One of the families that dominated the thirteenth century were the de Montforts.
The controversial stewardship of Simon de Montfort (V) in that c.
They marry into the English aristocracy, join the crusade to the Holy Land, then another crusade in the south of France against the Cathars.
They arose in France, in a hamlet close to Paris, and grew to prominence under the crusading fervor of that time, taking them from leadership in the Albigensian wars to lordships around the Mediterranean.
One of the families that dominated the thirteenth century were the de Montforts