• General Notes

  [charlemegne.FTW]
  
  Fulk III, the Black, d. 21 June 1040, Count of Anjou; m. (2) aft . 1000, Hildegarde, d. Jerusalem, 1 Apr. 1040.
  
  Foulques III "Nerra" Comte d'Anjou was born about 970/71. He die d on 21 Jun 1040 in Metz, Moselle, Lorraine, France. He was marr ied to Hildegarde de Lorraine.
  
  Fulk III NERRA, byname FULK THE BLACK, French FOULQUES LE NOIR ( b. c. 970--d. June 21, 1040, Metz, Fr.), count of Anjou (987-104 0), the most powerful of the early rulers of the Angevin dynasty . Exposed at first to the attacks of the counts of Brittany, Ful k had to fight for a long time to defend his frontiers, finall y driving the Bretons back beyond the frontiers of Anjou. Havin g made himself master in the west, he turned his attention to th e east and came into conflict with the count of Blois, Eudes II , over the territory of Saumur and a considerable part of Tourai ne. He defeated Eudes at Pontlevoy in 1016 and surprised and too k Saumur 10 years later. A ruthless warrior who burned and pilla ged the monasteries in his path, Fulk nevertheless felt the nee d for penance, making three pilgrimages to the Holy Land and fou nding or restoring several abbeys, including those in or near An gers, Loches, and Saumur. He also built strongly fortified castl es of stone (instead of wood) along the border of his territory . For this reason he was called le Grand Btisseur ("the Great B uilder"). He died on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy La nd, having reigned 53 years.

Details of Fulk III's family with Hildegarde de Aquitaine