Princess Eleanor of England

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Leicester

She was the youngest child of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême. At the time of Eleanor's birth at Gloucester, King John's London was in the hands of French forces, John had been forced to sign the Magna Carta and Queen Isabella was in shame. Eleanor never met her father, as he died at Newark Castle when she was barely a year old.

The only lands loyal to her brother, Henry III of England, were in the Midlands and southwest. The barons ruled the north, but they united with the royalists under William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who protected the young king Henry, and the French were defeated.

Before William the Marshal died in 1219 Eleanor was promised to his son, also named William. They were married on 23 April 1224 at New Temple Church in London. The younger William was 34 and Eleanor only nine. He died in London on 6 April 1231, days before their seventh anniversary. There were no children of this marriage.

Eleanor had brought a dowry of 10 manors and 200 pounds per year to this marriage. According to the law of the time, widows were allowed to retain one third of the estates of the marriage. However, her brother-in-law Richard took all of the estates and sold many, including her dowry, to pay William's debts. Eleanor strove for many years to try and recover her lost property.

The widowed Eleanor swore a holy oath of chastity in the presence of Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury. Seven years later, she met Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. According to Matthew Paris, Simon was attracted to Eleanor's beauty and elegance as well as her wealth and high birth. They fell in love and married secretly on 7 January 1238 at the King's chapel in Westminster Palace. Her brother King Henry later alleged that he only allowed the marriage because Simon had seduced Eleanor. The marriage was controversial because of the oath Eleanor had sworn several years before to remain chaste. Because of this, Simon made a pilgrimage to Rome seeking papal approval for their union.

Simon and Eleanor had seven children:

Henry de Montfort (November 1238-1265)
Simon the younger de Montfort (April 1240-1271)
Amaury de Montfort, Canon of York (1242/1243-1300)
Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola (1244-1288)
Joanna, born and died in Bordeaux between 1248 and 1251
Richard de Montfort (1252-1281)
Eleanor de Montfort Princess of Wales (1258-1282)

Simon de Montfort had the real power behind the throne, but when he tried to take the throne, he was defeated and killed with his son at the Battle of Evesham on 4 August 1265. Eleanor fled to exile in France where she became a nun at Montargis Abbey, a nunnery founded by her deceased husband's sister Amicia, who remained there as abbess. There she died on 13 April 1275, and was buried there. She was well treated by Henry, retained her incomes, and her proctors were allowed to pursue her litigation concerning the Leicester inheritance in the English courts; her will and testament were executed without hindrance.

Through her son Guy, Eleanor was an ancestor of Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV.


Buried:
Grave location and portrait:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=92166184

Eleanor married Simon V de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. Simon was born 1208, England; died 04 Aug 1265, Evesham, Worcestershire, England; was buried , Evesham Abbey, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet]

1. Guy de Montfort was born 1244, England; died 1291, Sicily.

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England

John, the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was at first not expected to inherit significant lands. Following the failed rebellion of his elder brothers between 1173 and 1174, however, John became Henry's favorite child. He was appointed the Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. John's elder brothers William, Henry and Geoffrey died young; by the time Richard I became king in 1189, John was a potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard's royal administrators whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade.

Despite this, after Richard died in 1199, John was proclaimed King of England, and came to an agreement with Philip II of France to recognize John's possession of the continental Angevin lands at the peace treaty of Le Goulet in 1200.

He was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death in 1216. John lost the duchy of Normandy to King Philip II of France, which resulted in the collapse of most of the Angevin Empire and contributed to the subsequent growth in power of the Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of the Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered to be an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

When war with France broke out again in 1202, John achieved early victories, but shortages of military resources and his treatment of Norman, Breton and Anjou nobles resulted in the collapse of his empire in northern France in 1204. John spent much of the next decade attempting to regain these lands, raising huge revenues, reforming his armed forces and rebuilding continental alliances. John's judicial reforms had a lasting impact on the English common law system, as well as providing an additional source of revenue. An argument with Pope Innocent III led to John's excommunication in 1209, a dispute finally settled by the king in 1213. John's attempt to defeat Philip in 1214 failed due to the French victory over John's allies at the battle of Bouvines. When he returned to England, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, who were unhappy with his fiscal policies and his treatment of many of England's most powerful nobles. Although both John and the barons agreed to the Magna Carta peace treaty in 1215, neither side complied with its conditions. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by Louis of France. It soon descended into a stalemate. John died of dysentery contracted whilst on campaign in eastern England during late 1216; supporters of his son Henry III went on to achieve victory over Louis and the rebel barons the following year.

Contemporary chroniclers were mostly critical of John's performance as king, and his reign has since been the subject of significant debate and periodic revision by historians from the 16th century onwards. Historian Jim Bradbury has summarized the current historical opinion of John's positive qualities, observing that John is today usually considered a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general". Nonetheless, modern historians agree that he also had many faults as king, including what historian Ralph Turner describes as "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", such as pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty. These negative qualities provided extensive material for fiction writers in the Victorian era, and John remains a recurring character within Western popular culture, primarily as a villain in films and stories depicting the Robin Hood legends.

John's personal life greatly affected his reign. Contemporary chroniclers state that John was sinfully lustful and lacking in piety. It was common for kings and nobles of the period to keep mistresses, but chroniclers complained that John's mistresses were married noblewomen, which was considered unacceptable. John had at least five children with mistresses during his first marriage to Isabelle of Gloucester, and two of those mistresses are known to have been noblewomen.

John's behaviour after his second marriage to Isabella of Angoulême is less clear, however. None of John's known illegitimate children were born after he remarried, and there is no actual documentary proof of adultery after that point, although John certainly had female friends amongst the court throughout the period. The specific accusations made against John during the baronial revolts are now generally considered to have been invented for the purposes of justifying the revolt; nonetheless, most of John's contemporaries seem to have held a poor opinion of his sexual behavior.

The character of John's relationship with his second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, is unclear. John married Isabella whilst she was relatively young ? her exact date of birth is uncertain, and estimates place her between at most 15 and more probably towards twelve years old at the time of her marriage. Even by the standards of the time, Isabella was married whilst very young. John did not provide a great deal of money for his wife's household and did not pass on much of the revenue from her lands. Other aspects of their marriage suggest a closer, more positive relationship. Chroniclers recorded that John had a "mad infatuation" with Isabella, and certainly John had conjugal relationships with Isabella between at least 1207 and 1215; they had five children.

In the aftermath of John's death William Marshal was declared the protector of the nine-year-old Henry III. The civil war continued until royalist victories at the battles of Lincoln and Dover in 1217. Louis of France gave up his claim to the English throne and signed the Treaty of Lambeth. The failed Magna Carta agreement was resuscitated by Marshal's administration and reissued in an edited form in 1217 as a basis for future government. Henry III continued his attempts to reclaim Normandy and Anjou until 1259, but John's continental losses and the consequent growth of Capetian power in the 13th century proved to mark a "turning point in European history".

John's second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, left England for Angoulême soon after the king's death; she became a powerful regional leader, but largely abandoned the children she had had by John. They had five legitimate children:

His eldest son, Henry III, ruled as king for the majority of the 13th century.


Richard became a noted European leader and ultimately the King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire.

Joan married Alexander II of Scotland to become his queen consort.

Isabella married the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.[232]

His youngest daughter, Eleanor, married William Marshal's son, also called William, and later the famous English rebel Simon de Montfort.

John had a number of illegitimate children by various mistresses, including nine sons ? Richard, Oliver, John, Geoffrey, Henry, Osbert Gifford, Eudes, Bartholomew and probably Philip ? and three daughters ? Joan, Maud and probably Isabel. Of these, Joan became the most famous, marrying Prince Llywelyn the Great of Wales.

Historical interpretations of John have been subject to considerable change over the years. Medieval chroniclers provided the first contemporary, or near contemporary, histories of John's reign. These historians were generally unsympathetic to John's behavior under Richard's rule, but slightly more positive towards the very earliest years of John's reign. Reliable accounts of the middle and later parts of John's reign are more limited.

In the 16th century political and religious changes altered the attitude of historians towards John. Tudor historians were generally favorably inclined towards the king, focusing on John's opposition to the Papacy and his promotion of the special rights and prerogatives of a king. Revisionist histories portrayed John as an early Protestant hero.

By the Victorian period in the 19th century historians were more inclined to draw on the judgements of the chroniclers and to focus on John's moral personality, blaming his These historians were often inclined to see John's reign, and his signing of Magna Carta in particular, as a positive step in the constitutional development of England, despite the flaws of the king himself. family background and his cruel personality for his downfall.

In the 1940s, new interpretations of John's reign began to emerge, based on research into the record evidence of his reign, such as pipe rolls, charters, court documents and similar primary records. Interpretations of Magna Carta and the role of the rebel barons in 1215 have been significantly revised: although the charter's symbolic, constitutional value for later generations is unquestionable, in the context of John's reign most historians now consider it a failed peace agreement between "partisan" factions.

Most historians today argue that John was an unsuccessful monarch, but note that his failings were exaggerated by 12th- and 13th-century chroniclers. The current consensus that John was a hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general", albeit, with distasteful, even dangerous personality traits, including pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty.

Buried:
Grave location, photos of tomb and effigy:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1953

John married Isabel d'Angoulême, Countess of Angoulême. Isabel (daughter of Aymer d'Angoulême, Count of Angoulême and Alice/Alix de Courtenay, Countess of Angoulême) was born ca 1188, Angoulême; died 04 Jun 1246, Fontevraud Abbey, France; was buried , Fontevraud Abbey, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Angoul%C3%AAme

Isabel was the second wife of King John of England and at the time of their marriage, the blonde and blue-eyed 12-year-old was already renowned by some for her beauty. Her mother-in-law, Eleanor of Aquitaine readily accepted her as John's wife.

Isabella was much younger than her husband and possessed a volatile temper similar to his own. King John was infatuated with his young, beautiful wife; however, his acquisition of her had as much, if not more, to do with spiting his enemies, than romantic love. She was already engaged to Hugh de Lusignan,IX Count of La Marche when she was taken by John.

She had five children by the king, including his heir, later Henry III. He was quickly followed by another son, Richard, and three daughters, Joan, Isabel, and Eleanor. All five children survived into adulthood, and would make illustrious marriages; all but Joan would produce offspring of their own.

When King John died in October 1216, Isabella's first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son at the city of Gloucester on 28 October.

Less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of Angoulême.

In the spring of 1220, she married Hugh X of Lusignan, "le Brun", Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, the son of her former fiancé, Hugh IX, to whom she had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. Isabella had nine more children by Hugh X. Their eldest son Hugh XI of Lusignan succeeded his father as Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême in 1249.

Isabella could not reconcile herself with her less prominent position in France. Though Queen mother of England, Isabella was now mostly regarded as a mere Countess of La Marche and had to give precedence to other women. In 1241, when Isabella and Hugh were summoned to the French court to swear fealty to King Louis IX of France's brother, Alphonse, who had been invested as Count of Poitou, their mother, the Queen Dowager Blanche openly snubbed her.

This so infuriated Isabella, who had a deep-seated hatred of Blanche for having fervently supported the French invasion of England during the First Barons' War in May 1216, that she began to actively conspire against King Louis. She encouraged her son Henry in his invasion of Normandy in 1230, but then did not provide him the support she had promised.

In 1244, Hugh had made peace with King Louis, two royal cooks were arrested for attempting to poison the King; upon questioning they confessed to having been in Isabella's pay. None of this can be confirmed, but before Isabella could be taken into custody, she fled to Fontevraud Abbey, where she died on 4 June 1246.

By her own prior arrangement, she was first buried in the Abbey's churchyard, as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevraud, her son King Henry III of England was shocked to find her buried outside the Abbey and ordered her immediately moved inside. She was finally placed beside Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Afterwards, most of her many Lusignan children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.











Buried:
Grave location, portrait, and tomb effigy:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6436

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England

Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. He became actively involved by the age of 14 in his mother's efforts to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois, and was made Duke of Normandy at 17. He inherited Anjou in 1151 and shortly afterwards married Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII of France had recently been annulled.

He ruled as Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Nantes, King of England (1154?89) and Lord of Ireland; at various times, he also controlled Wales, Scotland and Brittany.

Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his royal grandfather, Henry I. During the early years of the younger Henry's reign he restored the royal administration in England, re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine.

Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Becket's murder in 1170.

Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire, often at Louis' expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse; despite numerous peace conferences and treaties, no lasting agreement was reached. By 1172, he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France, an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire.

Henry and Eleanor had eight children. Henry's relationship with his wife Eleanor was complex: Henry trusted Eleanor to manage England for several years after 1154, and was later content for her to govern Aquitaine; indeed, Eleanor was believed to have influence over Henry during much of their marriage. Ultimately, however, their relationship disintegrated and chroniclers and historians have speculated on what ultimately caused Eleanor to abandon Henry to support her older sons in the Great Revolt of 1173-74. Probable explanations include Henry's persistent interference in Aquitaine, his recognition of Raymond of Toulouse in 1173, or his harsh temper. Henry had several long-term mistresses, including Annabel de Balliol and Rosamund Clifford

As the children grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Flanders and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by his vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them "new men" appointed for their loyalty and administrative skills.

Henry had eight legitimate children by Eleanor, five sons: William, the Young Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and John, and three daughters: Matilda, Eleanor and Joan. Henry also had several illegitimate children; among the most prominent of these were Geoffrey (later Archbishop of York) and William (later Earl of Salisbury). Henry was expected to provide for the future of his legitimate children, either through granting lands to his sons or marrying his daughters well. Henry's family was divided by rivalries and violent hostilities, more so than many other royal families of the day. Various suggestions have been put forward to explain Henry's family's bitter disputes, from their inherited family genetics to the failure of Henry and Eleanor's parenting.

Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry would make John king, and a final rebellion broke out in 1189. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from a bleeding ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon in Anjou, where he died.

Henry's empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his youngest son John. Many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had long-term consequences. Henry's legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems.



Buried:
Grave location, portrait and tomb effigy:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1951

Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor (daughter of William X of Aquitaine and Aenor de Châtellerault) was born 1122, Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France; died 01 Apr 1204, Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France; was buried , Fontevraud Abbey Fontevraud-l'Abbaye Departement de Maine-et-Loire Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine

Eleanor was the oldest of three children of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, whose glittering ducal court was renowned in early 12th-century Europe, and his wife, Aenor de Châtellerault, the daughter of Aimery I, Viscount of Châtellerault. She was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages and a member of the Ramnulfid dynasty of rulers in southwestern France. She inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine from her father, William X, in 1137, and later became queen of France and of England.

By all accounts, Eleanor's father ensured that she had the best possible education. Eleanor came to learn arithmetic, the constellations, and history. She did learn domestic skills such as household management and the needle arts of embroidery, needlepoint, sewing, spinning, and weaving.[3] Eleanor ended up developing skills in conversation, dancing, games such as backgammon, checkers, and chess, playing the harp, and singing. Although her native tongue was Poitevin, she was taught to read and speak Latin, was well versed in music and literature, and schooled in riding, hawking, and hunting. Eleanor was extroverted, lively, intelligent, and strong-willed.

Her four-year-old brother William Aigret and their mother died at the castle of Talmont, on Aquitaine's Atlantic coast. Eleanor became the heir presumptive to her father's domains. The Duchy of Aquitaine was the largest and richest province of France; Poitou (where Eleanor spent most of her childhood) and Aquitaine together were almost one-third the size of modern France.

As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor was the most eligible bride in Europe. Three months after she became duchess, she married King Louis VII of France, son of her guardian, King Louis VI, the Fat. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. After the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment given that their union had not produced a son after fifteen years of marriage. Their daughters, Marie and Alix, were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, while Eleanor's lands were restored to her.

As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to Henry, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry was her third cousin, and eleven years younger. They married eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanor's first marriage.

Over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children: five sons, three of whom would become kings; and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting her son Henry's revolt against her husband. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when Henry died and their son ascended the English throne as Richard I.

Now queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade, where on his return he was captured and held prisoner. Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. By the time of her death, she had outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor.



Buried:
Grave location and tomb effigy:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6437&ref=acom

Notes:

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymer_of_Angoul%C3%AAme

He was was the last Count of Angoulême of the House of Taillefer. Aymer succeeded his brother in 1186, and soon after was at the court of Richard the Lionheart, then Duke of Aquitaine and thus Aymer's lord, to receive recognition of his accession. The Count remained a steady ally of the kings of England against the rebellious House of Lusignan.

By 1188, Aymer had married Alice of Courtenay, the daughter of Peter I of Courtenay and thus granddaughter of King Louis VI of France.

His daughter and only child, Isabel, Queen of England, succeeded him as Countess of Angoulême. Her title, however, was largely empty since her husband denied her control of her inheritance as well as her marriage dowry and dower. King John's appointed governor, Bartholomew de Le Puy (de Podio), ran most of the administrative affairs of Angoulême until John's death in 1216. In 1217 Isabella returned and seized her inheritance from Bartholomew.



Buried:
Grave location and biography:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=111263946

Aymer married Alice/Alix de Courtenay, Countess of Angoulême. Alice/Alix (daughter of Pierre/Peter of France, de Courtenay and Elizabeth de Courtenay) was born 1160, France; died 12 Feb 1218, France; was buried , Abbaye Notre-Dame de La Couronne La Couronne Departement de la Charente Poitou-Charentes, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_of_Courtenay

Alice was born in 1160, the second eldest daughter and one of the ten children of Peter I of Courtenay and Elisabeth of Courtenay, daughter of Renauld de Courtenay and Hawise du Donjon. Her family was one of the most illustrious in France; and her paternal grandparents were King Louis VI of France and Adélaide de Maurienne.

In 1178, she married her first husband, Guillaume I, Count of Joigny. The marriage did not produce any children, and they were divorced in 1186.

Alice married her second husband, Aymer Taillefer in 1186, the same year he succeeded his father, William IV as Count of Angoulême. Sometime in 1188, Alice gave birth to her only child, Isabella of Angoulême, wife of King John of England and later Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche.

Buried:
Grave location and biography:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=111264390

Notes:

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Plantagenet,_Count_of_Anjou

He was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance and then Duke of Normandy by conquest and called the Handsome or the Fair (French: le Bel) and Plantagenet. When he married Empress Matilda, the daughter and heiress of Henry I of England, their son, Henry Curtmantle, who succeeded to the English throne as King Henry II and founded the Plantagenet dynasty the name of which was taken from Geoffrey's nickname.

Geoffrey was the elder son of Foulques V d'Anjou and Eremburga de La Flèche, daughter of Elias I of Maine. He was named after his great-grandfather Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais. Geoffrey received his nickname from the yellow sprig of broom blossom (genêt is the French name for the planta genista, or broom shrub) he wore in his hat.

Geoffrey and Matilda's marriage was meant to seal a peace between England/Normandy and Anjou. She was eleven years older than Geoffrey, and very proud of her status as empress dowager (as opposed to being a mere countess). Their marriage was a stormy one with frequent long separations, but she bore him three sons and survived him.

Geoffrey and Matilda's children were:

Henry II of England (1133-1189)

Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (1 June 1134 Rouen to 26 July 1158 Nantes) died unmarried and was buried in Nantes

William, Viscount of Dieppe (1136-1164) died unmarried

Geoffrey also had illegitimate children by an unknown mistress (or mistresses).

When King Henry I died in 1135, Matilda at once entered Normandy to claim her inheritance. The border districts submitted to her, but England chose her cousin Stephen of Blois for its king, and Normandy soon followed suit.

In 1139 Matilda landed in England with 140 knights, where she was besieged at Arundel Castle by King Stephen. In the "Anarchy" which ensued, Stephen was captured at Lincoln in February 1141, and imprisoned at Bristol. A council of the English church held at Winchester in April 1141 declared Stephen deposed and proclaimed Matilda "Lady of the English". Stephen was subsequently released from prison and had himself re-crowned on the anniversary of his first coronation.

During 1142 and 1143, Geoffrey secured all of Normandy west and south of the Seine, and, on 14 January 1144, he crossed the Seine and entered Rouen. He assumed the title of Duke of Normandy in the summer of 1144. He also put down three baronial rebellions in Anjou,and the threat of rebellion slowed his progress in Normandy. He could not intervene in England because of this. In 1153 the Treaty of Wallingford stipulated that Stephen should remain King of England for life and that Henry, the son of Geoffrey and Matilda should succeed him.

Geoffrey died suddenly on 7 September 1151. According to John of Marmoutier, Geoffrey was returning from a royal council when he was stricken with fever. He arrived at Château-du-Loir, collapsed on a couch, made bequests of gifts and charities, and died. He was buried at St. Julien's Cathedral in Le Mans France.

Buried:
Grave location, biography, historical portrait, and cathedral photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8143822

Geoffrey married Matilda of England. Matilda (daughter of Henry I (Beauclerc) of England and Matilda of Scotland) was born 07 Feb 1102, Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire, England; died 10 Sep 1167, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France; was buried , Abbey of Our Lady of Bec, Normandy, France, reinterred Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen, Rouen, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Matilda

She was also known as Empress Maude and was the daughter of of King Henry I of England and Matilda of Scotland, born around 7 February 1102 at Sutton Courtenay in Oxfordshire. Her father, Henry, was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who had invaded England in 1066.

Little is known about Matilda's earliest life, but she probably stayed with her mother, was taught to read, and was educated in religious morals. She moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, her first husband. The match was attractive to the Henry as his daughter would be marrying into one of the most prestigious dynasties in Europe, reaffirming his own, slightly questionable, status as the youngest son of a new royal house, and gaining him an ally in dealing with France. They had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, the crown was claimed by Lothair II, one of his political enemies.

Matilda's younger brother, William Adelin, died in 1120, leaving England facing a potential succession crisis. On Henry V's death, Matilda was recalled to Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders. The marriage proved difficult, as the couple did not particularly like each other. There was a further dispute over Matilda's dowry; she was granted various castles in Normandy by Henry, but it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them.

Henry I had no further legitimate children and nominated Matilda as his heir, making his court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in the Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135 but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons.

The throne was instead taken by Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime, but Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and her uncle, King David I of Scotland, while Geoffrey focused on conquering Normandy. Her son, Henry, remained in France.

Matilda's forces captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, but the Empress's attempt to be crowned at Westminster collapsed in the face of bitter opposition from the London crowds. As a result of this retreat, Matilda was never formally declared Queen of England, and was instead titled the Lady of the English. Robert was captured following the Rout of Winchester in 1141, and Matilda agreed to exchange him for Stephen. Matilda became trapped in Oxford Castle by Stephen's forces that winter, and was forced to escape across the frozen River Isis at night to avoid capture. The war degenerated into a stalemate, with Matilda controlling much of the south-west of England, and Stephen the south-east and the Midlands. Large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local, independent barons. This time was called the Anarchy because of the unrest.

Matilda returned to Normandy, now in the hands of her husband, in 1148, leaving her eldest son, Henry, to continue the campaign in England; he eventually succeeded to the throne as Henry II in 1154. She settled her court near Rouen and for the rest of her life concerned herself with the administration of Normandy, acting on Henry's behalf when necessary. Particularly in the early years of her son's reign, she provided political advice.

She worked extensively with the Church, founding Cistercian monasteries, and was known for her piety. She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167. Her tomb's epitaph included the lines "Great by birth, greater by marriage, greatest in her offspring: here lies Matilda, the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry", which became a famous phrase among her contemporaries.

Buried:
Grave location, biography, and cathedral portrait:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8619917

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_X,_Duke_of_Aquitaine

Called the Saint, he was Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, and Count of Poitou (as William VIII) from 1126 to 1137. He was the son of William IX by his second wife, Philippa of Toulouse.

William was born in Toulouse during the brief period when his parents ruled the capital. His birth is recorded in the Chronicle of Saint-Maixent for the year 1099: Willelmo comiti natus est filius, equivoce Guillelmus vocatus ("a son was born to Count William, named William like himself"). Later that same year, much to Philippa's ire, Duke William IX mortgaged Toulouse to Philippa's cousin, Bertrand of Toulouse, and then left on Crusade.

Philippa and her infant son William X were left in Poitiers. When Duke William IX returned from his unsuccessful crusade, he took up with Dangerose, the wife of a vassal, and set aside his rightful wife, Philippa. This caused strain between father and son, until 1121 when William X married Aenor de Châtellerault, a daughter of his father's mistress Dangerose by her first husband, Aimery.

William had three children with Aenor:

Eleanor, who later became heiress to the Duchy;

Petronilla, who married Raoul I of Vermandois;

William Aigret, who died at age 4 in 1130, about the time their mother Aenor de Châtellerault died.

William administered his Aquitaine duchy as both a lover of the arts and a warrior. He became involved in conflicts with Normandy (which he raided in 1136, in alliance with Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou who claimed it in his wife's name) and for France.

Even inside his borders, William faced an alliance of the Lusignans and the Parthenays against him, an issue resolved with total destruction of the enemies.

In 1137 William joined the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, but died during the trip.[1] On his deathbed, he expressed his wish to see king Louis VI of France as protector of his fifteen-year-old daughter Eleanor, and to find her a suitable husband. Louis VI naturally accepted this guardianship and married the heiress of Aquitaine to his own son, Louis VII.


Buried:
Grave location, portrait, and cathedral photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=92622584

William married Aenor de Châtellerault. Aenor (daughter of Aimery I, Vicount de Châtellerault and Amauberge (Dangereuse) de L' Isle Bouchard) was born 1103, Châtellerault, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France; died Mar 1130, Talmont, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France; was buried , Abbaye de Nieul-sur-l'Autise Nieul-sur-l'Autise Departement de la Vendée Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aenor_de_Ch%C3%A2tellerault

Aenor was a daughter of Viscount Aimery I, Viscount of Châtellerault and his wife, Dangereuse de L' Isle Bouchard (d. 1151). Aenor married William X of Aquitaine, the son of her mother's lover, and had three children with him:

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine, and wife of both Louis VII of France, and Henry II of England, one of the most powerful women in Europe of her generation.

Petronilla of Aquitaine, wife of Raoul I, Count of Vermandois.

William Aigret (who died at the age of four with his mother at Talmont-sur-Gironde)


Buried:
Grave location and tomb photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=92767318

Notes:

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_I_of_Courtenay

He was the youngest son of Louis VI of France and his second wife, Adélaide de Maurienne. In about 1150, he married Elizabeth de Courtenay (1127-September 1205),[1] the daughter of Renaud de Courtenay and Hawise du Donjon, thus starting the Capetian line of the House of Courtenay.

Pierre being the son of the king had important connections, a brother who was king, two brothers who were archbishops, one in Paris and one in Reims, his brother the Count de Dreux, and his sister Constance, the Countess of Boulogne. He died in Acre, Palestine, presumably as a Crusader.

Pierre and Elizabeth had ten children:

Phillip (1153-before 1186)

Peter, Latin Emperor of Constantinople (c. 1155 to 1218

Unnamed daughter (c. 1156)

Alice (died 12 February 1218), married Count Aymer of Angoulême

Eustachia (1162-1235), married firstly William of Brienne, son of Erard II of Brienne and of Agnès of Montfaucon, secondly William of Champlitte

Clémence (1164)

Robert, Seigneur of Champignelles (1166-1239), married in 1217 Mathilde of Mehun (d. 1240). Their eldest son was Peter of Courtenay, Lord of Conches.

William, Seigneur of Tanlay (1168-before 1248)

Isabella (1169-after 1194)

Constance (after 1170-1231)




Buried:
Grave location, biography, and portrait:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=58301000

Pierre/Peter married Elizabeth de Courtenay. Elizabeth (daughter of Renaud/Reginald de Courtenay, Seigneur of Courtenay and Helvis (Elizabeth) du Donjon) was born 1127, France; died Sep 1205, France. [Group Sheet]