William X, Duke of Aquitaine

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William X
Born1098
Philippa of Toulouse

William X (

Count of Poitou
(as William VIII) from 1126 to 1137.

Early life

William was the son of

Bertrand of Toulouse
, and then left on crusade.

Coin of William X 0,890g.

William and his mother, Philippa, were left in

Aenor de Châtellerault, a daughter of his father's mistress Dangerose by her first husband, Aimery.[2] William succeeded to the duchy of Aquitaine in 1126.[3]

Marriage and issue

William and Aenor had:

  • Eleanor,[2] who later became heiress to the Duchy and is best known to history as Eleanor of Aquitaine;
  • Raoul I of Vermandois[4]
  • William Aigret, who died at age 4 in 1130, about the time their mother Aenor de Châtellerault died.

Duke

William administered his Aquitaine duchy as both a lover of the arts and a warrior. He became involved in conflicts with

Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou
, who claimed it in his wife's name and for France.

Even inside his borders, William faced an alliance of the Lusignans and the Parthenays against him, an issue resolved with total destruction of the enemies. In international politics, William X initially supported

papal schism of 1130, opposite to Pope Innocent II, against the will of his own bishops. In 1134, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux convinced William to drop his support for Anacletus and join Innocent.[5]

Conversion

Depiction of the Conversion of William of Aquitaine X at Speed Museum of Art in Louisville
Saint Bernard and the Duke of Aquitaine, by Marten Pepijn

During St. Bernard's time spent with William, he invited him to attend mass at the La Couldre church. During communion, Bernard went to the door with the Eucharist on the sacred paten and pointed the Host toward him and asked him not to look at God as he did his servants.[6]

In 1137, William joined the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, but died during the trip.[7]

Death

On his deathbed, he expressed his wish to see king Louis VI of France as protector of his fifteen-year-old daughter Eleanor, and to find her a suitable husband.[8] Louis VI naturally accepted this guardianship and married the heiress of Aquitaine to his own son, Louis VII.[8]

See also

  • Dukes of Aquitaine family tree

References

  1. ^ Martindale 2001, p. 146.
  2. ^ a b Brown 2002, p. 5.
  3. ^ Vones-Liebenstein 2016, p. 153.
  4. ^ Beech 1995, p. 57.
  5. ^ Gildas 1907.
  6. ^ https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02498d.htm
  7. ^ Reilly 1995, p. 187.
  8. ^ a b Hanley 2022, p. 50.

Sources

  • Beech, George T. (1995). "Aquitaine". In Kibler, William W.; Zinn, Grover A. (eds.). Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Garland Publishing, Inc. pp. 55–57.
  • Brown, Elizabeth A.R. (2002). "Eleanor of Aquitaine Reconsidered: The Woman and Her Seasons". In Wheeler, B.; Parsons, John C. (eds.). Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1–54.
  • Gildas, M. (1907). "St. Bernard of Clairvaux". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
  • Hanley, Catherine (2022). Two Houses, Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100-1300. Yale University Press.50
  • Martindale, Jane (2001). "'An unfinished business': Angevin Politics and the Siege of Toulouse, 1153". In Gillingham, John (ed.). Anglo-Norman Studies XXIII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2000. The Boydell Press. pp. 115–154.
  • Reilly, Bernard F. (1995). The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain, 1031-1157. Blackwell Publishing.
  • Vones-Liebenstein, Ursula (2016). "From Aquitaine to Provence: The struggle for influence during the schism of 1130". In Doran, John; Smith, Damian J. (eds.). Pope Innocent II (1130–43): The World vs the City. Routledge. pp. 152–171.


French nobility
Preceded by Duke of Aquitaine
Count of Poitiers
1126–1137 		Succeeded by
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