Fulk IV | |
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Count of Anjou | |
Reign | 1068-1109 |
Born | 1043 Chateau-Landon, France |
Died | 14 April 1109 (aged 65-66) |
Fulk IV (1043–1109), called le Réchin, was a French nobleman who was the Count of Anjou from 1068 until he was deposed in 1096. He rebelled against his older brother Geoffrey III and took the countship of Anjou by force.
Fulk, born 1043,[1] was the younger son of Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais and Ermengarde-Blanche of Anjou. Ermengarde-Blanche was a daughter of Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou,[2] When Geoffrey Martel died without direct heirs he left Anjou to his nephew Geoffrey III, Fulk le Réchin's older brother.[3] Geoffrey III was not an effective count.[4] In 1062 Geoffrey failed to defend Saintonge and it was lost.[5] In 1063 the county of Maine was lost to Anjou.[5] In 1065 Geoffrey angered Archbishop Barthelemy of Tours and was excommunicated.[6]
Fulk had enough and took the countship of Anjou by force. He fought with his brother and captured him in 1067.[7] Under pressure from the Church he released Geoffrey. The two brothers started fighting again. This time Geoffrey was imprisoned for the rest of his life.[8] Substantial territory was lost to Angevin control because of Geoffrey's poor rule and the civil war that followed. Fulk was forced to give the Gâtinais to Philip I of France the king.[9] Fulk spent the rest of his reign as count trying to regain control of his barons and all the lost lands. He also struggled with Normandy trying to regain control in Maine and Brittany.[10]
In 1096 Fulk wrote a history of Anjou and its rulers titled Fragmentum historiae Andegavensis or "History of Anjou."[a][12] Only the first part of the history still exists. It describes Fulk's ancestry. The second part was thought to cover Fulk's own rule. This part has not been found. If he did write it, it is one of the first medieval works of history written by a layman.[b][14]
His first wife was Hildegarde of Beaugency.[2] Together they had a daughter:
Fulk then married Ermengarde of Bourbon in 1070. Together they had a son:
c. 1076 he married Orengarde de Châtellailon.[2]
He next married an unnamed daughter of Walter I of Brienne. This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1087. they had no children.[2]
In 1089 he married Bertrade de Montfort.[c][2] They had a son: