Count of Poitiers

Last updated August 25, 2019

Among the people who have borne the title of Count of Poitiers (or Poitou , in what is now France but in the Middle Ages became part of Aquitaine) are:

Count (Male), or Countess (Female), is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. The etymologically related English term, "county" denoted the land owned by a count. Equivalents of the rank of count exist or have existed in the nobility structures of some non-European countries, such as hakushaku during the Japanese Imperial era.

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and also of the Poitou. Poitiers is a major university centre. The centre of town is picturesque and its streets include predominantly historical architecture, especially religious architecture and especially from the Romanesque period. Two major battles took place near the city: in 732, the Battle of Poitiers, in which the Franks commanded by Charles Martel halted the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate, and in 1356, the Battle of Poitiers, a key victory for the English forces during the Hundred Years' War. This battle's consequences partly provoked the Jacquerie.

Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.

Bodilon
Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon
Hatton (735-778)

Warinus of Poitiers was the Franco-Burgundian Count of Poitiers and Count of Paris and later Saint Warinus, Martyr of the Franks. He was the son of Saint Sigrada of Sainte-Marie de Soissons and the brother of Saint Leodegarius. He was the father of Saint Leudwinus.

Carolingian Counts

Bernard I [ fr ] (814-828)
Renaud (795–843)
Bernard II (840 - 844)
Emenon or Emeno (828 – 839), brother of Bernard II
Ranulph I (839–866)
Ranulph II (866–890),^[1] son of Ranulph I
Gauzbert (857–892)
Robert I (866–923)
Ebalus (or Ebles Manzer) (890–892) (illegitimate son of Ranulph II)(first reign– 890–893)(second reign– 902–935) ^[1]
Aymar (892–902) (son of Emenon)
Ebalus (or Ebles Manzer) (restored) (902–935) ^[1]
William I (935–963) (son of Ebalus) ^[1]
William II (963–995) (son of William I) ^[1]
William III (969–1030) (son of William II) ^[1]
William IV (1030–1038) (1st son of William III) ^[1]
Odo (Eudes) (1038–1039) (2nd son of William III) ^[1]
William V (1039–1058) (3rd son of William III) ^[1]
William VI (1058–1086) (4th son of William III) ^[1]
William VII (1071–1126) (son of William VI) ^[1]
William VIII (1099–1137) (son of William VII) ^[1]
Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine ^[1]
- Louis VII of France (1137–1152) obtained title through marriage to Eleanor ^[1]
- Henry II of England (1152, 1156–1189) obtained title through marriage to Eleanor ^[1]
Louis VII, called the Younger or the Young, was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI, hence his nickname, and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees, but was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced.
Henry II, also known as Henry Curtmantle, Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, ruled as King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; at various times, he also partially controlled Scotland, Wales and the Duchy of Brittany. Before he was 40 he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France—an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire.
William IX (1153–1156) son of Eleanor and Henry II of England
Richard I (1169–1196) son of Eleanor and Henry II of England ^[1]
Otto (1196–1198)
Richard I again (1198–1199) ^[1]
Richard II (1224) younger brother of Henry III of England
Alphonse I (1220–1271) son of Louis VIII of France
Philip I (1293–1322)
John I (1319–1364)
John II (1340–1416) son of John I
John III (1398–1417) son of Charles VI of France
Charles (1403–1461)
Francis (r. 1695–1715)

Bernard II was the count of Poitou from 840 until his death. His ancestry is uncertain. He was most likely the son of Bernard I, on the basis of onomastics. He was probably a member of the Guilhemid family. His brothers were Turpio and Emenon, counts of Angoulême and Périgord, respectively.

Emenon was the Count of Poitou (828–839), Périgord (863–866), and Angoulême (863–866). He was most likely the son of Bernard I, Count of Poitiers, on the basis of onomastics.

Robert I of France was the elected King of West Francia from 922 to 923. Before his election to the throne he was Count of Poitiers, Count of Paris and Marquis of Neustria and Orléans. He succeeded the overthrown Carolingian king Charles the Simple, who in 898 had succeeded Robert's brother, king Odo.

Related Research Articles

The Duke of Aquitaine was the ruler of the ancient region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings.

Ranulf II was Count of Poitou from 866 and Duke of Aquitaine from 887. On the death of Charles the Fat in 888, he styled himself King of Aquitaine and did so until 889 or his death, after which the title fell into abeyance.

Ebalus or Ebles Manzer or Manser was Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine on two occasions: from 890 to 892; and then from 902 until his death in 935 (Poitou) and from 928 until 932 (Aquitaine).

William III, called Towhead from the colour of his hair, was the "Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine" from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count of Poitou from 935 and Count of Auvergne from 950. The primary sources for his reign are Ademar of Chabannes, Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and William of Jumièges.

Angoulême (L'Angoumois) in western France was part of the Carolingian Empire as the kingdom of Aquitaine. Under Charlemagne's successors, the local Count of Angoulême was independent and was not united with the French crown until 1308. By the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) the Angoumois, then ruled by the Counts of Angoulême, was ceded as English territory to Edward III. In 1371 it became a fief of the Duke of Berry, before passing to Louis I, Duke of Orleans, both of whom were cadets of the French royal family. From then on it was held by cadets of the Valois House of Orleans, until Francis, Count of Angoulême, became King of France in 1515. Angoumois was definitively incorporated into the French crown lands, as a duchy.

The Ramnulfids, or the House of Poitiers, were a French dynasty ruling the County of Poitou and Duchy of Aquitaine in the 9th through 12th centuries. Their power base shifted from Toulouse to Poitou. In the early 10th century, they contested the dominance of northern Aquitaine and the ducal title to the whole with the House of Auvergne. In 1032, they inherited the Duchy of Gascony, thus uniting it with Aquitaine. By the end of the 11th century they were the dominant power in the southwestern third of France. The founder of the family was Ramnulf I, who became count in 835.

There were several Counts of Poitiers named William:

Ebles II, also called Eble or Ebale, was the second Count of Roucy (1063–1103) of the House of Montdidier. He was the son and successor of Hilduin IV of Montdidier and Alice (Alix), daughter of Ebles I of Roucy. He is famous for his participation in the Reconquista, as well as for being one of the unruly barons of the Île-de-France subjugated by King Louis VI while he was still a prince. His life and character are summed up by Suger in his history of the reign of Louis VI: "Ebles was a man of great military prowess—indeed he became so bold that one day he set out for Spain with an army of a size fit only for a king—his feats of arms only made him more outrageous and rapacious in pillage, rape and all over evils."

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Monarchs, Rulers, Dynasties And Kingdoms Of The World, by R F Tapsell, 1983, Facts On File, Inc., New York, NY, page 211.

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[FactsonFile-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Monarchs, Rulers, Dynasties And Kingdoms Of The World, by R F Tapsell, 1983, Facts On File, Inc., New York, NY, page 211.