Yes, 5 of his children are my direct ancestors.
Degree of relationship becomes quite the poser with multiple kinship. I have an Australian cousin with whom I am related through her mother's line (both sides for me). Back in the era where all the connections happen that connect us, I have repeatedly gotten myself into pedigree collapse, for example I am descended from 2 of Philippe Matou's daughters, my cousin from a third. Repeat the scenario with 2 Garnier sisters for me, my cousin having the 3rd. We have others also. It's all pretty far back in time, and wikitree program will only calculate the closest relationship, which works out to 9th cousins or so. But multiply that by the number of common ancestry we have, and it gets closer to 7th cousins.