Bertrade de Montfort
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Bertrade de Montfort (c.1070-1117) was the daughter of Simon I de Montfort and Agnes, Countess of Evreux. Her brother was Amaury III de Montfort.
The oft-married Count Fulk IV of Anjou was married to the mother of his son in 1089, when the lovely Bertrade caught his eye. According to the chronicler John of Marmoutier:
- "The lecherous Fulk then fell passionately in love with the sister of Amaury of Montfort, whom no good man ever praised save for her beauty. For her sake, he divorced the mother of Geoffrey II Martel..."
Bertrade and Fulk were married, and they became the parents of a son, Fulk, but in 1092 Bertrade left her husband and took up with King Philippe. Philippe married her on May 15, 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 did excommunicate him in 1095, and Philippe was prevented from taking part in the First Crusade. Astonishingly, Bertrade persuaded Philippe and Fulk to be friends.
Bertrade and Philippe had three children together:
- Philippe de France, Count of Mantes (living in 1123)
- Fleury de France, seigneur of Nangis (living in 1118)
- Cecile of France (died 1145), married (1) Tancred, Prince of Galilee; married (2) Pons of Tripoli
According to Orderic Vitalis, Bertrade was anxious that one of her sons succeed Philippe, and sent a letter to King Henry I of England asking him to arrest her stepson Louis. Orderic also claims she sought to kill Louis first through the arts of sorcery, and then through poison. Whatever the truth of these allegations, Louis succeeded Philippe in 1108. Bertrade lived on until 1117; William of Malmesbury says: "Bertrade, still young and beautiful, took the veil at Fontevraud Abbey, always charming to men, pleasing to God, and like an angel." Her son from her first marriage was Fulk V of Anjou who later became King of Jerusalem. The dynasties founded by Fulk's sons ruled for centuries, one of them in England (Plantagenet), the other in Jerusalem.
