Comte Fulk III Nerra of Anjou & Ctss Hildegarde de Metz

1512882176. Comte Fulk III Nerra of Anjou & 1512882177. Ctss Hildegarde de Metz

970, Fulk d’Anjou born in Anjou, s/o 3025764352. Geoffrey d’Anjou & 3025764353. Adela de Meaux.

3/6/974, Adela donated property to Saint-Aubin d’Angers naming ‘seniore meo Gauzfredo comite’; subscribed by ‘Gauzfredi comitis, Fulconis filii eius, Gauzfredi filii eius.’

974, Fulk’s mother died.

976, Fulk with his father at the court of Duke Hugh Capet at Orleans. 

~985, Hildegarde born in Metz, France.

985, Fulk with his father at Loches in the Touraine for the dedication of a church to St. Mary.

8/20/985 at Angers, Fulk attended a court of his father.

7/3/987, Hugh Capet succeeded Louis V [Carolingian] as King of France.

7/21/987, Fulk succeeded to Anjou on the death of his father.

988, In the election charter to Saint-Aubin, Fulk did not grant the monks any judicial rights.

989, Fulk granted Marmoutier some fishing rights. (S) Communities of Saint Martin, Farmer, 1991, P71.

[–––Fulk–––]

Bef. 989, Fulk married Elisabeth de Vendome.

990, Fulk built a castle at Langeais at the junction of the rivers Roumer and Loire [2^nd oldest ‘donjon’ in France].

990, Conan I of Rennes seized Nantes, a city of Fulk’s ally Alan, Count of Nantes, who was killed in the attack. Conan delcared himself Duke of Brittany.

990, Fulk campaigned into Blois and burned the monastery of Saint Lomer.

991, Foulques Nerra asked Eudes (2558708240), Count of Blois, for permission to build a shelter for his hunting dogs on Eudes's land. (S) Road from the Past, Caro, 1996, P158. [Foulques turned the ‘shelter’ into the fortress of Langeais.]

Aft. 6/991, Fulk, with King Hugh of France, Bouchard of Vendome, and Richard of Normandy in capturing Melun and Chateaudun [where the defeated were treated severely].

5/992, Fulk began a siege the city of Nantes, which quickly surrendered. Fulk still had to deal with the garrisoned citadel. After 3 weeks, Fulk lifted the siege and returned to gather a larger army. Fulk enlisted Viscount Aimery of Thouars and Viscount Radulf of le Mans. Fulk again marched on Nantes.

7/27/992, Fulk defeated and killed Conan I of Rennes (3025764386, husband of his sister) in open combat at the battle of Conquereuil [about 40 miles north of Nantes]. Conan prepared defenses, digging of pits and filling them with water. Conan also built a rampart across the field, protected on either side by swampy ground. Fulk’s initial attack failed. Fulk called on his reserve forces, [he had a larger army] which won the battle. [Fulk did penance “for the great slaughter of Christians which occurred on the plain”.]

992, Fulk began construction of fortifications to secure his holdings; placing the castles within a day’s march of each other. [Most were earth and timber, motte-and-bailey; others were stone.] (S) Medieval Fortess, Kaufmann, 2004, P106.

993, King Hugh of France encourged Fulk Nerra of Anjou to attack Brittany and Touraine. (S) Cambridge Medieval History, Reuter, 1999, P391.

994, Fulk estabished Judicael, natural s/o Count Hoel I, as Count of Nantes.

9/994, King Hugh of France supported Fulk’s campaigning by relieving the siege of Langeais by Odo I of Blois, who became ill.

7/4/995, Fulk’s main opponent, Odo I of Blois died, leaving small children to succeed. [King Robert of France would soon marry Odo’s widow.]

By 996, Fulk had fortifited his castle at Langeais with stone.

996, Fulk, supported by Aldebert of la Marche, captured Tours and Chateauneuf; and damaged the cloister of Saint-Martin at Tours [Fulk’s ancestral burial site. Fulk humbled himself before the monks and had subsequent good relations.] (S) Living with the Dead, Geary, 1994, P107.

10/24/996, Robert II, the pious, succeeded as King of France.

997, Fulk captured the fortress of Montsoreau.

Bef. 7/25/997, Fulk’s forces driven from Tours and Chateauneuf.

998, King Robert of France rejected Fulk’s supporter Peter as ‘presul’ of Tours; putting in place Walter as treasurer of Saint-Martin.

999, Viscount Geoffrey of Bourges, and Fulk lent support to the foundation of the church of the Holy Cross at Graçay.

999, Elisabeth’s father Bouchard of Vendome allied with King Robert of France and laid siege to Bourges [which was allied with Fulk Nerra.]

12/999, Elisabeth de Vendome used her men to sieze the citadel in Angers, planning to turn it over to her father. Fulk attacked and set fire to the city. Elisabeth, [supposedly] captured after after falling from the citadel, died when Fulk [supposedly] burned her at the stake on a charge of adultery. [It does appear that she “burned to death”, either in the citadel, which Fulk set afire, or at the stake.]

1/17/1000, Fulk provided the cathedral of Angers with the income from half of the tolls collected at the bridge across the Mayenne at Angers.

1000, Fulk built the stone castle at Montrevault.

9/1001, Fulk appointed Hubert of Vendome as a new abbot at Saint-Aubin.

1001, King Robert of France divorced Bertha and married Constance of Arles, Fulk’s cousin. [King Robert would keep Bertha as a consort for many years.]

1002, Fulk built the stone castle at Mirebeau. (S) Viator Medieval and Renaissance Studies, V10, 1979, P117.

9/1003, Fulk announced his intention to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Fulk “was terrified by the fear of Gehenna went to the sepulchre of the Savior in Jerusalem.” (S) Haskins Society Journal, Patterson, 2003, P66.

Winter/1004, Fulk went on a pilgrimage to Jersusalem, leaving his half-brother Maurice to rule the Angevin state. (S) English Historical Review, 1907, P563.

1004, Count Odo II of Blois allied with his brother-in-law Richard, duke of Normandy in a coordinated attack on Fulk in Anjou from west and east. [The campaign never occurred, apparently because of King Robert of France.]

12/25/1004, Fulk, returning from the pilgrimage, attended the Christmas court held by Duke William of Aquitaine at the monastery of Maillezais [the Duke’s wife being Fulk’s cousin Adalmode.]

By 1005, Elizabeth died.

1005, Fulk campaigned into Berry; lands of the house of Blois.

7/12/1005, Bishop Renaud II of Angers died. For the next year [until 6/13/2006], Fulk had the revenues of the episcopal vacancy.

7/1005, at Chartre-sur-le-Loir; Fulk met with his former brother-in-law, Bishop Renaud of Paris, Abbot Theobald of Cormery, and half-brother Maurice, Viscount Hubert of Vendôme, as well as many other magnates.

1005-6, Fulk completed his castle of Montbazon, on lands belonging to the monastery of Comery. (S) Medieval Military Technology, DeVries, 2012, P225.

1005-6, Fulk of Anjou and King Robert publically reconciled.

 [–––Fulk & Hildegarde–––]

By 1/1006, Fulk married 2^nd Hidegarde.

6/1006, Vicount Hubert of Vendome gives the church of Maze to Count Fulk Nerra to obtain the bishopric of Angers for his son Hubert. [Consecrated 6/13/1006.]

1007, Fulk Nerra built Chateau-Gontier, above the Mayenne river, in the ‘curtis’ of Bazouges, on lands belonging to Saint-Aubin. [‘Fulco Andegavorum comes atque Hildegardis conjunx mea’ founded the monastery of La Charité Sainte-Marie d´Anjou.]

1007, Fulk visited Rome and had an audience with Pope John XVIII, getting support for the new foundation.

1008, Fulk Nerra arranged for the murder of the king’s favourite Hugh of Beauvais, count palatine. 12 of his men killed Hugh, who at the time was hunting with King Robert. Fulk, providing protection for the killers, was declared guilty of treason according to Roman law by a group of secular judges. [Fulk got out of this predicament by agreeing to make another pilgrimage.] (S) New Cambridge Medieval History, V3, Reuter, 1999, P392. [King Robert had travelled to Rome at the instance of Hugh in an attempt to get a divorce from Fulk’s cousin Constance. King Robert’s lover was the widow of Odo I of Blois.]

1008, Fulk’s nephew Count Geoffrey-Berengar of Rennes died; reducing the threat on his wester frontier.

3/1010, Fulk in Angers [possibly returning from pilgrimage – which is highly debated.]

1010, Fulk expanded the castle of Langeais with a rectangular keep of 3 stories. (S) Life in a Medieval Castle, Gies, 2010, P236.

3/1/1011, Monks passing through Angers, while stopping to attend mass, noted that ‘they feared Count Fulk.’

1011, Fulk took personal control of Chateauneuf.

5/1012, Fulk’s abbey of Beaulieu-lez-Loche consecrated. [Called Fulk’s “Battle Abbey”, it was adorned with friezes showing scenes from the Battle of Conquereuil.] (S) War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture, Smith, 2011, P65.

1012, Restoration begun on the church of St. Martin, Angers, at the instance of Count Fulk and Countess Hildegardis. [The remains of St. Lupus, 7^th-century bishop of Angers, was discovered in the restoration.]

1013-4, Fulk at War with Count Hugh III of Maine [who soon died.]

1014, Count Herbert I ‘Wake-Dog’ of Maine, a minor, submitted to Fulk. [Fulk controlled western Maine as far north as Mayenne. (S) Medieval Warfare, France, 2006, P227.]

7/1015, Fulk advanced into the Touraine to retake the stronghold of Montbazon [which he captured after a several-month siege.]

1016, Fulk laid siege to the city of Tours. When Fulk learned that Odo II was coming to end the siege, he moved his forces up-river to Amboise. Learning more of Odo’s moverments, he moved to intercept him at Pontlevoy.

7/6/1016, Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, and Count Herbert of Maine, defeated Odo II at the battle of Pontlevoy. [Fulk led the charge against Odo. Fulk’s horse went down. Fulks standard bearer, Sigebrannus, was either killed or wounded, and the standard fell; causing Fulk’s forces to withdraw from the field. Herbert of Maine then flanked the forces of Odo and won the battle.]

1017, Fulk permitted Count Herbert I ‘Wake-Dog’ to succeed his father in Maine.

1017, Fulk built a motte castle, St-Cyr-sur-Loire, near Tours. (S) Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare, Bradbury, 2004, P211.

1/17/1020, ‘Fulco Andecavorum comes’ relinquished rights to the bishop of Angers ‘pro anima patris mei Gauffredi et matris Adelæ.’

6/9/1017 at Compiegne, Fulk attended the crowning [‘rex designatus’] of King Robert’s son Hugh Magnus.

1018, Fulk met with William of Aquitaine, who sought his advice.

1020, Fulk sought the first abbot of his new monastery of St. Nicholas from the monastery of Marmoutier.

12/1/1020, Bishop Hubert dedicated the abbey of St. Nicholas, founded by Count Fulk Nerra.

1021, Fulk launched a raid towards Saumur. By treaty, Fulk stopped his advance and began building at fortress at Treves in the Loire valley. During this time Odo II, count of Blois, laid siege to Montboyau.

6/1021, Fulk had rallied forces and lifted the siege of Montboyau.

12/25/1221, Fulk is ruling Vendomois. (S) State-Building in Medieval France, Bachrach, 1976, P153.

10/1022-10/1023, Fulk gave to St. Nicholas, for the sustenance of the monks and the poor, his own properties above the banks of the Brionneau, his mother’s vines and orchard in Pre-d’Alloyau, more than 12 arpents of meadows … in exchange for half the church of La Poueze … men of the monaster … service to be demandon only in case of war …

12/1022, Count Fulk at a large gathering at Vendome.

3/1023, King Robert and Count Fulk of Anjou met near Vihiers.

3/1025 at Saintes, Count Fulk captured and imprisoned Count Herbert Wake-Dog of Maine; taking control of the county.

9/17/1025, King Robert’s heir, Hugh Magnus, died [to be succeed by 2^nd son Henry.]

6/1026, Count Odo II of Blois again attacked the castle of Fulk Nerra at Montboyau; part of the fortifications protecting Tours. Odo built a siege engine, a ‘wooded tower of great height’. Fulk, instead of attacking Odo, launched an attack on, and captured Saumur, burning the monastery of St. Florent. Odo had to lift his siege. (S) History of the Early Medieval Siege, Purton, 2009, P157.

3/1027, Fulk released Count Herbert Wake-Dog of Maine on agreements that he held Maine of Fulk

8/1027, Fulk and Odo II reached an agreement at Odo’s siege of Saumur. Fulk would get Saumur, and Odo would destroy the fortress at Montboyau near Tours.

4/1028, Count Fulk and Count Odo II appeared together at the court of King Robert of France.

1028, Fulk built the fortress of Montfacon in the Mauges region.

7/14/1028, Fulk, Hildegarde and son Geoffrey at the dedication of the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Ronceray, restored at the instance of Hildegarde. [‘Fulco Andecavorum comes et uxor mea Hildegardis filius quoque noster Goffridus’ donated the bridge of Mayenne to the monastery of La Charité Sainte-Marie d´Anjou. Fulk names his parents Geoffrey and Adela.]

1029, Count Fulk gave gifts to Ronceray and St. Martin.

By 1030, Fulk gave his son Geoffrey Martel control of Saumur.

7/20/1031, Henry I became King of France on the death of his father King Robert.

1/31/1032, Geoffrey Martel recognized as Count of Vendome by his father Fulk on his marriage to Agnes, d/o Otto-William, count of Macon [and widow of William of Aquitaine.].

4/1032 at Orleans, Baldwin of Flanders, Fulk Nerra, Robert of Burgundy, Robert of Normandy, Herbert of Maine, and Odo II of Blois some of the great magnates at the court of King Henry I.

1032, Fulk’s son Geoffrey rebelled against his father.

1032, Foulques Nerra, Comte d´Anjou, transmitted ‘honor Vindocinensis’ to his only daughter by his first wife [Adela.]

1032, Another fire destroyed Angers [supposedly started by Fulk, for which he would again pledge penance through a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.]

12/6/1032, Bishop Hubert and Count Fulk acted together to extend the rights of Fulk’s monastery of St. Nicholas to address burials.

1033, Queen Constance, mother of King Henry I of France, gave half of Sens to Odo, count of Blois, which Odo occupied. Duke Robert of Normandy came to King Henry’s assistance. Others supporting King Henry were Fulk Nerra of Anjou and Baldwin of Flanders.

1033, The 1000th anniversary of the death of Christ; a year of famine and torrential rain in France. (S) The Age of Pilgrimage, Sumpton, 2003, P190.

1033-4, Fulk and son Geoffrey met at Saint-Florent-le-Vieil take measures to secure the Mauges region from the attacks of Count Budic of Nantes. They built a defensive complex near Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, funded from monastery rights granted during the Carolingian era to collect tolls from ships passing on the river.

1034, Fulk and son Geoffrey build strongholds near Saint-Florent-le-Vieil.

1035, Geoffrey in conflict with his father Fulk.

1036, Fulk and his son Geoffrey were reconciled. [In order to regain the favour of his father, Geoffrey walked several miles with the saddle over his shoulders, prostrated himself before his father, who put a foot on the saddle on his back.] (S) Ritual and Politics, Dalewski, 2008, P52.

12/1036, Fulk assented to Bishop Hubert’s choice of Walter as abbot of St. Aubin.

1037, A charter recording the birth [in 1006] of ‘Gaufridus Martellus … pater eius Fulcho … comes Andecavorum filius Gaufridi Fortissimi comitis qui cognominatus est Grisia Gonella’; and records donations to Saint-Aubin d'Angers.

11/15/1037, Odo II died at the battle of Commercy. Fulk used the opportunity to make an expedition into the Touraine to recapture Langeais.

6/1038, Thibaut II of Blois lost Langeais to Fulk Nerra of Maine.

[Undated] ‘Fulco Andecavorum comes et uxor mea Hildegardis filius quoque noster Goffridus’ donated the bridge of Mayenne to the monastery of La Charité Sainte-Marie d´Anjou.

1038-9, Fulk made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

6/21/1040, Fulk ‘the black’ died at Metz, returning from his pilgrimage; buried at Beaulieu-lez-Loche, Abbaye de Saint-Pierre; succeeded by his son Geoffrey Martel.

[–––Hildegarde–––]

Aft. 1040, ‘Hildegardis comitissa’ relinquished rights in favour of the oratory of Toussaint.

[Undated] ‘Joffredus Andecavorum comes … michi matronis domna Hildgalde comitissa genitrice mea simulque conjuge mea Agnosze’ donated ‘curte Petre’ to the monastery of La Charité Sainte-Marie d´Anjou.

Hildegarde became a nun at Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Ronceray [which she had founded.]

By 1045, the nuns of the abbey wrote “God-fearing and most pious of countesses, Lady Hildegarde, born of royal stock, … led from the Lotharingian territories … in order to restore those churches which were devastated in the past.”

4/1/1046, Hildegard died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; buried at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.

(S) Fulk Nerra, Bachrach, 1993. (S) Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. (S) A Bishop and His World, Fanning, 1988. (S) England Under the Angevin Kings, V1, Norgate, 1887, P134ff.

Child of Fulk and Elisabeth:

i. Adela d’Anjou, born by 999 in Anjou.

1005, Adela married to Bodon de Nevers.

By 1020, On the death of her brother, Adela became the heir to Vendome.

1031, Adela gave the honor of Vendome to her brother Geoffrey.

By 2/26/1035, Adela died.

Children of Fulk and Hildegarde:

i. Comte Geoffroy Martel d’Anjou, born 10/14/1006 in Loches, Anjou.

1032, Geoffrey married Agnes of Burgundy (6051529339), widow of William V of Aquitiane.

4/31/1040, ‘Goffridi comitis Andegavorum, Agnetis conjugis suæ’ founded the abbey of La Trinité de Vendôme.

6/21/1040, Geoffrey succeeded his father as Geoffrey I Martel, Comte d’Anjou.

1041, ‘Theobaldi filii Odonis Campaniensis’ of Blois lost Tours to Geoffrey Martel. [But later recaptured the town.]

1043, Geoffrey Martel, supported by King Henry of France, began a siege of Tours.

8/21/1044, Thibaut III of Blois and his brother Stephen, assisted by Geoffrey of Chaumont, in an attempt to end a siege of Tours being conducted by Geoffrey Martel, clashed at the battle of Nouy.

1049, King Henry of France, with the support of Duke William, captured Mouliherne near Anges in Anjou against the forces of Geoffrey Martel. Geoffrey retaliated by taking Ste-Maure.

By 1050, Geoffrey divorced Agnes.

1051, Herbert of Maine attacked at Le Mans by Geoffrey Martel.

1051, Duke William of Normandy began a siege of Domfront, held for Geoffrey Martel of Anjou.

8/1051, Thibaut III of Blois and Geoffrey Martel both signatories to a charter.

1052, King Henry of France “radially reversed his system of alliances.” Geoffrey Martel became a strong ally. Their primary objective in the alliance was the growing power of Duke William.

1054, In response to the invasion of King Henry I of France, Duke William built a castle at Ambrieres in northern Maine; and captured the castle of Geoffrey of Mayenne, who was allied with Geoffrey Martel.

1055, ‘Gaufredus comitatus Andecavensis naturalis heres’ made donations to Marmoutier in which he names ‘nepotibus meis … Gaufredo et altero Fulcone.’ [Sons of his sister Ermengarde.]

8/1057, Duke William had to repel the forces of King Henry I of France invading Normandy with Geoffrey Martel.

1060, ‘Gaufridi comitis Andegavensium … comitissæ Adelaidis Teutonicæ’ subscribed the charter which founded the priory of Laudun, under the direction of Tournus abbey.

11/14/1060, Count Geoffrey knighted by his nephew Fulk le Rechin.

1060-61, Count Geoffrey Martel of Anjou [the Hammer] died leaving Fulk le Reichin [“the Snarler”] the Saintogne region. [Fulk’s older brother, Geoffrey the Bearded, got the heartlands of Anjou.]

ii. Ermengard of Anjou (756441089), born 1018 in Anjou.