Fulk Bertrand IHis name appears as Fulco or Fulcho and Bertrannus in contemporary documents. It is Foulques in modern French. His ordinal is a reference to a second

Bertrand Bertrand may refer to: Places * Bertrand, Missouri, US * Bertrand, Nebraska, US * Bertrand, New Brunswick, Canada * Bertrand Township, Michigan, US * Bertrand, Michigan * Bertrand, Virginia, US * Bertrand Creek, state of Washington * Saint-Bertr ...

, his son, who later reigned in Provence. (died 27 April 1051) was the joint

Count of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

with his elder brother

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

from 1018 and with his younger brother Geoffrey I from at least 1032 if not earlier. After William's death, Fulk assumed the title of

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...

, indicating headship of the dynasty. They were the sons of William II, count of Provence. With Geoffrey, Fulk made a donation to the

Abbey of Cluny Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churche ...

on 26 May 1037 and to Saint Victor at Marseilles on 16 January 1040. Fulk Bertrand was a major proponent of the renewed monasticism of early eleventh-century Provence. He called together a council of clergy and noblesse to found the abbey of Saint Promasius near

Forcalquier Forcalquier (; oc, Forcauquier, ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. D ...

and to restore Bremetense near Gap, which had been destroyed by the Saracens of

Fraxinetum Fraxinetum or Fraxinet ( ar, فرخشنيط, translit=Farakhshanīt or , from Latin language, Latin ''fraxinus'': "fraxinus, ash tree", ''fraxinetum'': "ash forest") was the site of a Muslim fortress in Provence between about 887 and 972. It ...

. He and his brother gave up control of much of the royal fisc, which had been under the control of the counts of Provence since the time of William the Liberator. It was mostly parcelled out as

allod In the law of the Middle Ages and early Modern Period and especially within the Holy Roman Empire, an allod ( Old Low Franconian ''allōd'' ‘fully owned estate’, from ''all'' ‘full, entire’ and ''ōd'' ‘estate’, Medieval Latin ''allodiu ...

s to

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s and the weakening of the county of Provence as a united polity can be dated from their reign. Despite the generosity of him and his brother to Fulk, viscount of Marseilles, Fulk Bertrand made war on him in 1031, damaging

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

Family

He married Hildegard and they had two sons,

William Bertrand William Bertrand (9 November 1881, Marennes, Charente-Maritime – 7 December 1961, Le Coudray-Macouard Le Coudray-Macouard () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire departm ...

and Geoffrey II, plus one daughter, Gerberge.

Notes

Sources

*Lewis, Archibald R. ''The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050''. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965.
Medieval Lands Project: Provence.
*The Plantagenet Ancestry by William Henry Turton, Page 11. Counts of Provence Year of birth unknown 1051 deaths {{Europe-noble-stub