The genealogy of the House of Valois

[Spartica]

Hi,

I'm new here & was wondering if anyone could help me with some research. I'm trying to find out about descendants of the French Capetian royal line. As I'm a Ancient Historian/Classicist the information I'm looking for is a little too "modern" for my knowledge base. I'm specifically interested in knowing about the continuation of the Valois line after the death of Henri III of France in 1589 & the end of the Valois dynasty, I know it's said there were no further direct male descendants of that House but I'm looking for a member of that bloodline during the 1789-98 revolution. A mysterious story, that has been passed down through the generations of my own family, tells that one of my ancestors was a member of the French aristocracy who fled to England to avoid Madame Guillotine. Upon arriving to England the Nobel changed his name to an Anglicised version of his ancestral family name - & his descendants, my family (via my paternal grandmother), still go by that name - "Vallis". My Great uncle was an official Royal/Government photographer & semi-professional genealogist, & using connections made through the former, he confirmed the details above, but sadly passed away before he could determine our ancestors birth name, Title, or his French genealogy with any certainty. That was over 30 years ago, & until now, no one in my family has been interested enough to continue his work, even most of his research notes were lost long ago! This infuriatingly leaves me little information with which to continue his quest for him. Please believe I have no 'illusions of grandeur' whatsoever, but hopefully it's clear to you why I'm making the tenuous connections that I am. All I would like is to discover the truth & solve the mystery for my family, regardless of whether I turn up a prince or a pauper! I'd really be extremely grateful if someone could provide me with a little more to work with, or at least a new direction to explore. Thank you in advance.

 

[Countessmeout]

The problem with the story is to say he changed his name to Vallis from Valois suggests he was a male line descendent of the Valois family. A female descendent wouldn't be Valois. None of Henry II's children had any legitimite children. His daughters did of course, but they wouldn't carry the surname Valois. You'd have to go much further back.

Henry II had only 2 brothers, both of whom died unmarried/childless.


So either your ancestor was:

1. a bastard

2. from the female line and didn't simply Anglicize their name but change their name all together. A female line heir who changed the name back to Valois/Vallis.

Either way there certainly needs far more to go off of other then a last name, and gentry who escaped the revolution.


The name Vallis has been in the UK long before the French Revolution. After King John died, his widow Isabelle married Hugh of Lusignan. One of their 10 children was a won named William. William was known as William de Valence (of Valence, for his birthplace). He came to England on invitation of his half-brother Henry III. His children carried de Valence as a surname.


You would need to at least know something like what the ancestor's name was before he changed it to Vallis. Right now there are just too many possible lines in the female or bastard lines we could look at.