House of Ponthieu

History of Ponthieu

Ponthieu seems to be in the beginning a walk created to defend the Picardy against the Viking S. the first recipient was Angilbert, faithful of Charlemagne, which became also acknowledged of Saint-Riquier in order to be able to finance measurements and the troops charged to ensure the safety of Picardy. After entrustbeing entrusted to several lords, these loads were allocated to king de France by the marriage of Rozala of Italy with the future Robert II the Piles. Hugues Capet, the father of Robert, joins together Montreuil with the royal field and gave the avouery of Saint-Riquier and Ponthieu to Hugues, one of his faithful.

House of Ponthieu

The family appears with Hugues I^er de Ponthieu , dead on July 4th 1000, knight and faithful of Hugues Capet, to which this last gave the hand of his/her Gisele daughter, then the chatelainery of Abbeville, the grounds in Ponthieu and the loads of acknowledged of Saint-Riquier and Forest-Moutier.

The family of Hugues is not known. One can however notice that, as of 984 and perhaps even before 980, Enguerrand lived with the abbey of Saint-Riquier as monk, then like abbot, of 1017 to 1045. This Enguerrand had a brother named Guy who was abbot of Forest. However these first names of Enguerrand and Guy are frequently found in the descent of Hugues, which seems to show that the two abbots Enguerrand and Guy could be brothers of Hugues. The Enguerrand first name being particularly widespread in the north of France, one from of deduced originating local. Perhaps they go down from both Enguerrand, counts de Hainaut and faithful of kings de Francie Occidentale.

Enguerrand I {{er}} , the oldest son of Hugues Ier, killed the count Baudouin II of Boulogne and married of it the widow, Adélaïde of Plank. Not to be of a statute lower than his wife, it took then the title of count de Ponthieu , which it transmitted to his descendants, although not being resulting from Adelaide. At the end of its life, and not to be victim of a policy of alliance between its neighbors the duke of Normandy and the count de Flandre, it approached Normandy.

His/her son Hugues II , lord of Aumale by marriage, continued this poilitic alliance with the Norman one, marrying his Enguerrand oldest son with a sister of William the Conqueror and his/her daughter with Guillaume d' Arques, uncle of the conqueror.

But the revolt of Guillaume d' Arques against his nephew placed Enguerrand II in a delicate position, obliged to choose a camp and to support one as of his/her brothers-in-law against the other. It chooses Guillaume d' Arques and was killed in 1053 during a confrontation. To avenge it, his/her brother Guy Ier was combined to the enemies of the duke and was captured with the Bataille of Mortemer. Retained captive in Bayeux during two years, it was to oblige to give up Aumale and to recognize the vassal one of Normandy for the county of Ponthieu.

Guy had a son, Enguerrand and several girls. After the death of Enguerrand, occurred towards 1080, William the Conqueror decided to reinforce the links between Ponthieu and Normandy by negotiating the marriage of Agnes de Ponthieu, girl and heiress of Guy 1st with one of his faithful, Robert II of Bellême.

Genealogy

Sources

Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Counts de Ponthieu
On the origin of the counts de Ponthieu and the diffusion of the first name Enguerrand

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