Enguerrand I ( 1042 – 1116) was the

Lord of Coucy The Lords of Coucy (french: sires de Coucy or ''seigneurs de Coucy''), also spelt Couci, were a medieval lordship based on the barony of Coucy located in the current commune of Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, Picardy. The château de Coucy was founded ...

from 1086 until his death in 1116. Bishop Rorico of Amiens established canons at

Saint-Acheul Saint-Acheul is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is not to be confused with Saint-Acheul, a suburb of Amiens after which the Acheulean archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic is named. Geog ...

in 1085. The foundation charter records donations to Saint-Acheul by Count Enguerran of Boves and his vidame Eustache. It was issued in the first year of Enguerran's rule, and praises his restoration of law and order. Enguerrand was a man of many scandals. With the help of the

Bishop of Laon The diocese of Laon in the present-day département of Aisne, was a Catholic diocese for around 1300 years, up to the French Revolution. Its seat was in Laon, France, with the Laon Cathedral. From early in the 13th century, the bishop of Laon ...

he divorced his first wife, Adèle de Marle, for adultery. When he married his next wife, Sibyl of

Château-Porcien Château-Porcien () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes ...

, she was still married to

Godfrey I, Count of Namur Godfrey of Namur (attested in 1080; died 19 August 1139) was a Lotharingian nobleman. He was Count ''jure uxoris'' of Porcéan from 1097 until his death. From 1102, he was also Count of Namur. He was the oldest son of Count Albert III and his ...

and Lord of Lorraine, who was absent and in a war. Enguerrand and Sybil's first husband became bitter enemies and continued to fight a private war. Adèle's son Thomas de Marle hated his father and joined the enemies against him. Nevertheless, when in 1095 the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

began, both he and his son joined in the adventure as part of the army of Emicho. Thomas succeeded Enguerrand upon his death, and became a notoriously disreputable lord in his own right.

Family

Enguerrand was the son of Drogo, Lord of Boves. Enguerrand married Adèle (Ada) de Marle, the divorced wife of Aubry, Viscount of Coucy, and daughter of Letard de Roucy, Lord of Marle. Letard was, in turn, the son of Gilbert, Count of Reims and Roucy. Enguerrand and Ada had three children: * Thomas de Marle (1073–1130/31). Lord of Coucy and Marle, Count of Amiens. * Beatrix de Boves (−1144). Married Adam Châtelain d'Amiens. * Robert de Coucy. Enguerrand is said to have kidnapped Sibyl of

, the wife of

.Bourgin, G. (ed.) (1907) Guibert de Nogent, Histoire de sa vie (1053–1124) (Paris) ("Guibert de Nogent"), Liber III, III and X, pp. 135 and 181. With the kidnapped Sibyl pregnant with Enguerrand's child, he later married her and they had a daughter, Agnès de Coucy.Guibert (Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy), Paul J. Archambault, A monk's confession: the memoirs of Guibert of Nogent, Penn State Press, 1996

References

Sources

* {{S-end 1040s births 1116 deaths People from Aisne Christians of the First Crusade Year of birth uncertain Lords of Coucy