Syagria and Papianilla — Most Splendid Women
Extraordinary Women, Part 1
My mother, Helen Isabella Estes Seltzer, died Dec. 28, 2010, at the age of 90. She had a life-long interest in family history. In her memory, I compiled profiles of powerful and strong-willed women among her ancestors, thinking those women might inspire her descendants. These brief biographies are grouped according the lines of descent, which are shown afterwards, leading down to the present.
Syagria and Papianilla — Most Splendid Women
Mom’s earliest known woman ancestors were Syagria and Papianilla, a mother and daughter-in-law in the later days of the Roman Empire
Born around 390 AD, 53 generations ago, 51 greats grandmother Syagria was the daughter of a Roman noble, Flavius Afranius Syagrius, who was proconsul of Africa in 379, praetorian prefect of Italy in 380 and 382, prefect of Rome in 381, and consul in 382. Because of her father’s status, she had the honorary title “clarissima femina” which means “most splendid woman”.
Her son, Tonantius Ferreolus, became the praetorian prefect of Gaul. He married Papianilla, a niece of Emperor Avitus,who also had the title “most splendid”.
Saints Itta and Begga — Sainthood was their Family Business
Itta = three greats granddaughter of Papianilla; Begga = her daughter
Saint Itta of Metz was the sister of two saints (Saint Modaold of Trier and Saint Severa. She also married a saint (Saint Pepin of Landen), and was the mother of two saints (Saint Gertrude of Nivelles and Saint Begga of Ardenne (our ancestor). Her saint’s day is May 8. Her “patronage” is against erysilpelas (a superficial bacterial skin infection) and toothache.
She and her daughter Begga earned their sainthood by founding churches, monasteries and convents.
They lived after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the founding of the Holy Roman Empire and before France came into being.
Their home territory was in what is now northeastern France, near the border with Germany. In the 20th century Metz became the capital of Lorraine, which along with Alsace was territory fought over by France and German in the Franco-Prussian War and World War I. In the time of Saint Itta it was the capital of the Austrasia kingdom which evolved into the kingdom of France under the rule of her descendants.
Alice of Jerusalem, Constance of Antioch, and Agnes of Antioch — Princesses of Crusader Kingdoms
Alice married the 14 greats grandson of Saint Begga
Constance was her daughter
Agnes was the daughter of Constance
When the Crusaders conquered the Middle East, they divided the territory into kingdoms, with hereditary kings, on the European model, including Antioch which included much of present-day Syria, Edessa which included parts of present-day Syria and Turkey, and Jerusalem which included much of present-day Israel.
Alice was the daughter of Baldwin II King of Jerusalem and Count of Edessa, and the wife of Bohemund II, Prince of Antioch.
When her husband died in battle, her father tried to assume control of Antioch, but Alice stood in his way. She tried unsuccessfully to make an alliance with the Muslim ruler of Mosul and Aleppo, offering her daughter in marriage. Eventually, she made peace with her father, giving up Antioch and going into exile.
When her father died, she tried repeatedly to regain control of Antioch, first by war and then by marriage. She formed an unsuccessful alliance against her brother-in-law, Fulk V, King of Jerusalem (also an ancestor). Then she tried unsuccessfully to arrange a marriage for her daughter, Constance, with Manuel Komnenos, heir-apparent to the Byzantine Empire.
As it turned out, Constance married Raynald of Chatillon instead of Manuel, and Raynald by that marriage became Prince of Antioch.
Later, Maria, a daughter of Raynald and Constance, married the Byzantine Emperor — that same Manuel Komnenos, who was to have been her mother’s husband. And Agnes, another daughter of Raynald and Constance, went to Constantinople, where she lived at the court, under the patronage of her sister the Empress. On the Emperor’s request, Agnes married a Hungarian prince, who eventually became Bela III King of Hungary.
Line of Descent for all of the above.
This line includes Charles Martel (commander of the European armies that defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours in 1732), Charlemagne the first Holy Roman Emperor, kings of France, kings of Hungary, and a king of Scotland.
1) Syagria (b. 390)
2) Tonantius Ferreolus, praetorian prefect of Gaul (405–475) md. Papianilla (b. 415)
3) Tonantius Ferreolus, Gallo-Roman senator (440–511) md. Industria
4) Ferreolus of Rodez, Senator of Narbonne (b. 470) md. Saint Dode of Reims
5) Ansbertus, Gallo-Roman senator md. Blithidle
6) Arnoald, Bishop of Metz and Margrave of Schelde (560–611) (md. Oda)
7) Saint Itta of Metz (592–652) md. Saint Pepin of Landen the Elder, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
8) Saint Begga (615–693) md. Ansegiel
9) Pepin II, “the Middle”, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia (635–714) md. Alpaida
10) Charles Martel, “the Hammer”, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, commander of the European armies that defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours in 732 (688–741) md. Rotrude of Tier
11) Pepin the Short, King of the Franks (d.768) md. Bertrada of Laon
12) Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor (742–814) md. Hildegarde of Vinzgouw
13) Pepin, “Carloman”, King of Italy (777–810) md. Bertha
14) Bernard, King of Italy (797–818) md. Cunigunda
15) Pepin, 1st Count of Vermandois, Lord of Senlis Peronne and Saint Quentin (b. 815)
16) Herbert I, Count of Vermandois, Lord of Senlis, Peronne and Saint Quetin (848–907) md. Bertha de Morvois
17) Beatrice of Vermandois (880–931) md. Robert I, King of France and Marquis of Neustria
18) Hugh Capet, “the Great”, Duke of France, Count of Paris, in the Divine Comedy Dante meets the soul of Duke Hugh in Purgatory, lamenting the avarice of his descendants. (898–956) md. Hedwige of Saxony
19) Hugh Capet, King of France (939–996) md. Adelaide of Aquitaine
20) Robert II, King of France (972–1041) md. Constance of Arles
21) Henry I, King of France (1008–1060) md. Anne of Kiev
22) Philip I, King of France, “the Amorous” (1052–1108) md. Bertha of Holland
23) Constance of France (1078–1124) md. Bohemond I, Prince of Taranto, Crusader
24) Bohemond II, Prince of Taranto and of Antioch, Crusader (1108–1130) md. Alice of Jerusalem
25) Constance of Antioch (1127–1163) md. Raynald of Chatillon, Prince of Antioch, Crusader
26) Agnes of Antioch (1154–1184) md. Bela III, King of Hungary AKA Caesar Alexius of the Byzantine Empire
27) Andrew II the Jerosolimitan, King of Hungary, Crusader (1177–1235) md. Gertrude of Merania
28) Bela IV, King of Hungary and Croatia and Duke of Styria (1206–1270) md. Maria Laskarina
29) Stephen V, King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania, and Bulgaria, also Duke of Styria (1239–1272) md. Elizabeth the Cuman
30) Mary of Hungary (1257–1323) md. Charles II, “the Lame”, King of Naples and Sicily, King of Jerusalem, Prince of Salerno
31) Eleanor of Anjou AKA Eleanor of Naples (1289–1341) md. Frederick III, King of Sicily
32) Elisabeth of Sicily AKA Isabel of Aragon (1310–1349) md. Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria
33) Frederick, Duke of Bavaria (1339–1393) md. Maddelena Visconti
34) Elizabeth of Vabaria-Landshut (1383–1442) md. Frederick I, Hohenzollern, Elector of Brandenburg and Burgrave of Nuremberg
35) John Hohenzollern, “the Alchemist”, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1406–1464) md. Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg
36) Dorothea of Brandenburg AKA Dorthea of Hohenzollern, AKA Dorthy Achilies (1431–1495) md. Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, also Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst
37) Margaret of Denmark (1456–1486) (md. James III, King of Scotland)
38) James IV, King of Scotland (1473–1513) md. Agnes Stewart
39) Janet Stewart, “Lady Janet” (1505–1563) md. Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming
40) John Fleming, 5th Lord Fleming (1537–1572) (md. Elizabeth Ross)
41) John Fleming, 6th Lord Fleming and 1st Earl of Wigton (1567–1619) md. Lilias Graham
42) John Fleming (1589–1650) md. Margaret Livingston
43) Alexander Fleming, emigrated from Scotland to Virginia (1612–1668) md. Elizabeth Anderson
44) John Fleming, emigrated with his father from Scotland to Virginia) (1627–1686)
45) Charles Fleming (1659–1717) md. Susannah Tarleton
46) Susannah Tarleton Fleming md. John Bates
47) James Bates (1721–1786) md. Winnifred Grymes
48) Daniel Bates (1756–1801) md. Elizabeth Cary Bell
49) Sarah Langhorne Bates, moved from Virginia to Tennessee (1781–1825) md. Joel Estes
50) Albert Monroe Estes (1804–1863) md. Mildred Colman
51) Louis Powhatan Estest (1849–1902) md. Lily Yates Moore
52) Smith William Estes, moved from Tennessee to Philadelphia (1881–1943) md. Mae Griffith
53) Helen Isabella Estes (1920–2010) md. Richard Warren Seltzer, Sr.
