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Birth:          ABT  954 
Death:           994 Avignon, France

Notes
died as a monk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_Provence
William I (c. 950 – after 29 August 993), called the Liberator, was Count of Provence 
from 968 to his abdication. In 975 or 979, he took the title of marchio or margrave. He 
is often considered the founder of the county of Provence. He and his elder brother 
Rotbold I were sons of Boso II of Arles and his wife Constance, who, based on her 
name, has been speculated to be daughter of Charles Constantine of Vienne. They 
both carried the title of comes or count concurrently, but it is unknown if they were 
joint-counts of the whole of Provence or if the region was divided. His brother never 
bore any other title than count so long as William lived, so the latter seems to have 
attained a certain supremacy.

In 980, he was installed as Count of Arles. His sobriquet comes from his victories 
against the Saracens by which he liberated Provence from their threat, which had 
been constant since the establishment of a base at Fraxinet. At the Battle of Tourtour 
in 973, with the assistance of the counts of the High Alps and the viscounts of 
Marseille and Fos, he definitively routed the Saracens, chasing them forever from 
Provence. He reorganised the region east of the Rhône, which he conquered from the 
Saracens and which had been given him as a gift from King Conrad of Burgundy. Also 
by royal consent, he and his descendants controlled the fisc in Provence. With Isarn, 
Bishop of Grenoble, he repopulated Dauphiné and settled an Italian count named Ugo 
Blavia near Fréjus in 970 in order to bring that land back to cultivation. For all this, he 
figures prominently in Ralph Glaber's chronicle with the title of dux and he appears in 
a charter of 992 as pater patriae.

He donated land to Cluny and retired to become a monk, dying at Avignon, where he 
was buried in the church of Saint-Croix at Sarrians. He was succeeded as margrave by 
his brother. His great principality began to diminish soon after his death as the castles 
of his vassals, which he had kept carefully under ducal control, soon became allods of 
their possessors.

He may also be the brother of Eremburge De Pont Audemer (born De Bricquebec 
Bertrand) who married Torf De Pont Audemer. Eremburge and Torf are the 18th great 
grandparents of Thomas Newberry the immigrant ancestor of the American family.[1] 
Thomas Newberry was the fourth great grandfather of Walter Loomis Newberry, the 
founder of the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL[2] Walter Loomis Newberry was the 4th 
great grandson of Joseph Loomis, the immigrant ancestor of the Loomis family in 
America.[3]

Marriage and issue[edit]

He married 1st Arsenda, daughter of Arnold of Comminges[4] and their son was:
William II (or III) of Provence.[4]

He married 2nd (against papal advice) in 984, Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, daughter of 
Fulk II of Anjou and Gerberga, and their daughter was:
Constance of Arles (986–1034), married Robert II of France.[4]

Parents
OF ARLES Boso II (ABT  920 - ABT  965)
OF PROVENCE, ARLES AND TOULOUSE Constance (ABT  933 - ABT  961)

Siblings
VENAISSIN Rotbold (Rotbaud) (ABT  952 - BEF 22 Apr 1015)
____ William I (ABT  954 -  994)

Marriage To OF COMMINGES Arsenda (ABT  955 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Arnold I (ABT  915 - BEF  957)
____ Arsenda (ABT  915 - AFT  970)

Children by OF COMMINGES Arsenda ABT  955 - 
DE PROVENCE Ermengarde (ABT  976 -  994)
DE PROVENCE Lucie (ABT  978 - )
DE PROVENCE William (Guillaume) II (ABT  981 - AFT 30 May 1018)

Marriage To D'ANJOU Adelaide (Blanche) (ABT  942 - 1026)
    m.  

Notes
his 2d

Parents
____ Fulk (Foulques) II "the Good" (ABT  905 - 11 Nov  960)
OF GASTINOIS Gerberge (ABT  913 -  952)

Children by D'ANJOU Adelaide (Blanche) ABT  942 - 1026
OF ARLES, PROVENCE AND TOULOUSE Constance (ABT  975 - 28 Jul 1032)
OF PROVENCE Toda-Adelaide (ABT  986 - )

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