I posed this question back in 2005 and again in 2007, with little response each time - which only deepens the mystery for me:
I am seeking information of Florine de Bourgogne - specifically the woman who is listed as accompanying Eleanor of Aquitaine on the Second Crusade.
My problem is - I can find no trace of her historically as a "living" person at the time of the Second Crusade in any of the medieval genealogies / lineages.
Just about every book I have read on Eleanor of Aquitaine lists five "great noble ladies" who accompanied her on the Second Crusade. They are variously listed as: Mamille of Roucy, Sybilla of Flanders / Anjou, Faydida of Toulouse, Florine de Bourgogne and Torquiri de Bouillon.
The first three, Mamille, Sybilla and Faydida, are actual "historical" women of the time. I can detail their parentage and lives (to an extent). Of the other two women, Florine and Torquri, I can find no trace of their extistance. Are they just figments of one author's imagination, which the rest of us have taken for granted - and transposed into our own research. So is this a simple mistake that is being revisisted by scholars time and again.
A woman by the name of Florine de Bourgogne did exist - but died aged 14yo in 1097AD. Had this Florine's date of death been a misprint, she would have been aged 65yo at the time of the Second Crusade, and would hardly have constituted as a "contemporary" of Eleanor and her "amazons".
Similarly, I would also like any information on Torqueri of Bouillon - another woman who does not seen to have "historically" existed. I have scoured the genealogies of both Bouillon / Lorraine and Bourgogne / Burgundy to no avail.
So, if anyone has any information or further suggestions, please feel free to EMAIL MELISENDE.
(© Melisende ~~~ 2005-2007)