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     Drusilla Davis was born before 1758.¹ She was the daughter of Thomas Davis and Anne Culver.¹
     The will of Thomas Culver of Frederick County was written November 7, 1758, in which he provides for certain payments to Drusilla Davis, eldest daughter of his sister Anne Davis.¹

     John Davis was born circa 1723. He apparently died young and the name was used again for his brother John born a few years later.¹ He was the son of Richard Davis and Ruth Warfield.¹

     Adèle Capet was born in 1009 in France.¹ She married Richard III Duke of Normandy in 1027. This may not have been a marriage but only a betrothal as it is also said Richard died mysteriously before he and Adele could marry.² Adèle married Baldwin V in 1028 at Amiens, France. As dowry to her husband, Adele was given by her father, Robert II the Pious, the title of Countess of Corbie.³ Adèle died on 8 January 1079 in Benedictine Convent of Messines, Ypres, Flanders.¹
     Adèle was also known as Adèle of France, Adela of Flanders, Adela the Holy, and Adela of Messines.¹ Adèle was a member of the House of Capet who were the rulers of France at this time. As the wife of Baldwin V, she was Countess of Flanders from 1036 to 1067.¹

Adèle and Baldwin had five children, including Matilda of Flanders (1032 - 1083). The others were Baldwin VI of Flanders (1030-1070), Robert I of Flanders (1033-1093), Henry of Flanders (c. 1035), and Sir Richard of Flanders (c. 1050-1105).¹

Adèle’s influence lay mainly in her family connections. On the death of her brother, Henry I of France, the guardianship of his seven-year-old son Philip I fell jointly on his widow, Ann of Kiev, and on his brother-in-law, Adèla's husband, so that from 1060 to 1067, they were Regents of France.

Battle of Cassel (1071)
When Adèla's third son, Robert the Frisian, was to invade Flanders in 1071 to become the new count (at that time the count was Adèla's grandson, Arnulf III), she asked Phillip I to stop him. Phillip sent troops in order to aid Arnulf, being among the forces sent by the king a contingent of ten Norman knights led by William FitzOsborn. Robert's forces attacked Arnulf's numerically superior army at Cassel before it could organize, and Arnulf himself was killed along with William FitzOsborn. The overwhelming triumph of Robert made Phillip invest him with Flanders, making the peace. A year later, Phillip married Robert's stepdaughter, Bertha of Holland, and in 1074, Phillip restored the seigneurie of Corbie to the crown.¹

Church Influence
Adèle had an especially great interest in Baldwin V’s church-reform politics and was behind her husband’s founding of several collegiate churches. Directly or indirectly, she was responsible for establishing the Colleges of Aire (1049), Lille (1050) and Harelbeke (1064) as well as the abbeys of Messines (1057) and Ename (1063).

After Baldwin’s death in 1067, she went to Rome, took the nun’s veil from the hands of Pope Alexander II and retreated to the Benedictine convent of Messines, near Ypres. There she died, being buried at the same monastery. Her commemoration day is 8 September.¹

     Richard III Duke of Normandy was born in 997.¹ He married Adèle Capet in 1027. This may not have been a marriage but only a betrothal as it is also said Richard died mysteriously before he and Adele could marry.² Richard III Duke of Normandy died in 1027 in Paris, France, at age 30 years.¹
     
Richard was the eldest son of Richard II, who died in 1027. Before succeeding his father, perhaps about 1020, he had been sent by his father in command of a large army, to attack bishop/count Hugh of Chalon in order to rescue his brother-in-law, Reginald, later Count of Burgundy, who the count/bishop had captured and imprisoned. After his father's death, he ruled the Duchy of Normandy only briefly, dying mysteriously, perhaps by poison, soon after his father. The duchy passed to his younger brother Robert.³

It has been noted that Richard had two known children by unknown women. They were: * Alice/Alix of Normandy who married Ranulf, Viscount of Bayeux and * Nicolas, the Lay Abbot of Rouen (b? - d. 27 Feb 1092). He helped his cousin, Duke William II the Conqueror with the contribution of 15 ships and 100 soldiers for the invasion of England in 1066.³

     Ralph married Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I Plantagenet, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, in 1297. They had four children.¹

     Blanche married John Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III Plantagenet, King of England and Philippa Countess of Hainault, on 19 May 1359 at Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, England. Blanche and John were third cousins.² Blanche of Lancaster Countess of Derby died on 12 September 1369 in Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire, England. Blanche died of the bubonic plague which struck England for the third time in 1369.¹
     
The marriage of John and Blanche was said to have been happy. Blanche has been described as very beautiful with pale-blonde hair, blue eyes and a serene, calm demeanor. Blanche bore John six children, three of whom survived infancy.³

When Blanche's father, John's father-in-law, Henry of Grosmont died in 1361, John received half of Henry's lands, the title Earl of Lancaster, and the distinction as the greatest landowner in the north of England, inheriting the Palatinate of Lancaster. He also became the 14th Baron of Halton. John received the rest of the inheritance when Blanche's sister, Maud, Countess of Leicester (married to William V, Count of Hainaut), died on 10 April 1362.⁴

John of Gaunt was at sea at the time of Blanche's death. Her funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral in London was preceded with a magnificent cortege attended by most of the nobility and clergy. John held annual commemorations of her death for some years thereafter.

In 1374, five years after her death, John ordered effigies made of himself and Blanche, and twenty-five years later, he was laid to rest next to Blanche.⁵

Geoffrey Chaucer was commission by John to write a poem after Blanche's death which was titled "The Book of the Duchess" (also known as The Deth of Blaunche). The poem tells the story of the poet’s dream...wandering a wood, the poet discovers a knight clothed in black, and inquires of the knight’s sorrow. The knight, meant to represent John of Gaunt, is mourning a terrible tragedy, which mirrors Gaunt's own extended mourning for Blanche. It is the earliest of Chaucer’s major poems, preceded only by his short poem, "An ABC," and possibly by his translation of The Romaunt of the Rose. Most sources put the date of composition between 1369 and 1372, though more recent studies suggest it may have been completed as early as late 1368.⁶

     
     
Payne was a Flemish herald from Hainault who was knighted just before his death in battle.²

     Philippa de Roet was the daughter of Payne (Paen) de Roet.¹ Philippa de Roet married Geoffrey Chaucer circa 1366.² Philippa de Roet died circa 1386. Her pension was collected for the last time in about 1386 and it was assumed she died soon after. She is thought to be buried at East Worldham in Hampshire, England.¹
     
Philippa Roet, was an older sister of Katherine Swynford de Roet. Philippa was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, the mother of John of Gaunt. And John of Gaunt was the friend and patron of Chaucer.²

Philippa joined the household of John of Gaunt c. 1372 for his marriage to Constance of Castile. Constance's father Peter of Castile's downfall was later the subject of one of Chaucer's writings, "O Worthie Pedro" from the The Monk's Tale in The Canterbury Tales.²

It's uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. Philippa and Geoffrey's son, Thomas Chaucer, was Speaker of the England House of Commons and one of the supporters of the new reign of Henry IV, John of Gaunt's son, who took the throne by force from his cousin Richard II. Together with his cousins, the Beauforts (offspring of sister Katherine and Gaunt), they formed an important role in solidifying Henry's government.²

     Geoffrey Chaucer was born circa 1343 in London, England.² He married Philippa de Roet, daughter of Payne (Paen) de Roet, circa 1366.¹ Geoffrey Chaucer died on 25 October 1400 in London, England. The date of his death comes from an engraving on his tomb which was erected 100 years after his death -- there is no real evidence except this for his death date. It is also speculated that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV, but the case is entirely circumstantial.² He was buried circa 1500 at Westminster Abbey, London, England, as was his right owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556 his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb, making Chaucer the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.²
     
There are few details of Chaucer's early life, but he seems to have traveled in France, Spain, and Flanders, possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. When he married Philippa de Roet, she was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and sister of Katherine de Roet Swynford who later (ca. 1396) became the third wife of Chaucer's great friend and patron, John of Gaunt, the son of King Edward and Philippa.²

Geoffrey Chaucer was commissioned by John to write a poem after Blanche's death which was titled "The Book of the Duchess" (also known as The Deth of Blaunche). The poem tells the story of the poet’s dream...wandering a wood, the poet discovers a knight clothed in black, and inquires of the knight’s sorrow. The knight, meant to represent John of Gaunt, is mourning a terrible tragedy, which mirrors Gaunt's own extended mourning for Blanche. It is the earliest of Chaucer’s major poems, preceded only by his short poem, "An ABC," and possibly by his translation of The Romaunt of the Rose. Most sources put the date of composition between 1369 and 1372, though more recent studies suggest it may have been completed as early as late 1368.

Philippa joined the household of John of Gaunt c. 1372 for his marriage to Constance of Castile. Constance's father Peter of Castile's downfall was later the subject of one of Chaucer's writings, "O Worthie Pedro" from the The Monk's Tale in The Canterbury Tales.

John of Gaunt, for so many years a friend and patron of Chaucer, near the end of his life became Chaucer's brother-in-law when in 1396 he married Katherine, sister of Chaucer's wife Philippa. John's children with Katherine were Chaucer's nieces and nephews.³

It's uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. Philippa and Geoffrey's son, Thomas Chaucer, was Speaker of the England House of Commons and one of the supporters of the new reign of Henry IV, John of Gaunt's son, who took the throne by force from his cousin Richard II. Together with his cousins, the Beauforts (offspring of sister Katherine and Gaunt), they formed an important role in solidifying Henry's government.¹