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France (Feudal): Dukes of Aquitaine. William X, the “Saint” (1127-1137).
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Roberts, 4311, Boudeau 464, Poey d'Avant 2735
AR denier, Bordeaux mint, 18 mm.
Obv: + CLVILILMO [first L retrograde] (Guillaume), four crosslets forming a cross.
Rev: + BVRDECIILA (Bordeaux, Burdigalae in Latin), cross pattée.
William X (1099–1137), was Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, and Count of Poitou (as William VIII). He was the son of Duke William IX by his second wife, Philippa of Toulouse. He was born in Toulouse when his father was briefly the Count. Shortly after his birth his father went on Crusade, and he was raised in Poitiers by his mother. His father later abandoned her, and took Dangerose, the wife of one of his vassals, as mistress. This caused strain between father and son, until William married Aenor de Châtellerault, daughter of Dangerose, in 1121. They had three children, one of whom was Eleanor of Aquitaine, his heiress.
William was a lover of the arts and a warrior. He became involved in conflicts with Normandy and France. Inside his borders, he faced an alliance of the Lusignans and the Parthenays against him, an issue he resolved by the total destruction of his enemies. William X initially supported antipope Anacletus II in the papal schism of 1130, against the will of his own bishops. In 1134 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux convinced William to drop his support of Anacletus and to embrace Pope Innocent II.
In 1137 William joined the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, but died of suspected food poisoning during the trip. He left the dukedom and the care of his 15-year-old daughter to King Louis VI of France. Louis VI accepted this guardianship and married Eleanor to his son, Louis VII.
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