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Vol I File 16: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

Ref: Canning, "100 Great Kings, Queens, and Ruler of the World," pp. 222-227. (Otto I.)

Ref: Previte-Orton, "The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. II., The Twelfth Century to the Renaissance"

Ref: Thompson and Johnson, "An Introduction to Medieval Europe" (1937)

It is interesting to note that the following lineage originates in France with Louis I., son of Charlemagne. It then continues through many generations of Germany nobility and royalty and finally returns to France with Margaret of France, second wife of Edward I. of England.

===============================================================

• 1. Louis (Ludwig) I., the Pious, the Debonaire, son of Charlemagne, King of Aquitaine, 778-840, and Holy Roman Emperor, 814-840, married in 798, (1) Ermengarde of Hasbania, and (2) Judith of Bavaria. See elsewhere for the ancestral lineage of Judith. From the first marriage, there were the following children:
  
  • 1. Lothar (Lothaire) I., Holy Roman Emperor, 840-855, married Ermengarde of Alsace. They had Louis II. le Jeune, Holy Roman Emperor, about 855-875; Lothar II., King of Lorraine, about 826-868, married (1) Theutberga of Valois, and (2) Waldrada; and Charles, King of Provence, died in 863.

  • 2. Pepin I., King of Aquitaine, died 838, father of Pepin II., King of Aquitaine, died in 870.

  • 3. Adelaide.

  • 4. Louis II, the German. See below.
    

    From the second marriage of Louis I. and Judith of Bavaria, there was a son as follows:
    

  • 5. Charles II, the Bald, King of the West Franks, married Ermengarde, died 869. See continuation of this lineage elsewhere in Volume I. in the Line of French Kings.
    

• 2. Louis II., the German, King of the East Franks, about 805-876, married Emma of Bavaria, who died in 876. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Carloman. See below.

  • 2. Louis the Young, King of the East Franks, died in 882.

  • 3. Charles II., the Fat, King of the West Franks, and Holy Roman Emperor, 881-887.
    

• 3. Carloman, King of Bavaria, about 828-880, married Litwinde. They had a son, Arnulf.

• 4. Arnulf of Carinthia, (illegitimate) King of Germany, 881-899, and Holy Roman Emperor, 896-899), married Oda of Bavaria. He was born in 850 and died in 899. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Louis (Ludwig) III. the Child, King of Germany, 899-911. He was born in 893 and died in 911.

  • 2. Zwentibold (illegitimate), King of Lorraine, died in 900.

  • 3. Hedwige. See below.
    

• 5. Hedwige, married Otto the Great of Saxony, son of Ludolph, Duke of Saxony and his wife, Hedwige, daughter of Eberhard, Count of Burgundy, son of Henrok, Duke of Frioul, and his wife, Gisela, daughter of Louis I., the Debonaire, King of France. Details are not available of each generation of descendants but it is recorded that Gisela was also the grandmother of Duke Burkhardt, who died in 911, from whom descended Ulrich von Uerikon, Swiss knight, born in 1259. Otto of Saxony reigned in Germany from 880 to 912. Otto and Hedwige had a son, Henry.

• 6. Henry I., The Fowler, of Germany, Duke of Saxony, who in 919 was chosen as King of Germany by the other German rulers, reigned over Germany, 919-936. During his reign Germany was something like a confederation of such territories as Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia, and Lorraine. He was known as the "City-Builder." He is named as the head of the Saxon dynasty. He was born in 876, died in 936. He married (2) Matilda of Ringelheim. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Hedwige (Hedwig), married Hugh Magnus, Duke of France, and they were the parents of Hugh Capet. Hugh Capet married Adela, daughter of Otto I. See this lineage elsewhere in the Kings of France above in Vol. I.

  • 2. Otto I., The Great, Emperor. See below.

  • 3. Henry I., Duke of Bavaria. Henry was favored by his mother, Matilda, to succeed his father, Henry I., to the throne, but Henry I. was successful in having Otto I. as his successor. Only after the death of Otto was Henry allowed to become the ruler. In fact, he led an insurrection against Otto I., joined by Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine, and the Duke of Franconia. Henry was defeated and fled to the court of King Louis IV. of France. Later he was forgiven by his brother, Otto I., and was appointed Duke of Bavaria and became a loyal follower of his king and brother. He married Judith, daughter of Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, and granddaughter of Liutpold, Duke of Bavaria, who died in 907. They were the parents of Henry II., Duke of Bavaria, the Quarrelsome (the Wrangler), who died in 995, and Hedwig, who married Burkhard, Duke of Swabia. Henry II., the Quarrelsome (the Wrangler), was father of Henry II., the Saint, King of Germany (1002-1024), the last of the Saxon line, who married Cunigunde.

  • 4. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, 953-965, and arch-chancellor of the realm. Later he was made Duke of Lorraine by his brother, Otto I. He also acted as a kind of regent for the young Carolingians of France, whose uncle he was. After the king he was the most important man in the kingdom.

  • 5. Gerberga, married (1) Gilbert (Giselbert), Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine), who died in 939, and (2) Louis IV, King of France, who died in 954. See this lineage above in Vol. I. They were parents of Lothar, King of France (941-986), and Charles of Lower Lorraine (954-986). Gerberga is reported to have married Giselbert, who died October 2, 939, Duke of Lorraine, lay Abbot of Echternach (915-939), son of Regnier I., Count of Hainault, lay Abbot of Echternach (Luxembourg) (897-915), and his 1st wife, Hersent, daughter of Charles II.

  • 6. Another daughter, unidentified.
    

    There was one illegitimate son as follows:
    

    • 1. Thankmar, who died in 938, and who led a revolt of Saxony against his half-brother, Otto I.
      

  • 7. Otto I. the Great, the eldest son of Henry I., at the age of twenty-four was crowned as the King of Germany in Aix-la-Chapelle in 936, and reigned from 962 to 973. (Check dates?) To emphasize the subservience he demanded from all the German nobles, Otto had the Dukes of Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia, and Lorraine wait upon him at the banquet which followed the coronation ceremonies in the cathedral, indicated that henceforth they would be his vassals and that power would be vested in his person alone. The dukes naturally resented this decrease in their influence. Soon some of them gathered together bands of armed followers and revolted against Otto. One of his half-brothers, Thankmar, went so far as to rebel against Otto in Saxony itself. Eberhard, the Duke of Franconia, came to Thankmar's assistance, but Otto succeeded in quelling this rebellion with the help of the Duke of Swabia who, luckily for Otto, had quarreled with Eberhard.
    

    Under him the Holy Roman Empire was reestablished and strengthened by the inclusion of Italy. He ruled as the Holy Roman Emperor, 962-973. He was born November 23, 912. He married at age seventeen (1) Edith, daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England. See elsewhere for her ancestral lineage in Volume I. Otto fought against both Louis IV. of France and later Hugh the Great of France, both of whom were his brothers-in-law. He was later associated with Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia, eventually making him the King of Bohemia, and avenged his murder by executing Wenceslas' mother, who had plotted the massacre. See elsewhere for the details on Wenceslas. Later Otto I. married (2) Adelaide of Burgundy, widow of Lothar (Lothaire), King of Italy, becoming as in the right of his wife, the King of Italy. From 954 to 968 she was Abbess of Quedlinburg. Otoo I. was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on January 31, 962, in St. Peter's in Rome, by Pope John XII. Otto I. made himself the head of the Church. For he forced the Pope to swear an oath of allegiance to himself, and John XII. thus became Otto's vassal. Later, when John showed signs of regretting this oath, Otto deposed him. Otto selected Pope Leo VIII. as John's successor and decreed that henceforth no Pope should be elected without his consent. Later, following the death of Leo VIII., Pope John XIII. was imposed by Otto on the Church. The closing years of Otto's life were rather peaceful and he died on May 6, 973, and was buried in the Cathedral of Magdeburg which he had built. He had accomplished what he set out to do; he had reestablished Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire, he had forcefully subdued the turbulent German tribes and instilled in the Germans the beginnings of national pride. He had spread Christianity and had brought the Papacy under his control.
    

    Otto I. and Edith were the parents of the following children:
    

    • 1. Ludolph (Liudolf), Duke of Swabia, 949-954, father of Otto I., Duke of Swabia, 973, Duke of Bavaria, 976, died in 982.

    • 2. Liutgard, a daughter. See below.
      

      Otto I. and Adelaide were the parents of the following children:
      

      • 1. Otto II., Holy Roman Emperor, 973-983, married a Byzantine Princess Theophano, died in 991, daughter of Romanus II., Eastern Emperor. They had a son, Otto III., Holy Roman Emperor, 983-1002.

        Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg, 954-968.
        

        There was also an illegitimate son, William, Archbishop of Mainz.

  • 8. Liutgarde, died in 955, married Conrad the Red., killed in 955, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine), 944-953. They had a son, Otto.

  • 9. Otto Duke of Carinthia, 978-983, 995-1004, died in 1004. He had the following children:
    
    • 1. Henry. See below.

    • 2. Bruno, who later became Pope Gregory V., 996-999.

    • 3. Conrad I., Duke of Carinthia, 1004-1011, married Matilda, daughter of Herman II. of Swabia. They had two sons as follows:
      
      • 1. Conrad of Carinthia, rival to Conrad II.

      • 2. Bruno, Bishop of Toul, and later Pope Leo IX, 1048-1054.
        

    • 4. William, Bishop of Strasbourg, 1028-1047.
      

  • 10. Henry, died before 1000, married Adelaide. They had two sons as follows:
    
    • 1. Conrad II. the Salian. See below.

    • 2. Gerhard, Bishop of Regensburg, 1036-1060.
      

  • 11. Conrad II. the Salian, Holy Roman Emperor, 1024-1039, married as her third husband Gisela, Duchess of Swabia, who died in 1043, daughter of Herman II. of Swabia, and his wife Gerberga, who died in 993, daughter of Conrad of Burgundy and his second wife, Matilda, daughter of Gerberga, and her second husband, Louis IV., King of France. Conrad II. was the first of the Salian or Franconian line, chosen after the death of Henry II. He was one of the strongest and most far-sighted of all the German kings, dying in 1039. Conrad and Gisela had a son, Henry III.

  • 12. Henry III. the Black, Duke of all the duchies except Lorraine and Saxony at the time of his father's death, later Holy Roman Emperor, 1039-1056. He was another very strong ruler among the German emperors. He married (1) Kunigunde (Gunnhild), died in 1038, daughter of Canute the Great, King of England, 1016, King of Denmark, 1019, King of Norway, 1028, died in 1035; and sister of Harthacut, King of Denmark, 1035, King of England, 1040, died in 1042; and (2) Agnes of Aquitaine, who died in 1077, daughter of William of Aquitaine. From the second marriage there were several children as follows:
    
    • 1. Beatrice of Quedlinburg.

    • 2. Matilda, died in 1060, married Rudolf, Duke of Swabia, 1057, Anti-king, 1077, killed at Elster in 1080.

    • 3. Judith, died about 1094, married (1) Salomon of Hungary, who died in 1087; and (2) Valdislav I. of Poland, who died in 1102.

    • 4. Adelaide, Abbess of Quedlinburg, form 1062-to about 1095.

    • 5. Henry IV. See below.
      

  • 13. Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, 1056-1106. His father left him his throne in 1056 when he was but six years old. His mother, Agnes, was the regent until he reached maturity. During this period the German nobility rose in opposition to the throne and appropriated many of the royal holdings, but when Henry IV. reached his majority he was able to restore much of what had been taken. He married (1) Bertha of Savoy (Turin), who died in 1087, (2) Praxedis (Adelhaide, Eupraxis) of Kiev, Russia, who died in 1109. Henry IV. died in Liege in 1106. From the first marriage of Henry and Bertha there were the following children:
    
    • 1. Conrad, Associate King, 1087, deposed in 1093 for rebellion against his father, died in 1101.

    • 2. Agnes. See below.

    • 3. Henry V. , Holy Roman Emperor, 1106-1125. He also had rebelled against his father in 1104. In 1105 the German feudal princes elected young Henry V. king in his father's place, but the old king never lost the loyalty of the towns and remained a force to contend with until his death. Henry V. married as her first husband, Matilda, daughter of Henry I., King of England, and his wife, Matilda of Scotland. After the death of Henry V. Matilda married Geoffrey of Anjou. Their son, Henry II., became King of England. See the continuation of this lineage in the Kings of England in Volume I.
      

  • 14. Agnes, died in 1143, married (1) Frederick I. of Hohenstaufen, Duke of Swabia, 1079-1105. They had two sons as follows:
    
    • 1. Frederick II. See below.

    • 2. Conrad III., King of Germany, 1138-1152. He was never crowned.
      

      Agnes married (2) Leopold III., Margrave of Austria, 1095-1136, who died in 1136. From this second marriage descended the Hohenstaufen dynasty. They had the following children:
      

      • 1. Leopold IV., Margrave of Austria, 1136-1141, Duke of Bavaria, 1139-1141.

      • 2. Agnes, died in 1157, married Vladislaw II. of Poland, who died in 1159.

      • 3. Henry II. Jasomirgott, Duke of Bavaria, 1142-1156; M. of Bavaria, 1141-1177, married (1) Theodora, died in 1184, niece of Emperor Manuel; married (2) Gertrude of Supplinburg, daughter of Lothar of Supplinburg, Duke of Saxony, 1106-1127, King, 1125-1137, Emperor, 1133.

      • 4. Gertrude, died in 1151, married (1) Vladislav II. of Bohemia, died in 1175.
        

  • 15. Frederick II, Duke of Swabia, married (1) Judith. daughter of Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria, 1120-1126, and his wife, Wulfhild, who died in 1126, half-heiress of Magnus Billungand. Frederick and Judith had a son as follows:
    
    • 1. Frederick I, Barbarossa. See below.

    • 2. Conrad, Count Palatine, who died in 1195.
      

      Frederick II. married (2) Agnes of Saarbrucken.

  • 16. Frederick I. Barbarossa (Red Beard), Duke of Swabia, born in 1122, died in 1190, Roman Emperor, 1152-1190. He was a nephew of Conrad III. A German king, his rule marked a happy and prosperous time in Germany. He married (1) Adelaide of Vohburg, from whom he was divorced in 1152. In 1156 he married (2) Beatrice Macon, daughter of Rainald III., Count of Burgundy, heiress of Franche-Comte. She died in 1184. He and his second wife were parents of the following two sons:
    
    • 1. Frederick V., Duke of Swabia, died in 1191.

    • 2. Henry VI., Emperor (1190-1197), married, in Milan, Constance, a Norman princess, daughter of Roger II., Count of Sicily, Duke of Apulias, 1127, King, 1130, died in 1154, heiress to the throne of William II., King of Southern Italy and Sicily, or as it came to be called, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. She died in 1198. During reign of Henry VI. both in idea and in fact the Holy Roman Empire may be said to have reached its medieval height. He died suddenly at Palermo in September, 1197, at the age of thirty-two. They had a son, Frederick II.
      
      • 1. Frederick II., born in 1194, King of Germany, 1212; Holy Roman Emperor, 1215-1250, married (1) Constance, daughter of Afonso II. of Aragon, who ruled from 1162 to 1196. She died in 1222; and Frederick II. married (2) Yolande of Brienne, heiress of Jerusalem, died in 1228; and married (3) Isabel (Isabella) Plantaganet, daughter of Richard of Cornwall Plantaganet, sister of Henry III., King of England, granddaughter of King John of England. See details of their children elsewhere in the Kings of England in Volume I.
        

    • 3. Conrad of Swabia, 1191-1196.

    • 4. Otto, Count of Burgundy.

    • 5. Philip of Swabia. See below.
      

      Frederick Barbarossa was drowned while bathing in the Seleph River in Cilicia in 1190.

  • 17. Philip of Swabia, at the time of his father's death, the Hohenstaufen party in southern Germany elected him as their ruler. He was King of Germany, 1197-1208, married (2) Irene Angela, daughter of Isaac II. Emperor of the East. She died in 1252. In 1208 Philip was murdered by a personal enemy, one of the few cases of assassination in the middle ages. They had three daughters as follows:
    
    • 1. Mary of Germany. See below.

    • 2. Beatrix of Swabia, died in 1212, married as his first wife, Otto IV., King of Germany, 1198-1218; Emperor, 1209.

    • 3. Elizabeth of Swabia, died in 1235, married Ferdinand III., King of Castile, who died in 1252. Their son was Afonso X. the Wise, King of Castile, 1252-1284, Titular King of Germany, 1257, died in 1284.
      

  • 18. Mary of Germany, married to Henry II, Duke of Brabant, 1235-1248, great grandson of Stephen, King of England, who was the son of Stephen of Blois and his wife, Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. They had a son, Henry III.

  • 19. Henry III, Duke of Brabant, 1248-1261, died in 1261, married Alice Bourgogne. They had the following daughter:
    
    • 1. Marie of Barbant. See below.
      

      He is also recorded as married to Adelaide of Burgundy, Regent, 1261-1267. From this other marriage, they had two sons:
      

      • 1. Henry IV, Duke of Brabant, 1261-1267.

      • 2. John I., Duke of Brabant, 1267-1297.
        

  • 20. Marie of Barbant, married Philip III, King of France, son of Louis IX. (St. Louis) and brother of Robert, Count of Clermont, ancestor of the House of Bourbon. Marie and Philip had a daughter, Margaret of France.

  • 21. Margaret of France, second wife of Edward I, King of England. They were the parents of two sons:
    
    • 1. Thomas Plantaganet of Brotherton

    • 2. Edmund Plantaganet of Woodstock.
      

      See the continuation of the lineage of Thomas Plantaganet of Brotherton elsewhere in Vol. II. in the Plantaganet Line.
      

Expanding the line of Judith of Bavaria, from the original Welf, we have the following:

7. Welf I, Count in Swabia and in Bavaria, died about 824.

8. Eticho I

9. Henry

10. Rudolph

11. Welf II, died in 1030.

12. Cunigunde, who died in 1087, married Azzo II of Este, who died in 1097.

13. Welf IV., Duke of Bavaria, died in 1101. He had two sons as follows:

• 1. Welf V., who died in 1120, married Countess Matilda of Tuscany.

• 2. Henry the Black. See below.
  

• 14. Henry IX., the Black, Duke of Bavaria, 1120-1126, died in 1126. He married Wulfhild Billung, who died in 1126, half-heiress of Magnus Billung (Billungand), who died in 1106. They had the following children:
  
  • 1. Lothair of Supplinburg, later Lothair II., Emperor of Saxony, 1125-1137, was born in 1070 and? died in 1137, married Richsa, daughter of Otto of Nordheim. Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria, 1126-1138, Duke of Saxony, 1136-1138, died in 1139, married Gertrude as her first husband, who was heiress of Saxony, daughter of Lothair II. They were parents of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria, who married Matilda of England. Their first son was Otto IV., Holy Roman Emperor, 1208-1215, married (1) Beatrix, daughter of Philip of Swabia, and (2) Mary, daughter of Henry IV. of Brabant. Their second son was William, father of Otto the Child, 1st Duke of Brunswick, ancestor of later dukes.
    

  • 2. Judith of Bavaria. See below.

  • 3. Welf VI., Duke of Spoleto and Margarve of Tuscany, died in 1197.
    

• 15. Judith of Bavaria, heiress of the Welf possessions in Swabia, died in 1126, married Frederick II, Duke of Swabia, who died in 1147. They had a son, Frederick I., Barbarossa.
  

  See continuation of this lineage above in this section.
  

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