William, Count of Poitiers

Infobox British Royalty
prince
name = William
succession = Count of Poitiers
reign = 17 August 1153 – April 1156
predecessor = Henry II of England
successor = "Vacant" (later Emperor Otto IV)
royal house = House of Plantagenet
father = Henry II of England
mother = Eleanor of Aquitaine
date of birth = birth date|1153|8|17|df=yes
place of birth = Normandy, France
date of death = April 1156 (aged 2)
place of death = Wallingford Castle, Berkshire
place of burial = Reading Abbey, Berkshire|

William (17 August 1153 – April 1156) was the first child of Henry Plantagenet (later Henry II of England) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, born in Normandy, on the same day that his father's rival Eustace IV of Boulogne died.

William was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de Champagne and Alix of France. He was an older brother of Henry the Young King, Matilda of England, Richard I of England, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, Leonora of Aquitaine , Joan Plantagenet and John of England.

He died aged two years at Wallingford Castle, and was buried in Reading Abbey at the feet of his great-grandfather Henry I.

At the time of his death, he had already been given the title of Count of Poitiers. For centuries, the dukes of Aquitaine had held this as one of their minor titles, so it had passed to Eleanor from her father; giving it to her son was effectively a revival of the title, separating it from the dukedom. Some authorities say he also held the title of "Archbishop of York", but this is probably an error. His half-brother Geoffrey Plantagenet (d. 1212), who was born within months of William, did later hold that office, causing the confusion.

Ancestry

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1= 1. William, Count of Poitiers
2= 2. Henry II of England
3= 3. Eleanor of Aquitaine
4= 4. Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou
5= 5. Empress Matilda
6= 6. William X of Aquitaine
7= 7. Aenor de Châtellerault
8= 8. Fulk of Jerusalem
9= 9. Aremburga de la Fleche of Maine
10= 10. Henry I of England
11= 11. Matilda of Scotland
12= 12. William IX of Aquitaine
13= 13. Philippa of Toulouse
14= 14. Aimery I de Rochefoucauld, Viscount of Châtellérault
15= 15. Dangereuse de l'Isle-Bouchaard
16= 16. Fulk IV of Anjou
17= 17. Bertrade de Montfort
18= 18. Elias I of Maine
19= 19. Matilda of Chateau-du-Loire
20= 20. William I of England
21= 21. Matilda of Flanders
22= 22. Malcolm III of Scotland
23= 23. Margaret of England
24= 24. William VIII of Aquitaine
25= 25. Hildegarde of Burgundy
26= 26. William IV of Toulouse
27= 27. Emma of Mortain
28= 28. Boson II de Châtellérault, Viscount of Châtellérault
29= 29. Aenora of Thouars
30= 30. Bartelmy de l'Isle-Bouchaard
31= 31. Gerberg

ources

*Robert of Torigny
*Annals of Waverly