Individuals marked with a red dot are direct ancestors of Paul David LANGE
For privacy reasons, Date of Birth and Date of Marriage for persons believed to still be living are not shown.

D'AUDLEY, Hugh (b. 1289, d. 10 NOV 1347)

Note: Hugh (Junior) was Ambassador to France in 1341 and Sheriff of Rutland. He was created Earl of Gloucester 03-16-1336/7.

Source: Ancestors of American Presidents - (1989) p. 160

Source: The Abell Family In America, pg. 38

Source: Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists (David Faris, 1996)

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: She brought her husband a third of the vast Clare estates to which she was a co-heiress.

Source: Ancestors of American Presidents - (1989) p. 160

Source: The Abell Family In America, pg. 38

Source: Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists( David Faris, 1996)

Note: Gilbert, the Red Earl, was a Knight and Crusader; 9th Earl of Clare, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester. At his death he was "the most powerful subject in the kingdom" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, '56, 5:755). He was knighted 05-14-1264. "Ancestral Roots..." (Balt., 1992) states he d. at Monmouth Castle on Dec. 7, 1299. Source: Al Myers

The following was taken from Jim Stevens' Genealogy websitehttp://www.gendex.com/users/jast/Per Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (8:29), (11:29), (63:30),(94A:32), (110:31), (117:30), (257:33), Earl of Gloucester and Hertford. Cokayne's "Complete Peerage" (Berkeley, p.129), identifies him as the father of Isabel. (Berkeley, p.130), identifies him as the father of Eleanor. From Michael Altschul, *A Baronial Family in Medieval England: The Clares,1217-1314*, Baltimore MD (Johns Hopkins Press) 1965.: "The eldest son and heir, Gilbert, was born on September 2, 1243, and was called Gilbert Goch ("the Red") after the fiery color of his hair. The Red Earl had seisin of his estates in 1263-64 and was undoubtedly the single most powerful magnate of the realm, in the later years of HENRY III's reign and under KING EDWARD I, until his death on December7, 1295. (pp. 34-36). "Like his father RICHARD, Earl Gilbert the Red was married twice. In 1253 RICHARD arranged for the marriage of his son, then about ten years old, to HENRY III's niece Alice, daughter of HUGH DE LUSIGNAN, count of La Marche and Angouleme. Although she had two daughters, the match proved to be both a personal and a political failure; Gilbert and Alice were formally separated in 1271 and the marriage was finally annulled in 1285. Even before the annulment, Earl Gilbert and KING EDWARD I had discussed the possibility of a marriage into the royal family. In May 1290, after a long delay pending the annulment and the necessity for a subsequent papal dispensation, Gilbert married EDWARD's fifth child and second surviving daughter JOAN, who had been born at Acre in Palestine in 1272. JOAN OF ACRE was to outlive the Red Earl by some twelve years, but between 1290 and his death in 1295 they had a son and heir, the last Earl Gilbert, and three daughters, the eventual coheiresses of the Clare inheritance.

The children of Earl Gilbert the Red by his two marriages comprised the last generation of the Clare family. ( p37). "Earl Gilbert the Red left a son and five daughters. Of his daughters by Alice de Lusignan, the elder, Isabella, was born in 1263. In 1297 she was betrothed to Guy, son and heir of William de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. Guy de Beachamp succeeded his father as earl in 1298, but the projected marriage, although still pending, never took place.Not until 1216 was Isabella married, at the advanced age of fifty-three, to the Gloucestershire baron Maurice de Berkeley, and she died without issue in 1338. The other daughter, Joan, probably born sometime between 1264 and 1271, was married in 1284 to Duncan, earl of Fife, who died in 1288. The marriage of their son Duncan (d. 1353) to Mary, daughter of JOAN OF ACRE and Ralph de Monthermer, has already been mentioned [see note under JOAN OF ACRE]. In 1302 or shortly thereafter, Joan married another Scots baron, Gervase Avenel. They entered the fealty of her kinsman Robert Bruce and were declared rebels by King Edward II. Her estates in England, which her father had given as a marriage portion at the time of her betrothal to the earl of Fife, were forfeited, and later granted to Hugh Despenser, husband of Joan's half sister Eleanor, the eldest daughter of Earl Gilbert the Red and JOAN OF ACRE." (p 39-40).

"Gilbert de Clare, the "Red Earl" of Gloucester and Hertford, was after Simon de Montfort [RIN 2884*] the single most important figure in the later stages of the baronial opposition to HENRY III. From his father EARL RICHARD he inherited not only the great Clare estates and lordships in England, Wales, and Ireland, but also a position of leadership among the magnates of the realm; and he was destined to play an evenmore decisive role in the civil wars which determined the fate of the struggle between king and baronage than his father had played in theinitial stages of the movement for reform." (p.94).

"The victory at Lewes [over HENRY III, 14 May 1264] marked the high point of Simon de Montfort's fortunes. .....

Simon's supremacy was short-lived. ... Simon's enemies were more determined than ever to end his regime by force. The marchers continually postponed their departure on various pretexts, and the earl was unable to enforce his orders. More ominously, a number of Simon's supporters now deserted him, including the earl of Gloucester [this Gilbert de Clare].

Gilbert's defection proved the decisive factor in the situation. The chroniclers record a long list of grievances, and the chancery records bear at least some of them out. He had become increasingly dissatisfied with Simon's regime and reproached the earl for his supposed autocratic rule. He was jealous of the position the earl's sons held in the government. He quarreled with Simon over the control of royalist castles and manors, and the exchange of prisoners. He objected to the use of foreign knights in important castles and the failure to expel all the aliens from court. His support for Simon had not been unqualified, as the letter written in the winter of 1263-64 had shown. A combination of grievances thus drove him into opposition." (pp.104, 107-108)

"Simon [de Montfort] took [Lord] EDWARD [the future KING EDWARDI] and HENRY [III] with him to the west, and encamped at Hereford until May 24 [1265]. Attempted negotiations proved fruitless, for Gilbert had already worked out a plan with EDWARD and ROGER MORTIMER [RIN1064] which would seal Simon's fate. On May 28, with the assistance of THOMAS DE CLARE, Earl Gilbert's younger brother, EDWARD managed an escape.He joined forces with [ROGER] MORTIMER AT WIGMORE, and the next day Gilbert joined them in Ludlow. Wykes, perhaps the best informed chronicler of this period, records an important set of conditionsthat Earl Gilbert demanded as the price of his support. The earl made EDWARD swear a solemn oath that, if victorious, he would cause the "good old laws" of the realm to be observed, evil customs would be abolished, aliens banished from the king's council and administration; andthe king would rule with the counsel of his faithful subjects. If Wykes'account of the oath is substantially correct, it clearly shows that Gilbert remained firmly attracted to the principles of the Provisions [of Oxford (1258) and Westminster (1259), granted to the barons by HENRY III but not much adhered to], however vaguely envisioned and conventionally expressed, and to the xenophobia which the movement engendered. If he withdrew his support from Simon, it was not because he was willing, like his father EARL RICHARD in 1260, to repudiate the Provisions, but because he felt that Simon did not distinguish between the baronial ideals and his personal ambition. The cause of reform, in short, was not the exclusive prerogative of the earl of Leicester.

Themilitary operations are quickly told. Under the leadership of EDWARD and Earl Gilbert, the royalists gathered at Gloucester, cutting off Simon's retreat across the Severn at that point. Boldly making his way into the march, Simon renewed his alliance with Llywelyn [II, Prince of North Wales (RIN 3517*)] in the middle of June. He then went through Monmouth to the borough of Newport in the Clare lordship of Gwynllwg and attempted to cross over to Bristol, but this plan was foiled when Earl Gilbert destroyed the convoy sent for that purpose. Simon managed to return to Hereford, and tried to join forces with an army led by his son. EDWARD and Gilbert, however, surprised the younger Simon at Kenilworthin Warwick on August 1, routed his forces, and immediately doubled back to intercept Earl Simon. The earl reached the Worcester manor of Evesham on August 3, but was surrounded by the royalists. The next day battle [of Evesham] was joined. As Simon advanced on a troop led by ROGER MORTIMER, Earl Gilbert, who commanded the second line, suddenly attacked from the rear. The outcome was less a battle than a slaughter. The only important marcher who fought with Simon, HUMPHREY DEBOHUN [RIN 3635] the younger, was captured and imprisoned at Beestoncastle in Cheshire, where he died on October 27. Two other men with marcher affiliations, Henry de Hastings [RIN 5390*] and John fitz John, were also imprisoned. Otherwise the royalists showed no mercy. Simon de Montfort, his son Henry, his loyal friend Peter de Montfort the elder, the justiciar Hugh Despenser [RIN 3229*] and many others were slain. KING HENRY himself was rescued by Roger Leyburn. The Montfortian experiment was ended.

The death of Simon de Montfort did not produce peace. The ferocity with which the royalists had crushed their enemies carried over into a period of widespread seizures of rebel lands and indiscriminate plundering which produced further turmoil and unrest. In addition, the territorial policy adopted by the restored royal government provoked those supporters of Earl Simon still at large into guerilla operations which turned into full-scale warfare and prevented a final pacification of the kingdom until the end of 1267. In this period the actions of Gilbert de Clare again proved decisive. His support for the disinherited rebels was a major factor in the establishment of internal order following the two years of continued civil strife which constituted the aftermath of the battle of Evesham." (pp. 108-110).

"The most striking feature of Gilbert de Clare's role in the later stages of the baronial movement is its consistency. The Red Earl's shifting allegiance was a sign not of vaillation but of independence. He was the moderating force against the extremes of both the royalist and the Montfortian sides. He was attracted to the baronial movement as a whole, but even more than his father EARL RICHARD he drew the crucial distinction between its policies and the great earl whose name is inseparably associated with the movement. Earl Gilbert was not convinced that Simon de Montfort's actions were always and indisputably right, and he withdrew his support when he felt that Simon's regime was no better in its way than KING HENRY's had been. His adherence to the royalists, however, was no less qualified. When two years of continued resistance to the restored government of HENRY III produced further social and political unrest, Earl Gilbert's rising proved the decisive factor in restoring unity and tranquillity to the realm. Unlike EARL RICHARD, Gilbert had not accepted HENRY's repudiation of the principles which underlay the Provisions of Oxford and Westminster. His activities, while strongly colored by personal animosities and conditioned by personal interests, nevertheless reveal a continuity of purpose which did much in helping to incorporate those principles into the fabric of the common law and the conduct of monarchy." (pp. 120-121).

"On December 7 [1295] he [Gilbert] died at EDMUND OF LANCASTER's [RIN 3156] castle of Monmouth, and was buried two weeks later at Tewkesbuty Abbey. Most of the chroniclers merely noted his death without further comment, although an interpolation in the chronicle of Walter of Guisborough refers, in rather conventional fashion, to the earl's military prowess and staunch defense of his rights. The Red Earl's last years were spent under the shadow of EDWARD I's domination,and his stormy career ended in dispirited humiliation. Perhaps the soundest judgment is that contained in the otherwise undistinguished Osnay chronicle. In referring to the earl's marriage to JOAN OF ACRE in 1290, the chronicler calls Gilbert the greatest of the magnates of the realm in nobility and eminence, and incomparably the most powerful man in the kingdom -- next to the king. Later events proved that the chronicler's qualification was more significant than he could have realized at the time." (pp. 155-156).

Gilbert de Clare 6th Earl of Gloucester, "the Red" and Alice deLusignan had the following children:
1.) Isabella de Clare.
2.) Joan de Clare.

As part of the marriage terms of Gilbert's marriage to JOAN, KING EDWARD I had insisted that Earl Gilberts's children by Alice would have no part in the inheritance of the Clare estates. Gilbert's heir was another Gilbert, son of JOAN, but the younger Gilbert, showing much promise as a suitable successor to the red earl was slain at the battle of Bannockburn, dying without issue. The Clare estates were divided between the husbands of his three sisters.

Source: Ancestors of American Presidents - (1989) p. 160

Source: The Abell Family In America, pg. 38

Source: Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists (David Faris, 1996)

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Second wife of Gilbert de Clare - his first wife and mother of his known children is not known. Joan m. (2) in 1297 Ralph de Monthermer,summoned to parliament in right of her Clare earldoms from 1299 to 1306. After her death Earl Gilbert's son and namesake was Earl of Gloucester and Hertford at age 16. Joan and Ralph had Sir Thomas de Monthermer, b. 1301,d. 1340 at the Battle of Sluys - Sir Thomas' dau. Margaret, b. 1329, d.1395, is paternal grandmother of Sir Thomas de Montagu, K.C., b. ca.1388, d. 1428, Earl of Salisbury, Lt. Gen. of Normandy, m. (1) Eleanor de Holland (dau. of Thomas, Earl of Kent) and m. (2) by 11-1424 Alice, d. 1475, widow of Sir John Philip and dau. and heir of Thomas Chaucer, Chief Butler to Richard II and Henry IV, speaker of the House of Commons, prob. son of Geoffrey Chaucer, English poet, brother-in-law of John of Gaunt.

Source: Al Myers

The following was taken from Jim Stevens' Genealogy websitehttp://www.gendex.com/users/jast/From Michael Altschul,
*A Baronial Family in Medieval England:The Clares,1217-1314*,
Baltimore MD (Johns Hopkins Press) 1965:

"Joan of Acre, on the other hand [as compared to GILBERT's first wife Alice de Lusignan], was a remarkably active woman in the dozen years following the Red Earl's death. By the terms of the marriage agreement of 1290, the entire inheritance was enfeoffed jointly on GILBERT and Joan. This meant that it would not be possible for her father EDWARD I to grant her only a third of the estates and control the rest himself during the long minority of her son Gilbert. Joan was thus sole mistress of the inheritance, and she controlled it with marked ability. In 1297, much to EDWARD's displeasure, she secretly married an otherwise obscure knight in her 'familia', Ralph de Monthermer (d. 1325). Joan of Acre died in April, 1307, but during her tenure of the inheritance important modifications were introduced in its administrative structure. After Isabella de Fortibus, dowagercountess of Devon and Aumale (1262-93), Countess Joan stands as perhaps the best example in thirteenth century English history of the ability of a widow to run the estates and otherwise manage the complex affairs of a great comital house." ( pp. 38-39).

"The marriage between GILBERT and Joan had long been planned and long delayed. Joan was EDWARD's second surviving daughter, born when her father was still on crusade in 1272. In 1276 Rudolf of Hapsburg, the German Emperor, had prosed a marriage between the girl and his son Hartmann. Negotiations were conducted in 1277 and 1278, but the whole project had to be abandoned when Hartmann was accidentally killed in December, 1281. In May, 1283, THE KING agreed to a marraige between his daughter and EARL GILBERT. THE EARL had been separated from Alice de Lusignan since 1271, but a formal annulment was now required, and the marriage was finally dissolved in May, 1285. The king and the earl still had to wait for a papal dispensation for the new marriage, and it was only forthcoming in November, 1289.

Source: Ancestors of American Presidents - (1989) p. 160

Source: The Abell Family In America, pg. 38

Source: Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists (David Faris, 1996)

Note: Edward I, called Longshanks (1239-1307), king of England (1272-1307), of the house of Plantagenet. He was born in Westminster on June 17, 1239, the eldest son of King Henry III, and at 15 married Eleanor of Castile. In the struggles of the barons against the crown for constitutional and ecclesiastical reforms, Edward took a vacillating course. When warfare brokeout between the crown and the nobility, Edward fought on the side of the king, winning the decisive battle of Evesham in1265. Five years later he left England to join the Seventh Crusade. Following his father's death in 1272, and while he was still abroad, Edward was recognized as king by the English barons; in 1273, on his return to England, he was crowned.

The first years of Edward's reign were a period of the consolidation of his power. He suppressed corruption in the administration of justice, restricted the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts to church affairs, and eliminated the papacy's overlordship over England. On the refusal of Llewelyn ab Gruffydd, ruler of Wales, to submit to the English crown, Edward began the military conflict that resulted, in 1284, in the annexation of Llewelyn's principality to the English crown. In 1290 Edward expelled all Jews from England. War between England and France broke out in1293 as a result of the efforts of France to curb Edward's power in Gascony. Edward lost Gascony in 1293 and did not again come into possession of the duchy until 1303. About the same year in which he lost Gascony, the Welsh rose in rebellion.

Greater than either of these problems was the disaffection of the people of Scotland. In agreeing to arbitrate among the claimants to the Scottish throne, Edward, in 1291, had exacted as a prior condition the recognition by all concerned of his overlordship of Scotland. The Scots later repudiated him and made an alliance with France against England. To meet the critical situations in Wales and Scotland, Edward summoned a parliament, called the Model Parliament by historians because it was a representative body and in that respect was the forerunner of all future parliaments. Assured by Parliament of support at home, Edward took the field and suppressed the Welsh insurrection. In 1296, after invading and conquering Scotland, he declared himself king of that realm. In 1298 he again invaded Scotland to suppress the revolt led by Sir William Wallace. In winning the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, Edward achieved the greatest military triumph of his career, but he failed to crush Scottish opposition.The conquest of Scotland became the ruling passion of his life. He was, however, compelled by the nobles, clergy, and commons to desist in his attempts to raise by arbitrary taxes the funds he needed for campaigns.

In 1299 Edward made peace with France and married Margaret, sister of King Philip III of France. Thus freed of war, he again undertook the conquest of Scotland in1303. Wallace was captured and executed in 1305. No sooner had Edward established his government in Scotland, however, than a new revolt broke out and culminated in the coronation of Robert Bruce as king of Scotland. In 1307 Edward set out for the third time to subdue the Scots, but he died en route near Carlisle on July 7, 1307.

Source: "Edward I," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation.

Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.

Source: Ancestors of American Presidents - (1989) p. 160 Source: Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (1:28) & (16:28), (47:31),(63:30), (97:31), (110:30), (155:30).

Source: Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists (David Faris, 1996)

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Eleanor went with Edward on crusade in 1270; they were crowned 08-19-1274. She was one of the best-liked queens in British history. Her brother reigned as King Alfonso X (1252-84). "Ancestral Roots..."(Balt., 1992) pp. 110-30 states she d. at Grantham, England.

Source: Ancestors of American Presidents - (1989) p. 160

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Per Weis" "Ancestral Roots. . ." (63:28), Earl of Gloucester andHertford. Magna Charta Surety 1215.

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (109:30), (110:29). Stuart's "Royalty For Commoners" (52:24). Ferdinand was canonized in 1671 for his orthodoxy and his crusading against the Moors. He m. (1) Beatrice, dau. of Emperor Philip (of Hohenstaufen). He united Castile & Leon in 1231 on death of his father. Persecuted the Albigenses. His son reigned as Alfonso X "the Wise", King of Castile & Leon (1252-84). Ferdinand had Archbishop Ximenes as Chancellor and founded the University of Salamanca (1243). He rebuilt the cathedral of Burgos and converted the mosque in Seville to a church. His feast is May30.

Note: Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (109:30), (110:29). Stuart's "Royalty For Commoners" (52:25) & (82:25).

Note: This line is from Ernst-Friederich Kraentzler, "The Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily de Neville...," (Salt Lake City: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1978), p. 28, which states Thomas is "of Thomond, Connaught, Ireland". Thomas was Governor of London in 1272, and was Lord of Inchequin and Youghae.

Source: Al Myers

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Source: AFN:8MM0-0J

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Change: Date: 3 FEB 2001

Note: Henry III (of England) (1207-72), king of England (1216-72), son and successor of King John (Lackland), and a member of the house of Anjou, or Plantagenet. Henry ascended the throne at the age of nine, on the death of his father. During his minority the kingdom was ruled by William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, as regent, but after his death in 1219 the justiciar Hubert de Burgh was the chief power in the government. During the regency the French, who occupied much of eastern England, were expelled, and rebellious barons were subdued.

Henry was declared of age in 1227. In 1232 he dismissed Hubert de Burgh from his court and commenced ruling without the aid of ministers. Henry displeased the barons by filling government and church offices with foreign favorites, many of them relatives of his wife, Eleanor of Provence, whom he married in1236, and by squandering money on Continental wars, especially in France. In order to secure the throne of Sicily for one ofhis sons, Henry agreed to pay the pope a large sum. When the king requested money from the barons to pay his debt, they refused and in 1258 forced him to agree to the Provisions of Oxford, whereby he agreed to share his power with a council of barons. Henry soon repudiated his oath, however, with papal approval. After a brief period of war, the matter was referred to the arbitration of Louis IX, king of France, who decided in Henry's favor in a judgment called the Mise of Amiens (1264). Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, accordingly led the barons into war, defeated Henry at Lewes, and took him prisoner. In 1265, however, Henry's son and heir, Edward, later King Edward I, led the royal troops to victory over the barons at Evesham, about 40.2 km (about 25 mi) south of Birmingham. Simon de Montfort was killed in the battle, and the barons agreed to a compromise with Edward and his party in 1267. From that time on Edward ruled England, and when Henry died, he succeeded him as king.

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: John (of England), called John Lackland (1167-1216), king of England (1199-1216), best known for signing the Magna Carta. John was born in Oxford on December 24, 1167, the youngest son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Henry provided forthe eventual inheritance of his lands by his older sons before John was born. By 1186, however, only Richard I, the Lion-Hearted, and John were left as Henry's heirs. In 1189, as Henry neared death, John joined Richard's rebellion against their father, and when Richard was crowned, he gave John many estates and titles. John tried but failed to usurp the Crown while Richard was away on the Third Crusade: Upon returning to England, Richard forgave him. When his brother died in 1199, John became king. A revolt ensued by the supporters of Arthur of Brittany, the son of John's brother, Geoffrey. Arthur was defeated and captured in 1202, and John is believed to have had him murdered. King Philip II of France continued Arthur's war until John had to surrender nearly all his French possessions in 1204.

In 1207 John refused to accept the election of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Innocent III then excommunicated him and began negotiating with Philip for an invasion of England. Desperate, John surrendered England to the pope and in 1213 received it back as a fief. Trying to regain his French possession, he was decisively defeated by Philip in 1214. John's reign had become increasingly tyrannical; to support his wars he had extorted money, raised taxes, and confiscated properties. His barons finally united to force him to respect their rights and privileges. John had little choice but to sign the Magna Carta presented to him by his barons at Runnymede in 1215, making him subject, rather than superior, to the law. Shortly afterward John and the barons were at war. He died at Newark in Nottinghamshire on October 19, 1216, while still pursuing the campaign, and was succeeded by his son, Henry III.

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Henry II (of England) (1133-89), king of England (1154-89),first monarch of the house of Anjou, or Plantagenet, an important administrative reformer, who was one of the most powerful European rulers of his time. Born March 5, 1133, at Le Mans, France, Henry became duke of Normandy in 1151. The following year, on the death of his father, he inherited the Angevin territories in France. By his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry added vast territories in southwestern France to his possessions. Henry claimed the English kingship through his mother, Matilda. She had been designated the heiress of Henry I but had been deprived of the succession by her cousin, Stephen of Blois, who made himself king. In 1153 Henry defeated Stephen's armies in England and compelled the king to choose him as his successor; on Stephen's death, the following year, Henry became king. During the first few years of his reign Henry quelled the disorders that had developed during Stephen's reign, regained the northern counties of England, which had previously been ceded to Scotland, and conquered North Wales.

In 1171-72 he began the Norman conquest of Ireland and in 1174 forced William the Lion, king of the Scots, to recognize him as overlord. In 1164 Henry became involved in a quarrel with Thomas à Becket, whom he had appointed archbishop of Canterbury. By the Constitutions of Clarendon, the king decreed that priests accused of crimes should be tried in royal courts; Becket claimed that such cases should be handled by ecclesiastical courts, and the controversy that followed ended in 1170 with Becket's murder by four of Henry's knights. Widespread indignation over the murder forced the king to rescind his decree and recognize Becket as a martyr.

Although he failed to subject the church to his courts, Henry's judicial reforms were of lasting significance. In England he established a centralized system of justice accessible to all freemen and administered by judges who traveled around the country at regular intervals. He also began the process of replacing the old trial by ordeal with modern court procedures. From the beginning of his reign, Henry was involved in conflict with Louis VII, king of France, and later with Louis's successor, Philip II, over the French provinces that Henry claimed. A succession of rebellions against Henry, headed by his sons and furthered by Philip II and by Eleanor of Aquitaine, began in 1173 and continued until his death at Chinon, France, on July 6, 1189. Henry was succeeded by his son Richard I, called Richard the Lion-Hearted.

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), renowned for her cultivated intelligence and great beauty, was queen to two kings and mother of two others. She was one of the most powerful and fascinating personalities of feudal Europe. Eleanor was a granddaughter of Guillaume (William) IX of Aquitaine (1070-1127), who was one of the first and most famous troubadours. He was a cheerful man and an ardent lover of women, who joined the First Crusade. When he returned from this disastrous crusade early in the century in a very cynical mood, he found his countess, Philippa of Toulouse, taken up with one of those religious movements perennially arising on the soil of Aquitaine. He abandoned his lady and took up with the Countess of Chatellerault to enliven his middle years. The new countess was the mother of a daughter, Anor (Eleanor) by her previous marriage and this young woman the troubadour married to his own heir Guillaume X, born of Philippa. Anor and Guillaume X were the parents of Eleanor, a sister, Petronilla and a brother, Agret who did not survive childhood. The court of Guillaume X was the centre of western European culture. Unlike most of her contemporaries, male and especially female, Eleanor was carefully educated and she was an excellent student.

Eleanor's happy childhood ended with the subsequent deaths of her mother, her little brother and, in 1137, her father. Heiress of the duchy of Aquitaine, the orphaned Eleanor was married to Louis VII King of France in1137 at age 15, bringing into the union her vast possessions from the River Loire to the Pyrenees. Louis had been brought up for an office in the church, but he had become heir to the French throne after the death of his elder brother. He was a weak, dull, grave and pious man and heand the lively Eleanor were ill matched. Louis never understood his young wife, but he appears to have adored her with a passionate admiration. It wasn't until 1145 that a daughter, Marie, was born.

A few years after her marriage, at age 19, Eleanor knelt in the cathedral of Vezelay before the celebrated Abbe Bernard of Clairvaux offering him thousands of her vassals for the Second Crusade which included "many other ladies of quality": Sybille, Countess of Flanders, whose half brother was King of Jerusalem, Mamille of Roucy, Florine of Bourgogne, Torqueri of Bouillon, Faydide of Toulouse, and scores of others whom the chroniclers could not afford the parchment to enumerate. No one appears to have asked publicly what these female warriors were to inflict upon the Saracens. The historians do not well explain why hordes of women took up the cross, however, most deplore the fact that the queen's example made other ladies intractable and to the Second Crusade went "a good many women who had no business to be included in the army." A legend tells us that the queen and her ladies disappeared and presently reappeared on white horses in the guise of Amazons,in gilded buskins, plumed and with banners and that the queen and her cavalcade galloped over the hillside of Vezelay, rallying laggard knights. The tale is in character, and later allusions to Amazons en route, found in Greek histories, give some substance to it.

While the church may have been pleased to receive her thousand fighting vassals, they were less happy when they learned that Eleanor, attended by 300 of her ladies, also planned to go to help "tend the wounded." The presence of Eleanor, her ladies and wagons of female servants, was criticized by commentators throughout her adventure. Dressed in armor and carrying lances, the women never fought. In the papal bull for the next Crusade, it expressly forbade women of all sorts to join the expedition. All the Christian monarchs, including King Louis, agreed to this.

When they reached the city of Antioch, Eleanor found herself deep in a renewed friendship with Raymond, her uncle, who had been appointed prince of the city. Raymond, only a few years older than Eleanor, was far more interesting and handsome than Eleanor's husband, Louis. When Raymond decided that the best strategic objective of the Crusade would be to recapture Edessa, thus protecting the Western presence in the Holy Land, Eleanor sided with his view. But Louis VII, fixated on reaching Jerusalem, rejected the plan and a quarrel followed. Louis demanded that Eleanor follow him to Jerusalem. Eleanor, furious, announced to one and all that their marriage was not valid in the eyes of God, for they were distantly related to an extent prohibited by the Church. Wounded by her claim. Louis began preparations for his departure and after dark Eleanor was forcibly conducted from Antioch. Soon the crusade became a complete failure and even Louis' brother Robert quickly rushed home.

On their way back to France, Louis and Eleanor visited the pope to plead for a divorce. Instead, the pope tried to reconcile them and induced them to sleep in the same bed again. On her way home, while resting in Sicily, Eleanor was brought the news that her uncle Raymond had been killed in battle, and that his head delivered to the Caliph of Baghdad. Although her marriage to Louis continued for a time, the relationship was over. In 1152 the marriage was annulled and her vast estates reverted to Eleanor's control. Although consanguinity was the official reason for the annulment of their marriage in 1152, basic incompatibility was the real reason.

Hardly had her marriage to Louis been dissolved when Eleanor married Henry of Anjou, soon to become (1154) King Henry II of England. Eleanor's inheritance passed to the English crown, which, when combined with his English possessions, made Henry much more powerful than Louis, and he was a frequently hostile neighbor. The marriage of Eleanor and Henry was as stormy as her first. Although Eleanor's first marriage had resulted in only two daughters born in fifteen year, Eleanor bore Henry five sons and three daughters. As the children grew up and Henry openly took mistresses, the couple grew apart. Eleanor was 44 years old, when she gave birth to their youngest son, John Lackland. By then she had discovered the existence of "Fair" Rosamund Clifford, the most famous of Henry's mistresses. Later Henry even managed to seduce the fiancee of his son Richard, who was a daughter of Louis VII and his second wife.

In 1169 Henry sent Eleanor to Aquitaine to restore order as its duchess. Her proceedings from the time she resume her residence in Poitou indicate a resolution to cut herself away from feudal kings and to establish a Poutevin domain. She was no mere game piece as were most feudal women, to be moved like a queen in chess. In this, her third important role in history, she was the pawn of neither king, and arrived as her own mistress, equipped with plans to establish her own as size. She was resolved to escape from secondary roles, to assert her independent sovereignty, to dispense her own justice, and her own patronage.

Though continuing now and then to cooperate with Henry outside her provinces in the interests of her other sons, she took measures to establish her own heir, son Richard, in Poutou and Aquitaine and to restore throughout her provinces the ancient glories of the native dukes and counts. Once more the ducal palace at Poitou became the center of all that was civilized and refined. Troubadours, musicians and scholars were welcomed at Poitiers. There, in 1170 Eleanor reconciled with her first born daughter Marie of France, countess of Champagne. Marie had a "code of love" written down in thirty-one articles. They described feminist ideas far beyond the 12th century cult of chivalry. In addition, Eleanor sponsored the "courts of love" in which men having problems with the code of love could bring their questions before a tribunal of ladies for judgement.

When in 1173 their sons revolted against their father, Eleanor backed them and was subsequently imprisoned by Henry until his death in 1189. By then three of their sons had already died and Henry's successor was Eleanor's favourite son, Richard I Lionheart (1157-1199), who appreciated his mother's advice.When he went on crusade, Eleanor became regent. Although Richard was reputedly a homosexual, he was supposed to provide England with heirs, so Eleanor escorted his bride-to-be to Sicily. When Richard was killed in 1199, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, John Lackland (1166-1216). Eleanor returned to Aquitaine and retired in the abbey of Fontevraud. She remained busy and active and personally arranged the marriage of her Castilian granddaughter to the grandson of Louis VII. Thus she lived to be about 82, an extraordinary age in the middle ages.

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001

Note: Geoffrey Plantagenet, the Handsome, Count of Anjou 1129-1151.King Henry I, in 1127, when a new alliance was made at Rouen, betrothed his daughter Maud, or Matilda, to Geoffrey Plantagenet, and the marriage was celebrated at Le Mans, France, June 2, 1127. She was called the Empress Maud, being the widow of Henry V, Emperor of the Roman Empire and later of Germany, whom she had married Jan. 7, 1114. From the first Geoffrey tried to profit by his marriage, and after the death of Henry I, Dec. 1, 1135, laid the foundation for the conquest of Normandy, by a series of campaigns; about the end of 1135 or beginning of 1136 he entered that country and rejoined his wife, the Countess Maud. After many battles he received the submission of Argentan, Domfront, Bayeux, Caen and Falaise. In March, 1141, on hearing of his wife's success in England he entered Normandy, and many towns surrendered, and in 1144 he entered Rouen and received the ducal crown of Normandy in its cathedral. Finally in 1149, after crushing a last attempt at revolt, he handed over the Duchy to his son Henry, who received the investiture at tfhe hands of the King of France.

Geoffrey Plantagenet had, by Maud, who died Sept. 10, 1167, a son and successor Henry, Count of Anjou, who ascended the throne of England as Henry II. (He also had a natural son, Hameline Plantagenet, who married Isabel de Warren, and took the name of de Warren, and became through his wife the Earl of Warren and Surrey, from whom you descend in several different ways.)

Geoffrey Plantagenet, a prince of great justice and charity, died Sept., 1150, and was buried at Mans, in St. Julien's Church.

Source: Kin of Mellcene Thurman Smith- Burke's Royal Families of England, Scotland and Wales, Preface pp. XIX-XX; Part I, pp. 19-20, 22, 24-29.

Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerage of England, pp. 200-1.

Source: Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (1:24) & (118:25),(123.25).

Source: Royalty For Commoners, 53:28

Change: Date: 10 MAR 2001