Jean, who married a daughter of Walter (VI) of Enghien, and who left no issue. This Jean des Marets died of grief upon the news of the death of his friend, Sohier, Count of Brienne, second Duke of Athens, who had been beheaded at Quesnoy at the command of Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Henault and of Holland, in 1366.

NARRATIVE by Mabel Boyce Spell, desc. Of (5-189)

Our common ancestor was David desMarets, born in 1620 at Beauchamps, near Amiens, in the district of Cambray, France. He was the son of Jean and Margrieta deHerville desMarets.
David with his parents was forced to flee from France because of their Protestant religion. They moved, in 1642, to Middleburg, on the island of Walcheren off the west coast of Holland, where they joined a colony of Belgian and French refugees. A Protestant Church had been firmly established here, and the names of Jean desMarets and family appeared as members in 1643. In this Church David married Marie Sohier, whose family had taken refuge during the first Walloon migration. The term “Walloon” was used to refer to Belgian Protestants, while the term “Huguenot” denoted French back-ground. Due to the frequently shifting boundary lines between France and Belgium, an exact date must be known in order to determine nationalities, but most of the families here were French.
Marie Sohier was the daughter of Francois and Margrieta, and is believed to have been the grand-daughter of David Sohier, a native on Mons in Hainault, who married Feb. 12, 1585 at Amsterdam, Anne Crommelin from Donay. The Sohier family also originated from the land of Cambray and bore ‘ingules a fine pointed star, argent.” In the 16 th and 17 th centuries a branch of this family had memberships in the French Reformed Church in London, England.

The marriage of David desMarets and Marie Sohier is thus recorded: “1643, 4 Juillet, Assiste de Jean Marets et Francois Sohier, Marguerite deHerville et Marguerite Sohier; David desMarets, fils de Jean, natif de Beauchamps et Marie Sohier, fille de Francois, natif de Nieppe, et le 19 Juillet. Marie le 29 juliet.” These dates show first banns July 4, second banns July 19, marriage July 29, 1643.
Two of their children were baptized in the Walloon Chuch (misspelled in original document) at Middleburg: Jean, the eldest, Apr. 14, 1645, and David June 22, 1649. The latter died in infancy and a son born two years later was given the same name.
The family moved next to Germany and in 1651 were living within the German Palatinate at Mannheim on the Rhine. French and Belgian Protestants from Holland and England were fleeing to this refuge, fearing a war between those two countries. They were drawn especially by assurances of protection and hope of religious freedom.
( http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/an/surnames.demarest/115)

THE DEMAREST HOUSE: Click here
(communiqué par Robert Demarest)

THE DESCENT OF MARIE SOHIER: Click here

You will find other elements of this genealogy on the websites: