William III. (Ponthieu)

William III. Talvas (* around 1095 ; † June 20, 1172 ) was the son of Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Agnes von Ponthieu , whose heir as Count of Ponthieu he became before 1111.

Since his father was imprisoned for the rest of his life by King Henry I of England in 1112 , Wilhelm was in opposition to Heinrich. Wilhelm took advantage of his connections to Gottfried von Anjou to occupy Wilhelm's castles in Normandy . Consequently, he did not inherit his father's estates in England.

In 1119 he is lord of Montgommery and his father's other estates ( Bellême , Alençon etc.), in 1126/29 he gave the county of Ponthieu to his son Guido II. In 1141 his son Johann I was Count of Alençon (he himself appeared as Count of Alençon in 1145).

Wilhelm was married to Hélie / Ela / Helena of Burgundy (* around 1080; † 28 February 1142), the daughter of Odo I , Duke of Burgundy ( older house of Burgundy ) and widow of Bertrand , Count of Toulouse ( † 1112) ( House of Toulouse ); the Gesta Normannorum Ducum ascribes four children to him, two sons and two daughters, in fact eleven children are known:

1. Guido II , referred to in the Gesta as the eldest son, but this is doubted; he took over the county of Ponthieu before 1129, during his father's lifetime, but died in 1147
2. Wilhelm, attested in 1127, count of Alençon in 1166
3. Robert, testified in 1127
4. Robert de Garennes, 1127 and 1154–71 attested, before 1147 spiritual
5. Enguerrand, attested in 1127
6. Enguerand, attested in 1127
7. Mabile, attested in 1127
8. Johann I, † 1190/91, 1141 Count of Alençon , Lord of Sées and Le Sonnois
9. Clémence, † before 1180, married Juhel I, Lord of Mayenne , † 1161 ( House Mayenne )
10. Philippe, † before 1149, buried in the Abbey of Saint-Martin in Sées
11. Ela (Adala), † 1174, married I William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey , X 1148 ( House Warenne ), II Patrick, 1st Earl of Salisbury , X 1168 ( First House Salisbury )

See also: House Montgommery

literature

• The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges , Orderic Vitalis , and Robert of Torigni , translated and edited by Elisabeth MC Van Houts, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995.
• Detlev Schwennicke: European Family Tables III.4 (1984) Plate 638

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert	Count of Alençon around 1112–1171	Johann I.
Robert (de iure uxoris)	Count of Ponthieu before 1111 – before 1129	Guido II.