Marie of Brittany, Lady of La Guerche
Marie of Brittany (18 February 1391 – 18 December 1446) was the Countess of Perche and Lady of La-Guerche from 1396 until 1414, and the Countess of Alençon from 1404 until 1414.
In 1414, Marie’s titles became Duchess of Alençon, Countess of Perche, Lady of La-Guerche, when Charles VI of France raised her husband John's county of Alençon to a duchy.
After the death of her husband in 1415, Marie retained the title of Lady of La-Guerche when her son, John II took the titles of Duke of Alençon and Count of Perche.
Marie was the link between the House of Montfort of the duchy of Brittany and the ducal House of Valois-Alençon.
John I, Count of Alençon
John I (Jean I) (died 24 February 1191), Count of Alençon, son of William III Talvas, Count of Ponthieu, and Helie of Burgundy.
Recognized as Count of Alençon by Philip II, John succeeded his father in 1171, after being associated with the crown since the return of the crusaders in 1149.
He was a supporter of the Perseigne Abbey and the Abbey of Saint- Martin of Troarn.
He married Beatrix of Maine, daughter of Elias II, Count of Maine, and Philippe, Countess of Perche.
John and Beatrix had six children:
Near the end of his life, he planned to participate in the King’s Crusade (the Third Crusade), but died February 24, 1191, at the Chateau d'Alençon.
He was succeeded as Count of Alençon by his son John.
Geoffrey II, Count of Perche
Geoffrey II( died October 1100), Count of Mortagne and Count of Perche, son of Rotrou I, Viscount of Châteaudun, and Adelise de Bellême, daughter of Guérin de Domfront.
Geoffrey was Count of Mortagne and Seigneur of Nogent from 1060 to 1090, and Count of Perche from 1090 until his death.
Godffrey succeeded his father in 1080, receiving the Percheron fields of his father( Mortagne- au- Perche and Nogent- le- Rotrou), while his younger brother Hugues received Châteaudun.
A third brother, Rotrou, acquired by marriage the lordship of Montfort- le- Rotrou.
He participated in the conquest of England and fought at the Battle of Hastings.
For his service, William the Conqueror gave him a reward of significant property in England.
Geoffrey and his two brothers attacked Robert of Bellême, involving a land dispute.
Later he tried to attack Belleme again, with the help of Elias I, Count of Maine, but failed.
He devoted the rest of his life to religious pursuits, and founded the first leper colony in Perche.
Geoffrey married Beatrix de Ramerupt, daughter of Hilduin IV, Count of Montdidier, and Alice de Roucy.
Geoffrey and Beatrix had: Geoffrey was succeeded by his son Rotrou as Count of Perche upon his death.
Rotrou IV, Count of Perche
Rotrou IV( 1135- 1191), Count of Perche, son of Rotrou III, Count of Perche, and Hawise, daughter of Walter of Salisbury, and Sibilla de Chaworth.
Rotrou was from the House of Châteaudun and descended from the Viscounts of Châteaudun.
His mother was Hawise of Salisbury, a sister of Patrick of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Salisbury.
Patrick ’s sister Sibyll married John FitzGilbert, the Marshal of the Horses, whose son Henry was Bishop of Exeter and a knight in the service of Rotrou.
Upon the death of his father in 1144, Rotrou continued the fight against his archenemy, William III Talvas, Count of Ponthieu and Lord of Alençon.
Not withstanding a long- running blood feud, his uncle Patrick had married William Talvas' daughter Adela as her second husband.
His mother Hawise and her second husband, Robert I of Dreux, served as regents at Perche until he reached the age of maturity.
From 1152, he fought with Louis VII the Younger against Henry II of England in an ineffective war that saw their troops routed, lands ravaged and property stolen.
He was forced to yield the communes of Moulins and Bonsmoulins to the crown England.
Nevertheless, a matrimonial alliance with the House of Blois consolidated the declining power of the Counts of Perche.
In 1189, Rotrou joined Philip II of France and Richard I the Lionheart in the Third Crusade.
He died sometime after the Siege of Acre in 1191.
In 1160, Rotrou married Matilda of Blois- Champagne, daughter of Theobald II, Count of Champagne, and Matilda of Carinthia.
Rotrou and Matilda had: Rotrou was succeeded as Count of Perche by his son Geoffrey upon his death.
Rotrou I, Viscount of Châteaudun
Rotrou I( died 1080), Viscount of Châteaudun and Count of Perche( as Rotrou II), son of Geoffrey II, Viscount of Châteaudun, and Helvise de Corbon( d. 1 March 1080), daughter of Rainard, Lord of Pithiviers.
He was noted in charters providing donations to the abbies of St. Vincent of Le Mans and St. Denis of Nogent- le- Rotrou.
Rotrou attempted to avenge the murder of his father by attacking Thierry, Bishop of Chartres, an act for which he was briefly excommunicated.
Rotrou fought William of Gouët, a follower of Stephen, Count of Blois,( and probably the father of William Gouët IV, husband of his granddaughter Isabelle of Champagne) for the strongholds of Perche- Gouët.
He also challenged Roger de Montgomerie and William the Conqueror, fighting in the insurrection of Robert Curthose against his father William.
Rotrou married Adelise( Adeliza) de Bellême, daughter of Guérin de Domfront.
Rotrou and Adelise had: Rotrou also had an illegitimate son named Robert “ Manda Guerra ”( d. after 1095).
Rotrou was succeeded as Viscount of Châteaudun by his son Hugues and, as Count of Perche, by his son Geoffroy.
Rotrou III, Count of Perche
Rotrou III( bef. 1080 – 8 May 1144), called the Great(" le Grand"), was the Count of Perche and Mortagne from 1099.
He was the son of Geoffrey II, Count of Perche, and Beatrix de Ramerupt, daughter of Hilduin IV, Count of Montdidier.
He was a notable Crusader and a participant in the" Reconquista" in eastern Spain, even ruling the city of Tudela in Navarre from 1123 to 1131.
He is commonly credited with introducing Arabian horses to the Perche, giving rise to the Percheron breed.
By his creation of a monastery at La Trappe in memory of his wife, Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, in 1122 he also laid the foundations of the later Trappists.
Thomas, Count of Perche
Thomas (1195-20 May 1217), Count of Perche, son of Geoffrey III, Count of Perche, and Richenza-Matilda of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, and Matilda.
Only seven when his father died, Thomas became Count of Perche under the regency of his mother and her new husband Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy.
In 1216, the English barons rebelled in the First Barons' War against John Lackland, and offered the English crown to Louis VIII the Lion, King of France.
The death of King John ended this arrangement and the crown went to Henry III, John's son.
In the end, Louis VIII renounced the English crown, but in the interim fought the forces of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
In the decisive Battle of Lincoln (1217), Thomas, the commander of the French forces, was killed.
Thomas married Hélisende Rethel, daughter of Hugh II, Count of Rethel, and Felicitas, daughter of Simon of Broyes.
This union produced no children.
His widow remarried Garnier de Traînel, Seigneur de Marigny.
Following Thomas' death in 1217, King Philip II of France would gain control of the castles of Moulins-la-Marche, Bonsmoulin, and Belleme, which had been contested since 1182.
Thomas’ uncle William, who was also Bishop of Chalons, succeeded him as the Count of Perche.
William II, Count of Perche
William II( died 1226), Count of Perche and Bishop of Châlons, son of Rotrou IV, Count of Perche, and Matilda of Blois- Champagne, daughter of Theobald II, Count of Champagne, and Matilda of Carinthia, daughter of Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia.
William began his career as treasurer and provost of the Church of St. Martin of Tours, and was elected Bishop of Chalons in 1215, consecrated in 1216.
The following year he succeeded his nephew Thomas, as Count of Perche, who was killed in the Battle of Lincoln.
As count- bishop, William was a valuable advisor to the Kings of France and was listed among those by Pope Honorious III to participate in the Albigensian Crusade.
His death in February 1226 would leave the question of the succession to the County of Perche unresolved for years.
Geoffrey III, Count of Perche
Geoffrey III (died 1202), Count of Perche (1191-1202), son of Rotrou IV, Count of Perche, and Matilda of Blois-Champagne, daughter of Theobald II, Count of Champagne, and Matilda of Carinthia.
He accompanied his father to the Third Crusade and participated in the Siege of Acre, where his father was killed.
Back from the Holy Land, he sold more land to the abbeys in order to replenish his finances depleted by his participation in the crusade.
He then fought Richard the Lionheart under the banner of the Philip II of France and in 1194, he managed to recover the commune of Bonsmoulins that his father had yielded to Henry II.
When Richard sent an army to regain control of Normandy, Geoffroy, as a French army commander, helped defeat him.
John Lackland, the brother and successor of Richard, was forced to renounce England's claim to Normandy in 1204.
In 1202, Geoffrey and his brother Stephen decided to take part in the Fourth Crusade, but he died at Soissons before he could deploy.
Geoffrey's first wife was named Matilda of which nothing is known.
His second wife was Matilda of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, and Matilda, eldest daughter of Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
They married in 1189 in Rouen, and King Richard the Lionheart, uncle of the bride, granted them land in the counties of Suffolk, Essex and Kent previously owned by Henry of Essex.
Geoffrey and his second wife Matilda had two children:
Geoffrey was succeeded as Count of Perche by his son Thomas upon his death.
William of Savoy
William of Savoy( died 1239 in Viterbo) was a bishop from the House of Savoy.
He was a son of Thomas, Count of Savoy and Margaret of Geneva.
He was elected bishop of Valence in 1224.
He negotiated the weddings of queens, and was an advisor to Henry III of England.
Between his religious roles and his family relations, his influence was noted from London to Rome.

Question: Where did Thomas, Count Of Perche's father die?