Fulk the Black’s Character
The author suggests the legend may reflect the terror-struck imagination of the closing tenth century, when people expected the world’s end, attempting to explain the apparently s…
The Rivalry of Anjou and Blois
For more than a century after Hugh Capet, French history largely consisted of great feudatories contending for control of the crown.…
The Battle of Conquereux
Fulk’s first victory came before he was fourteen, when the death of Count Guerech of Nantes and his son Alan allowed Conan of Rennes to seize Nantes.…
Conflict with Odo II of Blois
Victory at Conquereux gave Fulk control of the entire Loire from his capital to the sea, though its richest upper stretch belonged to the count of Blois.…
CHAPITRE III.
During the ten years of turmoil following the death of Odo I and the remarriage of his widow, Fulk nearly completed a chain of fortresses stretching from Angers through Touraine up to Amboise—including Montreuil, Passavant, Maulévrier, Loudun, Mirebeau, Ste-Maure, the mighty kee…
Fulk’s Chain of Border Fortresses
Fulk Rechin, during the decade of disorder following the death of Odo I. and the re-marriage of Odo’s widow, completed a chain of border fortresses stretching from Angers in a wid…
The Execution of Countess Elizabeth (c. 1000)
The early eleventh century was an age of castle-building and apocalyptic fear, and the superstitious terrors that paralyzed gentler souls only inflamed Fulk’s restless and violent…
Fulk’s First Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
After the dread year passed and the world survived, the blood Fulk had shed at Conquereux and elsewhere, together with the ashes of his wife, began to weigh heavily on the Black C…
The Founding of Beaulieu Abbey
On his return Fulk’s first care was to build an abbey to house his relic. Across the Indre from the great keep of Loches, then rising in picturesque contrast to a church that Geof…
The Consecration Dispute and the Storm of 1012
By the time the abbey stood ready for consecration the son of Fulk and Hildegard, the future conqueror of Tours, was nearly three years old, having been nursed by a blacksmith’s w…
The Assassination of Hugh of Beauvais
Having successfully defied the Church, Fulk next ventured to defy king and count of Blois together.…
Alliance with Maine and the Choice of Lisoy
During Fulk’s absence the adherents of the count of Blois, headed by Landry of Châteaudun, plotted to expel the Angevins from Touraine, and despite a vigorous resistance by Fulk’s…
The Battle of Pontlevoy (1016)
The crisis came in the summer of 1016, when Odo of Blois gathered all his forces for an attack upon Montrichard.…
CHAPITRE III.
At the Battle of Pontlevoy, Odo of Blois was astonished to find the Angevins drawn up against him, and although his larger force initially prevailed—unseating Fulk Nerra from his horse and threatening the fate of Anjou—the timely charge of Herbert of Maine and his knights turned…
Battle of Pontlevoy
Count Odo of Blois advanced confidently to Pontlevoy trusting in the size of his host, only to discover the Angevins drawn up ready for battle.…
Herbert of Maine Turns the Tide
A messenger carried news to the Count of Maine that Fulk had been defeated and captured, prompting Herbert and his knights to ride swiftly to the rescue.…
Pontlevoy as Turning Point in Fulk’s Career
The victory at Pontlevoy marked the decisive turning point of Fulk’s career, and nine years passed before Odo recovered sufficiently to attempt any revenge.…
Fulk Receives Saintes from the Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine, to whom Fulk owed homage for Loudun, demonstrated his friendship by bestowing on him the city of Saintes.…
Herbert of Maine Entrapped at Saintes
Fulk at once used the grant of Saintes to extort something more valuable from Herbert of Maine, possibly because they had quarrelled since Pontlevoy or because Herbert had begun h…
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