Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Royal Women in Power I

Brief lives of women, who reigned or ruled in their own right or by marriage, by providing their:

Proper Name:
Also known as:
Proprietary Titles:
Parents/Pedigree:
Partners:
Progeny/Posterity:
Patrimony/Properties:
Persona/Personality:
Powers Exercised:
Patronages:
Picture:

Ida de Boulogne, Countess of Mortain, 1204–1216.

Ide-Raymonde de Forez, Countess of Forez.

Ilaria Scillato, Lady of Ceppaloni [62].

Ippolita I Ludovisi (1663–1724), Princess of Piombino, 1700-1724 [63].
IRENE OF ATHENS, Byzantine Empress (752-803)
a.k.a. Irene the Athenian
[Bio1]
"...The Empress was actuated by love of Greece as well as by motives of policy, for she as a native of Athens... At the age of seventeen she had been selected by the Emperor Constantine Copronymos as the wife of his son, Leo IV, and the premature death of her husband left her the real mistress of the Empire, which she governed, first as Regent for her son and then as sole ruler, for over twenty years... Irene, however, was dethroned a little later by Nikephoros I, and banished to Mitylene, where she died...."  (Essays on the Latin Orient, pp. 39-40)

Irene Palaeologina, Empress of Trebizond, 1340–1341.

Irmgard von Plotzkau (1070/80-1153), Heiress of County of Walbeck [64].

Irmgard von Wevelinghoven (d.1474), Heiress of Lordship of Alfter.

Isabeau d'Antoing (d.1354), Burgravine of Ghent [65].

Isabeau de Carlat, Viscountess of Carlat, 1303-?.

Isabeau de Carlat, Lady of Carlat.

Isabeau de Craon, Lady of Craon.

Isabeau de Germaines (d.1341), Lady of Germaines.

Isabeau de Ghistelle, Countess of Harnes, 1386-1413 [66].

Isabeau de Thouars, Lady of Mauleon & Talmond, Viscountess of Thouars, Countess of Benon & Dreux.

Isabeau de Vivonne, Lady of Regnac.

Isabel, Princess of Euboea, 1216-1220 [67].
widow of Ravano dalle Carceri, Lord of Euboea, 1209–1216

Isabel de Aragon (1409–43), Countess of Urgell, 1433–1443.

Isabel de Mauduit, heiress of County of Warwick [68].

Isabel Douglas, Countess of Mar, Countess of Mar and Lady of Garioch, 1391-1404 [69].
Isabel le Despenser
Countess of Warwick
@geni.com
Proprietary Titles: Lady Despenser; 5th Baroness Burghersh, 1414-1439 (succeeded brother Richard, Baron Burghersh)

Parents/Pedigree: Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester & Constance of York

" . . . She was the great grand-daughter of Edward III, and was descended on the female side from Gilbert de Clare, eighth Earl of Gloucester, and his wife the Princess Joan d'Acre, the daughter of Edward I; and thus by two channels she inherited the blood of the Plantagenets." (Blunt: 74)

Patrimony/Properties: "On the death of the last Lord Despencer in 1415, the lands and the ecclesiastical rights of his family went to his sister Isabel, who is best known by the title of her second husband as the Countess of Warwick. 
Persona/Personality:
Powers Exercised:
Patronages:

Isabel Teles de Molina (1290-?), 10th Lady of Menezes.

Isabella I of Castile, Queen of Castile, 1474–1504
[Bio1] [Bio2]

Isabella of England (1332–1379), Countess of Soissons, 1365.


Isabella II of Spain, Queen of Spain, 1833–1868.

Isabella, Countess of Gloucester (1170–1217)
Proprietary Titles: 3rd Countess of Gloucester
Parents/Pedigree: Isabel was the daughter of William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and of Hawise. 
Patrimony/Properties
Persona/Personality
Powers Exercised
Patronages
Partners/Progeny: She married 1) King John of England; 2) Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex; and 3) Hugh de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent. She had no children by both husbands.

"No son survived to succeed to the lordship of Gloucester and Tewkesbury. Isabella, the third daughter of William Fitzcount, had the ill fortune to attract Prince John, afterwards the king. The broadlands of Tewkesbury, in default of a male heir, were in the keeping of the Crown, and on his marriage with Isabella of Tewkesbury were bestowed on Prince John, then Earl of Moreton. The marriage was an unhappy one, and when John after some ten years became king, he divorced Isabella, but on payment of an enormous fine he gave Tewkesbury and the lordship of Gloucester to her second husband, Geoffrey Mandeville, Earl of Essex. She died childless as did her elder sister Mabel, the wife of Almeric de Montfort, Count d'Evreux. . . ." (The English Illustrated Magazine: 783)

Proper NameIsabella d'Ibelin (1252-1282)
Also known as: Isabella of Beirut
Proprietary TitlesLady of Beirut, 1264-1282
Other Titles: Queen of Cyprus
Partners:
1. Hugh II of Cyprus (1252-1267), betrothed 1265
2. Hamo le Strange (d.1273), mar 1272
3. Nicolas l'Aleman, Lord of Caesarea
4. William Barlais (d.1304), mar 1277
Progeny/Posterity:
Patrimony/Properties:
Persona/Personality:
Powers Exercised:
Patronages:
Picture:
Isabella of Jerusalem, Queen of Jerusalem, 1190–1206.

Isabella of Oultrejourdain, Lady of Oultre Jourdain.

Isabella Appiani, Lady of Piombino & Elba, 1590–1594; Princess of Piombino, 1594-1661 
a.k.a. Isabella d'Appiani d'Aragon

ISABEL MARSHAL (1200-1240)
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Hertford
Parents/Pedigree: Isabel was the seventh child, and second daughter, of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and of Isabel de Clare.
Patrimony/Properties
Persona/Personality
Powers Exercised: Countess of Cornwall
Patronages
Partners/Progeny: She married 1) Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, with whom she had six children, and, in 1231, 2) Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall with whom she had four children.

"The same abbot officiated less than five months later at the marriage of Earl Gilbert's widow Isabel to his friend Richard, earl of Cornwall, the brother of Henry III, the ceremony being performed on March 30, 1231, at Fawley, near Marlow in Buckinghamshire. She thus became Countess of Gloucester, Hertford, Cornwall, and Poitiers; but though these great titles overshadowed the comparatively humble one which she derived from Tewkesbury, her affections were firmly rooted in the old abbey until her last hour...." (Blunt, 1875, p. 51)

ISABELLA PALLAVICINI, Marchioness of Bodonitsa, 1278-1286 [72].
a.k.a. Jezebel

Isabella de Roucy, Countess of Roucy, ?-1379.

Isabella of Spain (1566–1633), Countess of Charolais, 1598–1633, Countess Palatine of Burgundy, 1598–1633.

Isabella di Taranto, Princess of Taranto, 1463–1465.


Isabel de Warenne (1136–1203)
Proprietary Titles: 4th Countess of Surrey, 1148-1203

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter & only surviving heir, of William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey, and his wife Adele de Ponthieu.

Partners/Progeny: She married 1) 1148, William I of Blois (1137-1159), Count of Boulogne, 1153-1159 & 3rd Earl of Surrey (in wife's right), 1153-1159, son of King Stephen of England; and 2) 1164, Hamelin Plantagenet (1130-1202), 4th Earl of Surrey (in wife's right), a.k.a. Hamelin de Warenne, illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou & an unknown woman.

Patrimony/Properties: "The Warenne earls of Surrey had been stalwart supporters of the crown since William de Warenne, the first earl, had fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. The family held a total of sixty knights' fees in England. They had lands stretching from Lewes in Sussex to sandal Castle in West Yorkshire, with their main landholdings at Castle Acre in Norfolk; they also had extensive estates in Normandy, including Mortemer and Bellencombre. . . ." (Ladies of Magna Carta: 126)

Hamelin de Warenne, 4th Earl of Surrey: "Warenne's lands in England centered on Conisborough Castle in Yorkshire, which powerful castle he built. He also possessed the "third penny" (an entitlement to one third of the fines levied in the county courts) of his County of Surrey and held the castles of Mortemer and Bellencombre in Normandy." (Wikipedia)
Persona/Personality
Powers Exercised
Patronages

"One such was Isabel de Warenne, a young lady whose vast inheritance made her an attractive bride. Isabel was the only surviving child of William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey, and his wife Ela or Ala. Ela was the daughter of William (III) Talvas, Count of Ponthieu. Isabel was probably in her mid- to late teens when her father was killed during the Second Crusade; in January 1148, he was fighting in the rearguard of France's king, Louis VII, when the force was destroyed in the defiles of Laodicea. Ela would marry, for a second time, sometime before 1152; her second husband was Patrick, Earl of Salisbury, by whom she had four sons, William (Patrick's successor as earl), Patrick, Philip and Walter, before her death on 4 October 1174.

"On the death of her father, Isabel became 4th Countess of Surrey, in her own right, and one of the most prized heiresses in England and Normandy. She had large estates in Yorkshire and Norfolk. Her father had been a strong supporter of King Stephen; he fought alongside the king during the Anarchy -- Stephen's battles with his cousin, the Empress Matilda, to control England -- and supported his wife, Queen Matilda, after King Stephen was captured at Lincoln. This affinity with Stephen's regime helps to explain why, in the same year that her father died, and as part of King Stephen's attempts to control the vast de Warenne lands, Isabel was married to Stephen's younger son, William of Blois, who became Earl of Surrey, by right of his wife. William, it seems, was about seven years younger than his wife, having been born in 1137. William was removed from the succession to the crown, by his own father when Stephen made a deal with Empress Matilda's son, Henry of Anjou, that the crown would go to him on Stephen's death." (Connolly. Heroines of the Medieval World)

Isabella da Ponte, Heiress of Tagliacozzo [73]

Isabelle d'Albret (d.1294), Lady of Albret & Viscountess of Maremne, 1283–1294.


Isabelle d'Angoulême (1187–1246), Countess of Angoulême, 1202–1246.

Isabelle de Beaujeau (d.1297), Lady of Beaujeau, 1250-1297.

Isabelle de Beauvau (1436–1474), Lady of La-Roche-sur-Yon, Lady of Champigny-sur-Vende.

Isabelle de Blois (d.1236), Lady of Chateaurenault & Countess of Chartres, 1218-1236 [74].

Isabelle de Brienne (1305–1360), Countess of Conversano, 1356–1360, Countess of Lecce, 1356–1360, Countess of Brienne, 1356–1360.

Princess of Taranto, 1463-1465 (succeeded uncle Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini)

Isabelle de Coucy (d.1411), Countess of Soissons, ?-1411.

Isabelle de Dreux (1160–1239), Lady of Baudemont.

Isabelle de Foix (1360–1426), Viscountess of Béarn & Castelbon & Countess of Foix, 1398-1412.

Isabelle de France (1158–1197), Countess of Vexin.

Isabella, Countess of Vertus (1348–1373), Countess of Vertus 1361-1373.

Isabelle of Luxemburg (d.1472), Countess of Guise.

Isabelle de Mayenne (d.1257), Lady of Mayenne, 1220-1257 [75].

Isabelle de Rumigny (1263–1322), Lady of Rumigny, 1270–1322.

Isabelle I de Villehardouin (1260–1311), Princess of Achaea, 1289–1297, 1301-1307

Royal Women in Power G

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.Gabrielle d'Estrées (1571-1599)
Proprietary Titles: Marquise of Monceaux & Duchess of Beaufort & Duchess of Etampes, 1598-1599

GARSENDA DE BIGORRE (986-1032/34)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Bigorre
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter and heiress of Garcia Arnaud (d.1025/1046)
Partner/Progeny: She married Bernard Roger of Carcassonne (981-1036/38). (
See) Garsende de Sabran

Gersinde II of Sabran

GARSENDE DE FORCALQUIER (c1180-c1242
Proprietary Title: Countess of Forcalquier, 1209
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Renier of Sabran, Lord of Caylar & Ansouis, and Garsende who inherited Forcalquier from her grandfather,
Guillaume IV of Forcalquier.
Power Exercised: Countess of Provence; Regent of Provence, 1209/13-1217/20, for her son
Raymond Berengar IV of Provence.
Partner/Progeny: Married in 1193
Alphonse II of Provence

Garsenda de Urgel
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Forcalquier, Lady of La Tour d'Aigues and Ansouis
Patrimony/Properties: (See Map of the
County of Forcalquier)Garsende de Provence
Power Exercised: Regent, 1229-1240 for
Gaston VII of Bearn

Gauze of Nimes
Proprietary Title: Viscountess of NimesPartner/Progeny:"...Bernard's grandson, also Bernard, acquired the viscounty of Nimes through his marriage to the heiress, Gauze, in the mid-tenth century...." (Graham-Leigh, p. 42)Gentile Brancaleoni (d.1459)
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Mercatello sul Metauro, Lady of Massa Trabaria
Gerarde de Navailles (c1330-?)
Proprietary Titles:
Lady of Navailles and Sault
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Garcie Arnaud V of Navailles and Bernarde of Miramont
Partner/Progeny: Married in 1350 Roger Bernard II of Foix, Viscount of Castelbon, with whom she had 2 sons and a daughter.

GERAUDE DE BIRAN

[Tree1]
Proprietary Titles: Dame de Biran and d'Ordan
Parents/Pedigree: Barthelemi de Biran, Seigneur d'Ordan
Partner/Progeny: Married in 1303 Arnaud-Guilhem III de Montlezun (1270-1340), Comte de Pardiac.
Gerberge deProvence (1060-1115)
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Provence and Arles, 1093-1112
Parents/Pedigree: Eldest daughter of Geoffroy II of Provence, Marquis and Count of Provence, and Etienette
Partner/Progeny: Married in 1058 Gilbert of Gevaudan, Viscount of Gevauan, of Millau and of Carlat, with whom she had 2 daughters.

Notes: "...When Gerberga, heiress to the county of Provence, married the viscount of Millau, he took the title count of Provence alongside his wife, and his portion of the familial lands of Millau and the Gevaudan fell to her, through whom they passed in 1112 to their daughter Douce and her husband Ramon-Berenguer of Brcelona. The Barcelonese now bore the title 'count of Provence,' but Provence remained a separate territory and the countship a separable title." (Evergates, pp. 154-155)


Gersende de Bigorre (d.1032/34)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Bigorre


Gersende de Maine (1030-1074)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Maine


Gersende II de Sabran (1180-1242)
a.k.a. Garsenda of Forcalquier
Proprietary Title: Countess of Forcalquier, 1209
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Rainon II of Sabran (d.1209), Lord of Caylar and of Ansouis, 1155-1209, and Garsinde of Forcalquier
Partner/Progeny: Married in 1193, Alfonso Berenguer of Aragon who succeeded his father as Alfonso II, Count of Provence, Millau and Razes.


Gersende de Urgel
Proprietary Title: Lady of Forcalquier, 1209-?

Gertrud von Nordheim (c1090-1154/65)
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Bentheim, Countess of Rheineck
Parents/Pedigree: She was the youngest daughter of
Heinrich of Nordheim, Margrave of Frisia, and Gertrud of Brunswick.
Properties/Patrimony: She inherited Bentheim and Rheineck.
Partners/Progeny: Married (1) Siegfried I of Weimar-Orlamunde (d.1113), Count Palatine of Lorraine; (2) married @1115/20 Otto I of Salm, with issue (d.1150), Count of Rheineck, with issue.


GERTRUD VON SACHSEN (c1080s-1117)
a.k.a Gertrud von Meissen
Proprietary Title: Heiress of Brunswick.
Notes: "Henry the Fat, Duke of Saxony, on the Weser, married Gertraut, daughter of Egbert II last Margrave of Saxony and Thuringia, descended from Henry Rixosus, eldest son of Henry Duke of Bavaria. She was heiress of Brunswic (sic). He died in 1101, having had by her [several issue]....." (Collins, p. 15)

GERTRUDE DE NESLE (d.1239)
[Gen1]
Proprietary Title: Lady of Nesle
Parents/Pedigree: Elder daughter of Jean I de Nesle (d.c1200), and of Elisabeth van Peteghem (d.1204).
Partner/Progeny: Married (1) Renaud de Mello (d.1201); (2) Raoul de Clerment (d.1226), Lord of Ailly.

Giordana di Sanseverino
Proprietary Title: Lady of Solofra

GIOVANNA I DI NAPOLI (1328-1382)
a.k.a. Jeanne d'Anjou, Giovanna d'Angio
the Mary Stuart of Italy, the Sad Queen

[Bio1] [Bio2]
Proprietary Titles: Queen of Naples, 1343-1383;Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, Princess of Achaea, 1373/75-1381.
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Carlo, Duke of Calabira, and of Marie de Valois.
Partners/Progeny: Married (1) Endre of Hungary (d.1345); (2) Luigi of Taranto (d.1362); (3) in 1363, Jaime IV of Mallorca (d.1376); (4) Otto von Brunswick-Grubenhagen.
Notes: "...The territory inherited by Joanna, queen of Naples, as countess of Provence, comprised the greater and the richer part of the ancient kingdom of Aries, which in the ninth century had been separated from the empire of Charlemagne by the marriage of Hermengarde, daughter of Louis the Debonnaire, with Bozon, count of Ardennes, and which, on the death of his descendant, Rodolph the Slothful, was again subdivided into the sovereign fiefs of Vienne or Dauphine; the Maurienne or Duchy of Savoy; the Lyonaois ; Piedmont, from the Var to the Taglia; the county of Arles or Eastern Provence, south and east of the Durance, from the Rhone to the Var ; the county of Fourcalquier or Western Provence, between the Rhone and the Durance; the Venaissin or county of Avignon ; the principality of Orange, which gave title to William of Nassau, to whom Britain owes so much, and a few other unimportant baronies, dependant on Provence." (Historical Life of Joanna of Sicily, pp. 2-3)

Giovanna II of Naples

Giovanna III of Naples

Giovanna de Fessima
Patrimony/Properties:"...brought in her dowry the barony of Raddusa when she married Giovanni Francesco who was invested in 1500 with lower Imbacarri and Mirabella in Catania.

Giovanna Carafa
Proprietary Title: Countess of Roddi, 1525-1534.

Gisela Agnes von Rath (1669-1740)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Nienburg, 1694-1740 [65]

GIUSTIANA DONNA ORSINI
[Ref1]
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter and heiress of Don Giovanni Antonio Orsini, 1st Principe de Scandriglia, 2nd Duca di San Gemini, Conte di Nerola
Partner/Progeny: Married Ferdinandi, 4th Duca di Bracciano (d.1660)

Grapella dalle Carceri
Proprietary Title: Princess of Euboea, 1262-1264 [66]

Guglielma Pallavicini (1311-1358)
Proprietary Titles: Lady of Thermopylae, Marchioness of Bodonitsa, 1311 [67]
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter and heiress of Alberto Pallavicini and Maria della Carceri
Progeny/Posterity: Niccolo I Giorgio.
Notes: "...was a true descendant of the first Marquess. Of all the rulers of Boudinitza, with his exception, she was the most self-willed, and she might be included in that by no means small number of strong-minded, unscrupulous, and passionate women, whom Turkish Greece produced and whom classic Greece might have envied as subjects for her tragic stage.)."
Notes: "...On the death of her Genoese husband, she considered that both the proximity of Boudinitza to the Venetian colony of Negroponte and her long-standing claims to the castle of Larmena in that island required that she should marry a Venetian, especially as the decision of her claim and even her right to reside in the island depended upon the Venetian bailies. Accordingly, she begged the Republuc to give her one of its nobles as her consort, and promised dutifully to accept whomsoever the Senate might choose. The choice fell upon Nicolo Giorgio, or Zorzi, to give him the Venetian form of the name, who belonged to a distinguished family which had given a Doge to the Republic and had recently assisted young Walter of Brienne in his abortive campaign to recover his father's lost duchy from the Catalans. A Venetian galley escorted him 1335 to the have of Boudonitza, and a Marquess, the founder of a new line, once more ruled over the castle of the Pallavicini." (Essays on the Orient, p. 251)

Guillemette von Neuchatel (1270-1317)
a. k. a. Guillemette of Neuenburg
Proprietary Title: Lady of Montbeliard

GUILLERMA DE MONCADA
"...Sancho, the second son of Alfonso the Wise, king of Castile,...had previously been contracted to Dona Guillermina de Moncada, daughter of Gaston, Viscount of Bearn, niece of Don Lope de Haro, and the richest heiress of Castile, though as deficient in beauty as in temper. Fortunately, both for the domestic happiness of Sanche, and the welfare of the nation, the match was broken off...." (George, p. 232)

Guillerma I de Pallars-Sobira (d.1250)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Pallars-Sobira, 1199-1229

Guillermina de Pallars-Soubira
Proprietary Title: Countess of Pallars-Soubira

Guinidilda de Rousillon
Proprietary Title:
Parents/Pedigree: Heiress of Miron I, Count of Rousillon. [68]

Guinodeon de Porhoet
Proprietary Title: Countess of Porhoet

Regent-Viscountess of Béarn, 1136-1147

Royal Women in Power H

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.

Hatshepsut
Proprietary Title: Pharaoh of Egypt

Hawise d'Aumale (1165-1214)
a.k.a. Havoise, Hadwide
[Bio1]
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Aumale and Lady of Holderness, 1179-1194, Lady of Skipton
Properties: Bytham Castle [Brown: 77]. "At the death of her father, she inherits the entire family heritage, and the barinies of Skipton and Copeland from her mother." "...After his (William le Gros) death in 1189 his daughter and heiress, Hawise, eventually brought his lands and lordships to William de Forz... and their descendants; but meanwhile the lady's first husband, William de Mandeville earl of Essex, had granted Bytham to his tenant, William de Coleville, to be held of the Lords of Holderness for the service of 2 1/s knights' fees...." (Brown, p. 77)
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter and heiress of William le Gros (d.1179), Count of Aumale, Earl of Yorkshire and Lord of Holderness, and Cicely Fitz-Duncan (a.k.a. Cecily de Rumigny), Lady of Skipton, daughter and co-heir of William Fitz-Duncan and Alice le Meschin, Lady of Skipton.
Progeny/Posterity: Married (1) in 1180 William de Mandeville (d. 1189), 3rd Earl of Essex, 1166-1189, with whom she had no issue. "...His son, William de Mandeville, was Henry's leading counsellor in later years, and was made mightier still by his marriage to Hawisia, heiress of Holderness and Skipton in England and Aumale in Normandy." (Carpenter, p.202); married (2) Geoffroi, Lord of Les Forts in Normandy; (3) married in 1195 Baudouin, Lord of Choques or Baldwin de Bethune (d.1212); and (4) married in 1190 William de Forz (d.1195), with whom she had issue, William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle. "Before his departure on the crusade, William was married to a rich English heiress, Hawise, widow of William de Mandeville, earl of Essex...." (American Philosophy Society, p. 223);
Persona: "...Evidently, William's (William de Forz) bride was a strong-willed woman, for a chronicler describes her as 'a woman who was almost a man, lacking nothing virile except the virile organs.' She showed her strength of will by refusing to marry the man whom the king had chosen for her, and she did not marry until he seized her lands in Yorkshire and sold her livestock...." (American Philosophical Society, p. 223)

Hawise de Blois
Proprietary Title: Countess of Aumale, 1179-1194

Hawise of Chester (1180-1243)
a.k.a. Hawise de Kevelioc
Proprietary Titles: Lady of Bolingbroke and Countess of Lincoln, 1232 (succeeding her brother Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester).
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter and youngest child of Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester and Bertrade de Montfort. Her paternal grandparents were Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, and Maud of Gloucester, granddaughter of Henry I of England. Her maternal grandparents were Simon III de Montfort and Mahaut.
Progeny/Posterity: Married in 1206 Robert de Quincy (d.1217), with whom she had a daughter Margaret de Quincy.

Hedwig von Bentheim (d. c1371)
Proprietary Title: Heiress of Bentheim [71]

Hedwig von Ravensberg
Proprietary Title: Heiress of Lordship of Dale, 1166

Heilwig von Kyburg (d.1260)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Kyburg

HELENE D'ANJOU (1236-1314)
a.k.a. St. Helene (1317)
[Bio1]
Proprietary Title: Ruler of Zeta, Travunia, Plav & Poibarje, 1276-1309
"Dragutin pleaded with her and received her blessing "assigning her a part of his state". This included the regions in the Littoral – from Shkoder to Ulcinj and Dubrovnik and, in the interior, Konavli and the Mountainous Nahija (regional unit), Plav on the Lim River, Gusinje and Brnjaci on the Ibar River. All these became "Lands of the queen mother"." (Tasic)

Helissende du Perche
Proprietary Title: Countess of Perche

Helvig von Ravensberg
Proprietary Title: Countess of Ravensberg

Helvis de Catheu
Proprietary Title: Lady of Catheu

Helvise of Ramleh
Proprietary Title: Lady of Ramleh

Hemma of Gurk

Henrietta Churchill (1681-1733)
Proprietary Title: 2nd Duchess of Marlborough, 1722-1733

HNERIETTE VON KLEVE (1452-1601)
[Bio1]
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Rethel & Duchess of Nevers, 1564-1601.
Properties: "...Franacois de Cleves, duc de Nevers (1516-62), was one of the wealthiest nobles in France. His Duchy of Nevers abutted the extreme southwest corner of Champagne, and he possessed a number of important seineuries within the province as well: the county of Rethel, between Reims and Mezieres in the northeast, and in the vicinity of Troyes, the barony of Ervy-le-Chastel, the viscounty of Saint-Florentin and the marquisat of Isle. This latter title and seingeurie would go to his second son, Jacques, who would become known as baron de Jaucourt, d'Ervy, de Chaource, de Villemaur aet de Maraye and marquis de l'Isle. With the extinction of the male line of the Cleves-Nevers family upon the death of Jacques in 1564, the inheritance passed through the female heir Henriette de Cleves to her husband Louise de Ganzague, who now became duc de Nevers." (Konnert, p. 29)

Henriette de Grandson (d.1322)
Proprietary Titles:  Lady of Grandson and la Sarraz

Hennriette of Montbeliard (1387-1444)
a.k.a. Henriette de Montfaucon
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Montbeliard, 1397-1444.
Parents/Pedigree: She was a daughter of Henri of Orbe (d.1396) who predeceased his father, Etienne of Montbeliard, and of Marie of Chatillon, Viscountess of Blaigny.
Patrimony/Properties: "...As the eldest daughter, she carried with her the county, town, and castle of Monbeliard, and the lordships of Bruntrut, Granges, Eslebon, Saulnot, Clerval and Passavant. The fief of La Roche...paid homage to Montbeliard, as did several other small fiefs...." (Higgins, p. 329). Henriette inherited her sister Marguerite's lands when the latter died without heirs; however, her father-in-law, the Count of Wurttemberg, sold them to the Count of Savoy in 1414.... "

HENRIETTE DI SAVOIE (1541-1611)
Proprietary Titles: Marquise of Villars, Countess of Tende
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Honorat II of Savoy, marquis of Villars, count of Trente and baron of Pressigny, and Jeanne of Foix, countess of Castillon.

Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse (1585-1654)
Proprietary Titles: Lady of Roches, Countess of Bouchage, Duchess of Joyeuse, 1608-1647; Princess of Joinville, 1641-1654
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Henri of Joyeuse and Catherine de Nogaret
Progeny/Posterity: Married (1) in 1597, Henri of Bourbon (1573-1608), Duke of Montpensier, with whom she had an only child and sole heiress, Marie of Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, and (2) in 1611 Charles of Lorraine (1571-1640), 4th Duke of Guise, with whom she had 5 sons and 2 daughters.

"...Henriette-Catherine de Joyeuse had been ranked as princesse du sang when married to her first husband, the duc de Montpensier. Her personal favour with the Queen enabled her to retain this rank, exceptionally, as duchesse de Guise, as seen in orders of processions for the funeral of Henri IV and the lit de justice of 1614, at which Mme de Guise occupied a position in the seating arrangements equal to the two pricesses du sang (Conti and Soissons)...." (Spangler, p. 156)

HERMESEND DE BAR-SUR-SEINE
"...Hermesend of Bar-sur-Seine...was the fifth child and only daughter of Elizabeth of Chancenay and Guy, count of Bar-sur-Seine, one of the most powerful barons of southern Champagne... An infant of perhaps one year when her father died, Hermesend was raised by her widowed mother until 1159, than was married to Anself II of Trainel, the thirty-three-year-old butler of Champagne who...was jilted out of his first marriage... [S]he had two children... Hermesend's familial connections made her one of the most prominent women of southern Champagne under count Henry the Liberal and countess Marie." (Evergates, p. 100)

"...'I, Hermesend, lady of Trainel,' proclaimed the divorced countess of Bar-le-Duc, who had returned to the dower lands of her first husband and resumed the title domina of Trainel while her son was dominus of Trainel...." (Evergates, p. 133)

HILDIGARDE D'OISY (d. c1177)
Proprietary Title: Viscountess of Meaux
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Simon d'Oisy (d. 1164), Chatelain of Cambrai, and of Ada de la Ferte-Ancoul
Progeny/Posterity: Married Andre de Montmirail (d. c1180), Lord of Ferte-Gaucher, with whom she had, among others, Andre de Montmirail, who inherited the Chatellanie of Cambrai.

HORTENSE MANCINI (1646-1699)
[Bio1]
Proprietary Titles: Duchess of Mayenne, Mazarin & Rethel, 1661-1669 [74]

Hortense was born in Rome on June 6 1646 to Hieronyma and Lorenzo Mancini, in 1653 Hortense moved to France with her mother, brother, and two of her sisters, at the invitation of her maternal uncle Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the French Prime Minister. In Paris, Hortense and her sisters were given a convent education and introduced at court. A marriage was arranged for Hortense, who in February 1661, at age fourteen, married Charles-Armand de la Porte, Marquis of Meilleraye. By arrangement with Hortense's uncle, her husband assumed the title Duke of Mazarin and became the principal heir of the Mazarin fortune. The Prime Minister died ten days after the wedding.

Humberge de Limoges

Royal Women in Power J

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

JACQUELINE D'ESTOUTEVILLE (d.1550)
[Tree1
Proprietary Titles:  Lady of Hambye, Moyon, Briquebec and Gassé.
Parents/Pedigree:  Only child and heiress of Guyon d'Estouteville (d. c1513), and Isabelle de Croy.  Guyon was the Lord of Moyon, Hambye, Bricquebec, Gace, etc. and Baron of l'Echiquier, 1484, 1485 and 1505.  He also acquired the domains of Brucheville, Riomes, Etreville with the Viscounty of Carentan and the lands of Gonnory with the Viscounty of Orbec. 
Partner/Progeny:  She married her cousin Jean III d'Estouteville, with whom she had an only child Adrienne d'Estouteville who inherited everything. 

JACQUELINE DE LA TREMOILLE (d.1544)
Proprietary Titles: Lady of Jonville and Dracy.

JACQUELINE DE LA TREMOILLE (d.1599)
Proprietary Titles: Baroness of Maran 

Jacqueline de Longwy (1520-1561) 
Proprietary Titles: Countess of Bar-sur-Seine 
Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Jean IV of Longwy (d.1520), Lord of Givry, Pagny and Mirabeau, and Jeanne of Angouleme (c1490-after 1531/38), Countess of Bar-sur-Seine, the illegitimate half-sister of Francois I of France. 
Partner/Progeny: Married in 1538, as his 1st wife, Louis III of Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, with whom she had 1 son and 5 children.
JACQUELINE DE ROHAN, Marquise de Rothelin (1520-1587)
[Bio1]

JAKOBA VON BAYERN (1401-1436) 
a.k.a. Jacqueline of Bavaria
[Bio1] [Bio2]
Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Holland and Hainaut and Lady of Friesland, 1417-1433.
Parents/Pedigree:  Only child of Willem VI of Bavaria, Count of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland, Lord of Friesland, and Marguerite of Burgundy. 
Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) Jean of France (d.1417), Dauphin and Duke of Touraine; married (2) Jean IV of Brabant (d.1427); married (1420) Humphrey of England, Duke of Gloucester; (4) Frank van Borselen. 

JEANNE D'ALBRET (d.1444)
Proprietary Title: Countess of Dreux 

JEANNE D'AUMALE (c1325-1376)
Proprietary Title:  Lady of Epernon.
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Jean II d'Aumale and of Catherine d'Artois.
Partner/Progeny: Married Jean VII (1320-?), Count of Vendome, with whom she had Bourchard VII de Vendome, and Catherine de Vendome.

JEANNE D'AUVERGNE (d.1422) 
Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne, 1394.

JEANNE D'AVAUGOUR (d.1327) 
Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Goello and Avaugour. 

JEANNE D'AVESNES (d.1350) 
Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Soissons. 

JEANNE D'AYDIE 
Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Comminges. 

JEANNE DE BAR (1415-1462) 
Proprietary Titles:  Countess of Soissons and of Marle, Lady of Oisy and of Dunkerque, 1415-1462; Viscountess of Meaux, 1450; Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, of Ligny and of Conversano.
Parents/Pedigree:  Only child of Robert de Bar (1390-1415), Count of Marle and Soissons, Lord of Oisy, and of Jeanne de Bethune (1397-1450), Viscountess of Meuax.
Partner/Progeny:  Married, in 1435, as his 1st wife, Jean II de Luxembourg (1418-1475), Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, of Ligny, and of Conversano, Constable of France.


JEANNE DE BETHUNE (1497-1450)
[Bio1]
Proprietary Title: Viscountess of Meaux, 1408.
Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter of Robert VIII de Bethune, Viscount of Meaux, and of Isabelle de Ghistelles.
Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) in 1409, Robert de Bar, with whom she had one daughter, Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons; (2) in 1418, Jean de Luxembourg, Count of Ligny, with whom she had no childre..

JEANNE DE CHATEAUDUN (1219-c1265)
[Gen1:155] 
Proprietary Titles:  Dame de Chateau-du-Loir, le Boux, Loupelande, Mayet, Ouistille and others. 
Parents/Pedigree: Eldest daughter and co-heiress of Geoffroi VI, Vicomte de Chateaudun, Seigneur de Chateaudun, Chateau-du-Loir, Loupelande, Mayet, Montdoubleau and la Suze, and of Clemence de Roches, younger daughter and co-heiress of Guillaume des Roches, Seneschal of Maine and Anjou. 
Partners/Progeny:  Married (1) Jean de Montfort (d.1249), Comte de Montfort-l'Amaury; (2) in 1251 Jean de Brienne, with whom she had a daughter Blanche. 

JEANNE DE DAMMARTIN (1220-1279)
[Ref1:192] 
Proprietary Titles:  Comtesse de Ponthieu and Montreuil, 1251 (succeeding her mother); Comtesse d'Aumale, 1259 (as co-heiress to her cousin, Mahaut de Dammartin, Countess of Boulogne and Damamrtin). 
Parents/Pedigree:  Daughter and co-heiress of Simon de Dammartin (1180-1239), Count of Ponthieu and Montreuil, and of Marie de Ponthieu, heiress of of Guillaume II Talvas, Comte de Ponthieu and Montreuil. 
Partners/Progeny:  She married (1) in 1237, Fernando III of Castile (d.1252); (2) in 1260/61, as his 2nd wife, Jean de Nesle (d.1292), Seigneur de Falvy-sur-Somme and la Herelle, and Comte de Ponthieu, Montreuil and Aumale, in right of his wife, with whom she had a daughter, Jeanne de Nesle. 

JEANNE D'HARCOURT (d.1488)
[Gen1] [Hist1
Proprietary Title:  Countess of Tancarville, 1484-1488; Lady of Montreuil-Bellay and of Parthenay. 
Parents/Pedigree:  Guillaume d'Harcourt (d.1484), Count of Tancarville and Viscount of Melun, and of Yolande de Laval. 
Partner/Progeny: Married (1) in 1471, divorced, 1475, Rene of Vaudemont (1451-1508), the future Rene II of Lorraine, with whom she had no children.
Notes:  "After the death of his first wife, the Bastard of Orleans married Marie d'Harcourt, countess of Tancarville, in 1440 in the cathedral of Orleans.  The couple resided at Beaugency, rather than in the crude fortress of Chateaudun.  Marie received into her household Dunoi's natural son by Isabelle de Breux.  She herself had a daughter,also named Marie, in November 1440."  (Pernoud, et. al., p. 181)


JELENA GRUBA, Queen of Bosnia (d.1399)
[Bio1]
Proprietary Title:  Queen of Bosnia, 1395-1398
Note: "On Dabisha's death in 1395 the all-powerful magnates, disregarding  the treaty of Djakovo, made his widow, Helena Gruba, regent for his son.  But they retained for themselves all real power, governing their domains as almost independent princes, maintaining their own courts and issuing charters, coining their own money and negotiating on their own account with foreign states, such as the Republics of Venice and Ragusa... The great Turkish invasion, which took place in 1398 and almost entirely ruined Bosnia, convinced the great nobles that a woman was unfitted to rule. Headed by Hrvoje, they accordingly deposed Helena Gruba, and elected Stephen Ostoja, probably an illegitimate son of Tvrtko, as their King...."  (Essays on the Latin Orient, pp. 481-482)
Partner/Progeny: She married Stjepan Dabisa of Bosnia (1339-1395)
JOHANNA VON HOCHBERG (1485-1543)
a.k.a. Johanna de Baden-Sausenberg


Personal and Family Background:  Daughter of Philipp von Hochberg and of Marie de Savoie.
Partner(s) and Progeny:  She married in 1504, Louis I of Orleans (1480-1516)

Notes: "...Neuchatel...had lately returned under the sceptre of its former mistress, Jeanne de Hochberg, the only daughter and heiress of Philip, Count of Neuchatel, which she had lost in the lifetime of her husband, Louis d'Orleans, Duke of Longueville...."  (Wylie, p. 953)

JEANNE DE MELUN
Notes: "...From the house of Melun, this same earldom passed into that of Harcourt, by the union of Jane of Melun with William of Harcourt—their daughter, who inherited the property, afterwards carried it in dower to John, Count of Dunois and of Longueville....."  (Castle at Tancarville)

JEANNE III DE NAVARRE (1528-1572)
Proprietary Titles:  Queen of Navarre, ; Princess of Bois-Belle; Duchess of Albret, Countess of Foix, of Perigord, of Bigorre, of Dreux, of Gause, oof Perche, of L'Isle-Jourdain, of Porhoet, of Pardiac and of Guines; Viscountess of Limoges, of Bearn, of Tartas, of Lomagne, of Maremne, of Fezensaguet, of Dax, of Brulhois, of Cressey and of Auvillars; Baroness of Castelnau, of Caussade, and of Montmirail; Lady of La Fleche, of Bauge, of Nerac, of Seully, of Craon, of La Chapelle des Aix-dam-Gilon, of Argent, of Clermont, of Villezon, of Orval, of Espineuil, of Chateau-Meillant, of Montrond, of Bruyeres, of Dun-Le-Roi, of Saint-Gondon, of Corberin, ofChalucet, of Sainte-Hermine, of Prahec, of Lussac, of Champagne, of Blois and of Chisay, 1555-1572.

MARIE D'ORLEANS
"After the extinction of the kingdom of Arles or Burgundy, Neuchatel was governed by a succession of petty sovereigns.  The direct line failing, the country was possessed by a collateral branch, the counts of Friburgh, in opposition to the counts of Chalons, who claimed it as liege lords. On the extinction of the male line it was transferred to the family of Hochberg, and the heiress of this house conveyed it in marriage to Louis d'Orleans, duke of Longueville (1504).  His last descendant, Mary d'Orleans, duchess of Nemours, dying in 1707 without issue, numerous claimants appeared;  but the right of Frederic the First, king of Prussia, as heir to the house of Chalons, was acknowledged by the states of the country;  and it now forms part of the Prussian dominions."  (Coxe, p. 129)

REFERENCES
Pernoud, R., Clin, M., Adams, J. (1998).  Joan of Arc: Her Story. New York: St. Martin's Press.