Alice (Eu)

Alice, Countess of Eu (also Alix , married Alice de Lusignan ) († May 13-15 , 1246 in La Mothe-Saint-Héray ) was a Franco-English noblewoman.

Origin and marriage

Alice was a daughter of Count Henri von Eu and his wife Matilda . Her father was not only a count of the French county of Eu , but also lord of the English rulership of Hastings . Her mother was the daughter of Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and Isabel de Warenne . After the death of her brother Raoul d'Eu in 1186, Alice became the sole heir to her father, who died in 1190. Around 1191 she married Raoul de Lusignan , an influential baron from the Poitou .

Preservation of their possessions in France and England

When there was a dispute between the English King John Ohneland and the Lusignan family over the king's marriage to Isabella of Angoulême , the king confiscated their English possessions in 1201. However, she got it back in 1202. After her husband's death in 1219, Alice was a wealthy widow. She paid the French King Philip II 15,000 silver marks to maintain the administration of Eu. She handed over her English property to her uncle William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, for administration . In 1220 she was able to successfully defend her claim to Tickhill Castle . As a wealthy magnate , she was able to lend the Count of Aumale 140 marks before 1223 . In view of the war between England and France , she gave Tickhill to the English crown in 1225 to forestall a confiscation. It was later returned to Tickhill, but on February 18, 1244, the English King Henry III. Tickhill for confiscated. Alice had the French King Louis IX in another Franco-English war . Troops provided after the French king had requested vassal services from her at least twice.

Descendants and inheritance

Alice sponsored numerous English and French churches, including Battle Abbey , Christ Church in Canterbury , the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Eu , the Abbaye Saint-Michel in Tréport and the Foucarmont monastery . Every year she donated a large sum to the hermit Loretta de Briouze . Alice had at least two children with her husband Raoul de Lusignan:

• Raoul († 1246)
• Mathilde († August 14, 1241) ⚭ Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford

Her son Raoul inherited her French possessions. She was probably buried in the Fontblanche priory in Exoudun , which was donated by her husband .

Web links

• Susan M. Johns: Alice [married name Alice de Lusignan], suo jure countess of Eu (d. 1246). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004