Fulk, IV 'le Rechin' Count of Anjou

Male Abt 1043 - 1109  (~ 66 years)


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  • Name Fulk , IV 'le Rechin' Count of Anjou  [1
    Suffix IV 'le Rechin' Count of Anjou 
    Born Abt 1043  [2
    Gender Male 
    Died 14 Apr 1109  [2
    Notes 
    • He married unknown daughter of Walter I, Comte de Brienne and Eustachie. He married, firstly, Ermengarde de Bourbon, daughter of Archambaud IV de Bourbon, Sire de Bourbon and Philippa d'Auvergne, circa 1070. He married, secondly, Ermengarde de Chatel-Aillon, daughter of Isambert de Chatel-Aillon, Seigneur de Chatel-Aillon, on 21 January 1076. He married, thirdly, Bertrada de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Sire de Montfort l'Aumari and Agnes d'Evreux, circa 1089. He and Ermengarde de Chatel-Aillon were divorced circa 1080. He and Bertrada de Montfort were divorced on 15 May 1092. Fulk IV 'le Rechin', Comte d'Anjou also went by the nick-name of Fulk 'Rechin' (or in English, Fulk 'the Rude'). He gained the title of 7th Comte d'Anjou in 1067.

      Fulk IV (in French Foulques IV) (1043 - 14 April 1109), called le Réchin, was the Count of Anjou from 1068 until his death. The nickname by which he is usually referred has no certain translation. Philologists have made numerous very different suggestions, including "quarreler", "rude", "sullen", "surly" and "heroic".

      Life

      He was the younger son of Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais (sometimes known as Aubri), and Ermengarde of Anjou, a daughter of Fulk the Black, count of Anjou, and sister of Geoffrey Martel, also count of Anjou.

      When Geoffrey Martel died without direct heirs he left Anjou to his nephew Geoffrey III of Anjou, Fulk le Réchin's older brother.

      Fulk fought with his brother, whose rule was deemed incompetent, and captured him in 1067. Under pressure from the Church he released Geoffrey. The two brothers soon fell to fighting again, and the next year Geoffrey was again imprisoned by Fulk, this time for good.

      Substantial territory was lost to Angevin control due to the difficulties resulting from Geoffrey's poor rule and the subsequent civil war. Saintonge was lost, and Fulk had to give the Gâtinais to Philip I of France to placate the king.

      Much of Fulk's rule was devoted to regaining control over the Angevin baronage, and to a complex struggle with Normandy for influence in Maine and Brittany.

      In 1096 Fulk wrote an incomplete history of Anjou and its rulers titled Fragmentum historiae Andegavensis or "History of Anjou", though the authorship and authenticity of this work is disputed. Only the first part of the history, describing Fulk's ancestry, is extant. The second part, supposedly describing Fulk's own rule, has not been recovered. If he did write it, it is one of the first medieval works of history written by a layman.

      Family

      Fulk may have married as many as five times; there is some doubt regarding the exact number or how many he repudiated.

      His first wife was Hildegarde of Beaugency. After her death, before or by 1070, he married Ermengarde de Bourbon in 1070, and then in 1076 possibly Orengarde de Châtellailon. Both these were repudiated (Ermengarde de Bourbon in 1075 and Orengarde de Chatellailon or Châtel-Aillon in 1080), possibly on grounds of consanguinity.

      By 1080 he may have married Mantie, daughter of Walter I of Brienne. This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1087. Finally, in 1089, he married Bertrade de Montfort, who was apparently "abducted" by King Philip I of France in or around 1092.

      He had two sons. The eldest (a son of Ermengarde de Bourbon), Geoffrey IV Martel, ruled jointly with him for some time, but died in 1106. The younger (a son of Bertrade de Montfort) succeeded him as Fulk V.

      He also had a daughter by Hildegarde of Beaugency, Ermengarde, who married firstly with William IX, count of Poitou and duke of Aquitaine and secondly with Alan IV, Duke of Brittany.
    Person ID I16  Bosdet Genealogy
    Last Modified 16 May 2013 

    Father Geoffrey, II Count of Gâtinais,   d. Between 1043 and 1046 
    Relationship Natural 
    Mother Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess of Burgundy,   b. Between 1010 and 1018, Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 21 Mar 1075/76, Fleurey-sur-Ouche, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 66 years) 
    Relationship Natural 
    Married Abt 1035  [3
    Family ID F14  Group Sheet

    Family 1 Bertrada de Montfort,   b. 1070,   d. 14 Feb 1116/17  (Age 47 years) 
    Married Abt 1089  [4
    Children 
     1. Fulk, V Count of Anjou,   b. Abt 1092, Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Nov 1144, Acre, Israel Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 52 years)
    Family ID F8  Group Sheet

    Family 2 Hildegard de Baugency,   d. Bef 1070 
    Children 
     1. Ermisende d'Anjou,   d. 01 Jun 1146
    Family ID F9  Group Sheet

    Family 3 Ermengarde de Bourbon 
    Married Abt 1070  [5
    Children 
     1. Geoffrey d'Anjou, 8th Comte d'Anjou IV,   b. Abt 1073,   d. 19 May 1106, Candé, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 33 years)
    Family ID F10  Group Sheet

  • Sources 
    1. [S174] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulk_IV_of_Anjou.

    2. [S177] Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, Charles Mosley, (Name: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd; Location: Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A; Date: 2003;).

    3. [S191] Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, 2nd edition, Jirí Louda and Michael MacLagan, (Name: Little, Brown and Company; Location: London, U.K.; Date: 1999;).

    4. [S174] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrade_de_Montfort.

    5. [S178] thePeerage.com, Darryl Lundy, (Location: Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand;).