Enguerrand IV, Lord of Coucy

Enguerrand IV, Lord of Coucy (c. 1236 1311) was the younger brother and successor of Raoul II, Lord of Coucy, serving as the powerful Sire de Coucy from his brother's death in 1250 until his own in 1311.

Biography

Enguerrand IV succeeded to the large fief established by his father, Enguerrand the Great, due to his elder brother's death on Crusade. His rule was notable for his crimes and cruelty. Setting an important medieval legal precedent, King Louis IX refused to allow him trial by combat for the hanging of three Flemish squires found on his land, and imprisoned him instead.[1] In the end, Enguerrand escaped with a fine,[2] and through his wealth remained important to the King, lending him 15,000 livres in 1265 to purchase a piece of the True Cross. He was married twice, one wife being Jeanne of Flanders, daughter of Robert III, Count of Flanders.[3] He had no children by either marriage and was succeeded by the second son of his sister, Alix, who became Enguerrand V.

References

  1. Elizabeth Hallam and Judith Everard, Capetian France 987-1328, 2nd edition, (Routledge, 2013), 314.
  2. Malcolm Barber, The Two Cities: Medieval Europe 1050–1320, 2nd edition, (Routledge, 2004), 277.
  3. Heraldry and Identity in the Psalter-Hours of Jeanne of Flanders (Manchester, John Rylands Library, MS LAT. 117), Richard A. Leson, Studies in Iconography, Vol. 32 (2011), 155.


Preceded by
Raoul II
Lord of Coucy
1250-1311
Succeeded by
Enguerrand V
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