Guy I of Ponthieu, Count of Ponthieu

1020 - 1100  (~ 80 years)

• Name	Guy I of Ponthieu
  Suffix	Count of Ponthieu
  Born	ca 1020	Abbeville, Picardie, France
  Gender	Male
  Died	13 Oct 1100	Abbeville, Picardie, France
  Notes	Wikipeida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_I,_Count_of_Ponthieu Ponthieu 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. It played a small but important role in the politics that led up to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Guy was a younger son of Hugh II, Count of Ponthieu and about 1053 succeeded his brother Enguerrand II, as Count of Ponthieu. The alliance with Duke William of Normandy had earlier been secured by the marriage of Enguerrand to Adelaide of Normandy, Duke William's sister. But the marriage was apparently annulled due to consanguinity. Enguerrand and Guy's sister was married to William of Talou, son of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. William of Talou had built a strong castle at Arques, and in 1053 he defied his nephew the youthful Duke of Normandy. As "family," the house of Ponthieu supported the rebellion. Duke William put Arques under siege, and then remained mobile with another force in the countryside nearby. Young Count Enguerrand led his army to relieve Arques, and arrived first, but Duke William successfully ambushed them and Enguerrand was killed. William of Talou was compelled to surrender Arques and was banished for life. With the death of his older brother (who was without heirs), Guy assumed the duties as count. This is the first mention of Guy in the historical record. Count Guy became a vassal of Duke William of Normandy after his army plundered and pillages the countryside around Mortemer. The Normans attacked his army, his younger brother Waleran was mortally wounded, and Guy himself was captured. He spent two years as a prisoner in Normandy, while his uncle, Bishop Guy of Amiens, ruled Ponthieu as regent. In 1064, Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex, was shipwrecked on the shores of Ponthieu and captured by Count Guy who took him to his castle of Beaurain on the River Canche, as the Bayeux Tapestry relates: hic apprehendit wido Haroldum et duxit em ad Belrem et ibi eum tenuit ("Here Guy seized Harold and led him to Beaurain and held him there"). Duke William demanded the release of the earl, and Count Guy delivered Harold Godwinson up after being paid a ransom for him. In 1066, Harold accepted the crown of England upon the death of Edward the Confessor, thus precipitating the war that resulted in the Norman Conquest. Guy did not participate in the Battle of Hastings, the Song of the Battle of Hastings,an early written source, has Hugh, another of Guy's brothers, having a hand in the slaying of Harold. Guy's daughter, Agnes, married Robert of Bellême. Their son, William III of Ponthieu, assumed the comital title upon the death of his mother, sometime before 1111.
  Person ID	I36087	Master File
  Last Modified	12 Sep 2016

  
  

  Children	1. Agnes of Ponthieu, Countess of Ponthieu,   b. ca 1080, Abbeville, Picardie, France ,   d. Aft 1105, Abbeville, Picardie, France  (Age ~ 26 years)
  Last Modified	12 Sep 2016
  Family ID	F14878	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart