William III, Count of Nevers
Encyclopedia
William III, Count of Nevers
Nevers
Nevers is a commune in – and the administrative capital of – the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne region in central France...

(c. 1107 – 21 November 1161) was Count of Nevers, Auxerre
County of Auxerre
The County of Auxerre is a former state of current central France, with capital in Auxerre.-History:The first count attested by the sources is one Ermenaud, a companion of Charlemagne who reigned around 770. In 859 Charles the Bald handed over the county to his cousin Conrad II of Burgundy. When he...

 and Tonnerre
Tonnerre
Tonnerre is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.-Twin town:* Nenagh, North Tipperary, Ireland-References:*...

 (1148–1161). He was born in Auxerre
Auxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...

.

Family

He was a son of William II of Nevers and his wife Adelaide. The ancestry of his mother is unknown.

His brother Renaud of Nevers was Count of Torrene until his death in 1148, while participating in the Second Crusade
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

. Robert of Nevers, another brother, is only mentioned in a charter dating to 1134. Their sister Anne of Nevers was William VIII, Count of Auvergne, also known as "William the Old" (reign 1155–1182). They were parents to Robert IV, Count of Auvergne (reign 1182–1194).

Life account

He is recorded as co-signing legal decisions by his father in charter dating to 1121 and 1134. On 21 September 1137, Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...

 records him accompanying Geoffrey V of Anjou in his entry in the Duchy of Normandy
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...

 , as part of the conflict between Matilda, Countess of Anjou
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...

 and her cousin Stephen of England
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...

. Their struggle lasted from 1135 to 1154 and is known as The Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...

.

William III joined Louis VII of France
Louis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...

 in the Second Crusade
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

. On 21 August 1148, his father died and William III succeeded him in Nevers and Auxerre. He is considered to have succeeded his younger brother in Tonnere at about the same time.

Marriage

William III married Ida of Sponheim
House of Sponheim
The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a noble family of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages. They were Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269 and Counts of Sponheim until 1437...

. She was a daughter of Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia
Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia
Engelbert II from the House of Sponheim was Margrave of Istria and Carniola from sometime between 1101 and 1107 until 1124...

 and Uta of Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....

. Her maternal grandparents were Ulrich, Count of Passau and Adelheid of Lechsgemünd. . They had at least five children:
  • William IV, Count of Nevers
    William IV, Count of Nevers
    William IV, Count of Nevers, Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre .-Family:William was a son of William III, Count of Nevers and Ida of Sponheim, and the older brother of his successor Guy, Count of Nevers. Their paternal grandparents were William II of Nevers and his wife Adelais...

     (died 24 October 1168).
  • Guy, Count of Nevers (died 19 October 1175).
  • Renaud of Nevers (died 5 August 1191).
  • Adelaide of Nevers. Married Renaud IV, Count of Joigny.
  • Ermengarde of Nevers.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK