Ermengarde of Anjou (c. 1072-1147)
Found some info about this lady in Robert of Arbrissel: A Medieval Religious Life by Bruce Venarde.
Ermengarde, born c. 1072, was the daughter of Count Fulk IV of Anjou by his first (of five) wives, Hildegarde de Baugency. Her younger half-brothers were Geoffrey IV Martel (by stepmother #1 Ermengarde de Bourbon) and Fulk V, later King of Jerusalem (by stepmother #4, Bertrade de Montfort). Ermengarde is the same woman who is frequently, and falsely, stated to have been one of the wives of William VIII of Aquitaine. I've ranted about her "Weir'd" treatment before due to this fallacy.
Anyway, Ermengarde did marry Alain IV, duke of Brittany, in the early 1090s and afterward had quite a remarkable career. When her husband left on Crusade, Ermengarde ruled Brittany, a land described by her contemporary Baudri, bishop of Dol, as a "land of scorpions", as regent from 1096-1101. The poet Marbod de Rennes praised Ermengarde as "the glory of Brittany" (decus Armoricae regionis), lauding her eloquence and intelligence. After Alain returned from Crusade, they had three children but he seems to have had problems handling either his marriage or his county.
Ermengarde seperated from Alain about 1109 and petitioned for an annulment on grounds on consanguinity. This was when Robert d'Arbrissel wrote to her, giving her advice on her marriage. I'll quote some relevent bits:
Do not regret too much that you are bound to an infidel husband. Remember the holy woman Esther, who was married to the infidel prince Ahaseurus... And the Gospel says that an unbelieving husband will be saved through a faithful wife....
Concerning your sin of incest [the marriage to Alain] and the sin of your daughter [Hawise of Brittany, married to Baldwin VII of Flanders] whom you have given over to death: anxious and troubled, humbly and submissively, pray to God that he free you, lest you perish. You cannot be seperated from your husband by ecclesiastical law. You have done what you could; you fled. For your daughter, seek seperation by any means neccesary.
The annulment was denied, as Robert aludes to here. Alain IV abdicated in 1112 and retired to the monastery of Redon. Ermengarde remained at the Breton court, becoming influential in the government of her son, Conan III. In 1130, Ermengarde became a supporter of Bernard of Clairvaux and followed him to Burgundy. From there, Ermengarde set out with a company of nuns to Jerusalem, where her brother Fulk was now king. By this time she was already in her fifties, making the perilous journey to the Holy Land! She sent several years in Jerusalem at her brother's court (and must've known his young sons Baldwin and Amaury). After Fulk's death, Ermengarde returned to France, and died at the Breton court in 1147.
And all she's remembered by is the spurious wife of her first cousin, William VIII of Aquitaine.
Ermengarde, born c. 1072, was the daughter of Count Fulk IV of Anjou by his first (of five) wives, Hildegarde de Baugency. Her younger half-brothers were Geoffrey IV Martel (by stepmother #1 Ermengarde de Bourbon) and Fulk V, later King of Jerusalem (by stepmother #4, Bertrade de Montfort). Ermengarde is the same woman who is frequently, and falsely, stated to have been one of the wives of William VIII of Aquitaine. I've ranted about her "Weir'd" treatment before due to this fallacy.
Anyway, Ermengarde did marry Alain IV, duke of Brittany, in the early 1090s and afterward had quite a remarkable career. When her husband left on Crusade, Ermengarde ruled Brittany, a land described by her contemporary Baudri, bishop of Dol, as a "land of scorpions", as regent from 1096-1101. The poet Marbod de Rennes praised Ermengarde as "the glory of Brittany" (decus Armoricae regionis), lauding her eloquence and intelligence. After Alain returned from Crusade, they had three children but he seems to have had problems handling either his marriage or his county.
Ermengarde seperated from Alain about 1109 and petitioned for an annulment on grounds on consanguinity. This was when Robert d'Arbrissel wrote to her, giving her advice on her marriage. I'll quote some relevent bits:
Do not regret too much that you are bound to an infidel husband. Remember the holy woman Esther, who was married to the infidel prince Ahaseurus... And the Gospel says that an unbelieving husband will be saved through a faithful wife....
Concerning your sin of incest [the marriage to Alain] and the sin of your daughter [Hawise of Brittany, married to Baldwin VII of Flanders] whom you have given over to death: anxious and troubled, humbly and submissively, pray to God that he free you, lest you perish. You cannot be seperated from your husband by ecclesiastical law. You have done what you could; you fled. For your daughter, seek seperation by any means neccesary.
The annulment was denied, as Robert aludes to here. Alain IV abdicated in 1112 and retired to the monastery of Redon. Ermengarde remained at the Breton court, becoming influential in the government of her son, Conan III. In 1130, Ermengarde became a supporter of Bernard of Clairvaux and followed him to Burgundy. From there, Ermengarde set out with a company of nuns to Jerusalem, where her brother Fulk was now king. By this time she was already in her fifties, making the perilous journey to the Holy Land! She sent several years in Jerusalem at her brother's court (and must've known his young sons Baldwin and Amaury). After Fulk's death, Ermengarde returned to France, and died at the Breton court in 1147.
And all she's remembered by is the spurious wife of her first cousin, William VIII of Aquitaine.