Knight of Okehampton, Chulmeleigh, Musbury, Devon, of Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire, of Iwerne Coutenay, Dorset, of Eaddeson, Buckinghamshire.
Son and heir to Sir Robert de Courtenay and Mary de Vernon, daughter of William, the Earl of Devon.
Husband of Isabel de Vere, daughter of Hugh de Vere, Earl of Oxford and Hawise de Quincy. They had one son, Sir Hugh.
Isabel's maritagium included the manors of Hillesdon and Waverdon, Buckinghamshire. Sir John serviced in Gascony in 1248 and in Wales in 1257 and 1258.
Enguerrand I de Croucy & Thomas de Coucy
Enguerrand was a man of many scandals. With the help of the Bishop of Laon he divorced his first wife, Adèle de Marle, for adultery. When he married his next wife, Sibyl of Château-Porcien, she was still married to Godfrey of Namur, the Lord of Lorraine who was absent and in a war. Enguerrand and Sybil's first husband became bitter enemies and continued to fight a private war. Adèle's son Thomas de Marle hated his father and joined the enemies against his father. Nevertheless, when in 1095 the first crusade started, both he and his son joined in the adventure. Thomas succeeded Enguerrand upon his death.
Enguerrand was the son of Drogo, Lord of Boves. Enguerrand married Adèle (Ada) de Marle, the divorced wife of Aubry, Viscount of Coucy, daughter of Letard de Roucy, Lord of Marle. Enguerrand and Ada had three children:
Thomas de Marle (1078–1130/31). Lord of Coucy and Marle, Count of Amiens
Beatrix de Boves (–1144). Married Adam Châtelain d´Amiens
Robert de Coucy
Enguerrand is said to have kidnapped Sibyl of Château-Porcien, the wife of Godfrey of Namur. He later married her and they had a daughter.
The eldest son and successor of Ralph I, Lord of Coucy. He succeeded as Lord of Coucy (sieur de Couci) in 1191, and held it until his death; he was also lord of Marle and Boves.
Enguerrand III was born at the Château de Coucy. He became one of the most ambitious and powerful of all the French nobles, called by one historian "the greatest baron in all Picardy",[1] and earning himself his epithet, Enguerrand le Grand, or Enguerrand "the Great". Enguerrand had an illustrious military career, helping the King of the French Philip Augustus reduce the French territories of the King of the English. Enguerrand campaigned in Anjou in 1205, and in 1214 fought in the French victory over an Anglo-German alliance at the Battle of Bouvines. He was a notable member of the French force which invaded the Kingdom of England (1216–1217) to depose King John. He also participated in the Albigensian Crusade. After the death of Louis VIII of France, Enguerrand was chief among the nobles who resisted the regency of Blanche of Castile for her son Louis IX of France, although he eventually returned to the royal favour. Enguerrand made his mark on the Picardy landscape by constructing Coucy Castle, and he is said by tradition to have started the famous rhyme associated with his successors:
Through his mother Alice de Dreux, Enguerrand III was related to King Louis IX of France. Enguerrand also married into the family of King Henry III of England, taking as his second wife the latter king's cousin, the granddaughter of Henry II of England. He married three times. His first wife was Beatrix de Vignory, widow of John I, Count of Roucy. They married in 1201. There are no known children from this marriage His second wife was Matilda (or Richenza) of Saxony (1172–1208/09), the aforementioned granddaughter of Henry II, Duke of Saxony and niece of Richard the Lion-hearted. This marriage took place in 1204. There are no known children. His third wife was Marie de Montmirall. Enguerrand cemented his powerful connections by marrying his daughter Marie de Coucy to King Alexander II of Scotland. Enguerrand and Marie had five children: Raoul II, Lord of Coucy. Married Philippe of Dammartin Enguerrand IV, Lord de Coucy. Married 1) Margaret of Gueldres, daughter of Otto II, Count of Guelders and 2) Joan of Flanders, daughter of Robert III, Count of Flanders. John de Coucy Marie de Coucy, married to King Alexander II of Scotland Alix de Coucy, married Arnold III, Count of Guines Enguerrand died in 1242 by falling off of his horse onto his sword. He was succeeded by his eldest son Raoul II, Lord of Coucy. Wikipedia
1134-1191, Lord of Coucy, lord of Marle, La Fère, Crécy (sur-Serre), Vervins, Pinon, Landouzy (la-Ville), and Fontaine (lès-Vervins). He was the son of Enguerrand II, Lord of Coucy. He left for the Holy Land, where he died in the siege of Acre in November 1191.
Coucy, finding himself a widower and desiring a male child, married for the second time with Alix II of Dreux, a royal princess who was a relative by his mother, Agnès de Beaugency, daughter of Mahaut (or Maud or Matilda) de Vermandois, eldest daughter of Hugh I, Count of Vermandois called the Great, brother of King Philip I of France. Alix II of Dreux was the daughter of Robert I, Count of Dreux, grandson of King Philip I, and King Louis VII of France's niece. Alix de Dreux II's mother was Agnès de Baudement, Countess of Braine, third wife of her father Robert I de Dreux, and her brother was Robert II, Count of Dreux (d. December 28, 1218), Count of Dreux and Braine, who was married to Yolande de Coucy, eldest daughter of our Raoul, and Agnès of Hainaut, his first wife. By his two marriages, Raoul became stepfather to a great prince, son-in-law to a son of France, and cousin to Philip Augustus. Raoul attended the King of France in 1181 during the war against Philip I, Count of Flanders, although previously he had received the land of Marle and Vervins in the fief of La Ferte-Beliard that the Count had given him as an homage. But by the peace treaty granted afterward the king ordered that the Count should take this tribute back. The same Raoul became liege of the king for the estates of the fief of La Fère, which had been previously held by the church of Laon.
It is said that before his last breath, Raoul had instructed his squire that after his death, he should take his heart to the woman he loved (which some call the Lady of Fayel and others Gabrielle de Vergy). The squire was surprised by the husband when he was fulfilling his mission. The husband took the heart and forced his wife to eat it. She, who learned too late about her misfortune, swore never to eat food again and let herself die of hunger. This incident provided Pierre Laurent de Belloy the subject of his tragedy of Gabrielle de Vergy. Wikipedia
Must have expanded his territories to Northern Wales along with his son, Aed.
52 EC2
Ascended the throne as a child with this mother, Zoe, as regent along with the Patriarch Nikolas and John Eladas. His co-emperor was his father in law, Armenaian Romanus Lecarpenus.
913-917- Tsar Symeon of Bulgaria took and lost Adrainople.
920 Reunited with Rome
941 Defeated Prince Igor of Russia
944 Romanus was seized and imprisoned, leaving Constantine to rule alone
Succeeded by his son, Romanus II
~~~
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born", Konstantinos VII Porphyrogennetos), (Constantinople, 905 – November 9, 959 in Constantinople) was the son of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina. He was also the nephew of the Emperor Alexander. He is famous for his two descriptive books, De Administrando Imperio and De Ceremoniis.
His nickname alludes to the Purple Room of the imperial palace, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time. Nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimized son, as opposed to all others who claimed the throne during his lifetime.
Constantine was an illegitimate son born before an uncanonical fourth marriage. To help legitimize him, he had been born in the Purple Room of the imperial palace, and he had been associated on the throne by his father and uncle on May 15, 908. After the death of his uncle Alexander in 913, he succeeded to the throne at the age of seven, under the regency of the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos. His regent was presently forced to make peace with Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria, whom he reluctantly recognized as Bulgarian emperor. Because of this unpopular concession, Nicholas was driven out of the regency by Constantine's mother Zoe.
Zoe was no more successful with the Bulgarians, by whom her main supporter, the general Leo Phokas, was defeated in 917, and in 919 she was replaced by the admiral Romanos Lekapenos, who married his daughter Helena to Constantine. Romanos used his position to advance to the ranks of basileopator in May 919, kaisar (Caesar) in September 920, and finally co-emperor in December of the same year. Thus, just short of reaching nominal majority, Constantine was again eclipsed by a senior emperor.
Constantine's youth had been a sad one for his unpleasant appearance, his taciturn nature and his relegation at the third level of succession behind the eldest son of Romanos I Lekapenos. Neverthless, he was a very intelligent young man with a large range of interests, and dedicated those years to study the court's ceremonial.
Romanos kept power for himself and mantained it until 944, when he was deposed by his sons Stephen and Constantine. With the help of his wife, Constantine VII succeeded in removing his brothers-in-law and on January 27, 945, Constantine VII was once again sole emperor at the age of 39, after a life spent in the shadow. Several months later, Constantine VII crowned his own son Romanos II co-emperor. Having never exercised executive authority, Constantine remained primarily devoted to his scholarly pursuits and relegated his authority to bureacrats and generals, as well as his energetic wife Helena Lekapene.
In 949 Constantine launched a new attack against the Arab corsairs hiding in Crete, but like his father's attempt to retake the island in 911, this attempt also failed. On the Eastern frontier things went better, even if with alternate success: in 949 the Byzantines conquered Germanicea, repeatedly defeated the enemy armies and in 952 crossed the upper Euphrates. But in 953 the Arab amir Saif ad-Dawla retook Germanicea and entered the imperial territory. The land in the east was eventually recovered by Nikephoros Phokas, who conquered Hadath, in northern Syria, in 958, and by the Armenian general John Tzimiskes, who one year later captured Samosata, in northern Mesopotamia. An Arab fleet was also destroyed by Greek fire in 957. Constantine's efforts to retake themes lost to the Arabs were the first such efforts to have any real success.
Constantine had intense diplomatic relationships with foreign courts, including the caliph of Cordoba Abd ar-Rahman III and Otto I, King of Germany. In the autumn of 957 Constantine was visited by Olga, princess of the Kievan Rus'. The reasons for this voyage have never been clarified: in any case, she was baptised with the name Helena, and began to convert her people to Christianity.
Constantine VII died in November 959 and was succeeded by his son Romanos II. It was rumored that Constantine had been poisoned by his son or his daughter-in-law Theophano.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_VII
His sensational medieval coronation in 1027 was attended by Canute and Rudolph II of Burgundy, who willed Burgundy to Conrad.
Conrad II (c. 990 – June 4, 1039) was the son of Count Henry of Speyer and Adelheid of Alsace. He was elected king in 1024 and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on March 26, 1027, the first emperor of the Salian Dynasty.
During his reign, he proved that the German monarchy had become a viable institution. Survival of the monarchy was no longer dependent on contracts between sovereign and territorial nobles.
Henry, count of Speyer, the father of Conrad II was a grandson of Luitgard, a daughter of Emperor Otto I who had maried the Salian Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine. Conrad grew up poor by the standards of the nobility and was raised by the bishop of Worms. He was reputed to be prudent and firm out of consciousness of deprivation. In 1016, he married Gisela of Swabia, a widowed duchess. Both parties claimed descent from Charlemagne and were thus distantly related. Strict canonists took exception to the marriage, and Emperor Henry II used these facts to force Conrad into temporary exile. They became reconciled, and upon Henry's death in 1024, Conrad appeared as a candidate before the electoral assembly of princes at Kamba in the Rhineland. He was elected by the majority and was crowned king in Mainz on September 8, 1024.
The Italian bishops paid homage at Conrad's court at Constance in June 1025, but lay princes sought to elect William III (V), Duke of Aquitaine, as king instead. However early in 1026 Conrad went to Milan, where archbishop Ariberto crowned him king of Italy. After overcoming some opposition of the towns Conrad reached Rome, where Pope John XIX crowned him emperor on Easter, 1027.
He formally confirmed the popular legal traditions of Saxony and issued new constitutions for Lombardy. In 1028 at Aachen he had his son Henry elected and anointed king of Germany. Henry married Cunigunde or Gunhilda, daughter of King Canute the Great of England, Denmark and Norway. This was an arrangement that Conrad had made many years ago, when he gave Canute the Great parts of northern Germany to administer. Henry, the later Emperor Henry III, became chief counsellor of his father.
Conrad campaigned against Poland in 1028 and forced Mieszko II, son and heir of Boleslaus I, to make peace and return land that Boleslaw I had conquered from the empire during his father's reign. At the death of Henry II the bold and rebellious Duke of Poland Mieszko II had tried to throw off vassalage, but then submitted and swore to be emperor Conrad's faithful vassal. Mieszko II quit being self-anointed king and returned to being duke of Poland.
When Rudolph III, King of Burgundy died on February 2, 1032, he bequeathed his kingdom, which combined two earlier kingdoms of Burgundy, to Conrad. Despite some opposition, the Burgundian and Provencal nobles paid homage to Conrad in Zürich in 1034. This kingdom of Burgundy, which under Conrad's successors would become known as the Kingdom of Arles, corresponded to most of the southeastern quarter of modern France and included western Switzerland, the Franche-Comté and Dauphiné. It did not include the smaller Duchy of Burgundy to the north, ruled by a cadet branch of the Capetian King of France. (Piecemeal over the next centuries most of the former Kingdom of Arles was incorporated into France - but King of Arles remained one of the Holy Roman Emperor's subsidiary titles until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.)
Conrad upheld the rights of the valvassores (knights and burghers of the cities) of Italy against Archbishop Aribert of Milan and the local nobles. The nobles as vassal lords and the bishop had conspired to rescind rights from the burghers. With skillful diplomacy and luck Conrad restored order. He went on to southern Italy, to Salerno and Anversa and appointed Richer from Germany as abbot of Monte Cassino.
During the return trip to Germany an epidemic broke out amongs the troops. Conrad's daughter-in-law and stepson died. Conrad himself returned safely and held several important courts in Solothurn, Strasbourg and in Goslar. His son Henry was invested with the kingdom of Burgundy.
A year later in 1039 Conrad fell ill and died in Utrecht.
The Britannica has his father and his line as follows:
Gerontius, brother of Octavius the Old (Eudaf Hen, the High King of Britain, Caernarfon in North Wales) whose dtr Helena married Roman Magnus Maximus
Conan Meriadoc (Briton) m St. Darerca
Gradlon Mawr (the Great), King of Brittany, Abt 330 - 434 m Tigridia
of Ireland, Abt 330
Conan also had son Gadeon
Salomon I, King of Brittany, Abt 355 - 446 m Unknown ferch Patricius
Flavius, Abt 355
Gradlon also had a wicked dtr Dahut, stories of her cruelty prevail
Aldrien ap Selyfan, King of Brittany, Abt 373 - 464
Was offered the crown after the Romans departed, gave throne to brother
Constantine instead
Erich ap Aldrien, King of Brittany, Abt 425 - 478 m
Aldrien also had Budig I,
King of Brittany, Abt 420, who gave refuge to Ambrosius after his brother
Constans and his father were killed
Budig II (aka Emyr Llydaw), King of Brittany, Abt 460 - 544 m Elaine ferch Gwyrlys, Abt 475 , the sister of Arthur, the high king of Britain, dtr of Golois Duke of Cornwall, Master of Tintagel, sister of Morganna Le Fay
Hoel I Mawr (the Great) aka Hywel, abt 491 - 545 m Alma Pompea de
Domnonée
Fought with King Arthur at the Battle of Dubglas, the Siege of Caer-Ebrauc
(York) and the Battle of Celidon Coit, before being besieged himself at
Caer-Brithon (Dumbarton Rock).
St. Canna ferch Tewdr, Abt 510 m St. Sadwrn Farchog
Tewdr Mawr (the Great), King of Brittany & Penwith, Abt 520
Thegnaw, Abt 540 m Alldw Redegaw
Hoel II Fychan (the Small), Abt 522 - 547 m Rimo of Gwynedd, Abt 531
Alain I, King of Brittany, Abt 547 - 535 m Azenor Surname Unknown, Abt 555
Hoel III, King of Brittany, Abt 580 - 612 m Fratelle ferch Osoche, Abt 580
Judicael ap Hoel, Abt 602
Gradlon Flam, Abt 632
Judicael also had son Alain II Hir (the Tall), King of Brittany, Abt 630
- 690 who had Afadda ferch Alain, Abt 660 who married
Idwal Iwrch (the Roebuck), King of Gwynedd, d.
712
Concar Cheronnog, Prince of Cornouaille, Abt 660
Judon ap Concar, Prince of Cornouaille, Abt 710
Constantine ap Judon, Prince of Cornouaille, Abt 750
Justin ap Constantine, Abt 790
Alfrond ap Justin, Abt 830
Ulfret Alesrudon, Prince of Cornouaille d.c.952
Diles Heirguer Ehebre, Prince of Cornouaille m Alava de Cornouaille, Abt 890
Budig Berhuc, Prince of Cornouaille, Abt 910
Budig Castellin, Prince of Cornuaille, d. 1031
Benedict, Prince & Bp of Cornuaille, c.957
Alain
The third wife and queen of King Robert II of France. She was the daughter of Count Guilhem II of Provence and Adelais of Anjou, and the sister of Count Guilhem III of Provence.
In 1003 she was married to King Robert, after his divorce from his second wife. The marriage was stormy; the family of Robert's second queen, Bertha, opposed her, and Constance was despised for importing her Provençal kinfolk. Robert's friend, Hugh of Beauvais, tried to convince the king to repudiate her in 1007. Constance's response was to have Beauvais murdered by the knights of her kinsman, Fulk Nerra. In 1010 Robert even went to Rome, accompanied by his former wife Bertha, to seek permission to divorce Constance and remarry Bertha. Constance encouraged her sons to revolt against their father, and then favored her younger son, Robert, over her elder son, Henri.
During the famous trial of Herefast de Crepon (who was alleged to be involved with the Cathars) in 1022, the crowd outside the church in Orleans became so unruly that, according to Moore:
"At the king's command, Queen Constance stood before the doors of the Church, to prevent the common people from killing them inside the Church, and they were expelled from the bosom of the Church. As they were being driven out, the queen struck out the eye of Stephen, who had once been her confessor, with the staff which she carried in her hand."
At Constance's urging, her eldest son Hugh Magnus was crowned co-king alongside his father in 1017. Hugh Magnus demanded his parents share power with him, and rebelled against his father in 1025. He died suddenly later that year, an exile and a fugitive. Robert and Constance quarelled over which of their surviving sons should inherit the throne; Robert favored their second son Henri, while Constance favored their third son, Robert. Despite his mother's protests, Henry was crowned in 1027. Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres, wrote a letter claiming that he was "frightened away" from the consecration of Henry "by the savagery of his mother, who is quite trustworthy when she promises evil."
Constance encouraged her sons to rebel, and Henri and Robert began attacking and pillaging the towns and castles belonging to their father. Robert attacked Burgundy, the duchy he had been promised but had never received, and Henry seized Dreux. At last King Robert agreed to their demands and peace was made which lasted until the king's death.
King Robert died in 1031, and soon Constance was at odds with both her elder son, Henri, and her younger son Robert. Constance seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them. Henri fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons, and soldiers from his brother Robert. He returned to besiege his mother at Poissy, but Constance escaped to Pontoise. She only surrendered when Henri began the siege of Le Puiset and swore to slaughter all the inhabitants.
Constance died in 1034, and was buried beside her husband Robert at Saint-Denis Basilica.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_of_Arles
The symbolism, or reality, of putting an eye out is used often in medieval accounts to show the ultimate sin of breaking of one's oath, whether it be heresy, or treason to ones lordship, or in this case both. Stephen's eye was put out by the hand of a Queen wielding a staff (royal scepters were usually tipped with a cross) thus symbolically providing justice for the treasoned lord on earth and in heaven.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daughter of a certain Count William, an intriguing and ambitious woman, who made life miserable for her husband by encouraging her sons to revolt against their father. She was the mother of his children:
He was the son of Werner of Speyergau, Count of Worms. His mother was a sister of Conrad of Franconia, King of Germany. In 941, he succeeded his father as count in the Nahegau, Speyergau, and Wormsgau and obtained an additional territory, the Niddagau. In 944 or 945, he was also invested with Lotharingia by the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I.
In 947 he married Luitgarde, daughter of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and Eadgyth, daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England. He and Luitgarde had one son, Otto of Worms (c.950-1004).
In 953, Conrad joined his brother-in-law, Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, in rebellion against Otto I, who bitterly complained about Conrad's ingratitude. The rebellion was quashed and Conrad was deprived of Lotharingia, which was instead granted to Otto I's brother, Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne.
Eventually Conrad and Otto were reconciled, and 955, Conrad was killed in the battle of Lechfeld while fighting alongside Otto against the Magyars. According to the chronicler Widukind of Corvey: "Duke Conrad, the foremost of all in combat, suffering from battle fatigue caused by an unusually hot sun, loosened the straps of his armor to catch his breath when an arrow pierced his throat and killed him instantly." Conrad's body was carried in state to Worms, where he was given a lavish funeral and buried at the cathedral there.
By his son, Otto, Conrad was the great-grandfather of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor.
the king of Burgundy from 937 until his death. He was the son of King Rudolph II, the first king of a united Burgundy. Conrad is sometimes numbered Conrad I as king of Burgundy and as Conrad III of Provence, since he inherited Provence in 948. (Cited from: The Wordsworth Handbook of Kings & Queens by John E. Morby, 1989.)
His reign was peaceful (hence his byname) and he was popular with his subjects. The only war in which he got involved was a simultaneous invasion of Saracens and Magyars in which he played them off against each other. He then routed them in combat.
He married Matilda, daughter of Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony. They had at least five children:
Bertha (967 – 16 January 1016), married Odo I, Count of Blois
Matilda (born 969), married Baldwin III, Count of Flanders (Stoyan lists another Mathilda as the wife of Baldwin III)
Rudolph (971 – 6 September 1032)
Gerberga (born 973), married Herman II, Duke of Swabia
He was secondly married to Adelaide of Bellay. They were parents to at least one daughter:
Gisela (975 – 21 July 1006), married Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
The count of Vienne, son of Louis the Blind, king of Provence and Holy Roman Emperor. He was a sixth generation descendant of Charlemagne.
Some scholars allege that his mother was Anna of Constantinople, daughter of Leo VI the Wise aand his second wife Zoe Zaoutzaina. However Louis's marriage to this princess is much disputed and is rather unlikely. Christian Settipani postulates that his name refers to the founders of the empires governed by his father and maternal grandfather, i.e., to Charlemagne and Constantine the Great.
When Louis died in 929, Hugh of Arles, who was already king of Italy, took over Provence and gave it, in 933, to King Rudolf II of Burgundy. Charles-Constantine relinquished his claim to the throne without much argument and this has led many to believe he was, in fact, a bastard. He was compensated with the county of the Viennois, which he ruled until his death in 962.
He was married to Thiberge de Troyes. Their daughter Constance of Arles was wife to Boso II of Provence and ancestor of the Counts of Provence.
Conan I (927 – June 27, 992) was the count of Rennes from 958 and duke of Brittany from 990 to his death. He became ruler of Brittany after a period of civil and political unrest, through his father, Judicael Berengar, count of Rennes and great-grandson of a duke of Brittany. Judicael was son of Berengar of Bayeux, himself the son of Herbert I, Count of Vermandois. Stoyan does not give this lineage. Conan died in battle and is buried in Mont Saint Michel Abbey.
He married Ermengarde of Anjou, daughter of Geoffrey I of Anjou and Adele of Vermandois and had the following issue:
Judith (982-1017), married Richard II, Duke of Normandy
Judicael, count of Porhoet (died 1037)
Geoffrey, his heir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_I%2C_Duke_of_Brittany
Hoel II of Cornwall (died 1084) was count of Cornouaille (from 1058 as Hoel V) and duke of Brittany, from 1066 to his death. He inherited Brittany from duke Conan II, brother of his wife, Havise of Brittany. Hoel started the Cornwall dynasty of Brittany, which ruled the duchy until 1156.
Herluin, Viscount of Conteville (1001–1087) was a Norman nobleman. He married Herleva, sometime the mistress of Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy and mother of William the Conqueror, in 1031. They had at least three children. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herluin_de_Conteville
Constance of Brittany (1161 – September 5, 1201) was Duchess of Brittany between 1186 and 1196. Constance was the only child of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, by his wife Margaret of Scotland, countess of Hereford (granddaughter of king David I).
In 1181, Constance married Geoffrey Plantagenet, the fourth son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and had two children by him: Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany (1184-1241) and Arthur. Geoffrey assumed the title of Duke of Brittany and became the effective ruler of the duchy since the date. However, he died in 1186, stamped by a horse during a tournament. Constance then became ruler of Brittany until 1196, when she abdicated in favour of Arthur.
After her son's rebellion was quashed, Arthur disappeared into one of King John's castles, never to be seen again, and Eleanor was imprisoned for the rest of her days. King Henry had arranged for Constance to marry Ranulph de Meschines, 4th Earl of Chester in 1188, but this marriage was not successful, and Ranulph imprisoned his wife in 1196, an act that sparked a rebellion in her native Brittany. Finally in 1198 she was released, and had her marriage to Ranulph annulled. Constance then took Guy of Thouars as her husband, and by him was mother of Alix of Thouars, who married Peter de Dreux, first Breton ruler of the House of Dreux.
Constance lived out the last few years of her life quite peacefully, then died of leprosy in 1201, and was buried at the Villeneuve Abbey Church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance%2C_Duchess_of_Brittany
From http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Shropshire.htm: Corbet and FitzCorbet, a Norman family from Pays de Caux claims ancient Viking origin from the original settlers in Normandy under Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy. The father, called Le Normand, or simply Norman, had four sons, Hugue(Hugh/Hugo), Roger, Reynaud and Robert. Hugh and Reynaud stayed in Normandy in the senior family domains. The family adopted the surname Moreton in Normandy. The father, and sons Roger and Robert, were at the Battle of Hastings. Between them, they were granted 38 lordships in Shropshire where they assisted Earl Roger in the administration of his domains in that county. Roger Corbet built a border fortress at his Castle at Alfreton which he named Caux Castle after his home domain in Normandy. It was later spelt Cause. The holdings in Derbyshire of the father, called Norman, Roger the second eldest son and Robert the youngest son, both sons sometimes listed as FitzCorbet, are listed together as family domains. They were under-tenants of Earl Roger (Roger d' Montgomery) in Shropshire.
Edderton Forden Mellington Hem Hopton Thornbury Hyssington Leighton Weston
Roger & Robert FitzCorbet's Shropshire Land Holdings in Domesday 1086: Acton Burnell Alberbury Brompton Cardestone Cause Choulton Eyton Farley Great Hanwood Longden Loton Marrington Middleton(Chirbury) Oakes Pontesbury Preist Weston Ratlinghope Stapleton Wattlesborough Welbatch Wentnor Westbury Whitton Winsley Wollaston Wormerton Woodcote Woolstaston Worthen Yockleton
Alexander was taken prisoner in Dunbar Castle by King Edward I (why?) and retained at Bristol Castle, later to pay homage to Edward at Berwick. He 1297 he swore allegiance to Edward in the Scottish wars against France. In 1308, Robert de Wauton complained that Alice, the widow of William le Latimer and Joan, Alexander's wife, besieged him at his residence at Eaton Beauchamp, took down this trees and fences and threw them, along with his hay, int he Rover Use. Wonder what he did?
Second husband of Elizabeth de Quincy. 6th Earl of Buchan, High Steward in Scotland, Justiciar of Scotland. Son and heir of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Justiciar of Scotland. Elizabeth's inheritance was one sixth of the barony of Leicester, including the manors of Whitwick, Leicestershire and Weston under Wetherly, Warwickshire. In 1270, Elizabeth's sister, Margaret de Ferres, Countess of Derby resigned the hereditary office of Constable of Scotland to Alexander. In 1271, Elizabeth and her sisters Ellen and Margaret gave licence for the election of William de Shaldeston as prior of the hospital of St James and St John at Brackley, Northamptonshire. In 1271, Alexander suspended his suit against his wife's sister, Ellen de la Zouche, in the Scottish courts at the request of King Edward I. In 1284 Alexander engaged to maintain the succession of the Scottish crown to Margaret of Scotland, and was one of the six guardians appointed on the death of King Alexander III of Scotrland in 1285. Alexander died shortly before 06 April 1290.