Odo IV, Count of Troyes
Encyclopedia
Odo, Count of Champagne was Count of Troyes and of Meaux from 1047 to 1066, then Count of Aumale from 1069 to 1115.
, and Adele. He was still a minor at the death of his father, and his uncle Theobald III of Blois acted as regent of Troyes.
In 1060, Odo married Adelaide of Normandy
, widow of Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu, Lord of Aumale
and Lambert II, Count of Lens
. After the death of Enguerrand's only daughter Adelaide (named after her mother) her mother (Adelaide of Normandy) became her heir and hence through his marriage Odo acquired the title Count (or Earl) of Aumale in Normandy
by right of his wife.
Adelaide (sometime called Adeliza) was also sister of William the Conqueror, and Odo accompanied his brother-in-law in the Norman conquest of England
(1066). Theobald III of Blois then seized Odo's counties in the Champagne
region, For his services to William, William gave Odo Holderness
in Yorkshire
. Implicated in a plot against the King William Rufus
, he was imprisoned in 1095.
(died 1127).
Richard Langrishe (1900) rejected an older theory that Raymond FitzGerald
(died 1185/1198) was the primogenitor of the Irish family of Le Gras (Grace). Two years later he published another paper in which he put forward the theory that Odo was the primogenitor. However Richard Roach (1970) upheld the older proposition, but more recently M. T. Flanagan (2004) disagreed with Roach because FitzGerald had no known legitimate heirs.
Biography
Odo was the son of Stephen II of Troyes and MeauxStephen II of Troyes
Stephen II of Troyes , sometimes called Etienne, was a Count of Troyes and Meaux from 1037 to 1047. He was the son of Odo II, Count of Blois, Chartres, Rheims, Troyes and Meaux, and of Ermengarde of Auvergne....
, and Adele. He was still a minor at the death of his father, and his uncle Theobald III of Blois acted as regent of Troyes.
In 1060, Odo married Adelaide of Normandy
Adelaide of Normandy
Adelaide of Normandy was the sister of William the Conqueror.She was the daughter of Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy. Different chroniclers writing in the Gesta Normannorum Ducum call her sister of William the Conqueror either by the same mother or by different mothers...
, widow of Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu, Lord of Aumale
Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu
Enguerrand II was the son of Hugh II count of Ponthieu. He assumed the county upon the death of his father on November 20, 1052.The Ponthievin alliance with duke William of Normandy had earlier been secured by the marriage of Enguerrand's sister, to duke William's uncle, William of Talou....
and Lambert II, Count of Lens
Lambert II, Count of Lens
Lambert II, Count of Lens was a French nobleman.He was the son of Eustace I, Count of Bologne and of Maud de Leuven . He married Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale, daughter of Robert I, Duke of Normandy. Lambert was killed at the Battle of Lille. He had a daughter, Judith of Lens and two...
. After the death of Enguerrand's only daughter Adelaide (named after her mother) her mother (Adelaide of Normandy) became her heir and hence through his marriage Odo acquired the title Count (or Earl) of Aumale in Normandy
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
by right of his wife.
Adelaide (sometime called Adeliza) was also sister of William the Conqueror, and Odo accompanied his brother-in-law in the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
(1066). Theobald III of Blois then seized Odo's counties in the Champagne
Champagne, France
Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...
region, For his services to William, William gave Odo Holderness
Holderness
Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with the Netherlands than other parts of Yorkshire...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. Implicated in a plot against the King William Rufus
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
, he was imprisoned in 1095.
Family
Odo had one son with Adelaide: Stephen, Count of AumaleStephen of Aumale
Stephen of Aumale was Count of Aumale from 1082 to 1127.He was son of Eudes de Blois, Count of Troyes and Count of Meaux, and Adelaide of Normandy, countess of Aumale, and sister of William the Conqueror...
(died 1127).
Richard Langrishe (1900) rejected an older theory that Raymond FitzGerald
Raymond Fitzgerald
Raymond FitzGerald , nicknamed Le Gros, was a Cambro-Norman commander during the Norman invasion of Ireland....
(died 1185/1198) was the primogenitor of the Irish family of Le Gras (Grace). Two years later he published another paper in which he put forward the theory that Odo was the primogenitor. However Richard Roach (1970) upheld the older proposition, but more recently M. T. Flanagan (2004) disagreed with Roach because FitzGerald had no known legitimate heirs.