General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> The /Black/
REFN: 4227AN
Alias:<ALIA> Nerra (The /Black)/
REFN: P4228
Fulk III (972–1040), called Nerra (that is, le Noir, "the Black") after h
is death, was count of Anjou from 987 to 1040. He was the son of Geoffr
ey Greymantle and AdelaiDe of Vermandois.
He was the founder of the Angevin dynasty. He had a violent nature and per
formed both cruelties and acts of penitence; he made four pilgrimages to t
he Holy Land. In probably his most notorious act, Fulk Nerra had his fir
st wife (and cousin) Élisabeth De Vendôme burned to death at the sta
ke in her wedding dress, after discovering her with a goatherd in Decemb
er 999.
Erdoes says of him: "Fulk of Anjou, plunderer, murderer, robber, and swear
er of false oaths, a truly terrifying character of fiendish cruelty, found
ed not one but two large abbeys. This Fulk was filled with unbridled passi
on, a temper directed to extremes. Whenever he had the slightest differen
ce with a neighbor he rushed upon his lands, ravaging, pillaging, rapin
g, and killing; nothing could stop him, least of all the commandments of G
od."
He fought against the claims of the counts of Rennes, defeating and killi
ng Conan I of Rennes at the Battle of Conquereuil in 992. He then extend
ed his power over the County of Maine and the Touraine. All of his enterpr
ises came up against the no less violent ambition of the Odo II of Bloi
s, against whom he made an alliance with the Capetians. In 1025, after cap
turing and burning the city of Saumur, Fulk reportedly cried, "Saint Flore
ntius, let yourself be burned. I will build you a better home in Angers
." But when the transportation of the saint's relics to Angers proved diff
icult, Fulk declared that Florentius was a rustic lout unfit for the cit
y, and sent the relics back to Saumur.
Fulk also commissioned many buildings. From 987 to 1040, while he was cou
nt of Anjou and fighting against the Bretons and Blois, protecting his ter
ritory from Vendôme to Angers and from Angers to Montrichard, he had mo
re than a hundred castles, donjons, and abbeys constructed. These numero
us pious foundations, however, followed his many acts of violence again
st the church.
Fulk died in 1040 in Metz.