Dreux is a district (originally the name of a château) in southern Normandy, not far from Paris. It belonged in Carolimgian times to the family that became the Capets, and passed by marriage from them to several other Norman families until it was confiscated from Eudes II of Blois by King Robert II in the early eleventh century. His descendant Louis VI gave to to one of his younger sons as a countship in 1137; that branch of the Capets held it until 1355.

Robert I 'the Great' of Dreux (c1123-1188) was the fifth son of Louis VI and Adelaide of Maurienne. He participated in the Second Crusade and was at the Siege of Damascus in 1148, and in the 1150s fought in the wars against England. He married first Agnes de Garlande (c1122-1143, daughter of Anseau de Garlande, Count de Rochefort); they had one child, Simon (born 1141, died probably in or soon after 1144). He married second Hedwige d'Evreux (1118-1152), daughter of Gautier or Walter d'Evreux, Earl of Salisbury (see Salisbury; there is some disagreement about this family's origins). They had one daughter, Adele (c1145-c1210), who was married four times but had children only by her second husband, Gui II de Châtillon (ancestors of the Counts of St-Pol). Robert married third Agnes (1130-a1218), Comtesse de Braine (daughter and heiress of Guy de Baudemont or Vaudémont. They had ten children: (1) Robert II, Comte de Dreux et de Braine, see below; (2) Adelaide (Alix) de Dreux (1156-1239), married Raoul I, seigneur de Coucy, by whom she was the mother of Marie, wife of Alexander II of Scots, and ancestor of others, but I think not us; (3) Isabelle de Dreux (1160-1239), Dame de Vaudémont, married Hugues III de Broyes; (4) Henri (1155-1199), Bishop of Orléans; (5) Philippe (1158-1217), Bishop of Beauvais; (6) Pierre (1161-1168); (7) Guillaume (1163-c1189); (8) Jean (1164-p1189); (9) Mamilie (1166-1200), prioress of Wariville; and (10) Marguerie (born 1167), a nun at Fontevrault.

Robert II, Comte de Dreux et de Braine (1154-1218) married first Mahaut de Bourgogne, Countess de Grignon (1150-1192); no children; and second Yolande, daughter of Raoul I, seigneur de Coucy (by his first wife Agnes of Hainault, not by Robert's sister Adelaide, his second wife). They had twelve children: (1) Robert III 'Gasteble', Comte de Dreux et de Braine, see below; (2) Pierre I de Dreux, Duke of Brittany (Bretagne), Count de Penthievre, Earl of Richmond, see farther below; (3) Henri de Dreux, Archbishop of Rheims (1193-1240); (4) Jean de Dreux, Comte de Vienne et Macon jure uxoris; (5) Geoffroy de Dreux (1200-1219); (6) Eleonore de Dreux (1186-1248), who married first Hugues III de Châteauneuf and second Robert de St. Clair, by whom she is the ancestor of the Sinclair earls of Orkney and Caithness, etc, also a Magruder ancestor via Drummond; (7) Isabelle de Dreux, Viscountess de Mareil (1188-1242), married Jean II de Pierrepont, Count de Roucy; (8) Alix de Dreux, Dame de Salins et de Traves (1189-1258), married Wautier IV de Mâcon - many descendants, called "de Salins", and second Renaud III de Choiseul; (9) Philippa de Dreux, Dame de Tocy-en-Brie (1192-1242), married Henry II, Count of Bar, our ancestors via Luxembourg and other lines; (10) Agnes de Dreux (1195-1258), married Etienne III de Bourgogne, Count d'Auxonne; (11) Yolande (1196-1239), married Raoul II de Lusignan, Comte d'Eu, no children; and (12) Jeanne de Dreux, Abbess of Fontevrault (1199-1276).

Robert III 'Gasteble', Comte de Dreux et de Braine (1185-1234) married (1210) Alianore (1192-1250), daughter of Thomas de St. Valery and Adele of Ponthieu. They had four children: (1) Jean I, Count de Dreux et de Braine, see below; (2) Robert de Dreux, jure uxoris Vicomte de Châteaudun, seigneur de Beu (1217-1264), see farther below; (3) Pierre de Dreux (1220-1250), a priest; and (4) Yolande de Dreux of Ossone (1212-1248), who married Hugues IV, Duke of Burgundy, King of Thessalonika - our ancestors via Margaret, wife of Edward I of England.

Jean I, Count de Dreux et de Braine (1215-1249) married Marie, daughter of Archambaut VI/VIII de Dampierre, seigneur de Bourbon and Beatrix de Montlucon. Three children: (1) Robert IV, Count de Dreux, Braine et Montfort (1241-1282), whose descendants held the Dreux titles until the last heiress, Jeanne, sold the fiefs to the Crown in 1377; she has descendants by her husband Louis de Thouars; (2) Jean (1245-1275), no children; and (3) Yolande de Dreux, Dame de St. Aubin (1243-p1304), who married twice: Amaury II de Craon, no children; and Jean II de Trie, Comte de Dammartin (died at the battle of Kortrijk, 1302), and had descendants.

We return to Pierre I de Dreux (died 1250), Duke of Brittany (Bretagne), Count de Penthievre, Earl of Richmond, second son of Robert II, above. He married first Alix de Thouars (1201-1221), elder of two daughters of Guy, the last Thouars Duke of Brittany. They had three children: (1) Jean I 'the Red' de Dreux, Duke of Brittany, see below; (2) Arthur, died young; and (3) Yolande de Bretagne, countess of Penthièvre et de Porhoët (1218-1272), who married Hugues XI of Lusignan, Comte de la Marche et d'Angouleme, etc - our ancestors via Lusignan and Geneville. By a second brief marriage, to Nicole, Pierre I had no children. By his third marriage, to Marguerite de Montaigu (1188/90-1241, daughter of Maurice II de Commequiers, he had one more son, Olivier de Dreux, seigneur de Machecoul, who married twice and had descendants.

Jean I 'the Red' de Dreux, Duke of Brittany (1239-1305) married Blanche, daughter of Thibaut (Theobald) I 'le Grand', King of Navarre, Comte de Champagne et de Brie. Two surviving children: (1) Alix de Dreux, Dame de Pontarcy (1243-1288), who married Jean I de Châtillon, Comte de St-Pol, no children; and (2) Jean II de Dreux, Duke of Brittany (1239-1305), who married Beatrice, daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. They had six children: (1) Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, whose descendants held the title down to Anne, Duchess of Brittany (1477-1514) who married Louis XII and took the titles into the House of Bourbon; (2) John de Dreux, Earl of Richmond (1266-1312), whose daughter Isabelle married Nicholas de Stapleton of Stapleton and Carlton, 2nd Lord - many English descendants, but I think not us; (3) Pierre de Dreux, Vicomte de Leon (1269-1312); (4) Marie de Dreux, Dame d'Elincourt (1268-1339), married Guy de Châtillon, 3rd Count de St. Pol, ancestors of Jacquetta of Luxembourg; (5) Blanche de Dreux (1270-1327), married Philippe d'Artois, seigneur de Conches (we are descended from his aunt, Blanche, Regent of Navarre, but not from this marriage).

Dreux, seigneurs de Beu

Robert de Dreux, jure uxoris Vicomte de Châteaudun (1217-1264), second son of Robert III 'Gasteble', Comte de Dreux et de Braine (above), married first Clémence de Châteaudun, heiress to that viscountcy. They had three daughters: (1) Alix (born 1255), heiress of Châteaudun, who married Raoul II de Clermont, seigneur de Nesle (died 1302), (2) Clémence, married twice but not our ancestor; and (3) Isabelle, married Gaucher de Châtillon, seigneur de Porcien (see that page).

Alix and Raoul II de Clermont were the parents of Alix de Beaumont (died 1320), vicomtesse de Châteaudun et dame de Mondoubleau, who married Guillaume "Sans-Terre" de Dampierre (c1249-1311), lord of Dendermond and Crèvecoeur, our ancestors via Dampierre and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

see the stirnet page and the euweb pages on this family, and also this family tree borrowed from http://jeanjacques.villemag.free.fr/dreux.htm.