Constance of France, Princess of France

Constance married Bohémond I, Prince of Antoch in 1106 in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Bohémond (son of Robert Guiscard d'Hauteville, Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily and Albereda) was born in 1052; died on 3 Mar 1111 in Canossa, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Behémond II, Prince of Antioch and Taranto was born in 1107; died in Feb 1130/31 in Sicily.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Crowned: 1060; In 1030, he was crowned King of France.
• Reign: From 1060 to 1108; King of France (House of Capet)

Notes:

Death: Stuart (2002) states he died 24 July 1108.

Name:

Philip married Bertha of Holland in 1072, and was divorced in 1091. Bertha (daughter of Florenz I, Count of Holland and West Friesland and Gertrude of Saxony) was born about 1055; died in 1093 in Montreuil-sur-Mer, Hauts-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: He was also the Duke of Burgundy and the Count of Paris.
• Crowned: 1031; He was crowned the King of France in 1031.
• Reign: From 1031 to 1060; King of France (House of Capet)

Notes:

Birth: Weis (1982) gives his birth as 1005/11.

Name:

Henry married Anne of Kiev on 19 May 1051 in Rheims, Grand Est, France. Anne (daughter of Jaroslaw I Wladimiroswtsch, Grand Prince of Kiev and Ingegard of Sweden, Princess of Sweden) was born in 1036 in Kiev, Ukraine; died in 1075; was buried in Villers Abbey, Villers-la-Ville, Wallonia, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: She was also know as Anna Yaroslavna, Anne of Rus, Anne de Russie, or Agnes de Russie.
• Religion: 1059; In 1059 Henry began feuding with the Church over issues related to Gregorian Reform. During this time, Pope Nicholas II sent Anne a letter counselling her to follow her conscience to right wrongs and intervene against oppressive violence, while also encouraging her to advocate with her husband so that he might govern with moderation. According to Delorme, some historians have interpreted this letter from the Pope as being indicative of Anne's conversion to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy.
• Religion: say 1060; She founded the Abbey of St. Vincent at Senlis.
• Offices Held: 4 Aug 1060; When Henry I died on 4 August 1060, she became the Queen Regnant for her young son, Philip.
• Last Full Review: 25 Jun 2020

Notes:

Birth: Sewell (2008) gives her birth date as 1024.

Name:

Buried:
In 1682, the Jesuit antiquary Claude-Francois Menestrier announced that he had discovered Anne's tomb at the Cistercian Abbey of Villiers. The discovery was subsequently disputed, as Villiers was not built until the thirteenth century, although it's possible Anne's remains had been moved there at some point following her death. Whatever monument may have been there was destroyed in the French Revolution.

Notes:

Marriage Date: von Redlich (1941) and Weis (1976) and Sewell give their marriage date as 29 January 1044.

Married:
Henry was nearly twenty years older than Anne.

Other Events and Attributes:

• History: He was also known as Florenz I Count of Holland.

Florenz married Gertrude of Saxony about 1050. Gertrude (daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony and Elica von Schweinfort) was born about 1030; died on 4 Aug 1113. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reign: From 988 to 1031; King of France (House of Capet)
• Crowned: 1 Jan 988; On 1 January 988, he became the King of France.

Notes:

Name:

Robert married Constance of Arles in 998. Constance (daughter of William I, Count of Provence and Arles and Adelaide of Anjou) was born about 986; died on 25 Jul 1032 in Meulan-en-Yvelines, Yvelines, Île-de-France, France; was buried in Basilica of Saint-Denis, St. Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: She was also known as Constance of Provence, and Constance of Toulouse.
• Miscellaneous: 998; Constance was married in 998 to King Robert, after his divorce from his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy. The marriage was stormy; Bertha's family opposed her, and Constance was despised for importing her Provençal kinfolk and customs. Robert's friend, Hugh of Beauvais, count palatine, tried to convince the king to repudiate her in 1007. Possibly at her request 12 knights of her kinsman Fulk Nerra then murdered Beauvais in 1008.
• Travel: 1010; Robert went to Rome in 1010, followed by his former wife Bertha, to seek permission to divorce Constance and remarry Bertha. Pope Sergius IV was not about to allow a consanguineous marriage which had been formally condemned by Pope Gregory V and Robert had already repudiated two wives. So the request was denied. After his return according to one source Robert "loved his wife more."
• Miscellaneous: 1017; At Constance's urging, her eldest son Hugh Magnus was crowned co-king alongside his father in 1017. But later Hugh demanded his parents share power with him, and rebelled against his father in 1025. Constance, however, on learning of her son's rebellion was furious with him, rebuking him at every turn. At some point Hugh was reconciled with his parents but shortly thereafter died, probably about age eighteen. The royal couple was devastated; there was concern for the queen’s mental health due to the violence of her grief.
• Legal: 1022; In 1022, a trial accused clergy members of heresy--Constance's previous confessor Stephen included, Robert had his wife Queen Constance stand at the door to prevent any mob violence. However, as the condemned clerics left the trial the queen "struck out the eye of Stephen... with the staff which she carried". This was seen as Constance venting her frustration at anyone subverting the prestige of the crown.
• Miscellaneous: 1027; Robert and Constance quarreled over which of their surviving sons should inherit the throne; Robert favored their second son Henry, while Constance favored their third son, Robert. Despite his mother's protests and her support by several bishops, Henry was crowned in 1027. Constance, however, was not graceful when she didn't get her way. The ailing Fulbert, bishop of Chartres told a colleague that he could attend the ceremony "if he traveled slowly to Reims—but he was too frightened of the queen to go at all".
• Miscellaneous: say 1028; Constance encouraged her sons to rebel, and they began attacking and pillaging the towns and castles belonging to their father. Son Robert attacked Burgundy, the duchy he had been promised but had never received, and Henry seized Dreux. At last King Robert agreed to their demands and peace was made which lasted until the king's death.
• Miscellaneous: 1031; King Robert died on 20 July 1031. Soon afterwards Constance fell ill; she was at also at odds with both her surviving sons. Constance seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them. Henry fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons and soldiers from his brother Robert. He returned to besiege his mother at Poissy but Constance escaped to Pontoise. She only surrendered when Henry began the siege of Le Puiset and swore to slaughter all the inhabitants.
• Last Full Review: 5 Jun 2020

Notes:

Name:

Died:
Constance died after passing out following a coughing fit.

Jaroslaw married Ingegard of Sweden, Princess of Sweden in Feb 1019. Ingegard (daughter of Olaf III "Skotkonung", King of Sweden and Astrid) was born about 1001 in Sweden; died on 10 Feb 1050 in Kiev, Ukraine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: Dietrich III (also called Dirik or Theodoric or Dirk) was the count with jurisdiction over what would become the county of Holland, often referred to in this period as "West Frisia",
• Title(s): 993; He became the Count of Holland (West Friesland) but was under the regency of his mother until 1005.
• Military: 1018; Count Dirk built a stronghold at Vlaardingen, in a newly habitable area where many Frisians had recently settled by his invitation. He was not permitted to levy tolls or hinder trade in any way, but eventually he defied imperial rule. Working together with the Frisians now living in the area, he stopped passing ships, demanding payment of tolls. Merchants from the town of Tiel sent alarmed messages to the king and Bishop Adelbold of Utrecht about acts of violence against them by Dirk's men. Emperor Henry then decided to end Dirk III's reign and awarded his lands to Bishop Adelbold. A large imperial army, made up of troops supplied by the various bishops of region, under the command of Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine, then headed for the stronghold at Vlaardingen. The ensuing Battle of Vlaardingen was a disaster for the imperial army and a tremendous victory for Count Dirk; many of the imperial commanders perished and Duke Godfrey was captured. Following this victory, Dirk III was permitted to keep his lands and he continued levying tolls. Later on, Dirk also managed to acquire more lands east of his previous domains at the expense of the Bishop of Utrecht.
• Miscellaneous: 1024; After the death of Emperor Henry II in 1024, Dirk supported Conrad II for the succession to the kingship.
• Travel: About 1030; It is thought that Dirk III went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1030, hence his nickname of Hierosolymita ("the Jerusalemite" in Latin).
• Last Full Review: 17 Nov 2021

Notes:

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Military:

Dietrich married Othelendis on Yes, date unknown. Othelendis (daughter of Bernard I, Margrave of the Saxon Nordmark, Count in North Thuringia and daughter of St. Vladimir I) died on 31 Mar 1044 in Saxony, Germany. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: Her name was also spelt Ulrido.
• Moved To: After May 1039; After Dirk's death on 27 May 1039, his widow went back to Saxony.
• Last Full Review: 17 Nov 2021

Bernard married Elica von Schweinfort about 1020. Elica (daughter of Henry von Schweinfurt, Margrave in the Nordgau and Gerberga of Henneburg) died after 1055. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]