Basina, A Woman Who Knew What She Wanted and Got It
Extraordinary Women, Part 2
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.
The number of our ancestors doubles with each generation (two parents, four grandparents, etc.) So mathematically we each should have over 36 quadrillion ancestors in the generation 55 generations ago about 400 AD, when there were only about 200 million people in the entire world. The discrepancy comes from cousins marrying one another, usually with no idea that they were cousins. Everyone of European descent alive today has ancestors in common. Whoever you are, even if you don’t know who your great-grandmother was, some part of my family tree is your family tree. We’re all one family.
Genealogy is not an exact science. Because we don’t have DNA evidence, it’s possible that in some generations the purported father was not the biological father or that in some cases the documentary record is faulty. But an exposition like this shows how, over many generations, an ancestral line can twist and turn, connecting us to cultures and historical events we never imagined. It shows how we are all connected not just to one another but also to the history of western civilization. At least that’s my aim — not to say that a few of us are special, but rather that everyone is special, that this is a template for the ancestry of all of us.
Basina — the Woman Who Knew What She Wanted and Got It
Basina was a queen. She was married to the King of Thuringia. But her husband was neither powerful nor ambitious, and their little kingdom was insignificant. Nothing important ever happened there.
She wasn’t happy, and she wasn’t going to settle for the life she saw ahead of her. So one day, she just left.
Reportedly she said, “I want to have the most powerful man in the world, even if I have to cross the ocean for him.”
This was around 450 AD, in the days when the Roman Empire was crumbling. The greatest man of the day was Childeric I, King of the Franks, who had recently invaded the Roman Empire and conquered much of Gaul. So she went to Gaul. She asked him to marry her. And he accepted.
She is now best remembered as the mother of Clovis, who succeeded his father as King of the Franks and is credited as the founder of modern France. Contrary to the tradition of that time and place, she, not her husband, gave their son his name.
By the way, her name in Low Franconian means “female boss”.
Clotilde — the Vengeful Saint Who Converted France to Christianity
daughter-in-law of Basina
Clotilde’s grandfather, King Gondioc, ruled a kingdom that extended from Lyon to Vienna to Geneva. When King Gondiocdied, his three sons — Gundobad, Godesgisel, and Chilperic (Clotilde’s father) — divided the realm among them. Chilperic became Duke of Burgundy. But soon thereafter, Gundobad murdered both of Clotilde’s parents, took control of Burgundy, and exiled Clotilde.
In exile, Clotilde married Clovis, King of the Franks, who, had just conquered northern Gaul.
At the instigation of Clotilde, Clovis converted to Christianity and forced his entire kingdom to do likewise. That’s what earned Clotilde her sainthood.
Clovis went down in history as the founder of modern France. And in the novel “The Da Vinci Code” he is named as a descendant of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene
Eventually, Clotilde took revenge for the murder of her parents, inciting her sons against her cousin King Sigismund of Burgundy, the son of Gundobad. That was the cause of the Burgundian War, which led to Sigismund’s deposition, imprisonment, and assassination.
The poetry of that time portrayed her as “a type of a savage fury.”
Line of Descent for the above
1) Basina, Queen of Thuringia (md. Childeric I, King of the Franks)
2) Clovis I, King of the Franks (466–511) (md. Saint Clotilde (475–545)
3) Clothar I, King of the Franks (496–561) (md. Waldrada of Lombardy)
4) Blithilde (538–603) (md. Ansbertus, Gallo-Roman Senator
5) Arnoald (560–611) Bishop if Metz and Margrave of Schelde
6) Saint Itta of Metz (592–652) (md. Pepin of Landen the Elder, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia)
7) Saint Begga (615–693) (md. Ansegiel)
8) Pepin II, “the Middle”, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia (635–714) (md. Alpaida)
9) 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)
10) Pepin the Short, King of the Franks (d.768) (md. Bertrada of Laon)
11) Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor (742–814) (md. Hildegarde of Vinzgouw)
12) Pepin, “Carloman”, King of Italy (777–810) (md. Bertha)
13) Bernard, King of Italy (797–818) (md. Cunigunda)
14) Pepin, 1st Count of Vermandois, Lord of Senlis Peronne and Saint Quentin (b. 815)
15) Herbert I, Count of Vermandois, Lord of Senlis, Peronne and Saint Quetin (848–907) (md. Bertha de Morvois)
16) Beatrice of Vermandois (880–931) (md. Robert I, King of France and Marquis of Neustria)
17) 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)
18) Hugh Capet, King of France (939–996) (md. Adelaide of Aquitaine)
19) Robert II, King of France (972–1041) (md. Constance of Arles)
20) Henry I, King of France (1008–1060) (md. Anne of Kiev)
21) Philip I, King of France, “the Amorous” (1052–1108) (md. Bertha of Holland)
22) Constance of France (1078–1124) (md. Bohemond I, Prince of Taranto, Crusader)
23) Bohemond II, Prince of Taranto and of Antioch, Crusader (1108–1130) (md. Alice of Jerusalem)
24) Constance of Antioch (1127–1163) (md. Raynald of Chatillon, Prince of Antioch, Crusader)
25) Agnes of Antioch (1154–1184) (md. Bela III, King of Hungary AKA Caesar Alexius of the Byzantine Empire)
26) Andrew II the Jerosolimitan, King of Hungary, Crusader (1177–1235) (md. Gertrude of Merania)
27) Bela IV, King of Hungary and Croatia and Duke of Styria (1206–1270) (md. Maria Laskarina)
28) Stephen V, King of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania, and Bulgaria, also Duke of Styria (1239–1272) (md. Elizabeth the Cuman)
29) Mary of Hungary (1257–1323) (md. Charles II, “the Lame”, King of Naples and Sicily, King of Jerusalem, Prince of Salerno)
30) Eleanor of Anjou AKA Eleanor of Naples (1289–1341) (md. Frederick III, King of Sicily)
31) Elisabeth of Sicily AKA Isabel of Aragon (1310–1349) (md. Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria)
32) Frederick, Duke of Bavaria (1339–1393) (md. Maddelena Visconti)
33) Elizabeth of Vabaria-Landshut (1383–1442) (md. Frederick I, Hohenzollern, Elector of Brandenburg an Burgrave of Nuremberg)
34) John Hohenzollern, “the Alchemist”, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1406–1464) (md. Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg)
35) 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)
36) Margaret of Denmark (1456–1486) (md. James III, King of Scotland)
37) James IV, King of Scotland (1473–1513) (md. Agnes Stewart)
38) Janet Stewart, “Lady Janet” (1505–1563) (md. Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming)
39) John Fleming, 5th Lord Fleming (1537–1572) (md. Elizabeth Ross)
40) John Fleming, 6th Lord Fleming and 1st Earl of Wigton (1567–1619) (md. Lilias Graham)
41) John Fleming (1589–1650) (md. Margaret Livingston)
42) Alexander Fleming, emigrated from Scotland to Virginia (1612–1668) (md. Elizabeth Anderson)
43) John Fleming, emigrated with his father from Scotland to Virginia) (1627–1686) (md. Mary)
44) Charles Fleming (1659–1717) (md. Susannah Tarleton)
45) Susannah Tarleton Fleming (md. John Bates)
46) James Bates (1721–1786) (md. Winnifred Grymes)
47) Daniel Bates (1756–1801) (md. Elizabeth Cary Bell)
48) Sarah Langhorne Bates, moved from Virginia to Tennessee (1781–1825) (md. Joel Estes)
49) Albert Monroe Estes (1804–1863) (md. Mildred Colman)
50) Louis Powhatan Estest (1849–1902) (md. Lily Yates Moore)
51) Smith William Estes, moved from Tennessee to Philadelphia (1881–1943) (md. Mae Griffith)
52) Helen Isabella Estes (1920–2010) (md. Richard Warren Seltzer, Sr.)
