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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_IV_of_PonthieuWilliam III Talvas was William III, Count of
Ponthieu and William IV . He was Count of
Ponthieu, ruler of a small province in northern France that fell under the suzerainty of the dukes of Normandy since at least the mid 11th century. He was son and heir of
John I, Count of Ponthieu by his third wife Beatrice de St Pol.
Family history and background
His father
Jean I, Count of Ponthieu and grandson of
William III of Ponthieu, also frequently called William III Talvas, and who represented the senior line of the lords of Montgomery, once trusted vassals and allies of
William the Conqueror.
Marriage to Alys, Countess of the Vexin
Talvas was married on
August 20,
1195 to
Alys, Countess of the Vexin, the daughter of King
Louis VII of France. She was some eighteen years older than he, and had previously been seduced by King
Henry II of England while betrothed to his son, King
Richard the Lion-Hearted. Richard sent her back to her brother, King
Philip II of France, refusing to marry his father's mistress.
Philip then arranged for Alys to marry William Talvas, with the intent that the couple would be childless, and he would thus gain control of Ponthieu, a small but strategically important county. However, Alys then gave birth to a daughter and heiress,
Marie, in 1197/1198. This daughter was the maternal grandmother of
Eleanor of Castile, first wife of
Edward I, King of England, to whom Ponthieu and the disputed Vexin inheritance would eventually pass as Eleanor's dowry. William Talvis died in 1221, his daughter Marie being his heiress.