Amauberge "Dangereuse" de L'Île-Bouchard

Amauberge de l'Île Bouchard was born in 1079 in l'Île Bouchard, Touraine, France. Her father was Barthélémy de Bueil, Seigneur (Lord) of l'Île Bouchard, and her mother, Gerberge de Blaison; both of the Angevin nobility. Apparently independent and vivacious, she acquired the nickname "Dangereuse"[1] as a tribute to her seductive nature. In her early 20s, she was married to Viscount Aimery I of Châtellerault in the neighboring province of Poitou. A charter of 1109 and the birth of her daughter Aénor, ca. 1103, reveal her as already married. She and Aimery had five children: Hugh (died before 1176) succeeded his father as Viscount Raoul (died 1190) married Elisabeth de Faye Aenor/Eleanor (c. 1103 – March 1130), m. William X, Duc d'Aquitaine, mother to Duchess Alienor d'Aquitaine, successively Queen of France and Queen of England Amable, married Wulgrin II, Comte d'Angoulême Aois, no record found In about 1112, while traveling in Poitou, she caught the eye of Guillaume IX Duc d'Aquitaine, also Comte de Poitou, her husband's feudal liege lord. A short time later, she left her husband and still-minor children to become Guillaume (William)'s mistress. He installed her in the Maubergeonne tower of his castle at Poitiers while his legal wife Philippa de Toulouse was away in Languedoc. She complained to the Papal legate, supposedly the arbiter of morality, but his pleas to Guillaume fell on deaf ears. Humiliated, Philippa retired to the Abbey of Fontevrault in 1116. The Pope excommunicated Duke William IX but to no avail. Now known as "La Maubergeonne," Dangereuse and Guillaume IX had three children, all outside of holy matrimony. Two became clerics: Henri (died after 1132), a monk and later Prior of Cluny Adelaide, married Raoul de Faye Sybille, Abbess of Saintes Duke William IX's relations with his oldest and legitimate son, who succeeded him as Guillaume X, Duc d'Aquitaine, were naturally upset by the older man's romantic liaison and continued rejection of the younger William's mother. They eventually reconciled when Dangereuse helped persuade William IX to allow his son and heir to marry her (Dangereuse's) legitimate daughter, Aénor de Châtellerault, in 1121. The following year, their daughter Aléinor (Eleanor) d'Aquitaine, future Queen of France, later Queen of England, was born. Duke William IX died on 10 February 1127; nothing is known of Dangereuse's life until her death was recorded in November 1151. Presumably, she continued to reside mainly in Poitiers and also l'Isle Bouchard as her children ruled both localities.