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William VIII
TombeauG8poitiersface.jpg
Duke of Gascony
Reign 1052–1086
Predecessor Bernard II Tumapaler
Successor William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine
Reign 1058–1086
Predecessor William VII, Duke of Aquitaine
Successor William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
Born Gui-Geoffroi
c. 1025
Poitiers
Died 25 September 1086
Chizé
Spouse Garsende of Périgord
Matoeda
Hildegarde of Burgundy
Issue Agnes of Aquitaine, Queen of León and Castile
Agnes of Aquitaine, Queen of Aragon and Navarre
William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
House Ramnulfids
Father William V, Duke of Aquitaine
Mother Agnes of Burgundy

William VIII (c. 1025 – 25 September 1086), born Guy-Geoffrey (Gui-Geoffroi), was duke of Gascony (1052–1086), and then duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitiers (as William VI) between 1058 and 1086, succeeding his brother William VII (Pierre-Guillaume).

Life

Guy-Geoffroy was the youngest son of William V of Aquitaine by his third wife Agnes of Burgundy. He was the brother-in-law of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor who had married his sister, Agnes de Poitou.

He became Duke of Gascony in 1052 during his older brother William VII's rule. Gascony had come to Aquitanian rule through William V's marriage to Prisca (a.k.a. Brisce) of Gascony, the sister of Duke Sans VI Guilhem of Gascony.

William VIII was one of the leaders of the allied army called to help Ramiro I of Aragon in the Siege of Barbastro (1064). This expedition was the first campaign organized by the papacy, namely Pope Alexander II, against a Muslim town and stronghold in the Emirate of Zaragoza, and the precursor of the later Crusades movement. Aragon and its allies conquered the city, killed and enslaved its inhabitants and collected an important booty.

However, Aragon lost the city again in the following years. During William VIII's rule, the alliance with the southern kingdoms of modern Spain was a political priority as shown by the marriage of all his daughters to Iberian kings.

Marriage and children

William married three times and had at least five children. After he divorced his first two wives, the first due to infertility, he married a third time to a much younger woman who was also his cousin Robert I of Burgundy's daughter. This marriage produced a son, but William VIII had to visit Rome in the early 1070s to persuade the pope to recognize his children from his third marriage as legitimate.

  • First wife: Garsende [fr] of Périgord, daughter of Count Aldabert II of Périgord (divorced November 1058), no children. She became a nun at Saintes.
  • Second wife: Matoeda (divorced May 1068)
  1. Agnes, married Alfonso VI of Castile
  1. Agnes (died 1097), married Peter I of Aragon
  2. William IX of Aquitaine, his heir

See also

  • Dukes of Aquitaine family tree
William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine
House of Poitiers
Born: c. 1025 Died: 25 September 1086
Preceded by
Bernard II
Duke of Gascony
1052–1086
Succeeded by
William IX
Preceded by
William VII
Duke of Aquitaine
1058–1086
Count of Poitiers
1058–1086
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