Genealogy and Family History

Princes of Kiev

Branching from   Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden ( (generation 37)

The line Seltzer-Estes-Bates-Fleming-Graham-Keith-Gordon/Seton-Stewart-Beaufort/Plantagenet-Hainault-Valois/Capet-Kiev-Sweden
38 generations back to 945 in Sweden

Includes King Edward III of England

Includes Kings of France from Henry I to Philip III, reigned from 1031 to 1285.

Includes Prince (Tsar) of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise, reigned 912 to 1054

Includes Duke Hugh (generation 37). In the Divine Comedy Dante meets the soul of Duke Hugh in Purgatory, lamenting the avarice of his descendants.

Includes Kings of Sweden, Olof Skotkonung and Eric the Victorious

Links from names go to Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org or The Peerage www.thepeerage.com

1 Adela Rose Seltzer b. Nov. 9, 2007
1 Lila Pearl Seltzer b. May 27, 2010

daughters of

2 Robert Richard Hartley Seltzer b. July 29, 1975 md.  Aug. 10, 2002 in Boston, MA Stacey Denenberg b. July 18, 1976

2 Heather Katherine Hartley Seltzer b. August 13, 1977
2 Michael Richard Hartley Seltzer b. June 14, 1980
2 Timothy Richard Hartley Seltzer b. Oct. 5, 1989

children of

3 Richard Warren (8) Seltzer, Jr.  (b. Feb. 23 1946 Clarksville, TN) md. (1) July 28, 1973 Boston, MA Barbara Ann Hartley (1950-2012), md. (2) Sept. 27, 2015 Marilyn Lender (b. Aug. 22, 1945, NY, NY)

Richard = son of

4 Helen Estes b. Jan. 31, 1920 md. June 5, 1944 in Philadelphia, PA Richard Warren Seltzer, Sr. b. June 5, 1923

Helen = daughter of

5 Smith William Estes  ( June 17, 1881 - Dec. 20, 1943) md. in Philadelphia, PA  1905 May Griffith (1883-1930)

Smith = son of

6 Louis Powhatan Estes (Nov. 22, 1849 - Sept. 6, 1902) md. Oct. 30, 1875 Lily Yates Moore (May 13, 1853 - March 8, 1929) (daughter of S.W. Moore and Mary Yates)

Louis = son of

7 Albert Monroe Estes (Nov. 19, 1804 in Bedford County, VA - Dec. 22, 1863 in Haywood County, TN) md. Nov. 17, 1848 Mildred Colman (daughter of Dr. Benjamin Colman and Mildred Wharton of New Jersey) (c. 1823- Nov. 30, 1849)

Albert = son of

8 Sarah Langhorne Bates (1781- 1825 near Brownsville, Haywood County, TN)  md. Oct. 13, 1801 in Chesterfield County, VA Joel Estes (1780-1833) (son of Benjamin Estes and Cecelia Rebecca Thorpe)

Sarah = daughter of

9 Daniel Bates (July 6, 1756 - c. 1801) md. May 21, 1776in Chesterfield County, VA  Elizabeth Cary Bell ( b. about 1758 in Virginia, d. 1825 in Kentucky) daughter of David Bell and Judith Cary

Daniel = son of

10 James Bates (March 7, 1721 - Nov. 9, 1786) md. Nov. 11, 1746 in Goochland County, St. James Wortham parish, VA Winnifred Grymes or Grimes or Hix (b. Jan. 18, 1729 in Goochland)

James = son of

11 Susannah Tarleton Fleming md. about 1709 John Bates (1685-1723)

Susannah = daughter of

12 Charles Fleming (b. 1667) (of New Kent County, VA) md. Susannah Tarleton (d. 1687) (daughter of Stephen Tarleton)

According to "My Ancestors and Relatives": "Colonel Charles was born on December 10th, 1659 in Of Charles Parish, York Co., Va.  Colonel Charles' father was John FLEMMING and his mother was Mrs. Mercy Or Mary FLEMING.  His paternal grandparents were Captain Alexander FLEMING and Elizabeth (Elspet) ANDERSON. He had four brothers and a sister, named William, Alexander, John, Tarleton and Lydia.  He died at the age of 57 on October 7th, 1717 in St. Peter's Parish, New Kent, Va.

"Susanna was born in Of St. Peter's Parish, New Kent, Va.  Susanna's father was Stephen TARLETON and her mother is Susanna. She had a sister named Judith.  She died after October 7th, 1717 in St.peters Parish, New Kent.

"Colonel Charles and Susanna were married in a religious ceremony in New Kent, Virginia.  They had two sons and eight daughters, named Colonel John, Tarleton, Susannah, Elizabeth, Judith, Ursula, Anne, Grace, Anne and Sarah.

Charles = son of

13 John Fleming (b. 1627 Cumbarnauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland d. April 27, 1686 in New Kent County, VA, St. Peter's Parish Register)

Cary-Estes Genealogy p. 86 indicates that according to "Fleming Family" by Lyon G. Tyler, William and MaryQuarterly Vol. 12, 1093, pp. 45-47, "I think he was the father of Charles Fleming who md. Susannah ___.  She was probably a daughter of Stephen Tarleton."  John Fleming, 493 acres in New Kent County on south side of Yorke River 2 march 1661 per page 397 Parent Book No. 4.

According to "My Ancestors and Relatives": "John was born in 1627 in Cumbarnauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  John's father was Captain Alexander FLEMING and his mother was Elizabeth (Elspet) ANDERSON.  His paternal grandparents were John FLEMING and Margaret LIVINGSTON; his maternal grandparents are William ANDERSON and MRS. ANDERSON. He had a brother and two sisters, named John, Elizabeth and Alexia.  He died at the age of 59 on April 27th, 1686 in Charles Parish, York Co., Virginia.  His burial was on April 30th, 1686 in St. Peter's Parish, New Kent, Va.

"Mrs. Mercy or Mary was born about 1637 in Of Charles Parish, York Co., Va.  She died in , New Kent, Va.

"John and Mrs. Mercy or Mary were married in a religious ceremony in , , , England.  They had five sons and a daughter, named Colonel Charles, William, Alexander, John, Tarleton and Lydia."

John = son of

14 Alexander Fleming (b. 1612 Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland d. Dec. 30, 1668 Rappahannock Co., VA) md. Elizabeth (AKA Elspet) Anderson (b. 1614, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland d. Oct. 6, 1656 Rappahannock Co., VA)

According to "My Ancestors and Relatives": "Captain Alexander was born about 1612 in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  Captain Alexander's father was John FLEMING and his mother was Margaret LIVINGSTON.  His paternal grandparents were John 1St Earl Wigton FLEMING and Lillias Lilias GRAHAM; his maternal grandfather was Alexander LIVINGSTON and his maternal grandmother is Eleanor Or Helen HAY. He had two brothers and six sisters, named John, William, Eleanor, Ann, Jean, Lilias, Helen and Margaret.  He died on December 30th, 1668 in , Rappahannock Co., Va.

"Elizabeth (Elspet) was born about 1614 in Of Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  Elizabeth (Elspet)'s father is William ANDERSON and her mother is MRS. ANDERSON.  Her paternal grandfather is John ANDERSON.  She was an only child.  She died on October 6th, 1656 in , Rappahannock Co., Va.

"Captain Alexander and Elizabeth (Elspet) were married in a religious ceremony about 1632 in Scotland.  They had two sons and two daughters, named John, John, Elizabeth and Alexia."

Alexander = son of

15 John Fleming (b. Dec. 9, 1589 Kincardine, Perth, Scotland d. May 7 1650 Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland) md. Margaret Livingston (b. about 1587 Callendar, Stirlingshire, Scotland d. 1634)  (Her line)

According to "My Ancestors and Relatives": "John was born on December 9th, 1589 in Kincardine, Perth, Scot. and his baptism took place on December 9th, 1589 in Kincardine, Perthshire, Scotland.  John's father was John 1St Earl Wigton FLEMING and his mother was Lillias Lilias GRAHAM.  His paternal grandparents were John Fleming EARL and Elizabeth ROSS; his maternal grandfather is John GRAHAM and his maternal grandmother was Jean DRUMMOND. He had four brothers and eight sisters, named James, Alexander, FLEMING, Malcolm, Jean, Jean, Anne, Margaret, Sarah, Lillias, Mary and Rachel.  He died at the age of 60 on May 7th, 1650 in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  His burial was in Scotland.

"Margaret was born about 1587 in Of, Callendar, Stirlingshire, Scotland.  Margaret's father was Alexander LIVINGSTON and her mother is Eleanor Or Helen HAY.  Her paternal grandfather was William LIVINGSTONE and her paternal grandmother is Agnes FLEMING. She had three brothers and a sister, named Alexander, John, James and Anna.  She died in  1634.

"John and Margaret were married in a religious ceremony on February 20th, 1609 in Scotland.  They had three sons and six daughters, named John, Captain Alexander, William, Eleanor, Ann, Jean, Lilias, Helen and Margaret.

John = son of

16 Lilias Graham md.  Lord John Fleming (1567-1619) 6th Lord Fleming,  first Earl of Wigton in Scotland from 1606 [His line]

The Cary Estes Geneaology p. 86 quotes "Biggar and the House of Fleming" by William Hunter, F.S.a. Scot. Pages 551-552, 557:

"Lord Fleming married Lady Lilias Graham, a daughter of John, Earl of Montrose.  Her ladyship was distinguished for her piety and devotion and her zealous efforts to promote the principles of the Reformation.  Livingstone, in his 'Characterisitcs' says of her, 'When I was a child I have often seen her at my father's at the preachings and communions.  While dressing she read the Bible, and every day at that time shed more tears (said one) than ever I did in my life.'"

"The Earl died in April 1619 leaving three sons and five daughters and was succeeded by his eldest son John who warmly embraced his mother's ecclesiastical opinions and was as zealous of the cause of Presbyterianism as his forefathers had been in the maintenance of Popery.

"He [the son, the Second Earl of Wigton] married Margaret, daughter of Alexander Livingstone, first Earl of Linlithgow, a lady of amiable disposition and great piety who entered cordially into the religious views and schemes of her husband.  They not only attended the ministrations of the settled Protestant clergy, but for some time maintained a chaplain of their own family." (page 552)

Lilias = daughter of

17 John Graham, third Earl of Montrose (1548-1608), Chancellor of the University of St. Andrews 1599-1604  md.  Joan Drummond  [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose (1548 – 9 November 1608) was a Scottish peer and Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1599 to 1604. He was a natural great-grandson of King James IV of Scotland, his maternal grandmother, Janet Fleming, being a royal bastard."

John = son of

18 Robert Graham md. Margaret Fleming d. 1547 [Her line]

Robert = son of

19  Lady Janet Keith md. William Graham, second Earl of Montrose (1492-1571) [His line]

Janet = daughter of

20  Lady Elizabeth or Eliza Gordon md. William Keith 2nd Earl Marischal

Eliza = daughter of

21 Annabella Stewart (1433-1471) md. George Gordon, Earl of Huntly (before 1455-1501), Chancellor of Scotland (1498-1501) [His line]

According to Wikipedia: "Annabella of Scotland (ca 1433 – after 1471) was the daughter of James I and Joan Beaufort. Her first husband was Louis of Savoy, Count of Geneva whom she married in 1447 on either April 1 or December 14. However, in the year 1458 they separated, divorced and the marriage was annulled upon the request of Charles VII of France. Annabella returned to Scotland and married George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. Notwithstanding this alliance, her ill fate pursued her, and she was legally divorced from her second husband by a sentence pronounced in the year 1471 which proceeded on the ground of consanguinity with his first wife, Elizabeth Dunbar, 8th Countess of Murray, as the two ladies were within the third and fourth degrees of relation."

According to Wikipedia: "George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly (before 1455 – Stirling Castle, June 8, 1501) was Chancellor of Scotland from 1498-1501. He married Elizabeth Dunbar, widowed Countess of Moray, on 20 May 1445. There were no children from the marriage, and the two were married for only a short time before he obtained a divorce in order to marry Princess Annabella (born c. 1433), Annabella of Scotland the daughter of King James I. The couple had at least one daughter, though some sources list them as having as many as six children. The Earl obtained an annulment, on 24 July 1471, on the basis of Annabella of Scotland's relationship with George's first wife, Elizabeth Dunbar (consanguinity). He then married his mistress, Elizabeth Hay, on 12 May 1476. Gordon fought on the King's side against the Douglases during the Douglas rebellion and helped secure a defeat at the Battle of Brechin. The 2nd Earl completed the building work that his father begun in constructing Huntly Castle."

Annabella = daughter of

22  Joan Beaufort (1404-1445) md. 1424  King James I of Scotland (Stewart) (1394-1437) [His line]

According to Wikipedia: "Joan Beaufort (c. 1404 - 15 July 1445), was Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Scotland from 1424 to 1437, being married to James I of Scotland. She was a daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland. Her paternal grandparents were John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and his mistress and later third wife Katherine Swynford. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice Fitzalan. Alice was a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster. On 2 February 1424 at Southwark Cathedral, Joan married James I, shortly before he was formally crowned. They were feasted at Winchester Palace that year by her uncle Henry Cardinal Beaufort. She is said to have been the inspiration of James's famous long poem, The Kingis Quair. They had eight children, including the future James II, and Margaret of Scotland, wife of Louis XI of France. After James I was assassinated in 1437, she took over the regency for her son.

"Issue with James I of Scotland:
    * Margaret Stewart, Princess of Scotland (1424-1445) married Louis XI of France
    * Isabella Stewart, Princess of Scotland (1426-1494) married Francis I, Duke of Brittany
    * Mary of Scotland, Countess of Buchan died 1465 married Wolfart VI van Borsselen
    * Joan of Scotland, Countess of Morton (c. 1428-1486) married James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton
    * Alexander Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (born and died 1430); Twin of James
    * James II of Scotland (1430-1460)
    * Annabella Stewart, Princess of Scotland married and divorced 1. Louis of Savoy, and then married and divorced 2. George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly
    * Eleanor Stewart, Princess of Scotland (1433-1484) married Sigismund, Archduke of Austria."

According to Wikipedia: "James I (December 10, 1394 – February 21, 1437) was nominal King of Scots from April 4, 1406, and reigning King of Scots from May 1424 until February 21, 1437.

"Born on December 10, 1394, the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond, he had an eventful childhood. In 1402 his elder brother, David, starved to death in prison at Falkland in Fife.

"Before the death of his father in 1406 the authorities sent James to France for safety. During his journey to France, the English captured the young prince and handed him over to Henry IV of England, who imprisoned him and demanded a ransom. Robert III allegedly died from grief over the capture of James. James's uncle, Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, who became Regent on the death of Robert III, showed no haste in paying for his nephew's release. Albany secured the release of his own son Murdoch, captured at the Battle of Homildon Hill, but not so with James. So for the next 18 years James remained a prisoner/hostage in England. Henry IV had the young Scots King imprisoned and educated in Windsor Castle and in secure large country houses near London. Scholars believe that during his captivity James wrote The Kingis Quair, an allegorical romance, one of the earliest major works of Scottish literature.

"After the death of James's uncle in 1420, the Scots finally paid the ransom of £40,000, and in 1424 James returned to Scotland to find a country in chaos. He took his bride with him – he had met and fallen in love with Joan Beaufort, a cousin of King Henry VI of England, while imprisoned. He married her in London in February 2, 1423. They had eight children."

Joan = daughter of

23 John Beaufort, first Earl of Someset (1371-1410) md. Margaret Holland (1385-1439) (daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, who was the son of Joan "the Fair Maid of Kent", granddaughter of Edward I of England, wife of Edward the Black Prince and mother of Richard II of England) [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373 – March 16, 1410) was the first of the four illegitimate children of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress Katherine Swynford, later his wife. Beaufort was born in about 1371 and his surname probably reflects his father's lordship of Beaufort in Champagne, France.

"The family emblem was the portcullis which is shown on the reverse of a modern British 1p coin. John of Gaunt had his nephew Richard II of England declare the Beaufort children legitimate in 1390, Gaunt married their mother in January 1396. Despite being the grandchildren of Edward III of England, and next in the line of succession after the Lancasters, their father's legitimate children, by agreement they were barred from the succession to the throne.

"n 1396, after his parents' marriage, John and his siblings were legitimated by a papal bull. Early the next year, their legitimation was recognized by an act of Parliament, and then, a few days later, John was created Earl of Somerset (February 10, 1397).[4]

"That summer the new Earl was one of the noblemen who helped Richard II free himself from the power of the Lords Appellant. As a reward on September 29 he was created Marquess of Dorset, and sometime later that year he was made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Lieutenant of Ireland. In addition, two days before his elevation as a Marquess he married the King's niece, Margaret Holland, sister of the 3rd earl of Kent, another of the counter-appellants.[4]

"He remained in the King's favour even after his half-brother Henry (later Henry IV) was banished. In February 1397 he was appointed Admiral of the Irish fleet, as well as constable of Dover and Warden of the Cinque Ports. In May his Admiralty was extended to include the northern fleet.

"After King Richard II was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399, the new king rescinded the titles that had been given to the counter-appellants, and thus John Beaufort became merely Earl of Somerset again. Nevertheless, he proved loyal to his half-brother's reign, serving in various military commands and on some important diplomatic missions. It was he who was given the confiscated estates of the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndwr in 1400, although Beaufort could not effectively come into these estates until after 1415. In 1404 he was Constable of England.

"Somerset and his wife Margaret Holland, the daughter of the Earl of Kent, had six children; his granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort married a descendant of Catherine of Valois by Owen Tudor, creating a powerful branch of the Lancastrian family and enabling Henry VII to claim the throne in spite of the agreement barring the Beaufort family from the succession.

"Somerset died in the Hospital of St. Katherine-by-the-Tower. He was buried in St. Michael's chapel in Canterbury Cathedral."

John = son of

24 John of Gaunt (Plantagenet), First Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399) md. Katherine Swynford (1350-1403) (daughter of Payne de Roet a Flemish herald from Hainault) [John was born before they were married]

Richard II was his nephew
King Henry IV was his son

According to Wikipedia: "John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (second creation), 1st Duke of Aquitaine (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He gained his name "John of Gaunt" because he was born in Ghent (in today's Belgium), then called Gaunt in English. John exercised great influence over the English throne during the minority reign of his nephew, Richard II, and during the ensuing periods of political strife, but did not openly associate with opponents of the King.

"John of Gaunt's legitimate male heirs, the Lancasters, included Kings Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI.

"John's legitimate descendants also included his daughters Philippa of Lancaster, Queen consort of John I of Portugal and mother of King Edward of Portugal, known as "Duarte" in Portuguese. John was also the father of Elizabeth, Duchess of Exeter, the mother of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter through his first wife, Blanche; and by his second wife, Constance, John was the father of Katherine of Lancaster, Queen consort of Henry III of Castile, granddaughter of Peter of Castile and mother of John II of Castile.

"John of Gaunt fathered five children outside marriage, one early in life by one of his mother's ladies-in-waiting, and four, surnamed "Beaufort," by Katherine Swynford, Gaunt's long-term mistress and third wife. The four Beaufort children, three sons and a daughter, were legitimized by royal and papal decrees after John married Katherine in 1396. Descendants of the marriage to Katherine Swynford included their son Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and eventually Cardinal; their granddaughter Cecily Neville, mother to Kings Edward IV and Richard III; and their great-grandson Henry Tudor, who became King of England after the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 and established the House of Tudor.

"When John of Gaunt died in 1399, his estates were declared forfeit to the crown, as King Richard II had exiled John's son and heir, Henry Bolingbroke, in 1398. Bolingbroke and Richard II were first cousins; their fathers were brothers. Bolingbroke returned from exile to reclaim his confiscated inheritance and deposed the unpopular Richard. Bolingbroke then reigned as King Henry IV of England (1399–1413), the first of the descendants of John of Gaunt to hold the throne of England.

"John of Gaunt was buried alongside his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, in the nave of Old St. Paul's Cathedral in an alabaster tomb designed by Henry Yevele (similar to that of his son in Canterbury Cathedral)."

According to Wikipedia: "Katherine Swynford (also spelled Synford), née (de) Roet (also spelled (de) Rouet or (de) Roelt (25 November 1350 – 10 May 1403), was the daughter of Payne (or Paen) de Roet, a Flemish herald from Hainault who was knighted just before his death in battle. His children included Katherine, her older sister Philippa, a son, Walter, and the eldest sister, Isabel de Roet, (who died Canoness of the convent of St. Waudru's, Mons, c. 1366). Katherine became the third wife of the English prince John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, and their descendants were the Beaufort family, which played a major role in the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII, who became King of England in 1485, derived his claim to the throne from his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort, who was a great-granddaughter of Katherine Swynford."

John = son of

25 Philippa of Hainault (1314-1369)  md.  King Edward III of England  (Nov. 13, 1312 - June 21, 1377) reigned 1327-1377 [His line]

According to Wikipedia: "Philippa of Hainault (June 24, 1311 – August 15, 1369) was the Queen consort of Edward III of England.

"Philippa was born in Valenciennes (then in Flanders, now France) and was the daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut and Jeanne of Valois, the granddaughter of Philip III of France.

"She married Edward at York Minster, on 24 January 1328, eleven months after his accession to the English throne and, unlike many of her predecessors, she did not alienate the English people by retaining her foreign retinue upon her marriage or bringing large numbers of foreigners to the English court.

"Philippa accompanied Edward on his expeditions to the Kingdom of Scotland (1333) and Flanders (1338-40), where she won acclaim for her gentleness and compassion. She is best remembered as the tender-hearted woman who interceded with her husband and persuaded him to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais (1346) whom he had planned to execute as an example to the townspeople following his successful siege. She acted as a regent on several occasions when he was on the continent.

"Philippa had grown portly in her later years, and this added to the view most of her English subjects had of her as a friendly, homely, motherly woman whom the nation greatly loved. Philippa outlived 9 of her 14 children; two of whom were lost during the Black Death outbreak (1348).

"On 15 August 1369 Philippa died of an illness akin to dropsy in Windsor Castle, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. By all accounts, her 40 year marriage to Edward had been happy, despite his taking a mistress, Alice Perrers, during the later part of it."

According to Wikipedia: "Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377) was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into the most efficient military power in Europe. His reign saw vital developments in legislature and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament—as well as the ravages of the Black Death. He remained on the throne for 50 years; no English monarch had reigned for as long since Henry III, and none would again until George III.

"Edward was crowned at the age of fourteen, following the deposition of his father. When he was only seventeen years old, he led a coup against his regent, Roger Mortimer, and began his personal reign. After defeating, but not subjugating, the Kingdom of Scotland, he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1340, starting what would be known as the Hundred Years' War. Following some initial setbacks, the war went exceptionally well for England; the victories of Crécy and Poitiers led up to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny. Edward?s later years, however, were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inertia and eventual bad health.

"Edward III was a temperamental man, but also capable of great clemency. He was, in most ways, a conventional king, mainly interested in warfare. Highly revered in his own time and for centuries after, Edward was denounced as an irresponsible adventurer by later Whig historians. This view has turned, and modern historiography credits him with many achievements."

Philippa = daughter of

26  Jeanne of Valois (1292-1342) md. 1305 William I Count of Hainault  (1286-1337) [His line]

According to Wikipedia: "Jeanne of Valois (c. 1294 Longpont, Aisne, France – 7 March 1342, Fontenelle, Yonne, France) was the second eldest daughter of Prince Charles of Valois and his first wife Marguerite of Anjou and Maine (1274–1299) and the sister of king Philip VI of France.

"Her paternal grandparents were Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. Her maternal grandparents were Charles II of Naples and Maria Arpad of Hungary. Joan was one of six children. In 1299, Joan's mother died, probably in childbirth and her father married his second wife, Catherine I of Courtenay, Titular Empress of Constantinople (1274-1308, by whom he had four more children. He would marry his third wife Mahaut of Chatillon in 1308 and by her he would sire a son and three daughters, among them were Isabella of Valois, who became Duchess of Bourbon and Blanche of Valois who married Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor."

According to Wikipedia: "William I, Count of Hainaut (1286 – June 7, 1337) was Count William III of Avesnes, Count William III of Holland and Count William II of Zeeland from 1304 to his death. He was the son of John II, Count of Hainaut and Philippa of Luxembourg

Before becoming count, he was defeated by Guy of Namur at the battle on the island of Duiveland in 1304. Guy and Duke John II of Brabant then conquered most of Zeeland and Holland, but these territories were recovered again when William became the new count in the same year. William continued the war with Flanders until the peace of Paris in 1323, where the Count of Flanders denounced all claims on Zeeland.

William had occupied most of the bishopric of Utrecht and tried to conquer Friesland but was repelled by Hessel Martena. Many of his daughters married with important rulers of Europe and he was called the father in law of Europe. The King of England and the Holy Roman Emperor were married to his daughters, while he was married to the sister of the King of France. William tried to gain support of surrounding counties and duchies for an anti-French coalition.

Internally, William restored order and founded new institutions, like the treasury and the chancellory. The council of the count got more responsibilities."

Jeanne = daughter of

27 Charles of Valois (1270-1325) md. Marguerite of Anjou and Maine (1273-1299) [Her line]

their son became Philip VI King of France
their nephews became Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV, kings of France

According to Wikipedia: "Charles of Valois (March 12, 1270–December 16, 1325) was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Capet and founded the House of Valois. In 1284, he was created Count of Valois (as Charles I) by his father and, in 1297, he was created Count of Anjou (as Charles III) by his brother Philip IV.

"Charles was the father of Philip VI, and paternal uncle to three kings (Louis X, Phillip V, and Charles IV). In 1284, he was given the crown of Aragon by Pope Martin IV, who declared an Aragonese Crusade. In 1285, he gained the title of Count of Valois, and Count of Anjou and Maine in 1290.

"During his life, he unsuccessfully sought the rule of four other kingdoms: Aragon, Sicily, the Latin Empire and the Holy Roman Empire."

According to Wikipedia: "Marguerite of Anjou and Maine (1273– December 31, 1299), Countess of Anjou and Maine, was the first wife of Charles of Valois a son of Philip III of France.

"Marguerite was a daughter of Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary (1257-1323). She married Charles at Corbeil on August 16, 1290. Their children included:
    * Isabelle (1292-1309). Wife of John III, Duke of Brittany
    * Philip VI of France
    * Jeanne of Valois (1294-1342). Wife of William I, Count of Hainaut
    * Marguerite of Valois (1295-1342). Wife of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon
    * Charles II of Alençon (1297-1346)
    * Catherine of Valois (1299-?)"

Charles = son of

28 King Philip III "the Bold" of France (Capet) (1245-1285) Crusader, reigned 1270-1285 md. Isabella of Aragon (1247-1271) [Her line]
[Overlaps another line]

According to Wikipedia: "Philip III (30 April 1245 – 5 October 1285), called the Bold (French: le Hardi), was the King of France, succeeding his father, Louis IX, and reigning from 1270 to 1285. He was a member of the House of Capet.

"Born in Poissy, to Louis IX (the later Saint Louis) and Marguerite of Provence, Philip was prior to his accession Count of Orleans. He accompanied his father on the Eighth Crusade to Tunisia in 1270. His father died at Tunis and there Philip was declared king at the age of 25. Philip was indecisive, soft in nature, timid, and apparently crushed by the strong personalities of his parents and dominated by his father's policies. He was called "the Bold" on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback and not his character. He was pious, but not cultivated. He followed the dictates of others, first of Pierre de la Broce and then of his uncle Charles I of Sicily.

"After his succession, he quickly set his uncle on negotiations with the emir to conclude the crusade, while he himself returned to France. A ten-year truce was concluded and Philip was crowned in France on 12 August 1271. On 21 August, his uncle, Alfonso, Count of Poitou, Toulouse, and Auvergne, died returning from the crusade in Italy. Philip inherited his counties and united them to the royal demesne. The portion of the Auvergne which he inherited became the "Terre royale d'Auvergne," later the Duchy of Auvergne. In accordance with Alfonso's wishes, the Comtat Venaissin was granted to the Pope Gregory X in 1274. Several years of negotiations yielded the Treaty of Amiens with Edward I of England in 1279. Thereby Philip restored to the English the Agenais which had fallen to him with the death of Alfonso. In 1284, Philip also inherited the counties of Perche and Alençon from his brother Pierre.

"Philip all the while supported his uncle's policy in Italy. When, after the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, Peter III of Aragon invaded and took the island of Sicily, the pope, Martin IV, excommunicated the conqueror and declared his kingdom (put under the suzerainty of the pope by Peter II in 1205) forfeit. He granted Aragon to Charles, Count of Valois, Philip's son. Philip intervened in the Navarrese succession after the death of Henry I of Navarre and married his son, Philip the Fair, to the heiress of Navarre, Joan I.

"In 1284, Philip and his sons entered Roussillon at the head of a large army. This war, called the Aragonese Crusade from its papal sanction, has been labelled "perhaps the most unjust, unnecessary and calamitous enterprise ever undertaken by the Capetian monarchy."[1] On 26 June 1285, Philip the Bold entrenched himself before Gerona in an attempt to besiege it. The resistance was strong, but the city was taken on 7 September. Philip soon experienced a reversal, however, as the French camp was hit hard by an epidemic of dysentery. Philip himself was afflicted. The French retreated and were handily defeated at the Battle of the Col de Panissars. The king of France himself died at Perpignan, the capital of his ally James II of Majorca, and was buried in Narbonne. He currently lies buried with his wife Isabella of Aragon in Saint Denis Basilica in Paris.
...

"In the Divine Comedy, Dante sees Philip's spirit outside the gates of Purgatory with a number of other contemporary European rulers. Dante does not name Philip directly, but refers to him as 'the small-nosed' and 'the father of the Pest of France.'"

According to Wikipedia: "Isabella of Aragon (1247 – 28 January 1271), infanta of Aragon, was, by marriage, Queen consort of France in the Middle Ages from 1270 to 1271.

She was the daughter of King James I of Aragon and his second wife Violant of Hungary, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary.

"In Clermont on 28 May 1262, she married the future Philip III of France, son of king Louis IX and Marguerite of Provence. They had four sons:
   1. Louis (b. 1265 - d. 1276).
   2. Philip IV "the Fair" (b. 1268 - d. 1314), King of France.
   3. Robert (b. 1269 - d. 1271).
   4. Charles of Valois (b. 1270 - d. 1325).

"She accompanied her husband on the Eighth Crusade against Tunis. On their way home, they stopped in Cosenza, Calabria. Six months pregnant with her fifth child, on 11 January 1271 she suffered a fall from her horse after they had resumed the trip back to France. Isabella gave birth to a premature stillborn son.[1] She never recovered from her injuries and the childbirth, and died seventeen days later, on 28 January. Her husband took her body and their stillborn son and, when he finally returned to France, buried her in Saint Denis Basilica. Her tomb, like many others, was desecrated during the French Revolution in 1793."

Philip = son of

29 King Louis IX of France (Capet) "Saint Louis" of the Crusades (1214-1270), reigned 1226-1270 md. 1234 Marguerite of Provence (1221-1295)(sister of Eleanor, wife of Henry III King of England) [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 to his death. He was also Count of Artois (as Louis II) from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was a member of the House of Capet and the son of King Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. He is the only canonized King of France and consequently there are many places named after him, most notably St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. He established the Parlement of Paris. St. Louis was also a tertiary of the Order of the Holy Trinity and Captives (the Trinitarians). The General Chapter of the Trinitarian Order formally affiliated St. Louis IX to the Order in Cerfroid on June 11, 1256.

"Louis was born in 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of King Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. A member of the House of Capet, Louis was twelve years old when his father died on November 8, 1226. He was crowned king within the month at the Reims cathedral. Because of Louis's youth, his mother ruled France as regent during his minority...

"On May 27, 1234 Louis married Marguerite of Provence (1221 – December 21, 1295), whose sister Eleanor was the wife of Henry III of England.

"At the age of 15, Louis brought an end to the Albigensian Crusade in 1229 after signing an agreement with Count Raymond VII of Toulouse that cleared his father of wrong-doing. Raymond VI of Toulouse had been suspected of murdering a preacher on a mission to convert the Cathars.

"Louis's piety and kindness towards the poor was much celebrated. He went on two crusades, in his mid-30s in 1248 (Seventh Crusade) and then again in his mid-50s in 1270 (Eighth Crusade). Both were complete disasters; after initial success in his first attempt, Louis's army of 15,000 men was met by overwhelming resistance from the Egyptian army and peoplecite.

"He had begun with the rapid capture of the port of Damietta in June 1249, an attack which did cause some disruption in the Muslim Ayyubid empire, especially as the current sultan was on his deathbed. But the march from Damietta towards Cairo through the Nile River Delta went slowly. During this time, the Ayyubid sultan died, and a sudden power shift took place, as the sultan's slave wife Shajar al-Durr set events in motion which were to make her Queen, and eventually place the Egyptians' slave army of the Mamluks in power. On April 6, 1250 Louis lost his army at the Battle of Fariskur and was captured by the Egyptians. His release was eventually negotiated, in return for a ransom of 400,000 livres tournois (at the time France's annual revenue was only about 250,000 livres tournois, so it was necessary to obtain a loan from the Templars), and the surrender of the city of Damietta.

"Following his release from Egyptian captivity, Louis spent four years in the crusader Kingdoms of Acre, Caesarea, and Jaffe. Louis used his wealth to assist the crusaders in rebuilding their defenses and conducting diplomacy with the Islamic powers of Syria and Egypt. Upon his departure from the Middle East, Louis left a significant garrison in the city of Acre for its defense against Islamic attacks. The historic presence of this French garrison in the Middle East was later used as a justification for the French Mandate following the end of the First World War.

"Louis exchanged multiple letters and emissaries with Mongol rulers of the period. During his first crusade in 1248, Louis was approached by envoys from Eljigidei, the Mongol ruler of Armenia and Persia. Eljigidei suggested that King Louis should land in Egypt, while Eljigidei attacked Baghdad, in order to prevent the Saracens of Egypt and those of Syria from joining forces. Louis sent André de Longjumeau, a Dominican priest, as an emissary to the Great Khan Güyük Khan in Mongolia. However, Güyük died before the emissary arrived at his court, and nothing concrete occurred. Louis dispatched another envoy to the Mongol court, the Franciscan William of Rubruck, who went to visit the Great Khan Möngke Khan in Mongolia...

"Saint Louis ruled during the so-called "golden century of Saint Louis", when the kingdom of France was at its height in Europe, both politically and economically. The king of France was regarded as a primus inter pares among the kings and rulers of the continent. He commanded the largest army, and ruled the largest and most wealthy kingdom of Europe, a kingdom which was the European center of arts and intellectual thought (La Sorbonne) at the time. The prestige and respect felt in Europe for King Louis IX was due more to the attraction that his benevolent personality created rather than to military domination. For his contemporaries, he was the quintessential example of the Christian prince, and embodied the whole of Christendom in his person. His reputation of saintliness and fairness was already well established while he was alive, and on many occasions he was chosen as an arbiter in the quarrels opposing the rulers of Europe.

According to Wikipedia: "Marguerite of Provence (Forcalquier, c. 1221 – December 21, 1295, Paris) was the eldest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy.

"Her maternal grandparents were Thomas I of Savoy and Marguerite of Geneva, daughter of William I of Geneva.

"Her younger sisters were:
Eleanor of Provence became the Queen consort of Henry III of England.
Sanchia of Provence who became the Queen consort of Richard, Earl of Cornwall and rival King of the Germans.
Beatrice of Provence who was the Queen consort of Charles I of Sicily

"Marguerite herself became the Queen consort of Louis IX of France and mother to eleven children."

Louis = son of

30 King Louis VIII of France (Capet) (1187-1226) reigned 1223-1226) md. 1200 Blanche of Castile (1188-1252) [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "Louis VIII the Lion (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226) reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois from 1190, inheriting the county from his mother.

"At the age of 12, Louis was married to Blanche of Castile on 23 May 1200, following prolonged negotiations between Philip Augustus and Blanche's uncle John of England (as represented in William Shakespeare's historical play King John).

"In 1216 the English barons rebelled in the First Barons' War against the unpopular King John of England (1199–1216) and offered the throne to Prince Louis. Louis invaded and was proclaimed King in London in May 1216, although he was not crowned. There was little resistance when the prince entered London. At St Paul's Cathedral, Louis was accepted as ruler with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London. Many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland (1214–49), gathered to give homage to him.

"On 14 June, Louis captured Winchester and soon conquered over half of the English kingdom.[1] After a year and a half of war, however, most of the rebellious barons defected and so Louis had to give up his claim to be the King of England by signing the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217. The effect of the treaty was that Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England.

"Louis VIII succeeded his father on 14 July 1223; his coronation took place on 6 August of the same year in the cathedral at Reims. As King, he continued to seek revenge on the Angevins and seized Poitou and Saintonge from them in 1224. There followed the seizure of Avignon and Languedoc.

"On 1 November 1223, he issued an ordinance that prohibited his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, thus reversing the policies set by his father Philip II Augustus. Usury (lending money with interest) was illegal for Christians to practice, according to Church law it was seen as a vice in which people profited from others' misfortune (like gambling), and was punishable by excommunication, a severe punishment. However since Jews were not Christian, they could not be excommunicated, and thus fell in to a legal gray area which secular rulers would sometimes exploit by allowing (or requesting) Jews to provide usury services, often for personal gain to the secular ruler, and to the discontent of the Church. Louis VIII's prohibition was one attempt at resolving this legal problem which was a constant source of friction in Church and State courts.

"Twenty-six barons accepted, but Theobald IV (1201–53), the powerful Count of Champagne, did not, since he had an agreement with the Jews that guaranteed him extra income through taxation. Theobald IV would become a major opposition force to Capetian dominance, and his hostility was manifest during the reign of Louis VIII. For example, during the siege of Avignon, he performed only the minimum service of 40 days, and left home amid charges of treachery.

"In 1225, the council of Bourges excommunicated the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII, and declared a crusade against the southern barons. Louis happily renewed the conflict in order to enforce his royal rights. Roger Bernard the Great, count of Foix, tried to keep the peace, but the king rejected his embassy and the counts of Foix and Toulouse took up arms against him. The king was largely successful, but he did not complete the work before his death.

"While returning to Paris, King Louis VIII became ill with dysentery, and died on 8 November 1226 in the chateau at Montpensier, Auvergne."

According to Wikipedia: "Blanche of Castile, Blanca de Castilla in Spanish, (March 4, 1188 – November 26, 1252), wife of Louis VIII of France. She was born in Palencia, Spain, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, and of Eleanor of England. Eleanor was a daughter of Henry II of England and his Queen consort Eleanor of Aquitaine.

"In consequence of a treaty between Philip Augustus and John of England, Blanche's sister Urraca was betrothed to the former's son, Louis. Their grandmother Eleanor, upon getting acquainted with the two sisters, judged that Blanche's personality was more fit for a queen of France. In the spring of 1200 she brought her to France instead. On May 22, 1200 the treaty was finally signed, John ceding with his niece the fiefs of Issoudun and Gracay, together with those that André de Chauvigny, lord of Châteauroux, held in Berry, of the English crown. The marriage was celebrated the next day, at Portmort on the right bank of the Seine, in John's domains, as those of Philip lay under an interdict.

"Blanche first displayed her great qualities in 1216, when Louis, who on the death of John claimed the English crown in her right, invaded England, only to find a united nation against him. Philip Augustus refused to help his son, and Blanche was his sole support. The queen established herself at Calais and organized two fleets, one of which was commanded by Eustace the Monk, and an army under Robert of Courtenay; but all her resolution and energy were in vain. Although it would seem that her masterful temper exercised a sensible influence upon her husband's gentler character, her role during his reign (1223-1226) is not well known.

"Upon his death he left Blanche regent and guardian of his children. Of her twelve or thirteen children, six had died, and Louis, the heir – afterwards the sainted Louis IX – was but twelve years old. The situation was critical, for the hard-won domains of the house of Capet seemed likely to fall to pieces during a minority. Blanche had to bear the whole burden of affairs alone, to break up a league of the barons (1226), and to repel the attack of the king of England (1230). But her energy and firmness overcame all dangers. There was an end to the calumnies circulated against her, based on the poetical homage rendered her by Theobald IV of Champagne, and the prolonged stay in Paris of the papal legate, Romano Bonaventura, cardinal of Sant' Angelo.
Blanche

"The nobles were awed by her warlike preparations or won over by adroit diplomacy, and their league was broken up. St Louis owed his realm to his mother, but he himself always remained somewhat under the spell of her imperious personality. After he came of age, in 1234, her influence upon him may still be traced. The same year, he was married, and Blanche became Queen mother. Louis IX married Marguerite of Provence, who was the eldest of four daughters of Ramon, count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. In 1248 Blanche again became regent, during Louis IX's absence on the crusade, a project which she had strongly opposed. In the disasters which followed she maintained peace, while draining the land of men and money to aid her son in the East. At last her strength failed her. She fell ill into a bale of hay at Melun in November 1252, and was taken to Paris, but lived only a few days. She was buried at Maubuisson."

Louis = son of

31 King Philip II Augustus of France (Capet) (1165-1223) Crusader reigned 1180-1223) md. Isabelle of Hainaut (1170-1190) [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe Auguste) (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne. He was originally nicknamed Dieudonné—the God-given—as he was the first son of Louis VII late in his father's life.

"Philip was one of the most successful medieval French monarchs in expanding the royal demesne and the influence of the monarchy. He broke up the great Angevin Empire and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He reorganized the government, bringing financial stability to the country and thus making possible a sharp increase in prosperity. His reign was popular with ordinary people because he checked the power of the nobles and passed some of it on to the growing middle class."

According to Wikipedia: "sabelle of Hainaut (5 April 1170, Valenciennes[1] - 15 March 1190, Paris) was queen consort of France.

"Isabelle was born in Valenciennes, on 5 April 1170 the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut and Countess Margaret I of Flanders. She married King Philip II of France on 28 April 1180 at Bapaume and brought as her dowry the county of Artois. The marriage was arranged by her maternal uncle Count Philip of Alsace who was advisor to the King[2].

"Isabelle was crowned consort of France at Saint Denis on 28 May 1180. As Baldwin V rightly claimed to be a descendant of Charlemagne, the chroniclers of the time saw in this marriage a union of the Carolingian and Capetian dynasties. Though she received extravagant praise from certain annalists, she failed to win the affections of Philip due to her inability to provide him with an heir[3]. Meanwhile, King Philip in 1184, was waging war against Flanders, and angered at seeing Baldwin support his enemies, he called a council at Sens for the purpose of repudiating her. Robert, the king's uncle, successfully interposed. Finally, on 5 September 1187, she gave birth to the needed heir, the future King Louis VIII of France.

"Her second pregnancy was extremely difficult; on 14 March 1190, Isabelle gave birth to twin sons. Due to complications in childbirth, Isabelle died the next day, and was buried in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The twins lived only four days (14 March-18 March 1190)[4]. Her dowry of Artois eventually returned to the French Crown following the death of Philip."

Philip = son of

32 King Louis VII King of France AKA "the Younger" (Capet) (1120-1180) md. Adela of Champagne (1140-1206) (daughter of Theobald II of Champagne and Matilda of Carinthnia) (= third wife) [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "Louis VII, called the Younger or the Young (French: Louis le Jeune; 1120 – 18 September 1180), was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI (hence his nickname). He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles (in particular with the Angevin family), and saw the beginning of the long feud between France and England. It also saw the beginning of construction on Notre-Dame de Paris and the disastrous Second Crusade.

"Louis VII was born in 1120, the second son of Louis VI of France and Adelaide of Maurienne. As a younger son, Louis VII had been raised to follow the ecclesiastical path. He unexpectedly became the heir to the throne of France after the accidental death of his older brother, Philip, in 1131. A well-learned and exceptionally devout man, Louis VII was better suited for life as a priest than as a monarch.

"In his youth, he spent much time in Saint-Denis, where he built a friendship with the Abbot Suger which was to serve him well in his early years as king.

"In the same year he was crowned King of France, Louis VII was married on 22 July 1137 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress of William X of Aquitaine. The pairing of the monkish Louis VII and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure; she once reportedly declared that she had thought to marry a King, only to find she'd married a monk. They had only two daughters, Marie and Alix.

"In the first part of Louis VII's reign he was vigorous and jealous of his prerogatives, but after his Crusade his piety limited his ability to become an effective statesman. His accession was marked by no disturbances, save the uprisings of the burgesses of Orléans and of Poitiers, who wished to organize communes. But soon he came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II. The archbishopric of Bourges became vacant, and the King supported as candidate the chancellor Cadurc, against the Pope's nominee Pierre de la Chatre, swearing upon relics that so long as he lived Pierre should never enter Bourges. This brought the interdict upon the King's lands.

"Louis VII then became involved in a war with Theobald II of Champagne, by permitting Raoul I of Vermandois, Seneschal of France, to repudiate his wife, Theobald II's niece, and to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, sister of the queen of France. Champagne also sided with the Pope in the dispute over Bourges. The war lasted two years (1142–44) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis VII was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry. More than a thousand people who had sought refuge in the church died in the flames. Overcome with guilt, and humiliated by ecclesiastical contempt, Louis admitted defeat, removing his armies from Champagne and returning them to Theobald, accepting Pierre de la Chatre, and shunning Ralph and Petronilla. Desiring to atone for his sins, he then declared on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges his intention of going on a crusade. Bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay (Easter 1146).

"Meanwhile in 1144, Geoffrey the Handsome, Count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy. In exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by Louis, Geoffrey surrendered half of the Vexin — a region considered vital to Norman security — to Louis. Considered a clever move by Louis at the time, it would later prove yet another step towards Angevin power.

"In June 1147 Louis VII and his queen, Eleanor, set out from Metz, Lorraine, on the overland route to Syria. Just beyond Laodicea the French army was ambushed by Turks. The French were bombarded by arrows and heavy stones, the Turks swarmed down from the mountains and the massacre began. The historian Odo of Deuil reported:

" During the fighting the King [Louis] lost his small and famous royal guard, but he remained in good heart and nimbly and courageously scaled the side of the mountain by gripping the tree roots ? The enemy climbed after him, hoping to capture him, and the enemy in the distance continued to fire arrows at him. But God willed that his cuirass should protect him from the arrows, and to prevent himself from being captured he defended the crag with his bloody sword, cutting off many heads and hands.

"Louis VII and his army finally reached the Holy Land in 1148. His queen Eleanor supported her uncle, Raymond of Antioch, and prevailed upon Louis to help Antioch against Aleppo. But Louis VII's interest lay in Jerusalem, and so he slipped out of Antioch in secret. He united with Conrad III of Germany and King Baldwin III of Jerusalem to lay siege to Damascus; this ended in disaster and the project was abandoned. Louis VII decided to leave the Holy Land, despite the protests of Eleanor, who still wanted to help her doomed uncle Raymond of Antioch. Louis VII and the French army returned home in 1149.

"The expedition came to a great cost to the royal treasury and military. It also precipitated a conflict with Eleanor, leading to the annulment of their marriage at the council of Beaugency (March 1152). The pretext of kinship was the basis for annulment; in fact, it owed more to the state of hostility between the two, and the decreasing odds that their marriage would produce a male heir to the throne of France. Eleanor subsequently married Henry, Count of Anjou, the future Henry II of England, in the following May, giving him the duchy of Aquitaine, three daughters, and five sons. Louis VII led an ineffective war against Henry for having married without the authorization of his suzerain; the result was a humiliation for the enemies of Henry and Eleanor, who saw their troops routed, their lands ravaged, and their property stolen. Louis reacted by coming down with a fever, and returned to the Ile de France.

"In 1154 Louis VII married Constance of Castile, daughter of Alfonso VII of Castile. She, too, failed to give him a son and heir, bearing only two daughters, Margaret and Alys.

"Louis having produced no sons by 1157, Henry II of England began to believe that he might never do so, and that consequently the succession of France would be left in question. Determined to secure a claim for his family, he sent the Chancellor, Thomas Becket, to press for a marriage between Princess Marguerite and Henry's heir, also called Henry. Louis, surprisingly, agreed to this proposal, and by the Treaty of Gisors (1158) betrothed the young pair, giving as a dowry the Norman Vexin and Gisors.
Louis VII receiving clergymen, from a late medieval manuscript.
Louis VII receiving clergymen, from a late medieval manuscript.

"Constance died in childbirth on 4 October 1160, and five weeks later Louis VII married Adela of Champagne. Henry II, to counterbalance the advantage this would give the King of France, had the marriage of their children (Henry "the Young King" and Marguerite) celebrated at once. Louis understood the danger of the growing Angevin power; however, through indecision and lack of fiscal and military resources compared to Henry II's, he failed to oppose Angevin hegemony effectively. One of his few successes, in 1159, was his trip to Toulouse to aid Raymond V, the Count of the city who had been attacked by Henry II: after he entered into the city with a small escort, claiming to be visiting the Countess his sister, Henry declared that he could not attack the city whilst his liege lord was inside, and went home.

"At the same time the emperor Frederick I (1152–1190) in the east was making good the imperial claims on Arles. When the schism broke out, Louis VII took the part of the Pope Alexander III, the enemy of Frederick I, and after two comical failures of Frederick I to meet Louis VII at Saint Jean de Losne (on 29 August and 22 September 1162), Louis VII definitely gave himself up to the cause of Alexander III, who lived at Sens from 1163 to 1165. Alexander III gave the King, in return for his loyal support, the golden rose.

"More importantly for French — and English — history would be his support for Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he tried to reconcile with Henry II. Louis sided with Becket as much to damage Henry as out of piousness — yet even he grew irritated with the stubbornness of the archbishop, asking when Becket refused Henry's conciliations, "Do you wish to be more than a Saint?"

"He also supported Henry's rebellious sons, and encouraged Plantagenet disunity by making Henry's sons, rather than Henry himself, the feudal overlords of the Angevin territories in France; but the rivalry amongst Henry's sons and Louis's own indecisiveness broke up the coalition (1173–1174) between them. Finally, in 1177, the Pope intervened to bring the two Kings to terms at Vitry.

"Finally, nearing the end of his life, Louis' third wife bore him a son and heir, Philip II Augustus. Louis had him crowned at Reims in 1179, in the Capetian tradition (Philip would in fact be the last King so crowned). Already stricken with paralysis, King Louis VII himself was not able to be present at the ceremony. He died on September 18, 1180 at the Abbey at Saint-Pont, Allier and is interred in Saint Denis Basilica."

According to Wikipedia: "Adèle of Champagne (c. 1140 – June 4, 1206), also known as Adelaide and Alix, was the third wife of Louis VII of France and the mother of his only male heir, the future Philip II. She was also the daughter of Theobald II of Champagne and Matilda of Carinthia.

"She was active in the political life of the kingdom, along with her brothers Henry I of Champagne, Theobald V of Blois, and Guillaume aux Blanches Mains, archbishop of Reims. Henry and Theobald were married to daughters of Louis VII and his first wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. She and her brothers felt their position threatened when the heiress of Artois, Isabelle of Hainaut, married Adèle's son, Philippe. Adèle formed an alliance with Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy and Count Philip of Flanders, and even tried to interest Frederick Barbarossa. War broke out in 1181, and relations became so bad that Philippe attempted to divorce Isabelle in 1184.

"Although her power decreased after the accession of Philippe in 1180, she acted as regent of the kingdom in 1190 while Philip was away on the Third Crusade. She returned to the shadows when he returned in 1192 but participated in the founding of many abbeys.

"She died on June 4, 1206, and was buried in the church of Pontigny Abbey near Auxerre."

Louis = son of

33  King Louis VI of France (Capet) (1081-1127)  md. 1115 Adelaide of Savoy AKA Adelaide of Maurienne  (1092-1154), daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (French: le Gros), was King of France from 1108 until his death (1137). Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis". The first member of the House of Capet to make a lasting contribution to the centralizing institutions of royal power,[1] Louis was born in Paris, the son of Philip I and his first wife, Bertha of Holland. Almost all of his twenty-nine-year reign was spent fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued Paris or the Norman kings of England for their continental possession of Normandy. Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably and became one of the first strong kings of France since the division of the Carolingian Empire. His biography by his constant advisor Abbot Suger of Saint Denis renders him a fully-rounded character to the historian, unlike most of his predecessors.

"In his youth, Louis fought the duke of Normandy, Robert Curthose, and the lords of the royal demesne, the Île de France. He became close to Suger, who became his adviser. He succeeded his father on Philip's death on 29 July 1108. Louis's half-brother prevented him from reaching Rheims and so he was crowned on 3 August in the cathedral of Orléans by Daimbert, Archbishop of Sens. The archbishop of Reims, Ralph the Green, sent envoys to challenge the validity of the coronation and anointing, but to no avail.

"On Palm Sunday 1115, Louis was present in Amiens to support the bishop and inhabitants of the city in their conflict with Enguerrand I of Coucy, one of his vassals, who refused to recognize the granting of a charter of communal privileges. Louis came with an army to help the citizens to besiege Castillon (the fortress dominating the city, from which Enguerrand was making punitive expeditions). At the siege, the king took an arrow to his hauberk, but the castle, considered impregnable, fell after two years.

"Louis VI died on 1 August 1137, at the castle of Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, nearby Senlis and Compiègne, of dysentery caused by his excesses, which had made him obese. He was interred in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Louis VII, called "the Younger," who had originally wanted to be a monk."

According to Wikipedia: "Adelaide of Savoy or Adelaide of Maurienne (Italian: Adelaide di Savoia or Adelasia di Moriana, French: Adélaïde or Adèle de Maurienne; 1092–November 18, 1154) was the daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, and niece of Pope Callixtus II, who once visited her court in France. Her father died in 1103, and her mother married Renier I of Montferrat as a second husband.

"She became the second wife of Louis VI of France (1081-1137), whom she married on August 3, 1115. They had eight children, the second of whom became Louis VII of France. Adelaide was one of the most politically active of all France's medieval queen consorts. Her name appears on 45 royal charters from the reign of Louis VI. During her tenure as queen, royal charters were dated with both her regnal year and that of the king. Among many other religious benefactions, she and Louis founded the monastery of St Peter's (Ste Pierre) at Montmartre, in the northern suburbs of Paris. She was reputed to be "ugly," but attentive and pious. She and Louis had seven sons and one daughter:

 "Their children:
          o 1) Philip of France (1116–1131)
          o 2) Louis VII (1120–November 18, 1180), King of France
          o 3) Henry (1121–1175), archbishop of Reims
          o 4) Hugues (b. c. 1122)
          o 5) Robert (c. 1123–October 11, 1188), count of Dreux
          o 6) Constance (c. 1124–August 16, 1176), married first Eustace IV, count of Boulogne and then Raymond V of Toulouse.
          o 7) Philip (1125–1161), bishop of Paris. not to be confused with his elder brother.
          o 8) Peter (c. 1125–1183), married Elizabeth, lady of Courtenay

"After Louis VI's death, Adélaide did not immediately retire to conventual life, as did most widowed queens of the time. Instead she married Matthieu I of Montmorency, with whom she had one child. She remained active in the French court and in religious activities.

"Adélaide is one of two queens in a legend related by William Dugdale. As the story goes, Queen Adélaide of France became enamoured of a young knight, William d'Albini, at a joust. But he was already engaged to Adeliza of Louvain and refused to become her lover. The jealous Adélaide lured him into the clutches of a hungry lion, but William ripped out the beast's tongue with his bare hands and thus killed it. This story is almost without a doubt apocryphal.

"In 1153 she retired to the abbey of Montmartre, which she had founded with Louis VII. She died there on November 18, 1154. She was buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. Pierre at Montmarte, but her tomb was destroyed during the Revolution."

Louis = son of

34 King Philip I of France (Capet) (1053-1108) reigned 1060-1108) md. Bertha of Holland (1055-1094), daughter of Floris I, Count of Holland, by his wife Gertrude of Saxony, the daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony, [Her line]

According to Wikipedia: "Philip I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous[1] or the Fat, was King of France from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early Direct Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he added to the royal demesne the Vexin and Bourges.

"Philip was the son of Henry I and Anne of Kiev. His name was of Greek origin, being derived from Philippos, meaning "lover of horses". It was rather exotic for Western Europe at the time and was bestowed upon him by his Eastern European mother. Although he was crowned king at the age of seven, until age fourteen (1066) his mother acted as regent, the first queen of France ever to do so. Her co-regent was Baldwin V of Flanders.

"Philip first married Bertha, daughter of Floris I, Count of Holland, in 1072. Although the marriage produced the necessary heir, Philip fell in love with Bertrade de Montfort, the wife of Count Fulk IV of Anjou. He repudiated Bertha (claiming she was too fat) and married Bertrade on 15 May 1092. In 1094, he was excommunicated by Hugh, Archbishop of Lyon, for the first time; after a long silence, Pope Urban II repeated the excommunication at the Council of Clermont in November 1095. Several times the ban was lifted as Philip promised to part with Bertrade, but he always returned to her, and after 1104, the ban was not repeated. In France, the king was opposed by Bishop Ivo of Chartres, a famous jurist.

"Philip appointed Alberic first Constable of France in 1060. A great part of his reign, like his father's, was spent putting down revolts by his power-hungry vassals. In 1077, he made peace with William the Conqueror, who gave up attempting the conquest of Brittany. In 1082, Philip I expanded his demesne with the annexation of the Vexin. Then in 1100, he took control of Bourges.

"It was at the aforementioned Council of Clermont that the First Crusade was launched. Philip at first did not personally support it because of his conflict with Urban II. The pope would not have allowed him to participate anyway, as he had reaffirmed Philip's excommunication at the said council. Philip's brother Hugh of Vermandois, however, was a major participant.

"Philip died in the castle of Melun and was buried per request at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire – and not in St Denis among his forefathers. He was succeeded by his son, Louis VI, whose succession was, however, not uncontested. According to Abbot Suger:
?  ? King Philip daily grew feebler. For after he had abducted the Countess of Anjou, he could achieve nothing worthy of the royal dignity; consumed by desire for the lady he had seized, he gave himself up entirely to the satisfaction of his passion. So he lost interest in the affairs of state and, relaxing too much, took no care for his body, well-made and handsome though it was. The only thing that maintained the strength of the state was the fear and love felt for his son and successor. When he was almost sixty, he ceased to be king, breathing his last breath at the castle of Melun-sur-Seine, in the presence of the [future king] Louis... They carried the body in a great procession to the noble monastery of St-Benoît-sur-Loire, where King Philip wished to be buried; there are those who say they heard from his own mouth that he deliberately chose not to be buried among his royal ancestors in the church of St. Denis because he had not treated that church as well as they had, and because among so many noble kings his own tomb would not have counted for much."

According to Wikipedia: "She was the daughter of (Florent I) Floris I, Count of Holland, by his wife Gertrude of Saxony, the daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony. After her father died in 1061, her mother remarried to Robert I, Count of Flanders, called Le Frisian. In 1072 her stepfather concluded a peace treaty with King Philip. As part of the terms of the treaty Bertha was married to Philip.

"Nine years passed before Bertha produced the desired son and heir, Louis. Reportedly, her fertility was only restored thanks to the prayers of a hermit, Arnoul, who also named the child. Together, Philip and Bertha had five children:
   1. Constance, married Hugh I of Champagne before 1097 and then, after her divorce, to Bohemund I of Antioch in 1106
   2. Louis (December 1, 1081–August 1, 1137)
   3. Henry (b. 1083) (died young)
   4. Charles (b. 1085) abbot of Charlieu Abbey
   5. Eudes (1087-1096)

"In 1092, Philip repudiated Bertha, alleging that she was too fat. He confined her to the fortress of Montreuil-sur-Mer, and took up with Bertrade de Montfort, the countess of Anjou."

Phliip = son of

35 King Henry I of France (Capet) (1008-1060) reigned 1031-1060 [His line]  md. Anne of Kiev AKA Anna Yaroslavna (between 1024 and 1032 – 1075)

According to Wikipedia: "Henry I (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its lowest point in terms of size during his reign and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. This is not entirely agreed upon, however, as other historians regard him as a strong but realistic king, who was forced to conduct a policy mindful of the limitations of the French monarchy.

"A member of the House of Capet, Henry was born in Reims, the son of King Robert II (972–1031) and Constance of Arles (986–1034). He was crowned King of France at the Cathedral in Reims on May 14, 1027, in the Capetian tradition, while his father still lived. He had little influence and power until he became sole ruler on his father's death.

"The reign of Henry I, like those of his predecessors, was marked by territorial struggles. Initially, he joined his brother Robert, with the support of their mother, in a revolt against his father (1025). His mother, however, supported Robert as heir to the old king, on whose death Henry was left to deal with his rebel sibling. In 1032, he placated his brother by giving him the duchy of Burgundy which his father had given him in 1016.

"In an early strategic move, Henry came to the rescue of his very young nephew-in-law, the newly appointed Duke William of Normandy (who would go on to become William the Conqueror), to suppress a revolt by William's vassals. In 1047, Henry secured the dukedom for William in their decisive victory over the vassals at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes near Caen.

"A few years later, when William, who was cousin to King Edward the Confessor of England (1042–66), married Matilda, the daughter of the count of Flanders, Henry feared William's potential power. In 1054, and again in 1057, Henry went to war to try to conquer Normandy from William, but on both occasions he was defeated. Despite his efforts, Henry I's twenty-nine-year reign saw feudal power in France reach its pinnacle.

"Henry had three meetings with Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—all at Ivois. In early 1043, he met him to discuss the marriage of the emperor with Agnes of Poitou, the daughter of Henry's vassal. In October 1048, the two Henries met again, but the subject of this meeting eludes us. The final meeting took place in May 1056. It concerned disputes over Lorraine. The debate over the duchy became so heated that the king of France challenged his German counterpart to single combat. The emperor, however, was not so much a warrior and he fled in the night. But Henry did not get Lorraine.

"King Henry I died on August 4, 1060 in Vitry-en-Brie, France, and was interred in Saint Denis Basilica. He was succeeded by his son, Philip I of France, who was 7 at the time of his death; for six years Henry I's Queen, Anne of Kiev, ruled as regent.

"He was also Duke of Burgundy from 1016 to 1032, when he abdicated the duchy to his brother Robert Capet."

According to Wikiipedia: "Anne of Kiev or Anna Yaroslavna (between 1024 and 1032 - 1075), daughter of Yaroslav I of Kiev and his wife Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, was the queen consort of France as the wife of Henry I, and regent for her son Philip I.

"After the death of his first wife, Matilda, King Henry searched the courts of Europe for a suitable bride, but could not locate a princess who was not related to him within illegal degrees of kinship. At last he sent an embassy to distant Kiev, which returned with Anne (also called Agnes or Anna). Anne and Henry were married at the cathedral of Reims on May 19, 1051. They had three sons:
    * Philip (May 23, 1052 – July 30, 1108) - Anne is credited with bringing the name Philip to Western Europe. She imported this Greek name (Philippos, from philos (love) and hippos (horse), meaning "the one that love horses") from her Eastern Orthodox culture.
    * Hugh (1057 – October 18, 1102) - called the Great or Magnus, later Count of Crépi, who married the heiress of Vermandois and died on crusade in Tarsus, Cilicia.
    * Robert (c. 1055–c. 1060)

"For six years after Henry's death in 1060, she served as regent for Philip, who was only seven at the time. She was the first queen of France to serve as regent. Her co-regent was Count Baldwin V of Flanders. Anne was a literate woman, rare for the time, but there was some opposition to her as regent on the grounds that her mastery of French was less than fluent.

"A year after the king's death, Anne, acting as regent, took a passionate fancy for Count Ralph III of Valois, a man whose political ambition encouraged him to repudiate his wife to marry Anne in 1062. Accused of adultery, Ralph's wife appealed to Pope Alexander II, who excommunicated the couple. The young king Philip forgave his mother, which was just as well, since he was to find himself in a very similar predicament in the 1090s. Ralph died in September 1074, at which time Anne returned to the French court. She died in 1075, was buried at Villiers Abbey, La-Ferte-Alais, Essonne and her obits were celebrated on September 5."

Anne = daughter of

36 Prince (Tsar) Yaroslav (the Wise) of Kiev and Novgorod (b. c. 978 in Kiev d. Feb. 20, 1054 in Kiev) md. Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden  (1001- Feb. 10, 1050)[another line with these same ancestors]

According to Wikipedia: "Yaroslav I the Wise (c. 978 in Kiev - February 20, 1054 in Kiev) (was thrice Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule. During his lengthy reign, Kievan Rus' reached a zenith of its cultural flowering and military power.Yaroslav's life are shrouded in mystery. He was one of the numerous sons of Vladimir the Great, presumably his second by Rogneda of Polotsk, although his actual age (as stated in the Primary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of his skeleton in the 1930s) would place him among the youngest children of Vladimir. It has been suggested that he was a child begotten out of wedlock after Vladimir's divorce with Rogneda and his marriage to Anna Porphyrogeneta, or even that he was a child of Anna Porphyrogeneta herself. Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norse Sagas under the name of Jarisleif the Lame; his legendary lameness (probably resulting from an arrow wound) was corroborated by the scientists who examined his relics."

According to Wikipedia: "Princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden (1001 – 10 February 1050) was a Swedish princess and a Grand Princess of Kiev, the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of the Obotrites and the consort of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev. Ingegerd was born in Sigtuna,[citation needed] Sweden, and was engaged to be married to Norwegian King Olaf II, but when Sweden and Norway got into a feud, Swedish King Olof Skötkonung wouldn't allow for the marriage to happen. Instead, Ingegard's father quickly arranged for a marriage to the powerful Yaroslav I the Wise of Novgorod. The marriage took place in 1019. Once in Kiev, her name was changed to the Greek Irene. According to several sagas, she was given as a marriage gift Ladoga and adjacent lands, which later received the name Ingria (arguably a corruption of Ingegerd's name). She set her friend jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson to rule in her stead. Ingegard initiated the building of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev that was supervised by her husband, who styled himself tsar. They had six sons and four daughters, the latter of whom became Queens of France, Hungary, Norway, and (arguably) England. The whole family is depicted in one of the frescoes of the Saint Sophia. Upon her death, Ingegard was buried in the same cathedral."

Ingegerd Olfsdatter = daughter of

37 King Olof Skotkonung of Sweden (980? -  1021 or 1022?) md. Estrid or Astrid of the Obotrites (c. 979-1035)

According to Wikipedia: "Olof Skötkonung (Old Icelandic: Óláfr sænski, Old Swedish: Olawær skotkonongær) was the son of Eric the Victorious and Sigrid the Haughty. He was born around 980 and he succeeded his father in 995. Our knowledge of Olof is mostly based on Snorri Sturluson's and Adam of Bremen's accounts, which have been subject to criticism from source-critical scholars. But according to Adam of Bremen, Sweyn Forkbeard was forced to defend his Danish kingdom from attacks by Olof who claimed the Danish throne. The conflict was resolved by Sweyn's marriage with Olaf's mother and the two kings were thereafter allies. Also Snorri Sturluson describes Sweyn and Olof as equal allies when they defeated the Norwegian king Olav Tryggvason in the battle of Svolder 1000, and thereafter divided Norway between themselves. Another possible explanation[citation needed] of the name "Skötkonung" is that it means "treasure king" and refer to the fact that he was the first Swedish king to stamp coins. According to the Sagas, Olof's father Eric the Victorious ruled together with Eric's brother Olof Björnsson. When Olof Björnsson died, Olof was proclaimed co-ruler instead of his cousin Styrbjörn Starke. This happened before he was even born. At his father's death, he inherited the throne of Sweden and became its sole ruler."

According to Wikipedia: "Estrid (or Astrid) of the Obotrites (ca. 979 – 1035), was a Medieval and Viking age Swedish Queen consort and West Slavic Princess, married to Olof Skötkonung, the King of Sweden, ca. 1000–1022, mother of king Anund Jacob of Sweden and the Russian Saint and Queen (Grand Princess) Ingegerd Olofsdotter."

Olof = spm pf

38 Eric the Victorious (945? - c. 995) md. Sigrid the Haughty

According to Wikipedia "Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: Eiríkr inn sigrsæli, Modern Swedish: Erik Segersäll), (945? – c. 995), was the first Swedish king (970–995) about whom anything definite is known.[1] Whether he actually qualifies as king of Sweden is debatable as his son Olof Skötkonung was the first ruler documented to have been accepted both by the Svear around Lake Mälaren and by the Götar around Lake Vättern. Referring to Eric the Victorious as Eric VI (or with any other numeral) is a later invention. The Swedish kings Erik XIV (1560–68) and Charles IX (1604–11) took their numbers after studying a highly fictitious History of Sweden.[2] His original territory lay in Uppland and neighbouring provinces. He acquired the name "victorious" as a result of his defeating an invasion from the south in the Battle of the Fýrisvellir close to Uppsala.[3] But reports that Eric's brother Olof was the father of his opponent in that battle, Styrbjörn the Strong, belong to the realm of myth.[4] The extent of his kingdom is unknown. In addition to the Swedish heartland round lake Mälaren it may have extended down the Baltic Sea coast as far south as Blekinge. According to the Flateyjarbok, his success was due to the fact that he allied with the free farmers against the aristocratic jarl class, and it is obvious from archeological findings that the influence of the latter diminished during the last part of the tenth century.[5] He was also, probably, the introducer of the famous medieval Scandinavian system of universal conscription known as the ledung in the provinces around Mälaren. In all probability he founded the town of Sigtuna, which still exists and where the first Swedish coins were stamped for his son and successor Olof Skötkonung.

"Eric the Victorious appears in a number of Norse sagas, historical stories which nonetheless had a heathy dose of fiction. In various stories, he is described as the son of Björn Eriksson, and as having ruled together with his brother Olof. It was claimed that he married the infamous (and likely fictional) Sigrid the Haughty, daughter of the legendary Viking Skagul Toste, would later divorce her and give her Götaland as a fief. According to Eymund's saga he took a new queen, Auð, the daughter of Haakon Sigurdsson, the ruler of Norway.Before this happened, his brother Olof died, and a new co-ruler had to be appointed, but the Swedes are said to have refused to accept his rowdy nephew Styrbjörn the Strong as his co-ruler. Styrbjörn was given 60 longships by Eric and sailed away to live as a Viking. He would become the ruler of Jomsborg and an ally and brother-in-law of the Danish king Harold Bluetooth. Styrbjörn returned to Sweden with an army, although Harald and the Danish troops supposedly turned back. Eric won the Battle of the Fýrisvellir at Old Uppsala, according to Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa after sacrificing to Odin and promising that if victorious, he would give himself to Odin in ten years. Adam of Bremen relates that Eric was baptised in Denmark but that he forgot about the Christian faith after he returned to Sweden."

According to Wikipedia: "Sigrid the Haughty, also known as Sigríð Storråda, is a queen of contested historicity appearing in Norse sagas as wife first of King Eiríkr VI Sigrsæll of Sweden, and then Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. While given a Nordic ancestry in the sagas, she has been hypothesized to be identical to historically attested queens of Polish or Pomeranian origin. Alternatively, she is held to be apocryphal by some modern scholars, e.g. Birgitta Fritz.[1] Sigrid appears in many sagas composed generations after the events they describe, but there is no reliable evidence as to her existence as they describe her. It is unclear if she was a real person, a compound person (with several real women's lives and deeds attributed to one compound person), or a complete invention of the saga authors."

 

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