Rostaing II de Sabran

Family/Spouse: Roscie. Roscie (daughter of Rainon du Caylar and Beatrix d'Uzès) was born in of Uzès, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France; died after Apr 1192. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Rénier. Lord of Caylar and Ansouis. Mentioned 1155.

Family/Spouse: Guillelma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rainou married Garsenda of Forcalquier about 1178. Garsenda (daughter of William IV of Forcalquier and Adelaida de Bézières) died before 1193. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Called de Maltortel. Seigneur of Ansouis, not Uzès as stated in Genealogics.

“To be precise, Guillaume (de Maltortel) de Sabran inherited one eighth of the seigneurie of Uzès, and this was sold by his son Elzéar de Sabran to the bishop of Uzès on 29 June 1280. Three relatives of theirs held a half, a quarter and another eighth respectively at that time, so it is not strictly inaccurate to call Elzéar and his father Guillaume (de Maltortel) co-seigneurs of Uzès — however, this may be misleading as it was not the possession on which they mainly depended for their standing in Provence or by which they are most distinctly identified.” [Peter Stewart, 31 Aug 2020, post to SGM]

Family/Spouse: Ermesinde. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Garsenda of Forcalquier, Gersenda of Sabran, Garsenda de Proensa, Garsenda de Proença.

From Wikipedia (accessed 25 July 2021): She "was the Countess of Provence as the wife of Alfonso II from 1193 and the Countess of Forcalquier in her own right from 1209. She brought Forcalquier to the House of Barcelona and united it to Provence. She was also a patron of Occitan literature, especially the troubadours, and herself wrote some lyric poetry and is counted among the trobairitz as Garsenda de Proensa. She was, in the words of her most recent editors, 'one of the most powerful women in Occitan history'."

She retired to the monastery of La Celle in the mid-1220s, but in 1242 she visited her newborn great-granddaughter Beatrice of England and Beatrice's parents, granddaughter Eleanor of Provence and her husband King Henry III of England, in Bordeaux. Henry was pursuing a war in France at that time and Garsenda brought 60 knights to his service. Her date of death is unknown, but she may have lived as late as 1257.

Matt Baker of usefulcharts.com has pointed out that if this Garsenda were to be regarded as the founder of a matrilineal dynasty, and if that dynasty operated by rules paralleling that of patrilineal dynasties (i.e., male descendants are only considered members of the House if their mother was a member; having a grandmother as a member doesn't convey membership in the House), then the putative "House of Garsenda" would be the greatest royal dynasty in the history of Europe, containing within itself:

6 Queens Regnant
38 Queens Consort
27 Kings
7 Holy Roman Emperors
5 Holy Roman Empresses
3 Empresses Consort
1 Prince Consort (Prince Philip of Great Britain)
1 Kaiser (Wilhelm II)
1 Empress Regnant (Catherine the Great)
1 queen mother (Helene of Romania)

Video: Europe's Hidden Matrilineal Dynasty: House of Garsenda. Chart here.

Garsenda married Alfonso II in 1193. Alfonso (son of Alfonso II, King of Aragón, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza and Sancha of Castile) was born about 1180; died in Feb 1209 in Palermo, Sicily. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

See the entry on his father for his precise relationship to the seigneurie of Uzès.

Elzéar married Cécile d'Agoult de Pontevès before 1260. Cécile (daughter of Isnard III dit d'Entrevennes d'Agoult and Beatrix de Marseille) died after 29 Apr 1300. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1198

Notes:

Count of Provence & Forcalquier, 1209-45.

Raymond married Beatrice of Savoy on 5 Dec 1220. Beatrice (daughter of Tomaso I and Margaret of Geneva) died in Dec 1266. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]