William Taillefer I

William "Taillefer" I (died Aug 962) was also known as William II of Angoulême (being the second William in this family since Wulgrin I. His uncle, William I, being the first). He was the Count of Angoulême from 926 to 945. He was the son of Alduin I.

According to one source,^[1] his surname, or sobriquet, was acquired due "...from the way in which he cut down a Norman Sea-king through his coat of mail." This Norman sea-king is identified as Storis.^[2] The name Taillefer was used by subsequent members of this family, especially holders of the title Count of Angoulême.

William was not married, but had at least one, and possibly two, illegitimate sons who would later claim the title of Count of Angoulême.

• Ademar II (possibly ruling as count from after 945 to before 952)^[3]
• Arnold II "Manzer" (count from 975 to 988)^[4]

Sources

• Cawley, Charles, Medieval Lands Project, Chapter 3, Comtes d'Angoulême, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012,
• Histoire P@ssion - Chronologie historique des Comtes d’Angoulême (in French)
• L'art de Verifier des Faits historiquws, des Chartes, des Chroniques, et Autres Anciens Monuments, Depuis la Naissance de Notre-Seigner by Moreau et Yalade, 1818, Page 179
• The coinage of the European continent, by Swan Sonnenschein, 1893, Page 276
• Annuaire Historique Pour L'annee 1854, by Société de l'histoire de France, Page 178
• Nouvelle Encyclopedie Theologique, by acques-Paul Migne, 1854, Page 903

References

1. A Short Course of History by Havilland Le Mesurier Chepmell, Page 203, note 5.
2. The Descent, Name and Arms of Borlase of Borlase in the County of Cornwall by William Copeland Borlase, Page 9.
3. Adémar II was one of two known sons of William II, but his status as count is only supported by one possible reading of his father's will. André Debord notes that he might have become count. La société laïque dans les pays de la Charente, Xe-XIIe s. (Paris: Picard, 1984) 99–103. Luc Bourgeois rejects the possibility Une résidence des comtes d’Angoulême autour de l'an mil: le castrum d’Andone (Villejoubert, Charente); publication des fouilles d'André Debord (1971-1995) (Caen: Publications du CRAHM, 2009), 387 and 392. For William II's will, see: Paul Lefrancq, ed., Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Cybard (Angoulême: Imprimerie Ouvrière, 1930), #222.
4. Bourgeois, 387.