The Story of a Southern Overberg Farm: 2011

Why I love things Old and French.

I am a descendant of the Plantagenet Kings and Queens. My 19th great grandfather was Edward III. My 25th gr grandmother was Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen of England, married to Henry II King of England.

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (a romanticised version!)

Now we know why I love Medieval History and all things French!

More about ....

ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Duchess of the Aquitainians
Reign 9 April 1137 – 1 April 1204
Predecessor William X
Successor John
Queen consort of the Franks
Tenure 1 August 1137 – 21 March 1152
Coronation 25 December 1137
Queen consort of the English
Tenure 25 October 1154 – 6 July 1189
Coronation 19 December 1154
Spouse Louis VII, King of the Franks
m. 1137; ann. 1152
Henry II, King of the English
m. 1152; wid. 1189

Issue:
Marie, Countess of Champagne
Alix, Countess of Blois
William IX, Count of Poitiers
Henry the Young King
Matilda, Duchess of Saxony
Richard I of England
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Eleanor, Queen of Castile
Joan, Queen of Sicily
John of England

House:
House of Poitiers

Father William X, Duke of Aquitaine
Mother Aenor de Châtellerault

Born 1122 or 1124
Poitiers, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-l'Autise
Died 1 April 1204 (aged c. 81/82)
Poitiers

Burial Fontevraud Abbey, Fontevraud
Religion Catholic

Eleanor of Aquitaine (in French: Aliénor d’Aquitaine, Éléonore de Guyenne) (1122 or 1124 – 1 April 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France (1137–1152) and of England (1154–1189). She was the patroness of such literary figures as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-More, and Chrétien de Troyes.

Eleanor succeeded her father as suo jure Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitiers at the age of fifteen, and thus became the most eligible bride in Europe. Three months after her accession she married Louis VII, son and junior co-ruler of her guardian, King Louis VI of France. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon after the Crusade was over, Eleanor sought an anullment of her marriage[2] but was rejected by Pope Eugene III.[3] However, after the birth of Alix, another daughter, Louis agreed to an anullment.[4] The marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152, on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, while Eleanor's lands were restored to her.

As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy, her cousin within the third degree, who was nine years younger. The couple married on 18 May 1152, eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanor's first marriage. On 25 October 1154, Henry ascended the throne of the Kingdom of England, making Eleanor Queen of the English. Over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children: five sons, two of whom would become king, and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged. She was imprisoned between 1173 and 1189 for supporting her son Henry's revolt against her husband.

Eleanor was widowed on 6 July 1189. Her husband was succeeded by their son, Richard the Lionheart, who immediately released his mother. Now queen dowager, Eleanor acted as a regent for her son while he went off on the Third Crusade. Eleanor survived her son Richard and lived well into the reign of her youngest son King John. By the time of her death she had outlived all of her children except for King John and Eleanor, Queen of Castile.

.................................................................................................................................................................

http://southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/heroic-hunkette-eleanor-of-aquitaine/

Moonday’s Heroic Hunkette: Eleanor of Aquitaine Part II

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Rita Bay

Eleanor of Aquitaine’s actions in her later years struck a blow for women’s equality that predated the women’s rights movement by eight centuries. She was one of the most powerful and fascinating personalities of feudal Europe. By 1166 Eleanor, however, was also a woman scorned.

Eleanor usually ignored Henry’s affairs and had even raised one of Henry’s illegitimate sons by a prostitute. But when she arrived at the court in Woodstock to deliver her last child, she was forty-four and ready to pop. She found Henry-who was thirty-two-in residence with his teenaged lover, Rosamund Clifford. Fair Rosamund was not a prostitute but of noble birth and Henry LOVED her. Eleanor left and delivered her child-who would become King John-elsewhere. Rumor at the time had it that Henry was trying to provoke Eleanor into obtaining an annulment so that she could be sent to a nunnery and deprived of her lands. leaving him free to marry Rosamund. Henry’s plan didn’t work and Rosamund died, but the marriage was beyond repair.

In 1169 Henry sent Eleanor to Aquitaine to restore order. She asserted her sovereignty over Aquitaine, including dispensing justice. She established and reigned over a “court of love” with her daughter Marie, the countess of Champagne. They commissioned a “Treatise on Love and the Remedies of Love” which established a cult of chivalry and “code of love.” 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 judgment. The ladies educated the men on the nature of love, chivalry, and romance, establishing the code of chivalry. The idea was copied in other castles and kingdoms across medieval Europe. The Court of Love lasted until Henry arrived and disbanded the court and sent the judges home home.

In 1173, Henry the Younger-King Henry’s heir-revolted against his father. He was supported by the French King, Eleanor, and his much younger brothers, Richard and Geoffrey. Henry prevailed and Eleanor was arrested in France by her ex-husband, King Louis. She disappeared for a year, then was returned to England by Henry. Eleanor began her imprisonment in a series of castles that lasted for the next sixteen years. She was released for special occasions like Christmas but she seldom saw her children. In 1183, Young Henry revolted again. He was forced to flee his father’s troops. He contracted dysentery and died after reuniting with his father. His last request, that his mother be freed, was denied. Rumor had it that Eleanor dreamed of his death and it haunted her throughout the rest of her life.

From 1183 until his death in 1189, Eleanor traveled with her husband and aided in the government, but still had a custodian. Richard I Lionheart freed his mother when Henry died and, when he went on crusade named Eleanor who was about seventy his regent. Eleanor escorted his bride to Sicily for their marriage and traveled to Germany to negotiate his ransom when he was taken prisoner on his return from the crusade.

When Richard was killed in battle in 1199, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, John Lackland. Eleanor returned to Aquitaine but remained busy and journeyed to Castile to escort her granddaughter to France to marry the grandson of her ex-husband, Louis VII. She even held her castle against her grandson Arthur, who was in revolt against King John. After two husbands, ten children, and Lord know how many lovers, Eleanor retired to Fontevrault Abbey and took the veil. She died when she was 82, having outlived all but two of her children. She one-upped Henry (who is buried beside her) in death with a tomb that was more ornate, higher, and longer than his. WTG, Eleanor. Richard the Lionheart will be featured as next week’s Heroic Hunk

My direct ancestral from Eleanor of Aquitaine, on her father’s William X Toulousan’s side:

Egbert III "King" of Wessex (775 - 839)
my 36th great grandfather

Ethelwulf King of England / Wessex (806 - 857)
Son of Egbert III "King" of

Alfred "The Great" King of England (849 - 901)
Son of Ethelwulf King of England /

King Edward the Elder of the Anglo Saxons England (871 - 924)
Son of Alfred "The Great"

Elgiva England (912 - 951)
Daughter of King Edward the Elder of the Anglo Saxons

Count Guillaume (929 - 963)
Son of Elgiva

Guillaume Aquitaine (949 - 995)
Son of Count

Guillaume V De Aquitaine (969 - 1030)
Son of Guillaume

Guillaume Duc De Aquitaine (1026 - 1086)
Son of Guillaume V

Guillaume IX De Troubador De Aquitaine (1071 - 1127)
Son of Guillaume Duc

William X Toulousan (1099 - 1137)
Son of Guillaume IX De Troubador

Queen Eleanor Aquitaine of England (1122 - 1204)
Daughter of William X
(married to Henry II King of England (1133 - 1189)
Son of Geoffrey V Plantagenet

my 25th Great Grandparents)

King John I 'Lackland' Plantagenet (1167 - 1216)
Son of Henry II

King Henry III Plantagenet (1207 - 1272)
Son of John I 'Lackland'

King Edward I Plantagenet (1239 - 1307)

Son of Henry III

King Edward II Plantagenet (1284 - 1327)

Son of Edward I

King Edward III Plantagenet King (1312 - 1377)

Son of Edward II

John Gaunt (1340 - 1399)

Son of Edward III

Joan de Beaufort (1375 - 1440) married to Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland
my 18th Great Grandmother

Daughter of John

Lady Anne De Neville (1404 - 1480)
Daughter of Joan

Lady Anne Strange (1462 - 1520)
Daughter of Lady Anne

Richard Smythe Lord (1480 - 1508)
Son of Lady Anne

William Smythe (1505 - 1550)
Son of Richard

Agnes Smythe (1543 - )
Daughter of William

Reginaldus Gibson (1563 - )
Son of Agnes

William Gibson (1582 - )
Son of Reginaldus

Thomas Gibson (1600 - 1642)
Son of William

Thomas Gibson (1620 - 1652)
Son of Thomas

Marmaduke Gibson (1669 - 1730)
Son of Thomas

Jonathon Gibson (1700 - 1746)
Son of Marmaduke

Marmaduke Gibson (1727 - 1796)
Son of Jonathon

Marmaduke Gibson (1758 - )
Son of Marmaduke

James Gibson (1778 - 1857)
Son of Marmaduke

Eleanor Gibson (1807 - 1894)
Daughter of James

Jane Murgatroyd (1839 - 1929)
Daughter of Eleanor

Alfred Ernest Tonge (1870 - 1939)
Son of Jane

Clarice Barbara Tonge (1898 - 1979)
Daughter of Alfred Ernest

David Astley Jephson (1928 - 2000) married to Antoinette Desmond-Smith
Son of Clarice Barbara