William IX, Count of Poitiers

William IX
The children of Henry II, William is the first on the right.
Count of Poitiers
Reign 17 August 1153 – April 1156
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, Duke of Normandy (later Henry II of England) and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was born in Normandy on the same day that his father's rival, Eustace IV of Boulogne, died.

He died in April 1156, aged two years due to a seizure 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 was reigning as Count of Poitiers, as his mother had ceded the county to him. 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 duchy. Some authorities say he also held the title of "Archbishop of York", but this is probably an error. His half-brother Geoffrey Plantagenet (died 1212), who was born a year before William, did later hold that office, causing the confusion.

William IX, Count of Poitiers
Born: 17 August 1153 Died: April 1156
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Henry and Eleanor		 Count of Poitiers
1153–1156		 Succeeded by
Alphonse
Guerin · Hatton · Renaud · Bernard I · Emenon · Ranulph I · Ranulph II · Gauzbert · Robert I · Ebalus · Aymar · Ebalus · William I · William II · William III · William IV · Eudes · William V · William VI · William VII · William VIII · Eleanor · Louis* · Henry* · William IX · Otto · Richard · Alphonse · Philip · John I · John II · John III · Charles · François
  • Count through marriage

Ancestry

Sources