#raymond vii de toulouse

[histoireettralala]

Blanche, Marguerite, and Queenship

Blanche's actions as queen dowager amount to no more than those of her grandmother and great-grandmother. A wise and experienced mother of a king was expected to advise him. She would intercede with him, and would thus be a natural focus of diplomatic activity. Popes, great Churchmen and great laymen would expect to influence the king or gain favour with him through her; thus popes like Gregory IX and Innocent IV, and great princes like Raymond VII of Toulouse, addressed themselves to Blanche. She would be expected to mediate at court. She had the royal authority to intervene in crises to maintain the governance of the realm, as Blanche did during Louis's near-fatal illness in 1244-5, and as Eleanor did in England in 1192.

In short, Blanche's activities after Louis's minority were no more and no less "co-rule" than those of other queen dowagers. No king could rule on his own. All kings- even Philip Augustus- relied heavily on those they trusted for advice, and often for executive action. William the Breton described Brother Guérin as "quasi secundus a rege"- "as if second to the king": indeed, Jacques Krynen characterised Philip and his administrators as almost co-governors. The vastness of their realms forced the Angevin kings to rely even more on the governance of others, including their mothers and their wives. Blanche's prominent role depended on the consent of her son. Louis trusted her judgement. He may also have found many of the demands of ruling uncongenial. Blanche certainly had her detractors at court, but she was probably criticsed, not for playing a role in the execution of government, but for influencing her son in one direction by those who hoped to influence him in another.

The death of a king meant that there was often more than one queen. Blanche herself did not have to deal with an active dowager queen: Ingeborg lived on the edges of court and political life; besides, she was not Louis VIII's mother. Eleanor of Aquitaine did not have to deal with a forceful young queen: Berengaria of Navarre, like Ingeborg, was retiring; Isabella of Angoulême was still a child. But the potential problem of two crowned, anointed and politically engaged queens is made manifest in the relationship between Blanche and St Louis's queen, Margaret of Provence.

At her marriage in 1234 Margaret of Provence was too young to play an active role as queen. The household accounts of 1239 still distinguish between the queen, by which they mean Blanche, and the young queen — Margaret. By 1241 Margaret had decided that she should play the role expected of a reigning queen. She was almost certainly engaging in diplomacy over the continental Angevin territories with her sister, Queen Eleanor of England. Churchmen loyal to Blanche, presumably at the older queen’s behest, put a stop to that. It was Blanche rather than Margaret who took the initiative in the crisis of 1245. Although Margaret accompanied the court on the great expedition to Saumur for the knighting of Alphonse in 1241, it was Blanche who headed the queen’s table, as if she, not Margaret, were queen consort. In the Sainte-Chapelle, Blanche of Castile’s queenship is signified by a blatant scattering of the castles of Castile: the pales of Provence are absent.

Margaret was courageous and spirited. When Louis was captured on Crusade, she kept her nerve and steadied that of the demoralised Crusaders, organised the payment of his ransom and the defence of Damietta, in spite of the fact that she had given birth to a son a few days previously. She reacted with quick-witted bravery when fire engulfed her cabin, and she accepted the dangers and discomforts of the Crusade with grace and good humour. But her attempt to work towards peace between her husband and her brother-in-law, Henry III, in 1241 lost her the trust of Louis and his close advisers — Blanche, of course, was the closest of them all - and that trust was never regained. That distrust was apparent in 1261, when Louis reorganised the household. There were draconian checks on Margaret's expenditure and almsgiving. She was not to receive gifts, nor to give orders to royal baillis or prévôts, or to undertake building works without the permission of the king. Her choice of members of her household was also subject to his agreement.

Margaret survived her husband by some thirty years, so that she herself was queen mother, to Philip III, and was still a presence ar court during the reign of her grandson Philip IV. But Louis did not make her regent on his second, and fatal, Crusade in 1270. In the early 12605 Margarer tried to persuade her young son, the future Philip III, to agree to obey her until he was thirty. When Philip told his father, Louis was horrified. In a strange echo of the events of 1241, he forced Philip to resile from his oath to his mother, and forced Margaret to agree never again to attempt such a move. Margaret had overplayed her hand. It meant that she was specifically prevented from acting with those full and legitimate powers of a crowned queen after the death of her husband that Blanche, like Eleanor of Aquitaine, had been able to deploy for the good of the realm.

Why was Margaret treated so differently from Blanche? Were attitudes to the power of women changing? Not yet. In 1294 Philip IV was prepared to name his queen, Joanna of Champagne-Navarre, as sole regent with full regal powers in the event of his son's succession as a minor. She conducted diplomatic negotiations for him. He often associated her with his kingship in his acts. And Philip IV wanted Joanna buried among the kings of France at Saint-Denis - though she herself chose burial with the Paris Franciscans. The effectiveness and evident importance to their husbands of Eleanor of Provence and Eleanor of Castile in England led David Carpenter to characterise late thirteenth-century England as a period of ‘resurgence in queenship’.

The problem for Margaret was personal, rather than institutional. Blanche had had her detractors at court. It is not clear who they were. There were always factions at courts, not least one that centred around Margaret, and anyone who had influence over a king would have detractors. They might have been clerks with misgivings about women in general, and powerful women in particular, and there may have been others who believed that the power of a queen should be curtailed, No one did curtail Blanche's — far from it. By the late chirteenth century the Capetian family were commissioning and promoting accounts of Louis IX that praise not just her firm and just rule as regent, but also her role as adviser and counsellor — her continuing influence — during his personal rule. As William of Saint-Pathus put it, because she was such a ‘sage et preude femme’, Louis always wanted ‘sa presence et son conseil’. But where Blanche was seen as the wisest and best provider of good advice that a king could have, a queen whose advice would always be for the good of the king and his realm, Margaret was seen by Louis as a queen at the centre of intrigue, whose advice would not be disinterested. Surprisingly, such formidable policical players at the English court as Simon de Montfort and her nephew, the future Edward I, felt that it was worthwhile to do diplomatic business through Margaret. Initially, Henry III and Simon de Montfort chose Margaret, not Louis, to arbitrate between them. She was a more active diplomat than Joinville and the Lives of Louis suggest, and probably, where her aims coincided with her husband’s, quite effective.

To an extent the difference between Blanche’s and Margaret’s position and influence simply reflected political reality. Blanche was accused of sending rich gifts to her family in Spain, and advancing them within the court. But there was no danger that her cultivation of Castilian family connections could damage the interests of the Capetian realm. Margaret’s Provençal connections could. Her sister Eleanor was married to Henry III of England. Margaret and Eleanor undoubtedly attempted to bring about a rapprochement between the two kings. This was helpful once Louis himself had decided to come to an agreement with Henry in the late 1250s, but was perceived as meddlesome plotting in the 1240s. Moreover, Margaret’s sister Sanchia was married to Henry's younger brother, Richard of Cornwall, who claimed the county of Poitou, and her youngest sister, Beatrice, countess of Provence, was married to Charles of Anjou. Sanchia’s interests were in direct conflict with those of Alphonse of Poitiers; and Margaret herself felt that she had dowry claims in Provence, and alienated Charles by attempting to pursue them. Indeed, her ill-fated attempt to tie her son Philip to her included clauses that he would not ally himself with Charles of Anjou against her.

Lindy Grant- Blanche of Castile, Queen of France

[rabbitcruiser]

Camaret-sur-Aigues, France (No. 9)

During the 19th century, excavations uncovered cash, funerary urns, oil lamps, so-called lachrymatory vessels and polished silver mirrors. An epigraph tombstone embedded in the façade of a house had been unsealed and sold. It bore the inscription S. P. SEVERIUS SIBI ET SVIS VIVUS FECIT. Remains of an aqueduct that supplied Orange with spring water had also been identified16.

During the twentieth century, more scientific excavations led to the discovery of a fragment of an epigraph altar in the Hopscotch district, and three tegulæ burials on the site of the Garriguettes.

Throughout the late Middle Ages and until the Revolution, Camaret depended on the barony of Sérignan. It had first belonged to the Principality of Orange since Raymond VII of Toulouse, Count of Provence, had given it as a fief, in 1237, to Raymond des Baux. This fief was given as a dowry to Tiburge of Orange on her marriage to Adhémar de Poitiers, Count of Valentinois. In 1324, the latter granted the election of two syndics to represent the community. Their successors, on 7 May 1416, signed a price for the construction of new ramparts.

The knight Guillaume Fabri was co-lord of Camaret-sur-Aigues until he was condemned to the chapter of Lattes18. In 1346, it was the former baile of Pélissanne (1345), Raymond Martini, who was commissioned to sell his possessions. Around 1346, William of Orange was lord of Camaret and Sérignan. Noble and powerful, Jean de Baux, lord of Camaret and Sérignan, had in his service as ordinary judge of his two lands, in 1369, a noble bachelor, originally from Orange, Bérenger Sadoyrani, judge of Arles (1372) and of Sisteron (1387).

In 1495, the Town Council obtained permission from the barony that each inhabitant could cultivate a tithe-free garden on fruit and pasture.

The Wars of Religion raged for a decade. Camaret having been taken by the religionists, January 5, 1563, the papal captain Fabrice Serbelloni came to lay siege. After four days of cannonade, his troops invested the village and put 100 prisoners to the sword. A new attack by the Calvinists of Nyons took place in 1573. But their henchman who was to open the doors for them was unmasked and they withdrew. This was not the case two years later. On 3 May 1575, the Huguenots of Orange forced their way into the place, but were soon forced to retreat in the face of the troops sent by Cardinal d'Armagnac.

These attacks have made it possible to know that in 1565, the ramparts opened by three gates: the Great Gate or Berenguier Gate, also known as the Ursuline Gate; the Porte Jaubert or Portalet; the Carbonnel Gate. Those of Le Portail and Carbonnel were preceded by a drawbridge. When the fighting was over, two other gates were opened, the Breach and the Tower.

It was in 1599 that the two syndics of the village changed their title to that of consul.

Source: Wikipedia

[catherinesboleyn]

Every English Princess Ever

You’ve heard of Every Queen of England Ever, now I present to you another product that proves I have way too much time on my hands! If you notice any mistakes, please point them out to me kindly. I am sorry I do not know everything, but there is no reason to be rude. 😁

Æthelswith - Daughter of Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh. She married King Burgred of Mercia in 853, making her the Queen of Mercia.

Æthelflæd - Daughter of Alfred the Great and Ealhswith. When her husband Æthelred, Lord of Mercians died in 911, she became Lady of the Mercians, and reigned for seven years.

Æthelgifu - Daughter of Alfred the Great and Ealhswith. When Alfred founded Shaftesbury Abbey in 890, he made her its first abbess.

Ælfthryth - Daughter of Alfred the Great and Ealhswith. Her marriage to Baldwin II, Count of Flanders made her Countess of Flanders.

Eadgifu - Daughter of Edward the Elder and his second wife Ælfflæd. She was Queen of West Francia by her marriage to Charles III.

Eadhild - Daughter of Edward the Elder and his second wife Ælfflæd. She married Hugh, Duke of the Franks in 937.

Eadgyth - Daughter of Edward the Elder and his second wife Ælfflæd. She married Otto in 930, who became Otto I, King of Germany in 936, also making her Queen of Germany.

Eadburh - Daughter of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu. She lived her life as a nun.

Godgifu - Daughter of Æthelred the Unready and his second wife Emma of Normandy. Her marriage to Eustace II, Count of Boulogne made her Countess of Boulogne.

Gunhilda - Daughter of Cnut the Great and his second wife Emma of Normandy. She became Queen of Germany when she married Henry III.

Gytha - Daughter of Harold II and Edith Swanneck. She was Princess of Rus from her marriage to Vladimir II Monomakh.

Adeliza - Daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders.

Cecilia - Daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. She was entered into the Abbey of the Holy Trinity of Caen at a young age, and became Abbess in 1112.

Constance - Daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. She became Duchess of Brittany when she married Alan IV, Duke of Brittany.

Adela - Daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. She was Countess of Blois by her marriage to Stephen, Count of Blois, and was regent of Blois two times.

Empress Matilda - Daughter of Henry I and Matilda of Scotland. She became Holy Roman Empress in 1114, and acted as Queen of England from 1141 to 1148, but was disputed.

Marie I - Daughter of Stephen and Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne. When her brother William I, Count of Boulogne died childless in 1159, Marie succeeded him as the Countess of Boulogne.

Matilda - Daughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria from her marriage to Henry the Lion.

Eleanor - Daughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She became Queen of Castile and Toledo when she married Alfonso VIII.

Joan - Daughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was Queen of Sicily by her marriage to William II until his death in 1189, and became Countess of Toulouse when she married Raymond VI in 1196.

Joan - Daughter of John and Isabella of Angoulême. She was Queen of Scotland by her marriage to Alexander II.

Isabella - Daughter of John and Isabella of Angoulême. She was Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Sicily and Germany by her marriage to Frederick II.

Eleanor - Daughter of John and Isabella of Angoulême. She was Countess of Pembroke by her first marriage to William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and Countess of Leicester by her second marriage to Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.

Margaret - Daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. She was Queen of Scotland by her marriage to Alexander III.

Beatrice - Daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. (Her wikipedia says she was Countess of Richmond, which I’m not sure is true or not. Her husband was the Duke of Brittany, but it is possible she somehow inherited the title in her own right).

Katherine - Daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. She passed away at the age of three.

Eleanor - Daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. She was Countess of Bar by her marriage to Henry III, Count of Bar.

Joan of Acre - Daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. She was Countess of Hertford and Gloucester by her first marriage to Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and 6th Earl of Hertford.

Margaret - Daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. She was Duchess of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg by her marriage to John II.

Mary of Woodstock - Daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. She was a nun at Amesbury Priory.

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan - Daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. She was Countess of Holland by her first marriage to John I, and Countess of Hereford by her second marriage to Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford.

Eleanor of Woodstock - Daughter of Edward II and Isabella of France. She was Duchess of Guelders by her marriage to Reginald II, and was regent of Guelders while her son was still young.

Joan of the Tower - Daughter of Edward II and Isabella of France. She got her name from being born in the Tower of London. Joan was Queen of Scotland by her marriage to David II.

Isabella - Daughter of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. She was Countess of Bedford and Lady of Coucy by her marriage to Enguerrand VIII, and was made a Lady of the Garter in 1376.

Joan - Daughter of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. She died during the Black Death at the age of fourteen.

Mary of Waltham - Daughter of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. She was Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John IV, Duke of Brittany, and was made a Lady of the Garter in 1378. She died young at the age of sixteen.

Margaret of Windsor - Daughter of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. She was Countess of Pembroke by her marriage to John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Margaret died young at the age of fifteen.

Blanche of Lancaster - Daughter of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun. She was Electress Palatine by her marriage to Louis III, Electress Palatine.

Philippa of Lancaster - Daughter of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun. She was Queen of Denmark, Sweden and Norway by her marriage to Eric III, VIII & XIII.

Elizabeth of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was Queen of England by her marriage to Henry VII.

Mary of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She died at the age of fourteen.

Cecily of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was First Lady of the Bedchamber to her sister, Elizabeth of York, from 1485 to 1487. Cecily was Viscountess Welles by her marriage to John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles.

Margaret of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She died at just eight months old.

Anne of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was First Lady of the Bedchamber to her sister, Elizabeth of York, from 1487 to 1494.

Catherine of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was Countess of Devon by her marriage to William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon.

Bridget of York - Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was a nun at Dartford Priory.

Margaret Tudor - Daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. She was Queen of Scotland by her marriage to James IV of Scotland.

Elizabeth Tudor - Daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. She died at the age of three.

Mary Tudor - Daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. She was Queen of France by her first marriage to Louis XII of France, and Duchess of Suffolk by her second marriage to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.

Mary I - Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. She was Queen of England from 1553 to 1558, and Queen of Spain by her marriage to Philip II of Spain.

Elizabeth I - Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603.

Elizabeth Stuart - Daughter of James VI & I and Anne of Denmark. She was Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia by her marriage to Frederick V.

Margaret Stuart - Daughter of James VI & I and Anne of Denmark. She died at the age of one year old.

Mary Stuart - Daughter of James VI & I and Anne of Denmark. She died at the age of two years old.

Sophia Stuart - Daughter of James VI & I and Anne of Denmark. She lived for just one day.

Mary - Daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. She was Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau by her marriage to William II, Prince of Orange.

Elizabeth Stuart - Daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. She died at the age of fourteen.

Anne Stuart - Daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. She died at the age of three.

Henrietta - Daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. She was Duchess of Orléans by her marriage to Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.

Mary II - Daughter of James II & VII and Anne Hyde. She was Queen of England from 1689 to 1694.

Anne - Daughter of James II & VII and Anne Hyde. She was Queen of England and Great Britain from 1702 to 1714.

Louisa Maria Stuart - Daughter of James II & VII and Mary of Modena. She died at the age of nineteen.

Sophia Dorothea of Hanover - Daughter of George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle. She was Queen of Prussia and Electress Brandenburg by her marriage to Frederick William I of Prussia.

Anne - Daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach. She was Princess of Orange by her marriage to William IV, Prince of Orange.

Amelia of Great Britain - Daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach.

Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain - Daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach.

Mary of Great Britain - Daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach. She was Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel by her marriage to Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.

Louise of Great Britain - Daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach. She was Queen of Denmark and Norway by her marriage to Frederick V of Denmark.

Charlotte - Daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was Duchess, Electress and Queen of Württemberg by her marriage to Frederick I of Württemberg.

Augusta Sophia - Daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Elizabeth - Daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg by her marriage to Frederick VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.

Mary - Daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh by her marriage to Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.

Sophia - Daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Amelia - Daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Charlotte of Wales - Daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick. She was their only child, and died before both of them.

Charlotte Augusta Louisa of Clarence - Daughter of William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. She died shortly after birth.

Elizabeth Georgiana Adelaide of Clarence - Daughter of William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. She died shortly after birth.

Victoria - Daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was German Empress and Queen of Prussia by her marriage to Frederick III, German Emperor.

Alice - Daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was Grand Duchess of Hesse and Rhine by her marriage to Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.

Helena - Daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was Princess of Schleswig-Holstein by her marriage to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.

Louise - Daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was Duchess of Argyll and Viceregal of Canada by her marriage to John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll.

Beatrice - Daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was Princess of Battenberg by her marriage to Prince Henry of Battenberg.

Louise of Wales - Daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. She was Duchess of Fife by her marriage to Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife.

Victoria of Wales - Daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.

Maud of Wales - Daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark. She was Queen of Norway by her marriage to Haakon VII of Norway.

Mary of York - Daughter of George V and Mary of Teck. She was Countess of Harewood by her marriage to Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood.

Elizabeth II - Daughter of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She is Queen of the UK from 1952 to present.

Margaret Rose of York - Daughter of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She was Countess of Snowdon.

Anne of Edinburgh - Daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

[dwellordream]

“Military diplomacy was another area of war where noblewomen sometimes took a leading role. The term ‘diplomacy’ in this case refers to negotiations undertaken either to find peace between two warring sides or in order to forge an alliance. Many noblewomen had a significant role to play in the diplomatic process and an interest in successfully completing the negotiation process. However, the limited military role most noblewomen enjoyed meant that in practise female diplomacy in the Middle Ages was affected only by royal, or other similarly highly placed women whose importance, symbolic or otherwise, compelled their inclusion in the negotiations.

Several instances of diplomacy stand out in this regard. During the Investiture Controversy, for example, Matilda of Tuscany pursued diplomacy alongside her military support of the reform papacy. At the Lenten Synod in 1075 she tried to ease tensions in a bitter dispute between Gregory and Censius Stephani, a noted enemy of the reform papacy, by calling for clemency on Censius’ behalf, after he was arrested and sentenced to death. The following year at the Synod of Worms Matilda and Pope Gregory were accused by the Emperor Henry of an overly intimate and improper sexual relationship. Matilda and the pope responded by toning down the frequency of their correspondence and thenceforth only communicating through legates, thus stifling any further allegations of misconduct and illustrating a diplomatic solution by Matilda to another potential source of conflict.

Most well- known of all were Matilda’s efforts in negotiating a truce between pope and emperor at her castle of Canossa in January 1077. The fortress itself and the protection offered by her troops undoubtedly encouraged Gregory to meet with the emperor when he otherwise would not have; moreover, Matilda’s personal efforts to convince the pope to receive Henry after his three day penance outside the gates and her sponsoring of the final agreement played a major part in achieving a peaceful accord.

Noblewomen were also diplomatically active in the French and Anglo- Norman domains. Adela of Blois (c.1067-1137), countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux, was known for her efforts in reconciling a conflict between Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, and King Henry I in 1104, by arranging a face-to-face negotiation that resulted in their eventual reconciliation. Adela was also active in creating an Anglo-Norman-Thibaudian alliance against Louis VI in the early 1110s, after he threatened Thibaudian autonomy in the Chartrain by revoking castle-building privileges and claiming certain ecclesiastical properties. A few years later Adela played a pivotal role in helping King Henry I’s negotiator Thurstan (Archbishop of York) reach a favourable settlement resolving Henry’s dispute with King Louis.

Blanche of Castile (1188-1252) was likewise active in negotiating treaties that helped to ensure royal power in the north of France while ruling as regent for her son, Louis IX. Among the more notable agreements were the 1229 Treaty of Paris-Meaux between Louis IX and Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles, count of Toulouse, which brought an end to the Albigensian Crusade, and the 1242 Peace of Lorris that essentially confirmed the terms of the 1229 treaty and ended any chance of southern France remaining independent from royal authority. The importance of Blanche’s role in both cases is worth noting: in 1229 Blanche was still regent (Louis’ personal government did not begin until around 1236) and thus her acceptance of the treaty was significant, even though she did not personally negotiate the actual conditions of the treaty, while in 1242 Raymond had Blanche act as an intermediary on his behalf in achieving a final peace with the king.

In England, the Countess Mabel, Robert of Gloucester’s wife, held King Stephen in captivity after his capture at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, which enabled Robert to bargain for his release after he had himself been captured by Stephen’s forces during the same battle. For her part, Stephen’s wife Matilda of Boulogne was simultaneously active in negotiating her husband’s release.

In the Holy Land noblewomen were also at times an important part of the diplomatic process. Baldwin II’s wife, Morphia, was said by Orderic to have been active in the negotiations for Baldwin’s release from captivity in 1124. Likewise, when in 1152 Queen Melisende found herself under siege in Jerusalem by her own son Baldwin III, who was fighting her for control of the Latin kingdom, she was able – through the mediation of the Church – to secure the city of Nablus and surrounding lands to which she could retire. Evidently, her sixteen years as ruler must have counted for something in the negotiations with Baldwin, for she was able to emerge just a few years later to a position of relative power and freedom in Baldwin’s government.

Occasionally, women in the Holy Land were even said to have attempted diplomacy with Muslims. According to William of Tyre, Melisende’s sister, Alice of Antioch, attempted to send an alleged peace offering to the Muslim leader Zengi, as part of her efforts to gain control of Antioch in the early 1130s, but was unsuccessful. Asbridge has cautioned against accepting the testimony of William of Tyre too uncritically, as no contemporary Muslim accounts mention this offer of peace.

Similarly unclear is the role played by Queen Marguerite (c.1221-1295), wife of Louis IX, whom Louis’ biographer Jean de Joinville portrayed as a dignified, pious, and thoughtful noblewoman, and who was mentioned during the course of Louis’ negotiations with the Saracens following his capture at the battle of Mansourah in April 1250. According to Joinville, the king could not guarantee to his captors that he could pay their ransom because he would have to get the queen to consent to paying it and ‘as his consort, she was mistress of her actions’, although as Hodgson notes, ‘this may have been a bargaining ploy’.

Whatever the case, Marguerite did display some leadership in helping to keep together the Christian forces in the city of Damietta during the king’s captivity by arranging to buy all the food in the city at her own expense, although she was eventually forced to give up the city as part of the conditions of surrender. Medieval noblewomen, therefore, sometimes played an integral part in initiating or indirectly assisting the diplomatic process, even if they were not necessarily the ones who argued and finalised the treaties themselves. As we have seen, their role was often one of intercession or intervention on behalf of other parties, conveying messages back and forth between sides so that opposing enemies did not have to meet face-to-face.

Blanche of Castile’s intermediary role in concluding the 1242 Peace of Lorris and the meeting between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII sponsored by Countess Matilda were both clear examples of the mediating role noblewomen might assume, but they were not the only noblewomen to perform this function. Phillipa of Hainault, wife of Edward III, was known to have interceded for the burghers of Calais to prevent their execution following Edward’s successful siege in 1347. In a similar way Ermengard, viscountess of Narbonne (c.1127-c.1196/97) helped arbitrate peace on behalf of Count Raymond V of Toulouse when he was in negotiations with one Roger of Béziers in 1171, and again in 1176 when she acted played a mediating or ‘go-between’ role in a separate peace between Raymond and Alfons of Aragon.

Likewise, Jeanne d’Évreux, third wife of King Charles IV of France, and Queen Blanche d’Évreux, second wife of King Philip VI of France, twice interceded on behalf of Charles II, king of Navarre. In 1354 they helped Charles obtain a pardon from King John II of France for Charles’ involvement in the murder of the Constable of France, while in 1357 they helped to reconcile relations between Charles and the Dauphin, (the future Charles V) who was regent of France due to John’s imprisonment in England at that time.

Their success, and that of the other noblewomen cited, is indicative of the impact intercession could have in effectively contributing towards peace negotiations, and as such, they decreased the likelihood of war. Together with women like Adela who forged alliances for their safety, therefore, these women’s actions must be included as a part of medieval military history.”

- James Michael Illston, ‘An Entirely Masculine Activity’? Women and War in the High and Late Middle Ages Reconsidered

[nanshe-of-nina]

The Crusades + The Onion headlines

[schoolcalidity]

Henri II un anglo franco normardo que comienza una saga que explica las capas tectónicas de la historia de la dominación anglo-germana católica romana en Hispania/ Al- Andalus/ Sefarad. Se ve cómo entre ellos se casan, se matan, se reproducen y se pasan los territorios como pelotas. Guerras y competencias pero siempre entre las familias. 

House of Plantagenet

Henry II

(1154–1189) is considered by some to be the first Plantagenet king of England.

Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, adopted Plantagenet as his family name in the 15th century. Plantegenest (or Plante Genest) had been a 12th-century nickname for his ancestor Geoffrey, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy. One of many popular theories suggests the common broom, planta genista in medieval Latin, as the source of the nickname.[1]

Los Angenvins 

Angevin kings of England //// Angevin Empire

Angevin is French for "from Anjou". The three Angevin kings were Henry II, Richard I and John. "Angevin" can also refer to the period of history in which they reigned. Many historians identify the Angevins as a distinct English royal house. "Angevin" is also used in reference to any sovereign or government derived from Anjou. As a noun, it refers to any native of Anjou or an Angevin ruler, and specifically to other counts and dukes of Anjou, including the ancestors of the three kings who formed the English royal house; their cousins, who held the crown of Jerusalem; and to unrelated members of the French royal family who were later granted the titles and formed different dynasties, such as the Capetian House of Anjou and the Valois House of Anjou.[4] Consequently, there is disagreement between those who consider Henry III to be the first Plantagenet monarch, and those who do not distinguish between Angevins and Plantagenets and therefore consider the first Plantagenet to be Henry II.[5][6][7][8]

Angevin zenith

Of Henry's siblings, William and Geoffrey died unmarried and childless, but the tempestuous marriage of Henry and Eleanor, who already had two daughters (Marie and Alix) through her first marriage to King Louis, produced eight children in thirteen years:[22]

William IX, Count of Poitiers (1153–1156)

Henry the Young King (1155–1183)

Matilda, Duchess of Saxony (1156–1189)—married Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria. The eldest amongst the couple's children, Richenza, is probably the daughter English chroniclers call Matilda, who was left in Normandy with her grandparents in 1185 and married firstly to Geoffrey, count of Perche, and secondly to Enguerrand de Coucy. The eldest son, Henry, became duke of Saxony and count palatine of the Rhine. His brother Otto was nominated by his uncle Richard I as earl of York and count of Poitiers before being elected emperor in opposition to the Hohenstaufen candidate. Otto was crowned in Rome but he was later excommunicated and declared deposed. Childless, Otto lost power following the defeat of the Welf and Angevin forces at the Battle of Bouvines. The youngest child, William of Winchester married Helena daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark. Their only son, also called Otto, was the sole male heir of his uncle Henry. The ducal house of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the British royal house of Windsor both descend from him.[23]

Richard I, King of England (1157–1199). He had no legitimate offspring, but is thought to have had two illegitimate sons, of whom little is known, called Fulk and Phillip, Lord of Cognac.[24]

Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (1158–1186)—married Constance daughter of Duke Conan of Brittany and became duke of Brittany by right of his wife. The couple's son Arthur was a competitor to John for the Angevin succession.[25]

Eleanor, Queen of Castile (1161–1214)—married King Alfonso VIII of Castile. The couple's children included King Henry of Castile and four queen consorts, Berengaria, Queen of Leon, Urraca, Queen of Portugal, Blanche, Queen of France and Eleanor, Queen of Aragon.[26]

Joan, Queen of Sicily (1165–1199)—married firstly King William II of Sicily and secondly Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. Her children included Raymond VII of Toulouse.[27]

John, King of England (1166–1216)  

La historia se perpetua en varias generaciones y matrimonios que dejan claro que el norte de la peninsula lógicamente por mar se corresponde con Inglaterra y Francia por igual. 

Henry III had nine children:[59]

Edward I (1239–1307)

Margaret of England (1240–1275). Her three children predeceased her husband, Alexander III of Scotland; consequently, the crown of Scotland became vacant on the death of their only grandchild, Margaret, Maid of Norway in 1290.[60]

Beatrice, Countess of Richmond (1242–1275). She initially married John de Montfort of Dreux, and later married John II, Duke of Brittany.

Edmund Crouchback (1245–1296), who was granted the titles and estates of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and the earldom of Leicester after Henry defeated Montfort in the Second Barons' War. Henry later granted Edmund the earldoms of Lancaster and Ferrers. From 1276, through his wife, Edmund was Count of Champagne and Brie.[61] Later Lancastrians would attempt to use Henry IV's maternal descent from Edmund to legitimise his claim to the throne, spuriously claiming that Edmund was the eldest son of Henry III but had not become king due to deformity.[62] Through his second marriage to Blanche, the widow of Henry I of Navarre, Edmund was at the centre of European aristocracy. Blanche's daughter, Joan, was queen regnant of Navarre and queen consort of France through her marriage to Philip IV. Edmund's son Thomas became the most powerful nobleman in England, adding to his inheritance the earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury through his marriage to the heiress of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln.[63]

Four others who died as children: Richard (1247–1256), John (1250–1256), William (c. 1251/1252–1256), Katherine (c. 1252/3–1257) and Henry (no recorded dates).

Henry was bankrupted by his military expenditure and general extravagance. The pope offered Henry's brother Richard the Kingdom of Sicily, but the military cost of displacing the incumbent Emperor Frederick was prohibitive. Matthew Paris wrote that Richard stated: "You might as well say, 'I make you a present of the moon – step up to the sky and take it down'." Instead, Henry purchased the kingdom for his son Edmund, which angered many powerful barons. The barons led by Henry's brother-in-law Simon de Montfort forced him to agree to the Provisions of Oxford, under which his debts were paid in exchange for substantial reforms. In France, with the Treaty of Paris, Henry formally surrendered the territory of his Angevin ancestors to Louis IX of France, receiving in return the title duke of Aquitaine and the territory of Gascony as a vassal of the French king.[43]

Death of Simon de Montfort at the

Battle of Evesham

Disagreements between the barons and the king intensified. The barons, under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, captured most of southeast England in the Second Barons' War. At the Battle of Lewesin 1264, Henry and Prince Edward were defeated and taken prisoner. De Montfort assembled the Great Parliament, recognized as the first Parliament because it was the first time the cities and boroughs had sent representatives.[64] Edward escaped, raised an army and defeated and killed de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.[65] Savage retribution was inflicted upon the rebels, and authority restored to Henry. With the realm now peaceful, Edward left England to join Louis IX on the Ninth Crusade; he was one of the last crusaders. Louis died before Edward's arrival, but Edward decided to continue. The result was disappointing; Edward's small force only enabled him to capture Acre and launch a handful of raids. After surviving an assassination attempt, Edward left for Sicily later in the year, never to participate in a crusade again. When Henry III died, Edward acceded to the throne; the barons swore allegiance to him even though he did not return for two years.[65]

Constitutional change and the reform of feudalism

Edward I married Eleanor of Castile, daughter of King Ferdinand of Castile, a great grandson of Henry II through his second daughter Eleanor in 1254. Edward and Eleanor had sixteen children; five daughters survived to adulthood, but only one son survived Edward:[66]

Eleanor, Countess of Bar (1264/69−1298)

Three daughters (Joan, Alice, and Juliana/Katherine) and two sons (John and Henry) born between 1265 and 1271. They died between 1265 and 1274 with little historical trace.

Joan, Countess of Gloucester (1272–1307)

Alphonso, Earl of Chester (1273–1284)

Margaret, Duchess of Brabant (1275–1333)

Mary of Woodstock (1278–1332), who became a nun

Isabella (1279–1279)

Elizabeth, firstly Countess of Holland and on widowhood, secondly Countess of Hereford (1282–1316). Among her eleven children were the earls of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton, and the countesses of Ormond and Devon.

Edward II

Two other daughters (Beatrice and Blanche), who died as children.

Following Eleanor's death in 1290, Edward married Margaret of France, daughter of Philip III of France, in 1299. Edward and Margaret had two sons, who both lived to adulthood, and a daughter who died as a child:[67]

Thomas (1300–1338), whose daughter Margaret inherited his estates. Margaret's grandson, Thomas Mowbray, was the first duke of Norfolk, but Richard II exiled him and stripped him of his titles.

Edmund, Earl of Kent (1301 to 1330). Edmund's loyalty to his half-brother, Edward II, resulted in his execution by order of the rebel Mortimer and his lover, Edward's queen, Isabella. His daughter, Joan, inherited his estates and married her own cousin, Edward the Black Prince; together, they had Richard, who later became the English king.

Eleanor (1306–1311).

Más adelante ....  Fighting in the Hundred Years' War spilled from the French and Plantagenet lands into surrounding realms, including the dynastic conflict in Castile between Peter of Castile and Henry II of Castile. The Black Prince allied himself with Peter, defeating Henry at the Battle of Nájera. Edward and Peter fell out when Peter was unable to reimburse Edward's military expenses leaving him bankrupt.[75] The Plantagenets continued to interfere, and John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, the Black Prince's brother, married Peter's daughter Constance, claiming the Crown of Castile in her name. He invaded with an army of 5000 men. Fighting was inconclusive before Gaunt agreed a treaty with King Juan of Castile.[76] Terms of the treaty included the marriage of John of Gaunt's daughter Katherine to Juan's son, Enrique.[77]

entonces... John of Gaunt (1340–1399), after Blanche's death in 1369, John married Constance of Castile, trying unsuccessfully to obtain the throne of Castile. The marriage produced two children:Catherine of Lancaster (1372–1418)—married Henry III of Castile, with whom she was a great-grandmother of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII of England.John (1374–1375)Constance died in 1394, after which John married Katherine Swynford on 13 January 1396. Their four children were born before they married. The pope legitimised them in 1396, as did Richard II by charter, on the condition that their children could not ascend the throne:John (c. 1371/1372–1410)—grandfather of Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII's mother.Henry (1375–1447)Thomas (1377–1427)Joan (1379–1440)—Joan's son, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and her grandson, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, were leading supporters of the House of York.Edmund (1341–1402)—founder of the House of York. He had three children with Isabella of Castile:Edward (1373–1415)—killed at the Battle of Agincourt.Constance (1374–1416)Richard—(1375–1415)Blanche (1342)—died as a child.Mary of Waltham (1344–1362)—married John V, Duke of Brittany. No issue.Margaret (1346–1361)—married John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. No issue.Joan (b. 1351)Thomas (1355–1397)—murdered or executed for treason by order of Richard II; his daughter, Anne, married Edmund Stafford.Edward's long reign had forged a new national identity, reinforced by Middle English beginning to establish itself as the spoken and written language of government. As a result, he is considered by many historians in cultural respects the first 'English' post-conquest ruler.[74]

No paraban jamás! sigue la tradición:

House of York

Edward III made his fourth son Edmund the first duke of York in 1362. Edmund was married to Isabella, a daughter of King Peter of Castile and María de Padilla and the sister of Constance of Castile, who was the second wife of Edmund's brother John of Gaunt. Both of Edmund's sons were killed in 1415.

María de Padilla (c. 1334 [1]–Seville, July 1361) was the mistress of King Peter of Castile.

María Díaz de Padilla

Arms of María de Padilla

Born1334

Died August 1361 (aged 26–27)

Juan García de Padilla  1st Lord of Villagera and María González de Henestrosa

Religion

Roman Catholicism

She was a Castilian noblewoman, daughter of Juan García de Padilla (died between 1348 and 1351) and his wife María González de Henestrosa[2] (died after September 1356). Her maternal uncle was Juan Fernández de Henestrosa, the King's favorite between 1354 and 1359[3] after Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque fell out of favor, and the mediator in an apparent pardon for Fadrique Alfonso, King Peter's half-brother. She was also the sister of Diego García de Padilla, Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava.[3]María’s family, members of the regional nobility,[4] originally came from the area of Padilla de Abajo, near Castrojeriz in the province of Burgos.

She is described in the chronicles of her time as very beautiful, intelligent, and small of body.[5]

Real Monasterio de Santa Clara en Astudillo (Palencia) founded by María de Padilla

Relationship with King Peter of Castile

King Peter met María in the summer of 1352 during an expedition to Asturias to battle his rebellious half-brother Henry. It was probably her maternal uncle, Juan Fernández de Henestrosa, who introduced them, as mentioned in the chronicle of King Peter’s reign written by Pero López de Ayala.[6] At that time, María was being raised at the house of Isabel de Meneses, wife of Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque, a powerful nobleman. They became lovers and their relationship lasted until her death despite the King’s other marriages and affairs. The Padillas were raised to various offices and dignities. Her uncle, Henestrosa, became Alcalde de los fidalgos.[7]

In the summer of 1353, under coercion from family and the main court favorite, Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque, Peter wed Blanche of Bourbon, the first cousin of King John II of France. Peter abandoned Blanche within three days when he learned that she had an affair with his bastard brother Fadrique Alfonso en route to Spain, and that the dowry was not coming.

Children

María and Peter had three daughters: Beatrice (born 1354), Constance (1354–1394), and Isabella (1355–1392), and a son, Alfonso, crown-prince of Castile (1359 - October 19, 1362).

Two of their daughters were married to sons of Edward III, King of England. Isabella married Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, while the elder, Constance, married John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, leading him to claim the crown of Castile on behalf of his wife. Constance's daughter, Catherine of Lancaster, married Henry III of Castile in order to reunify any claim to succession that may have passed via Constance.

El Horror que nos somete: 

The Order of Calatrava (Spanish: Orden de Calatrava Portuguese: Ordem de Calatrava) was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164. Most of the political and military power of the order dissipated by the end of the 15th century, but the last dissolution of the order's property did not occur until 1838.

Origins and foundation

It was founded at Calatrava la Vieja in Castile, in the twelfth century by St. Raymond of Fitero, as a military branch of the Cistercian family.[1][2] The etymology of the name of this military order, Calatrava, conveys the meaning: "fortress of Rabah".

Rodrigo of Toledo describes the origins of the order:

Castle of Calatrava la Nueva, former parent headquarters of the order

"Calatrava is the Arabic name of a castle recovered from the Moslems, in 1147, by the King of Castile, Alfonso VII, called el Emperador. Located in what was then the southernmost border of Castile, this conquest was more difficult to keep than to make, especially at a time with neither standing armies nor garrisons were known. In part to correct this deficiency, the military orders such as Knights Templars were founded, where men could fulfill a vow of perpetual war against the Muslim. The Templars, however, were unable to hold Calatrava, and the king found further volunteer warriors when Raymond, Abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Fitero offered himself.

Los sueños de Re-conquista.. pero cual de ellas? sino la Romana por alusión y conexiones subterráneas?

Battles during the Reconquista

The first military services of the Knights of Calatrava were highly successful, and in return for the exceptional services they had rendered they received from the King of Castile new grants of land, which formed their first commanderies. They had already been called into the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon, and been rewarded by a new encomienda (landed estate), that of Alcañiz (1179). But these successes were followed by a series of misfortunes, due in the first instance to the unfortunate partition which Alfonso had made of his possessions, and the consequent rivalry which ensued between the Castilian and Leonese branches of his dynasty. On the other hand, the first successes of the Reconquista in the 12th century, soon met up with a new wave of Islamic warriors, the invasion of the Almohads from Morocco. The first encounter resulted in a defeat for Castile. 

Battle of Alarcos

After the disastrous Battle of Alarcos, the knights abandoned their bulwark of Calatrava to the Almohads (1195). Velasquez lived long enough to witness the failure of his daring scheme. He died the next year in the monastery of Gumiel (1196).[3] The order in Castile appeared to be finished, and the branch of Aragon sought primacy. The Knights of Alcañiz actually proceeded to elect a new grand master, but the grand master still living in Castile claimed his right. Finally, by a compromise, the master of Alcañiz was recognized as second in dignity, with the title of Grand Commander for Aragon.

The scattered remains of Castilian knights sheltered in the Cistercian monastery of Cirvelos, and there began to regroup and expand. They soon erected a new bulwark, Salvatierra Castle, where they took the name, which they kept for fourteen years, of Knights of Salvatierra (1198). But Salvatierra itself fell to the Almohad Caliphate in 1209.

Summoned by Pope Innocent III, foreign crusaders joined Iberian Christians. An early battle was the reconquest of Calatrava (1212), which was returned to its former masters. In the same year the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa turned the tide of Muslim domination in Spain. Having recovered its stronghold, and resumed the title of Calatrava (1216), the order nevertheless removed to more secure quarters of Calatrava la Nueva, eight miles from old Calatrava (1218). In 1221 the Order of Monfragüe was merged into that of Calatrava.

With the decline of Muslim power, new orders sprang up, including the Alcántara in the Kingdom of León and Avis in Portugal. Both began under Calatrava's protection and the visitation of its grand master. This age marks the climax of Iberian chivalry: it was then that King Ferdinand the Saint, after the definitive coalition of Castile and León (1229), in (1235) captured the capital of the old caliphate, Cordova, soon afterwards Murcia, Jaén, and Seville. The European crusade seemed at an end. Encouraged by these victories, Ferdinand's successor, Alfonso X, the Wise, planned a crusade in the East and contemplated marching, with his Castilian chivalry, to restore the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1272).

Calatrava had developed abundant resources of men and wealth, with lands and castles scattered along the borders of Castile. It exercised feudal lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals. Thus, more than once, we see the order bringing to the field, as its individual contributions, 1200 to 2000 knights, a considerable force in the Middle Ages. Moreover, it enjoyed autonomy, being by its constitutions independent in temporal matters and acknowledging only spiritual superiors—the Abbot of Morimond and, in appeal, the pope. These authorities interfered, in consequence of a schism which first broke out in 1296 through the simultaneous election of two grand masters, García Lopez and Gautier Perez.

Lopez, dispossessed a first time by a delegate of Morimond, appealed to Pope Boniface VIII, who quashed the sentence and referred the case to the general chapter at Cîteaux, where Lopez was re-established in his dignity (1302). Dispossessed a second time, in consequence of a quarrel with his lieutenant, Juan Nuñez, Lopez voluntarily resigned in favour of Nuñez, who had taken his place (1328), on condition that he should keep the commandery of Zurita; as this condition was violated, Lopez again, for the third time, took the title of Grand Master in Aragon, where he died in 1336. These facts sufficiently prove that after the fourteenth century the rigorous discipline and fervent observance of the order's earlier times had, under the relaxing influence of prosperity, given place to a spirit of intrigue and ambition.

Peter of Castile entered into a conflict with the order. That prince had three grand masters in succession sentenced to death, as having incurred his suspicion: the first of these was beheaded (1355) on a charge of having entered into a league with the King of Aragon; the second, Estevañez, having competed for the grand mastership with the king's candidate, García de Padilla, was murdered in the royal palace, by the king's own treacherous hand; lastly García de Padilla himself, a brother of the royal mistress, fell into disgrace, upon deserting the king's party for that of his half brother, Henry the Bastard, and died in prison (1369).

The following is an incomplete list of former Grand Masters of the Order of Calatrava, the current grand master of the order is King Felipe VI of Spain

Don García (1164–1169)

Fernando Icaza (1169–1170)

Martín Pérez de Siones (1170–1182)

Nuño Pérez de Quiñones (1182–1199)

Martín Martínez (1199–1207)

Ruy Díaz de Yanguas (1207–1212)

Rodrigo Garcés (1212–1216)

Martín Fernández de Quintana (1216–1218)

Gonzalo Yáñez de Novoa (1218–1238)

Martín Ruiz de Cevallos (1238–1240)

Gómez Manrique (1240–1243)

Fernando Ordóñez (1243–1254)

Pedro Yáñez (1254–1267)

Juan González (1267–1284)

Ruy Pérez Ponce de León (1284–1295)

Diego López de Santsoles (1295–1296)

Garci López de Padilla (1296–1322)

Juan Núñez de Prado (1322–1355)

Diego García de Padilla (1355–1365)

Martín López de Córdoba (1365–1371)

Pedro Muñiz de Godoy y Sandoval (1371–1384)

Pedro Álvarez de Pereira (1384–1385)

Gonzalo Núñez de Guzmán (1385–1404)

Enrique de Villena (1404–1407)

Luis González de Guzmán (1407–1443)

Fernando de Padilla (a few months in 1443)

Alfonso de Aragón y de Escobar (end of 1443–1445)

Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco (1445–1466)

Rodrigo Téllez Girón (1466–1482)

García López de Padilla (1482–1487)

Catholic Monarchs (from 1487 onwards)

King Juan Carlos I of Spain

King Felipe VI of Spain (Incumbent)

sigue con Isabella de Castilla una saga de la que pocos hablan para descifrar los poderes que llevamos soportando años y siglos: 

Isabella was the youngest of the three daughters of King Peter of Castile by his favourite mistress, María de Padilla (d.1361).[1]

On 21 September 1371 Edward III's fourth son, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, married Isabella's elder sister, Constance (d. 1394), who after the death of their father in 1369 claimed the throne of Castile. Isabella accompanied her sister to England, and on 11 July 1372, at about the age of 17, married John of Gaunt's younger brother, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, fifth son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, at Wallingford, Oxfordshire, as part of a dynastic alliance in furtherance of the Plantagenet claim to the crown of Castile.[2] According to Pugh, Isabella and Edmund of Langley were 'an ill-matched pair'.[3]

As a result of her indiscretions, including an affair with King Richard II's half-brother, John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (d. 1400), whom Pugh terms 'violent and lawless', Isabella left behind a tarnished reputation, her loose morals being noted by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham. According to Pugh, the possibility that Holland was the father of Isabella's favourite son, Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, 'cannot be ignored'.[4]

In her will Isabel named King Richard as her heir, requesting him to grant her younger son, Richard, an annuity of 500 marks. The King complied. However, further largesse which might have been expected when Richard came of age was not to be, as King Richard II was deposed in 1399, and according to Harriss, Isabella's younger son, Richard, 'received no favours from the new King, Henry IV'.[5]

Isabella died 23 December 1392, aged about 37, and was buried 14 January 1393 at the church of the Dominicans at Kings Langley.[6] After Isabella's death, Edmund of Langley married Joan Holland, sister and co-heir of Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (9 January 1382 – 15 September 1408), with whom his daughter, Constance, had lived as his mistress (see above).[7]

Isabella was appointed a Lady of the Garter in 1379.[8]

Prodecencia: The Castilian House of Burgundy[1] is a cadet brach of the House of Ivrea descended from Raymond of Burgundy. Raymond married Urraca of the House of Himénez. Two years after his death, Urraca succeeded her father and became queen of Castille and Leon; Urraca's and Raymond's offspring ruled the kingdom from 1126 up to Peter of Castile, 1369. 

Origins

Raymond was the fourth son of William I, Count of Burgundy (from the House of Ivrea) and arrived in the Iberian peninsula probably in 1086 with the army of Odo I, Duke of Burgundy, who siege the city Tudela, Navarre. In April 1087 the army abandoned the siege and returned home, but Odo, Raymond and Henry (Raymond's cousin) went west at the court of Alfonso VI king of Castile and León. There, Odo arranged the marriage of king's first daughter Urraca to Raymond on 1087; the couple received the county of Galicia as dowry.[2]In 1093 Alfonso VI married his second daughter Teresa to Henry and gave them the county of Portugal, which evolved to a kingdom.[3] In 1107 Raymond died; the next year died Sancho, king's only son and in 1109 the king himself. Urraca succeeded him up to her death and then next ruler was her son Alfonso VII, first king of Castile and León from the Castilian House of Ivrea: 

The founder of the family's fortunes was a petty Burgundian count named Anscar, who, with the support of his powerful brother, the archbishop of Rheims Fulk the Venerable, brought Guy III of Spoleto to Langres to be crowned King of France in 887. Their plot failing, Anscar accompanied Guy back to Italy to seek that vacant throne and, in gratefulness to Anscar, Guy created the March of Ivrea to bestow on his Burgundian faithful. Anscar's descendants held the march until 1030. Perhaps the most illustrious scion of the house was his grandson Berengar, the first of three Anscarids to be crowned king of Italy.Berengar seized the throne in 950 after the death of Lothair II. He was opposed, immediately, by Lothair's widow Adelaide, whom he imprisoned after his attempt to force her marriage to his son, Adalbert II, failed. Emperor Otto I came down the peninsula and forced him to do homage in 952. For the next eleven years, Berengar and his co-crowned son governed Italy until Otto finally formally deposed them in 963.From 1002 to 1014 Arduin of Italy held the Italian throne in opposition to the German Henry II

 Castilian branch of Ivrea

Raymond, fourth son of Count William I of Burgundy, travelled to Castile-León in the late eleventh century and there married Urraca, the future monarch. She was succeeded by their son, Alfonso VII. Subsequent monarchs of Castile and León were their agnatic descendants until the 16th century, although the crown had passed to an illegitimate cadet branch, the House of Trastámara, in the late 14th century.

Country

Holy Roman Empire

Kingdom of Italy

Frankish Empire

Papal States

County of Burgundy

Galicia

Castile

and

León

Ethnicity

Frankish

–

Burgundian

Founded9th century

Founder

Anscar I

Final rulerItaly:

Arduin

Burgundy:

Joan II

Castile, Galicia and León:

Peter

Orange:

Philibert

Titles

Pope (Elective)

King of Italy

King of Galicia

King of Castile

King of León

Margrave of Ivrea

Count of Burgundy

Count of Mâcon

Holy Roman Empress

Queen of France(Regent)

La hermana Constance of Castile (1354 – 24 March 1394) was claimant of the Castilian throne after the death of her father Peter, King of Castile and León, also known as Peter the Cruel. Her mother was María de Padilla, whom Peter had secretly married, but was then forced to repudiate; however he kept her as his mistress.Constance of CastileDuchess of LancasterBorn1354Castrojeriz, CastileDied24 March 1394 (aged 39–40)Leicester Castle, LeicestershireBurialChurch of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, LeicesterSpouseJohn of Gaunt, 1st Duke of LancasterIssueCatherine, Queen of CastileHouseCastilian House of IvreaFatherPeter of CastileMotherMaría de PadillaReligionRoman CatholicismConstance was married, at Roquefort, near Bordeaux, Guienne, on 21 September 1371, to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, who was the third son of Edward III of Englandand Philippa of Hainault, as his second wife. Constance's younger sister, Infanta Isabella, married Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth son of King Edward III and Queen Philippa.On 9 February 1372 Constance made a ceremonial entry into London as Queen of Castile, accompanied by Edward, the Black Prince, and an escort of English and Castilian retainers and London dignitaries. Crowds lined the streets to see her as she processed to the Savoy Palace in the Strand where she was ceremonially received by her husband, who had proclaimed himself King of Castile and León on 29 January.[1]The surrender of Santiago de Compostela to John of Gaunt. Constance is the lady on horseback.This was the way for Gaunt to obtain a kingdom of his own (he had been offered Scotland as a youth by the childless David II but nothing came of this), as his nephew Richard II and the descendants of his brother Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, stood between him and the Crown of England. John of Gaunt claimed the title of King of Castile jure uxoris, and insisted that English nobles address him as "my lord of Spain", but was unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain the crown. Their daughter Catherine of Lancaster was married to the king of the Trastámara line, Henry III of Castile, thus uniting these two rival claims.Constance died at Leicester Castle and was buried at the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, Leicester.[2][3]

y le sigue Berengaria (Castilian: Berenguela; nicknamed the Great (Castilian: la Grande); 1179 or 1180 – 8 November 1246) was queen regnant of Castile[1] in 1217 and queen consort of León from 1197 to 1204. As the eldest child and heir presumptive of Alfonso VIII of Castile, she was a sought after bride, and was engaged to Conrad, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. After his death, she married her cousin, Alfonso IX of León, to secure the peace between him and her father. She had five children with him before their marriage was voided by Pope Innocent III.Berengaria1753 statue in MadridQueen of Castile and ToledoReign6 June – 31 August 1217PredecessorHenry ISuccessorFerdinand IIIQueen consort of LeónTenure1197–1204Born1179 or 1180BurgosDied8 November 1246 (aged 66)Las Huelgas near BurgosBurialLas Huelgas near BurgosConsortConrad II, Duke of Swabia(m. 1187; died 1196)Alfonso IX of León(m. 1197; annulled 1204)Issuemore...Ferdinand III of CastileAlfonso, Lord of MolinaBerengaria, Latin EmpressHouseCastilian House of IvreaFatherAlfonso VIII of CastileMotherEleanor of EnglandReligionRoman CatholicismWhen her father died, she served as regent for her younger brother Henry I in Castile until she succeeded him on his untimely death. Within months, she turned Castile over to her son, Ferdinand III, concerned that as a woman she would not be able to lead Castile's forces. However, she remained one of his closest advisors, guiding policy, negotiating, and ruling on his behalf for the rest of her life. She was responsible for the re-unification of Castile and León under her son's authority, and supported his efforts in the Reconquista. She was a patron of religious institutions and supported the writing of a history of the two countries.

[henryfitzempress]

Major events of Henry II’s reign.

January- March.

In the first three months of this year we incline to date several Charters of the King, given at Rouen, in behalf of Walcheline, the newly appointed Abbot of Abingdon. 

One is addressed to Richard de Lucy, probably as being at the time Custos or Fermor of Windsor. These Charters are attested by Rotroc, Bishop of Evreux ; Philip, Bishop of Baieux ; Arnulf, Bishop of Liseux ; William de Caisneto ;William Fitz John ; Hubert de Vaux ; William de Hastings ;and Manasser Biset, Dapifer; or by some of them.

March.

22nd. K. Henry advertises his intended expedition to Toulouse.

Levies were to be made in England, Normandy, Acquitaine, and other provinces. The King claimed the Fief against Raymond, Comte of St. Giles, and in right of his wife, Eleanor, Duchess of Acquitaine. Eighteen years previous, viz., in 1141, Louis VII. of France, being then husband of Eleanor, had claimed the Fief in the same right.

April.

K. Henry went into Guienne and held conference with Raymond Berenger, Comte of Barcelona, at Blaye (apud Castrum Blavium). They agreed that in due time Prince Richard should marry Raymond's daughter, and that Henry should cede to them the Duchy of Acquitaine.

May.

28th. Theobald, Comte of Blois, "frater Henrici " (brother of Henry of Troyes, must be meant), returning from a visit to the Shrine of St. James of Compostella, was received and lodged in the Abbey of St. Martial at Limoges. 

The Comte offered a gift of 10 merks " on the Sepulchre of the Apostle." Henry, King of England, by his Deputy (per principatum) or by his order (reading per praceptum), royally provided the Comte's entertainment, though the Comte did not wish it (invitus fuit).

June.

At Perigueux, in the 'Bishop's Meadow, K. Henry conferred the honour of knighthood on Malcolm, King of Scots. Malcolm followed the King's arms, accompanied by thirty sons of nobles (Heroum), who had been his associates in his late estate of tutelage (recentis tyrocinii consocii). 

A Welsh Prince was also in the King's host. It is in this connection, probably, that the Pipe-Roll of 1159 contains a charge by the Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, viz., of £17. 10,9., which he had paid to the Knights.

September.

20th. The King of England is still before Toulouse, when Louis of France throws himself into the town, adopting the cause of its defender, the Comte of St. Giles, because the Comte had married Constance, the French King's sister.

K. Henry, pressed by the Chancellor, Becket, to seize a favourable opportunity for assaulting the town refused, “prcesentis domini sui reverentice vetante"; such an act would be in defiance of the obligations and fealty which Henry owed to Louis, as regarded the 'person of the Suzerain.

26th. King Henry breaks up the siege of Toulouse. The King goes first to Cahors, which he fortifies, and entrusts to Thomas the Chancellor.

October.

King Henry, after dismissing his army, arrives at Uzerclie; the King of Scots being still in his company. In the retreat from Toulouse died William, Comte of Boulogne and Moretain andjure uxoris, Earl of Surrey, son and heir of the late King Stephen.

King Henry next reaches Limoges. Here the King renders up to his late ward, Ademar V., Vicomte of Limoges, his paternal inheritance, marrying the youth to Sara, one of the three daughters of Reginald, Earl of Cornwall (the King's uncle).

King Henry, having arrived in Normandy, invades Louis's territory about Beauvais (pagum Belvacensem)

November.

King Henry destroys the Border Fortress of Guerberoi. In this sequence King Henry is at Estrepagni. At this crisis of the conflict between Henry and Louis, Simon, Comte of Evreux, makes over his fortresses of Rochefort (Eupem fortem), Epernon (Espemonem), and Montfort [Montem fortem) to K. Henry.

This was a great blow to Louis, inasmuch as it gave Henry command of the communications between Paris, Orleans, and Etampes. A truce was the result, to last till the octaves of Pentecost (May 22nd, 1160.)

December.

The King and Queen keep Christmas at Falaise. 

Sources: “Court, Household and Itinerary of K. Henry II”.

(Gifs are not mine to claim ownership. They are only used here to illustrate the characters and events of history.)

[instituteofgeorgianhistory]

Georgian and European Armies in Action

Georgia, an aspirant for NATO membership, actively contributes to NATO-led operations. Georgia’s alliance with the West has its historical background. General chronology of the Crusades shows well-coordinated warfare.

 1085

Alfonso VI, king of Castile, took  Toledo. The center of Arab science and learning fell  into Christian hands.

1086

The Almoravid army in Spain defeated  Alfonso VI of Castile’s army at Zallaka.

1087

Genoa and Pisa took control of the Western Mediterranean  from the Arabs.

1089

David  IV, son of Giorgi II, ascended the Georgian throne.

1091

Duke Roger  completed his conquest of Sicily and went on to take  Malta.

1094

Castilian  soldier Ruy Diaz de Bivar, better known as El Cid, took  Valencia after a nine-month siege.

1095

The Byzantine  Emperor Alexios requested aid against Seljuks. Pope Urban proclaimed the  Crusade at the Synod of Clermont.

1096

Alexios Comnenos  provided food and escort for the Crusaders, exacting  an oath of fealty from the leaders in an  attempt to protect his rights over any “lost provinces”  of Byzantine Empire.

1097

Battle of  Nicaea: a combined force of Crusaders and the Byzantines took the Turks’  capital.

1098

After a  nine-month siege by Bohemund of Taranto, Antioch fell to the Crusaders.

1099

El Cid was  defeated by the Almoravids at Cuenca and died. Jerusalem fell to the  Crusaders. Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded under the Norman knight Godfrey  de Bouillon. He was elected king and assumed the title of Defender of the  Holy Sepulchre. On hearing that  Jerusalem fell to Christians, David IV of Georgia refused to pay tribute to  Seljuks. He began a war against them.

1102

Alfonso VI  lifted the Almoravids’ siege of Valencia, he emptied and burned the city.

1104

Baldwin I of  Jerusalem took Acre, Raymond of Toulouse took Byblos.

1105

Battle of Ertsukhi, Georgians defeated the Turks.

1109

Crusaders took Tripoli and Beirut.

1113

The knights of the Hospital of St. John  resolved to fight for the defense of the Holy Land.

1114

Toledo withstood an attack by the  Almoravids.

1118

Alfonso of Aragon retook Saragossa from  the Almoravids, and made the town his  capital. King David IV of Georgia invited Cumans as settlers to form a light cavalry.

1121

The Byzantine  Emperor John II Comnenos took Southwest Anatolia back from Turks. In the battle of Didgori David IV, with his Georgians and some 200 crusaders in the  army, attacked the Seljuks more than twice as much in size. Turks were  decisively defeated.

1122

David’s army retook Tbilisi. Muslim rule was brought  to end.

1124

David IV of Georgia invaded Armenia and Shirvan to  exercise Georgian rule instead of Turkish.

1139

Demetre I of Georgia took Ganja in Azerbaijan.

1144

Zangi sultan of  Mosul took Edessa after conquering Muslim Northern Syria.This prompted calls  for another Crusade.

1145

Almoravid rulers  lost their hold over Spain.

1147

The Second  Crusade began under leadership of Louis VII of France and Conrad III, but  there was no overall command.

1153

Baldwin III king  of Jerusalem took Ascalon, the last remaining Fatimid possession in the Holy  land.

1154

Damascus  surrendered to the sultan of Aleppo.

1163

Georgia’s victory over the Turks of Erzerum.

1169

Salah ed-Din  became vizier of the Fatimid Caliph of Cairo. As vizier, Salah ed-Din held  more real power than the Caliph, who was mainly a ceremonial figure.

1171

Salah ed-Din  abolished the Caliphate, becoming effective sovereign of Egypt.

1172

Georgians were victorious near the Armenian city of  Dvin.

1173

Salah ed-Din  seized Aden. Giorgi, king of the Georgians, attacked Derbend. He was accom- panied by his close  friend and relative Andronicos Comnenos, future Emperor.

1175

Salah ed-Din  gradually welded Egypt and Syria into a single pan-Arab power, with serious  implications for the Holy Land in the middle. Salah ed-Din planned to take  the Holy Land for himself.

1176

Salah ed-Din  mounted a campaign to drive Christians from the kingdom of Jerusalem.

1177

Salah ed-Din was  defeated by Baldwin IV of Jerusalem at Ramleh.

1183

Salah ed-Din  conquered Syria, took Aleppo and became sultan.

1185

Salah ed-Din  seized Mosul and began his conquest of Mesopotamia.

1186

Frederick  Barbarossa started to prepare for the Third Crusade.

1187

Salah ed-Din  took Jerusalem.

1188

Philip II of  France imposed a Salah ed-Din tithe to raise money for the Third Crusade.

1190

The Holy Roman  Emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowned in the river Calycadnus in Cilicia.  Philip II started to prepare to join the Crusade.

1191

Richard I of  England embarked on the Third Crusade but spent a winter quarrelling with  Philip II in Sicily. Then he left Messina and conquered Cyprus. Richard  joined the siege of Acre and played a major part in reducing Acre. Philip II  fell ill and returned to Paris. Richard meanwhile gained a victory over Salah  ed-Din at Arsuf and led the Crusaders to within a few miles of Jerusalem.

1192

The Crusaders  followed unreliable and dishonest guides into the desert. Famine, disease and  desertion reduced their numbers. Richard I made a truce with Salah ed-Din.  Under it the Christians were allowed to keep the ports they had taken and  have unrestricted access to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

1195

Georgians defeated the Turks in the battle of  Shamkhori.

1202

Pope Innocent  III offered the command of the Fourth Crusade to Boniface III, count of  Montferrat. Battle of Basiani –  Georgians faced the sultan of Rum Rukn ad-Din, Turks were defeated.

[ebooks-bnr]

Soulié Frédéric - Le Comte de Foix

Soulié Frédéric - Le Comte de Foix : Deux ans après l’entrée de Simon de Montfort dans Toulouse, autour de 1217, la domination de celui-ci sur le Midi n’est cependant pas encore entièrement assurée. Au fil du temps, les croisés se font moins nombreux et Montfort peine à maintenir ses troupes, d’autant plus que la guerre s’éternise et que les alliances se font et se défont constamment au gré des événements. Des poches de résistance apparaissent au Languedoc, nouvellement allié au roi d’Angleterre, ainsi qu’autour du comte de Foix, qui a donné asile à l’épouse et au fils du comte de Béziers. D’autres jeux d’influences interviennent, y compris une querelle intestine entre le vieux comte de Toulouse et son propre fils, le futur Raymond VII, déterminé à reconquérir les terres que la prudence cauteleuse de son père a fait tomber dans les griffes de Montfort. C’est dans ce contexte d’insécurité et de volatilité politique que se déroule Le Comte de Foix, roman malheureusement inachevé. Il est le troisième et dernier roman de la série consacrée par Frédéric Soulié à la croisade contre les Albigeois (1209-1229). Au début du 13e siècle, le catharisme est fortement implanté dans le sud de la France et affecte toutes les couches de la société, y compris les classes dirigeantes. Pour lutter contre l’hérésie qui menace le pouvoir spirituel et temporel de l’Église, le pape Innocent III prêche la croisade et promet à tous ceux qui y participeront les mêmes indulgences qu’aux croisés de terre sainte. Voyant dans cette expédition peu lointaine une façon avantageuse de gagner leur salut, les barons français sont nombreux à répondre à l’appel. Le premier roman de la trilogie de Frédéric Soulié (Le Vicomte de Béziers) s’arrêtait, on s’en souvient, en novembre 1209, au moment où Roger Trencavel, trahi par Raymond VI de Toulouse, mourait à Carcassonne, laissant derrière lui une épouse et un enfant en bas âge. Le second volume (Le Comte de Toulouse) reprenait le fil des événements en 1211 et se terminait en 1215, le jour où Albert de Saissac, alias Laurent de Turin, victime du même Raymond, périssait dans des circonstances atroces, alors que Simon de Montfort faisait son entrée triomphale dans Toulouse. Pour évoquer cette période tourmentée de l’histoire France, Frédéric Soulié s’appuie principalement sur une Histoire générale du Languedoc datant du XVIIe siècle, ce qui ne l’empêche nullement de prendre certaines libertés par rapport aux faits. Influencé par Walter Scott, comme d’ailleurs bien d’autres écrivains de sa génération (March 133), il introduit une foule de personnages pittoresques destinés à frapper l’imagination de ses lecteurs. Des dialogues très enlevés, alternant avec de vigoureuses scènes de bataille, contribuent à nous tenir en haleine et nous rappellent que Soulié ne fut pas qu’un romancier à succès mais un excellent auteur dramatique. À l’époque où l’immense talent de Balzac n’avait pas encore été consacré par la postérité (March 275), le critique Jules Janin le comparait favorablement à l’auteur de La Comédie humaine et brossait son portrait en ces termes : « Il réunissait dans sa tête féconde les grandes qualités du poète comique : il savait rire, il savait pleurer ; il a trouvé, sans les chercher, de nouveaux sentiers qui menaient à la terreur, à la pitié, à la haine, à l’amour, à la vengeance, à toutes les grandes passions du cœur humain. » (Janin) Téléchargements : ePUB - PDF - PDF (Petits Écrans) - Kndle-MOBI - HTML - DOC-ODT Read the full article

[bunilicious]

European royal divorces/annulments before 1533:

1152 Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine 1190 Philip II Augustus of France and Ingeborg of Denmark bef 1199 John I of England and Isabella of Gloucester 1199 Constance of Brittany and Ranulf de Blundeville 1216 Henry I of Castile and Mafalda of Portugal 1229 James I of Aragon and Eleanor of Castile 1245 Margaret of Angouleme and Raymond of Toulouse 1293 Margaret de Clare and Edmund, Earl of Cornwall 1318 Thomas, Earl of Lincoln and Alice de Lacy 1383 Elizabeth of Lancaster and John Hastings 1472 Anne of York and Henry Holland 1498 Louis XII of France and Joan of France 1527 Margaret Tudor and Archibald Douglas

Don’t you just love it when GoT fans claim annulment isn’t possible in medieval times? But, you know, it’s not like GRRM isn’t inspired by historical events or anything...lmao

http://cupboardworld.blogspot.ro/2012/08/henry-viii-didnt-invent-divorce.html

[histoireettralala]

Louis VII and his great vassals

Philip Augustus owed a considerable debt to his father, not least for extending royal authority into the principalities. Louis forged links which brought the great vassals closer to a monarchy which was becoming more than one among equals, establishing the suzerainty of the Capetians. Previously the magnates had rarely attended court, only doing homage, if at all, on their borders, and providing small contingents for military service, if any. Even in the Plantagenet lands, Louis advanced the royal position. Henry Plantagenet came to Paris to give homage in return for recognition in Normandy, something previous dukes had avoided. He went again as king in 1158, acknowledging that for his French lands: "I am his man." The Plantagenet sons made frequent visits to Paris to give homage. They offered Louis lands in return for recognition, weakening their grasp on vital border territories.

Even the practice of magnates having significant functions in the palace went into decline, but now a new sort of link began to be forged. The role of the magnates was altered by the emergence of large assemblies, sometimes local, sometimes broader. The assemblies at Vézelay and Etampes, in preparation for the Second Crusade, were an important step in the significance of something akin to national assemblies.

Louis's resistance to Frederick Barbarossa also paid dividends: in Flanders, Champagne and Burgundy. Barbarossa saw Louis as a 'kinglet', and coveted the lands between their respective realms, threatening and cajoling his French neighbours. Hostile relations developed between the kings, especially during the papal schism. Again Louis's Church policy gave him advantages. His favoured candidate for the papacy, Alexander III, carried the day, and Churches in the danger area turned to him as protector, as did some of the lesser nobility. The lord of Bresse offered himself as a vassal: 'come into this region where your presence is necessary to the churches as well as to me.'

Nor was Louis easy to push against his will. Even the count of Champagne experienced the king's wrath: 'you have presumed too far, to act for me without consulting me'. Louis's third marriage, to Adela in 1160, cemented his improving relations with the house of Champagne. He had transformed French policy to ally with the natural enemies of Anjou. Adela's brothers, Theobald V count of Blois, Henry the Liberal count of Champagne, Stephen count of Sancerre, and William who would be archbishop of Reims, became vital supporters of the crown; Theobald and Henry also married Louis's two daughters by Eleanor. The crown therefore did not have to face Henry II alone. When in 1173 Louis encouraged the rebellion by Young Henry, he could call to his support the counts of Flanders, Boulogne, Troyes, Blois, Dreux and Sancerre.

In the south Louis attempted to improve his position through marriage agreements. His marriage to Eleanor gave him an interest in Aquitaine, which was not completely abandoned after the divorce. He married his sister Constance to Raymond V count of Toulouse in 1154. In 1162 Raymond declared: 'I am your man, and all that is ours is yours.' It is true that Raymond' s marriage failed, his wife complaining 'he does not even give me enough to eat', and that Raymond flirted with a Plantagenet alliance, but only to join Richard against his father. By 1176 he had returned to the Capetian fold.

Louis used marriage as a prospect to cement relations with Flanders. Louis had brought Flanders into the coalition against Henry II, and now agreement was made for his son Philip to marry Isabella of Hainault, the count of Flanders' niece. The dukes of the other great eastern principality, Burgundy, were a branch of the royal family. As Fawtier has said, it was 'the only great fief over which royal suzerainty was never contested' - at least until the time of Philip Augustus. At Louis VI's coronation, three princes of the realm had refused to give homage. By the accession of Philip Augustus, liege homage of the great vassals to the crown had become the expected practice.

Vassals of the princes sometimes turned directly to the king for aid rather than to their own lords. Many in the south sought Louis's protection, including the viscountess of Narbonne, who declared: 'I am a vassal especially devoted to your crown'. Roger Trencavel received the castle of Minerve from Louis and did homage for it, though he was a vassal of the count of Toulouse, and the castle was not even the king's to give. William of Ypres, though a vassal of the count of Flanders, asked Louis to enfief his son Robert. Under Louis, not only were the great vassals brought closer, but Capetian influence was filtering through to a lower stratum of vassals.

Jim Bradbury - Philip Augustus, King of France, 1180-1223

[laurentartufel]

Selon la secrétaire de mon médecin je suis né le 7 août 1197 ... j’ai donc 822 ans ! Evénements en 1197 : Richard Cœur de Lion construit Château-Gaillard aux Andelys. L’empereur Henri VI se prépare à partir en croisade. Henri II de Champagne meurt en tombant accidentellement d’une fenêtre de son palais. Le roi d’Aragon, Pierre II, accorde une charte de libertés à la ville de Perpignan. Les Sarrasins prennent Toulon. Ils massacrent la population. Création de la Ligue toscane à la mort d’Henri IV. L’empereur romain germanique, meurt à Messine alors qu’il s’apprête à partir en croisade ; son ministre est chargé d’exécuter son testament, qui prévoit de donner la couronne de Sicile et l’empire à son fils Frédéric II après consentement du pape. Naissances en 1197 : Raymond VII de Toulouse, Marquis de Provence. Juntoku, 84e empereur du Japon. Archambaud VIII de Bourbon, seigneur de Bourbon. Et Laurent Artufel #vampire #lericardconserve # https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw2M5U-HnpH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=slc1jeg3ytww

[catharcountry]

Château de Beaucaire, Beaucaire, Gard, Occitanie, France.

www.catharcountry.info

Birthplace of Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, b. 1197. Aged 19, Raymond successfully besieged the Crusaders of Simon de Montfort here in 1216 during the Albigensian Crusade.

The existing structures date from the 12th and 16th centuries, It includes an unusual polygonal tower perched on a rocky spur overlooking the Rhône River. The castle has been listed since 1875 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture

[awesometheauthor]

                       The Ancestry of Ponce de Minerva and the Browne.                                                                   1.

John J. Browne y Ayes

Copyright 2018, All Rights Reserved, National And International.

This last weekend, the wind and the rain pelted our home and almost flooded the property. It was nothing to worry about because a while back I had worked very hard to set up a good drainage system on the property. Cement tiles had been set into the ground on a precise angle to allow for drainage from the back of the house to the front. Dirt had been piled and leveled to perform in the same way.

I logged on today to share what I had accomplished this weekend. After 25 years of gathering documentation and data on my ancestors, I have finally finished the ancestry of Ponce de Minerva and the Browne who were my father's ancestors.

Throughout my work on my genealogy, I have come to realize how small this planet is and I have also come to realize that we who have been living upon this little rock in the middle of nowhere, are heavily connected to one another by blood ties.

As I have written in the past, Ponce de Minerva's parents were of royal blood. His mother, Cecile was a French princess and his father was of the noble Pons lineage who had fought, bled and died during the Crusades fighting on behalf of a faceless god in a vain attempt to recapture Jerusalem away from the Saracens.

Living back in those days was horrible. No electricity, no clean running water and the food you ate had to be consumed right away to avoid getting deathly sick from food poisoning. Life for humankind was very short. If you lived beyond 50 years of age, you were considered ancient. I can imagine people gathering around this ancient being asking questions on how they survived so long. Life was hard and full of danger every day. Petty wars between landholders, disease, and starvation took their toll on human life. If you were a soldier in some king's army your life was even shorter. If you got wounded in battle you could develop lockjaw and blood poisoning from infection. There were no antibiotics and medical help was still in the stone ages.

Getting back to the ancestry of the Browne and the Ponce de Minerva. It is known historically that the Browne's originated in France and their original surname used to 

                                                                                                                                                                                       2.

be LeBrun. Until now, little was known about who was the specific individual who was the founding father of this clan. It was known that the LeBrun came over to what is now the Brittish Islands during the invasion of the Normans around ten hundred AD.

My research took me to Scotland during the year of 1140 where I found a Guillaume LeBrun de Lusignan. He was the son of Hugh VII LeBrun de Lusignan and Sarazine de Lusignan. He was born 1140 in Lusignan, Vienne, Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes, France and died in 1199 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Early in his life, Guillaume married Lady Lucy Browne of Aberdeenshire which is in Scotland. The name LeBrun is odd because it means, someone who is either bearlike or who fights with the fury of a bear. Perhaps the surname might even have to do with a specific "Brown color." But I doubt that. You see, the French came to the islands as invaders and conquerors Back then they were called Normans. Any lands and that they acquired had to be legitimized by marrying the daughter of an entitled lord of the manor. Thus, the name LeBrun through legitimate marries became the surname Browne. As always, there are many variations to the surname LeBrun and those changes in the name came about through the languages spoken within a specific location. LeBrun became Bruin.

As I traced this lineage I found the given name "John" repeated for 9 generations from 1425 back to 1220. Five of these were knighted as Sir John. Between 1159 and 1208 I discovered Guillaume - William De Bruin living in Scotland with the family name "De Bruin". I then find traced the lineage with names such as Hugh XI. de Lusignan Comte de la Marche et d'Angouleme, and residing in France. A few generations further back we have Hugues IX 'Le Brun' de Lusignan Seigneur of Lusignan, and continuing further back, Hugues Hugh VIII Le Brun Seigneur De Lusignan, Hugh VIII Le Brun Count De La Marche Seigneur De Lusignan, Hugh De Lusignan, Hugh VI "The Devil" de Lusignan, HUGH "The Fair" Lusignan V and Hugues Hugh IV (Brunus, the Bear) Seigneur de Lusignan. With this individual born 987 AD we have the introduction of the animal, "Bear" into his surname and hence the family name. Prior to this, we have HUGH III Albus "The White" de Lusignan, Hugues II Carus, Lord de Lusignan Le Cher La Melusine and finally, Hugh I The Venator or Hunter de Lusignan. But wait ... We have a problem. 

                                                                                                                                                                                               3.

Beyond this, there are conflicting and impossible dates so we end our research at this point for now.

The family was deeply involved in the crusades. Hugues XI was killed in Crusade Battle, at Faruskur, Egypt. Hugh IX died at Dumyat (Damietta), Egypt. Hugh VIII died in Aleppo, Outre-Mer, Syria.

There were many prominent and powerful members of the House of Lusignan. All of them were the ancestors of today's Browne clan.

An important point of bloodline connection was discovered within the lineage of the counts of Lusignan. Hugh the V d' Lusignan was born 1016 Toulouse Haute Garonne, France. He was the son of Hugh IV LeBrun de Lusignan and lady Aldearde

Hugh V was married to Almodis de la Marche who was born 1011 - 1015 AD in Marche, Limousin, Poitou, France. She was the Countess of Limoges, Grevinne, and the Countess of Barcelona.

This woman had been married three times and each time she was married she had received doweries of land as well as entitlement. This is where it got very interesting. As always, her marriages were very prolific and there were many half brothers and sisters created in those lineages.

She was married to Hugh who was the founder of the LeBrun-Browne's. She was married to Raimon d' Berenguer I who founded another illustrious lineage. He last marriage was to the Count of Toulouse, Pons I de Toulouse aka "El Vell, - The Old. Pons was born 991 AD in Barcelona, Spain and died during the year of 1060 AD. He was buried in Saint Sernin.

By the way, he was one of the direct ancestors of Ponce d' Minerva! 

Here are some facts,

Noble family House of Rouergue

                                                                                                                                                                                        4.

Spouse(s) Lady Majore

Almodis de La Marche

Father William III of Toulouse

Mother Emma of Provence

Pons (II) William[1] (991 '96 1060) was the Count of Toulouse from 1037. He was the eldest son and successor of William III Taillefer and Emma of Provence. He thus inherited the title Marchio Provincæ. He is known to have owned many allods and he relied on Roman, Salic, and Gothic law.

Already in 1030, he possessed a lot of power in the Albigeois. In 1037, he gave many allodial churches and castles, including one half of that of Porta Spina, in the Albigeois, Nimois, and Provence as a bridal gift to his wife Lady Majore.

In 1038, he split the purchase of the Diocese of Albi with the Trencavel family. In 1040, he donated property in Diens to Cluny. In 1047, he first appears as count palatine in a charter donating Moissac to Cluny.

Pons married the first wife, Lady Majore (d.1044),[2] in 1022. His only child by Lady Majore; Pons the Younger, did not inherit his county or march. In 1045, Pons the older married, Almodis de La Marche, former wife of Hugh V of Lusignan, but he too repudiated her in 1053 because the church had excommunicated them because of consanguinity issues. (By the way, Almodis had committed bigamy twice).

They had:

William IV, Count of Toulouse

Raymond IV, Count Saint-Gilles,[3] succeeded his brother.

Hugh, abbot of Saint-Gilles.

Almodis, married the Count of Melgueil.

 

                                                             ��                                                                                                                               5.

Pons died in Toulouse and was buried in Saint-Sernin, probably late in 1060 or early in 1061.

Notes

Raymond Pons was "Pons I." In Latin is Pontius or Poncius and Ponce in Spanish.

Speculated to have ancestry within Lady Mayor's lineage, daughter of Sancho III of Navarre.

Sources:

The Chanson D'Antioche: An Old French Account of the First Crusade, transl. Susan Edgington and Carol Sweetenham, (Routledge, 2011), 391.

Source

Lewis, Archibald R. The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718'961050. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965.

Medieval Lands Project: Toulouse.

In any case, as I have written, I have finished working upon the ancestry of Ponce de Minerva. In the process, I have broken through the speculation and have confirmed without a doubt that Pons' ancestry does indeed go back to Dona Mayor's lineage.

Beyond that lineage Pons-Ponce ancestry goes back to King Childerbert III and his wife Habibai Natronai David, she was born about 669 Pembeditha, Babylon Persia. Her lineage is a rich one.

Also known as, Theodorich, Theodoric. Also known as Makir. Theuderic Makir (David) Jud de Narbonne. He was one of the first Exilarchs of Babylon. For the first time, the early generations of this line have been revised to reflect Judeo Christian ancestry. Makir who married the daughter of Charles Martel, was a Judiarch of Narbonne, a 

                                                                                                                                                                                      6.

ranking Jewish leader. Makir Judiarch was son of Habi Bai Ben Natronai, (Per the Austustan Society). Born 771 died 793. Judiarch of Narbonne, (Septimania) Source, Royalty for commoners, Roderick W. Stuart, p234.

From there we go back to a time that was very dark. It was a time of legend and superstition.

Marcomir was King of Franks. He was born in 128. He married Athildis, daughter of Coilus or Coel, King of Britain (Old King Cole, ca. 125, built Coel-Castra, or Colchester) and a daughter of Cyllin, King of Siluria. Among the children of Marcomir and Athildis was Clodomir IV, King of Franks. Marcomir died in 149. Athildis died in 170. [Coilus was the son of Marius. Marius’ father was Arviragus, and his mother was Venissa Julia. Venissa Julia was a daughter of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of Rome. Tiberius Claudius Caesar’s mother was Antonia, daughter of Mark Anthony. On his mother’s side, Coilus was the grandson of Boadicea, or, in Latin, Victoria, British queen who poisoned hereself in 62 A.D. after being defeated in battle by the Romans. Boadicea’s husband was Prasutagus.]

Macomir, had a son, Pharamond, who was king of all Franks.

Pharamon] or Faramund (c. 365 '96 430) is a legendary early king of the Franks, first referred to in the anonymous 8th-century Carolingian text Liber Historiae Francorum, also known as the Gesta regnum Francorum. In this work, which is customarily dated to 727, the anonymous author begins by writing of a mythical Trojan origin for the Franks. The emphasis of the Liber was upon "construct[ing] a specific past for a particular group of people."

The story is told of the election of the first Frankish king. It says that after the death of Sunno, his brother Marcomer, leader of the Ampsivarii and Chatti, proposed to the Franks that they should have one single king, contrary to their tradition. The Liber adds that Pharamond, named as Marcomer's son, was chosen as this first king (thus beginning the tradition of long-haired kings of the Franks), and then states that when he died, his son Chlodio was raised up as the next king. The work says no more of him.

 

                                                                                                                                                                               7.

Because there is no reference in any source prior to this work to this figure named Pharamond, who is placed prior to Chlodio (that is, before ca. 428), scholars consider him a legendary rather than historical figure. As a matter of fact in several sources, for example, Gregory of Tours, multiple kings are attested to rule simultaneously in later times. It is thus a dubious matter to assume that, even if Pharamond existed, he was ever recognized as sole king. The first king of the Franks who may have been close to this position was Clovis I, but after his death, his empire was divided again amongst his sons, who ruled again simultaneously.

The myth of Pharamond has led to new legends and romances in later times. In past times this has led to attempts to falsely write Pharamond into Prosper Tiro. Martin Bouquet at a much later date invented an entire history of Pharamond.

Historical sources

Gregory of Tours, in his Annales Francici notes in 420 "Pharamond reigns in France" ("Pharamundus regnat in Francia" - Annales Francici, page 151)

Sigebert of Gembloux names him as King of the Franks between Marcomer and Chlodio ("Post Marcomirum filius ejus Faramundus fuit, rex crinitus, a quo Franci crinitos reges habere coeperunt. Post quem Clodius filius ejus regnans Francis a Thoringia advectis Gallias invasit, et capta urbe Tornaco Cameracum usque progressus multos Romanorum in Galliis peremit" . He keeps the mythical origin for Marcomer.

Saint Gregory wrote about a group of Trojans that escaped to the Maeotian marshes, then into Pannonia, becoming the Sicambri (a subdivision of the Franks), who inhabited the region along with the Alans. The Alan presence in Pannonia is historical around 370, as part of their migrations to Gaul, and later to Hispania, where they ruled until the arrival of the Visigoths. He says that later, the Franks migrated to Germania led by Marcomer, and established themselves along the Rhine. After Marcomer's death, Pharemundus, or Faramundus succeeded him as chieftain.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                              8.

It is quite obvious that Saint Gregory was quite ignorant of ancient history. The Trojans lived hundreds of years before Marcomir and his son was born. Then again the church believed that the world was flat.

In Gesta Francorum (c.1100), chapter 8 describes how the Franks changed their laws under Pharamond . page 229)

I've printed out this genealogy and the book is close to 300 pages. Now I have to decide if I really want to work upon it and publish it so the world can learn who were the real ancestors of the Ponce de Leon!

The crowned rampant lion image on the shield was granted to our ancestors, the Comtes d' Lusignan by Richard the Lionhearted.

[dwellordream]

“...Eleanor shared conventional religious beliefs, and like any Christian she would have experienced genuine emotion at the prospect of worshiping at the sites of Christ’s passion. She probably hoped for some reward for her pilgrimage—and not only in heaven. Even though the French queen had borne a daughter, she must have worried that her marriage had not produced more children; above all, she was troubled by her failure to give birth to a male heir. She must have hoped that by submitting herself to the pains and perils of a long pilgrimage she might merit the reward of bearing a son. 

Yet Eleanor may have underestimated the discomfort and danger of such a lengthy journey through enemy territory, anticipating eagerly a radical change in her life, breaking away from the tedium of life in the French royal household to experience the adventure and excitement of travel to distant and exotic lands. Eleanor must also have looked forward to renewing her acquaintance with her uncle Raymond and visiting his court at Antioch, for its reputation for adopting a luxurious oriental lifestyle had reached the West.

The French queen’s presence on the crusading expedition is often credited to Louis VII’s “over-urgent longing for his young wife,” an infatuation so intense that the young king could not bear the long separation from his queen that his absence from France would cause. Yet there were sound political reasons for not leaving Eleanor behind. As queen, she would have held a powerful position, perhaps even assuming the title of regent; and she could have disputed the power of Suger of Saint-Denis, Louis’s choice for administering the kingdom during his absence. The Poitevins around Eleanor at court had already demonstrated their hostility for the wise old abbot. 

Furthermore, Louis may have considered his wife’s presence on crusade essential for ensuring the participation of the Poitevin barons in his enterprise, as well as the generous financial assistance of the churches and townspeople of Aquitaine. A number of nobles from Poitou would join their duchess on the Second Crusade, among them Geoffrey de Rancon, Hugh de Lusignan, Guy de Thouars, and Saldebreuil de Sanzay, Eleanor’s constable. The troubadour Jaufre Rudel, lord of Blaye in Gascony, was also among her nobles traveling to Palestine, a member of the entourage of the count of Toulouse.

For churchmen, women’s presence on the Second Crusade threatened the mission’s success, and the mere fact of Eleanor’s accompanying her husband merited their condemnation. The late twelfth-century English monastic writer William of Newburgh, for example, saw nothing good coming from the queen’s presence in the crusading host, feeling it set a bad precedent that would encourage nobles to bring along their wives or mistresses, who would then enlarge the number of women by bringing their maidservants. Whatever the result, noble ladies did join the crusaders; they included the wives of Thierry of Alsace, count of Flanders, and Count Alphonse-Jourdain of Toulouse.

Newburgh, along with most medieval monks, held a deep reverence for chastity. He declared that “in that Christian camp [castris] where chastity [casta] should have prevailed, a horde of women were milling about . . . bringing scandal upon our army.” For Newburgh looking back years after the Second Crusade, the knights’ sexual license afforded a sufficient explanation for its failure; he wrote of their misfortunes, “It is not surprising that divine favour did not smile at all on the troops, as they were defiled and unclean.” He goes on to explain that the word castra [camps] “is derived from castratio luxuriae [the castration of wantonness], but our camp was not chaste, for the lusts of many spurted forth . . . with a disastrous licentiousness.”

Strangely, condemnations of women going on crusade did not mention their leaving behind their young children. For Eleanor to take the cross meant that she would be separated from her daughter Marie, no more than two years old, for over two years. This separation would not have caused great concern for either Eleanor or Louis, however, given the medieval aristocracy’s attitude toward child-rearing. If aristocratic mothers had many responsibilities that competed with caring for their children, a queen had even more demands on her time. 

Nothing is known of Eleanor’s role in her young daughter’s rearing before she left on crusade, but it is likely that it was limited. If mothering was not Eleanor’s first priority, it is no more fair to accuse her of frivolity in abandoning little Marie to go off on such a great adventure than it would be to condemn Louis for going on a crusade for the sake of the Holy Places instead of staying at home to guard his subjects’ safety.”

- Ralph V. Turner, “Adventures and Misadventures on the Second Crusade, 1145–1149.” in Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France, Queen of England

[nanshe-of-nina]

Knights of the Kingsguard Ryam Redwyne “Ser Ryam Redwyne was the greatest knight of his day, and one of the worst Hands ever to serve a king.”

Lucamore Strong, “the Lusty” “The truth is not so funny. He was never called Lucamore the Lusty whilst he lived. His name was Ser Lucamore Strong, and his whole life was a lie. When his deceit was discovered, his own Sworn Brothers gelded him, and the Old King sent him to the Wall. Those sixteen children were left weeping.”

Criston Cole, “the Kingmaker” Ser Criston Cole. Criston the Kingmaker had set brother against sister and divided the Kingsguard against itself, bringing on the terrible war the singers named the Dance of the Dragons. Some claimed he acted from ambition, for Prince Aegon was more tractable than his willful older sister. Others allowed him nobler motives, and argued that he was defending ancient Andal custom. A few whispered that Ser Criston had been Princess Rhaenyra’s lover before he took the white and wanted vengeance on the woman who had spurned him.

Terrence Toyne For comfort, she turned to a knight of the Kingsguard, Ser Terrence Toyne. The pair was discovered abed by Aegon himself in 178. Ser Terrence was tortured to death and both Lady Bethany and her father were executed. When Ser Terrence’s brothers sought to avenge his death, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight was slain while defending his brother, King Aegon.

Aemon Targaryen, “the Dragonknight” “My father was Maekar, the First of his Name, and my brother Aegon reigned after him in my stead. My grandfather named me for Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who was his uncle, or his father, depending on which tale you believe. Aemon, he called me …”

Olyvar Oakheart, “the Green Oak” Ser Olyvar the Green Oak all in white, dying at the side of the Young Dragon. Dorne is no fit place for any Oakheart.

Gwayne Corbray “Daemon was the Warrior himself that day. No man could stand before him. He broke Lord Arryn’s van to pieces and slew the Knight of Ninestars and Wild Wyl Waynwood before coming up against Ser Gwayne Corbray of the Kingsguard. For near an hour they danced together on their horses, wheeling and circling and slashing as men died all around them. It’s said that whenever Blackfyre and Lady Forlorn clashed, you could hear the sound for a league around. It was half a song and half a scream, they say. But when at last the Lady faltered, Blackfyre clove through Ser Gwayne’s helm and left him blind and bleeding.”

Barristan Selmy, “the Bold” “Of these seven, only Ser Barristan Selmy is made of the true steel, and Selmy is old.”

Lewyn Martell “I never had the honor to know Prince Lewyn,” Ser Arys said, “but all agree that he was a great knight.”

Arthur Dayne, “the Sword of the Morning” They whispered of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, deadliest of the seven knights of Aerys’s Kingsguard, and of how their young lord had slain him in single combat.