Flanders (Vlaanderen in Flemish, Flandre in French) is historically significant for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important reason, in the long run, was that it became the site of the first major development of commercial culture in Northern Europe. By the 13th century, the largest cities in Francia north of the Alps were, with Paris and London, Ghent (Gent or Gand) and Bruges (Brugge, preserving much of its Mediaeval look even today), which led northern Europe in the development of trade and manufacture. Since nothing of the sort had happened there under the Romans, it gives us a milestone in the emergence of Europe from under the Roman shadow, and from the economic nadir of the Dark Ages. This economic development and power is what made Burgundy under its Valois Dukes a Great Power in the 15th Century -- by the end of which, i.e. in the Renaissance, development had spread to the nearby cities of Antwerp (Antwerpen, Anvers), Brussels (Bruxelles, Brüssel), and Lille. By then a few German cities had become significant, like Cologne, Lubeck, and Nuremberg; but the economic centers of Francia were definitely in what would later be Belgium and, the real powerhouse, the North of Italy.
Another reason for the significance of Flanders, of less significance in the long run but rather spectacular (if sordid) at the time, was that a Count of Flanders, Baldwin IX, was installed by the Fourth Crusade as the Roman Emperor in Constantinople. This turned out to be a brief and miserable business -- Baldwin himself was soon captured in battle with the Bulgarians, dying while a prisoner -- but it was certainly a long way to come just from being Count of Flanders. Finally, Flanders passed by marriage first to the Dukes of Burgundy and then to the Hapsburgs.
Because of the inheritance of the Hapsburgs, Flanders ended up, uniquely, as the only territory that began Middle Ages as part of France but ended them, as it still is, alienated from France. This was not for want of French efforts. In 1701, Louis XIV had effectively occupied all of the Spanish Netherlands, including Flanders. The decisive moment, however, came with the Battle of Ramillies in 1706, when John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, completely destroyed a French army and was then able to overrun Flanders, which thus passed to Austria. Except during the French Revolution, France never had a realistic chance of recovering the territory. Today, most of historical Flanders, except for Picardy, is part of Belgium, the successor of the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands.
The County of Flanders begins with a bit of romance. Judith, daughter of the Emperor Charles the Bald, was married off twice to English Kings; but she returned and eloped with Baldwin Iron Arm. Charles disapproved, but Judith could not be induced to forsake him. So Charles relented and granted Flanders to the two of them. At first a "march county" (Margravate), Flanders soon reverted to a simple county.
| Baldwin I, Iron Arm | 862-879 |
| married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald | |
|---|---|
| Baldwin II | 879-918 |
| Arnulf I the Elder | 918-958 & 962-965 |
| Baldwin III | 958-962 |
| Arnulf II the Younger | 965-988 |
| Baldwin IV the Bearded | 988-1035 |
| Baldwin V the Pious | 1035-1067 |
| Baldwin VI of Mons | 1067-1070 |
| Arnulf III | 1070-1071 |
| Robert I | 1071-1093 |
| Robert II | 1093-1111 |
| Baldwin VII | 1111-1119 |
| Charles the Good | 1119-1127 |
| William Clito of Normandy | 1127-1128 |
| son of Robert II, Duke of Normandy | |
The succession becomes a little confusing with the children of Baldwin V. Baldwin's grandson Arnulf III seems to have been murdered by his uncle, Robert I; but then the main line of succession from Robert I dies out, and the County passes to Charles the Good, grandson of Robert through his daughter Adele, who had married Canute IV the Holy of Denmark and went on to marry Roger Borsa, Duke of Apulia, and become of the mother of William, Duke of Apulia. Charles the Good, in turn, is murdered himself, and the County passes to a second cousin, William Clito of Normandy, the great grandson of Baldwin V through his daughter Maltilda, who had married William the Bastard, later William the Conqueror, of Normandy.
| Thierry/Dietrich/ Dirk/Didrik of Alsace | 1128-1157 |
| brother of Simon I, Duke of Upper Lorraine | |
|---|---|
| Philip I of Alsace | 1157-1191 |
| On Crusade, 1177-1178 | |
| Baldwin V of Hainault | 1191-1195 |
| Baldwin IX | 1195-1205 |
| Emperor of Romania 1204-1205 | |
| Henry, Emperor of Romania | 1206-1216 |
| Yolanda, Empress of Romania | 1217-1219 |
| Joanna | 1206-1244 |
| Fernand of Portugal | 1211-1233 |
| Thomas of Savoy | 1237-1244 |
The Norman doesn't last long (killed at the battle of Axspoele, 1128), and the succession passes to another grandson of Robert I, through his daughter Gertrude, who had married Dietrich II, Duke of Lorraine. Gertrude's son was also named Dietrich, but his name turns up in various other languages, as Thierry (French), Dirk or Didrik (Dutch or Flemish), and even Terry (English). Curiously, it is ultimately a cognate of Thiudareiks or "King of the People" in Gothic. This is more familiar in its rendering as "Theodoric," the name of the greatest King of the Ostrogoths. The House of Alsace flourishes in Flanders under Dietrich and his son and daughter, Philip of Alsace and Margareta.
Two flags for Flanders are associated with Philip of Alsace. Preparing to go on the Third Crusade in 1188, Philip agreed with 
Richard of England and Philip Augustus of France that knights of Flanders would wear a green cross on white. Philip, however, already was using arms that became characteristic of Flanders, a black lion on a gold field -- Vlaenderen die Leu, "Flanders the Lion." 
There are different versions of the origin of this. The traditional story is that it was seized from the Muslims while Philip was on the Second Crusade in 1177. However, a seal of Philip exists from 1162, antedating the Crusade, showing the lion already. It may have been adopted from William of Ypres, who was using it in 1158. See Flags of the World for more details.
It is the sons of Margareta and her husband (and cousin), Baldwin of Hainault, who embarked on the Fourth Crusade and ended up in Constantinople. The feudal division of Romania and successes by the Bulgarians and Greeks of Nicaea and Epirus soon reduced their position to impotence, and neither started a line in Constantinople. However, the throne fell to their sister Yolanda, who had married a grandson of Louis VI of France, Peter de Courtenay. Neither Peter nor Yolanda lasted long, but their sons, Robert and Baldwin, were more durable. Indeed, Baldwin's reign comprised half the entire history of the Latin Empire at Constantinople. It was Baldwin who was finally driven out by the Greeks in 1261. His granddaughter Catharine married Charles of Valois of France, son of Philip III. Had she had a son, she could have then been the mother of the Valois House of French Kings. As it was, her daughter, called Catherine of Valois, who could not succeed to the throne of France because of the Salic Law, became the Latin Imperial Pretender and also Princess of Achaia. Meanwhile, Flanders had been left to the daughters of Baldwin IX, Joanna and Margaret, both of whom enjoyed long reigns. Joanna's first husband, Ferrand, son of King Sancho I of Portugal, was captured by King Philip II of France in the defeat of Emperor Otto IV at the battle of Bouvines in 1214.
Joanna failed to leave an heir, but Margaret did -- in fact two, one for Hainault (from her first husband, Burchard of Avesnes) and one for Flanders (from her second husband, Guy of Dampierre). 
Much of the subsequent history of the house is then consumed with conflicts between, on the one side, France and England in the Hundred Years War, and, on the other side, the newly prosperous Flemish burgers, who were ready and able to overthrown feudalism and establish their own commercial republic.
| Margaret I | 1244-1279 |
| Guy de Dampierre | 1280-1304 |
| captured by Philip the Fair, 1300; Matins of Bruges, Battle of the Golden Spurs, 1302 | |
|---|---|
| Robert III of Bethune | 1304-1322 |
| Louis I of Nevers | 1322-1346 |
| Louis II of Mâle | 1346-1384 |
| Margaret II of Mâle | 1384-1405 |
| marries Philip the Bold of Burgundy, 1368 | |
The power of the burgers was revealed in 1302, when the citizens of Bruges massacred the French garrison and then defeated (and massacred again) the French army sent against them. The former event is the Matins of Bruges, while the latter was the Battle of the Golden Spurs -- after the trophies stripped from the dead French knights. As with the Swiss, these events demonstrated the power of a disciplined citizen army against feudal cavalry. For a while, a commercial republic was actually established, under the rule of Jacob van Artevalde, the "Brewer of Ghent," 1337-1345; but Artevalde was killed by his own people, and eventually the tide of war turned for the French against Flanders, even when the English were winning. Count Louis I was killed fighting for the French King Philip VI at the battle Crécy, the great victory of Edward III of England, in 1346. The power of the Counts was ground down between the French King and the burgers. The independent line of the Counts of Flanders came to an end with Margaret of Mâle. Margaret was first betrothed to Philip of Rouvre, Duke of Burgundy. Philip, however, died of the Plague in 1361, bringing the Capetian line of Dukes of Burgundy to an end. Margaret then married Philip the Bold, who became the first Valois Duke of Burgundy in 1364, as his brother succeeded to the throne of France as Charles V. Thus, the fortunes of Flanders pass into the House of Burgundy and ultimately to the Hapsburgs.
Today the phrase "Flanders' fields" conjures visions of the slaughter of battles in World War I, like Ypres, that occurred there. This unfortunately continued the long history of the area as a battlefield, as at the great battle of Oudenaarde in 1708. Today, free of French Marshalls and German panzers, the land is happily a peaceful and prosperous one.
The project of reproducing lists and genealogies of rulers in these pages began when I found the succession of the Counts of Flanders given in Kingdoms of Europe, by Gene Gurney [Crown Publishers, New York, 1982]. I had never come across anything like that before and found it very intriguing. But it was not the easiest thing to track down better information. Some mistakes and gaps in Gurney I was able to correct by consulting the Histoire de Flandre et des Flamands au Moyen Age by Edward Le Glay [Imprimateurs des Facultés Catholiques de Lille, 1886] and The Murder of Charles the Good -- Galbert of Bruges, translated & edited by James Bruce Ross [University of Toronto Press, 1982]. Now, internet sources, like Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy, cover this material.
The County of Artois lay between the Counties of Flanders and Vermandois, fronting on the English Channel.
Louis VIII of France granted Artois to his son Robert, just as he granted Anjou to Charles (who became King of Naples and Sicily) and Portiers to Alphonse (who then also become Count of Toulouse). His eldest son, of course, became St. Louis IX of France.
While Artois was not about to become a player, let alone a power, and Robert failed to snag the larger domains that his brothers did, his descendants nevertheless intermarried into the house of Narvarre, the Free County of Burgundy, the Duchy of Burgundy, Flanders, and, twice, Kings of France. The County ended up in the inheritance of Flanders and finally of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. It passed to the Hapsburg heirs of Burgundy but was recovered by Louis XIV in 1659 in the Peace of the Pyrennes, which finally ended the Thirty Years War with Spain (which thus actually had been a 41 years war). The infamous "Flanders' fields" of World War I were, as often as not, actually in Artois.
The genealogy here is a brief run and often simply connects lines found in other tables, as linked. I have now included it because a list of Counts is given in the Oxford Dynasties of the World by John E. Morby [Oxford University Press, 1989, 2002, p.94]. The genealogical details have been supplied from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume II, Part 1, Europäiche Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser I Westeuropa [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, Third Edition, 2001, pp.114-115].
| Kings of Brittany | |
|---|---|
| Cynan Meriadoc | King, c.450 |
| Gradlonus /Gratian | c.480 |
| Salomon I | c.500 |
| Aldroenus /Audren | c.510 |
| Budic I | c.516- 556? |
| Chanao | c.560 |
| Macliaw | c.570 |
| Cunomorus /Chonomor | c.550 |
| Theodoric /Tewdrig I | c.570 |
| Hoël /Riwal I | c.570s |
| Waroc | c.577- 594 |
| Canao | c.594 |
| Hoël II | c.590s |
| Alanus /Alain I | c.600s |
| Hoël III | c.610s |
| Salomon II | c.620- 632 |
| Judhael /Judicael | 632-640 |
| Alain II | c.660s |
| Cunobertus | c.680s |
| Budic II | c.700s |
| Theodoric II | c.720s |
| Raulhonus /Romulus | c.740s |
| Daniel Dremrost | c.760s |
| Aregstanus | c.780s |
| Maconus /Morvan | c.790s |
| Dukes of Brittany | |
| Frodaldus | 795-826 |
| Nomenoë | 826-851 |
| Erispoë | 851-857 |
| Saloman III | King, 857-874 |
| Gurvand | Duke, 874-877 |
| Pasquitan | 874-877 |
| Judicael | 877-888 |
| Alain I the Great | King, 888-907 |
| overrun by Vikings | |
| Raoul | King, 922-923 |
| overrun by Normans | |
| Alain II | Duke, 936-952 |
| Drogo | 952-958 |
| Counts of Rennes | |
| Judicael- Berenger | 958-970 |
| Conan I the Crooked | 970-992 |
| Geoffrey/ Godfrey I | 992-1008 |
| Alain III | 1008-1040 |
| Eudes/ Odo I | 1040-1056 |
| Conan II | 1056-1066 |
| Hoël IV of Nantes | 1066-1084 |
| Alain IV | 1084-1112 |
| Conan III the Fat | 1112-1148 |
| Hoël V | 1148-1156 |
| Bertha | 1148-1156 |
| Eudes II | 1148-1156 d.1170 |
| Conan IV | 1156-1171 |
| control by Henry II of England, 1166 | |
| Constance | 1171-1187 d.1201 |
| Geoffrey II | 1181-1186 |
| son of Henry II, marries Constance | |
| Arthur I | 1187-1203 |
| murdered by his uncle, John of England | |
| Alice | 1203-1221 |
| daughter of Constance | |
| Peter I of Dreux | 1213-1250 |
| marries Alice | |
| John I the Red | 1221-1286 |
| John II | 1286-1305 |
| Arthur II | 1305-1312 |
| John III the Good | 1312-1341 |
| John IV | 1341-1345 |
| Charles of Blois | 1341-1364 |
| War of the Breton Succession, 1341-1364 | |
| John V | 1364-1399 |
| John VI | 1399-1442 |
| Francis I | 1442-1450 |
| Peter II | 1450-1457 |
| Arthur III | 1457-1458 |
| Francis II | 1458-1488 |
| Anne | 1488-1514 |
| marries Charles VIII of France, 1491; marries Louis XII of France, 1499 | |
| Claude/ Claudia | 1514-1524 |
| marries Francis I of France; Brittany annexed, 1532 | |
Brittany takes its name from the Celtic refugees who fled Britain, mainly Cornwall, 
during the German invasions of the 5th century. The Roman name of the Brittany peninsula had been "Armorica." There was also a tradition that Celtic soldiers had stayed in the region after crossing over from Britain with the usurper Magnus Maximus. Their leader in 388 was said to be "Cynan [or Conan] Meriadoc." The same name occurs in the first more-or-less historical ruler of Brittany around 450. Following this later Cynan Meriadoc is a continuous list of local kings, as in Ireland and Britain, until the first ruler, Frodaldus, for whom there are more than just vague and conjectural dates.
Readers of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings triology who study Breton history will notice that, as with Anglo-Saxon and Norse literature, Tolkien took some names, like Meriadoc and Rohan, from Brittany. Otherwise, thanks to its era and origin, Brittany figures in Arthurian stories. "Conan," of course was borrowed into other fantasy literature.
In the mediaeval period, Brittany was usually all but independent under its own Kings and Dukes. It is often not even shown as belonging to the Empire of Charlemagne. When King Henry II of England dominated northern and western France, his son Geoffrey was married to the heiress Constance of Brittany. Their son Arthur was murdered by his uncle King John to eliminate his claim to the English Throne. The Pope put England under an interdict for this crime. The next heiress, Alice, was the daughter of Constance by her third marriage. Local nobility figure in the marriages of the heiresses after the loss of the Plantagenet connection.
The earliest rulers of Brittany, from its legendary origin, are given in The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens, by Mike Ashley [Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., New York, 1999, pp.727-729]. Later Dukes as given here, beginning with Frodaldus, were originally assembled from Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy and the The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. Now the genealogy is principally from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume II, Part 1, Europäiche Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser I Westeuropa [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, Part 1, Third Edition, 2001, pp.123-130]. Some variation exists in the numbering of the rulers. Numbers for names like Hoël and Alain frequently start over with the fully historical dukes (as here with Alain).
The ultimate fate of Brittany was a matter of the marriages other heiresses. The Duchess Anne married both King Charles VIII and King Louis XII of France. The agreement was that Brittany would be enfeoffed to a younger son or an elder daughter. There were no surviving sons from either marriage, but her daughter Claudia then married King Francis I, who, after her death, simply annexed the Duchy to the Royal domain.
Today the Breton language is the last Celtic language spoken on the mainland of Europe (though not originating there), and Breton separatism is still a thorn in the side of French politics. Regional languages are not given much toleration, let alone promotion, in French education. And so in the absence of strong agitation, Breton may be doomed. The flag, with its distinctive motif, is modern.
The Duchy of Burgundy began in 880 when part of the Kingdom of Burgundy was detached and assigned to France (West Francia). This was part of the Treaty of Ribemont by which the young West Frankish Kings, Louis III and Carloman II, were deprived of most of Lorraine. 
Robert I was the first Capetian Duke of Burgundy, founding a line that lasted until 1361. The next line, the Valois Dukes, starting with Philip the Bold, ushered in the classic era of Burgundian power. Marrying Margaret, the heiress of Flanders, Philip began a process of adding, by marriage and conquest, to the Burgundian domain, expanding it into a rival to the throne of France itself. This process ended abruptly in 1477 with the death in battle of Charles the Bold, but it then became part of the process of Hapsburg expansion when Charles's daughter Mary wedded the future Emperor Maximilian. The Duchy of Burgundy itself passed to the French Throne in that transition, but most of the rest of the Burgundian domain became a long term addition to the House of Hapsburg. The Court of Mary and Maximilian was one of the jewels of the Renaissance; and the Burgundian knotty ("raguly") Cross ("saltire") of St. Andrew became a feature of flags in the Low Countries and later of Hapsburg Spain.
| Dukes of Burgundy | |
|---|---|
| Richard the Justicer of Autun | 880/ 911-921 |
| brother of Boso, King of Burgundy | |
| Rudolf/Raoul | 921-923 |
| King of France 923-936 | |
| Hugh the Black | 923-952 |
| Gilbert de Vergy | 952-956 |
| Odo of Paris | 956-965 |
| Otto/Eudes Henry the Great | 965-1002 |
| Otto William | 1002-1004/5 |
| Count of Burgundy, 995-1026 | |
| Duchy reverts to French Throne, 1004/5 | |
| Henry, I of France | 1015-1032 |
| King of France, 1031-1060 | |
| Robert I | 1032-1076 |
| brother of Henry I | |
| Hugh I | 1076-1079 |
| Odo/Eudes I, the Red | 1079-1102 |
| Hugh II | 1102-1143 |
| Eudes II | 1143-1162 |
| Hugh III | 1162-1192 |
| Eudes III | 1192-1218 |
| Hugh IV | 1218-1272 |
| Robert II | 1272-1306 |
| Hugh V | 1306-1315 |
| Eudes IV | 1315-1349 |
| Philip I of Rouvre | 1349-1361 |
| betrothed to Margaret of Flanders, but died of the Plague first | |
| Duchy reverts to French Throne, 1361-1364 | |
In the last days of the line, things were in the works to reverse the tendency of alienation and greatly expand the domain of the Dukes. Eudes IV married the heiress, Jeanne, of the Free County of Burgundy, and then his grandson Philip was preparing to marry the heiress, Margaret, of the County of Flanders. Philip, however, died of the plague before the marriage could be effected. This setback, however, only delayed the project. While the Duchy reverted to the French Throne, the Free County passed by separate inheritance to the Countess Margaret herself, who then married the new Valois Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold.
This list and genealogy of the Dukes of Burgundy is from Phoenix Frustrated, the Lost Kingdom of Burgundy, by Christopher Cope [Constable, London, 1986; Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1987] and from the Regentenlisten und Stammtafeln zur Geschichte Europas, by Michael F. Feldkamp [Philipp Reclam, Stuttgart, 2002], with some modifications from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume II, Part 1, Europäiche Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser I Westeuropa [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, Part 1, Third Edition, 2001], and the Portail Histoire de la Bourgogne et de la Franche-Comté. The Portail lists Hugh the Great of Paris as a Duke of Burgundy, even though his dates overlap Gilbert de Vergy. The Portail does not list Otto William at all, as the Regentenlisten does, even though this partially fills the gap between Otto Henry and Henry I of France.
| Valois Dukes of Burgundy | |
|---|---|
| Philip II the Bold | 1364-1404 |
| Free County of Burgundy, 1384 | |
| marries Margaret of Flanders, 1368 | |
| John the Fearless | 1404-1419 |
| Philip III the Good | 1419-1467 |
| acquires Namur, 1421; Hainault, 1427; Brabant & Limburg, 1430; Holland & Zeeland, 1424-1433; & Luxemburg, 1443 | |
| Charles the Bold | 1467-1477 |
| killed, Battle of Nancy, 1477 | |
| Mary of Burgundy | 1477-1482 |
| marries Maximilian of Hapsburg, 1477 | |
| Duchy of Burgundy & Artois revert to French throne; Hapsburgs retain other territories | |
The Valois Dukes of Burgundy take the Duchy from the status of a relative backwater to a central place in European politics, and culture. This got off to a fast start as Margaret of Mâle brought with her Flanders and the Free County of Burgundy. Flanders was one of the most prosperous places in Europe, giving the Duke a major source of revenue, and the Free County gave him a foothold in the Empire and in the old Kingdom of Burgundy. It became a goal of the Dukes to be recognized as King of Burgundy by the Emperor, although most Burgundian acquisitions were in the historic Duchies of Lorraine (Upper and Lower). The proximity of Flanders to England also put the Dukes in a position as active allies of England in the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). 
After initial acquisitions by marriage, the Dukes move on to more forceful means. As a grandson of Count Albert of Holland and Hainault, the Duke Philip the Good pushed aside the proper heiress, Jacqueline of Holland. The claim was even more tenuous for other territories, like Luxemburg. This increasing resort to force, however, came to a bad end. As Charles the Bold tried to effect the Burgundian conquest of Lorraine, he was defeated and killed in the Battle of Nancy in 1477 -- a battle counted as one of the first modern battles, since it was won by an infantry of Swiss pikemen, i.e. commoners defeating mounted knights. The project of Burgundian aggrandizement, although here again suffering a considerable setback, again only experienced a kind of delay. The fortunes of the heiress of Burgundy, Mary, now became attached to her husband, Maximilian of Hapsburg, soon to be elected Emperor. Maximilian, who moved to live with Mary in the Netherlands, held the Hapsburg lands of Austria, and then their son Philip married the heiress Joanna (Juana) of Spain. The Burgundian ambitions, after a fashion, thus culminated in Mary and Maximilian's grandson, the Emperor Charles V, to whom the Free County, most of Lower Lorraine (i.e. the Netherlands), Austria, Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Spanish possessions in the New World all passed, enabling him to dominate the age and become the arbiter, if not exactly the hegemon, of Europe.
Meanwhile, of course, the Duchy of Burgundy had reverted to the King of France, never again to be enfeoffed elsewhere. Today its name may be the most familiarly associated with the characteristic dark red wine of the region. Similarly, the capital, Dijon, has become a famous name in mustard. The Kingdom of Burgundy, which the Dukes sought to revive, has disappeared from both maps and memory.
| Counts of Anjou | |
|---|---|
| Ingelger, Viscount of Orleans | c.870-898 |
| Fulk I the Red | 898-941 |
| Fulk II the Good | 941-958 |
| Geoffrey I Greymantle | 958-987 |
| Fulk III the Black | 987-1040 |
| Geoffrey II Martel | 1040-1060 |
| Geoffrey III the Bearded | 1060-1067 |
| Fulk IV the Bad Tempered | 1067-1109 |
| Geoffrey IV | 1098-1106 |
| Fulk V the Young | 1106-1129 |
| King of Jerusalem, 1131-1143 | |
| Geoffrey V Plantagenet | 1129-1151 |
| Duke of Normandy, 1144-1150 | |
| Henry I, II of England | 1151-1189 |
| Duke of Normandy, 1150-1189 | |
| King of England, 1154-1189 | |
| Henry II | 1170-1183 |
The County of Anjou ends up playing a significant role in the history of France and England. Perhaps the larger impact begins with Fulk V going off on Crusade and ending up King of Jerusalem, married to the heiress Queen Melisende. His son Geoffrey then marries the daughter, Matilda, of King Henry I of England, who had recently lost her husband, the Emperor Henry V -- so she is often called the "Empress." There was a dispute over the Kingship of her cousin Stephen -- she had disputed it herself in 1141. Geoffrey took Normandy from him in 1144. Then Geoffrey's son Henry succeeded Stephen as the first Plantagenet King of England, Henry II.
The term "Plantagenet" comes from planta genesta, a yellow flower, a species of gorse, that grows in the area. The name got attached to the family because Count Geoffrey used to wear the flowers on his helmet. His direct male descendants would rule England until the Tudors -- the Houses of Lancaster and York simply derived from younger sons of Edward III.
The last Plantagenet to formally bear the title Count of Anjou was the eldest son, Henry, of King Henry II. The young Henry predeceased his father. Although Anjou was subsequently held by King Richard and King John, they did not assume the title. Then Anjou as lost to Philip II of France in 1204.
Anjou was revived as a Duchy for Charles, the brother of King Louis IX of France, in 1246. The line of these Dukes of Anjou is not given here, because Charles went off and became King of Naples and Sicily, which then became the effective seat of the Anjevian family -- the genealogy is given there. Charles lost Sicily, but his descendants would rule Poland and Hungary as well as Naples, until the death of Joanna II in 1435.
The end of the Capetian Anjevians meant that the Duchy was available for a new Royal brother. This ended up being Louis of Valois, brother of King Charles V. Louis also inherited Provence, which Charles of Anjou had acquired through his wife, Beatrice, Countess of Provence. The special association of the Valois Dukes of Anjou, however, soon became Lorraine, 
when the grandson of Louis, René the Good, married Isabel, the heiress of Lorraine. At the death of Joanna II, René tried to press Anjevian claims to Naples, but Alfonso V of Aragón simply conquered the Kingdom for his family. When René died in 1480, all of his male heirs had predeceased him. His daughter Yolande's right to inherit was denied by King Louis XI. This royal claim was made good in 1481; and Anjou, Provence, and Maine reverted permanently to the French Crown. Yolande, however, was left with Lorraine and Bar, to which was added the County of Guise, the possession of her husband. Later Guise was broken off as a separate Duchy for her grandson Claude. All this genealogy, and its subsequent history, can be examined at Lorraine.
When Anjou fell to the King of France, so did the Anjevian claims to Naples. This led to the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII, who occupied Naples 1494-5 but could not keep it. The Aragonese heirs of Naples were soon pushed aside (1501) by King Ferdinand II of Aragón, King of a united Spain with his wife, Isabella of Castile. Ferdinand integrated Naples into the many Spanish possessions, and Spain was then the predominant power of the day. Until the French Revolution, France never returned to Naples -- though Spanish Bourbons did.
| Hrólfur/Rollo/Rolf/ Rollon | 911-927 d. 932 |
| receives Upper Normandy from Charles III the Simple of France, 911; Rollo converts to Christianity, 912; Middle Normandy added, 924 | |
|---|---|
| William I Longsword | 927-942 |
| Cherbourg Penninsula added to Normandy, 933 | |
| Richard I the Fearless | 942-996 |
| Richard II the Good | 996-1026 |
| Richard III | 1026-1027 |
| Robert I the Devil | 1027-1035 |
| William II, the Bastard, the Conqueror | 1035-1087 |
| England 1066-1087 | |
| conquers England, 1066 | |
| Robert II Curtnose, Shortshanks | 1087-1106 d. 1134 |
| Henry I | 1100-1135 |
| 1106-1135 | |
| Stephen | 1135-1144 |
| England, 1135-1154 | |
| Geoffrey of Anjou | 1144-1150 |
| Henry II | 1150-1189 |
| 1154-1189 | |
| Richard the Lionheart | 1189-1199 |
| 1189-1199 | |
| John Lackland | 1199-1204 |
| 1199-1216 | |
| John declared contumacious, 1202; Duchy occupied by Philip II Augustus, 1203-1204 | |
Along 
with Naples, Sicily and Russia, Normandy was one of the great enduring foundations of the age of Norse expansion. With the decline of Carolingian power, there wasn't much that Charles the Simple of France could do about Viking raiding, so the idea seems to have been that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, or at least have them join you. So someone who was essentially a pirate leader, Rollo, a son of Ragnald I the Wise, Earl of Orkney, was enfeoffed with some of the land that he had been raiding. This grew into a large domain, and entered into normal feudal and marriage relations with the rest of Europe, though for many years with little effective supervision of the Kings of France.
The flag is modern, proposed by local separatists and based on the common design of other Scandinavian flags.
The Normans, although retaining their name and a considerable share of Viking aggressiveness, nevertheless assimilated to the culture of their new land. They began to speak French and before long they even denied landing to further Viking forces.
As the Northern Vikings quieted down a bit, Normandy itself launched new conquests. In 1035 the de Hauteville brothers arrived from Normandy in Southern Italy. Driving out Arabs and Romans, no less than six brothers would eventually rule in Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, all assembled as the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in 1130. Just as the de Hautevilles were beginning, Duke William II the Bastard came to the throne of Normandy. He would conquer England in 1066 and acquire a more auspicious name for posterity: William the Conquerer.
Normandy subsequently became part of the story of the relations of England and France. England itself became the center of power of the Dukes, although their French culture was imposed there. English Kings spoke French for many generations and the English language was permanently altered by French. Pure Norman French words still echo in some British and American legal usage, as with "voir dire," the examination of prospective jurors. This is noteworthy today when France fights a desperate battle to prevent the assimilation of a few English words picked up from television, movies, etc. into French, while English itself, since Middle English, reflects the most profound French influence. This greatly enriched English vocabulary; but the French Academy would rather coin "pure" French neologisms than simply borrow them from English. The absurdity of this was revealed in a debate on French television over some new law to limit the use of English words. The moderator, frustrated at the heated cacophony of argument, simply shouted, "Shut up!" -- much punchier than Latinate periphrasis.
William did divide England and Normandy between two of his sons, but Robert II, Duke of Normandy, took out a loan from his brother, William II of England, secured by Normandy itself, so that he could go on the First Crusade (1096-1099). He returned with no money from the Crusade, so his other brother, Henry I, who meanwhile had succeeded to the Throne of England, repossessed Normandy in payment. This left Robert's son William with no inheritance, but he ended up acquiring Flanders, thanks to his great-grandfather having been Count Baldwin V of Flanders. William, however, was killed in battle in 1128, otherwise he would have inherited England in 1135, instead of his cousin Stephen of Blois. The succession of Stephen, however, was disputed by Henry's daughter Matilda. After a fruitless marriage to the Emperor Henry V, Matilda had married the energetic Count of Anjou and Maine, Geoffrey Plantagenent. Matilda and Geoffrey invaded England, and then Normandy. Normandy they got away from Stephen, who then agreed in 1153 to the succession in England of Maltida's son Henry, who thus founded the Plantagenet House of England. Henry's son John later lost Normandy (1202-1204) to Philip II of France, thus returning to the King of France the domain ceded by Charles III to Rollo back in 911.
Later, King Edward III claimed the Throne of France, and in the course of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the English sometimes occupied Normandy. At the end of the War, the only mainland territory that was held was Calais, later lost by Henry VIII. The King of England, however, continued to claim the French Throne right down to the Napoleonic Era, when British support for the exiled Louis XVIII would not have been consistent with continuing English claims. However, part of the Duchy of Normandy did actually remain in English hands: The Channel Islands. Those remain British, even until today, after the curious episode of being the only part of England occupied by Nazi Germany.
| Counts of Blois | Counts of Champagne | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| William | d.834 | ||
| Odo/Eudes | 834-865 | ||
| Robert | 865-866 | ||
| Warnegald | 878-906 | ||
| Gello | d.928 | Herbert I of Vermandois | 923-943 |
| Theobald, Thibaut I | 928-978 | Robert | 943-968 |
| Odo/Eudes I | c.978-995 | Herbert II | 968-993 |
| Theobald II | 995-1004 | Stephen I | 993-1019 |
| 1004-1037 | Odo/Otto/Eudes I, II of Blois | 1019-1037 | |
| 1037-1089 | Theobald III, I of Champagne | Stephen II | 1037-1047/8 |
| Odo II | 1047/8-1063 | ||
| 1063-1089 | |||
| Stephen | 1089-1102 | Odo III | 1089-1093 |
| 1102-1152 | Theobald IV, II of Champagne | Hugh | 1093-1125 |
| 1125-1152 | |||
| Theobald V | 1152-1191 | Henry I the Liberal | 1152-1181 |
| Louis I | 1191-1205 | Henry II the Younger | 1181-1197 |
| King of Jerusalem, 1192-1197 | |||
| Theobald III | 1197-1201 | ||
| marries Blanca, heiress of Navarre | |||
| Theobald VI | 1205-1218 | Theobald IV the Singer, I, of Navarre | 1201-1253 |
| Margaret | 1218-1230 | King of Navarre, 1234-1253 | |
| Gauthier of Avesnes | 1218-1230 | ||
| Marie | 1230-1241 | ||
| Hugh I of Châtillon | 1230-1241 | ||
| John I | 1241-1279 | Theobald V, II, of Navarre | 1253-1270 |
| King of Navarre, 1253-1270 | |||
| Jeanne | 1279-1292 | Henry III the Fat, I, of Navarre | 1270-1274 |
| King of Navarre, 1270-1274 | |||
| Jeanne, I of Navarre | 1274-1285 | ||
| Queen of Navarre, 1274-1305 | |||
| Hugh II | 1292-1307 | marries Philip IV, King of France, County reverts to Throne | |
The County of Champagne was on the east side of the French Royal Domain, the Île de France, while the County of Blois was on the west side. The earliest Counts of Champagne here are the Carolingian Counts of Vermandois. With the end of that line, Champagne passed to the Counts of Blois.
The list of the counts is from Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies and the WW-Person, A WWW Data base of European nobility. The genealogical diagram is based on Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy. Tompsett does not include all of the Counts, either of Champagne or Blois, and the numbering is a little confusing. Tompsett leaves out Theobald II of Blois and all the higher numbers are one less than in WW-Person. Gordon does not have a chronological list for Blois, but WW-Person does, which is not entirely consistent with Thompsett's genealogy. WW-Person does not list Gello and leaves a chronological gap beteen Robert and Theobald I; the ealier Eudes/Odo is not numbered in the later sequence; and Odo II of Champagne is left out. There are many disagreements or discrepancies about the dates. I have not indicated all the alternatives. See below for some new information.
Champagne remains famous, of course, for the sparkling wine which is now de rigueur for all occasions of significance in the Westernized world, from marriages to New Year's Eve. Although there are other comparable sparkling wines, by law only those from grapes grown in Champagne can be called "Champagne."
The genealogical chart highlights the history of interesting marriage alliances of the House of Blois and Champagne, which contributed a King of England (Stephen) and especially had two sons marrying daughters of King Louis VII of France by Eleanor of Aquitaine, while their sister married Louis himself and became of the mother of the great Philip II Augustus. Then two cousins of Philip married Isabella the Queen of Jerusalem and Blanca the heiress of Navarre.
From Blanca (more commonly called "Blanche" in the French context), we get the entire subsequent line of Navarre, whose heiresses later married the French King Philip IV, the French counts of Evreux, Foix, and Albret, King John II of Aragón, and finally Anthony Duke of Vendôme, the heir of the Bourbons. The son of Jeanne III of Navarre and Anthony was then King Henry III of Navarre, who became King Henry IV of France. The County of Champagne, however, once in the hands of Philip IV, reverted to the French Throne.
At left is the succession to the throne of Navarre by the Counts of Champagne, leading to the ultimate marriage of Jeanne/Juana I to Philip IV. The succession of their children to France and Navarre can be examined on those pages.
While Champagne reverts to the French Throne, the succession to Blois continues below.
| Counts of Blois | |
|---|---|
| Guy I of Châtillon | 1307-1342 |
| Louis II | 1342-1346 |
| Louis III | 1346-1372 |
| John II | 1372-1381 |
| Guy II | 1381-1391 |
Tompsett does not show the genealogy for Blois after Theobald V. I was then provided by a correspondent in the Netherlands with this information, gleaned from Volumes II (tables 46 & 47), III (table 50), and VII (tables 17 & 18) of the Europäische Stammtafeln, Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäichen Staaten, Neue Folge, edited by Detlev Schwennicke (Verlag J.A. Stargardt, Marburg, 1979 & 1984). Hugh I is of the House of Châtillon, and is a relative of Reynald of Châtillon, Prince of Antioch. WW-Person's page on Châtillon is blank, and Tompsett does not give any genealogical connection for Reynald besides his marriage to the heiress of Antioch. The correspondent in the Netherlands, however, has sent along information from the Europäische Stammtafeln, detailed below. After Guy II, the County was purchased by Louis, the first Valois Duke of Orléans, whose grandson became King Louis XII, whereby Orléans and Blois became Crown lands.
I have now been able to make some additional corrections from the new Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume II, Part 1, Europäiche Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser I Westeuropa [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, Third Edition, 2001]. My previous information was that Louis I of Blois was another son of Henry I. However, this source shows his parents, and those of Margaret of Blois, as Theobald V and Alice of France, which is tidier, since it means that Blois and Champagne split permanently between Theobald V and Henry I. Using these Stammtafeln, I have made some other corrections in the material above -- and will continue to do so as I examine the tables.
The Lords of Châtillon lead to a number of historically important marriages. Reynald (or Renaud) of Châtillon, as noted, becomes Prince of Antioch through marriage to the heiress, Constance, of Prince Bohemond II. They had no issue, and Reynald was even repudiated by Constance. Reynald's subsequent mischief so angered the Sult.ân of Egypt, Saladin, that he was killed, in some accounts, at the hand of the Sult.ân himself, after being captured at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1187.
Next, we get the marriage of Gaucher III to Elizabeth, Countess of St. Pol. The succession to St. Pol eventually included Philip of Burgundy (1415-1430) and Peter I of Luxemburg (1431-1433). I have a list of the succession to St. Pol but no information on how those connections all worked.
After this, of course, we get the marriage, as recounted above, of Hugh of Châtillon to the heiress, Mary, of Blois, from whom subsequent Counts of Blois and St. Pol derive.
A correspondent in the Netherlands provided this information from the Europäische Stammtafeln, Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäichen Staaten, Neue Folge, Volume VII, edited by Detlev Schwennicke (Verlag J.A. Stargardt, Marburg, 1979), Table 17. I have now been able to make some corrections, and anticipate making others, using the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume III, Europäiche Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser Ergänzungsband [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, Second Edition, 2001]. Unfortunately, this source does not show Reynald of Châtillon as the brother of Gaucher II. Under the Princes of Antioch, Reynald is identified as the son of the Seigneur Gottfried of Châtillon-sur-Loing, but this line does not seem to be included on the table for Châtillon.
| County of Toulouse | |
|---|---|
| Torsin | 778-790 |
| William I of Aquitaine | 790-812/3 |
| Raymond | 812/3-818 |
| Berenger | 818-835 |
| Bernard I | 835-844 |
| Warin | 844-845 |
| William II of Aquitaine | 845-850 |
| Fredelon | 850-852 |
| Raymond I | 852-c.862 |
| Humfrid | c.862-865 |
| Bernard II | 865-875 |
| Odo/Eudes /Otto | 875-918/9 |
| Raymond II | 919-923 |
| Raymond III Pons | 923-961 |
| William III | 961-1037 |
| Pons | 1037-1061 |
| William IV | 1061-1094 |
| Raymond IV I of Tripoli | 1094-1105 |
| Count of Tripoli, 1203-1205 | |
| Bertrand | 1105-1112 |
| Alfonso Jordon | 1112-1148 |
| Raymond V | 1148-1194 |
| Raymond VI | 1194-1215, 1218-1222 |
| Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1229 | |
| Simon de Montfort | 1215-1218 |
| Raymond VII | 1222-1249 |
| Jeanne | 1249-1271 |
| Alphonse of Poitiers | 1249-1271 |
| reverts to French Crown, 1271 | |
The County of Toulouse was the legendary center of the special culture of the Languedoc, the South of France where the language, Provençal, rather close to Catalan today, was distinct from the North of France, Languedoil. The names come from a difference between the words for "yes": "hoc" in the South and "oil" in the North -- "oil" became "oui" in Modern French.
Under the influence of the love poetry of Islâmic Spain, the Troubadours introduced the idea of romantic love into Western Europe. Unfortunately, other things were introduced as well. The Cathari (the "Pure," or Albigensians) reportedly practiced a form of religion reflecting Manichean dualism. For tolerating this heresy, in 1207 Count Raymond VI was excommunicated and his domains were placed under an interdict by Pope Innocent III. Raymond was eager to appease the Pope, but when the Papal legate Castelnau was murdered in 1208, Raymond was blamed and sterner measures were considered necessary. Innocent declared a "Crusade" against the heretics and the, at least, dilatory Count. Led by Simon de Montfort, the Crusade visited widespread destruction. In one infamous incident, after the fall of one city, Béziers, in 1209, all the inhabitants, heretical or not, were put the sword. One Crusader, Amal Ulric, reportedly instructed his men Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet, "Kill them all. God will recognize his own." Raymond VI was defeated in 1213 and temporarily deprived of his fief.
After the death of de Montford in 1218, the Count's fortunes revived. His son Raymond VII recovered the core of Toulouse. Nevertheless, the settlement of 1229 ceded much of the domain of Toulouse to the Crown. The daughter of Raymond VII was married to a son, Alphonse, of King Louis VIII of France. This might have led to a flourishing house of Poitiers in Languedoc, but the couple were childless, and in 1271 the remaining County reverted to the Throne.
The domain of Alphonse compares favorably with that of his brother, Charles of Anjou. Like Alphonse, Charles was married to an heiress, in his case of Provence. More importantly, Charles was offered Naples and Sicily by the Pope. He got them, but then lost Sicily. The House of Anjou then ruled Naples, and later Hungary and Poland, until 1435. The domain of Alphonse in France is more impressive than that of Charles, but it was not, of course, the possession of any enduring house.
Meanwhile, some years before, Count Raymond IV had gone on the First Crusade. After Jerusalem was taken, his job was to reduce the city of Tripoli, today in northern Lebanon. He died before the city surrendered, but was nevertheless credited as the first Count of Tripoli. When the city finally fell in 1109, his (perhaps illegitimate) son Bertrand took over, and his descendants ruled as the Counts of Tripoli until 1187, the year, as it happens, that Jerusalem was retaken by Saladin. This was well before the sad destruction of the culture and prosperity of Languedoc.
The chronology of the Counts is from Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies and WW-Person, A WWW Data base of European nobility, and the genealogy from Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble Genealogy, with modifications from The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, c.900-c.1024 [Timothy Reuter, editor, Cambridge 1999]. All these sources have sometimes wildly different names, sequences, and dates. I have tried to reconcile things somewhat, but I have left other inconsistencies, of dates and identities, in place out of frustration. Gordon lists "Humfrid" as of a different House than the other Counts (he doesn't appear at all in WW-Person), so I assume he would not appear in the genealogy; but Tompsett's overlapping dates otherwise seem to cover the period, and he doesn't give anyone who might be "Bernard II" (Gordon has the two Bernards in sequence, while WW-Person separates them by some 20 years). So, not being familiar with the sources, and having in hand only general histories that don't bother with such details (the Cambridge History only covers a limited period), I threw up my hands and left it. Now I hope to improve this with information from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume II, Part 1, Europäiche Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser I Westeuropa [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, Part 1, Third Edition, 2001] but have not yet analyzed the Toulouse pages [pp.171-173].
The culture of the South of France in the 12th century is one of the first signs of the revival of civilization in Francia after the "second Dark Age" of the 9th and 10th centuries. The high point of this, in both romance and politics, was perhaps the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress of Aquitaine (Aquitania), Queen of both France and England, mother of both Richard the Lionheart and the miserable King John.
| Pepin I | King, 817-838 |
| Pepin II | King, 838-864 |
| Ranulf/Ramnulf I of Portiers/Poitou | Count of Portiers, 841-867; Duke of Aquitaine, 860-866 |
| Ranulf/Ramnulf II | Duke, 886/7-890 |
| Ebalus/Ebles Manzer of Poitiers | 890-893, 927-935 |
| William I the Pious of Auvergne | 893-918 |
| William II | 918-926 |
| Ecfrid/Alfred/Acfred | 926-927 |
| William III of Poitiers | 935-963 |
| William IV Ironarm | 963-995 |
| William V the Great | 995-1030 |
| William VI | 1030-1038 |
| Otto/Odo/Eudes | 1038-1039 |
| William VII the Eagle | 1039-1058 |
| William VIII | 1058-1086 |
| Gascony, 1052-1086 | |
| William IX | 1086-1127 |
| William X | 1127-1137 |
| Eleanor | 1137-1204 |
| Louis, VII of France | 1137-1152 |
| France, 1137-1180 | |
| Henry I, II of England | 1152-1172 |
| England, 1154-1189 | |
| Richard I | 1172-1199 |
| 1189-1199 | |
| John I | 1199-1216 |
| 1199-1216 | |
| Henry II, III of England | 1216-1254 |
| 1216-1272 | |
| Edward I | 1254-1306 |
| 1272-1307 | |
| Edward II | 1306-1325 |
| 1307-1327 | |
| Edward III | 1325-1362, 1375-1377 |
| 1327-1377 | |
| Edward IV the Black Prince | 1362-1375, d.1376 |
| Richard II | 1377-1390 |
| 1377-1399, d.1400 | |
| John II of Gaunt | 1390-1399 |
| Henry III, V of England | 1399-1422 |
| 1413-1422 | |
| Henry IV, VI of England | 1422-1449 |
| 1422-1461, 1470-1471 |
The early period seems to involve a tug-of-war between the Counts of Poitiers (Poitou), Auvergne, and Toulouse for possession of the Duchy. There seem to be some confusions and disagreements between the sources. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, for instance, says that William I the Pious, Count of Auvergne and Duke of Aquitaine, died in 926. However, Ashley, Tompsett, Gordon, and the Cambridge History all agree that William II died in 926, and William I the Pious in 918. It should be noted that William III of Aquitaine is sometimes reckoned to begin a new sequence of numbering, as William I, which means that Eleanor's father, William X, is also found called William VIII.
Almost every map 
I have seen for this period shows different boundaries for the domains. Since I doubt that much was done in the way of accurate surveying (or even definition) of boundaries, or that such records would even survive, this is not surprising. The map at right is mainly based on Donald Matthew, Atlas of Medieval Europe [Equinox, Facts on File, New York, Oxford, 1983, 1989, p.98]. The domain of the House of Anjou is in red, with Normandy, already ruled by Henry Plantagenet before the end of the reign of King Stephen of England, in blue. William L. Langer's An Encyclopedia of World History; Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged [Houghton, Mifflin, Company; the Riverside Press, Boston, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1960] shows Toulouse as part of the "lands held or claimed [by Henry II of England] through marriage with Eleanor" [p.192], but Toulouse apparently was not "held" and the "claim" was not realized, which makes it puzzling why that should be included on the map.
| Counts and Dukes of Gascony | |
|---|---|
| Loup I | 768-774 |
| Loup II | 774-778 |
| Adaric | 778-812 |
| Loup III Sancho | 778-c.823 |
| Siguin I | 812-816 |
| Loup IV Siguin | 812-c.819 |
| Garcia Siguin | 816-818 |
| Aznar | c.823-836 |
| Totilon | 819-? |
| Siguin II | ?-846 |
| William I | 846-848 |
| Sancho Sancion | 848-864 |
| Arnaud | 864-872 |
| Sancho I Mitarra | 872-? |
| Sancho II Sánchez | ? |
| García II Sánchez | Margrave, Duke, 886-920 |
| Sancho III Garcés | 920-? |
| Sancho IV Sánchez | Count, ?-977 |
| William Sánchez | Duke, 977-984 |
| Bernard William | 984-1010 |
| Sancho William | 1010-1032 |
| Berenger | 1032-1036 |
| Eudes | 1036-1039 |
| to Navarre; to Aquitaine, 1052 | |
The contradictory information about Aquitaine seems much worse for Gascony. To the sources cited above is now added WW-Person, A WWW Data base of European nobility, which gives most of the Dukes before Sancho I Mitarra. The dates that Person gives before 1010 (or 1009) are often substantially different from those in the other sources. The dates in the table are 
largely his, while those in the genealogy are more those of Brian Tompsett and others. Some key dates are simply unknown. There also seems to be some question about the sequence of Arnaud (Arnold) and Sancho I Mitarra.
A significant marriage here is of Sancha of Gascony to Duke William V of Aquitaine. However, her name is also given as "Prisca," and her father is variously given as Sancho William, William Sancho, and William Sánchez. Sancha's children, however, did not give rise to the subsequent Dukes of Aquitaine. Duke William V had three wives, and subsequent Dukes were descendants of William VIII, son of William V and Agnes of Burgundy.
The brother of William X married the heiress of the Crusader Principality of Antioch. That marriage and the succession to Antioch can be examined at the genealogy for the Sicilian Normans. The most complicated part of the chart covers the marriages, not just of Eleanor, but of her first husband, Louis VII of France. Louis ended up marrying the sister-in-law of his own daughters by Eleanor (Adele, sometimes given as Alice). On the other hand, Eleanor's daughter, Eleanor also, by Henry II, married the nephew of Louis VII's second wife (Constancia of Castile). Their daughter Blanca was fetched from Spain by Eleanor herself to marry Louis VII's grandson, Louis VIII. She became the mother of St. Louis and Charles of Anjou. Subsequent Dukes of Aquitaine were all heirs or Kings of England, until all English possessions in France (except Calais) were lost in the last days of the Hundred Year's War.
| Lords & Counts of Foix | |
|---|---|
| Arnaldo | Lord, d.957 |
| Roger I | 957-1011 |
| Bernard Roger I | Count, 1011-1037 |
| Peter Bernard | 1037-1071 |
| Roger II | 1071-1124 |
| Roger III | 1124-1147/8 |
| Roger Bernard I the Fat | 1147/8-1188 |
| Raimund Roger | 1188-1223 |
| Roger Bernard II the Great | 1223-1241 |
| Roger IV | 1241-1265 |
| Roger Bernard III | 1265-1302 |
| Gaston I | 1302-1315 |
| Gaston II | 1315-1343 |
| Gaston III | 1343-1391 |
| Matthew | 1391-1398 |
| Archimbald of Grailly | 1398-1423 |
| John | 1413-1436 |
| Gaston IV | 1413-1472 |
| Union with Navarre | |
| Francis Phoebus | 1472-1483 |
| King of Navarre, 1479-1483 | |
In the foothills of the Pyrenees between Toulouse and Andorra, with the 10,305 ft. Pic Montcalm rising to the south, the County of Foix passes most of its history in relative obscurity. The destiny of Foix ends up in association with the Kingdom of Navarre. Count Gaston III marries the sister of King Charles the Bad of Navarre, but this relationship comes to naught when Gaston, the son of the Count and the only legitimate heir, is starved to death by his father. The succession then jumps to Gaston's second cousin, Matthew, who himself has no heirs. So the succession passes to Matthew's sister Isabella, who marries Archimbald of Grailly. Their grandson, Gaston IV, then marries the heiress of Navarre, Leonore. Leonore is briefly Queen of Navarre in 1479, after her husband and son have predeceased her, and so both Foix and the Throne of Navarre pass to her grandson, Francis Phoebus. Eventually, when Henry III of Navarre becomes King of France, Foix passes to the French Throne.
This list and genealogy is taken entirely from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume III, Europäische Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser Ergänzungsband [Andreas Thiele, Second Edition, R.G. Fischer Verlag, 2001, pp.166-171]. When I originally consulted Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy about this line, I think it was impossible to trace it beyond Gaston III.
I originally thought there might have been an association of the County with the cult of St. Faith -- Foi in French (or Ste. Foy) and Santa Fé in Spanish. "Foix" isn't exactly "Foi," but it might have been enough to get the association, if there was one, started (the "x" is not going to be pronounced in French). Since the capital of New Mexico takes Santa Fé as its name, the popularity of the Saint stretches all the way to the New World. Now I discover that the principal shrine of St. Foi is in the area, but not in Foix. It is at Conques, just about due north of Carcassonne and slightly south of east from Bordeaux. The closest larger town is Rodez, which was a County itself in early Capetian days. As far as I can tell, this ended up in the hands of the Counts of Toulouse (or of Auvergne). Also not far away are two towns actually named after St. Foi, Ste-Foy-la-Grande, in between Conques and Bordeaux, and Ste-Foy-l'Argentière, further afield near Lyon. St. Foi has only been resident at Conques, as it happens, since 877, when her relics were actually stolen from their original home, at the nearby Agen (Aginum). Foi herself was supposed to have been a martyr from the reign of Diocletian. The most famous incident in the stories about her is probably that, having been taking bread from her family's kitchen to give to the poor, carrying it in a fold of her dress, she was one day confronted by her (non-Christian) father over what she was carrying. She told him "flowers," but he insisted on seeing. As she opened the dress, flowers indeed, not bread, fell from it.
The most durable of the ancient Celtic Kingdoms, Man, a large island in the Irish Sea, poised between Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland, remains a constitutional anomaly in the United Kingdom. Man has its own parliament, the Court of Tynwald; and laws passed by the British Parliament in Westminster only apply to Man if it is specifically mentioned in the law.
The name "Man" seems to be derived from a legendary King Manannán, who may also have been a god. The adjective of "Man" is Manx, and this word can denote an inhabitant of Man (a "Manxman"), the remnant Celtic language, or the distinctive tailless Manx cat.
The 
Manx flag contains a unique and striking device of three rotating legs, the trinacria or triskelion. This is a very old image, but may have come to Man with the Vikings. It also turns up in Norman Sicily and is sometimes said to have come from there. The legs must always be seen rotating clockwise, so Manx flags must have two layers. Since 1968 the flag has been officially flown on public buildings in Man.
| Kings and Lords of Man | |
|---|---|
| Godred I Crovan | King, 1079-1095 |
| Lagman | 1095-1099, 1111? |
| Sigurd the Crusader, III of Orkney, I of Norway | 1099-1103 |
| Earl of Orkney, 1099-1105 | |
| King of Norway, 1103-1130 | |
| Domnall macTeige | 1103-1114?, d.1115 |
| Oalf I the Red | 1114?-1153 |
| Godred II the Black | 1153-1158, 1164-1187 |
| Somerled | King of the Isles, 1156-1164 |
| 1158-1164 | |
| Ragnald I | 1187-1226, d.1229 |
| Olaf II the Black | 1226-1237 |
| Godred the Brownhaired | 1230 |
| Harald I | 1237-1248 |
| Ragnald II | 1249 |
| Harald II | 1249-1250 |
| Ivar | 1250-1252 |
| Magnus | 1252-1265 |
| to Scotland, 1264-1290, 1293-1296, to England, 1290-1293, 1296-1333 | |
| William I de Montacute/Montague | 1333-1344 |
| William II Montague | 1344-1392, d.1397 |
| William III le Scrope | 1393-1399 |
| Henry Percy | 1399-1405, 1408 |
| John I Stanley | 1405-1414 |
| John II | 1414-1437 |
| Thomas I | 1437-1459 |
| Thomas II | 1459-1504 |
| Thomas III | Lord, 1504-1521 |
| Edward | 1521-1572 |
| Henry | 1572-1593 |
| Ferdinando | 1593-1594 |
| to England, 1594-1612 | |
| William I | 1610-1612, d.1647 |
| Elizabeth | 1612-1627 |
| James I | 1627-1651 |
| Lord Fairfax | Governor, 1651-1660 |
| Charles | Lord, 1660-1672 |
| William II | 1672-1702 |
| James II | 1702-1736 |
| James Murray | 1736-1764 |
| John Murray | 1764-1765, d.1774 |
| sold to Britain, 1765 | |
At the end of this period, Man was fought over by Scotland and England. Edward I of England, who annexed Wales and briefly even Scotland, seized Man in 1290. Except for some brief episodes, the Island has remained under English suzerainty ever since. In 1333, however, Edward III granted Man, with full sovereign rights, to William de Montacute (or Montague). This gave Man a status rather like the French Duchies, such as Burgundy, something otherwise rare to unheard of in English possessions. Montague actually had to invade the Island, against local resistance, in 1341 in order to be crowned King. 
Then he left. No King returned to Man until John II Stanley. Meanwhile, two of the official Kings fell victim to the Wars of the Roses. William le Scrope, who bought the island from William II, was a retainer of King Richard II and was executed by Henry IV. Henry Percy, who received Man from Henry, was then killed in battle after he rebelled. Henry bestowed Man on John Stanley in 1405. His family remained sovereigns of Man until 1736.
In 1660, the Stanleys gave up the ancient title of "King" and became merely "Lords of Man." Queen Elizabeth II is still simply "Lord of Man." There were two major glitches in the Stanley tenure on Man. A dispute about the succession resulted in a hiatus from 1594 to 1612. More significantly, James I, called the Great Stanley, was executed, as a Royalist, in the English Civil War. His wife Charlotte held the Island until betrayed to Parliamentary forces. A Commonwealth Governor, Lord Halifax, ruled the Island until the Restoration, when the Stanleys returned. The Stanley line finally died out 1736; and James Murray, Duke of Atholl, became Lord. His nephew and son-in-law, John Murray, surrendered the sovereignty of the Island to the British Crown in 1765 for £70,000 (today perhaps approaching $7,000,000), while retaining the title of Man until his death.
The list and genealogy here is almost entirely from The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens by Mike Ashley [Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., New York, 1998, 1999]. The history of the Manx flag and discussion of the triskelion can be found at Flags of the World. The genealogy of the Murrays is not given in the Mammoth Book but can be found in the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume IV, Die Britische Peerage, ein Auszug [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1996]. Oddly enough, the actual connection between the Stanleys and the Murrays is not given in either source. I did find it in Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy.
| John Churchill, 1st Duke | 1702-1722 |
| Henrietta Churchill, 2nd Duchess | 1722-1733 |
| Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke | 1733-1758 |
| George I Spencer, 4th Duke | 1758-1817 |
| George II Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke | 1817-1840 |
| George III Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke | 1840-1857 |
| John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke | 1857-1883 |
| George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke | 1883-1892 |
| Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke | 1892-1934 |
| John Albert Edward William Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke | 1934-1972 |
| John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke | 1972- |
With his great Imperial colleague, Prince Eugene of Savoy, John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, inflicted heavy defeats on Louis XIV in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713), none more brilliant and decisive than Blenheim. After Queen Anne gave Churchill the royal estate of Woodstock Park, Churchill, or even the Queen herself, gave the name of the battle to the great palace to be built on the land.
Marlborough fought ten campaigns. All successful. Among them were four great battles, Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709), all victories. In each battle, Marlborough would launch an attack on one part of the French line, to which the French sent reinforcements, and then he would try to break through another, weakened part of the French line with reserves, or with forces transferred, often in a concealed way, from other parts of the army. This worked perfectly at Blenheim and Ramillies. After a dramatic and almost unprecedented long distance march across Germany and a sharp battle at the Schellenberg (where the Margrave Louis of Baden received a wound that later proved fatal), Marlborough, linking up with Eugene, went straight, with inferior forces, into an attack on the astonished French army. With Marlborough breaking through the French center, the French right ended up surrounded and either surrendered or died. The French left, engaged by Eugene, who sent reinforcements to Marlborough at the height of the battle, withdrew in relatively good order. The French army, which had been advancing on Vienna, withdrew as a broken remnant across the Rhine. Bavaria, allied with the French, was lost to the Elector Maximilian II for the rest of the war.
At Ramillies, Marlborough, although shot off his own horse and almost ridden down, broke through so decisively that the French army all but disintegrated. He quickly took most of the major cities in Belgium. Ramillies was perhaps Marlborough's greatest battle and his most thorough and devastating victory. That Belgium is not today part of France is arguably its consequence. When his political critics wanted to credit Eugene for Marlborough's battles, Ramillies, where Eugene was absent, refuted the insinuations. The most vivid incident of the battle may have been when an officer gave his horse to the dismounted Marlborough and then almost immediately had his head taken off by a cannonball. Images of this actually were reproduced on playing cards.
Oudenarde occurred in a campaign that started with a French counterattack that retrieved some Belgian cities -- with the help of Belgians who were disillusioned by the treatment they received from the occupying Dutch. Marlborough and Eugene, pursuing the French army, overtook and attacked it from behind. Although not breaking through after the pattern of the earlier battles, they managed to execute a double envelopment of the French right -- the Holy Grail of battles, like Hannibal at Cannae. Although the surrounded French forces were saved from annihilation by darkness, the force nevertheless disintegrated during the night. The French left, actually unengaged in the battle, was left unable to prevent Marlborough from taking the French city of Lille and recovering the Belgian cities lately lost.
Malpalquet was Marlborough's least successful battle -- perhaps in part because the French were beginning to understand his tactics. The French left was driven back through a wood in heavy fighting and then a breakthrough was made in the French center. However, Marlborough's cavalry was hampered in deploying by French trenches, and the French cavalry was able to withstand his attacks and hold the center line. French forces were able to withdraw in their best order from any battle. Meanwhile, there had been very great slaughter, especially in Dutch attacks against the French right. No more sanguinary battle was fought until the Napoleonic Era.
Marlborough's only defeat was a decisive one in his rear. Although a Tory himself, Marlborough lost the support of the Tory Party, which didn't like the kind of continental campaign that the Duke was prosecuting so successfully. Marlborough's wife, Sarah, was herself a ferocious Whig. Although beginning as the Queen's closest friend, Sarah gradually alienated the Tory-hearted Anne. For a short time, John remaining in the Queen's favor after Sarah had fallen out; but after Anne helped engineer a Tory electoral victory, the triumphant Party leaders dumped Marlborough and even prosecuted him. European allies, especially the Germans, with no conception of British party politics, were entirely bewildered how the Queen could disown her own greatest general and leader. Worse was to follow. As Marlborough went into exile, the Tories double-crossed the Austrians and made a separate peace with France. Eugene was abandoned on the battlefield and roughly treated by much superior French forces. The death of Anne and the succession of George I of Hanover restored Marlborough to his home and to his fortune and honor. The Tories went into eclipse and disgrace for some time.
Marlborough may have been the greatest general of the age, and one of the greatest of any age. One of his qualities, identified by Winston Churchill in his biography of his ancestor, was that he was rarely at a loss when his plans became frustrated, whether by practical or political impediments. Instead, he was simply able to promptly come up with new plans. Since plans always go wrong in war, and many wars, no less than the War of the Spanish Succession, are bedeviled with political complications, this ability was a rare and valuable gift.
Although the Tory betrayal of Britain's allies was shameful, the political goal of the war had become muddled. The Austrian candidate for the Throne of Spain, Charles, became Emperor on the death of his brother Joseph in 1711. But no one (except Austria) wanted Spain and Austria united under one ruler any more than Spain and France, so Philip V in Spain became less objectionable, as long as the Kingdoms remained separate. That was the substance of the settlement.
The family name Churchill actually didn't last more than a generation. The only son of John and his wife Sarah -- John also -- died in 1703. The Dukedom thus passed to their daughter Henrietta and then, through their daughter Anne, to their grandson Charles Spencer. In 1817, however, the 5th Duke was authorized to add the Churchill name to his own in order to preserve it with the descendants of the first Duke.
The most noteworthy of the Spencer-Churchills, of course, is a grandson of the 7th Duke with whom the "Spencer" part is hardly ever remembered: Sir Winston Churchill, born in Blenheim Palace in 1874, whose name thus echoes that of John Churchill's own father. Winston is now pretty much THE Churchill in world history, having directed Britain through a crisis even more threatening than that of Louis XIV. The French never bombed London.
After Charles Spencer married Anne Churchill and became the ancestor of the Dukes of Marlborough, his nephew John was made Lord Spencer (1761), Viscount Spencer, and then Earl of Spencer (1765). The Earls of Spencer lead directly to Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of the 8th Earl, who married Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1981 and became the mother of the most immediate Heirs of the Throne of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Princes William and Henry.
The nuptials of Diana and Charles have been regarded as the Wedding of the Century, broadcast live internationally in 1981. Unfortunately, not only was Diana considerably younger than Charles, but Charles retained affection for his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. The match with Diana was made more for political reasons than for genuine affection. This took its emotional toll on Diana, who nevertheless bore two children and endured the sensation that she created wherever she went -- perhaps the celebrity of the Century as "Lady Di." Diana and Charles separated in 1992 and were allowed by the Queen to divorce in 1995. The sensation, however, continued to follow Diana and even led to her death, when she was mortally injured in an automobile speeding away from photographers in Paris in 1997. The unprecedented outpouring of grief for Diana ensured her immortality and put Prince Charles in a very bad light. One would hardly say that the Monarchy was endangered, with Diana's golden and winning sons (far handsomer than their father) in line for the throne, but Charles begins to look more and more like his great-uncle, King Edward VIII. Since times have changed, and Charles and Camilla have been accepted by nearly all as a couple, it became possible that Charles could marry the divorced Camilla (as he did in 2005) and still become King without a constitutional crisis. None of that, however, will affect the place of Diana as the mother of future Monarchs, which may be one reason why people can accept it.
Winston Churchill's cousin, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, added another distinguished name to the family by marrying Consuelo Vanderbilt, whose own illustrious ancestor, Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), 
founded his name and fortune, not on European battlefields, but in American steamships and railroads -- which just goes to show how New Money soon enough becomes Old Money. But it was not a happy marriage, apparently arranged mainly to get money to the Duke and prestige to the Vanderbilts. Consuelo was actually taller than the Duke, and after two children, whom she called "the Heir and the Spare," she and the Duke separated by 1907. Consuelo, however, remained in England and was even elected to Parliament. Winston's mother was also American.
Cornelius got his start when he borrowed $100 from his mother and started the Staten Island Ferry. He graduated into running steamships up the Hudson River, violating the monopoly that the State of New York had granted. The Supreme Court then ruled such monopolies unconstitutional. After taking up shipping to California, Cornelius then settled into railroads, which continued to make the family fortune under his son, William. The New York Central Railroad and Grand Central Station in New York City were both Vanderbilt creations. The result was some of the greatest wealth in the world, which the Vanderbilts became as adept at spending as well as making. Although the Vanderbilt Mansion on 5th Avenue was eventually demolished, others survive to impress subsequent generations. Later members of the family spent without making, and not all continued to be wealthy. In recent history, the most conspicuous Vanderbilt has been Gloria, who in the 1980's especially became famous as a fashion designer. She had also been famous in her infancy, the "poor little rich girl," when the family deprived her widowed, and to them untrustworthy, mother of Gloria's custody. Recently, her son, Anderson Cooper, has become a well known television reporter.
Amy Vanderbilt (1908-1974), who made a name for herself with Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette (1952), was not a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt, but, according to different accounts, from his brother or his uncle.
King Charles II of England had no legitimate children, i.e. no children with his Queen, Catharine of Braganza (who was troubled with stillbirths and miscarriages). Nevertheless, the King had many children, by no less than seven mistresses, starting with Lucy Walter. The eldest child was even a son, James Crofts, whom he made Duke of Monmouth after the Restoration, in 1663. 
When James married Anne Scott, Countess of Buccleuch, in the same year, Charles made them the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch -- and James took his wife's surname, which continues today with his descendants, among whom is the 9th Duke of Buccleuch. James hoped to succeed his father as King of England. After a failed plot in 1683, he went into exile, but then landed with an army in 1685 to depose his uncle, James II. The new King had not yet provoked the opposition that would enable William of Orange to overthrown him in 1688, and Monmouth was captured and executed.
The diagram shows two other mistresses and a living line of descent from each of them. Charles fathered five or six children on Barbara Villars, Duchess of Cleveland, who later became involved with John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough (her sixth child may have been Churchill's). Barbara's children took the surname Fitzroy, Norman French for "son of the king" (Latin filius regis). Her son Henry was made the 1st Duke of Grafton. Today we have the 11th Duke. Nell Gwynne (or Gwynn) was a popular actress who bore Charles two children. Her children took the surname Beauclerk. Her eldest son Charles was made the 1st Duke of St. Albans. Today we have the 14th Duke. The present Dukes of Bucclech, Grafton, and St. Albans all have living grandsons, as shown; and, apart from the little detail of the illegitimate origin of the families, they are, of course, Stuarts.
The Restoration theater of Nell Gwynne's day allowed actresses on the stage -- at the King's request. That had not been the case in Shakespeare's time. Indeed, the City of London in that former era, controlled by Puritans, had not allowed theater at all. But actresses were always regarded as a species of prostitute. The loosening of morals in the reign of Charles is not only evident in the bawdiness of Restoration plays and in the presence of actresses, but even in the circumstance that Gwynne regarded herself, a mistress of the King, as a species of prostitute. This emerges in a famous incident. A carriage bringing Gwynne to the King on one occasion was showered with refuse by a crowd who believed the occupant to be the French (and Catholic) mistress whom Charles had acquired from Louis XIV (Louise de Kéroualle). However the public felt about the King, they certainly didn't like the French. Gwynne, recognizing the nature of the error and the sentiment, stuck her head out the window and shouted, "Pray, good people, be civil, I am the Protestant whore!" Among the lost opportunities of the movie Restoration [1994], the absence of this incident must rank high.
Charles II was not alone in having important illegitimate children. His brother James II had such children also. His mistress was, in retrospect, extraordinary. She was Arabella Churchill, the sister of John, later the Duke of Marlborough. With Arabella, James had four children. The eldest, James, was made Duke of Berwick.
Berwick fled England with his father after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. He went on to a brilliant military career. He was made a Marshall of France in 1706, and then made his name by defeating the British and Austrians in Spain, foiling their efforts to install the Austrian candidate there in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1710 he was made Duke of Fitzjames by Louis XIV of France. He was much admired for both character and abilities by friend and foe.
Berwick held to his father's cause and fought for France and Spain because he was, of course, Catholic. His family then settled in Spain, where it has continued right down to the present, as shown. Visiting Blenheim Palace in 2006, I was startled to see a portrait of Berwick prominently displayed there. The Duke of Marlborough never faced Berwick in battle, but his nephew gravely damaged the Duke's cause in the War. Evidently, the Churchills could admire such a relative, even an enemy estranged from his country.
This genealogy is found in the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume IV, Die Britische Peerage, ein Auszug [Andreas Thiele, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1996, pp.24-25].