Emperor Theodore I Theodoros I Komnenos Laskaris (Greek: Θεόδωρος Α’ Λάσκαρις, Theodōros I Laskaris; c. 1174/5 – 1221/August 1222) was the first Emperor of Nicaea (reigned 1204/05–1221/22).  Relationship to Emperor Theodore Theodore Laskaris was born in ca. 1174,[1] to the Laskaris, a noble but not particularly renowned Byzantine family of Constantinople. He was the son of Manuel Laskaris (b. c. 1140) and wife Ioanna Karatzaina (b. c. 1148).[citation needed] He had four older brothers: Manuel Laskaris (died after 1256), Michael Laskaris (d. 1261/1271), Georgios Laskaris and Constantine Laskaris (died after March 19, 1205), Emperor of Byzantium (1204–1205); and two younger brothers: Alexios Laskaris, Latin military leader against the Bulgars who fought with the French against John III Doukas Vatatzes and was imprisoned and blinded, and Isaakios Laskaris.[2] William Miller identified the wife of Marco I Sanudo as the sister of Theodore, based on his interpretation of the Italian sources.[3] However, Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza rejected this identification in his Dictionnaire historique et Généalogique des grandes familles de Grèce, d’Albanie et de Constantinople (1983), based on the silence of Byzantine primary sources.[4]   The Latin Empire, Empire of Nicaea, Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus. The borders are very uncertain. The historian George Akropolites left a description of Theodore: “In body he was very small, moderately dark, with a long beard which was divided at the ends”, “His eyes differed from one another“.[5] In 1198/9, Theodore married Anna Angelina, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera; she was the widow of her (his?) cousin the sebastokratōr Isaac Komnenos.[6] Soon after this, he was raised to the rank of despotēs.[1] Theodore later distinguished himself during the sieges of Constantinople by the Latins of the Fourth Crusade (1203–1204). He remained in Constantinople until the Latins actually penetrated into the city, at which point he fled across Bosphorus together with his wife. At about the same time his brother Constantine Laskaris was unsuccessfully proclaimed emperor by some of the defenders of Constantinople. In Bithynia Theodore established himself in Nicaea, which became the chief rallying-point for his countrymen.[7][8] At first Theodore did not claim the imperial title, perhaps because his father-in-law and his brother were both still living, perhaps because of the imminent Latin invasion, or perhaps because there was no Patriarch of Constantinople to crown him Emperor.[9] In addition, his own control over the Anatolian domains of the Byzantine Empire was challenged, by David Komnenos in Paphlagonia and Manuel Maurozomes in Phrygia. It was only after defeating the latter two in 1205 that he was proclaimed Emperor and invited Patriarch John X Kamateros to Nicaea. But John died in 1206 before crowning Theodore. Theodore appointed Michael IV Autoreianos as the new Patriarch and was crowned by him in March 1208. In the meantime, Theodore had been defeated by the Latins at Adramyttion (Edremit), but soon afterwards the Latins were themselves defeated by Kaloyan of Bulgaria at the Battle of Adrianople. This temporarily stalled the Latin advance, but it was renewed by Emperor Henry of Flanders in 1206. Theodore entered into an alliance with Kaloyan and took the offensive in 1209. The situation was complicated by the invasion of Sultan Kaykhusraw I of Rum at the instigation of the deposed Alexios III in 1211; however, the Nicaeans defeated the Seljuk army at the Battle of Antioch on the Meander where Theodore Laskaris killed the sultan in single combat.[1] Although the danger from Rum and Alexios III was thus neutralized, Emperor Henry defeated Theodore in October of the same year, and established his control over the southern shores of the Sea of Marmara.[1] In spite of this defeat, Theodore was able to take advantage of the death of David Megas Komnenos, the brother of Emperor Alexios I of Trebizond in 1212 and to extend his own control over Paphlagonia.[1] In 1214 Theodore concluded a peace treaty with the Latin Empire at Nymphaion, and in 1219 he married Marie de Courtenay, a niece of now deceased Emperor Henry and daughter of the current regent, Yolanda of Flanders.[10] In spite of predominantly peaceful relations, Theodore attacked the Latin Empire again in 1220, but peace was restored. Theodore died in November 1221 and was succeeded by his son-in-law John III Doukas Vatatzes.[11][12] He was buried in the Monastery of Hyakinthos in Nicaea.[1] At the end of his reign he ruled over a territory roughly coterminous with the old Roman provinces of Asia and Bithynia. Though there is no proof of higher qualities of statesmanship in him, by his courage and military skill he enabled the Byzantine nation not merely to survive, but ultimately to beat back the Latin invasion.[7] Theodore married three times. His first wife was Anna Komnene Angelina (b. c. 1176), whom he married in 1199. With Anna, Theodore had three daughters and two sons who died young: Nicholas Laskaris (d. c. 1212) John Laskaris (d. c. 1212) Irene Laskarina, who married first the general Andronikos Palaiologos and then John III Doukas Vatatzes Maria Laskarina, who married King Béla IV of Hungary Eudokia Laskarina (renamed Sophia, born between 1210 and 1212, died between 1247 and 1253), engaged to Robert of Courtenay, married firstly and divorced Frederick II, Duke of Austria, secondly (bef. 1230) Anseau de Cayeux, Governor of Asia Minor After Anna Angelina died in 1212, Theodore took Philippa of Armenia (1183-aft. 1219) as his second wife. She was a niece of Leo I, King of Armenia; this marriage was annulled a year later and they divorced in 1216. Gardiner mentions the theory that Leo wanted to marry his daughter to another, and sent his niece in her place; once Theodore found he had been duped, he sent her and the son born to them, Constantine Laskaris, born in 1214, back to Cilicia.[13] Theodore’s third wife was Maria of Courtenay (1204-September, 1222), whom he married in 1219. She was the daughter of Emperor Peter II of Courtenay and Empress Yolanda of Flanders, but they had no children. Anna Komnene Angelina Born c. 1176 Died 1212 Noble family Angelus Spouse(s) Isaac Komnenos Theodore I Laskaris Father Alexios III Angelos Mother Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera Anna Komnene Angelina or Comnena Angelina (c. 1176 – 1212) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and of Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera.   Her first marriage was to the sebastokratōr Isaac Komnenos, a great-nephew of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos. They had one daughter, Theodora Angelina. Soon after Anna’s father became emperor, in 1195, Isaac Komnenos was dispatched to combat the Vlach-Bulgarian Rebellion. He was captured, became a pawn between rival Bulgarian and Vlach factions, and died in chains. Her second marriage to Theodore Laskaris, eventually emperor of Nicaea, was celebrated in a double wedding in early 1200 (the other couple was Anna’s sister Irene and Alexios Palaiologos).   Anna and Theodore had three daughters and two sons: Nicholas Laskaris (died c. 1212) John Laskaris (died c. 1212) Irene Doukaina Komnene Laskarina, who married first the general Andronikos Palaiologos and then John III Doukas Vatatzes Maria Laskarina, who married King Béla IV of Hungary Eudokia Laskarina (renamed Sophia, born between 1210 and 1212, died between 1247 and 1253), engaged to Robert de Courtenay, married firstly and divorced Frederick II, Duke of Austria, secondly (bef. 1230) Anseau de Cayeux, Governor of Asia Minor

Henry I of England Relationship to henry I Henry I, byname Henry Beauclerc (“Good Scholar”), French Henri Beauclerc, (born 1069, Selby, Yorkshire, England—died December 1, 1135, Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy), youngest and ablest of William I the Conqueror’s sons, who, as king of England (1100–35), strengthened the crown’s executive powers and, like his father, also ruled Normandy (from 1106). Henry I, miniature from a 14th-century manuscript; in the British Library (Cottonian Claud D11 45 B).By permission of the British Library Reign Henry was crowned at Westminster on August 5, 1100, three days after his brother, King William II, William the Conqueror’s second son, had been killed in a hunting accident. Duke Robert Curthose, the eldest of the three brothers, who by Norman custom had succeeded to his father’s inheritance in Normandy, was returning from the First Crusade and could not assert his own claim to the English throne until the following year. The succession was precarious, however, because a number of wealthy Anglo-Norman barons supported Duke Robert, and Henry moved quickly to gain all the backing he could. He issued an ingenious Charter of Liberties, which purported to end capricious taxes, confiscations of church revenues, and other abuses of his predecessor. By his marriage with Matilda, a Scottish princess of the old Anglo-Saxon royal line, he established the foundations for peaceable relations with the Scots and support from the English. And he recalled St. Anselm, the scholarly archbishop of Canterbury whom his brother, William II, had banished. When Robert Curthose finally invaded England in 1101, several of the greatest barons defected to him. But Henry, supported by a number of his barons, most of the Anglo-Saxons, and St. Anselm, worked out an amicable settlement with the invaders. Robert relinquished his claim to England, receiving in return Henry’s own territories in Normandy and a large annuity. Although a Crusading hero, Robert was a self-indulgent, vacillating ruler who allowed Normandy to slip into chaos. Norman churchmen who fled to England urged Henry to conquer and pacify the duchy and thus provided moral grounds for Henry’s ambition to reunify his father’s realm at his brother’s expense. Paving his way with bribes to Norman barons and agreements with neighbouring princes, in 1106 Henry routed Robert’s army at Tinchebrai in southwestern Normandy and captured Robert, holding him prisoner for life. Between 1104 and 1106 Henry had been in the uncomfortable position of posing, in Normandy, as a champion of the church while fighting with his own archbishop of Canterbury. St. Anselm had returned from exile in 1100 dedicated to reforms of Pope Paschal II, which were designed to make the church independent of secular sovereigns. Following papal bans against lay lords investing churchmen with their lands and against churchmen rendering homage to laymen, Anselm refused to consecrate bishops whom Henry had invested and declined to do homage to Henry himself. Henry regarded bishoprics and abbeys not only as spiritual offices but as great sources of wealth. Since in many cases they owed the crown military services, he was anxious to maintain the feudal bond between the bishops and the crown. Ultimately, the issues of ecclesiastical homage and lay investiture forced Anselm into a second exile. After numerous letters and threats between king, pope, and archbishop, a compromise was concluded shortly before the Battle of Tinchebrai and was ratified in London in 1107. Henry relinquished his right to invest churchmen while Anselm submitted on the question of homage. With the London settlement and the English victory at Tinchebrai, the Anglo-Norman state was reunified and at peace. In the years following, Henry married his daughter Matilda (also called Maud) to Emperor Henry V of Germany and groomed his only legitimate son, William, as his successor. Henry’s right to Normandy was challenged by William Clito, son of the captive Robert Curthose, and Henry was obliged to repel two major assaults against eastern Normandy by William Clito’s supporters: Louis VI of France, Count Fulk of Anjou, and the restless Norman barons who detested Henry’s ubiquitous officials and high taxes. By 1120, however, the barons had submitted, Henry’s son had married into the Angevin house, and Louis VI—defeated in battle—had concluded a definitive peace. The settlement was shattered in November 1120, when Henry’s son perished in a shipwreck of the “White Ship,” destroying Henry’s succession plans. After Queen Matilda’s death in 1118, he married Adelaide of Louvain in 1121, but this union proved childless. On Emperor Henry V’s death in 1125, Henry summoned the empress Matilda back to England and made his barons do homage to her as his heir. In 1128 Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet, heir to the county of Anjou, and in 1133 she bore him her first son, the future king Henry II. When Henry I died at Lyons-la-Forêt in eastern Normandy, his favourite nephew, Stephen of Blois, disregarding Matilda’s right of succession, seized the English throne. Matilda’s subsequent invasion of England unleashed a bitter civil war that ended with King Stephen’s death and Henry II’s unopposed accession in 1154. Legacy Henry I was a skillful, intelligent monarch who achieved peace in England, relative stability in Normandy, and notable administrative advances on both sides of the Channel. Under Henry, the Anglo-Norman state his father had created was reunited. Royal justices began making systematic tours of the English shires, but, although his administrative policies were highly efficient, they were not infrequently regarded as oppressive. His reign marked a significant advance from the informal, personal monarchy of former times toward the bureaucratized state that lay in the future. It also marked a shift from the wide-ranging imperialism of earlier Norman leaders to consolidation and internal development. In the generations before Henry’s accession, Norman dukes, magnates, and adventurers had conquered southern Italy, Sicily, Antioch, and England. Henry won his major battles but preferred diplomacy or bribery to the risks of the battlefield. Subduing Normandy in 1106, he contented himself with keeping domestic peace, defending his Anglo-Norman state against rebellion and invasion, and making alliances with neighbouring princes. C. Warren Hollister  CITATION INFORMATIONARTICLE TITLE: Henry IWEBSITE NAME: Encyclopaedia BritannicaPUBLISHER: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.DATE PUBLISHED: 01 January 2019URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-I-king-of-EnglandACCESS DATE: January 25, 2019   Matilda of Scotland Matilda of Scotland (c. 1080 – 1 May 1118), originally christened Edith,[1] was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry I. She acted as regent of England in the absence of her spouse on several occasions. Matilda was the daughter of the English princess Saint Margaret and the Scottish king Malcolm III. She was descended from Alfred the Great. At the age of about six Matilda was sent with her sister to be educated in a convent in southern England, where her aunt Cristina was abbess. It is not clear if she spent much time in Scotland thereafter. In 1093, when she was about 13, she was engaged to an English nobleman when her father and brother Edward were killed in a minor raid into England, and her mother died soon after; her fiancé then abandoned the proposed marriage. In Scotland a messy succession conflict followed between Matilda’s uncle Donald III, her half-brother Duncan II and brother Edgar until 1097. Matilda’s whereabouts during this no doubt difficult period are uncertain. But after the suspicious death of William II of England in 1100 and accession of his brother Henry I, Matilda’s prospects improved. Henry moved quickly to propose to her. It is said that he already knew and admired her, and she may indeed have spent time at the English court. Edgar was now secure on the Scottish throne, offering the prospect of better relations between the two countries, and Matilda also had the considerable advantage of Anglo-Saxon royal blood, which the Norman dynasty largely lacked.[2] There was a difficulty about the marriage; a special church council was called to be satisfied that Matilda had not taken vows as a nun, which her emphatic testimony managed to convince them of. Matilda and Henry married in late 1100. They had two children who reached adulthood and two more who died young. Matilda led a literary and musical court, but was also pious. She was “a women of exceptional holiness, in piety her mother’s rival, and in her own character exempt from all evil influence.”[3] She embarked on building projects for the church, and took a role in government when her husband was away; many surviving charters are signed by her. Matilda lived to see her daughter Matilda become Holy Roman Empress but died two years before the drowning of her son William. Henry remarried, but had no further legitimate children, which caused a succession crisis known as The Anarchy. Matilda is buried in Westminster Abbey and was fondly remembered by her subjects as “Matilda the Good Queen” and “Matilda of Blessed Memory”. There was an attempt to have her canonized, which was not pursued. Contents Matilda was born around 1080 in Dunfermline, the daughter of the Scottish king Malcolm III and the Anglo-Saxon princess Saint Margaret. She was christened Edith, with the Anglo-Norman prince Robert Curthose standing as godfather at the ceremony. The English queen Matilda of Flanders was also present at the baptismal font and served as her godmother. Edith pulled at Queen Matilda’s headdress, which was seen as an omen that the infant would be queen one day.[4] The Life of St Margaret, Queen of Scotland was later written for Matilda possibly by Turgot of Durham. It refers to her childhood and her relationship with her mother. In it, Margaret is described as a strict but loving mother. She did not spare the rod when it came to raising her children in virtue, which the author presupposed was the reason for the good behaviour Matilda and her siblings displayed, and Margaret also stressed the importance of piety.[5] When she was about six years old, Edith and her sister Mary were sent to Romsey Abbey, near Southampton in southern England, where their maternal aunt Cristina was abbess. During her stay at Romsey and, some time before 1093, at Wilton Abbey, both institutions known for learning,[6] the Scottish princess was much sought-after as a bride; refusing proposals from William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Alan Rufus, Lord of Richmond. Hériman of Tournai claimed that William Rufus considered marrying her. Her education went beyond the standard feminine pursuits. This was not surprising as her mother was a great lover of books. Her daughters learned English, French, and some Latin, and were sufficiently literate to read St. Augustine and the Bible.[7] In 1093, her parents betrothed Edith to Alan Rufus, Lord of Richmond, one of her numerous suitors. However, before the marriage took place, her father entered into a dispute with William Rufus. In response, he marauded the English king’s lands where he was surprised by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria and killed along with his son, Edward. Upon hearing of her husband and son’s death, Queen Margaret died on 16 November. Edith was now an orphan. She was abandoned by her betrothed who ran off with a daughter of Harold Godwinson, Gunhild of Wessex. However, he died before they could be married.[8] Edith had left the monastery by 1093, when Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to the Bishop of Salisbury ordering that the daughter of the King of Scotland be returned to the monastery that she had left. She did not return to Wilton and until 1100, is largely unaccounted for in chronicles.[9] After William II’s death in the New Forest in August 1100, his brother, Henry, immediately seized the royal treasury and crown. His next task was to marry and Henry’s choice was Matilda. Because Matilda had spent most of her life in a convent, there was some controversy over whether she was a nun and thus canonically ineligible for marriage. During her time at Romsey Abbey, her maternal aunt Cristina, forced her to wear the veil. Henry sought permission for the marriage from Archbishop Anselm, who returned to England in September 1100 after a long exile. Professing himself unwilling to decide so weighty a matter on his own, Anselm called a council of bishops in order to determine the canonical legality of the proposed marriage. Matilda testified that she had never taken holy vows, insisting that her parents had sent her and her sister to England for educational purposes, and her aunt Cristina had veiled her to protect her “from the lust of the Normans.” Matilda claimed she had pulled the veil off and stamped on it, and her aunt beat and scolded her for this act. The council concluded that Matilda was not a nun, never had been and her parents had not intended that she become one, giving their permission for the marriage. Matilda and Henry seem to have known one another for some time before their marriage – William of Malmesbury states that Henry had “long been attached” to her, and Orderic Vitalis says that Henry had “long adored” her character. It is possible that Matilda had spent some time at William Rufus’s court and that the pair had met there. It is also possible Henry was introduced to his bride by his teacher Bishop Osmund. Whatever the case, it is clear that the two at least knew each other prior to their wedding. Additionally, the chronicler William of Malmesbury suggests that the new king loved his bride.[10] Matilda’s mother was the sister of Edgar the Ætheling, proclaimed but uncrowned King of England after Harold, and, through her mother, Matilda was descended from Edmund Ironside and thus from the royal family of Wessex, which in the 10th century had become the royal family of a united England. This was extremely important because although Henry had been born in England, he needed a bride with ties to the ancient Wessex line to increase his popularity with the English and to reconcile the Normans and Anglo-Saxons.[11] In their children, the two factions would be united, further unifying the new regime. Another benefit was that England and Scotland became politically closer; three of Matilda’s brothers became kings of Scotland in succession and were unusually friendly towards England during this period of unbroken peace between the two nations: Alexander I married Sybilla, one of Henry I’s illegitimate daughters, and David I lived at Henry’s court for some time before his accession.[12] Matilda had a small dower but it did incorporate some lordship rights. Most of her dower estates were granted from lands previously held by Edith of Wessex. Additionally, Henry made numerous grants on his wife including substantial property in London. Generosity aside, this was a political move in order to win over the unruly Londoners who were vehement supporters of the Wessex kings.[13]   The seal of Matilda After Matilda and Henry were married on 11 November 1100 at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, she was crowned as “Matilda,” a hallowed Norman name. By courtiers, however, she and her husband were soon nicknamed ‘Godric and Godiva’.[14] These two names were typical English names from before The Conquest and mocked their more rustic style, especially when compared to the flamboyance of William II. Matilda gave birth to a daughter, Matilda, born in February 1102, and a son, William, called “Adelin”, in November 1103. As queen, she resided primarily at Westminster, but accompanied her husband on his travels around England, and, circa 1106–1107, probably visited Normandy with him. Matilda was the designated head of Henry’s curia and acted as regent during his frequent absences.[15] During the English investiture controversy (1103–07), Matilda acted as intercessor between her husband and archbishop Anselm. She wrote several letters during Anselm’s absence, first asking him for advice and to return, but later increasingly to mediate.[16]   Matilda had great interest in architecture and instigated the building of many Norman-style buildings, including Waltham Abbey and Holy Trinity Aldgate.[17] She also had the first arched bridge in England built, at Stratford-le-Bow, as well as a bathhouse with piped-in water and public lavatories at Queenhithe.[18] Matilda’s court was filled with musicians and poets; she commissioned a monk, possibly Thurgot, to write a biography of her mother, Saint Margaret. She was an active queen and, like her mother, was renowned for her devotion to religion and the poor. William of Malmesbury describes her as attending church barefoot at Lent, and washing the feet and kissing the hands of the sick. Matilda exhibited a particular interest in leprosy, founding at least two leper hospitals, including the institution that later became the parish church of St Giles-in-the-Fields.[19] She also administered extensive dower properties and was known as a patron of the arts, especially music. Matilda was patroness of the monk Bendeit’s version of The Voyage of Saint Brendan, written around 1106–1118.[20] After Matilda died on 1 May 1118 at Westminster Palace, she was buried at Westminster Abbey. The death of her son, William Adelin, in the disaster of the White Ship (November 1120) and Henry’s failure to produce a legitimate son from his second marriage led to the succession crisis of The Anarchy. After her death, Matilda was remembered by her subjects as “Matilda the Good Queen” and “Matilda of Blessed Memory”, and for a time sainthood was sought for her, though she was never canonized. Matilda is also thought to be the identity of the “Fair Lady” mentioned at the end of each verse in the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down. The post-Norman conquest English monarchs to the present day are related to the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex monarchs via Matilda of Scotland as she was the great-granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside; see House of Wessex family tree. Matilda and Henry had issue Euphemia (July/August 1101), died young. Matilda of England ( c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), Holy Roman Empress, Countess consort of Anjou, called Lady of the English William Adelin, (5 August 1103 – 25 November 1120), sometimes called Duke of Normandy, who married Matilda (d.1154), daughter of Fulk V, Count of Anjou. Elizabeth (August/September 1104), died young

Louis Anjou II and Yolanda of Aragon — my 17th great-grandparents Louis II (5 October 1377 – 29 April 1417) was King of Naples from 1389 until 1399, and Duke of Anjou from 1384 until 1417. He was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou. Born in Toulouse, Louis II was the son of Louis I of Anjou, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples,[1] and Marie of Blois. He came into his Angevin inheritance, which included Provence, in 1384, with his rival, Charles of Durazzo, of the senior Angevin line, in possession of Naples. Most towns in Provence revolted after the death of his father. His mother then raised an army and they traveled from town to town, to gain support. Louis was recognized as Count of Provence in 1387. He founded a university in Aix-en-Provence in 1409. In 1386, Charles of Durazzo’s son, the underage Ladislaus, was expelled from Naples soon after his father died. Louis II was crowned King of Naples by the Avignonese antipope Clement VII on 1 November 1389 and took possession of Naples the following year.[2] He was ousted in turn by his rival in 1399.[2] In 1409, Louis liberated Rome from Ladislaus’ occupation; in 1410, as an ally of the antipope John XXIII he attacked Ladislaus and defeated him at Roccasecca (1411).[3] Eventually Louis lost his Neapolitan support and had to retire. His claim to Naples passed to his son, Louis III.[3] He married his first cousin once removed Yolande of Aragon (1384–1443) in Arles in 1400,[2] giving him a possibility of inheriting the throne of Aragon through her right. Her father, King John I of Aragon had died in 1396, and her uncle king Martin I of Aragon died in 1410. His son, Louis, was initially betrothed to Catherine of Burgundy, a daughter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy.[4] However, after the Duke of Burgundy instigated a mob attackon the Dauphin of France, Louis and his wife joined the Armagnac Faction.[4] The betrothal to Catherine was repudiated, which caused the enmity of the Duke of Burgundy.[4] He was not present at the Battle of Agincourt, because he had a bladder infection. After the battle, he fled from Paris to join his wife and children at Angers. Louis II died at his chateau of Angers, the county town of Anjou; he is buried there. Louis and Yolande had five surviving children: Louis III of Anjou, titular King of Naples and Duke of Anjou.[1] René of Anjou, King of Naples and Duke of Anjou.[1] Charles of Anjou (1414–1472), Count of Maine.[1] Marie of Anjou (1404–1463), married 1422 at Bourges, King Charles VII of France.[1] Yolande of Anjou (1412, Arles – 1440), married firstly Philip I, Duke of Brabant, and secondly in 1431, Francis I, Duke of Brittany. Yolanda of Aragon Click here to join our Facebook page Yolande of Aragon (11 August 1384 – 14 November 1442)[1] was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son. She was a daughter of John I of Aragon and his wife Yolanda of Bar, (daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar, and Marie of Valois). Yolande played a crucial role in the struggles between France and England, influencing events such as the financing of Joan of Arc‘s army in 1429 that helped tip the balance in favour of the French. She was also known as Yolanda de Aragón and Violant d’Aragó. Tradition holds that she commissioned the famous Rohan Hours. Yolande was born in Zaragoza, Aragon, on 11 August 1384, the eldest daughter of King John I of Aragon by his second wife, Yolande of Bar, the granddaughter of King John II of France. She had three brothers and two sisters, as well as five older half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Martha of Armagnac. Yolande later played an important role in the politics of England, France, and Aragon during the first half of the 15th century. In 1389, Louis II was crowned King of Naples. His mother Marie of Blois opened negotiations for a marriage between her son and Yolande to prevent Aragon from obstructing his rule there. When Yolande was eleven, she signed a document to disavow any promises made by ambassadors about her marrying Louis II. In 1395, Richard II of England also opened negotiations for Yolande’s hand. To prevent this marriage, Charles VI of France offered his own daughter Isabella to King Richard. After the death of Yolande’s father, Marie of Blois convinced Yolande’s uncle Martin I of Aragon to have Yolande wed Louis II. Yolande signed a protest, but was forced to retract it later. The couple married in Arles on December 2, 1400. Despite Yolande’s earlier objections and the later illnesses of her husband, the marriage was a success. As the surviving daughter of King John I of Aragon, she claimed the throne of Aragon after the deaths of her elder sister Joanna, Countess of Foix, and her uncle, King Martin I. However, unclear though they were, the laws of succession for Aragon and Barcelona at that time were understood to favour all male relatives over the females (which is how Yolande’s uncle Martin of Aragon came to inherit the throne of Aragon). Martin died without surviving issue in 1410, and after two years without a king, the Estates of Aragon elected Ferdinand, the second son of Eleanor of Aragon and John I of Castile, as the next King of Aragon. The Anjou candidate for the throne of Aragon was Yolande’s eldest son Louis III of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, whose claim was forfeited in the Pact of Caspe. Yolande and her sons regarded themselves as the heirs with the stronger claim, and began to use the title of Kings of Aragon. As a result of this additional inheritance, Yolande was called the “Queen of Four Kingdoms” – the four apparently Sicily, Jerusalem, Cyprus and Aragon. Another interpretation specifies Naples separate from Sicily, plus Jerusalem and Aragon. The number could be raised to seven if the two component kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon (Majorca and Valencia) and Sardinia were included. However, the reality was that Yolande and her family controlled territories in the said kingdoms only at short intervals, if ever. Their true realm was the Anjou fiefdoms across France: they held uncontestably the provinces of Provence and Anjou, and also at times Bar, Maine, Touraine and Valois. Yolande’s son René I of Anjou became ruler of Lorraine through his marriage to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. In the emerging second phase of the Hundred Years’ War, Yolande chose to support the French (in particular the Armagnac party) against the English and the Burgundians. After John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, instigated a mob attack on the Dauphin of France in 1413, she and her husband repudiated the engagement of their son Louis to John’s daughter Catherine of Burgundy, which placed them decisively in the Armagnac camp. In the same year, Yolande met with Queen Isabeau of France to finalize a marriage contract between her daughter Marie and Isabeau’s third surviving son Charles. After his two older brothers died, she supported the claim of the Dauphin Charles who, relying upon Yolande’s resources and help, succeeded in becoming crowned Charles VII of France. As Charles’ own mother, Queen Isabeau, worked against his claims, it has been said that Yolande was the person who protected the adolescent Charles against all sorts of plots on his life and acted as a substitute mother. She removed Charles from his parents’ court and kept him in her own castles, usually those in the Loire Valley, where Charles received Joan of Arc. Yolande arranged the marriage of Charles to her daughter Mary of Anjou, thus becoming Charles’ mother-in-law. This led to Yolande’s personal, and crucial, involvement in the struggle for the survival of the House of Valois in France. Yolande’s marriage to Louis II of Anjou, at Arles in December 1400, was arranged as a part of long-standing efforts to resolve contested claims upon the kingdom of Sicily and Naples between the houses of Anjou and Aragon. Louis spent much of his life fighting in Italy for his claim to the Kingdom of Naples. In France, Yolande was the Duchess of Anjou and the Countess of Provence. She preferred to hold court in Angers and Saumur. She had six children, and through her second son René was the grandmother of Margaret of Anjou, the wife of King Henry VI of England. With the victory of the English over the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the Duchy of Anjou was threatened. The French king, Charles VI, was mentally ill and his realm was in a state of civil war between the Burgundians and the Orleanists (Armagnacs). The situation was made worse by an alliance among the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, the English, and the French queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, who submitted to the Duke of Burgundy’s scheme to deny the crown of France to the children of Charles VI. Fearing the abusive power building behind the Duke of Burgundy, Louis II had Yolande move with her children and future son-in-law, Charles, to Provence in southern France.In the years 1415 and 1417, the two oldest surviving sons of Charles VI of France died in quick succession: first Louis, then Jean. Both brothers had been in the care of the Duke of Burgundy. Yolande was the protectress of her son-in-law, Charles, who became the new Dauphin. She refused Queen Isabeau’s orders to return Charles to the French Court, reportedly replying, “We have not nurtured and cherished this one for you to make him die like his brothers or to go mad like his father, or to become English like you. I keep him for my own. Come and take him away, if you dare.” (according to Jehan de Bourdigné) On 29 April 1417, Louis II of Anjou died of illness, leaving Yolande, at age 33, in control of the House of Anjou. She acted as regent for her son because of his youth. She also had the fate of the French royal house of Valois in her hands. Her young son-in-law, the Dauphin Charles, was exceptionally vulnerable to the designs of the English King, Henry V, and to his older cousin, John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy. Charles’ nearest older relatives, the Dukes of Orléans and of Bourbon, had been made prisoners at the Battle of Agincourt and were held captive by the English. With his mother, Queen Isabeau, and the Duke of Burgundy allied with the English, Charles had no resources to support him other than those of the House of Anjou and the smaller House of Armagnac. Following the assassination of John the Fearless at Montereau in 1419, his son Philip the Good succeeded him as Duke of Burgundy. With Henry V of England, he forced the Treaty of Troyes (21 May 1420) on the mentally-ill King Charles VI. The treaty designated Henry as “Regent of France” and heir to the French throne. Following this, the Dauphin Charles was declared disinherited in 1421. When both Henry V of England and Charles VI of France died in 1422 (on 31 August and 21 October, respectively), the Dauphin Charles, at age 19, legitimately became Charles VII of France. Charles’ title was challenged by the English and their Burgundian allies, who supported the candidacy of Henry VI of England, the infant son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois, Charles’ own sister, as king of France. This set the stage for the last phase of the Hundred Years’ War: the “War of Charles VII”. In this struggle, Yolande played a prominent role in surrounding the young Valois king with advisers and servants associated with the House of Anjou. She manoeuvred John VI, Duke of Brittany, into breaking an alliance with the English, and was responsible for a soldier from the Breton ducal family, Arthur de Richemont, becoming Constable of France in 1425. Yolande’s early and strong support of Joan of Arc, when others had doubts, suggests her possible larger role in orchestrating Joan’s appearance on the scene. Yolande unquestionably practised realistic politics. Using the Constable de Richemont, Yolande was behind the forceful removal of several of Charles VII’s advisers. Thus, La Trémoille was attacked and forced from the court in 1433. Yolande was not averse to recruiting beautiful women and coaching them to become the mistresses of influential men who would spy on them on her behalf. She had a network of such women in the courts of Lorraine, Burgundy, Brittany, and her son-in-law. The contemporary chronicler Jean Juvenal des Ursins (1433–44), Bishop of Beauvais, described Yolande as “the prettiest woman in the kingdom.” Bourdigné, chronicler of the house of Anjou, says of her: “She who was said to be the wisest and most beautiful princess in Christendom.” Later, King Louis XI of France recalled that his grandmother had “a man’s heart in a woman’s body.” A twentieth-century French author, Jehanne d’Orliac, wrote one of the few works specifically on Yolande, and noted that the duchess remains unappreciated for her genius and influence in the reign of Charles VII. “She is mentioned in passing because she is the pivot of all important events for forty-two years in France”, while “Joan [of Arc] was in the public eye only eleven months.” Yolande retired to Angers and then to Saumur. She continued to play a role in politics. When the bishopric in Angers fell vacant, she threatened Charles VII’s candidate with beheading if he showed up in the city. The king backed down and the post went to her secretary. At least from 1439 onwards, her granddaughter Margaret of Anjou came to live with her. Yolande taught her not only etiquette and literature, but also how to check account books. Her last act before her death was to prepare Margaret for a possible marriage with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. She received his ambassadors in Samur and presented her granddaughter to them. She died at the Château de Tuce-de-Saumur on 14 December 1443. She was betrothed in 1390 to Louis, the heir of Anjou (who had one year earlier succeeded in conquering Naples and become King Ludovico II of Naples), and married him on 2 December 1400 at Montpellier. Their children were: Louis III of Anjou (25 September 1403 – 12 November 1434), Duke of Anjou, Titular King of Naples. He was adopted by Queen Joanna II of Naples. Married Margaret of Savoy. Died childless; Marie of Anjou (14 October 1404 – 29 November 1463). Married in 1422 King Charles VII of France. Had issue including King Louis XI of France; René I of Naples (16 January 1409 – 10 July 1480), Duke of Anjou and Bar, Duke Consort of Lorraine, Titular King of Sicily and Naples. Married Duchess Isabella of Lorraine. They were the parents of Margaret of Anjou, Queen-Consort of England. Yolande of Anjou (13 August 1412 – 17 July 1440). Married in 1431 Francis, Count of Montfort l’Amaury, who succeeded his father in 1442 as Duke of Brittany. Charles of Anjou (14 October 1414 – 10 April 1472), Count of Maine (who never was Duke of Anjou, but his namesake son was). Married firstly Cobella Ruffo and secondly Isabelle de St.Pol, Countess of Guise. Had issue by both marriages.Courtesy of Wikipedia

Caracciolo Rossi D’Avalos Prince Marino Caracciolo III Knight of the Golden Fleece Me Prince MarinoThe feudal rights to Avellino were purchased in 1581 by Don Marino I Caracciolo, duke of Atripalda, of a patrician family of Naples, who was made Prince of Avellino in 1589. Avellino became the main seat of the Caracciolo. Don Marino’s son and grandson were consecutively Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Naples and chevaliers of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The grandson, Don Marino II (1587–1630), was the patron of Giambattista Basile, author of the Pentamerone. Don Marino II(* Atripalda 9-6-1587 + Naples 4-11-1630), 3rd Prince of Avellino, 4th Duke of Atripalda (the family status included the feuds of: Avellino, Atripalda, Torella, Sanseverino, Lancusi, Bella, Santa Sofia, Paltano, Galdone, Baraggiano and Parete) and Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Naples from 1617 and Patrizio Neapolitan, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece since 1622, 1st Marchese di Sanseverino from 17-12-1618, 1st Count of Serino from 20-9-1635 (feud bought in about 1625), buy Capriglia on 28-8-1618 (feudal sold by his son on 7-5 / 29-12-1634), General of catafratti from 3-11-1630. Marriages 1612 Donna Lucrezia Aldobrandini, daughter of Gianfrancesco 1st Prince of Rossano and Olimpia Aldobrandini (+ about 1617) =1618 Donna Francesca d’Avalos d’Aquino of Aragon, daughter of Don Inigo 4th Prince of Francavilla and Donna Isabella d’Avalos d’Aquino d’Aragona of the Princes of Francavilla (+ 6-11-1676) (see / see) Order of the Golden Fleece

Saint Michael of Chernigov[1] or Mikhail Vsevolodovich[2] (c. 1185 – Saray, 20 September 1246) was a Rus’ prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty).[3] He was grand prince of Kiev (1236–1240, 1240, 1241–1243); and he was also prince of Pereyaslavl (1206), of Novgorod-Seversk (1219–1226), of Chernigov (1223–1235, 1242–1246), of Novgorod (1225–1226, 1229–1230), and of Halych (1235–1236).[2] Realtionship Chart to Prince Mikhail Relationship Chart Archaeological evidence reveals that Chernihiv towns enjoyed an unprecedented degree of prosperity during his period which suggests that promoting trade was a priority for him.[2]Commercial interests, in part, also motivated him to seize control of Halych and Kiev because they were channels through which goods from the Rhine valley and Hungary passed to Chernihiv (Ukraine).[2] He also negotiated commercial treaties and political alliances with the Poles and the Hungarians.[2] He alleviated the tax burden of the Novgorodians and granted their boyars greater political freedom from the prince.[2] He was the last autonomous senior prince of Kiev, where he was deposed not by a more powerful prince but by the invincible Mongols.[2] On the eve of Mongol invasion, he was one of the most powerful princes in Rus’.[2] He has been accused of ineffective leadership because he failed to unite the princes of Rus’ against the invaders; in his defense it must be pointed out that this was an impossible task.[2] Mikhail was the first prince of the Olgovichi (the dynasty of Chernigov) to become a martyr according to the commonly understood meaning of the word: he underwent the penalty of death for persistence in his Christian faith.[2] He and his boyar Fedor (Theodore) were tortured and beheaded by the Tatars.[1] They later became known as “The Passion-Sufferers of Chernigov” and “The Miracle-Workers of Chernigov”.[2]Archaeological evidence reveals that Chernihiv towns enjoyed an unprecedented degree of prosperity during his period which suggests that promoting trade was a priority for him.[2]Commercial interests, in part, also motivated him to seize control of Halych and Kiev because they were channels through which goods from the Rhine valley and Hungary passed to Chernihiv (Ukraine).[2] He also negotiated commercial treaties and political alliances with the Poles and the Hungarians.[2] He alleviated the tax burden of the Novgorodians and granted their boyars greater political freedom from the prince.[2] He was the last autonomous senior prince of Kiev, where he was deposed not by a more powerful prince but by the invincible Mongols.[2] On the eve of Mongol invasion, he was one of the most powerful princes in Rus’.[2] He has been accused of ineffective leadership because he failed to unite the princes of Rus’ against the invaders; in his defense it must be pointed out that this was an impossible task.[2] Mikhail was the first prince of the Olgovichi (the dynasty of Chernigov) to become a martyr according to the commonly understood meaning of the word: he underwent the penalty of death for persistence in his Christian faith.[2] He and his boyar Fedor (Theodore) were tortured and beheaded by the Tatars.[1] They later became known as “The Passion-Sufferers of Chernigov” and “The Miracle-Workers of Chernigov”.[2] He was the only known son of prince Vsevolod Svyatoslavich (who later became grand prince Vsevolod IV the Red of Kiev), by Anastasia,[2] the daughter of grand duke Casimir II of Poland.[3] The patrimonial domain of his father was located in the northwestern part of the Vyatichi lands where he undoubtedly spent his childhood.[2] Saint Nikita Stylites When Mikhail was a child, he suffered from a paralyzing illness.[2] His grandfather, grand prince Svyatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Kiev gave much wealth to churches in unsuccessful attempts to obtain a cure.[2] Finally, he heard of the miracle-worker Nikita living in the Monastery of St. Nicetas at Pereyaslavl-Zalessky in Suzdalia.[2] The prince, accompanied by boyars, rode to the town and arrived at the monk‘s pillar.[2] The stylite gave his staff to one of his boyars to take to the prince; Mikhail took hold of it, was cured, and walked to the miracle-worker’s pillar for his blessing.[2]Following his cure, he gave a generous benefaction to the monastery and ordered a stone cross to be erected, according to one source on 16 May 1186, on the spot where he was cured.[2]Although the event is reported only in late sources and embellished with pious details, the account has a ring of truth.[2] In the summer of 1206, his father seized Kiev, sent his posadniki to all the Kievan towns, and forced grand prince Rurik Rostislavich to withdraw to Vruchiy (today Ovruch in Ukraine).[2] Vsevolod Svyatoslavich also evicted Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (son of grand prince Vsevolod Yuryevich of Vladimir) from Pereyaslavl, and gave the town to Mikhail.[2] However, Rurik Rostislavich was determined to regain control of Kiev, and expelled Vsevolod Svyatoslavich with relative ease.[2] Rurik Rostislavich also ordered Mikhail, who had only a small retinue at his disposal, to vacate Pereyaslavl, and thus he withdrew to his father in Chernihiv.[2] Some time in the summer of 1207, his father occupied again Kiev, but in October, Rurik Rostislavich rode to Kiev, drove out Vsevolod Svyatoslavich for the second time and occupied the town; Mikhail accompanied his father from Kiev.[2] No sources report Mikhail’s marriage, but evidence suggests that he married Elena Romanovna (or Maria Romanovna),[3] a daughter of prince Roman Mstislavich of Halych in 1210 or 1211.[2] In June 1212, prince Mstislav Romanovich of Smolensk, prince Mstislav Mstislavich the Bold of Novgorod and prince Ingvar Yaroslavich of Lutsk launched a major offensive against Vsevolod Svyatoslavich who confronted the attackers at Vyshgorod.[2] However, the Rostislavichi occupied Kiev.[2] Vsevolod Svyatoslavich fled from Kiev, probably accompanied by Mikhail, for the third time and sought safety in Chernihiv where he died sometime in August 1212.[2] Mikhail probably inherited Bryn, Serensk, and Mosalsk from his father.[2] When his uncle Gleb Svyatoslavich died between 1215 and 1220, and Mstislav II Svyatoslavich moved to Chernihiv, Mikhail, because of his status as the second in seniority, probably occupied Novgorod-Seversk.[2] The movements of Genghis Khan and his generals In the spring of 1223,[2] a strong Mongol cavalry corps under the command of Jebe and Subutai which had been sent by Genghis Khan to reconnoiter the “western lands” entered the land of the Cumans.[4] Unable to withstand the onslaught, the Cumans fled to Rus’ warning the princes that if they refused to send aid the same fate would befall them.[2] At the war council of the Rus’ princes it was decided not to wait for the coming of the Tatars but to attack them deep in the Cuman steppes.[4] Mikhail also attended the meeting.[2] The united forces of the princes went down the river Dnieper, and the first skirmish took place on the banks of the river.[4] In this vanguard battle Mstislav Mstislavich the Bold succeeded in defeating a detachment of Mongol troops.[4] Crossing the Dnieper, their armies marched through the steppes for 8 days before they met the main Mongol force at the banks of the Kalka River.[4] There was no unity of command in the Russian army.[4] The results were disastrous: a number of princes (including Mstislav II Svyatoslavich of Chernigov) had perished during the fight.[4]   The Holy Saviour Cathedral of Chernihiv (1030s) Mikhail was probably among the first survivors who returned to Chernihiv.[2] The chronicles do not tell us that Mikhail replaced Mstislav II Svyatoslavich as prince of Chernigov, but later evidence reveals that after his uncle’s demise he sat on the throne of his father and grandfather in the Holy Saviour Cathedral.[2] The ceremony probably took place around 16 June.[2]Because princes of his generation predeceased him and had no heirs, Mikhail, in his capacity as senior prince, assumed control over a number of their domains.[2] This accumulation of territories made him the largest landowner in the land.[2] Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod At that time, the Novgorodians acknowledged grand prince Yuri II Vsevolodovich of Vladimir as their overlord, but they frequently challenged his appointment of princes.[2] In 1224, his son, Vsevolod Yuryevich had to flee from Novgorod.[2] It appears that Mikhail was already in Vladimir on the Klyazma when Yuri Vsevolodovich learnt of his son’s flight.[2] Yuri Vsevolodovich threatened the Novgorodians to attack; in response, they confirmed their loyalty to him but made a pact to die in the defense of the Cathedral of St. Sofia.[2] Yuri Vsevolodovich, therefore, proposed that they accept Mikhail as prince.[2] The Novgorodians agreed and, in March 1225, Mikhail occupied Novgorod.[2] Nevertheless, Yuri Vsevolodovich demanded the sum of 7,000 novuyu as a fine from the citizens and confiscated their goods.[2] Mikhail went to Novgorod, where he acted as Yuri Vsevolodovich’s appointee and not as an autonomous ruler, with the intention of returning to Chernihiv.[2] One of his most important tasks was to recover the Novgorodians’ wares that Yuri Vsevolodovich had confiscated at Torzhok and in his own domain.[2] Before departing from Novgorod, Mikhail invited the townsmen to send merchants to Chernihiv and declared that their lands and his would be as one.[2] After he departed from Novgorod, the veche sent its request for a prince to Yuri Vsevolodovich’s brother, prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl Zalesskiy.[2] About a year after Mikhail returned to Chernihiv, it appears he became involved in a dynastic dispute: Oleg Svyatoslavich of Kursk prepared to wage war on him.[2] The available evidence suggests that the bone of contention was Novhorod-Siverskyi.[2] It is noteworthy that the chroniclers accuse neither Mikhail nor Oleg of wrongdoing which suggests that each had a just cause.[2] During the winter of 1227, Yuri Vsevolodovich, and his nephews (prince Vasilko Konstantinovich of Rostov and prince Vsevolod Konstantinovich of Pereyaslavl) came to help Mikhail against Oleg Svyatoslavich; in addition to them, Metropolitan Kirill I of Kiev also helped to reconcile Mikhail with Oleg who evidently became the prince of Novgorod Seversk.[2] In 1228, grand prince Vladimir III Rurikovich of Kiev summoned Mikhail and attacked the latter’s brother-in-law, prince Daniil Romanovich of Volodymyr-Volynskyi, who had seized the towns of Lutsk and Chertoryysk, in Kamenets.[2] However, they failed to take Kamenets whose ability to withstand the siege is all the more impressive because Vladimir III Rurikovich allegedly attacked with all his allies.[2] In December 1228, the common people of Novgorod rose up in arms against tysyatskiy Vyacheslav and appointed Boris Negochevich in his place, and invited Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to return according to a new agreement.[2]They insisted that he abide by all their terms and by all the laws of Yaroslav the Wise; he also had to cancel the zaboshnitse (a special tax levied on churches which also served as warehouses), and to stop appointing his judgesin the Novgorodian lands.[2] On 20 February 1229, therefore, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s sons (Fedor Yaroslavich and Aleksandr Yaroslavich) fled to their father.[2] The Novgorodians got word to Mikhail, and he set out for Novgorod upon receiving the invitation; he arrived in Novgorod around the beginning of May.[2] Mikhail and the townsmen introduced measures to waken Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s power: the veche appointed Vnezd Vodovik as the new posadnik and also removed his other administrators.[2] After levying heavy fines on Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s supporters, the Novgorodians used the money for the benefit of the entire community by paying for the construction of a new bridge.[2] Mikhail’s pro-Novgorod legislation included granting the town officials some of the prince’s power: he permitted the boyars to appoint their own judges.[2] He also abrogated the zabozhnitse, placed a moratorium on the payment of tribute for five years on those peasants who had fled to other lands and agreed to return to their Novgorodian homes, and lessened the tax burden of the common people.[2] After spending some three months in Novgorod, Mikhail returned home.[2] When he departed from Novgorod, he designated his son Rostislav Mikhailovich to remain as his lieutenant, and on returning to Chernihiv he took with him prominent Novgorodians.[2] In May 1230 he returned to Novgorod where he installed his son on the throne.[2] Before departing, he promised the Novgorodians to return with troops by 14 September.[2] On 8 December the Novgorodians forced Rostislav Mikhailovich to flee to his father on just the feeble pretext that Mikhail had promised to bring troops by 14 September, but it was already December and he had not come.[2] In this way Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s supporters evicted the Olgovichi from Novgorod, as it turned out, for the last time.[2] They summoned Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and he came on December 30.[2] Meanwhile, a core of dissenters found refuge with Mikhail; to secure his hegemony over Novgorod, therefore, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich had to stop Mikhail from giving them support.[2]   The Kievan Rus’ in 1237 In the summer or autumn of 1231, Mikhail waged war against grand prince Vladimir III Rurikovich of Kiev who sent an appeal for help to Daniil Romanovich (Mikhail’s brother-in-law).[2] We are told that Daniil Romanovich came and pacified the two princes.[2] In the autumn of 1231, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich attacked the northwest district of the Vyatichi lands.[2] He set fire to Serensk (which was most likely the administrative center of Mikhail’s patrimony), but when he besieged Mosalsk, he failed to take it.[2] Yaroslav, however, refused to conclude peace which signaled to Mikhail that he was prepared to pursue his objective until Mikhail expelled the Novgorodian fugitives from his lands.[2] Towards the end of 1231 Vnezd Vodovik died in Chernihiv; Mikhail had been bound to support Vodovik owing to their mutual oaths, and Vodovik’s deaths released him from that obligation.[2] Therefore, tysyatskiy Boris Negochevich and his band left Chernihiv before Easter of 1232.[2] In 1232, troops sent by Vladimir III Rurikovich pursued and captured the princes of Bolokhoveni who had invaded Daniil Romanovich’s lands and handed them over to the latter.[2] Mikhail and prince Iziaslav Vladimirovich of Putyvl threatened to attack Daniil Romanovich if he refused to release them.[2] Although Vladimir Rurikovich renewed his pact with Daniil Romanovich, Mikhail and Iziaslav Vladimirovich continued waging war against them.[2] In January 1235, Vladimir Rurikovich and Daniil Romanovich attacked Chernihiv, plundered the environs and set fire to the outer town hoping to make Mikhail submit.[2] He, however, promised Daniil Romanovich many gifts if he would desert Vladimir III Rurikovich.[2] Daniil Romanovich agreed and attempted to persuade Vladimir to lift the siege; but Mikhail sallied out of Chernihiv at night, caught Daniil Romanovich’s troops by surprise, and killed many of them.[2] His brother-in-law barely escaped and was forced to withdraw to the Kievan land.[2] Mikhail waited until Iziaslav Vladimirovich brought the Cumans and then rode in pursuit.[2] The two sides clashed near Torchesk where Vladimir Rurikovich and Daniil Romanovich were defeated, and the former and many boyars were also taken captive.[2] Meanwhile, Mikhail’s allies took Kiev where he evidently made the German merchants, who had come to Kiev via Novgorod, pay redemption-fees for their goods, and then appointed his puppet, Izyaslav Mstislavich (one of the Rostislavichi) to the throne.[2] Halych-Volhynia in the 13th-14th century At an undisclosed date after Daniil Romanovich returned to Halych from his defeat at Torchesk, its boyars rebelled and forced him to flee to Hungary.[2] Towards the end of September, Mikhail occupied Halych, while his comrade-in-arms, Izyaslav Vladimirovich seized Kamenets.[2] In the spring of 1236, Mikhail attacked Daniil Romanovich in Volhynia.[2] In addition to his own retinue, he was probably accompanied by Galician boyars, the princes of Bolokhoveni, and troops from the Kievan land.[2] He also sent Izyaslav Vladimirovich to bring the Cumans; and finally, he summoned duke Konrad I of Masovia (his maternal uncle) who had broken off friendly ties with Daniil Romanovich.[2] The size of his attacking force suggests that he intended to capture his brother-in-law’s capital of Volodymyr-Volynskyi.[2] However, the Cumans plundered the Galician lands forcing Mikhail to abandon his campaign.[2] Meanwhile, king Béla IV of Hungary renewed his father‘s pact with Mikhail, and seemingly relinquished his claim to Halych and also agreed to give Mikhail military aid.[2] At the beginning of the summer of 1236, Daniil Romanovich and his brother Vasilko Romanovich rallied their troops to march against Mikhail.[2] However, he barricaded himself in Halych with his retinue, the local militia, and a contingent of Hungarians.[2] Dissuaded from taking Halych, they sought to assuage their frustration by seizing its northern outpost of Zvenigorod, but its citizens repelled the attack.[2] After the Hungarian troops had departed, Daniil Romanovich tried again; Mikhail attempted to placate his brother-in-law by giving him Przemyśl whose inhabitants had supported him in the past.[2] Meanwhile, grand prince Yuri II Vsevolodovich of Vladimir and Daniil Romanovich formed a pact, forced Vladimir Ryurikovich, who had replaced Izyaslav Mstislavich, to vacate Kiev, and appointed Yury Vsevolodovich’s brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to the town.[2] The latter arrived in Kiev around March 1236; but he failed to consolidate his rule and returned to Suzdalia.[2]After appointing his son to rule Halych, Mikhail came to Kiev where he entered uncontested.[2] Soon after occupying Kiev, he and his son attacked Przemyśl and took it back from Daniil Romanovich.[2] The people of Halych, however, summoned Daniil Romanovich around 1237, and installed him as prince; Mikhail’s son fled to king Béla IV and all the boyars of Halych submitted to Mikhail’s brother-in-law.[2]   In the winter of 1237, Batu Khan came to the frontiers of Ryazan; it is possible that Prince Yury Ingvarevich (Prince of Ryazan)|Yury Ingvarevich of Ryazan sent his brother, Ingvar II Ingvarevich (Prince of Ryazan)|Ingvar Ingvarevich to Chernihiv to seek help from Mikhail, but he sent no troops to the beleaguered princes.[2] On 21 December the Mongols took Ryazan, and they plundered the treasures of the inhabitants including the wealth of their relatives from Kiev and Chernihiv.[2] Sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan in February 1238 In March 1238 the Mongols, who had routed Yuri II Vsevolodovich’s troops and killed him, continued their march, and in the Vyatichi lands they came upon the town of Kozelsk, and they struggled 7 weeks to crush it.[2] Archaeological evidence reveals that Mikhail’s domains of Mosalsk and Serensk suffered the same fate.[2] The second phase of the Mongol invasion began early in 1239; on March 3 one contingent took Pereyaslavl and set fire to it.[2] Not long after Pereyaslavl fell, it would appear, Mikhail went to Kamenets, and organized a general evacuation of his retinue from Kiev.[2] However, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in Suzdalia got word of his destination; he besieged Kamenets, captured Mikhail’s wife, and seized much booty, but Mikhail escaped and returned to Kiev.[2] When Daniil Romanovich learnt that his sister (Mikhail’s wife) was being held captive, he asked Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to send her to him.[2] In the autumn of 1239, the Mongols, who had occupied Chernihiv on October 18, sent messengers to Kiev proposing peace, but Mikhail refused to submit.[2] During the first half of 1240, we are told, Batu Khan sent Möngke to reconnoiter Kiev; when his messengers came to Mikhail for the second time seeking to coax him into submitting, he defied the khan by putting his envoys to deaths.[2] The forces in Rus’ on whom Mikhail could still rely were his own druzhina and the Kievan militia, and therefore he fled to Hungary.[2] In the chaos that preceded the invasion of the west bank of the river Dnieper, minor princelings and boyars took advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves to seize power: Rostislav Mstislavich seized Kiev, but he was evicted by Daniil Romanovich.[2] Meanwhile, Mikhail had arrived in Hungary where he attempted to arrange a marriage for his son Rostislav Mikhailovich with the king’s daughter.[2] In the light of Mikhail’s plight, Béla IV saw no advantage to forming such an alliance and evicted Mikhail and his son from Hungary.[2] In Mazovia, Mikhail received a warm welcome from his uncle, but he decided that the expedient course of action was to seek reconciliation and sent envoys to his brother-in-law.[2] Mikhail pledged never again to antagonize Daniil Romanovich and forswore making any future attempts on Halych.[2] Daniil Romanovich invited him to Volhynia, returned his wife, and relinquished control of Kiev.[2] In the face of the Mongol attack, however, Mikhail did not return to Kiev but allowed his brother-in-law’s men to remain there.[2] Towards the end of 1240, Batu Khan encircled Kiev with his troops, and the town fell on December 6.[2] On learning Kiev’s fate, Mikhail withdrew from Volhynia and for the second time imposed himself on his maternal uncle’s good graces.[2] When, however, the Mongols also threatened Mazovia, he traveled west to Wrocław in Silesia.[2] As his caravan pressed northwest, it came to Środa, where the local inhabitants attacked Mikhail’s train; they plundered his goods and killed a number of his people including his granddaughter.[2] The Mongols invaded Silesia, and after the invaders had passed through Volhynia and the Polish lands, Mikhail returned to Mazovia.[2]   Some time in the spring of 1241, he considered it safe to go home.[2] He stopped at the devastated town of Volodymyr-Volynskyi, rode northeast to Pinsk, and then traveled down the river Pripyat to Kiev.[2] Unable to return to his court on the citadel because Batu Khan’s official had presumably occupied it, he took up residence on an island near the Podil (Old Kyiv was razed).[2] Significantly, Batu Khan’s man did not challenge his arrival thereby indicating that the Mongols were willing to let refugee princes return to their ravaged towns without obstruction.[2] On learning that Béla IV had given his daughter in marriage to his son, Rostislav Mikhailovich (who had fled to the Hungarians) in 1242, Mikhail believed that his efforts to form an alliance with the Árpád dynasty had finally been realized.[2] He therefore rode to Hungary expecting to negotiate the agreements that normally accompanied such an alliance.[2] However, his hopes were dashed: the king and his son rebuffed him when he came to the king’s court.[2] Mikhail, greatly angered by his son, returned empty-handed to Chernihiv.[2] Meanwhile, Batu Khan commanded all the princes to visit Sarai and pay him homage.[2] Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Suzdal was the first to respond to the summons: at the beginning of 1243, he traveled to Sarai, where Batu Khan appointed him senior prince in Rus’.[2] After returning to Suzdal, he sent his commander to rule Kiev.[2] Accordingly, some time during the second part of that year, Mikhail abandoned his court on the island below Kiev and returned to Chernihiv.[2] But even there his authority was insecure: like all the other princes of Rus’, he had to obtain Batu Khan’s patent (yarlik) to rule his patrimony.[2]   Michael of Chernigov at the camp of Batu Khan (1883), painting by Vasiliy Smirnov. By the end of 1245, only Mikhail from among the three senior princes had not yet kowtowed to the conqueror.[2] In the end, Mikhail went in time to pre-empt a Mongol punitive strike against his domain; his grandson, Boris Vasilkovich of Rostov accompanied him.[2] When they arrived at Saray, Batu Khan sent messengers to Mikhail’s camp instructing him to worship according to the laws of the Mongols by bowing to the fires and idols.[2] Mikhail agreed to bow to the khan, but he insulted the Mongol by refusing to obey his command to worship idols.[2] Enraged by the prince’s retort, Batu Khan ordered that he be put to death.[2] He was slaughtered by Doman of Putivls, and Fedor his boyar was killed after him.[2] The Novgorod First Chronicle, the oldest chronicle reporting his death narrates that their bodies were thrown to the dogs; but as a sign of divine favor, their bodies remained unmolested and pillars of fire hovered over them.[2]   The chronicle narrative accounts show that the people of Rus’ acknowledged Mikhail and Fedor as martyrs immediately after their deaths.[1] Accordingly, their bodies were later brought to Chernihiv and entombed in a side-chapeldedicated to them (The Miracle-Workers of Chernigov) in the Holy Saviour Cathedral.[1] His wife survived him and promoted his cult.[2] His daughter Maria and her sons, Boris and Gleb Vasilkovich, inaugurated the Feast of the Miracle-Workers of Chernigov, on September 20, and built a church in their honor.[2] Her sister, Feodula who had become the nun Evfrosinia also advanced his cult to judge from a 17th-century account which reports the existence of a wooden chapel in Suzdal dedicated to them.[2] The cult was approved in 1547.[1] When Chernihiv was occupied by the Poles in 1578, Ivan IV the Terrible had the relics of the two saints taken to Moscow, where they were placed in the cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel.[1] In times of oppressions particularly, these martyrs have been regarded by the Russians as their special representatives before God.[1]   #1210/1211: Elena Romanovna (or Maria Romanovna),[3] a daughter of prince Roman Mstislavich of Halych and his wife, Predslava Rurikovna of Kiev[2] Feodula Mikhailovna (1212–1250); she became nun and adopted the religious name of Evfrosinia;[2] Duke Rostislav Mikhailovich of Macsó (after 1210 / c. 1225[3] – 1262);[2] Maria Mikhailovna (? – December 7/9, 1271),[3] wife of Prince Vasilko Konstantinovich of Rostov;[2] Prince Roman Mikhailovich of Chernigov and Bryansk (c. 1218 – after 1288 / after 1305[3]);[2] Prince Mstislav Mikhailovich of Karachev and Zvenigorod[2] (1220–1280);[3] Prince Simeon Mikhailovich of Glukhov and Novosil;[2] Prince Yury Mikhailovich of Torusa and Bryansk.[2] NB: The existence of the last four sons is disputed (see His descendants below).   showAncestors of Michael of Chernigov   In the second half of the 19th century, many family branches stemming from Mikhail flourished: the Boryatinskie, the Gorchakovy, the Dolgorukie, the Eletskie, the Zvenigorodskie, the Koltsovy-Mosalskie, the Obolenskie, the Odoevskie, and the Shcherbatovy.[2] Nicolas Baumgarten in his Généalogies et mariages occidentaux des Rurikides russes du Xe au XIIIe siècle (Orientalia christiana 9, no. 35 (1927)) includes the following important appendix with regard to Mikhail’s alleged descendants. Essentially, the four princes—Roman, Simeon, Mstislav, and Iurii (Yury)—claimed in most published genealogies past and present (Dolgorukov, Vlas’ev, Ikonnikov, Ferrand, Dumin & Grebel’skii, etc.) as his sons and as the progenitors of numerous Russian princely families are apparently not to be found in any original historical document, appearing for the first time in the genealogies composed—or more likely contrived—in the 16th century, which witnessed a spate of fanciful genealogical aspirations among European royal and noble families (the Habsburgs claimed descent from Julius Caesar’s cousin Sextus (among others); the Bagratids of Georgia, from the biblical King David; the Lévis-Mirepoix, from cousins of the Virgin Mary; and the Muscovite tsars, from Augustus Caesar, to name but a few):