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Until he became Duke of Aquitaine, he known as Guy-Geoffrey. He adopte d t h e f i r st name GUILLAUME when he succeeded his brother in 1058 as GUI LL A U M E V III Duke of Aquitaine, GUILLAUME VI Comte de Poitou. He extende d h i s t e r ritories, confirming his authority in Gascogne and pushing as f a r a s T o u louse. He took part in the capture of Barbastro from the Moors i n 1 0 6 4 , a lthough the town was lost soon after.
William VIII (c. 1025 - 25 September 1086), born Guy-Geoffrey (Gui-Geof f r o i ) , was duke of Gascony (1052-1086), and then duke of Aquitaine and c o u n t o f P oitiers (as William VI) between 1058 and 1086, succeeding his b r o t h e r William VII (Pierre-Guillaume).
Guy-Geoffroy was the youngest son of William V of Aquitaine by his thir d w i f e A g nes of Burgundy.[1] He was the brother-in-law of Henry III, Ho ly R o m a n E mperor who had married his sister, Agnes de Poitou.
He became Duke of Gascony in 1052 during his older brother William VII' s r u l e . G ascony had come to Aquitanian rule through William V's marriag e t o P r i s ca (a.k.a. Brisce) of Gascony, the sister of Duke Sans VI Guil he m o f G a s cony.
William VIII was one of the leaders of the allied army called to help R a m i r o I o f Aragon in the Siege of Barbastro (1064).[2] This expedition w a s t h e f i rst campaign organized by the papacy, namely Pope Alexander II , [ 3 ] a g ainst a Muslim town and stronghold in the Emirate of Zaragoza, a n d t h e p r ecursor of the later Crusades movement. Aragon and its allies c o n q u e red the city, killed and enslaved its inhabitants and collected an i m p o r t ant booty.
William married three times and had at least five children. After he di v o r c e d his first two wives, the first due to infertility, he married a t h i r d t i me to a much younger woman who was also his cousin Robert I of B u r g u n dy's daughter. This marriage produced a son, but William VIII had t o v i s i t R ome in the early 1070s to persuade the pope to recognize his c hi l d r e n from his third marriage as legitimate.
First wife: Garsende [fr] of Périgord, daughter of Count Aldabert II of P é r i g o rd (divorced November 1058), no children. She became a nun at Sain t e s .
Second wife: Matoeda (divorced May 1068)
Agnes, married Alfonso VI of Castile
Third wife: Hildegarde of Burgundy[a] (daughter of duke Robert I of Bur g u n d y )
Agnes (died 1097), married Peter I of Aragon
William IX of Aquitaine, his heir
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1023 - 1086 (62 years)