William, Count of Poitiers

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William
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
Born	17 August 1153(1153-08-17) Normandy, France
Died	April 1156 (aged 2) Wallingford Castle, Berkshire
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.

William, Count of Poitiers House of Plantagenet Born: 17 August 1153 Died: April 1156
English royalty
Preceded by Henry, Duke of Anjou	Heir to the English Throne as heir apparent 25 October 1154 - April, 1156	Succeeded by Henry the Young King
French nobility
Preceded by Henry and Eleanor	Count of Poitiers 1153 – 1156	Succeeded by Alphonse

[edit] Ancestry

v • d • e Ancestors of William, Count of Poitiers

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

[edit] Sources

• Robert of Torigny
• Annals of Waverly