The centre of activities of Dreux [I] de Mello and his family was located in the duchy of Burgundy. He was presumably closely related to the seigneurs de Mello family who lived north of Paris, butthe precise connection has not yet been established as discussed in more detail in the document PARIS REGION NOBILITY. It is possible that Dreux [I] inherited property in the Auxerre/Tonnerre area from his mother, whose family background is unknown, and settled there. A contrary indication is provided by the pair of charters dated 1177, quoted below, relating to Nitry (identified as located in Tonnerre), which specify that the land was the fief of "Vuillermo de Merloto". If the latter can be identified as Guillaume Seigneur de Mello (PARIS REGION NOBILITY), this would suggest that the Burgundian properties were held by the Mello family before the marriage of Dreux [I]´s parents. Saint-Bris has been identified as Saint-Bris-le-Vineux in the county of Auxerre. The Burgundian Mello family held a position of some importance in the court of the comtes de Nevers, as shown by the prominent position in which they are named in the witness lists of charters quoted below and by the high-profile marriages of members of the family which were arranged in 13th and 14th centuries. I am grateful to Jean-Claude Chuat for his help in identifying charters in which this family is named.
--- de Mello . The identity of the father of Dreux de Mello, ancestor of the Mello family of Burgundy, has not been established. He was presumably a member of the Mello family which is set out above, but this cannot be confirmed. Dreux´s estimated birth date is consistent with Dreux having been a younger son of Dreux [II] Seigneur de Mello, born from his otherwise unrecorded second marriage to Agnes, but this is mere speculation. It is also possible that Agnes´s husband was an otherwise unrecorded brother of Dreux [II]. m as her second husband, AGNES, widow [firstly] of GUILLAUME de Garlande and [secondly] of --- Mauvoisin, daughter of ---. Her three marriages are indicated by the undated charter (dated to after 1166) under which "Robertus comes Mellenti" confirmed donations to Gournay Sainte-Marie made by "pater meus Galerannus comes et mater mea Agnes", in the presence of "Willelmus de Garlanda, Robertus Malusvicinus et Drogo de Mello fratres…"[724]. The order of the brothers in the document presumably signals their relative seniority by age, and therefore the order of their mother´s three marriages. However, the charter dated 1177 under which [her son] "Drogo de Merloto" donated property from "Mintriaci" {Nitry} to La Charité-sur-Loire, for the souls of "fratris mei Roberti et Vuillelmi ibidem sepultorum"[725], suggests that Robert Mauvoisin may have been older than Guillaume de Garlande. The order of Agnes´s marriages is not therefore clear. It is assumed that Agnes was heiress to territories in Burgundy which passed to her son Dreux. A different indication is provided by a pair of charters of La Charité-sur-Loire, dated 1177, relating to Nitry (identified as located in Tonnerre), which specify that the land was the fief of "Vuillermo de Merloto"[726]. If the latter can be identified as Guillaume Seigneur de Mello (see below), this would suggest that the Burgundian properties were held by the Mello family before the marriage of Dreux´s parents. One child