General Notes

REFN: 4152AN
Alias:<ALIA> /Rechin/
REFN: P4153
Source:  Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir, Ballantine Books, 1999
Fulk IV of Anjou (1043–1109), also known as Fulk le Réchin, was count of A
njou from 1068 to 1109.
The nickname by which he is usually referred has no certain translation. P
hilologists have made numerous very different suggestions, including "quar
reler", "sullen", and "heroic".
He was the younger son of Geoffrey (sometimes known as Alberic), cou
nt of Gâtinais, and ErmengarDe of Anjou, a daughter of Fulk Nera, cou
nt of Anjou, and sister of Geoffrey Martel, also count of Anjou.
When Geoffrey Martel died without direct heirs he left Anjou to his neph
ew Geoffrey IV of Anjou, Fulk le Réchin's older brother.
Fulk fought with his brother, whose ruled was deemed incompetent, and capt
ured him in 1067. Under pressure from the Church he released Geoffrey. T
he two brothers soon fell to fighting again, and the next year Geoffrey w
as again imprisoned by Fulk, this time for good.
Substantial territory was lost to Angevin control due to the difficulti
es resulting from Geoffrey's poor rule and the subsequent civil war. Saint
onge was lost, and Fulk had to give the Gâtinais to Philip I of Fran
ce to placate the king.
Much of Fulk's rule was devoted to regaining control over the Angevin baro
nage, and to a complex struggle with Normandy for influence in Maine and B
rittany.
In 1096 Fulk wrote an incomplete history of Anjou and its rulers, though t
he authorship and authenticity of this work is disputed. If he did write i
t, it is one of the first medieval works of history written by a layman.
Fulk may have married as many as five times; there is some doubt regardi
ng two of the marriages.
His first wife was ErmengarDe De Beaugency. After her death he married Erm
engarDe De Borbon, and then possibly ErmengarDe De Châtellailon. Both the
se were repudiated, possibly on grounds of consanguinity.
Next he married BertraDe De Montfort, who apparently left him for Phil
ip I of France. Finally, he may have married a daughter of Walter of Brien
ne.
He had two sons. The eldest (a son of ErmengarDe De Borbon), Geoffrey Mart
el II, ruled jointly with his father for some time, but died in 1106. T
he younger (a son of BertraDe De Montfort) succeeded as Fulk V.
He also had a daughter, Ermengarde, who married William VII the Young, cou
nt of Poitou and duke of Aquitaine.