Amabilis fitz Henry

Family/Spouse: Walter de Ridelisford. Walter was born in of Carriebenan, Kildare, Ireland; died after 1226. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Walter de Ridelisford was born in of Bray, Berkshire, England; died before 12 Dec 1244.

Notes:

Also called Henry fitz Henry. Killed during Henry II's invasion at Anglesea.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Between May and Sep 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England
• Alternate birth: Between Feb and May 1069, Selby, Yorkshire, England
• Alternate birth: 1068-1069
• Alternate birth: 1068-1069

Notes:

Called "Beauclerc" by later historians, but not during his lifetime.

Died after eating lampreys, which had been forbidden to him by his physician. Body buried at Reading Abbey, England. Entrails buried at Port-du-Salut Abbey, France. The Middle Ages: weird.

Henry married Nest ferch Rhys. Nest (daughter of Rhys ap Tewdyr, King of Deheubarth and Gwladus ferch Rhiwallon) was born about 1085; died before 1136. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1136

Notes:

Also called Nest ferch Tewdwr.

"NEST (fl. 1120), a princess of Deheubarth, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr (q.v.) by Gwladus, daughter of Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn. About 1100 she m. Gerald of Pembroke; there were at least three sons of the union -- William, Maurice, and David Fitz-Gerald (qq.v.) -- and a daughter, Angharad, wife of William of Manorbier and mother of Giraldus Cambrensis (q.v.). Clearly a woman of great charm and beauty, she became the mistress of many lovers. Her romantic abduction (almost in her husband's presence) by her kinsman, Owain ap Cadwgan (q.v.), in 1109, has earned her notoriety as the 'Helen of Wales.' Her numerous offspring included Robert Fitz-Stephen (q.v.) and Henry 'filius regis' -- her child by king Henry I. The date of her death is unknown, but she lived until well after 1136. There were others of the same name less famous than the subject of this notice: Nest, daughter of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (q.v.), Nest, the wife of Bernard Newmarch, and Nest, daughter of Gruffydd ap Rhys (q.v.)." [Dictionary of Welsh Biography]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1027

Notes:

Duke of Normandy 1028-1087; King of England 1066-1087.

William married Matilda of Flanders, Queen Consort of England about 1050. Matilda (daughter of Baldwin V and St. Adele of France) was born in 1032; died on 2 Nov 1083; was buried in Abbey of Sainte-Trinitie, Caen, Calvados, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 3 Nov 1083

Notes:

She was about four feet tall, probably accounting for the short stature reported of some of her children, notably including Robert "Curthose" and probably including William Rufus as well.

Notes:

From the Dictionary of Welsh Biography:

RHYS ap TEWDWR (d. 1093), king of Deheubarth; grandson of Cadell ab Einion ab Owain ap Hywel Dda. In 1075 he took possession of Deheubarth on the death of his second-cousin, Rhys ab Owain ab Edwin. In 1081 he was dislodged by Caradog ap Gruffydd , but later in the year, with the help of Gruffudd ap Cynan, he was firmly reinstated after the historic battle of Mynydd Carn. In the same year William the Conqueror made a demonstration of power in South Wales, traversing the land as far as S. Davids; it is reasonably certain that during the visit the two kings came to an agreement as to their future good relations, which lasted to the end of William's reign. A few years later it is recorded that Rhys is paying the king £40 a year for Deheubarth, thereby becoming a vassal of the Norman Crown and establishing a precedent with lasting consequences on Anglo-Welsh relations.

Henceforth, with the exception of the closing tragedy of his career, Rhys had only to contend with the jealousies of his fellow princes. In 1088 he was attacked by the young rulers of Powys and was obliged to seek refuge in Ireland, but he soon returned and, with Danish help, decisively defeated his opponents (see Madog, Rhiryd, and Cadwgan ap Bleddyn). Again in 1091 he was opposed by a group of his own vassals in Dyfed, who sought to restore the kingship to the senior line of Hywel Dda in the person of Gruffydd ap Maredudd ab Owain. At Llandudoch (S. Dogmaels) on the Teifi the rebels were defeated and Gruffydd killed. Meanwhile the Norman conquest of the south had gathered a new momentum after William's death in 1087, and among the territories then being over-run was the old kingdom of Brycheiniog. It was while resisting the Norman advance in this all-important approach to his own dominions that Rhys was killed in uncertain circumstances near Aberhonddu (Brecon).

He was virtually the last of the ancient kings of Deheubarth, and it was in a different political setting that the power of the dynasty was eventually revived by his grandson -- Rhys ap Gruffydd. He m. Gwladus, daughter of Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn. He was survived by two sons, Gruffydd ap Rhys and Hywel, and by a daughter, Nest.

Rhys married Gwladus ferch Rhiwallon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1035
• Alternate death: 22 Jul 1035

Notes:

"The Devil." Duke of Normandy.

Robert married Herleve. Herleve was born about 1003; died about 1050; was buried in Grestain Abbey, Fatouville-Grestain, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1051

Notes:

Also called Arlette. Also called Herleve "de Falaise", this predicated on the belief that she was the daughter of a tanner or forester named Fulbert from the town of Falaise.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 1012
• Alternate birth: 1012

Notes:

Count/Marquess of Flanders 1035-1067; Regent of France 1060-1067.

Also known as Baudouin de Flandre, Baldwin "De l'Isle"; Baldwin of Lille; Balduinus Insulanus; Balduinus Pius.

Baldwin married St. Adele of France in 1028 in Paris, France. Adele (daughter of Robert II, King of France and Constance of Provence, Queen Consort of France) was born between 1010 and 1015; died on 8 Jan 1079; was buried in Abbey of Messines, Ypres, Flanders. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1003
• Alternate birth: Abt 1009, Ypres, Flanders
• Alternate death: Abt 1063

Notes:

Also called Adela; Aelis; Alais; Adelaide; Adelheid; Alix; Adela the Holy; Adela of Messines. Countess of Auxerre; Countess of Cotentin.

Notes:

Died in the Battle of Mechain.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 28 Aug 1026
• Alternate death: 1027
• Alternate death: 23 Aug 1027

Notes:

Duke of Normandy.

Richard married Judith of Brittany about 1000. Judith (daughter of Conan I "Le Tort" and Ermengarde of Anjou) was born in 982; died on 28 Jun 1017; was buried in Bernay Abbey, Bernay, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 16 Jun 1017

Notes:

Also called Judith de Rennes. Founded the abbey of Bernay, Normandy.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Between 980 and 985
• Alternate death: 30 May 1035
• Alternate death: 1037

Notes:

Count of Valenciennes 1007. Count/Marquess of Flanders 987/988-1035.

Also called Baudouin IV le Barbu, Balduinus Barbatus.

Excommunicated in 987 for having abandoned his wife.

Baldwin married Otgiva of Luxembourg about 1005. Otgiva (daughter of Giselbert) was born about 995; died on 21 Feb 1030. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 21 Feb 1036

Notes:

She may have been instead the daughter of Frederick, brother to the Giselbert shown as her father here -- in which case her ancestry would be the same except for the immediately preceding generation. Stewart Baldwin discusses the issue here.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 27 Mar 971, Orléans, Loiret, France
• Alternate birth: 27 Mar 972, Orléans, Loiret, France

Notes:

Called "The Pious."

Robert married Constance of Provence, Queen Consort of France about May 1004. Constance (daughter of Guillaume I "le Liberateur" and Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou) was born between 985-990; died on 22 Jul 1034 in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France; was buried in Abbey of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 986
• Alternate death: 25 Jul 1032, Château Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France

Notes:

Also called Constance de Toulouse; Constance of Arles.

"Queen Constance was not someone to be caught with down a dark alley, or even a well-lit street -- she was a violent termagant who once poked out a priest's eye with a stick when undertaking crowd control at a heresy trial. She fomented war between her sons over the succession after Robert II's death." [Peter Stewart, SGM, 3 Jun 2022]

Cadell married Elinor ferch Gwerystan. Elinor (daughter of Gwerystan) was born in of Powys, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Not to be confused with her mother-in-law of (according to Boyer, citation details below) the same name. See our note for her father Gwerystan for another disagreement with Boyer.

Cynfyn married Angharad ferch Maredudd. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]