TOWNLEY FAMILY TREE

TOWNLEY - a name born on the battlefield and baptized in the blood of a thousand French Knights

Chapter 1 - Lets meet some of our famous ancestors

 Well; let's start here. If you look at the "Ancient Ancestor's" link; on Generation 22 you'll see Sir Richard "Hell" de Lacy.  He was a close friend of King John and several children.  The de Lacy surname is of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados.  The family took part in the Norman conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland.  The first recorded is Hugh de Lacy.  His sons, Walter and Ilbert, left Normandy and travelled to England with William the Conqueror.  Ilbert fought the Battle of Hastings and was credited with saving the life of William the Conqueror when his horse was killed during the first mounted attack against the English line.  For this, King William awarded him the greatest estate of all those who fought at Hastings.  It contained over 170 tracts of land, tax free.  His vast grants of land were in West Yorkshire, where he built Pontefract Castle.  He was the founding father of the de Lacy's that contributed to our family tree.  
The awards of land by the Conqueror to the de Lacy sons led to two distinct branches of the family:  As we follow the de Lacy family line down through the generations, we come upon Alice de Lacy.  Alice can be found in the 23rd generation and married Geoffery 'the Elder" Dean of Whalley.  This couple was the parents of Geoffrey Towneley Whalley (Geoffrey "the Younger"); Richard de Towneley and Roger de Whalley.  Richard de Towneley married Cecilia de Thunlaig and is shown as generation 25 on our link at "Ancient Ancestor's"

William the Conqueror; 7th Duke of Normandy - later known as William I; King of England, after the invasion is mentioned several times in our family story.  Interesting fact that the first Norman King of England is an ancestor of the Townley family line.  There were a total of seven knights who fought in the Battle of Hastings and survived to appear in the Townley family tree.  He reigned from 1066 to his death in 1087.
William became a contender for the throne of England held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed.  There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as king on his deathbed in January 1066.  Arguing that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support his claim, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066.  His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighboring county of Flanders.  He invaded England, and led an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.  Harold Godwinson was killed at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.  After further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066, in London.  He was able to suppress subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.  William was the son of the unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva.  His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father and led to his name a "William the Bastard".  As already mentioned in the preview; he then ordered a full-scale investigation into the actual and potential wealth of the nation; so he could maximize tax revenues.  William died on 09 Sep 1087.

Rollo the Viking
Before going further, I think I should step back a few generations and intoduce you to some more of our famous ancestors.
First, let's look at Rollo the Viking.  He came into our family as a murderous and barbaric raider.  He took a member of our family named Poppa as his concubine They went back to Normandy where they had a son.  Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy.  He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine.  But Rollo was defeated at the Siege of Chartres in 911, Charles the Simple, (shown in our "ancient Ancestors link); the king of West Francia, granted him and his followers lands between the mouth of the Seine; in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage.  The offspring of Rollo and his followers, through their intermingling with the indigenous Frankish and Gallo-Roman population of the lands they settled, became known as the "Normans".

Charlemange
Going a bit further back we'll examine Charlemange.  Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon.  He was born before their canonical marriage. He became King of the Franks in 768 following his father's death, and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until the latter's death in 771.  As sole ruler, he continued his father's policy towards protection of the papacy and became its sole defender.  He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them (upon penalty of death).  He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier.  The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire.  He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III. He was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy Roman Emperor from 800.  He died on 28 Jan 814, after contracting an infectious lung disease.  He was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral, in his imperial capital city of Aachen.  He had three legitimate sons who lived to adulthood. Only the youngest of them, Louis the Pious, survived to succeed him.  Charlemagne and his predecessors are the direct ancestors of many of Europe's royal houses, including the Capetian dynasty, the Ottonian dynasty, the House of Luxembourg, and the House of Ivrea.  The name Charlemagne, by which the emperor is normally known in English, comes from the French Charles-le-magne, meaning "Charles the Great".  His given name was simply Charles, and was named after his grandfather, Charles Martel, a choice which intentionally marked him as Martel's true heir.

Saint Arnold
Oddly enough, we find a Catholic Saint is the patron saint of Brewers.  Sometime after 800, most likely in Metz, a brief genealogy of the Carolingians was compiled.  According to this source, Arnulf's father was a certain Arnoald, also a bishop of Metz.  Arnulf was born to an important Frankish family near Nancy in Lorraine around 582.  As an adolescent, he was called to the Merovingian court of king Theudebert II (595–612) of Austrasia; where he was educated by Gondulf of Provence.  Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II.  He distinguished himself both as a military commander and in the civil administration; at one time he had under his care six distinct provinces.  Arnulf was married ca 596 to a noblewoman whom later sources give the name of Dode, or Doda.  Chlodulf of Metz was their oldest son, but more important is his second son Ansegisel, who married Begga daughter of Pepin I.  Arnulf is thus the male-line grandfather of Pepin of Herstal, great-grandfather of Charles Martel and great-great-great-grandfather of Charlemagne. During his career he was attracted to religious life, and around 628 he retired to a hermitage at a mountain site in his domains in the Vosges to become a monk.  His friend Romaric, whose parents had been killed by Brunhilda, had preceded him to the mountains around 613.  Romaric and Amatus had already established Remiremont Abbey there.  After the death of Chlothachar in 629, Arnulf settled near Habendum, where he died some time between 643 and 647.  He was buried at Remiremont.  Arnulf is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church.  In iconography, he is typically portrayed with a pastoral staff or a rake in his hand. Arnold brewed beer, as essential in medieval life as water.  He encouraged local peasants to drink beer, instead of water, due to its "gift of health".  A couple of miracle tales are attributed to Saint Arnold.  It was July 642 and very hot when the parishioners of Metz went to Remiremont to recover the remains of their former bishop.  They had little to drink and the terrain was inhospitable.  At the point when the exhausted procession was about to leave Champigneulles, one of the parishioners, Duc Notto, prayed "By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack."  Immediately the small remnant of beer at the bottom of a pot multiplied in such amounts that the pilgrims' thirst was quenched and they had enough to enjoy the next evening when they arrived in Metz.  Another miracle tale says, at the time of an epidemic, rather than stand by while the local people fell ill from drinking water, Arnold had them consume his monastery brews.  Because of this, many people in his church survived the plague.  For this reason he is known as the patron saint of Brewers.  More importantly; for our story; he is our 1st Generation direct ancestor.

Childric
was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty.  He was the regulas chief of a band of Salian tribe of Franks called "Tourani".  These Franks were pagans and believe that their leaders were descendants of their principle god Wotan; the God of the Sky.  They originated in the delta country of the Rhine and Scheldt rivers along the coast of the North Sea.  Childric's father was named Merovich and from whom the Merovingian Dynasty is named. Merovich led his people as they began to migrate up the river and claim lands owned by the Roman Empire called Gaul.  Eventually they were driven back and when Julian became the Roman Governor; Merovich made peace with him and the Salian (or Salii) Franks moved into the Roman Empire into what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, and Belgium.  They became Roman allies and furnished troops for the Imperial Army.  Their name says it all; for as in English their name translates into Free Men from the Sea.  The Townleys were also 'Franks" and were from the Ripuarian (or Rhineland) Franks.  The name Ripuarii clearly has a meaning of "river people".  Both the Salii and Ripuarii were new names and represented new groupings of older tribal groups on the Roman Rhine border.  The Ripuarian Franks lost their independence almost as soon as they entered the historical record, being subsumed in the Frankish core province of Austrasia.  The Salian Frank Clovis, first king of all the Franks and first king to convert to Christianity, subjected the previously independent Ripuarians.  Without naming the people as Ripuarian, but referring to "Cologne and its vicinity"; saw the Ripuarians voluntarily give up their sovereignty to Clovis.  However, the Ripuarians, having lost their identity and religion because Clovis had them baptized into the Catholic religion; they would however, preserve their heritage through the use of close-knit marriages, and would push ever deeper into the affairs of the Frankish Empire.  In 509, Clovis sent a messenger to Chloderic to state that if his father, Sigobert, were to die, he, Clovis, would ally himself to Chloderic.  As Sigobert was sleeping in his tent, in the forest across the Rhine from Cologne after a walk, Chloderic's hired assassins killed him.  Chloderic sent to Clovis offering some of Sigobert's treasury as enticement.  Clovis sent messengers refusing the treasure.  Soon after that, Chloderic himself was assassinated.  Clovis assembled the citizens of Cologne, denied the murders, saying "It is not for me to shed the blood of one of my fellow kings, for that is a crime …".  He advised them to place themselves under his protection, after which he was shouted into office by a voice vote.  Thus, the independent kingdom of the Ripuarian Franks was voted out of existence by the people at a single assembly in 509.  Childeric probably began a Roman military career in the service of Flavius Aetius who defeated Attila the Hun in Gaul, and he points out that much of his military career appears to have played out far from the Frankish homelands.  In 463 Childeric and Aegidius successfully repelled the Visigoths of Theodoric II from Orléans.  After the death of Aegidius, Childeric and Count Paul are recorded defending the Loire region from Saxon raiders.  Childeric is generally considered to have died in 481 based on reports that his son Clovis died in 511 and had ruled 30 years.  Childeric's tomb was discovered in 1653, not far from the 12th-century church of Saint-Brice in Tournai, now in Belgium.

Clovis
Chlodewetch was the son of Childric.  But, history has tended to use the name Clovis to refer to this person, so I will do the dame.  Clovis was born in 466 and when his father died he was 15 years old; he was the only male heir; so, he inherited everything.  Before Childric died; he extracted a promise from his warriors that they would nurture and support his son.  Clovis was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings, into rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs.  He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries.  In 486, Clovis' desire for conquest began to display itself.  That, mixed with boldness and craftiness would characterize his entire life.  Clovis did not enjoy the support of the Gallo-Roman clergy, so he proceeded to pillage the Roman territory, including the churches.  The Bishop of Reims requested Clovis return everything taken from the Church of Reims, and, as the young king aspired to establish cordial relationships with the clergy, he returned a valuable ewer taken from the church.  Despite his position, some Roman cities refused to yield to the Franks, namely Verdun and Paris; although both cities eventually surrendered.  He made Paris his capital, and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine.  Clovis came to the realization that he wouldn't be able to rule Gaul without the help of the clergy and aimed to please the clergy by taking a Catholic wife.  The queen unceasingly urged the king to acknowledge the true God, and forsake idols.  But he could not in any wise be brought until war broke out with the Alamani.  In 496, the Alamanni invaded, and some Salians and Ripuarians reguli defected to their side.  Clovis met his enemies near the strong fort of Tolbiac.  During the fighting, the Franks suffered heavy losses.  Clovis, together with over three thousand Frankish companions, may have converted to Christianity around this time.  The two armies were in battle and there was great slaughter.  Clovis' army was near to utter destruction. He… raised his eyes to heaven, saying … "If thou shalt grant me victory over these enemies… I will believe in thee and be baptized in thy name". Suddenly, the tide of the battle changed, Clovis was victorious and acknowledged the Christian god through baptism on Christmas day in 496.  In 507 Clovis was allowed by the magnates of his realm to invade the remaining threat of the Kingdom of the Visigoths.  However, Clovis was no longer able to resist the temptation to move against the Visigoths, for many Catholics under Visigoth yoke were unhappy and implored Clovis to make a move.  But just to be absolutely certain about retaining the loyalties of the Catholics under Visigoths, Clovis ordered his troops to omit raiding and plunder, for this was not a foreign invasion, but a liberation.  Shortly before his death, Clovis called a synod of Gallic bishops to meet in Orléans to reform the Church and create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic episcopate.  After his death in 511 (or 513) in Paris, Clovis was laid to rest in the Abbey of St Genevieve in Paris.  His remains were relocated to Saint Denis Basilica in the mid- to late 18th century.  So, Clovis at long last had united the Franks and was sole King to the Frankish Empire.  He had done it through his barbaric traits of cruelty; and murdered all the other kings; even though they were all his relatives.

If you click on this link; it will take you to the Famous Kings and Ancestors, where more of our ancestor's are shown with some brief info.