Saturday, 9 June 2012

French connections part 2

On 25 June 1308, Isabelle, the daughter of Philip IV of France married Edward II of England (1284 to 29 November 1314). He was born at Fontainebleau in France and also died there. Philip was king of France from 1285 to 1314 and of Navarre, as Philip I  from 1284 to 1305, ruling jointly with his wife, Joan I of Navarre.

On 16 June 1284 he married Joan I of Navarre (14 Jan 1273 - 2 Apr 1305). when he was 17 and she was 12.
They had four children, three sons who became successively King of France and a daughter who married the King of England.  His children were Louis X King of France (1289 - May 1316); Isabel of France (wife of Edward II) (1292 - 22 Aug 1358); Philip V King of France (1294 - 3 Jan 1322) and Charles IV King of France (1294 - 1 Feb 1328).

When Charles IV died in 1328 Philip VI, the grandson of Philip III, was named regent and was crowned King on 29 May. The other claiment to the throne was Edward III of England as his mother was the daughter of Philip IV. Tensions on a number of issues between Edward III and Philip VI developed in 1337 into the beginning of the Hundred Years War - a series of disputes/battles between the armies of France and England. Additional information on Philip VI of France can be read on Answers - Philip VI of France.

The parents of Philip IV King of France were Philip III of France (1 May 1245 to 5 October 1285) and Isabella of Aragon, daughter of James I of Aragon (1243 - 1271).

The website RoyaList Online provides a list of ancestors, decendants and family trees for French as well as British royalty. The site follows the French Royal Family from Philip IV to Robert I, Duke of France (About 865 - 15 Jun 923).

French connection

Looking at the family tree there is a strong French connection from the 13th century and earlier. Not all the lines have been investigated but some examples are listed below.

Edward II (1284 to 1377) married Isabelle, daughter of Philip IV of France on 25 June 1308. This line is still to be investigated.

Edward's father, Edward I (1239 to 1307) married Eleanor de Castilla from Spain and after her death he married Margaret, Princess of France in 1299.

Edward's father, Henry III of England (1207 to 1272) married Eleanor of Provence (1223 to 1291) on 14 January 1236 at Canterbury Cathedral. An arranged marriage, this was the first time she met her husband. Eleanor was born in Aix en Provence and was the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer V (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1205–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his second wife Margaret of Geneva - a truly international family.

King John (1166 to 1216) also married a French woman - Isabella d'Angouleme (1188 to 1246) in 1200 - after his first marriage to Isabel of Gloucester was annulled. Isabella was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Anjouleme and Alice of Courtenay, who was sister of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople and granddaughter of King Lois VI of France.

Henry II of England (1133 to 1189) was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine (1154 to 1189) in May 1152, eight weeks after the annulment of her marriage to Louis VII of France. 

The daughter of Henry I, Adelaide (known as Matilda, Empress of England) (1102 to 1167) married Geoffrey V Plantagenet (1113 to 1151) in 1128 and they were the parents of Henry II of England.  Geoffrey's titles in France included Count of Anjou, Tourine and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144.

Geoffrey was the elder son of Fulk V of Anjou (c1092 to 1144) and Eremgarde de la Fleche (died 1126), daughter of Elais I of Maine. Fulk V married Eremgadre (or Eremburga) in 1109 and was King of Jerusalem from 1131 until his death in 1144.

Fulk IV of Anjou (c1043 to 1109) married Bertranda (Bertrade) de Montfort (c1070 to 1117) in 1089. Fulk had had three previous marriages all of which had ended in divorce. In 1092 Bertrade left her husband and took up with King Philip I of France. Philip I married her on 15 May 1092, despite the fact that both parties had living spouses. This resulted in Pope Urban excommunicating Philip. An account of the papal deliberations is recrded in Canon law and the Letters of Ivo of Chartres now available in Google books.

Falk IV was the younger son of Geoffrey II, Count of Gatinais (died between 1043 & 1046 ), and Ermemgarde d'Anjou (died 1076). His parents were married around 1065. When Geoffrey died Ermegarde married Robert, Duke of Burgundy ( the son of Robert II, King of France and brother of Henry I of France)

Ermegarde was the daughter of Fulco III d'Anjou, the Comte D'Anjou (1018 to 1076) and Hildegarde Sundgau (c990 to 1 April 1046). Hildegarde's family name was also de Lorraine. Hildegarde died in Jerusalem.

Fulco III d'Anjou was the son Geoffrey I d'Anjou, 4th Comte d'Anjou (died 21 July 987) and Adelais (Adeliade) de Vermandois

The parents of Geoffrey I were Fulk II of Anjou (died 958) and Gernerge de Tours

The parents of Fulk II were Fulk I d'Anjou (died c942) and Roselle de Loch

The parents of Fulk I D'Anjou were Engeiger d'Anjou and Aelinde de Gatinai

The father of Aelinde was Geoffrey I de Gatinai

A brief introduction to history through genealogy

Following the family line to William the Conqueror takes us back to the Norman conquest of the Saxons in England. However using sources on the Internet such as thepeerage.com allows the family line to be continued much further to France, Norway and eventually to Finland.

William I of England was descended from the Dukes of Normandy. His father, Robert, was the 6th Duc de Normandie, his grandfather, Robert, was the 4th duke, his great grandfather was the 3rd duke, his great, great grandfather was the 2nd duke and his great, great, great grandfather, Rollo Ragnvaldsson, was the 1st duke, (c846 to c931). Rollo Rangnvaldsson was leader of the Viking invasion of France in the area that became known as Normany.

A brief account of the invasion is provided in a History Channel clip on YouTube Viking Fury from the North. The invaders settled in France and intermarried with the French, taking on the Christian religion.

This then leads to the next stage in the family saga in Norway.

Rollo Ragnvaldsson was the son of the Viking, Ragnvald I ‘the Wise’ Eysteinsson, Earl of More. Ragnvald I was born in Norway and was Earl of Orkney (Scotland) but died in More, Norway, c890 so he had been one of the Vikings raiding Scotland at that time. The listing in the peerage.com continues back to Sveidi' the Sea King 'Heytirsson, the Norse King born in Raumsdal, Norway c650 and dying in Norway in 710.

The further back you go the more rubbery the dates become but it is suggested that Sveidi's ancestors were originally from Finland.

From this exercise the British history that we learned at school and see being excavated in shows such as Time Team becomes much more relevant. Obviously we all have historical roots going back to these times and we are also aware of these threads of history but to be able to trace a family back through these periods of history makes the history itself far more interesting and relevant. I now also know that I have a great deal of work to do investigating all these trails and also learning the stories of the people named in the genealogy lists.

Royalty connections continued

Last weekend being the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth's reign I decided to follow up more of the alleged royal links in my family tree. I had been led to believe that as well as links to Scottish royalty there was a link to Edward III.

Following the Huttons, then the Lidderdales you then come to the marriage in 1708 of David Lidderdale (1675 to 1732) and Eleanor Dunbar (c1680 to 1757). Eleanor's mother was Isabella Nicholson and her grandmother was Lady Margaret Livingstone whose mother was Lady Mary Douglas. The line then continued back through three generations of the Douglas family  until Sir Archibald Douglas (died 1570) married Lady Agnes Keith. Two generations previously Robert Keith married Lady Elizabeth Douglas in 1505. In 1459 Lady Elizabeth's grandfather married  Joan Stewart the daughter of James I of Scotland and Lady Joan Beaufort. Lady Joan Beaufort's father was John de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Somerset) (c1371 to 1409). His father was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340 to 1399) who was the son of King Edward III (1312 to 1377) and Philippa de Hainaut.

So Edward III and Philippa would be my great (20 times) grandparents and King James I of Scotland  and Lady Joan Beaufort would be my great (17 times) grandparents.

Having travelled back so far I decided to continue the search to see where it would lead and it proved to be quite an adventure through history.
Edward II, King of England & Isabelle de France (Daughter of Philip IV of France)
(Edward II born 25 April 1284 and died 21 September 1327)
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Edward I, King of England & Eleanor de Castilla
(Edward I born 17 June 1239 and died 7 July 1307)
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Henry III, King of England & Eleanor of Provence
(Henry III born 1 October 1207 and died 16 November 1272)
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John I, King of England & Isabella d’Angouleme
(John I was born on 24 December 1166 and died 18 or 19 October 1216)
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Henry II, King of England & Eleanor, Duchesse d’Aquitaine
(Henry II born 5 March 1133 and died 6 July 1189)
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Geoffrey V Plantagenet & Adelaide known as Matilda, ‘Empress of England’ (daughter of Henry I)
(Geoffrey was born 24 August 1113 –and died 7 September 1151)
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Henry I, King of England & Editha of Scotland
(Henry I was born c 1069 and died 1 December 1135)
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William I the Conqueror, King of England & Matilda de Flandre
(William I was born c1028 and died 9 September 1087)
It was truly a Royal weekend of family history research.