Ve Notes

Herbert II de Vermandois

He inherited the domain of his father and in 907 added to it the Saint de Soissons abbey. His marriage with Hildebrante of France (also known as Liégarde or Adèle) brought him the County of Meaux. In 918 he was also named Count of Mézerais and of Vexin. With his cousin Bernard, Count of Beauvais and Senlis, he consituted a powerful group in the west of France, to the north and east of Paris. In 923 he imprisoned King Charles III in Chateau-Thierry, then in Péronne.

In 922 the Archbishop of Reims, Seulf, called on Herbert II to reduce some of his vassals who were in rebellion against him. On the death of Seulf, in 925, with the help of the King Raul, he acquired for his second son Hugues (then five years old) the Archbishopric of Reims, which has a large inheritance in France and Germany. In 926, on the death of Count Roger of Laon, Herbert demanded this County for Eudes, his eldest son. He settled there, initially against the will of King Raul and constructed a fortress there. Raul yielded to pressure to free king Charles III, whom Herbert still held in prison. In 930 Herbert took the castle of Vitry in Perthois at the expense of Boson, the brother of king Raul. King Raul united his army with the army of Hugh, marquis of Neustria, and in 931 they entered Reims and defeated Hugh, the son of Herbert. Artaud became the new Archbishop of Reims. Herbert II then lost, in three years, Vitry, Laon, Chateau-Thierry and Soissons. The intervention of his ally, Henry the Fowler, allowed him to restore his domains (except Reims and Laon) in exchange for his submission to King Raul.

Later Herbert allied with Hugh the Great and William Longsword, Duke of Normandy against the King Louis IV who allocated the County of Laon to Roger II, the son of Roger I, in 941. Herbert and Hugh the Great took back Reims and captured Artaud. Hugh, the son of Herbert, was restored as Archbishop. Again the mediation of the German King Otto I in Visé near Liège in 942 allowed for the normalization of the situation.

Herbert II died on 23rd February 943 without having succeeded in building the principality of which he dreamed. His succession was reconciled by Hugh the Great, maternal uncle of his children. It took place in 946 and led to an equitable distribution between the sons of Herbert II: Herbert III, Robert, Albert, and Hugh (his other son Eudes died before 946). As for is girls, Adèle was married to Arnoul, count of Flanders, Luitgarde (widow of William Longsword) was married to count Thibaud de Blois, the first lieutenant of Hugh. She brought to Thibaud Provins and domains in Mézerais.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_II_of_Vermandois

Isabel de Vermandois

Elizabeth de Vermandois, or Elisabeth or Isabel de Vermandois (1085? – 13 February 1130/1 17 February 1131), is a fascinating figure about whose descendants and ancestry much is known and about whose character and life relatively little is known. She was twice married to influential Anglo-Norman magnates, and had several children (among whose descendants are numbered many kings and some queens of England and Scotland). Her Capetian and Carolingian ancestry was a source of much pride for some of these descendants (who included these arms as quarterings in their coats-of-arms[1]). However, the lady herself led a somewhat controversial life.

Elizabeth de Vermandois was the third daughter of Hugh of Vermandois and Adele of Vermandois. Her paternal grandparents were Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev. Her maternal grandparents were Herbert IV of Vermandois and Adele of Valois.

Her mother was the heiress of the county of Vermandois, and descendant of a junior patrilineal line of descent from Charlemagne. The first Count of Vermandois was Pepin of Vermandois. He was a son of Bernard of Italy, grandson of Pippin of Italy and great-grandson of Charlemagne and Hildegard of Savoy.

As such, Elizabeth had distinguished ancestry and connections. Her father was a younger brother of Philip I of France and her mother was among the last Carolingians. She was also distantly related to the Kings of England, the Dukes of Normandy, the Counts of Flanders and through her Carolingian ancestors to practically every major nobleman in Western Europe.

In 1096, while under age (and probably aged 9 or 11), Elizabeth married Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester. This was Meulan's second attempted marriage, his first betrothal/ marriage to Godehilde (or Godechilde or Godehaut) de Toeni having collapsed (she married 1096 the Crusader knight Baldwin of Boulogne and died 1097 on the way to the Holy Land). Since the Count of Meulan and the Count of Vermandois shared a common great-grandfather, the Church required Vermandois to go on the First Crusade) which he did, without any notable achievements. Vermandois is styled (or styled himself) Hugh Magnus (or Hugh the Great), for obscure reasons, and the appellation may in fact be a spelling mistake.

Meulan was over 35 years her senior, which was an unusual age difference even for this time period. He was a nobleman of some significance in France, having inherited lands from his maternal uncle Henry, Count of Meulan, and had fought bravely and with distinction at his first battle, the Battle of Hastings in 1066 then aged only 16. His parents Roger de Beaumont, Lord of Beaumont-le-Roger and Pont-Audemar and Adeline of Meulan, heiress of Meulan had died long before; Roger had been a kinsman and close associate of William the Conqueror. Meulan had inherited lands in Normandy after his father died circa 1089, and had also been given lands in the Kingdom of England after his participation in the Norman conquest of England. However, at the time of the marriage, he held no earldom in England while his younger brother was already styled Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick.

Planche states that the bride (Elizabeth) agreed willingly to the marriage, although this means little in the context. Despite the immense age difference, this was a good marriage for its times. Meulan was a respected advisor to three reigning monarchs: William II of England), Robert Curthose of Normandy and Philip I of France.

According to Middle Ages custom, brides were often betrothed young - 8 being the legal age for betrothal and 12 for marriage (for women). The young betrothed wife would often go to her husband's castle to be raised by his parents or other relatives and to learn the customs and ways of her husband's family. The actual wedding would not take place until much later. Some genealogists speculate that the usual age at which a noble bride could expect the marriage to be consummated would be 14. This is consistent with the date of birth of Elizabeth's first child Emma in 1102 when she would be about 15 to 17.

The marriage produced several children, including most notably two sons who were twins (born 1104), and thus remarkable in both surviving and both becoming important noblemen. They are better known to historians of this period as the Beaumont twins, or as Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and his younger twin Robert Bossu (the Humpback) or Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester. (Readers of Ellis Peters' Cadfael historical mystery series will find both twins mentioned frequently). Another notable child of this marriage was Elisabeth or Isabel de Beaumont, one of the youngest mistresses of Henry I of England and later mother (by her first marriage) of Richard Strongbow.

Some contemporaries were surprised that the aging Count of Meulan (b circa 1049/1050) was able to father so many children, given how busy he was with turmoil in England and Normandy from 1102 to 1110 (or later) and acting as Henry I's unofficial minister. One explanation is offered below; another might simply be an indication of his good health and energy (expended mostly in dashing from one troublespot in Normandy to England back to Normandy).

William II of England died suddenly in a purported hunting accident, and was hastily succeeded not by the expected heir but by the youngest brother Henry. This seizure of the throne led to an abortive invasion by the older brother Duke Robert of Normandy, followed by an uneasy truce between the brothers, followed by trouble in both England and Normandy for some time (stirred up by Duke Robert, and by an exiled nobleman Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury). Finally, Henry invaded Normandy and in the Battle of Tinchebray (September 28, 1106) destroyed organized opposition to his takeover of Normandy and imprisoned his ineffectual older brother for his lifetime. Meulan and his brother Warwick were apparently supporters of Henry during this entire period, and Meulan was rewarded with the earldom of Leicester in 1103. By 1107, Meulan was in possession of substantial lands in three domains. In 1111, he was able to revenge himself on the attack on his seat Meulan by Louis VI of France. He avenged himself by harrying Paris.

Elizabeth, Countess of Meulan apparently tired of her aging husband at some point during the marriage. The historian Planche says (1874) that the Countess was seduced by or fell in love with a younger nobleman, William de Warenne (ca 1071 - 11 May 1138) himself the thwarted suitor of Edith of Scotland, Queen consort of Henry I of England. Warenne, whose mother Gundreda has been alleged (in modern times) to be the Conqueror's daughter and stepdaughter by some genealogists, was said to want a royal bride, and Elizabeth fitted his requirements, even though she was also another man's wife.

In 1115, the Countess was apparently carried off or abducted by Warenne, which abduction apparently concealed a long-standing affair. There was some kind of separation or divorce between Meulan and his wife, which however did not permit her to marry her lover. The elderly Count of Meulan died, supposedly of chagrin and mortification in being thus publicly humiliated, in the Abbey of Preaux, Normandy on 5 June 1118, leaving his properties to his two elder sons whom he had carefully educated.

Elizabeth married, secondly, William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, sometime after the death of her first husbandafter. By him, it is alleged, she already had several children (all born during her marriage to Meulan). She also had at least one daughter born while she was living out of wedlock with Warenne (1115-1118). It is unclear whether this daughter was Ada de Warenne, wife of Henry of Scotland or Gundrede de Warenne, wife of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick (her half-brothers' first cousin).

The later life of Elizabeth de Vermandois is not known. Her sons by her first marriage appear to have a good relationship with their half-brother Warenne although on opposing sides for much of the wars between Stephen and Matilda. Her eldest son Waleran, Count of Meulan was active in supporting the disinherited heir William Clito, son of Robert Curthose until captured by King Henry. He was not released until Clito's death without issue in 1128. Her second son Robert inherited his father's English estates and the earldom of Leicester and married the heiress of the Fitzosbern counts of Breteuil. Her daughter Isabel however became a king's concubine or mistress at a young age; it is unclear whether her mother's own life or her eldest brother's political and personal travails in this period played any part in this decision. Before her mother died, Isabel had become wife of Gilbert de Clare, later (1147) Earl of Pembroke, so had adopted a more conventional life like her mother.

There are no known biographies of Elizabeth de Vermandois, nor any known fictional treatments of her life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_de_Vermandois_%28d._1131%29

Aubrey II de Vere

Aubrey de Vere II (c. 1080-1141) was also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver". He was the second of that name in England, being the eldest surviving son of Alberic de Vere who had followed William the Conqueror to England in or after 1066. Their lineage is probably Norman, possibly originally from the eponymous town of Ver/Vire in western Normandy, and were [erroneously] said to descend from Charlemagne himself through the counts of Flanders by late antiquarians. In fact, their connection with Guines, in Flanders, was temporary; Aubrey de Vere III was briefly married to Beatrice, heiress to the county, around 1140.

King Henry I declared the first Lord Great Chamberlain Robert Malet's estates and titles forfeit, and in 1133 awarded the office of Lord Great Chamberlain to Aubrey, whose son Aubrey de Vere III, was created Earl of Oxford, and whose descendants were to hold the title until 1703. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_de_Vere_II

Aubrey de Vere was one of William the Conqueror's most favoured knights. After the Battle of Hastings he was given land in many counties including Middlesex where he owned Kensington and Earls Court. His son Aubrey II built a huge castle at Hedingham c.1140 using the Archbishop of Canterbury as his architect. Aubrey III was created Ist Earl of Oxford by Queen Matilda and the castle remained the stronghold of the de Veres for 550 years and is still owned by a descendant. The Norman keep with its magnificent banqueting hall and minstrels' gallery is now the only remaining evidence of this great medieval castle and its later extensive Tudor buildings.

The immensely rich and powerful de Veres were one of the most important medieval families who, as Lord Great Chamberlains, gave loyal service and military leadership to their kings and queens for over 500 years. Hedingham had many royal visitors including King Henry VII, King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I.

The Earls of Oxford were great crusaders and Aubrey, 2nd Earl fought with Richard Coeur de Lion and Robert, 3rd Earl was one of the barons who forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. The following year Hedingham Castle was besieged by King John, and again by the Dauphin of France in 1217. The de Veres were commanders throughout history and featured at the Siege of Caerlaverock and the famous battles of Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt and Bosworth. John, 15th Earl took part in the Battle of the Spurs and accompanied King Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, and as Lord

Great Chamberlain bore the crown at Anne Boleyn's coronation. John, 16th Earl escorted young Elizabeth from Hatfield to London for her coronation in 1559 and his wife Margery became her maid of honour. In 1561 Queen Elizabeth I aged twenty-eight stayed at Hedingham from August 14th-19th, and Edward,17th Earl, became one of her favourites and was acclaimed to be the best of the courtier poets. http://www.hedinghamcastle.co.uk/history.htm

Aubrey I de Vere

From Domesday pages at http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Oxfordshire.htm: Other principal land holders in Oxfordshire, magnates from Normandy, were Earl Aubrey of Ver, near Bayeux in Normandy and Richard de Courcy of Courci Castle of Falaise in Normandy, who were also at the Battle of Hastings.

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