Isabel d'Angoulême, Countess of Angoulême

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

Isabel married Hugh, Seigneur de Lusignan, X, Count of La Marche and Angoulême . Hugh, was born BET. 1183 and 1195, Lusignan, Poitou, France; died ABT. 5 Jun 1249, Angoulême, France. [Group Sheet]

1. Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey was born 1224, Lusignan, Poitou, France; died 09 Feb 1256, Warren, Sussex, England; was buried , Lewes Priory Lewes Lewes District East Sussex, England.

Isabel married John I Plantagenet, King of England. John (son of Henry II Plantagenet, King of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine) was born 24 Dec 1166, Beaumont Palace, Oxford, England; died 19 Oct 1216, Newark Castle, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England; was buried , Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet]

1. Eleanor of England was born 1215, Gloucester, Gloucershire, England; died 13 Apr 1275, Montargis, Loiret, Centre, France; was buried , Montargis Abbey, Loiret, Centre, France.

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/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]

Notes:

Source:

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

He was the son of of Philip I and his first wife, Bertha of Holland. Louis married Lucienne de Rochefort, a French crown princess, in 1104, but repudiated her three years later. They had no children.

Louis married Adelaide of Maurienne, daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, and niece of Pope Callixtus II. They had eight children. Adelaide was one of the most politically active of all France's medieval queens. Her name appears on 45 royal charters from the reign of Louis VI. During her tenure as queen, royal charters were dated with both her regnal year and that of the king.

Louis was the first member of the House of Capet to make a lasting contribution to the centralizing institutions of royal power. He spent almost all of his twenty-nine-year reign fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued Paris or the Norman kings of England for their continental possession of Normandy. Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably and became one of the first strong kings of France since the division of the Carolingian Empire in 843.

When Louis ascended the throne the Kingdom of France was a collection of feudal principalities. Beyond the Isle de France the French Kings had little authority over the great Dukes and Counts of the realm but slowly Louis began to change this and assert Capetian rights. This process would take two centuries to complete but began in the reign of Louis VI.

The second great challenge facing Louis was to counter the rising power of the Anglo-Normans under their capable new King, Henry I of England. Louis was involved with a coalition of Norman and French seigneurs opposed to Henry. The plan was to drive the English King from Normandy and replace him.

Louis was a warrior king but by his forties his weight had become so great that it was increasingly difficult for him to lead in the field.

As Louis VI approached his end there seemed reasons for optimism. He made great strides in exercising his royal authority over his barons. William X, Duke of Aquitaine, on his deathbed, had appointed Louis VI guardian of his fifteen-year-old daughter and heiress, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor was suddenly the most eligible heiress in Europe and Louis wasted no time in marrying her to his own heir, the future Louis VII. At a stroke Louis had added one of the most powerful Duchies in France to the Capetian domains.

Henry I of England was dead and Stephen of Blois had seized the English Crown, reneging on the oath he had sworn to support Empress Matilda. So England was in turmoil. That was not to last as Matilda married Geoffrey of Anjoy [ Plantagenet] and fought to regain the throne for her son, Henry II. Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine and added to the hostilities between France and England for Louis descendants.

Source:

GenealogieOnline. Coret Genealogie. http://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/

Name: Louis VI France
Gender: m (Male)
Birth Date: 1 dec 1081
Birth Place: Paris, France
Death Date: 1 aug 1137
Death Place: Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, France
Death Age: 55
Father: Philip I France
Mother: Bertha Holland
Spouse: Adelaide Maurienne
Children: Louis VII France
Robert I Dreux
Peter Courtenay
Constance France



Buried:
Grave location, biography, historical portraits, and photo of tomb effigy:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21089

Louis married Adelaide of Maurienne, de Savoy. Adelaide (daughter of Umberto II of Savoy, the Fat and Gisela of Burgundy, Marchioness of Montferrat) was born 1092, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France; died 18 Nov 1154, Abbey of Montmartre, France; was buried , Church of St. Pierre, Montmartre, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:

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

She was the daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy and niece of Pope Callixtus II, and became the second wife of Louis VI of France.

They had seven sons and one daughter:

Philip of France (1116-1131)

Louis VII (1120-18 November 1180), King of France

Henry (1121-1175), Archbishop of Reims

Hugues (b. c. 1122)

Robert (c. 1123-11 October 1188), Count of Dreux

Constance (c. 1124-16 August 1176), married first Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne and then Raymond V of Toulouse.

Philip (1125-1161), Bishop of Paris. not to be confused with his elder brother.

Peter (c. 1125-1183), married Elizabeth, Lady of Courtenay

Adelaide was one of the most politically active of all France's medieval queens. Her name appears on 45 royal charters from the reign of Louis VI. Among many other religious benefactions, she and Louis founded the monastery of St Peter's (Ste Pierre) at Montmartre, in the northern suburbs of Paris.

After Louis VI's death, Adélaide did not immediately retire to a convent, as did most widowed queens of the time. Instead she married Matthieu I of Montmorency, with whom she had one child. She remained active in the French court and in religious activities.

In 1153 she retired to the abbey of Montmartre, which she had founded with Louis VII. She died there on 18 November 1154. She was buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. Pierre at Montmartre, but her tomb was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Buried:
Grave location, biography, and tomb photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=36523021

Notes:

Source:

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

He was a French nobleman of the House of Courtenay who came over to England and founded of the English Courtenay family which became Earls of Devon in 1335, which title is still held today by his direct male descendant.

He was the son of Miles (Milo) de Courtenay, Seigneur
of Courtenay, in the Kingdom of France, today in the Loiret department in north-central France, by his wife Ermengard de Nevers.

He succeeded his father as Seigneur of Courtenay. He fought in the Second Crusade, with King Louis VII of France. He quarrelled with King Louis VII, who seized Renaud's French possessions and gave them along with Renaud's daughter Elizabeth to his youngest brother, Pierre (Peter) of France, who thenceforth became known as Peter I of Courtenay (died 1183). In 1172 he accompanied King Henry II in the Irish Expedition to County Wexford.

Renaud married twice:

(1) Helvis (Elizabeth) du Donjon, daughter of Frederick du Donjon and Corbeil, sister of Guy du Donjon (alternatively given as Hawise de Curci (d.1219) heiress of the feudal barony of Okehampton in Devon.

(2) Maud FitzEdith, daughter of Robert FitzEdith, Lord Okehampton (d.1172) (illegitimate son of Henry I, King of England by Edith FitzForne).

By his first marriage he had a daughter Elizabeth who was given in marriage by the French King Louis VII (d.1180) to his youngest brother Peter of France, who thenceforth became known as Peter I of Courtenay.

He also had a son, Robert de Courtenay, who was the great-grandfather of Hugh de Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1340).

Renaud/Reginald married Helvis (Elizabeth) du Donjon. Helvis (daughter of Frederick du Donjon and Corbeil) died 1219, England. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Source:

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

Alternatively given as Hawise de Curci (d.1219) heiress of the feudal barony of Okehampton in Devon