Renaud I, Count of Soissons (c. 985–1057) was Grand Master of the Hotel de France. He died at a siege of the tower of

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

. His title passed to his daughter

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Biography

Renaud I was the son of Guy I, Count of Soissons, and his wife Adelaide. The ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, organised by the saints' feast days. The project was conceived and ...

'' commentary of the life of Saint Simon de Valois (based on a manuscript of the abbey of Saint-Claude) identifies both Renaud and his father. Renaud was Grand Master of the Hotel de France. Renaud died in the siege of the tower of Soissons, presumably the

Soissons Cathedral Soissons Cathedral (French: ''Cathédrale Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais'') is a Gothic basilica church in Soissons, France. It is the seat of the Bishop of Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin. The construction of the south transept was begun abou ...

, in 1057. It is unclear as to the circumstances of this siege. It is not clear when Renaud's son Guy became Count of Soissons, but it was apparently some time before 1057 when they both died in the siege of Soissons. Upon their death, Renaud's daughter Adelaide became the Countess of Soissons.

Family

Renaud married Lessaline de Dammartin, the widow of

Hilduin III, Count of Montdidier Hilduin III (died after 1032), Count of Montdidier, Seigneur de Ramerupt, son of Hilduin II, Count of Arcis-sur-Aube. He was a member of the House of Montdidier. Virtually nothing is known about his life. Marriage and Issue Hilduin married ...

. They had two children: * Guy II, Count of Soissons * Adelaide, Countess of Soissons Because of his marriage, Renaud was related to the

House of Montdidier The House of Montdidier was a medieval French nobility, French noble house which ruled as count of Montdidier, Somme, Montdidier, Dammartin-en-Goële, Dammartin and List of counts of Roucy, Roucy. Its earliest definite member of the family was a c ...

, the

Counts of Brienne Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, the

Counts of Perche The county of Perche was a medieval county lying between Normandy and Maine. It was held by a continuous line of counts until 1226. One of these, Geoffroy III, would have been a leader of the Fourth Crusade had he not died before the assembled forc ...

, the

Kings of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

, and the

Counts of Chiny The Counts of Chiny were part of the nobility of Lotharingia that ruled from the 9th to the 14th century in what is now part of Belgium. It has been proposed that the County of Chiny was created in the early 10th century out of the ancient county o ...

Biography

Family

References

Further reading