Born around 972∼Fulk III - Count of Anjou "le Noir" ("the Black")
Foulogues or Fulk, was the eldest son of Geoffrey I Grisonelle "Greymantle" and Adelaide of Vermandois, and grandson of Fulk II and Gerberga du Maine, Robert, Count Vermandois and Adelaide of Burgundy. He had three older sisters, Hermengarde, Gerberge and Adelaide, who married Dukes and Counts of Aquitaine, Brittany and Provence.
Fulk married his cousin, Elisabeth de Vendôme and had one daughter, Adele. Little is known of either the mother or daughter except that Elizabeth fell from a great height and after was burnt at the stake for adultery in her wedding gown after being found with a goatherd in December of 999. This would become his most notorious act of evil. Adele married Bodon, the son of Landry, Count of Nevers. Her eldest son, Bouchard, would inherit Vendrome.
Secondly, he married Hildegarde de Sundgau, the daughter of the Duke of Upper Lorraine, who was born in Jerusalem. They were married in 1005 and had two children:
* Geoffroy II d'Anjou, the next Count of Anjou
* Ermengarde-Blanche, her line leads to the Plantagenet Kings of England
Fulk III was the founder of Angevin power, only fifteen when his father died and he succeeded as the Count of Anjou, and responsible for building an estimated one hundred castles. The first castle was the Chateau de Langeais east of Angers on the banks of the Loire, starting as a wooden tower replaced and fortified with stone, and included a dungeon. However, he built the castle on the property of his life long rival and bitter enemy, Odo II, the Count of Blois, who was Fulk's equal in temperament as well as determination. The two men exchanged "towns, followers and insults throughout their lives." Odo and Fulk fought over the castle in 994, Odo died suddenly of a heart attack, and his son, Odo II, did not manage to evict Fulk from his castle. On 6 July 1016, he defeated Odo II at the Battle of Pontlevoy. Fulk's next castles would follow an encirclement of Tours, one at a time, and fortified many others.
He was known to be a natural horseman with an intense military mind that out smarted most of his combatants. He was a devout Christian, endowing or enlarging many abbeys and monasteries as well as a school for poor students although he himself never learned to write. These numerous pious foundations, however, followed many acts of violence against the church. Fulk built the great abbey at Beaulieu-lès-Loches and went on four pilgrimages to Jerusalem in an attempt to save his soul, seeking forgiveness for his many, many horrible sins.
Fulk had a violent temperament, was partial to acts of extreme cruelty as well as penitence. One description of him revealed his darker side. "Fulk of Anjou, plunderer, murderer, robber, and swearer of false oaths, a truly terrifying character of fiendish cruelty, founded not one but two large abbeys. This Fulk was filled with unbridled passion, a temper directed to extremes. Whenever he had the slightest difference with a neighbor he rushed upon his lands, ravaging, pillaging, raping, and killing; nothing could stop him, least of all the commandments of God."
Fulk fought against the claims of the counts of Rennes, defeating and killing his brother-in-law, Conan I of Rennes at the Battle of Conquereuil on 27 June 992. He then extended his power over the Counties of Maine and Touraine. In 1025, after capturing and burning the city of Saumur, Fulk reportedly cried, "Saint Florentius, let yourself be burned. I will build you a better home in Angers." However, when the transportation of the saint's relics to Angers proved difficult, Fulk declared that Florentius was a rustic lout unfit for the city, and sent the relics back to Saumur.
Fulk died in Metz while returning from his last pilgrimage. He is buried in the chapel of his monastery at Beaulieu.
Foulogues or Fulk, was the eldest son of Geoffrey I Grisonelle "Greymantle" and Adelaide of Vermandois, and grandson of Fulk II and Gerberga du Maine, Robert, Count Vermandois and Adelaide of Burgundy. He had three older sisters, Hermengarde, Gerberge and Adelaide, who married Dukes and Counts of Aquitaine, Brittany and Provence.
Fulk married his cousin, Elisabeth de Vendôme and had one daughter, Adele. Little is known of either the mother or daughter except that Elizabeth fell from a great height and after was burnt at the stake for adultery in her wedding gown after being found with a goatherd in December of 999. This would become his most notorious act of evil. Adele married Bodon, the son of Landry, Count of Nevers. Her eldest son, Bouchard, would inherit Vendrome.
Secondly, he married Hildegarde de Sundgau, the daughter of the Duke of Upper Lorraine, who was born in Jerusalem. They were married in 1005 and had two children:
* Geoffroy II d'Anjou, the next Count of Anjou
* Ermengarde-Blanche, her line leads to the Plantagenet Kings of England
Fulk III was the founder of Angevin power, only fifteen when his father died and he succeeded as the Count of Anjou, and responsible for building an estimated one hundred castles. The first castle was the Chateau de Langeais east of Angers on the banks of the Loire, starting as a wooden tower replaced and fortified with stone, and included a dungeon. However, he built the castle on the property of his life long rival and bitter enemy, Odo II, the Count of Blois, who was Fulk's equal in temperament as well as determination. The two men exchanged "towns, followers and insults throughout their lives." Odo and Fulk fought over the castle in 994, Odo died suddenly of a heart attack, and his son, Odo II, did not manage to evict Fulk from his castle. On 6 July 1016, he defeated Odo II at the Battle of Pontlevoy. Fulk's next castles would follow an encirclement of Tours, one at a time, and fortified many others.
He was known to be a natural horseman with an intense military mind that out smarted most of his combatants. He was a devout Christian, endowing or enlarging many abbeys and monasteries as well as a school for poor students although he himself never learned to write. These numerous pious foundations, however, followed many acts of violence against the church. Fulk built the great abbey at Beaulieu-lès-Loches and went on four pilgrimages to Jerusalem in an attempt to save his soul, seeking forgiveness for his many, many horrible sins.
Fulk had a violent temperament, was partial to acts of extreme cruelty as well as penitence. One description of him revealed his darker side. "Fulk of Anjou, plunderer, murderer, robber, and swearer of false oaths, a truly terrifying character of fiendish cruelty, founded not one but two large abbeys. This Fulk was filled with unbridled passion, a temper directed to extremes. Whenever he had the slightest difference with a neighbor he rushed upon his lands, ravaging, pillaging, raping, and killing; nothing could stop him, least of all the commandments of God."
Fulk fought against the claims of the counts of Rennes, defeating and killing his brother-in-law, Conan I of Rennes at the Battle of Conquereuil on 27 June 992. He then extended his power over the Counties of Maine and Touraine. In 1025, after capturing and burning the city of Saumur, Fulk reportedly cried, "Saint Florentius, let yourself be burned. I will build you a better home in Angers." However, when the transportation of the saint's relics to Angers proved difficult, Fulk declared that Florentius was a rustic lout unfit for the city, and sent the relics back to Saumur.
Fulk died in Metz while returning from his last pilgrimage. He is buried in the chapel of his monastery at Beaulieu.
Born around 972∼Fulk III - Count of Anjou "le Noir" ("the Black")
Foulogues or Fulk, was the eldest son of Geoffrey I Grisonelle "Greymantle" and Adelaide of Vermandois, and grandson of Fulk II and Gerberga du Maine, Robert, Count Vermandois and Adelaide of Burgundy. He had three older sisters, Hermengarde, Gerberge and Adelaide, who married Dukes and Counts of Aquitaine, Brittany and Provence.
Fulk married his cousin, Elisabeth de Vendôme and had one daughter, Adele. Little is known of either the mother or daughter except that Elizabeth fell from a great height and after was burnt at the stake for adultery in her wedding gown after being found with a goatherd in December of 999. This would become his most notorious act of evil. Adele married Bodon, the son of Landry, Count of Nevers. Her eldest son, Bouchard, would inherit Vendrome.
Secondly, he married Hildegarde de Sundgau, the daughter of the Duke of Upper Lorraine, who was born in Jerusalem. They were married in 1005 and had two children:
* Geoffroy II d'Anjou, the next Count of Anjou
* Ermengarde-Blanche, her line leads to the Plantagenet Kings of England
Fulk III was the founder of Angevin power, only fifteen when his father died and he succeeded as the Count of Anjou, and responsible for building an estimated one hundred castles. The first castle was the Chateau de Langeais east of Angers on the banks of the Loire, starting as a wooden tower replaced and fortified with stone, and included a dungeon. However, he built the castle on the property of his life long rival and bitter enemy, Odo II, the Count of Blois, who was Fulk's equal in temperament as well as determination. The two men exchanged "towns, followers and insults throughout their lives." Odo and Fulk fought over the castle in 994, Odo died suddenly of a heart attack, and his son, Odo II, did not manage to evict Fulk from his castle. On 6 July 1016, he defeated Odo II at the Battle of Pontlevoy. Fulk's next castles would follow an encirclement of Tours, one at a time, and fortified many others.
He was known to be a natural horseman with an intense military mind that out smarted most of his combatants. He was a devout Christian, endowing or enlarging many abbeys and monasteries as well as a school for poor students although he himself never learned to write. These numerous pious foundations, however, followed many acts of violence against the church. Fulk built the great abbey at Beaulieu-lès-Loches and went on four pilgrimages to Jerusalem in an attempt to save his soul, seeking forgiveness for his many, many horrible sins.
Fulk had a violent temperament, was partial to acts of extreme cruelty as well as penitence. One description of him revealed his darker side. "Fulk of Anjou, plunderer, murderer, robber, and swearer of false oaths, a truly terrifying character of fiendish cruelty, founded not one but two large abbeys. This Fulk was filled with unbridled passion, a temper directed to extremes. Whenever he had the slightest difference with a neighbor he rushed upon his lands, ravaging, pillaging, raping, and killing; nothing could stop him, least of all the commandments of God."
Fulk fought against the claims of the counts of Rennes, defeating and killing his brother-in-law, Conan I of Rennes at the Battle of Conquereuil on 27 June 992. He then extended his power over the Counties of Maine and Touraine. In 1025, after capturing and burning the city of Saumur, Fulk reportedly cried, "Saint Florentius, let yourself be burned. I will build you a better home in Angers." However, when the transportation of the saint's relics to Angers proved difficult, Fulk declared that Florentius was a rustic lout unfit for the city, and sent the relics back to Saumur.
Fulk died in Metz while returning from his last pilgrimage. He is buried in the chapel of his monastery at Beaulieu.
Foulogues or Fulk, was the eldest son of Geoffrey I Grisonelle "Greymantle" and Adelaide of Vermandois, and grandson of Fulk II and Gerberga du Maine, Robert, Count Vermandois and Adelaide of Burgundy. He had three older sisters, Hermengarde, Gerberge and Adelaide, who married Dukes and Counts of Aquitaine, Brittany and Provence.
Fulk married his cousin, Elisabeth de Vendôme and had one daughter, Adele. Little is known of either the mother or daughter except that Elizabeth fell from a great height and after was burnt at the stake for adultery in her wedding gown after being found with a goatherd in December of 999. This would become his most notorious act of evil. Adele married Bodon, the son of Landry, Count of Nevers. Her eldest son, Bouchard, would inherit Vendrome.
Secondly, he married Hildegarde de Sundgau, the daughter of the Duke of Upper Lorraine, who was born in Jerusalem. They were married in 1005 and had two children:
* Geoffroy II d'Anjou, the next Count of Anjou
* Ermengarde-Blanche, her line leads to the Plantagenet Kings of England
Fulk III was the founder of Angevin power, only fifteen when his father died and he succeeded as the Count of Anjou, and responsible for building an estimated one hundred castles. The first castle was the Chateau de Langeais east of Angers on the banks of the Loire, starting as a wooden tower replaced and fortified with stone, and included a dungeon. However, he built the castle on the property of his life long rival and bitter enemy, Odo II, the Count of Blois, who was Fulk's equal in temperament as well as determination. The two men exchanged "towns, followers and insults throughout their lives." Odo and Fulk fought over the castle in 994, Odo died suddenly of a heart attack, and his son, Odo II, did not manage to evict Fulk from his castle. On 6 July 1016, he defeated Odo II at the Battle of Pontlevoy. Fulk's next castles would follow an encirclement of Tours, one at a time, and fortified many others.
He was known to be a natural horseman with an intense military mind that out smarted most of his combatants. He was a devout Christian, endowing or enlarging many abbeys and monasteries as well as a school for poor students although he himself never learned to write. These numerous pious foundations, however, followed many acts of violence against the church. Fulk built the great abbey at Beaulieu-lès-Loches and went on four pilgrimages to Jerusalem in an attempt to save his soul, seeking forgiveness for his many, many horrible sins.
Fulk had a violent temperament, was partial to acts of extreme cruelty as well as penitence. One description of him revealed his darker side. "Fulk of Anjou, plunderer, murderer, robber, and swearer of false oaths, a truly terrifying character of fiendish cruelty, founded not one but two large abbeys. This Fulk was filled with unbridled passion, a temper directed to extremes. Whenever he had the slightest difference with a neighbor he rushed upon his lands, ravaging, pillaging, raping, and killing; nothing could stop him, least of all the commandments of God."
Fulk fought against the claims of the counts of Rennes, defeating and killing his brother-in-law, Conan I of Rennes at the Battle of Conquereuil on 27 June 992. He then extended his power over the Counties of Maine and Touraine. In 1025, after capturing and burning the city of Saumur, Fulk reportedly cried, "Saint Florentius, let yourself be burned. I will build you a better home in Angers." However, when the transportation of the saint's relics to Angers proved difficult, Fulk declared that Florentius was a rustic lout unfit for the city, and sent the relics back to Saumur.
Fulk died in Metz while returning from his last pilgrimage. He is buried in the chapel of his monastery at Beaulieu.
