Duke William VIII AQUITAINE

   Other names for William were AQUITAINE Duke, Guillaume, Saint and POITOU Count.

   Ancestral File Number: 8XPZ-GR. User ID: 37819490.

   General Notes:

Saint, Duke of AQUITAINE, Count of POITOU.

BOOKS
The Political History of England, Vol II, George Burton Adams Longmans Green and Co, 1905, Ch IX, p210:
"In September, 1136, central Normandy was the scene of another useless and savage raid of Geoffrey of Anjou, accompanied by William, the last duke of Aquitaine, William Talvas, and others. They penetrated the country as far as Lisieux, treating the churches and servants of God, says Orderic Vitalis, after the manner of theheathen, but were obliged to retreat; and finally, though he had been joined by Matilda, Geoffrey, badly wounded, abandoned this attempt also and returned to Anjou."
p212: "...When William, Duke of Aquitaine, returned from his expedition with Geoffrey, he seems to have been troubled in his conscience by his heathenish deeds in Normandy, and he made a pilgrimage to St James of Compostella to seek the pardon of heaven. In this he seemed to be successful, and he died there beforethe altar of the apostle, with all the comforts of religion. When he knew that his end was approaching, he besought his barons to carry out the plan which he had formed of conveying the duchy to the king of France, with the hand of his daughter and heiress Eleanor for his son Louis. The proposition was gladly accepted, the marriage took place in July at Bordeaux..."

Eleanor of Aquitaine the Mother Queen, Desmond Seward, 1978, Dorset Press, p17:
"William X, Eleanor's father, was almost as cultured as William IX, just as colourful and still more pugnacious. He was a patron of poets and there were many troubadours at his court, including foreigners from Aragon, Castile, and Navarre, and from Italy, and there was evena Welshman called Bledhri. When this duke died, his Gascon friend Cercamon wrote a lament that mourned his passing and the end of his munificence. However, William X was better known for quarrelling than for verses. A man of huge physique and enormous strength, he was an outsize personality in every way. He was said to eat enough for eight ordinary mortals at each meal. He was unwise enough to involve himself in the Church schism that began in 1130, supporting the anti-pope Anacletusagainst Innocent II; he menaced prelates and ignored excommunications and interdicts that stopped the bells ringing in entire dioceses. He was completely undaunted by the threats of divine punishment that issued from the redoubtable abbot of Clairvaux, St Bernard, and refused to remove a schismatic bishop. When Bernard deliberately entered his territory and publicly celebrated mass at Parthenay, the duke burst into the church in full armour, to teach the infuriating monk a lesson. However, William had met his match. Bernard advanced on him, holding up the consecrated Host, and spoke to such effect that the duke fell to the ground rigid with fear and foaming at the mouth. But although he had lost his battle with the Church, William in no way abated his quarrelsomeness when dealing with his vassals; only his death prevented the whole of the Limousin from rising in revolt...
"...William X seems to have been noticeably fond of his eldest daughter, making herhis constant companion. In consequence, Eleanor's childhood was passed under many roofs. Like all rulers of the high Middle Ages, her father was perpetually on progress- administering justice and bringing rebellious vassals to heel- and Eleanorwent with him..."
p21: "On Good Friday 1137, despite his strength, Duke William X died at Compostella, where he had gone to pray to St James the Apostle, and was buried under the high altar at Compostella..."

A History of the Plantagenets, Vol I, The Conquering Family, Thomas B Costain, Doubleday & Co, Garden City, 1949, p37:
"Duke William ruled Aquitaine and he was very old. He had one son who had gone to the Crusades and who was so good that the people called him St. William. The old man had not been a saint by any means but had spent a large part of his life wandering up and down his broad domain looking for romance, and always finding it. He now wanted to abdicate and spend his last years as a pilgrim andpenitent, having in full degree that fear of the hereafter and the torments of hell which motivated so much of what happened in those days. His saintly son had two daughters only, Eleanor and Petonille, both of whom took after their grandfather.
"When Eleanor was fifteen and already recognized as Queen of the Courts of Love, her father died..."

ANCESTRY.COM
World Ancestral Chart No. 125360 Ancestors of Patricia Ann Kieffer.

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.11 8XPZ-GR Guillaume X Duke of AQUITAINE Born1099 France Mar 1121 France Died 19 Apr 1137 France.

   Marriage Information:

William married Aenor De CHATELLERAULT, daughter of Viscount Aumary CHATELLERAULT, I and Dangerosa De L' ISLE BOUCHARD, in 1121 in , , France. (Aenor De CHATELLERAULT was born about 1103 in Chatellerault, Vienne, France, christened in , Aquitaine, France and died after Mar 1130.)