Raoul IV of Vexin

Raoul IV of Vexin , died in 1074, was count de Valois of 1038 with 1074, then count de Vexin and of Amiens of 1063 with 1074. It was wire of Raoul III of Vexin, count de Valois, and of Adele de Breteuil.

Biography

It succeeded his father in 1038 and organized the resistance of the camp blésois to died of the count Eudes II vis-a-vis the king Henri Ier. Captured by the royal army in 1041, it changes camp and adopts the capétien, supporting its Champagne policy. It takes part then in the Bataille of Mortemer and escapes the captivity only thanks to the intervention from its vassal, Roger de Mortimer. William the Conqueror, another suzerain de Roger, will withdraw his strongholds in reprisals to him and Roger will take refuge at the court of Valois. Raoul continued to fight at the sides of king de France and will take part in the seat of Thimert in 1057.

Following the death of king Henri (1060) and regency which followed, the relations between France and Normandy softened, and a relative peace is established. In 1062, the death of the count Herbert II of Maine, encouraged Gautier III of Vexin, a cousin of Raoul to assert Maine, but it was overcome by William the Conqueror and died shortly after. Raoul inherited then Vexin and Amiens, and reconstituted with his profit the union of the three counties, separated by death from his grandfather Gautier II the White.

During this period, Normandy took importance vis-a-vis the capétiens, and Raoul, isolated by the scandal from his marriage with Anne from Kiev, preferred to be combined to the duke. Raoul died in 1074 with Péronne the February 23rd according to certain sources, or with Montdidier on September 8th according to others.

Marriages and children

He had married in first weddings Adèle of Bar-sur-Aube, girl and heiress of Nocher III, count of Bar-sur-Aube, widow of Renaud de Semur, Renaud de Joigny and Roger de Vignory. They had:

Gautier (killed in 1065), count de Bar-sur-Aube
Alix (v.1040 † 1080), countess of Valois, married to Herbert IV (1028 † 1080), count de Vermandois
Simon (1048 † 1081), count de Vexin, of Valois and Amiens
Adele, countess of Bar-sur-Aube and Vitry, married to Thibaut III, count de Blois, of Chartres, Turns, Châteaudun, of Layered branches, Troyes and Meaux
Hawise, married to Roger de Mortemer
Adelaide, married to Barthélemy, lord of Broyes

widower it remarie towards 1054 with Aliénor or Hannequez, of which one knows nothing. Raoul repudiated it to marry Anne.

Lastly, he marries towards 1062 Anne Iaroslavna, girl of Iaroslav Wise the, large-prince de Kiev, and widow of the king Henri Ier de France. This marriage made scandal, because the widow of a king of France resulting from a reigning family could not marry vassal, and the queen had to leave the court. This marriage isolated Raoul also politically, and the business went even until excommunication.

Sources

medieval Foundation for genealogy: counts de Valois and of Vexin

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