William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William de Valence, born Guillaume de Lusignan, was a French nobleman and knight who became important in English politics due to his relationship to Henry III. He was heavily involved in the Second Barons War, supporting the King and he took the name de Valence. William was born in the Cistercian abbey in Valence, Couhé-Vérac, Poitou-Charentes, near Lusignan, sometime in the late 1220s. The French conquest of Poitou in 1246 created great difficulties for Williams family, as an eventual co-heiress of the Marshal estates, Joan de Munchensis portion included the castle and lordship of Pembroke and the lordship erected earldom of Wexford in Ireland. The custody of Joans property was entrusted to her husband, who assumed the lordships of Pembroke. This favouritism to royal relatives was unpopular with many of the English nobility and it did not take long for William to make enemies in England. From his new lands in South Wales, he tried to regain the rights which had been attached to the Earldom of Pembroke.
The King heaped lands and honours upon him, and he was soon thoroughly hated as one of the most prominent of the rapacious foreigners. Moreover, some trouble in Wales led to a quarrel between him and Simon de Montfort, who was to become the figurehead for the rebels. However, in 1259 William and de Montfort were formally reconciled in Paris and he fought for Henry at the disastrous Battle of Lewes, and after the defeat again fled to France, while de Montfort ruled England. However, by 1265 he was back, landing in Pembrokeshire, and taking part in the Siege of Gloucester, after the battle he was restored to his estates and accompanied Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I, to Palestine. He went several times to France on public business and he was one of Edwards representatives in the suit over the succession to the crown of Scotland in 1291 and 1292. William de Valence died at Bayonne on the 13 June 1296, William and Joan de Munchensi had the following children, Isabel de Valence, married before 1280 John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings.
Their grandson Lawrence became earl of Pembroke and they had, William Hastings John Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, married to Juliane de Leybourne Sir Hugh Hastings of Sutton Elizabeth Hastings, married Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn. Agnes had children from her first and third marriage, Gerald FitzMaurice, Baron of Offaly John of Avesnes Baldwin of Avesnes, felicite of Avesnes Jeanne of Avesnes, Abbess of Flines. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Hugh, ed. Pembroke. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines, 80-29, 93A-29, 95-30, 154-29
Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse
Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death. Raymond was born at the Château de Beaucaire in Beaucaire, Province of Languedoc, through his mother, he was a grandson of Henry II of England and a nephew of kings Richard I and John of England. Raymond VII married firstly, in March 1211, Sancha of Aragon and they had one daughter and were divorced in 1241. He was engaged to Sanchia of Provence, but she married Richard of Cornwall instead, in 1243 Raymond married Margaret of Lusignan, the daughter of Hugh X of Lusignan and Isabella of Angoulême. They had no children and the Council of Lyons in 1245 granted Raymond a divorce and he tried to get support of Blanche, Queen mother of France to marry Beatrice of Provence, who had just become Countess of Provence, but Beatrice married Blanches son Charles instead. During the Albigensian Crusade in May 1216, he set out from Marseille and besieged Beaucaire and he fought to reconquer the county of Toulouse from Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester and Simons son Amaury VI of Montfort.
He succeeded his father in 1222, at the moment of his accession, he and the new count of Foix, Roger Bernard II the Great, besieged Carcassonne. On 14 September 1224, the Albigensian Crusaders surrendered and the war came to an end, roger-Bernard tried to keep the peace, but the king rejected his embassy and the counts of Foix and Toulouse took up arms again. When Raymond died, Alphonse became count of Toulouse, and after Alphonses death the county was annexed by France, Raymond VII was buried beside his mother Joan in Fontevrault Abbey. A History of the Crusades, Vol. II, ed. Robert Lee Wolff and Harry W. Hazard, Raymond VII of Toulouse, The Son of Queen Joanne, Young Count and Light of the World. The World of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Society in Southern France between the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, damian J. Smith, Crusade and Inquisition in the Lands of the Crown of Aragon, Brill,2010. Weiler and Ifor Rowlands and Europe in the Reign of Henry III, Ashgate,2002
Virtual International Authority File
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
John, King of England
John, known as John Lackland, was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death in 1216. The baronial revolt at the end of Johns reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, was at first not expected to inherit significant lands. Following the failed rebellion of his brothers between 1173 and 1174, John became Henrys favourite child. He was appointed the Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England, Johns elder brothers William and Geoffrey died young, by the time Richard I became king in 1189, John was a potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richards royal administrators whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade, John spent much of the next decade attempting to regain these lands, raising huge revenues, reforming his armed forces and rebuilding continental alliances. Johns judicial reforms had a impact on the English common law system. An argument with Pope Innocent III led to Johns excommunication in 1209, Johns attempt to defeat Philip in 1214 failed due to the French victory over Johns allies at the battle of Bouvines.
When he returned to England, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, although both John and the barons agreed to the Magna Carta peace treaty in 1215, neither side complied with its conditions. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by Louis of France and it soon descended into a stalemate. John was born to Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on 24 December 1166, Henry had inherited significant territories along the Atlantic seaboard—Anjou and England—and expanded his empire by conquering Brittany. The result was the Angevin Empire, named after Henrys paternal title as Count of Anjou and, more specifically, its seat in Angers. The Empire, was fragile, although all the lands owed allegiance to Henry. As one moved south through Anjou and Aquitaine, the extent of Henrys power in the provinces diminished considerably, scarcely resembling the concept of an empire at all. Some of the ties between parts of the empire such as Normandy and England were slowly dissolving over time.
It was unclear what would happen to the empire on Henrys death, most believed that Henry would divide the empire, giving each son a substantial portion, and hoping that his children would continue to work together as allies after his death. To complicate matters, much of the Angevin empire was held by Henry only as a vassal of the King of France of the line of the House of Capet. Henry had often allied himself with the Holy Roman Emperor against France, shortly after his birth, John was passed from Eleanor into the care of a wet nurse, a traditional practice for medieval noble families. Eleanor left for Poitiers, the capital of Aquitaine, and sent John and this may have been done with the aim of steering her youngest son, with no obvious inheritance, towards a future ecclesiastical career
House of Lusignan
It had great influence in England and France. The family originated in Poitou, near Lusignan in western France, by the end of the 11th century, the family had risen to become the most prominent petty lords in the region from their castle at Lusignan. In the late 12th century, through marriages and inheritance, a branch of the family came to control the kingdoms of Jerusalem. In the early 13th century, the main branch succeeded in the Counties of La Marche, as Crusader kings in the Latin East, they soon had connections with the Hethumid rulers of the Kingdom of Cilicia, which they inherited through marriage in the mid-14th century. The Armenian branch fled to France, and eventually Russia, after the Mamluk conquest of their kingdom, the claim was taken by the Cypriot branch, until their line failed. This kingdom was annexed by the Republic of Venice in the late 15th century, the Château de Lusignan, near Poitiers, was the principal seat of the Lusignans. It was destroyed during the Wars of Religion, and only its foundations remain in Lusignan, according to legend, the earliest castle was built by the folklore water-spirit Melusine.
The lords of the castle at Lusignan were counts of La Marche, Hugh I Hugh II Hugh III Hugh IV Hugh V Hugh VI inherited by collateral succession the County of La Marche as a descendant of Almodis. Hugh VI Hugh VII Hugh VIII Hugh IX Raoul I Raoul II Marie Hugh IXs son, Hugh X, married Isabelle of Angoulême, thus securing Angoulême. Hugh X Hugh XI Hugh XII Hugh XIII Guy Yolande Yolande sold the fiefs of Lusignan, La Marche, Angoulême and they became a part of the French royal demesne and a common appanage of the crown. In the 1170s, Amalric de Lusignan arrived in Jerusalem, having been expelled by Richard Lionheart from his realm, Amalric married Eschiva, the daughter of Baldwin of Ibelin, and entered court circles. He had obtained the patronage of Agnes of Courtenay, the mother of King Baldwin IV. He was appointed Agnes constable in Jaffa, and as constable of the kingdom, hostile rumours alleged he was Agnes lover, but this is questionable. Amalrics younger brother, Guy de Lusignan, arrived at some date before Easter 1180, when he arrived is quite unknown, although Ernoul said that he arrived at that time on Amalrics advice.
Many modern historians believe that Guy was already established in Jerusalem by 1180. But, Amalric of Lusignans success certainly facilitated the social and political advancement of his brother Guy, Agnes was said to have foiled these plans by advising her son to have Sibylla married to Guy. As the new King of France, Philip II, was still a minor and he owed the Pope a penitential pilgrimage on account of the Thomas Becket affair. Guy was a vassal of Richard of Poitou and Henry II, Guy and Sibylla were hastily married at Eastertide 1180, apparently preventing a coup by Raymonds faction to marry her to Baldwin of Ibelin, the father-in-law of Almaric
Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey
Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey was a uterine half-sister of King Henry III of England and the wife of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey. Shortly after her arrival in England from France in 1247, her half-brother arranged her marriage to the Earl and she had five full brothers and three full sisters, besides her royal half-siblings from her mothers first marriage. In August of that year, her half-brother, King Henry married her to John de Warenne, the marriage caused some resentment amongst the English nobility, as they considered the Kings Lusignan siblings to be parasites and a liability to the Kingdom. Many prestigious honours and titles were granted to the Lusignans, Alice was said to have been disdainful of all things English. John was the son of William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, eleanor de Warenne, married Sir Henry de Percy, by whom she had issue, including Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick. Isabella de Warenne, married John Balliol, and was the mother of Edward Balliol and he was killed in a tournament.
He married Joan de Vere, by whom he had two children, John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, and Alice de Warenne, Alice died in Warren, England, on 9 February 1256 after giving birth to her only son, William. She was about thirty-two years of age
Paris
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, fashion and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is a rail and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly.
Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has been known as Panam in French slang.
Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Gaucelm Faidit
Gaucelm Faidit was a troubadour, born in Uzerche, in the Limousin, from a family of knights in service of the count of Turenne. He travelled widely in France and Hungary and his known patrons include Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Dalfi dAlvernha, he was at one time in Poitiers at the court of Richard I of England, for whose death he wrote a famous planh in 1199. After 1202 there is no historical trace of him. According to the vida, her name was Guillelma Monja, she was very beautiful, the vida claims that Gaucelm was rather fat, and that after their marriage, Guillelma put on weight. About seventy of Gaucelms poems and fourteen of his melodies survive, six poems are addressed to Boniface of Montferrat, and twelve to Maria de Ventadorn. Several of his poems are accompanied in the manuscripts by detailed explanations, usually concerning love affairs and these tales involve Gaucelm with Hugh IX of Lusignan, his son Hugh X, Alfonso II, Count of Provence, and others. Les Poèmes de Gaucelm Faidit, troubadour du XIIe siècle, biographies des troubadours ed. J.
Boutière, A. -H. Les poesies i les melodies del trobador Gaucelm Faidit, cabrera de Mar, Galerada,2013
Palermo
Palermo is a city of Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence, Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as Ziz, Palermo became a possession of Carthage, before becoming part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. The Greeks named the city Panormus meaning complete port, from 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when the city first became a capital. The Arabs shifted the Greek name into Balarme, the root for Palermos present-day name, eventually Sicily would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860. The population of Palermo urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 855,285, in the central area, the city has a population of around 676,000 people.
The inhabitants are known as Palermitani or, panormiti, the languages spoken by its inhabitants are the Italian language, Sicilian language and the Palermitano dialect. Palermo is Sicilys cultural and touristic capital and it is a city rich in history, art and food. Palermo is the main Sicilian industrial and commercial center, the industrial sectors include tourism, commerce. Palermo currently has an airport, and a significant underground economy. In fact, for cultural and economic reasons, Palermo was one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and is now among the top tourist destinations in both Italy and Europe. It is the seat of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Arab-Norman Palermo. The city is going through careful redevelopment, preparing to become one of the major cities of the Euro-Mediterranean area. Roman Catholicism is highly important in Palermitano culture, the Patron Saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia whose Feast Day is celebrated on 15 July. The area attracts significant numbers of each year and is widely known for its colourful fruit and fish markets at the heart of Palermo, known as Vucciria, Ballarò.
Palermo lies in a basin, formed by the Papireto, the basin was named the Conca dOro by the Arabs in the 9th century. The city is surrounded by a range which is named after the city itself. These mountains face the Tyrrhenian Sea, Palermo is home to a natural port and offers excellent views to the sea, especially from Monte Pellegrino
