Manasses III, Count of Rethel explained
Manasses III, Count of Rethel (1022 – 1065 or 1080[1]) was a son of Manasses II and his wife Dada (possibly Judith or Yvette de Roucy[2] [3]). He succeeded his father as Count of Rethel in 1032.
Little is known about his life, although he is mentioned often between 1048 and 1081.
Marriage and descendants
Manasses III married Judith (born c. 1035), whose origins are unclear. Several hypotheses have been proposed to clarify this:
- Judith of Roucy : Genealogiae scriptoris Fusniacensis[4] cites an Iveta (Yvette), wife of Manasses de Rethel, as the sister of Ebles I of Roucy and Liétaud de Marle. The Chronicles of Alberic of Trois-Fontaine[5] (written in 1119) describes her as "mother of Hugh I, Count of Rethel". This is the traditional genealogy[6] given for her grandson, Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, considering her family history, such assertion is chronologically impossible. Jean-Nöel Mathieu raises the fundamental objection that Eble I (who died in 1033), could not have had a sister who was still alive in 1081, instead he argues that she must have been confused with the wife of Manasses II.[7] The historian Alan V. Murray remarks that Mathieu's suggestion 'would fit the chronology of the Roucy family better since it would place the connection with the Rethel family one generation earlier than that given by the genealogies of Foigny';
- Judith of Boulogne: daughter of Eustace I, Count of Boulogne and Mathilda of Leuven: this proposition would explain the kinship between the kings Baldwin I and Baldwin II of Jerusalem. However, Murray objects that there is no allusion of this daughter nor of any other connection between the Rethel and Boulogne families in Genealogica comitum Boloniensium', a compilation of the Boulogne genealogy which was being copied and extended by the mid-twelfth century, when the descendants of Manasses III were ruling the kingdom of Jerusalem. Another hypothesis is that Doda, the wife of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, would have been the daughter of Manasses II and Dada (Yvette) de Roucy;
- Judith of Lorraine: Li Estoire de Jerusalem et d'Antioche,[8] written in the 12th century, indicates that Manasses III was married to a daughter of Godfrey III. This would also explain the connection between the two Baldwins of Jerusalem, as well as the fact that Godfrey made a donation[9] to Manasses in 1065. Murray says that the primary sources suggest that kinship between Baldwin I and Baldwin II "was not particularly close", and that Baldwin II was most probably related to his predecessor's mother, Ida of Lorraine.
Judith and Manasses were the parents of:
- perhaps Renaud, if this son existed he probably died between 1066 and 1081.
- Hugh I (d. 1118)
- Manasses
- Judith
Notes and References
- Gesta Episcoporum Virdunensium mentions his death without specifying a date, but the context allows us to estimate his passing to have happened c. 1080. Hugh I appears as Count of Rethel shortly after.
- Book: Mathieu, Jean-Nöel . La Succession au comté de Roucy aux environs de l'an mil . Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval . Linacre College, Unit for Prosopographical Research . 2000 . 1-900934-01-9 . Prosopographica et Genealogica / 3 . Oxford . 75–84.
- Book: Murray, Alan V.. The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History 1099-1125. Linacre College. 2000. 1-900934-03-5. Settipani. Christian. Occasional Publication of the Linacre Unit for Prosopographical Research Vol. 4. Oxford. 173–174. Keats-Rohan. K.S.B..
- Genealogiciæ Scriptoris Fusniacensis names "Lebaldus de Malla et…Iveta comitissa de Retest" as brother and sister of "Ebalus de Roceio", this note also refers to a certain Mathilde, wife of Liéutad: "Albericus de Cociaco…cum Adela uxore sua et matre eius Mathilde" who made a donation to the Abbey of Nogent-sous-Coucy (French Wikipedia) in 1059.
- https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93452w ‘Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium’
- Murray. Alan V.. Spring 1992. Dynastic Continuity or Dynastic Change? The Accession of Baldwin II and the Nobility of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 44947044. Medieval Prosopography. 13. 1. 26.
- Mathieu. Jean-Nöel. 1997. Sur les comtesses de Rethel au XI siècle. L'Histoire des Comtes de Rethel et les Comtes de Porcien. revue historique ardennaise 32. 3–19.
- [Fulcher of Chartres|de Chartres, Foucher]
- 'Cartulaire de Saint-Vanne de Verdun' of 1065: Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine and his wife Beatrice confirm a donation made to Count Manasses and his son Renauld. The problem here is that nothing indicates this Manasses is the Count of Rethel or another Count Manasses who lived in the same period.
