Notes:

Renaud or Ragenold, Count of Roucy (b: abt 920 or 931 - d: 10 May 967). Known as a Viking who became the military chief of Reims after the restoration of Artald of Reims. He'd built a fort at Roucy between late 940s and early 950s and supported young King Lothair of France in the expedition at Aquitaine and the siege of Poitiers. Renaud became the Count of Roucy around or before 955 by King Lothair.

He married Alberade of Lorraine, daughter of Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine around 945 and had four children:

Ermentrude (married firstly to Aubry II of Mâcon, secondly to Otto-William, Count of Burgundy)
Giselbert (Gilbert of Roucy) who succeeded his father as Count of Roucy in May 967.
Unknown daughter who may have married to Fromond II of Sens.
Bruno, the Bishop of Langres.

Renaud could have a brother named Dodo according to Flodoard, but it could be a name of place where Renaud's brother was located at. Their parents are not known or recorded.

Renaud died in 10 May 967 and was buried at the Abbey of Saint-Remi.

Renaud married Alberade of Lorraine Abt 945. (daughter of Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine and Gerberga of Saxony) [Group Sheet]

Ermentrude — Otto-William, Count of Burgundy. Otto-William (son of Adalbert, King of Italy and Gerberga of Mâcon) was born 962; died 21 Sep 1026. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name:

Notes:

Reginald I, Count of Burgundy was the second Count of the Free County of Burgundy. Born in 986, he was the son of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy (the first Count) and Ermentrude of Reims and Roucy.

In 1016, Reginald married Alice of Normandy.

He succeeded to the County on his father's death in 1026.

Reginald was succeeded by his son, William I, on his death in 1057.

Reginald married Alice of Normandy Bef 01 Sep 1016. Alice (daughter of Richard, II Duke of Normandy and Judith of Brittany) was born Abt 1002; died 27 Jul 1037. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Agnes of Burgundy (or Agnes de Macon), Duchess of Aquitaine (died 10 November 1068) was a daughter of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy and Ermentrude of Roucy. She was a member of the House of Ivrea.

Life

We do not know the date of the birth of Agnes but it is probably shortly before the year 1000. Agnes' father was the son of Adalbert of Italy.

First Marriage: Duchess of Aquitaine

In 1019, she married Duke William V of Aquitaine by whom she had three children: William VII, Duke of Aquitaine, William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine and Agnes, Holy Roman Empress. William died on January 31, 1030, leaving his widow and their three young children, plus the three surviving children from his first two marriages.

Second Marriage: Countess of Anjou

After her husband's death, Agnes lost her influence at the court of Poitiers since her sons were not heirs. In order for her to regain her position and ensure a future for her children, Agnes had to remarry. Thus she married Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou which was an attractive offer because his father was the powerful Fulk III, Count of Anjou.

In 1033, Geoffrey's troops invaded Poitou with the support of Agnes. William VI, Duke of Aquitaine the new Count of Poitou, was captured in March. He was released only in 1036 against a large ransom and he died in 1038 without children. The county then returned to his brother, Agnes' stepson Odo of Gascony, who was already Duke of Gascony. He went to war against Agnes, her husband and sons. Odo was killed at the battle at Mauzé.

Regency

The succeeding Count of Poitou was Agnes's son, Peter, who took the name of William VII Aigret. Being too young, his mother governed territories in his place from 1039 to 1044 and indeed it even seems the government itself, without her husband. When she transmitted the power to William, she married and took the opportunity to give his second son, Geoffrey Guy the duchy of Gascony, by marrying an heiress. Agnes then joined Geoffrey in Anjou and although she may not have actively participated in the government, certainly had some influence on him.

Agnes and Geoffrey stayed in Germany at the imperial court, so her daughter Agnes could marry Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. They then bonded with the imperial couple, during a trip to Italy where they participated in the council of Sutri, filing and inducting two popes Pope Clement II, who was quick to crown the emperor and empress. After a pilgrimage to Monte Garaño, the couple went back to Poitou in 1047 where they founded the Abbey of Our Lady and Sacred. Between 1047 and 1049, Agnes founded the abbey of Saint Nicolas de Poitiers.

Separation from Geoffrey

Between 1049 and 1052, Agnes and Geoffrey separated. The reasons are varied: the most logical is the absence of children, however we must not forget that the council of Reims in 1049 condemned certain marriages as incestuous and judged them to part; in addition, Geoffrey went to war against the King of France who appreciated the little freedom from war that would take his vassal to Germany (it seems that Geoffrey had to swear allegiance to the emperor and to no longer depend on the King of France) and it is very possible that the King imposed on his vanquished vassal that he should divorce his wife. Indeed, Agnes also influenced her husband, but she came from Burgundy and had retained strong links with her homeland, so it may be that it was Agnes who wanted the divorce.

Later life

Still, Agnes returned to the court of Poitiers and her son William over whom she had much influence. A war soon broke out between Anjou and Poitou, which saw a victory for Geoffrey in 1053. This would have probably never happened if Agnes had not divorced Geoffrey. In 1058 William left for another war against his former stepfather Count of Anjou, probably because Geoffrey gave the dowry of Agnes to his new wife, Adelaide. William was on the verge of winning when he died of an illness in 1058.

He was succeeded by his brother, Geoffrey Guy, who took the dynastic name of William VIII. The young count had remained close to Geoffrey because he was the only father figure he knew and he reconciled with Anjou. But only during Geoffrey's lifetime, in fact, after Geoffrey's death, William did not hesitate to attack his heirs and assume control of Saintonge from 1062. Agnes, despite her retirement, was still very active and did not hesitate to travel throughout Poitou to participate in donations or simply see her son at the court of Poitiers. Agnes died on 10 November 1068. She is buried at St. Nicolas de Poitiers.

Agnes married William, V Duke of Aquitaine 1019. William (son of William, IV Duke of Aquitaine and Emma of Blois) was born 969; died 31 Jan 1029/30, Maillezais, Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

William I (1020 - 12 November 1087), called the Great (le Grand or Tête Hardie, "the Rash"), was Count of Burgundy from 1057 to 1087 and Mâcon from 1078 to 1087. He was a son of Renaud I and Alice of Normandy, daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. William was the father of several notable children, including Pope Callixtus II.

In 1057, he succeeded his father and reigned over a territory larger than that of the Franche-Comté itself. In 1087, he died in Besançon and was buried there in the cathedral of St John.

William married a woman named Stephanie.

They had many children:

Renaud II, William's successor, died on First Crusade
Stephen I, successor to Renaud II, Stephen died on the Crusade of 1101
Raymond, married (1090) Urraca, the reigning queen of Castile
Guy of Vienne, elected pope, in 1119 at the Abbey of Cluny. as Calixtus II
Sybilla (or Maud), married (1080) Eudes I of Burgundy
Gisela of Burgundy, married (1090) Humbert II of Savoy and then Renier I of Montferrat
William
Eudes
Hugh III, Archbishop of Besançon
Clementia married Robert II, Count of Flanders and was Regent, during his absence. She married secondly Godfrey I, Count of Leuven and was possibly the mother of Joscelin of Louvain.
Stephanie married Lambert, Prince de Royans (died 1119)
Ermentrude, married (1065) Theodoric I
(perhaps) Bertha wife of Alphonso VI of Castile
and maybe another daughter

William — Stephanie. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes (c. 1025 - 14 December 1077) was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.

Family

She was the daughter of William V, Duke of Aquitaine and Agnes of Burgundy. She was the sister of Duke William VI, Duke Eudes, Duke William VII, and Duke William VIII. Her maternal grandparents were Otto-William, Duke of Burgundy and Ermentrude of Rheims.

Marriage and children

Agnes married Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor in November 1043 at Ingelheim. She was his second wife after Gunhilda of Denmark, who had died in 1038. This marriage, helped to solidify the Holy Roman Empire's relationships with the west.

Their children were:

Adelaide II (1045, Goslar - 11 January 1096), abbess of Gandersheim from 1061 and Quedlinburg from 1063
Gisela (1047, Ravenna - 6 May 1053)
Matilda (October 1048 - 12 May 1060, Pöhlde), married 1059 Rudolf of Rheinfelden, duke of Swabia and antiking (1077)
Henry, his successor[1]
Conrad (1052, Regensburg - 10 April 1055), duke of Bavaria (from 1054)
Judith (1054, Goslar - 14 March 1092 or 1096), married firstly 1063 Solomon of Hungary and secondly 1089 Ladislaus I Herman, duke of Poland

Role as regent

After her husband's death in 1056, Agnes served as regent during on behalf of young son, Henry IV. Despite being related to kings of Italy and Burgundy, Agnes was not known as a quality leader. During her rule, she would give away three duchies, Bavaria, Swabia, and Carinthia, to relatives.

Agnes opposed church reform, and took the side of Italian dissidents who did as well. Pope Stephen IX, who was unable to take actual possession of Rome due to the Roman aristocracy's election of an antipope, Benedict X, sent Hildebrand of Sovana and Anselm of Lucca (respectively, the future Popes Gregory VII and Alexander II) to Germany to obtain recognition from Agnes. Though Stephen died before being able to return to Rome, Agnes' help was instrumental in letting Hildebrand depose the Antipope [4] and with Agnes' support replace him by the Bishop of Florence, Nicholas II.

In 1062, Henry was abducted by a group of men, including the Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne and the Otto of Nordheim, in a conspiracy to remove Agnes from the throne. Henry was brought to Cologne, and despite jumping overboard from a board to escape, he was recaptured again. Agnes resigned, as ransom, from the throne, and Anno took her place. After the dethroning, she moved to Rome and acted as a mediator and peacemaker between Henry IV and his enemies. She died in Rome on 14 December 1077 and is buried at St. Peter's Basilica.

Agnes married Henry, III Holy Roman Emperor Nov 1043, Ingelhein, Hessen, Germany. Henry (son of Conrad, II Holy Roman Emperor and Gisela of Swabia) was born 28 Oct 1017; died 05 Oct 1056. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

William VIII (c. 1025 - 25 September 1086), born Guy-Geoffrey (Gui-Geoffroi), was duke of Gascony (1052-1086), and then duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitiers (as William VI) between 1058 and 1086, succeeding his brother William VII (Pierre-Guillaume).

Guy-Geoffroy was the youngest son of William V of Aquitaine by his third wife Agnes of Burgundy. He was the brother-in-law of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor who had married his sister, Agnes de Poitou.

He became Duke of Gascony in 1052 during his older brother William VII's rule. Gascony had come to Aquitanian rule through William V's marriage to Prisca (a.k.a. Brisce) of Gascony, the sister of Duke Sans VI Guilhem of Gascony.

William VIII was one of the leaders of the allied army called to help Ramiro I of Aragon in the Siege of Barbastro (1064). This expedition was the first campaign organized by the papacy, namely Pope Alexander II, against a Muslim city, and the precursor of the later Crusades movement. Aragon and its allies conquered the city, killed its inhabitants and collected an important booty.

However, Aragon lost the city again in the following years. During William VIII's rule, the alliance with the southern kingdoms of modern Spain was a political priority as shown by the marriage of all his daughters to Iberian kings.

He married three times and had at least five children. After he divorced his second wife due to infertility, he remarried to a much younger woman who was also his cousin. This marriage produced a son, but William VIII had to visit Rome in the early 1070s to persuade the pope to recognize his children from his third marriage as legitimate.

First wife: Garsende of Périgord, daughter of Count Aldabert II of Périgord (divorced November 1058), no children. She became a nun at Saintes.

Second wife: Matoeda (divorced May 1068)

Agnes (1052-1078), married Alfonso VI of Castile

Third wife: Hildegarde of Burgundy (daughter of duke Robert I of Burgundy)

Agnes (died 1097), married Peter I of Aragon
William IX of Aquitaine, his heir

William married Hildegarde of Burgundy Abt 1068. Hildegarde (daughter of Robert, I Duke of Burgundy and Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess of Burgundy) was born Aft 1049; died Aft 1104. [Group Sheet]