Foulques (Anjou) d'Anjou (abt. 870 - abt. 938)

Born about 0870 in France

Ancestors

Husband of Roscille (Loches) Anjou — married 0897 in Anjou, Rh

Descendants

Died about 0938 at about age 68 in Tours, Puy-de-Dome, Auvergne, France

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Biography

Name and Titles

• Fulk I of Anjou ^[1]
• He was called the Red.^[1]
• Foulques I "le Reux" (Fulk the Red, Fulco Rufus)^[2]
• Viscount of Angers, before 898-931×940. ^[2]
• Count of Anjou, 931×940 (or 929)-after 941.^[2]
• Count of Nantes, 907×9-914×9.^[2]
• Viscount of Tours, before 905-before 909.^[2]
• Abbot of Saint-Aubin d'Angers and Saint-Lézin, before 924-after 941.^[2]

870 Birth

Foulques' date and place of birth is unknown. Baldwin notes that "an estimate of 870 or a little earlier should not be far off, given his long career." ^[2]

Foulques' father was Ingelger. "The name of Foulques's father is confirmed by a charter of 929, but nothing else is known about him." No facts are confirmed for his mother. There is legendary ancestry associated with both. ^[2]

Fulk I of Anjou was born about 870. He was the son of viscount Ingelger of Angers and Resinde "Aelinde" D'Amboise.^[1]

Legendary Ancestry

Although the 929 charter mentioned above confirms that the father of Foulques was named Ingelger, contemporary records tell us nothing further about this Ingelger, or about other ancestors of Fulk. A history of the counts of Anjou compiled in the twelfth century, Gesta Consulum Andegavorum, purports to give an account of the ancestors of Foulques.....Another rescension of the Gesta Consulum Andegavorum claims to give more details about how Ingelger obtained his lands. It tells of an elder Ingelger who married Adèle, daughter and heiress of "consul" Geoffroy of Gâtinais, and who obtained Gâtinais as a result of this marriage. After the death of this elder Ingelger, his widow is falsely accused of adultery and murder by a certain Guntrannus, parens (i.e., relative) of her husband, and her godson, Ingelger, son of Torquatius (an obvious error for Tertullus), defends her by fighting Guntrannus in single combat, as a result of which the younger Ingelger receives her lands. This fanciful story illustrates the extent to which legend and romance has crept into the tale. ^[2]

Given the contemporary evidence which shows the gradual rise of Foulques, first without title, then as viscount, finally as count, most scholars have rejected the legendary account of Foulques's ancestors in Gesta Consulum Andegavorum.

• Possible mother: Aelendis, niece of Regino, bishop of Angers, and of Adalard, bishop of Tours.
• Supposed grandfather (probably mythical): Tertullus.
• Supposed grandmother (probably mythical): Petronilla, consanguinea of Hugues "the Abbot", d. 886.
• Supposed great-grandfather (probably mythical): Torquatius alias Tortulfus.

Marriage to Roscille

Foulques married Roscille, the daughter of Garnier (Warnerius) and Tescende. Roscille died after 929. "In the seventh year of king Raoul, Fulco (Foulques), his wife Roscilla, and his sons Widdo (Gui) and Fulco, gave a donation to Saint-Aubin d'Angers for the benefit of his soul and the souls of his father (genitor) Ingelgerius, his son Ingelgerius, his father-in-law Warnerius and the latter's wife Tescenda." ^[2]

He married Rosalie de Loches. ^[1]

It could be noted that Gesta Consulum Andegavorum does correctly identify the parentage of Foulques's wife Roscille, and that bishops Regino and Adalard are known to have been brothers. ^[2]

886 Witness to Charter

Foulques (Fulco) first appears as a witness to a charter of count (later king) Eudes, abbot of of Saint Martin de Tours, in April 886 ^[2].

898 First Appearance as Viscount

He first appears with the title of viscount in a charter of viscount Hardrad of Tours on 29 September 898 ^[2]

He was the first count of Anjou from 898 to 941. He increased the territory of the viscounty of Angers and it became a county around 930. During his reign he was permanently at war with the Normans and the Bretons. ^[1]

907 Occupation of Nantes

He occupied the county of Nantes in 907, but abandoned it to the Bretons in 919. ^[1]

914 Count of Nantes

As shown by Werner, this use of the comital title by Foulques comes from a brief period when he was count of Nantes, confirmed by the appearance of Foulques as count of Nantes and viscount of Angers in a charter of count (later king) Robert, abbot of Saint-Martin de Tours, dated 31 March 914 [S. Fulconis Namnetens. comitis et Andegavensis vicecomitis, Werner (1958), 287], and by the statement of the Chronicle of Nantes that Foulques ("Fulco Ruffus") had possessed Nantes [Chr. Nantes, 122].

Foulques had apparently obtained the countship of Nantes between 907 (the death of Alain le Grand) and 30 October 909, and lost it before 919 [see the detailed discussion in Werner (1958), 265-8, 284-8].

924 Abbott

"He appears as abbot and viscount in a charter of a certain Fulculf dated 13 August 924...and calls himself count of the Angevins and abbot of Saint-Aubin d'Angers and Saint-Lézin in a charter of 929.

941 Death

Foulques was still living in August 941, when he signed a charter along with his son Foulques. Foulques I died after 13 August 941 when he and his son both witnessed a charter. Baldwin notes "given his long career, he probably did not live long after 941. Place of Death unknown. ^[2]

He died around 942 and was succeeded by his son Fulk II. ^[1]

Issue

Identified by Stewart Baldwin

1. Ingelger d. before 929 (probably 927).^[2]
2. Guy or Gui d' Anjou d. between 966 and 985, canon of Saint-Martin de Tours; bishop of Soissons, 937-966×985. He became bishop of Soissons in 937 in succession to Abbo. Gui was still living in 966, as a charter of Geoffroy I (son of Foulques II) mentions Geoffroy's avunculus bishop Widdo.^[2]
3. Foulques (Anjou) d'Anjou. Foulques II "le Bon", d. after 958, count of Anjou, after 941-after 958, m. Gerberge.^[2]

Others currently Linked

1. Roscille (Anjou) Bretagne. In addition to the legendary ancestry of Foulques, some sources provide him with an additional child: Supposed child (doubtful): Roscille, m. Alain Barbetorte, d. 952, count of Vannes, duke of Brittany....There is some confusion here "possibly related to the fact that Foulques II married the widow of Alain Barbetorte. ^[2]
2. Adele (Anjou) de Vexin. "Conjectured additional daughter (more probably a granddaughter): Adèle, m. Gautier I, count of Valois, Vexin, and Amiens. Gautier I of Valois/Vexin/Amiens and his wife Adèle had children Gautier II, Gui (bishop of Soissons), Raoul, Geoffroy, and Foulques." Baldwin notes factors suggesting that Adele was in the family of the counts of Anjou, but "it is chronologically more probable that Adèle was a daughter of Foulques II, a relationship which would also more easily explain the appearance of the name Geoffroy among the sons of Gautier I and Adèle."^[2] Adele's profile needs to be linked as a daughter of Foulques II.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Fulk I of Anjou Accessed 20 April 2010.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18} Steward Baldwin, compiler. Foulques I, the Henry Project. First uploaded 11 May 2006. Revised 30 April 2016. Refer to page for extensive bibliography. http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/fulk0001.htm. Accessed May 8, 2017. jhd

Acknowledgements

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