The Saint-Amand (or Saint Amant) lineage is the basis for the Daspit family's connection to William the Conqueror and the Emperor Charlemagne. The name Saint-Amand is derived from Saint-Omer and Lord (Huston?) de Saint-Omer (1080 - 1150) and lasted until Anne de Saint-Amand, the last of that name. In 1642, Anne married Bernard Daspit who added her name to his own surname and became the first Daspit de Saint Amand. The Saint-Amand family has several connections to William the Conqueror through William's son Henry I as well as a daughter, Gundred. Although there is some controversy over whether Gundred was actually the daughter of William the Conqueror, it appears stems from the fact that initially, William's marriage to Matilda was not sanctioned by the Pope and Gundred was born during this period. For further information see Gundred - Princess of England
John de Saint-Amand, 2nd Baron De Saint-Amand (1281 - 1330) is descended from the Lord De Saint-Omer in the Seventh Degree. In 1313 he married Joan Margaret Despencer, the daughter of Hugh Despencer, descendent from William the Conqueror through two of William's children, Gundred and Henry I. Gundred's husband, William de Warren, was probably also one of the companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings
The second connection between the Saint-Amand
family and the lines of William the Conqueror comes with Elizabeth
de Braybrook, Baroness de Saint-Amand (1409 - 1491). Elizabeth de Braybrook
(aka Elizabeth de Saint-Amand) was the grand daughter of Alianore de Saint-Amand
(1371-1389) who had inherited the Saint-Amand title and married Sir Gerald
de Braybrook. In 1449, Elizabeth married William Beauchamp who was also
descended from William the Conqueror through William's daughter Gundred
and William de Warren.
Saint-Omer is a chief town of an arrondissement in the department of Pas-de-Calais, northern France, and situated near the plain of Flanders on the Aa River at its junction with the Neuffosse Canal. Population (1968) 18,205. Saint-Omer was the seat of a bishopric and the church of Notre Dame was a cathedral from 1563 to 1801. The 13th-15th Century church contains the 8th century tomb of St. Erkembode and the 13th century tomb of St. Omer. There are two museums, the Henri Dupuis Museum of Natural History and Folklore, and the Fine Arts Museum, housed in the 18th century hotel Sandelin, and a municipal library with illuminated manuscripts of the 8th-16th centuries.
St. Omer, bishop of Therouanne, founded a monastery
there in the 7th century, and built a small church, Notre Dame, on a hill
above the Aa; St. Bertin gave his name to the abbey on the river and a
village known as Saint-Omer grew up between the two churches during the
8th century. St. Bertin's abbey fell into ruin at the Revolution, and its
tower finally collapsed in 1947. In the 9th century the counts of Flanders
erected a fortress and the settlement was enclosed by walls. In the 10th
century, under Abbot Odbert, the abbey became a cultural center producing
fine illuminated manuscripts in the style of Winchester. In the 11th and
12th centuries the town had important commercial relations with England
and Scotland, which provided much of the wool necessary for its cloth trade.
In 1154 Henry II gave privileges to the merchants of Saint-Omer to trade
in London, privileges which remained in force until Edward III banned the
export of English wool. The cloth industry never recovered from this blow
or the subsequent wars, famine, and plague, though some cloth was exported
to France, Spain, Italy and even Russia. In the early 17th century tobacco
processing was introduced, and this new industry continued until the tobacco
monopoly was set up in 1810. Saint-Omer now produces paper, glass, cement,
and linen goods. The surrounding marshes have been drained since the late
18th century and produce fruit and vegetables which are exported to other
parts of France.
Guillaume de St. Omer, son of Lord Huston de St. Omer’s son Odo de Saint-Amand (see below) became the 8th Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
Some documents give the Lord de Saint Omer's
name as Huston de Saint-Omer and a date of birth of about 1045, however
1080 seems the more likely date. Godfrey appears to have been born "Geoffrey"
and changed his name to Godfrey - JPD 1997
b. 1110
d. 1160
m. 1130 (or 1150)
1. ______ de Saint-Amand
Godfrey de Saint-Amand, ne Goeffrey de St. Omer (1100 - 1118), son
of Lord Huston de St. Omer. Godfrey and Hugh des Payens founded the
Knights Templar in 1118.
Although Almaric and his son were supporters
of the Magna Charta barons, the were not signers
of the Magna Charta itself. JPD - 1997
JOHN, 2nd BARON DE SAINT-AMAND of Bedford, England was born in 1281.
A professor of canon law, he did fealty (the fidelity of a vassal or feudal
tenant to his lord) and had livery (legal possession) of lands in England
and Ireland. Before his barony, he was known as "Magister Johanni de Sancto
Amando". He was summoned to serve in the Parliament from January 8, 1313
to October 10, 1326 as Lord St. Amand. He married Joan Margaret, daughter
of Hugh le Despencer, Earl of Winchester, in December of 1313. His mother-in-law
was Isabel, daughter of William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. He fought
the Scots in 1315 and again in 1323. He fought overseas with his father-in-law,
Hugh le Despencer in February 1319. In 1321, he refused to attend assembly
of "Good Peers" (Earl of Lancaster). He was summoned to assist Edward II
against Lancastrians in 1322 and in 1329 was named the "Commissioner of
the Peace" at Bedford. The same year he was made a knight by King Edward
III. He died on January 25, 1330 and was succeeded by his son and heir
Almaric IV.
Almaris (Amauri) V, 4th Baron de Saint-Amand
b. 1341
d. 1402
1m. 1361 - IDDA _____
Alainore de Saint-Amand, Dame de Saint-Amand
b. 1371
d. 1389
m. c. 1388 - SIR GERALD DE BRAYBROOK
Gerald de Braybrook, Lord de Saint-Amand
b. 1389
d. 1422
1m. 1414 - PERNELLE DE GREY
Elizabeth de Braybrook, Baroness de Saint-Amand
b. 1409
d. 1491
1m. 1449 - WILLIAM BEAUCHAMP in England
See
BEAUCHAMP LINEAGE
ELIZABETH DE BRAYBROOK, BARONESS DE SAINT-AMAND
of Bromham, England was born in 1409. She married William Beauchamp before
1426, the son of Sir Walter Beauchamp. William became the 5th Baron de
Saint-Amand by Elizabeth's right. William was made a knight by Henry VI
in 1433 and was one of the King's Carvers. He was Sheriff of Wilts in 1436,
1442 and 1447. William was appointed Chamberlain of North Wales in April
1437 and in 1442 was keeper of Beaumaris Castle. He was steward and constable
of Barnard Castle in 1446 and was Constable of Painscastle in Co. Radnor
in 1446. He was summoned to serve in Parliament from January 2, 1449 to
May 26, 1455. The summons was directed to "Willelmo Beauchamp de Sancto
Amando". After 1449 he was address as "Lord de Saint-Amand". His wife,
Elizabeth was "Lady de Saint-Amand". He was appointed Keeper of Kennington
manor as Lord de Seint-Amond" in 1451. Their son, Richard, was born in
September 1453. William died on March 19, 1457 and his last will and testament
was dated March 18, 1457 and bequeathed to be buried in the chantry of
Steple Lavynton in Wilts. Lady St-Amand obtained marriage license on April
10, 1458 and married for the second time to Roger Tocotes (or Tocketts)
in July of 1458. Roger was a knight by 1461, and by 1485 was a sheriff,
constable, steward, etc. Lady Elizabeth, the Baroness de Saint-Amand died
on December 2, 1491. She was buried at Bromham, Wilts. Roger died shortly
after on November 2, 1491 and was also buried at Bromham.
Richard, 6th Baron Beauchamp de Saint-Amand
b. 1453
d. 1508
m. Anne _____
no children, after Richard's death, she married Sir John Hussey
Richard's mistress was MARY WROUGHTON who gave birth to:
Anthony de Saint-Amand
b. 1470
d. 1540
m. __________
Anthony de Saint-Amand was born in 1470 by Richard
and his lover Mary Wroughton. Anthony was the natural son of Richard but
not the lawful son. Perhaps this explains why the family sort of disappears
from the royal lineages at this time and little is written about them.
Anthony received a life-grant as Keeper of Blackmoor and steward of Malborough
in July of 1508. He also received livery (legal possession) of the Saint-Amand
lands in Wilts, Bedford, Berks, Huntington and Hereford after the death
of Lady Anne in 1511. Anthony died in 1540. No longer royalty, the
family stayed in England for a while but eventually left for France.
N. _____ de Saint-Amand , circa. 1505 - 1565
m. _____
m. _____
1. N. _____ de Saint-Amand, c 1565 - 1625
N. _____ de Saint-Amand , circa. 1520 -
m. _____
Paul d'Alleman de Saint-Amand
m. August 7, 1625 Anne deRostagnis
This Saint-Amand is quite possibly the nobleman who sponsored and
gave the Saint-Amand name to Marc-Antoine Gerard (1594 - 1661).
Saint-Amant has left a not inconsiderable body of poetry.
His ALBINI and ROME RIDICULE set the fashion of a burlesque poem, a form
in which he was excelled by his follower, Paul Scarron. In his later
years he devoted himself to serious subjects and produced MOISE SAUVE 1653.
His best work consists of Bacchanalian songs, his DEBAUCHE being one of
the most remarkable convivial poems of its kind.
The standard edition is that of the Bibliotheque Elzevrienne,
by M.C.L. Livet (w vols. Paris 1855)
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
_____ , circa 1600 -
m. Marguerite Charlotte de Saint-Amand
Odo de Saint-Amand was the 8th Grand Master of the Templars. His brother, Godfrey de Saint-Amand and Hugh des Payens founded the group. The following is the story of the Templars.
The Templars, officially the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon (Pauperes commilitones Christi templi Salomonici), were one of the first of 12 religious military orders of knighthood that came into being between 1100 and 1300. It was founded c. 1119 to protect and guide pilgrims in the Holy Land.
The foundation of the Templars was inspired by the religious military order of the Knights Hospitallars, whose purpose was to aid pilgrims upon their arrival in the Holy Lands. The Hospitallars ministered to exhausted pilgrims within the city of Jerusalem; travelers, however were exposed to dangers on the way to the city and needed guides and protectors. A group of knights (seven or nine) filled this need and formed the nucleus of the Templars. It is generally accepted that the Burgundian knight, Hugh des Payens and a knight from northern France, Godfrey of Saint-Amand were its founders. They organized a religious community, taking an oath to guard the public routes and, in the presence of Warmund, the Patriach of Jerusalem, promised to observe the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. All pomp was eliminated, and no distinctive dress characterized the new order. An order such as the Templars was unusual and new to Christianity; the older communities were reluctant to live by the sword, but the Templars unhesitatingly combined religious and military life.
Baldwin II (d. 1131), King of Jerusalem, turned over to the knight a part of his palace, believed to be the Temple of Solomon, whence is derived their name. Because of their pronounced state of poverty, they became known as "the poor brothers of the Temple." Gradually the Templars added to their original duties the obligation to fight all "infidels" threatening Christianity and to repel any force menacing Jerusalem or their religion.
As the fame of the new order grew, partly through the propaganda writing of Bernard of Clairvaux (De laude novae militiae, 1128) it began also to increase in size. Recruiting members from the nobility and waxing rich on gifts from grateful kings and princes, the Templars developed into a efficient military organization that adopted absolute secrecy to cover all internal activities. They became extremely influential -- their influence, together with their mounting prosperity, created enemies. Applicants ranged from lords who wished only to be considered part of the order to excommunicated knights who, after absolution by their bishop, joined in active participation hoping to expiate their sins. The latter group was responsible for the eventual privilege of the order whereby no member of the Temple could be excommunicated.
At the Council of Troyes (Jan. 13, 1128), at which Hugh appeared in person, the rule of the order, prepared by Bernard of Clairvaux, was considered and approved. The Templars were permitted to wear the white mantle of the Cistercians, to which, in the pontificate of Eugene III, the distinctive red cross was added. Heading the order was the Grand Master of the Temple of Jerusalem, assisted by a hierarchy of lesser officers. Though his power was not absolute, he had great authority over his subjects. Under certain specified circumstances, he was obligated to consult the general chapter, from which his authority was derived through a complicated election process. The first grand master was Hugh des Payens.
Before 1153 the order had been established in many kingdoms of Christendom: gifts of money and property were lavished upon it by royal families, and spiritual gifts and privileges were bestowed by the popes. Because the Templars were defenders of the Church, they were exempt from paying tithes (taxes to the church) and, unless referred to by name, even from the effects of general papal decrees. At first only knight were admitted, and no specific length of service was required. Gradually the order began to admit members of three categories: knights, chaplains, and sergeants. The knights surrendered all their property, joining for life. Originally they had the prerogative to leave at will; later, however, they could leave only to join another order with stricter rules. The chaplains were priests bound to the order for life, administering the Sacraments and serving the religious needs of the knights, owning obedience only to the grand master and to the pope himself. The sergeants were a group composed of wealthy bourgeois. Since the order formed an exempt ecclesiastical organization directly subject to the pope, frequent feuds resulted between the Templars and the bishops in whose diocese they had been established. Numerous papal decrees were issued on their behalf, and as long as the defense of the Holy Land was in question, attacks on the Templars were unsuccessful.
For more than 100 years the Templars remained powerful, influential, and wealthy. Their properties were scattered throughout Europe, and in consequence they competed with other religious military orders, such as the Hospitallers. Each order rivaled the other in its holdings and membership, and on occasion the orders engaged in actual skirmishes. But perhaps the seriousness of this competitions has been exaggerated. The rivalry was actually productive, for the order strove to outdo each other in magnificence and in other accomplishments in keeping with their rule.
The fall of Jerusalem to the Moslems (October 1187) was a critical event in the history of the Templars. As each new crusade, launched to recapture the city, failed, the crusading spirit waned and the military orders became largely anachronistic. After the Christians had been ousted from the Holy Land by 1291, the other religious orders sought new goals: the Hospitallers transformed themselves into a maritime peace force to combat Moslem piracy in the Mediterranean; the Teutonic Knight retired to the Baltic provinces of the Empire to give their full attention to the heathen Slavs. The Templars, on the other hand, seemed to become a standing international mercenary force at the disposal of anyone who had most to offer them. They thought of retiring to France, where they were particularly right and powerful, centering their activity in Paris. There (and in London) the Temple became the depository of their wealth at which princes and commoners banked their private property. Even the royal funds of France were deposited there.
In 1285 when Philip IV the Fair (1268 - 1214) ascended the French throne, the country was neat bankruptcy. The King was constantly in need of money and land, and the Templars possessed both a great abundance. Their destruction would prove lucrative to Philip, and it would also give him an opportunity to strike indirectly at the papacy, with which he was in open conflict. He decided to humble the papacy vicariously; for if he attacked Boniface VIII directly, the Pope would turn the religious military order against the French throne.
Philip began his campaign by blaming the Templars for the loss of the Holy Land, accusing them of being more interested in banking and finance, and in their rich establishments, than in the Holy City. It seems probably that Philip was convinces that the Templars were plotting to establish a French enclave and that, consequently, they were dangerous.
For at least 40 years there had been rumors of heretical practices within the Temple, thought there was no actual proof because of the complete secrecy of all rituals. This secrecy was especially strict with reference to initiation into the order; any revelation of those rites constituted grounds for expulsion. This reputation tended to bring together enemies of the Templars and gave Philip the weapon he requires. He devised false initiation rites for the order; and when these alleged rites were publicly revealed, the Templars of course denied them. The charges made by Philip claimed that the candidates had to undergo a ceremony involving sacrilegious and obscene practices. Feeling secure because of the protection of the Church and the falsity of the accusations, the Knights did nothing. By 1307, however, Philip had drawn up specific charges against the order and sent them to Pope Clement V (1305 -14), asking for an investigation. The Pope promised one.
Regarding the Pope's promise as consent, Philip then sent out orders to have all Templars in France (approximately 2,000) arrested on the same day, October 13, 1307. The lands of the order were occupied by royal officers, and its property sequestrated. Public opinion in France was stirred up against the order by a vicious and skillful propaganda campaign, depicting the "fighting arm of the Church" as a rich, decadent organization, a malignant grown on the body of the Church and state alike.
Philip, however, was not satisfied to break the order only in France; he wanted to destroy the Templars throughout the Christian world. To do this he would have to prove to the Pope that his charges were universally true. After a period of hesitation, the vacillating Clement (July 1308) approved a double inquest into the affairs of the Templars, one of the individual members, the other on order itself. The former was to fall within the competence of the local ordinary with judgment rendered by provincial council; the latter was to await the decision of the general Council of Vienne. Philip, however, conducted his own inquest -- without papal approval -- using the services of the general inquisitor for France.
Extorting confessions under torture, the inquisitor ("demonstrated" the guilt of the leading French Templars, mostly knight, including Grand Master Jacques de Molay. In England, Scotland, Ireland, Aragon and Castile, and Germany the Templars were found innocent on all accounts; but not in France and in areas under French influence, such as Provence, the Kingdom of Naples, and even the States of the Church, they were accessed guilty as charged. At length Clement brought the final decision to the floor of the Council, hoping that by satisfying Philip in regard to the Templars, he would be spared from undertaking the King's other demand: the canonical process leading to the condemnation of the memory of Boniface VIII. Early in December 133, the Council voted overwhelmingly against the abolition of the Templars on grounds that the charges had not been proved. But in the bull "Vox in excelso" )ConOecDecr 312-319) of March 22, 1312, read in the second session on April 3, Clement suppressed the order by papal provisions, reserving the disposition of persons and property to the Pope. Nevertheless, by order of the King, Jacques de Molay and the highest dignitaries of the order were burned at the stake (March 1314), repudiating their confession and asserting the complete innocence of the order.
The Pope had no alternative but to dissolve the Templars. Yet Philip had not completely won. Since the order was condemned as heretical, its possessions still remained in the hands of the Church. It was finally agreed that they be turned over to the Knights Hospitaller. In Spain and Portugal, however, their property went to such military orders as the Order of Christ and the Knights of Mostesa. Philip did not accept the decision; he claimed that the Temple owed him money and presented a greatly exaggerated list of expenses incurred by the state. This enormous debt was settled by the Hospitallers.
The spectacular end of the Templars was, and remains, one of the most debated events in history. It is easy to understand that Philip the Fair, debt-ridden and desperate, would want to abolish an organization that represented a threat to his absolute power, especially if at the same time he could fill his coffers. It is likewise understandable that a weak and reluctant Pope, who owed his election to King Philip, was forced to comply. It is clear also how public opinion could be turned against a prosperous and influential order that was accountable only to the Pope, having an income four times that of the King of France. But it remains a mystery why the order, entrenched in the impenetrable Temple of Paris, submitted without resistance to the certainly inferior forces of the King.