Manasses III, Count of Rethel (1022 – 1065 or 1080) was a son of
Manasses II and his wife Dada (possibly
Judith or Yvette de Roucy). He succeeded his father as Count of
Rethel
Rethel () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and third-most important city and economic center in the department. It is situated on the river Aisne, near the northern border of Champagne and 37& ...
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'' 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 (written in 1119) describes her as "mother of
Hugh I, Count of Rethel
Hugh I, Count of Rethel (1040 in Bourg – 1118 in Rethel) was a son of Count Manasses III, Count of Rethel, Manasses III of Rethel and his wife Judith. He succeeded his father in 1065 as Counts and Dukes of Rethel, Count of Rethel.
Hugh mar ...
". This is the traditional genealogy
given for her grandson,
Baldwin II of Jerusalem
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied his cousins Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the ...
. 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.
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
Godfrey III ( 997 – 1069), called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine.
Biography Disputed succession
By inheritance, Godfrey was Count of Verdun and he became Margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of ...
, would have been the daughter of Manasses II and Dada (Yvette) de Roucy;
* Judith of Lorraine: ''Li Estoire de Jerusalem et d'Antioche'',
[ de Chartres, Foucher (1895) 122br>Li Estoire de Jerusalem et d'Antioche]
Volume 5 de Recuil des Croisades, Historiens occidentaux. 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
['''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.] 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
Ida of Lorraine (also referred to as Blessed Ida of Boulogne) () was a saint and noblewoman.
She was the daughter of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine and his wife Doda. Ida's grandfather was Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine and Ida's brother was Go ...
.
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
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manasses 03, Count of Rethel
Counts of Rethel
1022 births
11th-century deaths
11th-century French people
Year of death uncertain