Duke Loup II of Gascony had at least two sons, who were both Delaforce ancestors, Lope Sancho and Donat Count of Bueil. Following the tree of Donat below, we meet Sanche Mitarra II.

Sanche Mitarra II was, predictably, the son of Sanche Mitarra I. "Mitarra" is a Moorish word for "terror and destruction", which is how they viewed him. So did the Carolingians, as he rebelled against & successfully fought Charles the Bald. How he became Duke of Gascony is revealed in the next chapter. Sanche II married URRACA Galindez de Aragon, daughter of the Count of Aragon.

But we must return to Lope Sancho, the other son of Loup II. He married Toda Aznarez of Aragon, a second cousin, who was descended from Loup II's brother Adalric. His daughter Dhoude married Bernard de Septimanie Duke of Narbonne & Count of Barcelona, born about 795 but executed by Charles the Bald at Aachen for bedding the Empress Judith. Bernard, who seems to have been a colourful character, was the great-grandson of Charles Martel, through his daughter Aldana. His mother was Cunegonde, the daughter of Charlemagne's ineffective brother Carloman. In the tree above, we have Sanche Mitarra II's son Sanche the Hunchback, marrying Aminiana of Angoulème, who's grandmother was Dhoude.

Garcias Sanche Le Courbé 'curved', perhaps a hunchback, who was Duke of Gascony from 920 AD, was a vital key to the Delaforce history that follows. He married a cousin, Aminiare or Honorée. Garcias later became King of Navarre, ruled Gascony for 40 years, and died in 960 AD. One of his first titles in 910 was Vicecomte BRUILHOIS, an area close to Agen and Verdun. The Duke divided Gascony among his three sons, born 904-906, Sanche Garsias IV, Guillaume Sanche and Arnold Garsia. He had two natural sons, Sanche Sanche and Guillaume-Garsias, and possibly Bernard. His only daughter BRISCE married William, Duke of Aquitaine. From Sanche Garsias, the eldest, came four sons, two of them Dukes of Gascony, another Count of Agen & Bazas and Bishop of Gascony.

Auch, capital of Gascony - Inside the cathedral

The second son, Guillaume Sanche was given Fezensac & Armagnac. He was married to Gersenda of Toulouse &, since anything about Toulouse might be of interest, Ken followed her ancestors. These proved to be extremely interesting, as they included the dreadful Charlemagne, see chapter49.

The youngest son, Arnold Garcia was given Astarac.

The Duke kept Bordeaux and Agen for himself.

The Fiefs which are covered in this book and which concern the Delaforce family are:-

There is proof that the first two were Delaforce families and were closely linked to the third, the Armagnacs, by marriage.

During the re-checking of the material for this & subsequent chapters, matters became very complicated & there is a blossoming of red names on the trees. This is because tracing back the families of wives had lead to connections we had never guessed at.

Père Anselme and other French historians show the dynasty of Dukes as follows - dates are start of rule

Sanche MITARRA 872 this has to be Mitarra 2

Sanche II 890 who?

GARCIAS Sanche Le Courbé 900

Sanche GARCIAS 920

Sanche Sanche IV 950 who married Teresa Endregoto Galindez Countess De Aragón

Guillaume Sanche 960

Guillaume II 985 Comte de POITIERS, later Duke of POITOU

Bernard 990

Sanche Guillaume V 1010

Berlenguer 1032

Odo/Eudes 1033

Bernard TUMAPELER 1040 Comte d'ARMAGNAC

GUI-GUILLAUME 1070