Bertrade de Montfort (c. 1070 – 14 February 1117) was
Queen of France by her marriage to
Philip I of France. Initially married to
Fulk IV, Count of Anjou, she left him and married Philip. Later she founded a daughter house of
Fontevraud Abbey at Haute-Bruyeres.
Life
She was the daughter of
Simon I de Montfort and Agnes of
Evreux. Her brother was
Amaury de Montfort.
In 1089, Bertrade and
Fulk, Count of Anjou were married, and they became the parents of a son,
Fulk Fulk is an old European personal name, probably deriving from the Germanic ''folk'' ("people" or "chieftain"). It is cognate with the French Foulques, the German Volk, the Italian Fulco and the Swedish Folke, along with other variants such as Fulk ...
. In 1092 she left her husband to live with King
Philip I of France. Philip married her on 15 May 1092, despite the fact that they both had spouses living. He was so enamoured of Bertrade that he refused to leave her even when threatened with
excommunication.
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...
did excommunicate him in 1095, and Philip was prevented from taking part in the
First Crusade.
According to
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...
, Bertrade was anxious that one of her sons succeed Philip, and sent a letter to King
Henry I of England
Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...
asking him to arrest her stepson
Louis. Orderic also claims she sought to kill Louis, first through the arts of sorcery and then by poison. Whatever the truth of these allegations, Louis succeeded Philip in 1108. Bertrade took the veil at
Fontevraud Abbey following Philip's death, but moved to a daughter house, which she founded, at Hautes-Bruyeres by 1112. She died in 1117.
Marriages and issue
Bertrade and Fulk IV, Count of Anjou, had:
*
Fulk of Jerusalem, Count of Anjou and King of Jerusalem (1089/1092–1143)
Bertrade and Philip I of France had:
*Philip of France, Count of Mantes (living in 1123)
*Fleury of France, Seigneur of Nangis (living in 1118)
*
Cecile of France (died 1145), married (1)
Tancred, Prince of Galilee; married (2)
Pons of Tripoli
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrade de Montfort
1070s births
1117 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
House of Montfort
People excommunicated by the Catholic Church
Countesses of Anjou
French queens consort
11th-century French people
11th-century French women
12th-century French people
12th-century French women