William IV of Toulouse ( 1040 – 1094) was

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse (, ) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding county from the late 9th century until 12 ...

Margrave of Provence The County of Provence was a largely autonomous medieval state that eventually became incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1481. For four centuries Provence was ruled by List of rulers of Provence, a series of counts that were vassals of the ...

, and

Duke of Narbonne The title Duke of Narbonne (''dux Narbonensis'') was a title employed at various times by the overlords of Narbonne, while the direct power in the city was held by the viscounts. The prestige of the title probable attached to the fact that Narbonne ...

from 1061 to 1094. He was the son of

Pons of Toulouse Pons (II) William (1019–1060) was the Count of Toulouse from 1037. He was the eldest son and successor of William III Taillefer and Emma of Provence. He thus inherited the title '' marchio Provincæ''. He is known to have owned many allods ...

and

Almodis de la Marche Almodis de la Marche ( 1020 – 16 October 1071) was a French noble famed for her marriages. She and her third husband, Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, with whom she committed double bigamy in 1053, were excommunicated by the Pope. Life ...

. He was married to Emma of Mortain, daughter of

Robert, Count of Mortain Robert, Count of Mortain, first Earl of Cornwall of 2nd creation (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at t ...

, who gave him one daughter,

Philippa Philippa is a feminine given name meaning "lover of horses" or "horses' friend", from the Greek Philippos, which is derived from ''philein'', meaning to love and ''hippos'', meaning ''horse''. The English masculine form is Philip, which was form ...

Life

William married twice, and produced two legitimate sons; neither, however, survived infancy, leaving daughter Philippa as his heiress. As Toulouse had no precedent of female inheritance, this raised a question with regard to succession. In 1088, when William departed for the Holy Land, he left his brother,

Raymond of Saint-Gilles Raymond of Saint-Gilles ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), also called Raymond IV of Toulouse or Raymond I of Tripoli, was the count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and margrave of Provence from 1094, and one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 10 ...

, to govern in his stead (and, it was later claimed, to succeed him). Within five years, William was dead, and Raymond took power – although, after Philippa married

William IX of Aquitaine William IX ( or , ; 22 October 1071 – 10 February 1126), called the Troubadour, was the Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitou (as William VII) between 1086 and his death. He was also one of the leaders of the Crusade of 1101. Thoug ...

, they laid claim to Toulouse and fought, off and on, for years to try to reclaim it from Raymond and his children. He was the great-grandfather of

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...

, by his daughter's marriage to William IX of Aquitaine, and Eleanor's descendants continued to lay claim to Toulouse based on descent from William IV.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:William IV, Count of Toulouse 1040s births Year of birth uncertain 1094 deaths Counts of Toulouse Margraves of Provence Toulouse, William IV of House of Rouergue