g. A LINE OF DESCENT FROM BYZANTINE (EASTERN ROMAN) EMPERORS
1. Manuel Comnenus Eroticus, d. 1025; wife unknown
2. John Comnenus (Domestic of the Schools), d. 12 Jul 1056; m. Anna Dalassena, of the Adriani Dalasseni, daughter of Alexius Charon, Prefect of Italy
3. Alexius I Comnenus, Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor, d. 15 Aug 1118; m. Irene Ducas (dau. of Andronicus Ducas and Maria of Bulgaria; Andronicus Ducas was son of John Ducas the Caesar [a])
4. Theodora Comnena; m. Constantinus Angelus, of an obscure Philadelphian family
5. Andronicus Angelus; m. Euphrosyne Castamonitia
6. Isaac II Angelus, Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor, b. ca. 1156, d. Feb 1204; m. (1) Herina (poss. member of Palaiologos family), m. (2) Margaret of Hungary, b. 1175, dau. of Bela III, king of Hungary
7. Irene Angelica, dau. by (1), b. 1181, d. 1208; m. (2) 25 May 1197, Philip II, Duke of Swabia, king of Germany, d. 21 Jun 1208 (son of Frederick III “Barbarossa”)
8. Marie of Swabia, d. ca. 1240; m. (1) Henry II of Brabant, d. 1 Feb 1247
9. Matilda of Brabant, d. 29 Sep 1288 [b]; m. (1) 14 Jun 1237, Robert of Artois, b. 1216, d. 1250, son of Louis VIII, king of France
10. Blanche of Artois, d. 2 May 1302; m. (2) Edmund Plantagenet “Crouchback” (brother of Edward I of England), d. 5 Jun 1296, Earl of Leicester and Lancaster
11. Henry Plantagenet, b. 1281, d. 22 Sep 1345, Earl of Leicester and Lancaster; m. (1) Maud de Chaworth, b. 1282, d. 1322, dau. of Patrick de Chaworth and Hawise de London (Henry’s granddaughter Blanche of Lancaster m. John of Gaunt, and was mother of King Henry IV)
12. Joan Plantagenet, b. ca. 1312, d. 7 Jul 1349; m. (his 1st) John de Mowbray, d. 1361
13. John de Mowbray, 4th Lord Mowbray, b. 25 Jun 1340, d. 9 Oct 1368; m. Elizabeth de Segrave, b. 25 Oct 1338, d. bef. husband
14. Eleanor (Alianor) de Mowbray, b. ca. 25 Mar 1364; m. (his 1st) John de Welles, b. 20 Apr 1352, d. 26 Aug 1421
15. Eudo (Ives) de Welles, liv. 1407, d. vita patris; m. Maud de Greystoke
16. Lionel de Welles, b. 1406, d. 29 Mar 1461; m. (1) Joan (or Cecily) de Waterton
17. Margaret de Welles, d. 13 Jul 1480; m. (1) Thomas Dymoke
18. Lionel Dymoke, d. 17 Aug 1519; m. (1) Joan Griffith (daughter of Rhys Griffith)
19. Alice Dymoke; m. (his 2nd) William Skipwith, d. 7 Jul 1547
etc.
{[a] Caesar was a title below the rank of emperor.
[b] Margaret of France, second queen of Edward I, also has a descent from Isaac II Angelus through Matilda’s brother Henry III of Brabant.}
In the case of multiple marriages, the relevant marriage is given.
The Alexiad by Anna Comnena (sister of 4. Theodora), is a classic of medieval literature:
Comnena, Anna; Sewter, E.R.A., trans. (1969, repr. 2003). The Alexiad. London, New York: Penguin Books Classics.
Of the Angeli, Norwich says: ”Of all the families that reigned over Byzantium, the Angeli were the worst. Their supremacy was mercifully short — the three Angelus Emperors — Isaac II, Alexius III and Alexius IV — altogether reigned only nineteen years. But each was disastrous, and together they were responsible for Constantinople’s greatest catastrophe until its final fall.” Norwich is referring to the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Franks of the Fourth Crusade. Constantinople finally fell to the Turks in 1453.
Of the wife of Louis III (The Blind), King of Provence & Italy (d. 5 June 928), AR8 (2004) names her as Anna, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI. Norwich (1997) has a chart showing Anna as Louis III’s wife, but Ostrogorsky (1969) and Treadgold (1997) are silent on the matter.
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Alice (Dymoke) Skipwith descended from two kings of Jerusalem:
Fulk V, Count of Anjou, King of Jerusalem 1131-1143, d. 10 Nov 1144 in a hunting accident near Acre, bur. in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; m. (1) Erembourg of Maine; grandparents of Henry II of England. Fulk m. (2) Melisende de Rethel. The royal tombs are in the Chapel of Adam.
Jean de Brienne, b. ca. 1168, d. 21 Mar 1237, King of Jerusalem 1210-1215, Latin Emperor of Constantinople 1228; m. (3) Berengaria of Leon; ancestors of Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (executed by Edward III), lover of Edward II’s queen Isabella of France. Mortimer’s daughter Catherine m. Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick.
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(Imaginative rendering of the Crusader assault on Constantinople in 1204.)
Although Greek rule of some Byzantine territories didn’t end after the sack of Constantiniple, the imperial city was not retaken by the Greeks until 1261. The Byzantine empire was steadlily encroached upon by Muslim forces until Constantinople fell to the Ottomans under Mehmet II on May 29, 1453.
