Enguerrand II was the eldest son and heir of
Hugh II, Count of Ponthieu and his wife
Bertha of Aumale, heiress of
Aumale. Enguerrand was married to
Adelaide, daughter of
Robert I, Duke of Normandy and sister of
William the Conqueror. But at the
Council of Reims in 1049, when the proposed marriage of Duke William with
Matilda of Flanders was prohibited based on
consanguinity, so was Enguerrand's existing marriage to Adelaide, causing him to be
excommunicated. The marriage was apparently annulled c.1049/50. He had given her in
dower,
Aumale, which she retained after the dissolution of their marriage. The Conqueror's uncle,
William of Arques, who had originally challenged Duke William's right to the duchy based on his illegitimacy, had been given the county of Talou by Duke William as a fief, but still defiant and on his own authority proceeded to build a strong castle at Arques. Enguerrand was allied to William of Arques by virtue of the latter being married to Enguerrand's sister. By 1053
William of Arques was in open revolt against Duke William and
Henry I of France came to William of Arques' aid invading Normandy and attempting to relieve the castle of
Arques. Duke William had put Arques under siege, but had remained mobile with another force in the countryside nearby. To relieve the siege Enguerrand was with Henry I of France and on October 25, 1053 was killed when the Normans feigned a retreat in which Enguerrand and his companions followed and were ambushed, a tactic the Normans used again to great success at the
Battle of Hastings. ==Issue==