Margaret of Provence, Queen Consort of France

Margaret married St. Louis IX, King of France on 27 May 1234 in Sens, Yonne, France. Louis (son of Louis VIII, King of France and Blanche of Castile, Queen Consort of France) was born on 25 Apr 1214 in Castle of Poissy, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France; died on 25 Aug 1270 in near Tunis, Africa; was buried in Abbey of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Philippe III, King of France was born on 1 May 1245 in Poissy, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France; died on 5 Oct 1285 in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Or, France; was buried in Abbey of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France.
2. Robert of France was born in 1256; died on 7 Feb 1318 in Bois de Vincennes, Paris, France; was buried in Paris, France.
3. Agnes of France was born about 1260; died on 19 Dec 1325 in Château de Lantenay, Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, France; was buried in Abbey of Cîteaux, Dijon, Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, France.

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]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 11 Sep 1209 and 30 Nov 1209, Palermo, Sicily

Notes:

Count of Provence.

Alfonso married Garsenda of Sabran in 1193. Garsenda (daughter of Rainou de Sabran dit du Cayler and Garsenda of Forcalquier) was born about 1180. [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.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1178, Aiguebelle, Savoy
• Alternate birth: 20 May 1178
• Alternate death: 1 Mar 1233, Moncalieri, Piedmont, Italy

Notes:

Count of Savoy. He was named after Thomas Becket.

Tomaso married Margaret of Geneva in May 1195. Margaret (daughter of William I of Geneva and Beatrice de Faucigny) died on 13 Apr 1236. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1256
• Alternate death: 8 Sep 1257

Notes:

Also called Beatrice of Geneva.

Notes:

Called "the Chaste" (el Casto); also "the Troubador." By 1162, as his paternal heritage, Count and Marquess of Barcelona, Tortosa, and Lerida, and Count of Tarragona, Gerona, and Cordagne. By 1164, as his maternal heritage, King of Aragon, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza. In 1166, by devolution, Marquess of Provence.

Christened Ramón, he was called both Ramón and Alfonso from birth. When he took the united throne of Aragon and Barcelona, he took Alfonso as his single name as a gesture to the Aragonese.

The issue of his birth year was for a time confused due to the fact that his mother's eldest son, b. 1155, was actually christened Alfonso. This prior Alfonso died in 1162.

Szabolcs de Vajay (citation details below) has his birth as in 1157, before 25 March, in "Villamayor del Valle," a place we cannot locate.

Alfonso married Sancha of Castile on 18 Jan 1174 in Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. Sancha (daughter of Alfonso VII, King of Leon and Castile and Richeza of Poland) was born on 21 Sep 1154 in Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain; died on 9 Nov 1208 in Villanueva de Sigena, Huesca, Aragón, Spain; was buried in Monastery of Nuestra Señora, Sigena, Huesca, Aragón, Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1155
• Alternate birth: 21 Sep 1155, Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
• Alternate birth: 1157

Notes:

Founded the Monastery of Nuestra Señora in 1188; became a nun there after her husband's death.

Notes:

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

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:

Also called Humbert. Count of Savoy, Maurienne, and Turin.

From Tom Major's "Saint of the Day" site:

March 4 -- Feast of Blessed Umberto III of Savoy

Humbert Humbert is the creepy stepfather narrating Nabokov's Lolita. He has a thing for young girls--nymphets, he calls them.

Humbert III had an opposite problem. He had a monastic vocation. Christopher Cope's The Lost Kingdom of Burgundy says that he "was disconsolate at being a prince and preferred the seclusion of the monastery." Unfortunately for him, he was the only son of Amadeus, Duke of Savoy. When Amadeus died, the thirteen-year-old Umberto was plunked on the throne, like it or not, shut up and put your crown back on, Your Grace.

The primary responsibility of any landed nobleman in the feudal age was to have a son, of course. This would mean that inheritance was clear and no wars for succession would be fought. There's nothing wrong with young Faidiva of Toulouse, Your Grace. Now do your duty and get into bed. Sadly, poor Faidiva died young. Eighteen-year-old Umberto, having done his best, entered a Carthusian monastery.

Not so fast, your Grace. Blood will run through the streets of Cambrai if you don't come back and get married again. Here's lovely Gertrude of Flanders. I know you two will hit it off. Oh my, it's getting late. Off to bed with the two of you.

They didn't 'hit it off.' In fact, Umberto divorced her and locked her up. Bishop Robert kindly let her out and sent her back to her brother, the Count of Flanders, but still there was no heir.

Your Grace, we know you haven't had much joy in marriage. No, we're not suggesting anything. We just think it is worth trying again. Third times a charm, they say. And take a look at Clementia of Zahringen! She's the divorced wife of Henry the Lion of Saxony. Now, now. You're divorced yourself, you know. And besides, she's got a track record. A son and two daughters by Henry. Not another word about it, Your Grace. Now get busy.

Clementia made a valiant effort, bearing two daughters before her death. Despondent over the loss of another wife, Henry thought about withdrawing to a monastery in grief but wiser heads prevailed.

The way of all flesh, Your Grace. Speaking of which, you yourself are not getting any younger, you know. You turned forty this year, sir, and we still don't have an heir. Have you met Beatrice of Viennois? Yes, she's thirty-eight, but there's plenty of child-bearing time left. Well, not plenty, but enough. If Your Grace gets the lead out.

Tommaso of Savoy was born in 1178. Saint Anthelm himself had blessed Umberto three times to help bring young Thomas (named for Thomas á Becket) into the world. Tommaso was about ten when Umberto, having founded the Monastery of Sant'Antonio di Ranverso, died.

When I read about Humbert's divorce and imprisonment of his ex-wife, I wondered how this guy got beatified. But on reflection, he plainly had a divine vocation, and he sacrificed that for the sake of temporal responsibilities. It might seem to be the opposite of Jesus' advice to the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-27, but perhaps it is not. Maybe the act of sacrifice, whether one is giving up the riches of the palace or the austerity of the monastery, is what stores up treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven.

*****

Note that Umberto and his fourth wife Beatrice were second cousins once removed, as William "The Great" of Burgundy (d. 1087) was his great-grandfather and her great-great grandfather. Presumably a papal dispensation was obtained.

Umberto married Beatrice de Mâcon about 1175. Beatrice (daughter of Gerard I of Burgundy and Guyonne de Salins) died before 8 Apr 1230 in Champagne-et-Fontaine, Aquitaine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Beatrix d'Ivrea de Vienne; Beatrice of Viennois.

Notes:

Count of Geneva.

William married Beatrice de Faucigny after 1172. Beatrice (daughter of Aymon I de Faucigny) died between 1174 and 1179. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]