about 1069 in Normandy, France. Margaret (daughter of Viscount of Avranches Richard le Goz and Emma de Conteville) was born about 1054 in Avranches, Normandy, France; died in 1136 in Chester, Cheshire, England; was buried in Chester, Cheshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Robert de Grandmesnil in 1075 in Grandmesnil, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. Robert (son of Sheriff of Leicester Hugh I de Grandmesnil and Adeliza (Aelis) (Alice) de Beaumont) was born about 1062 in Grandmesnil, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; died on 1 Jun 1136 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The sources conflict on who was Gisele's father. Some show Otto William of Burgundy, grandson of Gerbega; another shows William I of Burgundy. I have picked the Stammtafeln version.

Gisela married Count of Maurienne and Savoy, Marquis of Turin Humbert II de Maurienne in 1090 in Savoy, France. Humbert (son of Count of Savoy Amadeus (Amadeo) de Maurienne, II and Joan de Geneva) was born about 1062 in of Savoie, France; died on 17 Oct 1103; was buried on 19 Oct 1103. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gisela married Marquess of Montferrat Renier in 1105 in Bourgogne, Marne, France. Renier was born about 1084 in of Bourgogne, France; died in May 1135. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Matilda married Duke of Burgundy Eudes I "The Red" Borel de Bourgogne in 1077/1098 in Burgundy, France. Eudes (son of Duke of Burgundy Henry Capet and Countess of Barcelona Sibylle) was born in 1058 in Burgandy, France; died on 23 Mar 1103 in Tarsus, Cilicia, Asia Minor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Murdered

Stephen married of Lorraine Beatrix about 1087. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sibylla married Duke of Burgundy Eudes I "The Red" Borel de Bourgogne in 1080. Eudes (son of Duke of Burgundy Henry Capet and Countess of Barcelona Sibylle) was born in 1058 in Burgandy, France; died on 23 Mar 1103 in Tarsus, Cilicia, Asia Minor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Raymond married Countess of Castile Urraca in 1087 in Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Urraca (daughter of King of Castile and Leon Alfonso VI "The Brave" and of Burgundy Constance Capet) was born in Apr 1079 in Castile, Leon, Castilla-Leon, Spain; died on 8 Mar 1126 in Saldaña, Palencia, Castilla-Leon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermentrude married Duke of Alsace-Lorraine II Thierry about 1089. II (son of Count of Alsace-Lorraine Gerard, Count of Metz and Chatenois Duke of Lorraine I and of Namur Hedwig) was born about 1044 in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse, Lorraine, France; died on 23 Jan 1115. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Ida Clementia
• Death: 1133, Nottinghamshire, England

Ida married Robert, Count of Flanders II in 1096 in Flanders, Belgium, Netherlands. Robert (son of Robert, Count of Flanders and Artois I and Gertrud Wettin) was born in 1065 in Ghent, Flanders, Belgium; died on 5 Oct 1111 in Brie, Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Eudes married Sibylla Burgundy in 1080. Sibylla (daughter of William I "The Great", Count of Burgundy and Macon and Stephanie de Longwy) was born in 1065 in Bourgogne, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died on 23 Mar 1102 in Brosse, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Eudes married of Burgundy Matilda in 1077/1098 in Burgundy, France. Matilda (daughter of William I "The Great", Count of Burgundy and Macon and Stephanie de Longwy) was born in 1065 in Dijon, Cote d'Or, Bourgogne, France; died on 23 Mar 1103 in Dijon, Cote d'Or, Bourgogne, France,. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married of Castile, Queen of Portugal Teresa before 24 Aug 1092. Teresa (daughter of King of Leon and Castile Alfonso VI Fernandez and Agnes de Blois) was born in 1070; died on 1 Nov 1130. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Urraca married Count, Dominus, Prince, Emperor and Consul of Galicia Raymond Burgandy in 1087 in Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Raymond (son of William I "The Great", Count of Burgundy and Macon and Stephanie de Longwy) was born about 1065 in Dijon, Cote d'Or, Bourgogne, France; died on 24 May 1107 in Grajal de Campos, Leon, Castilla-Leon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Teresa married Count of Portugal Henry de Bourgogne before 24 Aug 1092. Henry (son of Duke of Burgundy Henry Capet and Countess of Barcelona Sibylle) was born about 1066 in Dijon, France; died on 1 Nov 1112 in Astorga, Galicia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermisende married Count of Namur I Godfrey about 1110 in Belgium. I (son of Count of Namur III Albert and Ida Billung) was born in 1073 in Namur, Namur, Belgium; died on 19 Aug 1139 in Florette, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ermisende married Albrecht I (Sultzbach) Dagsburg about 1097 in of Luxembourg. Albrecht was born about 1054 in of Eguisheim, Haut-Rhin, France; died on 24 Aug 1098. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Yolande married Baldwin, Count of Hainaut III in 1107. Baldwin (son of Baldwin, Count of Hainaut II and Alix (Ida) de Louvain) was born in 1088 in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium; died on 17 Jun 1120 in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium; was buried in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Yolande married Godefroi de Ribemont after 1120. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Margrave of Austria III Leopold about 1106 in Germany, Klosterneuburg, Niederoesterreic, Austria. III was born in 1073 in of Klosterneuburg, Niederosterreich, Austria; died on 15 Nov 1136; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Duke of Swabia Frederick I von Büren about 1089 in Hohenstauffen, Germany. Frederick (son of Frederick von Büren and Hildegarde von Swabia) was born about 1050 in Hohenstauffen, Germany; died on 21 Apr 1105. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

V married Princess of England Matilda Normandy on 7 Jan 1113 in Mainz, Germany. Matilda (daughter of King of England Henry I "Beauclerc" and Princess of Scotland Matilda (Edith) mac Maíl Coluim) was born on 5 Aug 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; died on 10 Sep 1167; was buried . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adélaïde married Constable of France Matthieu de Montmorenci in 1141 in Savoie, France. Matthieu was born about 1190. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adélaïde married King of France Louis VI "The Fat" Capet on 3 Aug 1115 in Paris, Seine, France. Louis (son of King of France Philip I "The Fair" Capet and Countess of Holland Bertha) was born in 1081 in Herbst, France; died on 1 Aug 1137 in Bethizy Castle, Paris, Seine, France; was buried in St Denis, Seine-Saint-Deni, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Amadeus married Mahaut (Mafalda Matilda) d'Albon in 1123. Mahaut died after 1148. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hugh married Maud de Turenne in 1103/1135 in Bourgogne, Marne, France. Maud (daughter of Viscount of Turenne I Boso and Gerberge de Terrasson) was born about 1090 in of Mayenne, France; died after 1162 in Beaune, Cote-d'Or, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Poncette de Treves in 1088/1140. Poncette was born about 1090 in Treves, France; died about 1156. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

III married of Lorraine Agathe about 1130. Agathe (daughter of Duke of Lorraine I Simon and Adelaide de Leuven) was born about 1120; died after 1147. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Count of Blois Hugo (Hugh), I about 1110. Hugo (son of Count of Blois and Champagne III Theobald and of Maine Garsende) was born about 1048 in Blois, France; died in 1126. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Abbey des Ayes, France

Clemence-Marguerite married Guigues IV d'Albon in 1132. Guigues was born about 1095; died on 28 Jun 1142 in La Buissaire, France; was buried in Notre Dame de Grenoble, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Abbey de Perseigne, Le Mans, France

Family/Spouse: Count of Alencon and Ponthieu William Talvas, Count of Ponthieu III. William (son of 3rd Earl Shrewsbury Count of Ponthieu, Alecon, and Montreuil Robert de Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury II and Agnes de Ponthieu) was born about 1093 in Alençon, Orne, Basse-Normandie, France; died on 30 Jun 1171. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Helie married Count of Ponthieu III William in 1115. III was born about 1095; died on 20 Jun 1172. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Helie married Bertrand de Toulouse, Count of Toulouse in Jun 1095. Bertrand died in 1112. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Returning from an expedition against Almohad possession, he died.

Alfonso married Berenguela Raimundo on 17 Nov 1128 in Saldaña, Palencia, Castilla-Leon, Spain. Berenguela (daughter of Ramon Berenguer, Count of Barcelona III and Countess of Provence Douce, heiress of Provence) was born on 3 Feb 1113 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; died on 15 Jan 1149 in Palencia, Leon, Castilla-Leon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alfonso married of Poland Richeza Piast in Jul 1152 in Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland. Richeza was born in 1140 in Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland; died on 16 Jun 1185 in Palencia, Leon, Castilla-Leon, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jutta married Marquess of Montferrat Guillaume V de Montferrat about 1133. Guillaume was born about 1115; died in 1191. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Frederick married of Bavaria Judith about 1120 in Germany. Judith (daughter of Duke of Bavaria I Heinrich and Wulfhilda von Saxony) was born about 1100 in Bavaria; died on 22 Feb 1130. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]