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Birth:          ABT  952 Angouleme, Charente, France
Death:          Mar 1028 
Burial:         Saint-Cybard, Angouleme

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_Angoul%C3%AAme
William Taillefer (c. 952 – March 1028), numbered William II (as the second with the 
sobriquet Taillefer) or William IV (as the fourth William in his family), was the Count of 
Angoulême from 987. He was the son of Count Arnald II Manzer and grandson of 
Count William Taillefer I. He stood at the head of the family which controlled not only 
the Angoumois, but also the Agenais and part of Saintonge.[1] By the time of his death 
he was "the leading magnate in [the west] of Aquitaine[, but his] eminence ... proved 
temporary and illusory," evaporating on his death in succession squabbles, revolts and 
the predations of his erstwhile allies.[2] The principal sources for William's career are 
Ademar of Chabannes and the anonymous Historia pontificum et comitum 
Engolismensium.[3]

Between 994 and 1000 William married Ermengarde-Gerberga, widow of Conan I of 
Brittany and sister of Fulk III of Anjou, who held some castles in Saintonge and Poitou 
from William as fiefs (pro bene fico). William was perhaps countering the growing 
strength of the Counts of La Marche in northern Aquitaine since their family 
succeeded to the County of Périgord, previously dominated by Angoulême, in 975.[2] 
Fulk was also an ally of Duke William V of Aquitaine, nominal suzerain of Angoulême, 
and William Taillefer entered into their alliance through marriage. It is also probable 
that Fulk saw William as a potential ally against the duke and his county of Angoulême 
as providing a bulwark against aggressions aimed at Fulk's recent acquisition of 
Saintes and its citadel, the Capitolium.[4] William, exercising the secular control of the 
church typical of this era, gave the abbacy of Saint-Cybard and later the Bishopric of 
Angoulême to Grimoard, a brother of Islo, who was both allied with Fulk by marriage 
and serving as bishop in Fulk's city of Saintes.[5]

Count William aided the duke against the Boso II of La Marche and in return the duke 
supported the count's extension of his authority into the Bordelais.[2] William was 
regularly present with the duke's court from about 1000 until October 1010, when an 
important meeting involving the duke, King Robert II of France, King Sancho III of 
Navarre and Duke Sancho VI of Gascony took place at the church of Saint Jean 
d'Angély.[6] His absence from this meeting probably indicates the growing enmity 
between Duke William and Fulk of Anjou.[7]

Although his fiefs (honores) had initially dominated the border between Saintonge and 
Poitou (where he subinfeudated some to Fulk), by 1024 William was exercising 
authority over all Saintonge.[8] In Poitou William controlled the viscounty of Melle and 
its strongly fortified castrum (citadel).[8] On one occasion William granted outright a 
church he owned to "his faithful [man]" Iterius, which illustrates how the feudal 
practice of granting lands in benefice had not completely overtaken the south of 
France.[9] In 1020 William of Angoulême furthered his influence in Gascony by 
marrying his son to a daughter of Sancho VI.[2]

On 6 March 1025 a major assembly of Aquitanian prelates and barons met to discuss 
the claim of Duke William's son, William the Fat, for the Kingdom of Italy. William 
Taillefer and his eldest son were present.[10] On 1 October 1026 William left on a 
pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre.[11] He travelled through Hungary and Slavonia, 
even though these regions were generally avoided at that time by pilgrims, since they 
had only recently been converted to Christianity, according to Ademar.[12]

William died in March 1028[13] and was buried in the monastery of Saint-Cybard. An 
assembly of the principes et nobiles of Angoulême, Périgord and Saintonge met to 
judge the woman accused of poisoning him.[14] William was succeeded at Angoulême 
by his eldest son, Alduin II, whose younger brother Geoffrey quarreled with him over 
the inheritance in Bordelais. Revolts broke out in Saintonge, where within a decade 
the Angoulêmes' authority had lapsed completely.[2]

Parents
TAILLEFER Arnaud (Armand) "Manzer" (ABT  930 - ABT  995)
____ Hildegarde or Raingarde (ABT  935 - )

Siblings
TAILLEFER William (Guillaume) II (ABT  952 - Mar 1028)

Marriage To D'ANJOU Ermengarde-Gerberga (ABT  956 - ABT 1024)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Geoffrey I "Grisgonelle" (ABT 11 Nov  938 - 21 Jul  987)
OF MEAUX (VERMANDOIS) Adele (Adelaide) (ABT  934 - ABT  982)

Children by D'ANJOU Ermengarde-Gerberga ABT  956 - ABT 1024
TAILLEFER Geoffrey I (ABT  988 - 1048)

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