William was the third son of William V of Aquitaine, the eldest by his third wife, Agnes of Burgundy. He was brother-in-law of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, who married his sister Agnes. His mother remarried to Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou, during his reign. William won his patrimony in a war with his half-brother Odo, who was killed in battle at Mauzé. He did not, however, succeed in occupying Gascony.
Geoffrey Martel refused to concede to him the territories gained in the reigns of his predecessors. William set to work regaining his patrimony by force of arms. He was besieging Geoffrey in Saumur when he died of dysentery.
He was married to Ermesinde, of unknown origins. Two daughters have been hypothesized to be children of this couple:
Clementia, who married Conrad I of Luxembourg y Agnes, who married Peter I of Savoy.[1]
William the Great (French: Guillaume le Grand; 969 – 31 January 1030) was duke of Aquitaine (as William V) and count of Poitou (as William II or III) from 990 until his death.[1] Upon the death of the emperor Henry II, he was offered the kingdom of Italy but eventually declined to contest the title against Conrad II.
He was the son and successor of William IV by his wife Emma of Blois, daughter of Theobald I of Blois.[1] He seems to have taken after his formidable mother, who ruled Aquitaine as regent until 1004. He was a friend to Bishop Fulbert of Chartres, who found in him another Maecenas, and founded a cathedral school at Poitiers. He himself was very well educated, a collector of books, and turned the prosperous court of Aquitaine into the learning centre of Southern France.
Agnes of Burgundy (or Agnes de Macon), Duchess of Aquitaine (died 10 November 1068) was a duchess consort of Aquitaine by marriage to William V, Duke of Aquitaine and a countess consort of Anjou by marriage to Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou. She served as regent of the Duchy of Aquitaine during the minority of her son from 1039 until 1044. She was a daughter of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy[1] and Ermentrude de Roucy and a member of the House of Ivrea.
William IV (937 – 3 February 994[1]), called Fierebras or Fierebrace (meaning "Proud Arm", from the French Fier-à-bras or Fièrebrace, in turn from the Latin Ferox brachium), was the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 963 to his retirement in 990.
William's father, William III, abdicated to the abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers and left the government to Fierebras. His mother was Gerloc, the daughter of Duke Rollo of Normandy. His sister was Adelaide, wife of Hugh Capet, the king against whom William later battled for his duchy. His early reign was characterised by many wars. He fought frequently against the counts of Anjou, the first time against Geoffrey Greymantle, who had taken Loudun.
In 988, he went to war with the newly elected king of France, Hugh Capet, whom he refused to recognise. Capet had been granted Aquitaine by King Lothair before the latter had been reconciled to William's father. Capet renewed his claim on the great duchy and invaded it that year. A royal army was defeated on the plain of the Loire Valley. William sheltered the young Louis, the son of Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, the last legitimate Carolingian heir. He opened the palace of Poitiers to him and treated him as royalty, regarding him as the true heir to the French throne.
In 968, he married Emma or Emmeline,[2] daughter of Theobald I of Blois and Luitgarde of Vermandois. Their marriage was stormy, in part because of William's indulgence in the pursuit of women and, a hunting aficionado, wild animals. She banished his paramours, they separated twice for long periods, and finally he retired to a monastery, as his father had done, leaving Emma to rule Aquitaine in the name of their son William until 1004. Their second son, Ebles, died sometime after 997.
Emma of Blois (c. 950–27 December 1003) was Duchess consort of Aquitaine by marriage to William IV, Duke of Aquitaine. She ruled Aquitaine as regent for her son, William V, Duke of Aquitaine, from 996 until 1004
She was the daughter of Theobald I, Count of Blois and Luitgarde of Vermandois. In 968, she married William IV, Duke of Aquitaine.[1] His overindulging in hunting and women offended her greatly. Around 996, he retired to a monastery. During the course of her marriage, she would found the monastery of Saint Peter in Bourgueil.[2] Emma then ruled Aquitaine as regent for their son William V.
William III (915 – 3 April 963), called Towhead (French: Tête d'étoupe, Latin: Caput Stupe) from the colour of his hair, was the "Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine" from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count of Poitou (as William I) from 935 and Count of Auvergne from 950. The primary sources for his reign are Ademar of Chabannes, Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and William of Jumièges.
William was son of Ebalus Manzer and Emilienne. He was born in Poitiers. He claimed the Duchy of Aquitaine from his father's death, but the royal chancery did not recognise his ducal title until the year before his own death.
Shortly after the death of King Rudolph in 936, he was constrained to forfeit some land to Hugh the Great by Louis IV. He did it with grace, but his relationship with Hugh thenceforward deteriorated. In 950, Hugh was reconciled with Louis and granted the duchies of Burgundy and Aquitaine. He tried to conquer Aquitaine with Louis's assistance, but William defeated them. Lothair, Louis's successor, feared the power of William. In August 955 he joined Hugh to besiege Poitiers, which resisted successfully. William, however, gave battle and was routed.
After the death of Hugh, his son Hugh Capet was named duke of Aquitaine, but he never tried to take up his fief, as William reconciled with Lothair.
He was given the abbey of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand, which remained in his house after his death. He also built a library in the palace of Poitiers.
His father was duke Ebles Manzer, who already was a man in his middle years when he was born in about 913. According to the chronicle of Ademar de Chabannes, William's mother was Geirlaug (French Gerloc), a daughter of Rollo of Normandy. (The less reliable Dodo has William rather than Ebles marrying Gerloc.)
William III married a lady named Adèle, perhaps about 936, in a match that may have been arranged by William I of Normandy. With Adèle, he had at least one child whose filiation is clearly attested:
- William, his successor in Aquitaine. He abdicated to the abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers and left the government to his son.
- Adelaide, who married Hugh Capet
Gerloc (or Geirlaug), baptised in Rouen as Adela (or Adèle) in 912, was the daughter of Rollo, first duke of Normandy, and his wife, Poppa.[1] She was the sister of Duke William Longsword.
In 935, she married William Towhead, the future count of Poitou and duke of Aquitaine. They had two children together before she died on 14 October 962:
Ebalus or Ebles Manzer or Manser (c. 870 – 935) was Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine on two occasions: from 890 to 892; and then from 902 until his death in 935 (Poitou) and from 928 until 932 (Aquitaine).
Ebles was an illegitimate son of Ranulf II of Aquitaine. "Manzer" or "Mamzer" is a Hebrew word that means bastard, son of a forbidden relationship, although in the case of Ebles it may have been applied to bastardy in general.
Ranulf II (also spelled Rannoux, Rannulf, Ramnulf, and Ranulph) (850 – 5 August 890) was Count of Poitou from 866 and Duke of Aquitaine from 887. On the death of Charles the Fat in 888, he styled himself King of Aquitaine and did so until 889 or his death, after which the title fell into abeyance.
Ranulf was a son of Ranulf I and Bilichild of Maine. He married an Ermengard (died 935) and by her had a son, Ranulf III, who succeeded him in Poitiers. His illegitimate son Ebalus succeeded him in Aquitaine and, upon the death of Ranulf III, in Poitiers too.
Ranulf I (also Ramnulf, Rannulf, and Ranulph) (820–866) was a Count of Poitiers (from 835) and Duke of Aquitaine (from 852). He is considered a possible son of Gerard, Count of Auvergne, and Hildegard (or Matilda) [more likely Rotrude, see Gerard, Count of Auvergne and Louis the Pious], daughter of Louis the Pious and Ermengard. Few details are known about Ranulf I, except that he died in 866 in Aquitaine from wounds received in the Battle of Brissarthe against the Vikings (in which Robert the Strong also died).
He married Bilichild of Maine and they had the following:
Gerard was Count of Auvergne from 839 until his death on 25 June 841.
He married first Rotrude, daughter of Louis the Pious. They had the following children:
- Ranulf I of Poitiers, Duke of Aquitaine (815-866)
- Gerhard II, Count of Limousin (-879)
- Unknown daughter
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