Mabel to Marchesella: Women in Power

Brief lives of women who reigned or ruled in their own right or by marriage by providing their a) proprietary titles, b) parents/pedigree, c) patrimony and properties, d) persona or personality, e) powers exercised, f) patronages and g) partner/progeny.

MABEL DE BELLEME (1026-1082)

a.k.a. Mabel Talvas, Mabel d'Alencon, Mabille de Belleme

Proprietary Titles:  Lady of Belleme, 1070-1082; Countess of Alencon.

Notes: " . . . Mabille of Belleme (wife of Roger II of Mont Gomeri) inherited great estates in western Normandy and Maine. In addition to being very wealthy, Mabille was also a cruel, avaricious, and unscrupulous lord, belying feudal stereotypes of sweet, gentle womanhood. She had her own troops to take castles and carry on blood feuds. To settle one squabble, Mabille supposedly poisoned her rival. She apparently hated the monks of St. Evroul even more. Utterly unscrupulous in such fights, Mabille and her troops descended on the unfortunate brothers, who were forced to feed and house the voracious group. In fact, she literally ate the monks out of house and home. Since this was typical behavior for Mabille, she had only herself to blame when an angry, dispossessed vassal murdered her around the year 1079." (Echols: 173) 

Notes: " . . . The most famous instance of female succession from Duke William's  time was that of Mabel to the lordship of Belleme, a lordship of composite origins including lands held of the duke of Normandy, the count of Maine, and the king of France. The succession to Belleme after the death in 1027 of William de Belleme, who had at least six sons, is difficult to reconstruct. Ivo, bishop of Sees controlled part, and his brother William Talvas the remainder. William's daughter Mabel married a Norman, Roger of Montgomery, and eventually Mabel and Roger succeeded to the whole after Bishop Ivo's death, irrespective of the fact that Mabel had a brother Oliver.  Perhaps Oliver's birth was not legitimate, or his claim was passed over, but in either case Mabel was the eventual heiress." (Green: 372)

Notes: "Orderic's portrayal of such powerful women is complex. Mabel of Belleme is depicted as a cruel woman who deserved to meet a miserable end, murdered in her bed by a vassal whom she had deprived of his lands. . . The historicity of the detail is not as important here as the significance of the way in which Mabel's death is described. Orderic depicts Mabel using conventions of the epic genre; such portrayal adds a certain dignity to her reputation whilst paradoxically seeking to destroy it. . . [Her] obituary states that she gave good counsel, provided patronage and largesse, protected her patrimony, was intelligent, energetic in action and possessed honestas -- honour, dignity. . . Orderic's portrayal of Mabel of Belleme is therefore reflective of both contemporary clerical distrust of women in power and the nature of contemporary politics in Normandy." (Johns: 15)

Notes: "The marriage strategy of the Montgomerys is also instructive. Roger of  Montgomery's first wife was a great heiress, Mabel de Belleme, whose lands stretched beyond the southern frontiers of the duchy. . . ."  (Green: 352)

Notes: " . . . In the early 1050s he [Roger of Montgomery] greatly increased his estates by marrying the forceful Mabel, heiress of the extensive lordship of Belleme. . . ."  (Tyerman: 32)

MABEL OF GLOUCESTER (1090-1157)

a.k.a. Mabel FitzHamon
[Bio1] [Gen1]

Parents/Pedigree:  Mabel was the daughter of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Glocester and Glamorgan, and of Sybil de Montgomery.

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Gloucester, Lady of Glamorgan, Dame de Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe, Dame de Evrecy, Dame de Creully.  

Countess of Gloucester, 1107-1157, who brought to her husband, Robert of Caen, illegitimate son of Henry I of England, "...the honours of Gloucester in England, Glamorgan in Wales, Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe, Evercy and Creully in Normandy...." 

Notes:  "...Mabel was defined in terms of lordship, Roger by his family status. This treaty shows Mabel's role at the epicentre of the Gloucester administration at a critical period in the Angevin cause. It is possible that Mabel acted as regent for Earl Robert whilst he was abroad helping Count Geoffrey of Anjou... Mabel was in control of, and responsible for, the Norman territories of the earldom of Gloucester. Mabel's role, her power and authority changed as she moved through the female life cycle from wife of the earl to dowager countess. " (Johns, p. 95)

MABILLE DE BIRAN (1285-1345)

[Tree1]

Proprietary Title:  Dame de Saint-Lery

Partner/Progeny:  Married in 1309 Bernard de Montlezun (d. 1345), Seigneur de Saint-Lary, Peyrudette, Castillon and Caussade.

MADELEINE CHARLOTTE BONNE THERESE DE CLERMONT (1635-1701) 

Proprietary Titles:  5th Duchess of Piney-Luxemburg and Peer of France, 1661-1701;  Princess of Tingry, Countess of Ligny and Baroness of Dangu, 1680-1701.

MAFALDA OF APULIA-CALABRIA (1059/60-1108)

[Bio1]

MAFALDA MANRIQUE DE LARA

a.k.a. Mafalda Gonzalez 

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Molina, 1239-1248

MAGDALENA DE ANGLESOLA

[Bio1] 

Proprietary Title:Lady of Miralcamp, c1399-?.

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Hug II d'Anglesola, Lord of Miralcamp, and his 2nd wife Elieta de Rocaberti. She married Felip Galceran de Castre i de Pinos.

Proper Name: MAGDALENA VON NEUENAHR-ALPEN (1550-1626)

Also known as: Heiress of the House of Neuenahr-Alpen

Proprietary Titles:

Countess of Neuenahr & Limburg 1590-1616 (succeeded sister Amalia)

Lady of Alpen, Helpenstein, Linnep and the office of city advocatus of Cologne 1589 (succeeded brother Adolf)

Other Titles:

Countess of Tecklenburg

Regent of Bentheim & Tecklenburg 1605-1609

Parents/Pedigree: Gumprecht II von Neuenahr-Alpen & Amöna of Daun-Falkenstein

Partner: Arnold III of Bentheim-Tecklenburg

Progeny/Posterity: 7 sons, 4 daughters

Patrimony/Properties: Hohenlimburg Castle [See for more information]

MAGDALENE CHRISTINA VON SAYN

Proprietary Title:  Countess Sayn-Hachenburg, 1661-1715.

MAHAUD D'AMBOISE (1200-1256)

[Tree1]

Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Chartres, Lady of Amboise.

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Sulpice III d'Amboise, and of Isabelle de Blois.

Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) Richard II, Viscount of Beaumont-sur-Sarthe; (2) in 1240 Jean II de Nesle (1224-1272), with whom she had no issue.

MAHAUT D'ARTOIS (1268-1329)

[Bio1] [Bio2:109-111 ] [Ref1:109-112]

Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Artois, 1302-1329

Parents/Pedigree:  Eldest child and only daughter of Robert II of Artois and Amicie de Courtenay.

Progeny/Posterity:  Married 1285 Otto IV of Burgundy, with whom she had 13 children

Power Exercised:  "Robert d'Artois, Lord of Beaumont-le-Roger, was of royal blood, and connected with the greatest families in the kingdom of France. He was the son of Philippe d'Artois, Lord of Couches, who died before his father, leaving Robert and other children under age.  Upon the death of the Count d'Artois, Matilda, Countess of Burgundy, aunt of Philippe, claimed the county as the next of kin to her brother, while Robert claimed it by right of representation.  Philippe le Bel, king of France--two of whose sons, Philippe le Long and Charles le Bel, were married respectively to Jeanne and Blanche, the daughters of Matilda--in the year 1309, adjudged the fief to the Countess of Burgundy; and the decree was confirmed in the year 1318 by Philippe le Long, who had married Jeanne, the eldest of the daughters."  (Jamiseon, p. 39).

Notes: "...Mahaut's brother died in 1297, her father in 1302, and her husband a   year later, leaving her a considerable heiress.  She inherited the county of Artois and also served as regent of the county of Burgundy for her five-year-old son...." (Labarge, p. 109)

Notes:  "...After losing her father during the battle of Courtrai in 1302, Mahaut was widowed in March 1303, and the County of Burgundy was split in two: one half became Mahaut's dower, and the other half was managed by Philip the Fair's agents before reverting to her daughter Jeanne. Philip the Fair, however, allotted the inheritance of the County of Artois to Mahaut to the detriment of his   nephew Robert. Mahaut thus became a peer of France. Robert tried in vain to assert his inheritance rights against Mahaut in 1308-1309. In 1314 he began a new trial, accusing Mahaut of casting spells and attempting to poison King Louis X, Philip the Fair's first son who had just acceded to the throne, but the court cleared her of all charges....Mahaut's rule over Artois did not go uncontested: in 1306, she had to squelch a revolt harshly at Saint-Omer. In 1316, Robert d'Artois launched a nobiliary uprising against her and plundered and looted her property. Condemned by Philip the Tall (that is, Philip of Poitiers, who had acceded to the throne in 1317), he had to compensate for the damage the countess had incurred: Mahaut was thus repaid for the aid she had given her son-in-law to reach the throne in place and on behalf of Louis X's daughter Jeanne (which marks the origin of a masculine monopoly over the French throne). Mahaut launched endless lawsuits against all kinds of opponents, the nobility, royalty and the clergy. The so-called affair of "Philip the Fair's daughters-in-law", in 1324, was another dramatic moment for the Countess of Artois, since two of the three young women accused of adultery were her own daughters: Jeanne was released, but Blanche was condemned and imprisoned at Château-Gaillard. She was freed in 1324, at the time of her own husband's accession to the French throne (Charles IV the Fair), yet died in 1326 in Maubuisson." "...One of the best recorded widows of the later Middle Ages is Mahaut, countess of Artois and Burgundy, who was left in 1303 with three young children. Herself the heiress of Artois, she first had to fight off the claims of Robert, her nephew, before settling down to rule the territory, maintaining law and order through her officials, regularly checking her accounts, issuing charters to local towns to encourage trade, and distributing patronage to extend her networks of control...." (Schaus, p. 8)

MAHAUT DE BETHUNE (1220-1264)

[Bio1]

Proprietary Titles:  Heiress of Bethune, Dendermonde, Richebourh and Warneton.  (Fegley, p. 104)

Parents/Pedigree:  Robert VII de Bethune and Elisabeth de Morialmez

Partner/Progeny:  Married in 1246, as his first wife, Gui de Dampierre (1226-1305), Count of Flanders, 1251-1305, and Margrave of Namur, 1268-1297, with whom she had 5 sons and 3 daughters.

MAHAUT DE CHATILLON (d.1378) 

Proprietary Title:  Countess of St. Pol, 1360

MAHAUT I DE COURTENAY (1185-1257)

[Gen1]

Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Nevers, 1207-1257; Countess of Auxerre and Tonnerre, 1218-1257

Notes:  "In 1199 Countess Mathilda married Herve IV, lord of Donzy, who acted  as count of Nevers... They had one daughter, named Agnes... Herve and Mathilda left on Crusade together in 1218... Mathilda outlived Herve, who died in 1222... In that year she confirmed his gifts to Pontigny, promised the king she would not marry again without his permission, and received homage as countess of Nevers. She married Wigo (or Gui), count of Forez, a few years later. In 1239  Wigo left for the Holy Land, where he died in 1241. In 1242 his son and heir Gui, born to his first wife, agreed to let Mathilda have her dotal property in Gorez and gave up any claim to his father's acquisitions in the Nivernais. Bouchard, p, 350)

MAHAUT DE COURTENAY (c1254-1303) 

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Chieti, 1271-1303.

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Raoul de Courtenay (d.1271), and of Marguerite de Tonnerre.  "...The branch of the family that made a significant contribution to Charles of Anjou's ability to rule the Regno was that descended  from Robert de Courtenay, lord of Champignelles (near Auxerre) and his wife, Mahaut de Mehun-sur-Yevre.  Among the children of this marriage, all great-grandchildren of King Louis VI, was Raoul, lord of Tanlay.  Raoul, heir to Champignelles, and married to Agnes de Montfort, countess of Bigorre, risked his French lands to accompany Charles on the conquest of the Regno.  By 1269, he was rewarded with the countship of Chieti in the Abruzzi, an area crucial to the defence of Charles's new realm.  Charles always spoke of him as a relation and showed warmth to him.  But the friendship was short.  Like many other Frenchmen who attempted to make a home in the Regno, Raoul became the victim of a killer disease (probably malaria), and died in 1271.  His small daughter Mahaud, who had probably come to the Regno in the train of Marguerite of Tonnerre in 1268, succeeded her father.  We have already followed her story as the first wife of Philippe de Chieti, son of Gui de Dampierre.  She died, apparently childless, in 1301."  (Dunbabin, pp. 136-137)

Partner/Progeny:  "...Philippe de Dampierre, his fifth son, became Comte di Teano after his marriage to the Italian Countess of Chieti, Mahaut de Courtenay...."  (Fegley, p. 104)

MAHAUT DE DAMMARTIN

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Aumale, 1216-1259

MAHAUT DE GRIGNON (d.1192) 

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Grignon and Tonnerre

MAHAUT DE MEHUN

[Gen1]

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Mehun-sur-Yevre   

Parents/Pedigree:  Philippe de Mehun-sur-Yevre, and of unknown

Progeny/Posterity:  Married (1) Jean III de Beaugency; (2) Robert I of Courtenay (1168-1239), Lord of Champignelles, 1205-1239, with whom she had issue.

MARCHESELLA DEGLI ADELARDI

Partner/Progeny:  "Towards the year 1200, Azzo V, Marquis of Este, married Marchesella degli Adelardi, daughter of one of the most conspicuous Guelphs at Ferrara, where the influence of the house of Este was thus first established." (Gallenga: 63)

"The Estense family was one of the most distinguished in Italy, and ruled over various territories for 900 years.  The family came from Este, south of the Euganean hills near Padua, and they were Lords of that town in the eleventh century.  The family interest in Ferrara began in 1185 when Azzo d'Este married Marchesella degli Adelardi, heiress to the family that had been Lords of the city, but continuous rule was not achieved until Azzo Novello d'Este (1242-64) established control of the city with Venetian helpo in 1242...."  (Tuohy: 3)


REFERENCES

Amalasuntha to Anna: Women in Power

Brief lives of women who reigned or ruled in their own right or by marriage by providing their a) proprietary titles, b) parents/pedigree, c) patrimony and properties, d) persona or personality, e) powers exercised, f) patronages and g) progeny or posterity.

AMALASUNTHA OF THE OSTROGOTHS (498-)

Power Exercised:  Queen-Regent of the Ostrogoths, 526-535.

Almodis de La Marche (d.1071)

Power Source/Exercised: "...her own status of power was greatly enhanced by the grant of a huge wedding gift...from her husband in 1056...[T]he defeat of the countess dowager (Ermessinde of Carcassonne) in the next year put all of these holdings in Almodis' hands and unquestionably made her the most powerful woman in the counties of Barcelona, Gerona, and Ausona... She also gained considerable wealth from land revenues and the large share of Muslim tribute...which her husband guaranteed her in the grant of 1056. With the amount of gold coming into her possession, it is little wonder that she became a frequent purchaser of land, houses and castles --- all in her own name...." (Vann, p. 42)

AMICE DE MONTFORT

Progeny/Posterity:  Married Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester.

Notes:  "...Robert, through his marriage to Amicia, daughter and heiress of the Breton lord of Gael and Montfort, eventually secured the fitzOsbern inheritance in Normandy---the honour or Breteuil and Paci---and with a claim, which Henry fitzEmpress recognized, to the 'stewardship of England and Normandy'...."  (Loyd, p. 15)

Notes:  "Under his father's will, Robert received the family lands in England, including the earldom of Leicester, but in 1121 his marriage to Amice, heiress of Breteuil, brought him a strategically important fief in Normandy...."  (Tyerman, p. 124) 

AMICIE DE COURTENAY (1250-1275)

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Conches  

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Pierre I of Courtenay, Lord of Conches Partner/Progeny:  Married as his 1st wife in 1262 Robert II of Artois (1250-1302), with whom she had an only child, Philippe of Artois (1269-1298), who succeeded her mother in 1275 as Lord of Conches.  (FMG - Northern France Nobility)

Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda (1540-1592)

Proprietary Title:  Princess of Eboli, 2nd Princess of Melito, 3rd Countess of Melito, 3rd Countess of Aliano, Marchioness of Algecilla, 2nd Duchess of Francavilla, Duchess of Pastrana

ANA DE MENDOZA

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Iñigo López de Mendoza (1536-1601), 5. conde de Saldaña, 5. duque del Infantado, 6.marqués de Santillana, 5. marqués de Argüeso, 5. marqués de Campoo, 6. conde del Real de Manzanares, 16. señor de la casa de Mendoza, señor de la casa de la Vega, 8. señor de Hita y Buitrago, señor de las Hermandades de Alava (1593), gentilhombre de la cámara del rey Felipe II, a quién acompañó en Inglaterra 1553, and of Luisa Enríquez de Cabrera (d.1603), daughter of Luis Enríquez, 2. duque de Medina del Río Seco and of Ana de Cabrera y Moncada (d. 1565), vizcondesa de Cabrera y Bas, condesa de Modica.

Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) in 1581 Rodrigo de Mendoza (d.1587), de los 4. condes de Saldaña, with issue; (2) in 1593, Juan Hurtado de Mendoza (1555-1624), 2. duque de Mandas y Villanueva (1617), 2. marqués de Terranova, duque del Infantado (maritale nomine), cab, gentilhombre de la cámara del rey Felipe III, Mayordomo mayor y consejero de Estado y de Guerra 

Notes:  "...Ruy Gomez accepted the office of governor to the prince Don Carlos.  His marriage with the richest lady in Spain, Dona Ana de Mendoza, daughter and sole heiress of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, conde de Melito, was subsequently accomplished by the favour and direct interposition of the sovereign.  The fortunate Ruy Gomez was, moreover, himself decorated with the title of conde de Melito, on the elevation of the father of his bride, to the rank of duque de Francavilla;  a title conceded in acknowledgment of Don Diego's acquiescence in the union of his heiress with Philip's Portuguese protege."  (Freer, pp. 165-166) 

Anastasia de Montfort (1274-1345)

Proprietary Titles: Countess of Nola, 1291; Lady of Chantilly; Lady of Lonjumeau; Lady of Sovana  

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola, and Margherita Aldobrandesca (c1255-after 1313), Countess of Sovana and Pitigliano, heiress of a branch of the Aldobrandeschi family.

Patrimony/Properties:  Being the eldest daughter and heiress, Anastasia brought the rich Aldobrandeschi and Sovana inheritances into the Orsini family. Partner/Progeny:  She married in 1293 Romano Orsini (1268-1327), Senator of Rome,  with whom she had 4 sons and 3 daughters, among them were:  Roberto Orsini (1295-1345), Count of Nola; Guido Orsini (d. after 1348), Count of Pitigliano; and Giovanna Orsini, married in 1334 Niccolo Caetani with whom she had issue. "Guy was deprived of his lands on the day of the murder at Viterbo, 13 March, 1271. It is not yet certain when they were restored to him. Some of them were certainly administered, during Guy's captivity (from June, 1287), by procuratores, on behalf of Guy or his daughter, Anastasia, the wife (1293) of Romanello, son of Gentile Orsini. On 28 October, 1293, Anastasia was restored to Nola, Cicala, Atripalda, Forino and Monforte. On 27 May, 1294, a royal privilegium definitely granting them to Romanello was issued." (Powicke, p. 88) 

Notes:  "Guy was deprived of his lands on the day of the murder at Viterbo, 13 March, 1271.  It is not yet certain when they were restored to him.  Some of them were certainly administered during Guy's captivity (from June, 1287), by procuratores, on behalf of Guy or his daughter, Anastasia, the wife (1293) of Romanello, son of Gentile Orsini.  On 28 October, 1293, Anastasia was restored to Nola, Cicale, Atripalda, Forino, and Montefiore.  On 27 May, 1294, a royal privilegium, definitely granting them to Romanello was issued."  (Powicke, p. 88)

ANDREE DE VIVONNE

Notes:  "...Francis, the sixth seigneur and second Duke de la Rochefoucauld, was born 15th December 1613... [I]n 1628, he had married at Mirebeau a rich and beautiful heiress of Burgundy, Andree de Vivonne, only daughter of Andre de Vivonne, Baron of Berandiere and Chasteigneraye, Grand Falconer of France, Captain in the Guards of the Queen-Mother, Marie de' Medici, Councillor of State, and one of the most trusty followers of Henry IV...."  (Stone, Vol. 1, p. 127) 

Anicella de Fezensac

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Fezensac

Anna van Borssele (c1471-1518)

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Veere and of Vlissingen.

Parents/Pedigree:  [She] "...was the daughter of Wolfart VI van Borssele (d.1486) and Charlotte de Bourbon. Her first marriage was to Philip of Burgundy, a son of Anthony of Burgundy, 'le Grand Batard.'.... [L]ess that amonth after the death of Anna's father..., the young couple was installed as lord and lady of Veere. (Bietenholz, et. al., pp. 173-174)

Notes:  "BERSALA, ANN, Daughter and principal heiress of Wolfard de Borselle, and of Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier, who was married June the 17th., 1468; she was wife of Philip of Burgundy, son of Anthony of Burgundy, Lord of Bevres, of the illegitimate sons of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. She brought to him, for her dowry, the lordship of Vere, that of Flushing, and some others, and had by him one son and two daughters. Erasmus had a peculiar esteem for her. He thus writes to a friend:—"We came to Anne, Princess of Vere. Why should I say anything to you of this lady's complaisance, Benignity, or liberality? I know the embellishments of rhetoricians are suspected, especially by those who are not unskilled in those arts. But, believe me, I am so far here from enlarging, that it is above the reach of our art. Never did nature produce anything more modest, more wise, or more obliging. She was so generous to me—she loaded me with so many benefits, without my seeking them! It has happened to me, my Battus, with regard to her, as it often used to happen with regard to you, that I begin to love and admire most when I am absent. Good God, what candour, what complaisance in the largest fortune, what evenness of mind in the greatest injuries, what cheerfulness in such great cares, what constancy of mind, what innocence of life, what encouragement of learned men, what affability to all!" (Adams, p. 105) 

ANNA VAN NOORDWIJK 

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Obdam, Hensbroek, Spanbroek and Opmeer in West-Friesland.

Notes:  "...In 1503, on his second marriage, the second son, Gijsbrecht, lord of Den Bossche, took as his wife the heiress Anna van Noordwijk, lady of Obdam, Hensbroek, Spanbroek and Opmeer in West-Friesland...."  (van Nierop, p. 16)

ANNA VAN NASSAU-DILLENBURG (1441-1514)

Power Exercised:  Duchess-Regent of Brunswick-Luneburg

[She]...survived a poisoning attempt right before her second marriage to become a successful regent, developing sound financial policies that her successors continued." See (p. 318)

ANNA VON HALICH (Galicia)

Power Exercised:  Regent of Halich and Volhynia, 1205-1214

Progeny/Posterity:  She was the wife of Roman Mystaslavych (1160-1205), also known as Roman the Great, with whom she had 4 children including Danylo and Vasylko.

Notes:  "Most princesses and noblewomen used their energies to support the interests of their principalities. Once such woman was Anna Romanovna, the wife of the prince of Galich, of the late twelfth and early thirtheenth century. In widowhood, she enjoyed the support of only a small portion of the nobility in her efforts to develop Galich's growth, commerce, and international stature. In the short period of her ascendancy, she succeeded in negotiating treaties with Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland on an equal basis. When a coup d'etat deprived her of her throne, she fled, according to one chronicle account, 'through a gap in the city wall' to Poland... (B)ut in exile she planned to return with her former allies. She sent notice to her enemies in Galich that she 'wanted to rule by herself' and was determined to do so. It took Anna nearly forty years to achieve her goal. Finally she did, with the support of the neighboring states with which she had previously concluded treaties of mutual aid. King Andrew II of Hungary provided the most assistance... Anna ordered the arrest of the boyars who had opposed her and the confiscation of their property. Once restored to power, Anna devoted herself to expanding the territory of her principality, annexing several small cities on the eastern frontier of Galicia: Tikhoml, Peremysl, and Vladimir-in-Volhynia. In 1214, she decided to transfer the throne to her sons, dictating terms to them in the same way she determined the distribution of her property." (Pushkareva and Levin, 1997, pp. 18-19)

ANNA VON KONIGSTEIN-EPPSTEIN

Proprietary Title:  Heiress

Progeny/Posterity:  Married in 1500 married Count Botho of Stolberg. (Bietenholz, et. al., p. 136).

ANNA VON NEUFFEN (1327-1380)

Parents/Pedigree: Sole heiress of Berthold V of Neuffen and Elisabeth of Truhendingen.  

Progeny/Posterity: Married in 1360, Friedrich (1339-1393), Duke of Bavaria, 1375, with whom she had an only child, Elisabeth (1361-1382) who married Marco Visconti, Lord of Parma.

Notes:  "...Swabian nobleman Berthold of Neuffen [was the] heir to the county of Marstetten.  Louis the Bavarian appointed him imperial vicar in Lombardy,  captain of Upper Bavaria, advocate of Ottobeuren in Swabia, and Landrichter of the Franconian county of Graisbach.  His daughter and sole heiress Anna married a grandson of Louis the Bavarian with a view to creating Graisbach and Marstetten as the appanage of their line, but their only child Elizabeth went to Italy to marry Marco Visconti and died young."  (Arnold, p. 213) 

 ANNA VON PRUSSIA (1576-1625)

Notes:  "Eleonora of Cleve was the sister of the last Duke of Julich.  Her only child, Anne, was, therefore, the heiress of the duchy of Prussia, and of the Julich duchies, comprising the duchies of Julich, Cleve, and Berg, and the counties Mark, Ravensberg, and Ravenstein.  As stated in the text, Anne had married John Sigismund, grandson of the then ruling Elector of Brandenburg."  (Malleson, p. 235)

Notes:  "...[T]he marriage between John Sigismund and Anna also opened up the prospect of a new and rich inheritance in the west.  Anna was not only the daughter of the Duke of Prussia, but also the niece of yet another insane German duke, John William of Julich-Kelve, whose territories encompassed the Rhenish duchies of Julich,Kleve (Cleves) and Berg and the counties of Mark and Ravensberg.  Anna's mother, Maria Eleonora, was the eldest sister of John William.  The relationship of her mother's side would have counted for little, had it not been for a pact within the house of Julich-Kleve that allowed the family's properties and titles to pass down the female line.  This unusual arrangement made Anna of Prussia her uncle's heiress, and this established her husband, John Sigismund of Brandenburg, as a claimant to the lands of Julich-Kleve...."  (Clark, p. 10)

ANNA VON ZAHRINGEN

Notes: "The house of Kyburg, one of the most powerful in all Helvetia, had, besides its own possessions in Thurgau, acquired by marriage the extensive domains of the extinct house of Lenzburg, in Aargau, and the country of Zug.  Ulrich of Kyburg married Anne, sister to Berthold V, last duke of Zahringen.  By the death of the latter without issue in 1218, the whole rich inheritance of the house of Zahringen fell into the house of Kyburg, including the counties of Thun, of Berthoud, the town of Freyburg, and the landgravite of Burgundy.  Ulrich and Anne left two sons and a daughter;  Hedwige, the latter married Albert, count of Habsburg, by whom she had Rudolph, afterwards emperor, and head of the house of Austria.  By this marriage, and the subsequent death, in 1264, of Hedwige's brother, Hartmann of Kyburg, called 'the old,' whose estates were left to his nephew Rudolph, the paramount greatness of the house of Habsburg was established in Helvetia.  That house was possessed already of part of Aargau, and of the wardenship of Bipp, Falkenstein, Bechburg, Olten, and Soleure.  Rudolph of Habsburg now inherited the bulk of the united patrimonies of the houses of Lenzburg, Kyburg, and Zahringen, in which spendid inheritances were included the greater part of Thurgau, Zurichgau, Oechtland, Zug, the towns of Sursee, Sempach, and Winterthur,the counties of Baden and Lenzburg, in Aargau, the wardenship of the convent of Seckingen and Glaris, and the Landgraviate of Burgundy, from Thun to Aarwangen...."  (Vieusseux, p. 34)

ANNA OF TEBIZOND (d.1342)

Proprietary Title:  Empress of Trebizond, 1341-1342 

Anna von Veldenz (1390-1439)

Notes:  Heiress of Friedrich III of Veldenz whose marriage to Stefan of Palatinate-Simmern-Zweibrucken brought the county to the Wittelsbachs in 1444. Anna also had half of the rights to the undivided County of Sponheim. Her eldest son, Friedrich I of Zweibrucken, inherited the Sponheim portion while Veldenz went to his brother Ludwig I.

ANNA DALASSENA (c1025/30-1000/02)

Mother of the Comneni 

Power Exercised:  Regent of the Byzantine Empire, c1081-1082

ANNA PALAEOLOGINA

Power Exercised:  Despina-Regent of Epirus, 1335-1340

ANNA FRANCECA PINELLI RACASCHIERI FIESCHI (1702-1779)

Proprietary Title:  6th Princess of Belmonte,5th Duchess of Acerenza, 8th Marchioness of Galatone, 5th Countess of Copertino, 7th Baroness of Badolato, Signore di Veglie, Leverano, San Cosimo etc.  

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Oronzo Pinelli Ravaschieri Fieschi, 5th Prince of Belmonte, and of Violante di Sangro.  

Progeny/Posterity:  Married, in 1721, Antonio Pignatelli y de Vaez (1685-1771), 1st Prince of the Holy Roman Empire; their son Antonio II Pignatelli Pinelli Ravaschieri Fieschi became the 7th Prince of Belmonte.

ANNA MARIA RAVASCHIERI FIESCHI (d.1685)

[Belmonte Profile]

Proprietary Title:  3rd Princess of Belmonte

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Orazio Giovan Battista Ravaschieri Fiesche, 1st Prince of Belmonte, and of Anna Maria Caracciolo Pisquizi di Sicignano. Progeny/Posterity:  Married Cosimo Squarciafico Pinelli, 2nd Duke of Acerenza; their sons: Galeazzo Gaetano were 4th Prince of Belmonte, Oronzo Pinelli Ravaschieri Fieschi, 5th Prince of Belmonte. 

 ***********

REFERENCES

Freeman, Edward (1869).The History of the Norman Conquest of England, Its Causes and Its Results (Vol. III). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Aleida to Alix: Women in Power

Brief lives of women who reigned or ruled in their own right or by marriage by providing their a) proprietary titles, b) parents/pedigree, c) patrimony and properties, d) persona or personality, e) powers exercised, f) patronages and g) progeny or posterity.

ALEIDA VAN CULEMBORG (1440-1471) 

Proprietary Title:  Vrouwe van St.Maartensdijk

ALICE DE BELMAIS

a.k.a. Isabel de Belmais

Notes:  "...The manor of Tong, with Ranulph's other possessions, now devolved to Alice (de Belmais), his sister, who, having married Alan la Zouche son of Geoffrey, Vicomte of Rohan, in Brittany, upon his death, Tong passed to the La Zouche's descendants of this heiress." (Anderson: 41)

ALICE DE CHESNEY (d. bef. 1199)

Notes:  "In 1086 Ralf [de Chesney] was an under-tenant of William de Warenne in Sussex and Norfolk.  The elder line ended in an heiress Alice, who died before 1199, having married Geoffrey de Say, who died in 1214."  (Loyd, p. 27)

ALICE DE LACY (1281-1348)

[Bio1] [Bio2]

Proprietary Titles:  4th Countess of Lincoln and Salisbury, 1311-1348; Countess of Lancaster, Leicester and Derby. 

Parents/Pedigree:  Only daughter and heiress of Henry de Lacy (1251-1311), Earl of Lincoln and Salisbury, and Margaret Longespee (first daughter and heir of William Longespee.

Partners/Progeny:  Thomas of England (1276-1322), Earl of Lancaster, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Salisbury, Seneschal of England.  No issue.

Properties: " . . . Alice countess of Lincoln, who by hereditary right from her father Henry earl of Lincoln held the manors of Burcester and Midlington, departed this life without issue on...October the 2nd in the 67th year of her age. . . ."  (Kennett,  Vol. 2: 97)

"Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in right of Alice his wife, sole daughter and heir of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, doing his fealty had livery of the Castle of Denbigh, and all other the lands of her inheritance... The chosen head of the Barons, he was taken prisoner by the King's troops, and beheaded at Pntefract on April 11th, 1321.  His widow continued to possess her inheritance until, marrying in 1323 the knight Ebule lo Strange without the royal license, she was dispossessed of it, whereby her estate, which had been valued at 10,o000 marks per annum, was now reduced to less than 3,000.  The King, Edward II, then granted the forfeited manors of Middleton and Burcester to his favourite, Hugh despenser, the younger:  but, upon the execution of the latter in 1326, these mnors were again escheated to the Crown, and four years later restored to Sir Ebulo le Strange and Alice his wife."  (Blomfield, p. 26)

Notes:  "With the exception, of course, of the Princesses of the Royal Family, there was no maided in England in whose veins ran blood so noble as in those of Alicia de Lacy, daughter of Henry Earl of Lincoln and his wife, the Lady Margaret de Clifford, Countess of Salisbury.  Beisdes the earldom of Lincoln, she inherited from her father the barony of Halton and the Honour of Clitheroe...."  (Holt, p. 48)

ALICE DE RUMILLY (d.1212/15)

[Fam1] 

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Allerdale

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of William fitz Duncan, Earl of Moray, and of Alice le Meschin, Lady of Skipton.

Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) Gilbert Pippart; (2) Robert de Courtenay, with whom she had a son, William de Courtenay (d.1215)

Notes:  "...His nephew, William FitzDuncan, married Alice de Rumilly, the heiress of Egremont and Skipton. William himself inherited Allerdale, and thus acquired a great band of territory running across northern England from Cumbria into Yorkshire...."  (Green, p.123)

Notes:  "Alice Romley, the third daughter and coheir of William Fitz Duncan was therefore the fourth Lady of Allerdale:  but having no children alive at her death she gave away divers A(sic) manors and lands to houses of religion, and to her friends and kinsmen.  She had a son, named William, who was drowned in Craven coming home from hunting or hawking...  She had also three daughters, Alice, Avice, and Mavice, who died all unmarried, and without children; wherefore the inheritance was after her death parted between the house of Albermarl and Reginald Lucy, Baron of Egremont, descending to her sister's children and their posterity...."  (Hutchinson, p. 109)

ALICE DE TOENI (1284-1324)

[Bio1]

Proprietary Title:  Lady Toeni of Flamstead, 1309, succeeding her brother, Robert de Toeni (1276-1309), who died childless.

Parents/Pedigree:  Only daughter of Ralph VII de Toeni (1255-1295), Lord Toeni of Flamstead, and of his wife Mary.

Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) in 1300, when she was 16 years old, Sir Thomas Leybourne (d.1307), with whom she had a daughter, Juliana de Leybourned (1304-1367);  (2) in 1310, as his 2nd wife, Guy de Beatuchamp (d.1315), 10th Earl of Warwick, with whom she had 2 sons and 5 daughters; and (3) in 1316, William la Zouche de Mortimer, 1st Lord Zouche de Mortimer, with whom she had a son and a daughter.

Notes:  "...The earl remarried in 1310, to Alice de Tony, sister and heiress of Ralph de Tony, and therefore the heiress of the Tony inheritance.  The value of the Tony inheritance is much disputed for Alice already had issue by Thomas de Leyburn, her first husband, and McFarlane maintains the earl ‘merely enjoyed her inheritance from their marriage in 1310 until his death five years later’. However, this is patently untrue as a glance at the Inquisitions Post Mortem of Earls Guy and Thomas will demonstrate. The manors of Walthamstow in Essex, Abberley in Worcestershire, Flamstead in Hertfordshire, Stratford Tony and Newton Tony in Wiltshire, Kirtling in Cambridgeshire, and the lordship of Painscastle in the Welsh Marches, were all to become valuable and important parts of the Beauchamp inheritance, although, as Sinclair rightly points out, the presence of a surviving Tony dowager meant that the earldom had only two-thirds of the inheritance until she died in 1340."  (Barfield, Chap. 1) 

ALICE LE MESCHIN 

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Skipton 

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of William le Meschin, Lord of Copeland, and Cecilia de Rumilly, Lady of Skipton. 

Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) c1138 William FitzDuncan, Earl of Moray, son of Duncan II of Scotland and Ethelreda of Scotland, with whom she had a son and 3 daughters; married (2) Alexander FitzGerold. 

ALICE D'EU (1192-1246)

Also known as: Alice de Lusignan

Proprietary Title: 8th Countess of Eu & 4th Lady of Hastings 1191-1246

Parents/Pedigree: Henry II of Eu & Matilda de Warenne

Partners/Progeny: Married 1213 Raoul I de Lusignan (1160/64/65-1219), Lord of Issoudun & Count of Eu (Raoul I of Eu)

Patrimony.Properties: "As Alice's mother, Matilda, had married again to Henry d'Estouteville of Eckington, Lord of Valmont and Rames in Normandy, and had a son, John, by d'Estouteville, it was JOhn, Alice's half-brother, therefore, who became heir to all the Warenne lands. Matilda held in her own right. This left Alice solely with the inheritance from her father. The struggle to obtain and hold on to this inheritance would be the driving force in Alice's adult life. Her mother's brother William de Warenne actively supported his niece in her fight to retain her paternal inheritance. In August 1209, Alice officially received the Comte of Eu from Philip II Augustus, King of France, when she also made a quitclaim of all rights to Neufchatel, Mortemer and Arques. Mortemer was part of the de Warenne ancestral lands in Normandy, given to William I de Warenne by William the Conqueror; suggesting that Alice was renouncing her own rights to the French de Warenne lands, as a granddaughter of Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey." (Ladies of Magna Carta: 131)

"Her husband, Raoul died on 1 May 1219 and was succeeded as Count of Er by their son, Raoul II, still only a child. It was left to Alice, now dowager countess, to administer the Eu inheritance. She paid 15,000 silver marks to the French King to receive the county of Eu in her own name and regained control of her English lands, entrusted to her uncle, the earl of Surrey, as her representative, following her husband's death." (Ladies of Magna Carta: 133)

"Alice was a shrewd political survivor and may well have used the clauses of Magna Carte, which safeguarded the lands of widows, to press her case for the restoration of Tickhill. However, with lands in France and England, two countries often at war, she found herself caught between a rock and a hard place. In 1225 she handed Tickhill Castle to Henry III, until the end of hostilities with France, as a means of safeguarding her lands. Nevertheless, this did not save her when she was ordered to levy troops for the French king, Louis IX, as Countess of Eu, and send her forces to fight for him. As a consequence, Henry III seized Tickhill Castle, although it was only permanently attached to the English crown after Alice's death." (Ladies of Magna Carta: 133)

Notes: " . . . In 1219 Alice Countess of Eu executed a charter acknowledging the terms upon which Philip Augustus had restored the comte of Eu to her; it sets out that the king retained to himself the fief of Bully which Robert de Mellevilla held of him in the bailiwick of Neufchatel. Alice, the heiress of the family, was great-great-granddaughter of William count of Eu by Beatrix sister of Roger de Busli, a marriage by which Roger's honour of Tickhill came to the counts of Eu." (Loyd: 21)

Patronages: "Alice was renowned for her wide patronage, both secular and religious, and has left numerous charters as testament. She was a benefactor of both French and English religious houses, including Battle Abbey and Christ Church, Canterbury in England and Eu and Foucarmont -- where her son would be laid to rest -- in France. Alice issued a charter in 1219, to Roche Abbey, which was witnessed by her uncle William, Earl de Warenne. She also granted an annual allowance to Loretta de Braose, Countess of Leicester, who wea living as a recluse at Hackington. Alice also granted several lands to others, such as Greetwell in the county of Lincoln, which had previously been held by Walter de Tylly in Alice's name and was given to Earl de Warenne in August 1225; the earl was to annually render a sparrowhawk to Philippa de Tylly in payment. In 1232 Alice issued a charter to Malvesin de Hersy, of Osberton. . . ." (Ladies of Magna Carta: 133) 

ALICE OF JERUSALEM (c1106-)

Power Exercised:  Princess-Regent of Antioch, 1130, 1135-1136

ALIENOR DE PORHOET (c1200-?) 

Proprietary Title:   Lady of Lannoue 

ALIENOR DE VERMANDOIS (1152-after 1122) 

Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Vermandois and Valois, 1183-1214 

Parents/Pedigree:  She was the daughter of Raoul I "the Valiant" of Vermandois and his 3rd wife, Laurette of Lorraine. In 1214, she renounced her titles to the French Crown and entered a nunnery.

Progeny/Posterity:  She was married 5 times to Godfrey of Hainaut, Count of Ostervant (d. 1163); c1167 to Guillaume IV of Nevers (d.1168); c1170 to Mathieu of Lorraine (1137-73), Count of Boulogne; c1175 to Mathieu III of Beaumont-sur-Oise (d.1208/09) and c1210 to Etienne II of Blois (d. 1252), Lord of Chatillon-sur-Loing. 

Notes:  "In 1182 Elisabeth de Vermandois died without children, thus depriving the count of Flanders of his original claim to the Vermandois lands.  In the meantime, Alienor had remarried.  Her new husband was Mathieu, count of Beaumont-sur-Oise and chamberlain in the royal household.  Freed from the domination of the count of Flanders, Philip Augustus repudiated his confirmation of Elisabeth's concession of Vermandois, Amiens and Valois to her husband (the king asserted that he had acted under duress) and defended the claims of Alienor de Beaumont to her sister's inheritance... The struggle between the king and the count of Flanders culminated in the agreement at Boves (1185) by which a threefold division of the former lands of the count of Vermandois was made.  The count of Flanders was permitted to hold Saint-Quentin and Peronne for his lifetime.  Alienor de Beaumont retained Valois and the rest of Vermandois including Ribemont.  But in compensation for his role in the affair, the kind was conceded the county of Amiens, along with Mont didier and Roua.  Alienor probably conceded these lands in the form of the relief due to a feudal suzerain when a new enfeoffment took place.  By 1185 Philip Augustus not only intervened as a potential heir in the successio0n of Vermandois, Valois and Amiens, but had also gained actual possession)..."  (Baldwin, pp. 25-26) 

ALINE BASSET (1237-1281)

[Gen1] 

Proprietary Title:  Baroness Basset 

Parents/Pedigree:  Sir Philip Basset (1185-1271) and of Hawise de Lovaine (1236-?). 

Progeny/Posterity:  She married (1) in c1250, Sir Hugh le Despenser, and (2) in 1271 Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.

Notes:  "Aline, the lessee, was the daughter and heiress of Philip, Baron Basset, of Wycombe, who died 1271.  She was born 1245, and married, 1, Hugh le Despenser, who fell at Evesham in 1265.  She married, 2, Roger Bigod, fourth Earl of Norfolk, and Earl Mareschal.  Alina seems to have died 9 Edward I, when an inquisition was held upon her lands.  The Earl married again about 18 Edward I.  When she granted this lease, she must have been married to her second husband about four years.  It is singular that, being a married woman, she should have taken a lease;  but she was a great heiress, and probably deference was shown to her in the management of her own property, which lay near Dinas Powis."  (Archaeologia cambrensis, p. 180)

Notes:  "...Roger made a very substantial addition of his own by virtue of his marriage.  At some point in the period 1265-71, he was wedded to Lady Aline la Despenser.  Aline was the widow of Hugh Despenser, the loyal henchman of Simon de Montfort who had fought and fallen alongside his leader at Evesham...  [I]t may be that the marriage of Roger and Aline was brokered by their fathers, both staunch royalists, in the months after Evesham...  Whatever political or personal attractions recommended the match, it undoubtedly improved the fortunes of both parties.  Aline gained a new husband and protector, set to become far wealthier than her previous partner.  Roger, meanwhile had instantly acquired four new Midlan manors (Loughborough, Freeby and Hugglescote in Leicestershire, and Brnwell in Northamptonshire), and was also anticipating a far greater dividend, because his new wife was the sole heiress of the Basset fortune.  When her father died in 1271, Aline inherited the manors of Lamarsch, Tolleshunt Knights, Tolleshunt Guisnes, Wix, South Weald and Layer de la Haye (Essex), Berwick Bassett, Woortton Bassett and Vastern (Wiltshire), Woking and Sutton Green (Surrey), Elsfield and Cassington (Oxfordshire), Aston Clinton and High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire), Soham (Cambridgeshire) and Speen (Berkshire).  This extensive list, however, came with a crucial caveat.  Aline had a son from her earlier marriage who stood to inherit everything in the event of her death...." (Morris, pp. 104-105) 

ALIX DE BAUX (1367-1426)

Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Avellino, Lady of Baux, Countess of Beaufort and Viscountess of Turenne. 

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter and heiress of Raymond II of Baux and Jeanne de Beaufort.

Properties:  Les Baux:  The Barony of Les Baux consisted of seventy-nine towns or bourgs, which formed the territory called La Baussenique.  It was confiscated by Louis III, Duke of Anjou, and Count of Provence in 1414, after having been ogoverned by one family from Pons des Baux, the first who appears in history, and who died in 970.  The last male representative died in 1374, and his sister and heiress, Alice, married Conrad, Count of Freiburg, who died in 1414.  She bequeathed the principality to her kinsman, William, Duke of Andria, but on account of his attachment to the opposed party, Louis III, seized on Les Baux.  In 1642, Louis XIII, erected it into a marquisate, and gave it to Honore Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, and it remained in the possession of the House of Monaco till the revolution of 1789."  (Baring-Gould, pp. 70-71) 

Partner/Progeny:  She married (1) in 1380 Odon de Villars (d.1413), titular Count of Geneva; and (2) in 1418 Konrad von Freiburg and Neuenburg (d.1424). (Family de Baux)

Alix I de Brittany (1200-1250) 

Alice of Brittany 

Alix of Thouars

Proprietary Title:  Duchess of Brittany, 1213-1221; Countess of Richmond, 1213-1221 

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Guy of Thouars (d.1213) and Constance, Duchess of Brittany (d. 1201). 

Power Exercised:  Regent of Brittany for her son, Jean I, 1221-1237

Notes:  "...Alice was betrothed to a Capetian cadet, Pierre de Dreux,...and they were married in 1213, probably before the death of Guy de Thouars in April that year.  Alice and Pierre de Dreux thus succeeded to the duchy of Brittany in 1213.  At the time of his death, Guy de Thouars no longer possessed any interests in the honour of Richmond and Alice did not succeed to any English lands...  However, in 1215, negotiations were commenced between Pierre de Dreux and John (of England), desperate for aid in England, which eventually resulted in the grant of all the lands of the honour of Richmond south of the Humber to Alice and Pierre in 1219....

"Like her mother, Alice succeeded as heiress to the duchy of Brittany as an infant, but had to await marriage before she could assume the government of the duchy.  Unlike Constance, Alice predeceased her first and only husband and so never had the opportunity to govern in her own name...."  (Everard & Jones, p. 166-167)

ALIX DE BOURGOGNE (c1254-1290)

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Auxerre, 1273

ALIX DE CHATILLON

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Clichy la Garenne

ALIX DE COUCY

Notes:  Sister and heiress of Enguerrand IV of Coucy, who died in 1311 without leaving an heir. She married Arnoul III of Guines, Lord of Ardres and Bourbourg, and their son, Enguerrand of Guines (d.1321), became Enguerrand V of Coucy, Lord of Coucy, of Marle and of de la Fere, of Oisy and of Havrincourt, of Montmirail, of Conde-en-Brie, of Chalons le Petit, of Crepy, of Vervins and chatelain of Chateau-Thierry.

"The first race of the Lords of Coucy became extinct on the death of Enguerrand or Ingelram IV. in 1311, when his sister Alix carried his vast inheritance into the family of the Counts of Guisnes; from whom descended the second race of the Lords of Coucy, who ended in an heiress, Mary de Coucy, who married, in 1383, Henry, Duke of Bar." (Gurney, p. 126) 

ALIX DE COURTENAY (1160-1218) 

Proprietary Title:  Lady of La Ferte-Gaucher 

Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Pierre I de Courtenay and of Elisabeth de Courtenay.  "...Alice was the daughter of Peter de Courtenay I (1125-1187), lord of Montargis and Chateaurenard south of Paris, himself the son of Louis VI of France and the brother of Louis VII...."  (Church, pp. 175) 

Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) in 1178 (divorced 1186) Guillaume I of Joigny, no issue;  (2) in 1186 Aymer Taillefer (d.1202), Count of Angouleme, with whom she had Isabelle d'Angouleme, the future Queen of England.  "Alice's first husband was Andrew lord of La Ferte-Gaucher in Champagne, to whom she was married at some time after 1169...  As her second husband, at some time after 1177, Alice married William count of Joigny near Auxerre.  By William she had a son, Peter, later count of Joigny (d.1222), a half-brother of Isabella of Angouleme."  (Church, p. 176) 

Property:  "...The lordship of La Ferte-Gaucher itself was retained as dower for Alice de Courtenay, Andrew's widow.  In this way, through her first marriage, Alice acquired not only a rich lordship in Champagne, where she continued to exercise her rights as dowager for the next thirty years, but close kinship, as step-mother, to one of the more extraordinary warrior saints of thirteenth-century France."  (Church, p. 176)

ALIX DE DREUX (1243-1288) 

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Pontarcy 

ALIX D'EU (d.1246) 

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Eu, 1191-1246

"Alice Countess of Eu was a mere child in 1186, when she succeeded her brother Ralph, but so considerable an heiress was not allowed to remain long unmarried, and the husband chosen for her by King Henry II was Ralph Seigneur de Issoudon and Mello in Poitou, the second son of Hugh IX de Lusignan by Matilda Countess of La Marche and Angouleme.  It was not a match of disparagement even for so nobly descended an heiress, for Ralph was a Cadt of one of those semi-royal families, who were connected by marriage with the Kings of England and France.  (Yorkshire Archaeological Sociey)

ALIX DE MACON (d.1260) 

Proprietary Title:  Countess of Macon, 1224-1239 

ALIX VON MERAN (d.1279)

a.k.a. Adelaide of Burgundy

a.k.a. Alix of Vergy

Proprietary Titles: Countess Palatine of Burgundy, 1248-1279, in succession to her brother Otto III of Burgundy

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Otto I, Duke of Meran, and Beatrice II, Countess Palatine of Burgundy

Power Exercised: Countess of Salins, as wife of Hugues of Salins (d.1266); Countess of Savoy and Bresse, as wife of Philippe of Savoy (d.1285)

Progeny/Posterity: Married around 1239 Hugues (d.1266), Count of Salins, with 4 sons and 3 daughters.

*******************************

REFERENCES

Freeman, Edward (1869).  The History of the Norman Conquest of England, Its Causes and Its Results (Vol. III). Oxford: Clarendon Press.