The House of Montfort was a medieval French noble house that eventually found its way to the Kingdom of England and originated the famous Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. However, his father, Simon de Monfort the Elder, who led the French Crusaders during the Albigensian Crusade, is far more notorious in France and among military medievalists.
The family began when Hugh Capet granted a petty lordship to Guillaume de Montfort in the Île-de-France. His successors were to be the vassals of the counts of Beaumont. Guillaume's son, Amaury began building a castle that would eventually become the eponymous Montfort-l'Amaury. The project, however, was incomplete when he died , but his son, Simon, finished it in 1067. His great-grandson, Simon IV would eventually marry the heiress of Leicester, and their son, Simon V would become the first Montfort earl of Leicester.
During the 13th century the family lost its ancestral seat of Montfort-l'Amaury to the House of Dreux.
Genealogy
Guillaume Amaury I Simon I Amaury II Isabel Bertrade Richard Simon II Amaury III Amaury IV Simon III Amaury V Simon IV Simon V Amaury VI John I Beatrice Marguerite Laure Adela Pernelle Simon V Henry Simon VI Amaury Guy of Nola Anastasia Tomasina Joanna Richard Eleanor Guy of Bigorre Alice Pernelle of Bigorre Guy I of Sidon Philip I Philip II John Laure Eleonore Jeanne John of Tyre Humphrey Amaury of Montfort Rupen of Montfort Pernelle Alicia Agnes Guy II of Sidon Petronilla Bertrade Agnès Guillaume Adeliza Mainier Eva
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Further reading