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William (Guillaume) III, Duke Of Aquitaine

William (Guillaume) III, Duke Of Aquitaine

Male 915 - 963  (47 years)

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  • Name William (Guillaume) III  
    Suffix Duke Of Aquitaine 
    Alt. Birth 900  Of Poitiers, Aquitaine Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Alt. Birth 
    Born 22 Oct 915  Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    TitleOfNobility Between 935 and 963  Poitou, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Count of Poitou and Auvergne 
    Title (Nobility) Between 950 and 963  [1
    Count of Auvergne (as William I) 
    Alt. Death 3 Apr 963  Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    FamilySearch ID LD9Y-C7T 
    Name Guillaume III Tête d'Etoupe (the Towhead)  [1
    Name William I Towhead, The Pious  [1
    Name William III,  [1
    _UID C5AD69038DCF4C35B6B0BE2D274B37934801 
    Died 3 Apr 963  Poitiers, Poitou, Aquitaine Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 5 Apr 963  Saint-Cyprien, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I8502  Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
    Last Modified 13 Dec 2022 

    Father Ebalus (Ebles) II De POITIERS, Count Of Poitour,   b. 876, Poitiers, Poitou, Aquitaine Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 935  (Age 59 years) 
    Mother Aremburgis,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married 892 
    Family ID F4295  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Adele (Gerloc) Of NORMANDY,   b. Abt 917, Normandie, Neustria Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Oct 962  (Age ~ 45 years) 
    Married 1 Jan 935  Lyons-la-Forêt, Eure, Normandie, França Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Adelaide (Aelis) Of Poitou DE POITOU, Princess Of Aquitaine,   b. 945, Poitiers, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 15 Jun 1006  (Age 61 years)
     2. Guillaume IV, Duc d'Aquitaine,   b. 949, Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Feb 995, Abbatiale St-Maixent, St-Maixent-l'École, Département des Deux-Sèvres, Poitou-Charentes, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 46 years)
    Last Modified 13 Dec 2022 
    Family ID F4290  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Wikipedia

      William III (913 – 3 April 963), called Towhead (French: Tête d'étoupe, Latin: Caput Stupe) from the colour of his hair, was the "Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine" from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count of Poitou (as William I) from 935 and Count of Auvergne from 950. The primary sources for his reign are Ademar of Chabannes, Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and William of Jumièges.

      William was son of Ebalus Manzer[1] and Emilienne. He was born in Poitiers. He claimed the Duchy of Aquitaine from his father's death, but the royal chancery did not recognise his ducal title until the year before his own death.

      Shortly after the death of King Rudolph in 936, he was constrained to cede some land to Hugh the Great by Louis IV. He did it with grace, but his relationship with Hugh thenceforward deteriorated. In 950, Hugh was reconciled with Louis and granted the duchies of Burgundy and Aquitaine. He tried to conquer Aquitaine with Louis's assistance, but William defeated them. Lothair, Louis's successor, feared the power of William. In August 955 he joined Hugh to besiege Poitiers, which resisted successfully. William, however, gave battle and was routed.

      After the death of Hugh, his son Hugh Capet was named duke of Aquitaine, but he never tried to take up his fief, as William reconciled with Lothair.

      He was given the abbey of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand, which remained in his house after his death. He also built a library in the palace of Poitiers.

      Family background, marriage and issue

      His father was duke Ebles Manzer, who already was a man in his middle years when he was born in about 913. According to the chronicle of Ademar de Chabannes, William's wife was Geirlaug (French: Gerloc, also known as Adèle), a daughter of Rollo of Normandy. The less reliable Dudo of Saint-Quentin has William rather than Ebles marrying Gerloc, perhaps about 936, in a match that may have been arranged by William I of Normandy.

      With Gerloc, he had at least one child whose filiation is clearly attested:

      William, his successor in Aquitaine. He abdicated to the abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers and left the government to his son.
      Many[who?] genealogies accept the high likelihood[vague] that they also had a daughter:

      Adelaide, who married Hugh Capet
      But her parentage is not reliably documented of their era and is regarded only as a good possibility by usual modern genealogical literature.

      Wilhelm Werghaupt (lat. Caput stupe, frz. Tête d'Etoupe; * um 900; † 3. April 963) war als Wilhelm III. Herzog von Aquitanien und als Wilhelm I. Graf von Poitou, Limoges und Auvergne aus der Familie der Ramnulfiden.

      Wilhelm war der älteste Sohn von Ebalus Mancer, dem er nach dessen Tod 934 im Poitou nachfolgte. Wilhelm war ein Feind der Robertiner, deren Oberhaupt Hugo Magnus sich 936 Poitiers bemächtigte. Unter Ausnutzung des Konfliktes Hugos mit König Ludwig IV. dem Überseeischen konnte Wilhelm die Stadt 938 zurückerobern. 942 wurde er vom König zum Laienabt der Abtei von St. Hilaire ernannt, die seither im Besitz der Familie blieb.

      Seinen vorrangigsten Kampf führte Wilhelm gegen den Grafen Raimund Pons von Toulouse, der ihm die Herrschaft über die Auvergne streitig machte. Nach dem Tod König Ludwigs IV. (954) huldigte ihm aber die Noblesse der Auvergne, 955 erlangte er die Herrschaft über die Grafschaft Limoges. Seine Position als Herzog von Aquitanien war jedoch umstritten: Einerseits durch die Grafen von Toulouse, die 935 das Herzogtum von König Rudolf verliehen bekamen, und vor allem durch Hugo Magnus, der seinen dominierenden Einfluss auf König Lothar geltend machte und sich von diesem mit dem aquitanischen Herzogtum belehnen ließ. 955 zog Hugo Magnus mit einem königlichen Heer vor Poitiers und schlug Wilhelm in einer Feldschlacht. Poitiers konnte aber erfolgreich verteidigt werden. 956 starb Hugo Magnus und obwohl dessen Sohn Hugo Capet die Politik des Vaters aufnahm, sollte die Herrschaft Wilhelms in Aquitanien nicht mehr gefährdet werden. Erst jetzt war er unbestrittener „Herzog der Aquitanier".

      Kurz vor seinem Tod wurde Wilhelm Mönch in der Abtei von Saint-Cyprien, wo er auch bestattet wurde.

      Wilhelm war seit 935 mit Gerloc-Adele († nach 969) verheiratet, einer Tochter des normannischen Grafen Rollo. Sie hatten zwei Kinder:

      Wilhelm Eisenarm (* um 937; † 995/996), Graf von Poitou (Wilhelm II.) und Herzog von Aquitanien (Wilhelm IV.)
      Adelheid (Aelis) (* wohl 950; † 1004) 8 im Sommer 968 mit Hugo Capet, Herzog von Franzien und ab 987 König von Frankreich

  • Sources 
    1. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 13 Dec 2022), entry for William (Guillaume) III, person ID LD9Y-C7T. (Reliability: 3).