Geoffrey IV "the Plantagenet" , Comte d'Anjou, Duc de Normandie
Plantagenet, a surname conveniently but unhistorically applied to the royal line descended from the union of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, with the Empress Maud, who are now styled by historians the Angevin House, that are descendants from the Counts of Anjou. It was historically only a nickname of Geoffrey, as was Curtmantel of his son Henry II, and was derived from his wearing in his cap a sprig of the broom (genet) plant. When the fashion of personal nicknames passed away, the members of the royal family were usually named from their birthplace, as Thomas "of Brotherton" and Edmund "of Langley," and so forth. But Edward I and his younger brother, the founder of the House of Lancaster, had still nicknames, respectively, as Longshanks and Crouchback. These two sons of Henry III, Edward and Edmund, were Plantagenet kings. Edmund, the younger, was created Earl of Lancaster, and his great-granddaughter Blanche married John of Gaunt or Ghent, and their descendants fought for the throne as Lancastrians in the War of the Roses. John of Gaunt was the son of Edward III, and his younger brother Edmund of Langley was created Duke of York, and founded the House of York, the other side in the War of the Roses. Although no other dynasty has reigned so long over England, the whole male issue (legitimate) of Count Geoffrey Plantagenet is clearly proved to have become extinct in 1499.
1860. Alexander I "the Fierce" , King of Scotland
Alexander I (1107-24)
When King Edgar died, he bequeathed Scotland north of the Forth to his brother Alexander, but gave the sovereignty of Lothian and Cumbria to their younger brother David. Born around 1077, Alexander was the fifth son of Malcolm III and St Margaret. Named after Pope Alexander II, he was described by one chronicler as 'a lettered and godly man', but he was also known as 'Alexander the Fierce' after dealing ruthlessly with an uprising in Moray. In 1114 he served as leader of a contingent in Henry I of England's campaign against the Welsh (he was technically a vassal of the English king). Alexander married Henry's illegitimate daughter Sybilla (Henry had married Alexander's sister Maud). Sybilla died suddenly in 1122, leaving no children, and Alexander died at Stirling on 23 April 1124.
[http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/scotland]
1861. St. David I , King of Scotland
David I (1124-53)
Born about 1080, David was the sixth and youngest son of Malcolm III and St Margaret. He spent his youth at the Court of his brother-in-law Henry I of England and in about 1113-14 married Matilda, daughter of Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon and widow of Simon de Senlis. As a result of the marriage, he held the Earldom of Northampton and the Honour of Huntingdon, with a legitimate claim to a large part of England.
David succeeded his brother Alexander as King of Scots in 1124. He was by then in his mid-40s, and was famous for his piety. Indeed, he was later criticised as being 'a sair sanct for the croun' [too pious to make a successful monarch] but in fact his generosity to the Church and his foundation of many abbeys including Holyrood, Melrose and Dryburgh, and sees such as Caithness, Dunblane and Aberdeen, had sound practical reasons too. The monks improved the country's economy by engaging in sheep farming, coal working and salt making.
David issued the first Scottish coinage; he also reorganised civil institutions and founded royal burghs (such as Stirling, Perth and Dunfermline). David extended feudal tenure by granting land to Anglo-Normans in return for feudal services, and appointed them as royal officials such as sheriffs and justiciars. David encouraged Anglo-French immigration.
In the 1130s, David met with resistance in Moray and the north; hitherto ruled by an independent dynasty, Moray was annexed and reorganised by David.
For many years (1072?-87) Duncan lived as a hostage of teh Norman English, allegedly as a confirmation of his father's homage to William I of England. He became king of the Scots while driving out his uncle, Donald Bane, in 1094, an enterprise in which he was helped by some English and Normans. He was killed at the instigation of Donald Bane, possibly at Monthechin, making way for Donald Bane's restoration.
[Enc. Brit. 4:272]
1865. Gospatrick II , 2nd Earl of Dunbar, Earl of Northumberland
Gospatric, who became the 2nd Earl of Dunbar. He had the Chapelry of Netherwitton, which consisted of seven townships, and was a family estate of the Earls of Northumberland. and though it does not appear in any record or his history prior to the Norman Conquest, which shows his descent from these Earls, as he was lord of it by inheritance. It was comprised of two manors, Witton and Ritton, which were both in Earl Gospatric's barony of Beanery, which was restored and enjoyed by him in the time of Henry I. This with other manors in that neighborhood were, by a convention between him and Henry I, given to Ranulph de Merlay in free marriage with Gospatric's Juliana. He also had three sons.
[Kin of Mellcene Thurman Smith, 897]
© 2001, Saul M. Montes-Bradley. All Rights Reserved