ENGLAND, King John of

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: King John Treachery and Tyranny
• Differentiator: King and signer of the Magna Carta
• Relation to Me: 25 GGF
• Name: John Lackland
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 6 Apr 1199 and 19 Oct 1216; King of England
• Magna Carta: 1215; King and signer of the Magna Carta

Notes:

John lost the Duchy of Normandy to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of most of the Angevin Empire and contributing 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 Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered to be an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

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 summarised 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.[3] 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.

Died:
Newark Castle, Lincolnshire, England

Family/Spouse: DE WARENNE, Adela "Ela". Adela (daughter of DE WARENNE, Hamelin and DE WARENNE, Isabel) was born about 1170; died on 27 May 1240 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. FITZ ROY, Lord of Chilham Richard was born in 1190 in Chilham, Kent, England; died on 24 Jun 1246 in Chilham, Kent, England; was buried in Chilham, Kent, England.

Family/Spouse: ANGOULEME, Isabella of. Isabella (daughter of ANGOULEME, last Count of Angoulême of the House of Taillefer. Aymer of and COURTENAY, Alice of) was born in 1188; died on 4 Jun 1246. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. ENGLAND, Henry III was born on 1 Oct 1207; died on 16 Nov 1272.
2. CORNWALL, 1st Earl of Cornwall Richard of was born on 5 Jan 1209; died on 2 Apr 1272.
3. Living
4. Living
5. Living
6. CORNWALL, 1st Earl of Cornwall Richard was born on 5 Jan 1209; died on 2 Apr 1272.

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

1. FITZJOHN, Joan was born before 1189 in London, London, England; died on 2 Feb 1237 in Aberystwyth (Aber), Ceredigion, Wales.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Henry II appears as a character in several modern plays and films. He is a central character in James Goldman's 1966 play The Lion in Winter, set in 1183 and presenting an imaginary encounter between Henry's immediate family and Philip Augustus over Christmas at Chinon.
• Relation to Me: 26 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland
• Royalty & Nobility: King of England
• Name: Henry II Curtmantle Plantagenet
• Birth: 5 Mar 1133, Anjou, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France
• Death: 6 Jul 1189, Loire, Rhône-Alpes, France

Notes:

Henry was not a popular king and few expressed much grief on news of his death. Writing in the 1190s, William of Newburgh commented that "in his own time he was hated by almost everyone"; he was widely criticised by his own contemporaries, even within his own court. Many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had major long-term consequences. His legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for English Common Law, with the Exchequer court a forerunner of the later Common Bench at Westminster. Henry's itinerant justices also influenced his contemporaries' legal reforms: Philip Augustus' creation of itinerant bailli, for example, clearly drew on the Henrician model. Henry's intervention in Brittany, Wales and Scotland also had a significant long-term impact on the development of their societies and governmental systems.

II married OF AQUITAINE, Duchess of Acquitaine Eleanor on 18 May 1152 in Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine, France. Eleanor (daughter of AQUITAINE, Guillaume X of and DE CHATELLERAULT, Aenor) was born on 6 Dec 1122 in Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine, France; died on 1 Apr 1204 in Fontevraud Abbey, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France; was buried in Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography
• Books About: The Autumn Throne: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Middle Ages Queen of England
• Books About: The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick
• Books About: The Winter Crown: A Medieval Tale of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England
• Differentiator: Member of the Ramnulfid dynasty of rulers in southwestern France, and one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. She led armies several times in her life, and was a leader of the Second Crusade.
• Relation to Me: 26 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Duchess of Acquitaine, Queen Consort of England, Queen Consort of France

Notes:

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. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon afterwards, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage,[1] but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III.[2] However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment, as fifteen years of marriage had not produced a son.[3] The marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters 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 (cousin of the third degree), and eleven years younger. The couple married on 18 May 1152 (Whit Sunday), eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanor's first marriage, in a cathedral in Poitiers, France. 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; on his return Richard was captured and held prisoner. Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. She outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: The nickname "Plantagenet" sometimes used for Geoffrey only became a name for the entire dynasty in later years, and was not used by his immediate descendants, the first appearance of "Plantagenet" as a surname being in the fifteenth century.
• Relation to Me: 27 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine
• Name: Geoffrey V "The Handsome" Plantagenet Count of Plantagenet Anjou
• Name: Geoffrey V Plantagenet
• Name: Geoffroi V le Bon PLANTAGENET
• Death: 7 1151, Loire, Rhône-Alpes, France; Age: 38
• Death: 7 Sep 1151, Rancé, Ain, Rhône-Alpes, France

Notes:

Geoffrey V (24 August 1113 – 7 September 1151) — called the Handsome (French: le Bel) and Plantagenet — was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. By his marriage to the Empress Matilda, daughter and heiress of Henry I of England, Geoffrey had a son, Henry Curtmantle, who succeeded to the English throne and founded the Plantagenet dynastyto which Geoffrey gave his nickname.

Geoffroy married MATILDA, Empress on 22 May 1127 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France. Empress (daughter of HENRY, King of England I and PRINCESS OF SCOTLAND, Matilda) was born on 5 Aug 1102 in Middlesex, England; died on 10 Sep 1169 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick
• Differentiator: Claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy.
• Relation to Me: 27 GGM
• Name: Matilda Maud Empress Of GERMANY
• Birth: 7 Feb 1102
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 7 Jan 1114 and 23 May 1125; Holy Roman Empress; German Queen; Queen of Italy
• Death: 10 Sep 1167

Notes:

The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St. Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, the crown was claimed by Lothair II, one of his political enemies.

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. 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 and were unable to pursue their claims. The throne was instead taken by Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church.

In 1139 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. 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.

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. Matilda returned to Normandy, now in the hands of her husband, in 1148, leaving her eldest son to continue the campaign in England; he eventually succeeded to the throne as Henry II in 1154.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 27 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: Duke of Aquataine

Notes:

Birth:
St Jacques, Aquitaine, France

Died:
Saint Jacques De Compostelle, Spain

Guillaume married DE CHATELLERAULT, Aenor in 1121. Aenor (daughter of AIMERY, I and ISLE BOUCHARD, Dangereuse Maubergeonne) was born in 1103; died in Mar 1130 in Talmont, Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France; was buried in Nieul, Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Mother of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who arguably became the most powerful woman in Europe of her generation.
• Relation to Me: 27 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Duchess of Aquitaine

Notes:

Birth:
De Chatellerault, Aquitaine, France

Notes:

Married:
Poitou, Aquitaine, France

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 28 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: King of Jerusalem, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine
• Name: Fulk V

Foulques + DU MAINE, Ermengarde. Ermengarde (daughter of MAINE, Elias Helie of and DECHATEAU DULOIRE, Matilde Countess) was born on 3 Jul 1094 in Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France; died on 15 Jan 1126 in Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Heiress of Maine through her father Helias de la Flèche and of Château-du-Loir through her mother Mathilde de Château-du-Loir, her large holding passed to the Angevin dynasty upon her marriage to Foulques V of Anjou.
• Relation to Me: 28 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Countess of Anjou, Queen of Jerusalem
• Name: Ermengarde Ermentrude Du MAINE
• Name: Ermengarde of Maine
• Birth: Abt 1096, Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France

Notes:

Died:
Age: 34

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 28 GGF
• Name: Henry Beauclerc
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 1100 and 1136; King of England and Duke of the Normans

Notes:

Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. In England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but also strengthened it with additional institutions, including the royal exchequer and itinerant justices. Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury,

I + PRINCESS OF SCOTLAND, Matilda. Matilda (daughter of SCOTLAND, Malcolm III of and SCOTLAND, Margaret of) was born in 1088; died on 1 May 1118; was buried in May 1118. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Although she is usually called Matilda, she was born with the name Eadgyth (Edith), as Orderic Vitalis notes. Before her marriage to king Henry I, she had been sought in marriage by Alan Rufus of Brittany and William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey
• Relation to Me: 28 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Princess of Scotland, Queen Consort of England

Notes:

After her death, she was remembered by her subjects as "Matilda the Good Queen" and "Matilda of Blessed Memory", and for a time sainthood was sought for her, though she was never canonized. Matilda is also thought to be the identity of the "Fair Lady" mentioned at the end of each verse in the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down. The post-Norman conquest English monarchs to the present day are related to the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex monarchs via Matilda of Scotland as she was the great-granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside, see House of Wessex family tree.

Buried:
Westminster Abbey

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Though his political and military achievements have a certain historical importance, he is best known as the earliest troubadour[1] — a vernacular lyric poet in the Occitan language — whose work survived.
• Relation to Me: 28 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitou
• Name: William IX Aquitaine

Notes:

An anonymous 13th-century vida of William remembers him thus:

The Count of Poitiers was one of the most courtly men in the world and one of the greatest deceivers of women. He was a fine knight at arms, liberal in his womanizing, and a fine composer and singer of songs. He traveled much through the world, seducing women.

In a striking departure from the typical attitude toward women in the period, William seems to have held at least one woman in particularly high esteem, composing several poems in homage to this woman, who he refers to as midons (master):[8]

Every joy must abase itself,
and every might obey
in the presence of Midons, for the sweetness of her welcome,
for her beautiful and gentle look;
and a man who wins to the joy of her love
will live a hundred years.
The joy of her can make the sick man well again,
her wrath can make a well man die,

His frankness, wit and vivacity caused scandal and won admiration at the same time. He is among the first Romance vernacular poets of the Middle Ages, one of the founders of a tradition that would culminate in Dante, Petrarch, and François Villon. Ezra Pound mentions him in Canto VIII:

And Poictiers, you know, Guillaume Poictiers,
had brought the song up out of Spain
with the singers and viels...

In Spirit of Romance Pound also calls William IX "the most 'modern' of the troubadours":

Birth:
Poitiers, Aquitaine, France

Guillaume married MAUDE, Philippa in 1094 in France. Philippa (daughter of WILLIAM, IV and Living) was born on 22 Oct 1073 in Toulouse, Jura, Franche-Comté, France; died on 28 Nov 1118 in Abbey Fontevrault, Aquitaine, France; was buried in Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 28 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Countess of Toulouse
• Royalty & Nobility: Duchess Consort of Aquiitaine

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 28 GGF
• Royalty & Nobility: Viscount of Chatellerault

Notes:

Through his daughter he was the grandfather of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who would become Duchess of Aquitaine (in her own right) as well as queen of both France and England. Eleanor was arguably the most celebrated woman in Medieval European history.

Died:
Notre Dame, Paris, Ile-de-France, France

I + ISLE BOUCHARD, Dangereuse Maubergeonne. Dangereuse (daughter of Living) was born in 1079; died in 1119. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Viscountess of Châttellerault

Notes:

Whilst travelling through Poitou, Duke William IX of Aquitaine met the "seductive" Dangereuse.[5] This led to her leaving her husband for Duke William, who was excommunicated by the church for "abducting her"; however, she appeared to have been a willing party in the matter. He installed her in the Maubergeonne tower of his castle in Poitiers, and, as related by William of Malmesbury, even painted a picture of her on his shield.[6][7]

Upon returning to Poitiers from Toulouse, William's wife Philippa of Toulouse was enraged to discover a rival woman living in her palace. She appealed to her friends at the court of Aquitaine and to the Church;[8] however, no noble could assist her since William was their feudal overlord, and when the Papal legate Giraud complained to William and told him to return Dangereuse to her husband, William's only response to the bald legate was, "Curls will grow on your pate before I part with the Viscountess." Humiliated, in 1116, Philippa chose to retire to the Abbey of Fontevrault.

Birth:
LIle Bouchard, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France

Died:
LIsle Bouchard, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France