Notes |
- REMARKS:
he joined the third crusade
- BIOGRAPHY
Raoul was born in 1134, the son of Enguerrand II de Coucy, sire de Coucy et Marle, and Agnes de Beaugency. Before 1168 he married Agnes de Hainault, daughter of Baudouin IV, count of Hainault and Adele/Ermensinde de Namur. Raoul and Agnes had three daughters, all of whom would have progeny. In 1174, after the death of Agnes, Raoul married Alix de Dreux, daughter of Robert I, comte de Dreux, du Perche, de Braine-sur-Vesle (son of King Louis VI and brother of Louis VII), and Robert's third wife Agnès de Baudement, dame de Braine, de Fère-en-Tardenois, de Nesle. Raould and Alix had five children, four sons and a daughter, three of whom would have progeny.
Raoul's wife Alix was the sister of Robert II, comte de Dreux, who in 1184 married Yolande de Coucy, daughter of Raoul and his first wife Agnes de Hainault.
In 1181 Raoul assisted King Philippe Auguste in his war against Philippe of Alsace, count of Flanders. Raoul paid homage to the king for the seigniory of Fère, which Raoul had held hitherto from the church of Laon. Roger de Rosoy, bishop of Laon, had yielded it to Philippe Auguste in 1185.
In 1190, shortly before his departure to the Holy Land with Philippe Auguste in the Third Crusade, Raoul confirmed and increased the donations that his father Enguerrand II had committed to the abbey of Clairfontaines. He also made a division of his estates and seigniories between the children born to him and Alix de Dreux. He left the bulk of his estates and seigniories to Enguerrand III. To Thomas he left Vervins, Fontaine and Landouzy. To Raoul II he left a rental income for life. To Robert he left all the properties brought to the marriage by Alix, as well as the estate of Pinon. He also stipulated that if Enguerrand should die without issue, all his estates should pass to Thomas; but if any of Enguerrand's brothers should die without issue before him, their parts should revert to Enguerrand. To Agnes he left an income for a set number of years based on the revenues from Marle and Crécy; in the event of Agnes's death before marrying, her outstanding income should be split, half to Alix, the other half to the Hospitallers, the Templars and the church of Prémontré in equal parts.
Raoul was killed in November 1191 at the siege of Acre. His body was returned to France and buried in the abbey of Foigny in Thiérache. In 1195 his widow Alix sent a force from Marle to the aid of Robert, seigneur de Pierrepont, in his war with Nicolas, seigneur de Rumigny in the diocese of Laon. In 1207 she approved all alms that Raoul had granted to the church of Prémontré. She was still alive in 1212, as witness to an agreement between her sons Robert and Thomas.
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