Notes:

Buried:
St Blasius

Matilda married Duke of Saxony Henry The Lion on 01 Feb 1168 in Minden, Saxony, Germany. Henry died in 1195. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[royalfam.ged]

Do we have a date in 1203 as to when Joan was sent to England from Normandy? This would be interesting and possibly enlightening - John himself was in Normandy during most of that year, in Le Mans in January but then
moving into Normandy near Argentan and not leaving Normandy (although this time, for good) on 5 December. As recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis and the author of the Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal, John was clearly in the process of losing hold of Normandy during that year, so it would seem Joan's relocation to England was part of the overall process of collapse.

As to the issue of Henry I's issue, it may be that he thought the alliances of his illegitimate brood would not complicate the matter of succession - however, immediate prior history does not mesh well with this presumption. The 70-year period preceding Henry I's death involved several problematic dynastic problems:

A. The forceful taking of the English throne by a bastard (his own father);

B. The lengthy contest for the throne between two brothers (his own, being Robert 'Curthose ' and William 'Rufus')

C. His own acquisition of the English throne on the death of William 'Rufus', in place of his absent elder brother Robert, in 1100 [the resolution of their claims not being decided except on the field of battle in 1106, at Tinchebrai].

Henry I's evident desire was for the succession of his son (or at least one of his sons), and failing that, the succession of his daughter Matilda. He knew full well, little was guaranteed as to the English succession, else he would not have required baronial agreement to Matilda's succession before his death. Do we know, in the event of Matilda's death, that he would not prefer the accession of his son Robert (the bastard known
as Robert de Caen, the Earl of Gloucester) over any available nephew ?

Best regards,
John P. Ravilious
Therav3@aol.com

royal92.ged, Date of Import: Feb 10, 2006, lists May 18, 1152 Bordeaux, France as the marriage information for Elbeonore and Henry.

HENRY married Queen of England, Princess of Aquitaine ELBEANOR ALIENOR on 11 May 1152 in Bordeaux, Gironde, Aquitaine, France. ELBEANOR (daughter of Duke WILLIAM GUILLAME, X and Duchess De Chatellerault ELBEANOR) was born in 1122 in Chcateau De Belin, Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France; died on 31 Mar 1204 in Castle Mirabell, Poitiers, Poitou, Aquitaine, France; was buried in Apr 1204 in Abbaye De Fontevrault, Fontevrault, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On page 151 of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir she says "On 10 January 1156, having spen t more than a year in England, Henry crossed from Dover to Wissant and returned to Normandy to attend to the affairs of his continental fiefs, leaving Richard de Lucy as regent and placi ng Eleanor and their children under the guardianship of Archbishop Theobald and John of Salis bury; the Pipe Rolls show that the Queen was paid allowances for the two boys, and also recor d that she was supporting in her household her sister Petronilla and their two bastard brothe rs, William and Joscelin. During the period 1154-8 there are thirty-six entries relating to E xchequer payments to William, as well as regular payments of generous sums for wine for Petro nilla."

She says that Petronilla was married to Raoul, count of Vermandois and that he died in 1151 . She further says that Petronilla's date of death is not recorded.

Fontevraud is the place of death and burial listed in the royal92.ged with the date of death as April 01, 1204.

Sources:
royal92.ged, Date of Import: Feb 10, 2006.
royalfam.ged, Date of Import: Feb 10, 2006.
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir: Page 151.

GEOFFREY married Empress of Germany, Princess England MATILDA BEAUCLERC on 22 May 1127 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays-de-la-Loire, Anju, France. MATILDA (daughter of King of England HENRY BEAUCLERC FitzWILLIAM, I and Princess of Scotland MATILDA EDITH ATHLING) was born on 7 Feb 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; died on 10 Sep 1169 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France; was buried in Bec Abbey, Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[royalfam.ged]

Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England, *was* her father's heiress.

Henry had 22-24 bastards and a legitimate son, William The Aetheling, who was
drowned in the Wreck of the White Ship on 25 November 1125 ---- ten years
before Henry's death.

So, Henry I had no surviving legitimate son to succeed to the throne.
Matilda, his legitimate daughter, had married Henry V, The Holy Roman Emperor
and was styled as The Empress Matilda in English, as she preferred. Her
husband, Henry V died in 1125 of cancer. The couple had no issue.

Matilda returned to England after the death of her husband and Henry I began
to groom her for succession to the throne. She was widowed and childless as
well as pretty well Germanised [read arrogant and pretentious, in English
eyes], having first gone to the Continent when she was eight years old and
having married Henry V when she was 11.

The British nobles and bishops did not particularly cotton to this
Jennie-foreigner as their future queen ---- but Henry I did his best to secure
their oaths of support that they would loyally defend her claims if she
outlived her father and he left no legitimate son.

Matilda married Geoffrey 'le Bel' comte d'Anjou, Touraine et Maine in 1127.

Now she was Brunhilde with a frog husband in the minds of many of the stalwart
British nobles and bishops.

Henry I died in 1135 without fathering a legitimate son. His death led to a
disputed succession just as had the deaths of the two previous Norman kings of
England, William I 'The Conqueror' and William II 'Rufus'.

When Henry I died on 1 Dec 1135, of a surfeit of lampreys as some say, Matilda
was out of pocket on the Continent.

Stephen, a grandson of William The Conqueror, quickly seized the initiative
and crossed to England to seize the crown where he was accepted as King by the
worthies of London, whose trading connections with Stephen's lands in Boulogne
helped to win them to his side.

Stephen pressed on to Winchester, where his brother, Bishop Henry of
Winchester, persuaded an initially reluctant Archbishop of Canterbury to crown
Stephen as King, the custodian of the treasure to hand over the keys, and the
magnates who were present to accept him as monarch.

Some of the nobles and clerics seem to have abandoned Matilda because they
construed their oath to Henry I to have held only if Henry did not give his
daughter Matilda in marriage to anyone outside the Kingdom without consulting
them.

A Great Civil War ensued when Matilda tried to fight back and reclaim the
throne in 1139. This Civil War lasted until 1153 when Stephen finally agreed
to allow Matilda's son Henry to succeed him on the throne as Henry II
'Curtmantle'. Yes, the one who was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine,
Richardson. Henry II also inherited his father Geoffrey's lands and titles.
Geoffrey was quite a dashing figure, the Antonio Banderas of his day.

WILLIAM married Duchess De Chatellerault ELBEANOR in 1121 in France. ELBEANOR (daughter of Viscount of Chatellerault AIMERI, I and DANGEREUSE MAUBERGEONNE) was born about 1103 in Chatellerault, Poitou, Aquitaine; died after Mar 1130. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

FOULQUES married Countess Du Maine ERMENGARDE HELIE on 11 Jul 1110 in France. ERMENGARDE (daughter of Count Of Maine ELIAS HELIE and MATILDE) was born in Abt. 1096 in Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France; died in 1126 in Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

HENRY married Princess of Scotland MATILDA EDITH ATHLING on 06 Aug 1100 in Westminster, London, Middlesex, England. MATILDA (daughter of I King of Scotland MALCOLM CEANMOR DUNKELD, III and Queen of Scotland MARGARET AETHLING) was born in 1079 in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland; died on 1 May 1118 in Westminster Palace, Westminster, Middlesex, London, London, England; was buried in Jun 1118 in Church of St. Peter, Westminster, London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Westminster Abbey

GUILLAUME married Countess Toulouse PHILIPPA MATHILDE in 1094 in France. PHILIPPA (daughter of Count of Toulouse GUILLAUME, IV and Countess of Toulouse MATHILDE) was born about 1073 in Toulouse, Jura, Franche-Comté, France; died on 28 Nov 1117. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

AIMERI + DANGEREUSE MAUBERGEONNE. DANGEREUSE (daughter of BARTHELEMY and GERBERGE) was born in 1079 in De Isle Bouchard, France; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]