William (Guillaume) IV (Talvas) of Ponthieu, Count of Ponthieu

Notes:

Wikipeida
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_IV,_Count_of_Ponthieu

He was Count of Ponthieu, ruler of a small province in northern France. It was one of six feudal counties that eventually merged to become part of the Province of Picardy, in northern France. Its chief town is Abbeville.

He was son and heir of John (Jean) I, Count of Ponthieu (died 1191) by his third wife Beatrice de St Pol. His father was the son of Guy II, Count of Ponthieu (who died on the Second Crusade 1147) and grandson of William III of Ponthieu, also frequently called William III Talvas, and who represented the senior line of the lords of Montgomery, once trusted vassals and allies of William the Conqueror.

Talvas was married on August 20, 1195 to Alys, Countess of the Vexin, the daughter of King Louis VII of France. She was some eighteen years older than he, and was said by some to have been seduced by King Henry II of England while betrothed to his son, King Richard the Lionheart. Richard sent her back to her brother, King Philip II of France, refusing to marry his father's mistress.

Philip then arranged for Alys to marry William Talvas, with the intent that the couple would be childless, and he would thus gain control of Ponthieu, a small but strategically important county. However, Alys then gave birth to a daughter and heiress, Marie, in 1199. This daughter was the maternal grandmother of Eleanor of Castile, first wife of Edward I, King of England, to whom Ponthieu and the disputed Vexin inheritance would eventually pass as Eleanor's dowry. William Talvas died in 1221, his daughter Marie being his heiress.

William was an important army commander in the Anglo-French War (1202-1214). He also participated in the Albigensian Crusade, particularly in the Siege of Termes in 1210.
He led the left wing of the victorious French army in the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.



Buried:
Grave location and cemetery photo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=102346447

William married Alys of France, Countess of Vexin. Alys (daughter of King Louis VII of France and Constance of Castile) was born 04 Oct 1160; died ca 1220; was buried , Abbey of Valloires, Picardie, France. [Group Sheet]

1. Marie of Ponthieu, Countess of Ponthieu was born 17 Apr 1199, Abbeville, Picardie, France; died 21 Sep 1250, Abbeville, Picardie, France; was buried , Abbey of Valloires, Picardie, France.

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I,_Count_of_Ponthieu

He was the son of Guy II of Ponthieu and succeeded him as Count of Ponthieu in 1147. He married Beatrice of Saint-Pol, and was succeeded by his son William IV Talvas.

John married Beatrice of Saint-Pol. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I,_Count_of_Ponthieu

John I of Ponthieu married Beatrice of Saint-Pol, and was succeeded by their son William IV Talvas

Notes:

Wikipedia

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

He was the son of William III of Ponthieu and Helie of Burgundy. He succeeded his father as Count of Ponthieu before 1129; this was during William's lifetime. Around 1137, he founded the Cistercian Valloires Abbey.

In 1146, he joined the Second Crusade under King Louis VII of France. He died of a disease on 25 December 1147 in Ephesus. He was succeeded by his son John I of Ponthieu.

His wife was called Ida; he had three children with her:

1. John I (d. 1191), Count of Ponthieu

2. Guido (d. between 1208 and 1218), Lord of Noyelles

3. Agnes, abbess in Montreuil

Guy married Ida. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III,_Count_of_Ponthieu

He was seigneur de Montgomery in Normandy and Count of Ponthieu. William was son of Robert II of Bellême and Agnes of Ponthieu. He succeeded his father as count of Ponthieu some time between 1105 and 1111.

His father Robert de Bellême had turned against Henry I on several occasions, had escaped capture at the battle of Tinchebrai in 1106. While serving as envoy for King Louis of France, he was arrested by Henry I and imprisoned for life.

William was naturally driven by this to oppose King Henry. In June of 1119, however, Henry I restored all his father's lands in Normandy. Sometime prior to 1126, William resigned the county of Ponthieu to his son Guy but retained the title of count. In 1135 Henry I again confiscated all his Norman lands to which William responded by joining count Geoffrey of Anjou in his invasion of Normandy after Henry I's death.

He married, abt. 1115, Helie of Burgundy, daughter of Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy. The Gesta Normannorum Ducum says that they had five children, three sons and two daughters.


1. Guy II. He assumed the county of Ponthieu during his father Talvas' lifetime, but died in 1147 predeceasing his father.

2. William, Count of Alençon.

3. John I, Count of Alençon, married Beatrix d'Anjou, daughter of Elias II, Count of Maine and Philippa, daughter of Rotrou III, Count of Perche.

4. Clemence married (abt. 1189) Juhel, son of Walter of Mayenne.

5. Adela (aka Ela) married William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey. She married, secondly, Patrick of Salisbury.

William married Helie of Burgundy. Helie (daughter of Eudes (Odo) I of Burgundy, Duke of Burgundy and Sibylla of Burgundy, Duchess of Burgundy) was born ca 1080, County of Burgundy, France; died 28 Feb 1141, Perseigne Abbey, Neufchâtel-en-Saosnois, France; was buried , Perseigne Abbey, Neufchâtel-en-Saosnois, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helie_of_Burgundy

She was the daughter of Eudes I and Sibylla of Burgundy.

In June 1095, she married Bertrand of Toulouse, as his second wife. The two had one son, Pons of Tripoli (c.?1098-1137).

Bertrand succeeded his father as Count of Toulouse in 1105, and in 1108, he set out for Outremer to claim his father's rights as Count of Tripoli. Helie accompanied him on this expedition, which resulted in the capture of Tripoli in 1109; shortly after, their nephew, William-Jordan died of wounds, giving Bertrand an undisputed claim to Tripoli.

Bertrand died in 1112, and Pons succeeded him in Tripoli. Helie returned to France, where she married William III of Ponthieu in 1115.

The Gesta Normannorum Ducum says that they had five children, three sons and two daughters.

1. Guy II. He assumed the county of Ponthieu during his father Talvas' lifetime, but died in 1147 predeceasing his father.

2. William, Count of Alençon.

3. John I, Count of Alençon, married Beatrix d'Anjou, daughter of Elias II, Count of Maine and Philippa, daughter of Rotrou III, Count of Perche.

4. Clemence married (abt. 1189) Juhel, son of Walter of Mayenne.

5. Adela (aka Ela) married William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey. She married, secondly, Patrick of Salisbury.

Helie died on 28 February 1141, in Perseigne Abbey in Neufchâtel-en-Saosnois.

Buried:
Grave location:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=148237838