Hugo IV of Lusignan

Hugo IV of Lusignan († 1026 ), called " the brown one " (Latin Brunus ), was the fourth lord of Lusignan and son of Hugo the white and his wife Arsendis.

Hugo was a stormy personality and set the Lusignan family on their way to attaining some prominence in Europe and eventually in the Middle East .

Hugo waged war for many years with the Vice Counts of Thouars , whose fief he considered rightfully his through the marriage to Audéarde (Aldiarde), the daughter of the Vice Count Ralf von Thouars. As a dowry , Hugo received Mouzeuil Castle . Hugo already owned Lusignan Castle , built by his grandfather Hugo the Kind , and Couhé Castle , which the Duke of Aquitaine once had built. When Vice Count Ralf died, his successor Gottfried von Thouars recaptured Mouzeuil.

Hugo also waged a long war against Amalrich I of Rancon , who had usurped Civray , a fief of Count Bernard I of La Marche . Allied with Duke Wilhelm V of Aquitaine , Hugo and Bernard conquered Civray and Hugo received it as a fief, even if he soon lost it again. Meanwhile, he continued the war against Amalrich I.

When the vice-county of Châtellerault became vacant, Hugo applied to Duke Wilhelm for enfeoffment, but received only empty promises. Hugo then waged war against the duke, until he enfeoffed him with Vivonne , which had once belonged to his uncle Joscelin, who died childless in 1015. Wilhelm Hugo later withdrew the income rights to the taxes of the Saint-Maixent Abbey , which his mother Emma, ​​wife of Duke Wilhelm IV of Aquitaine , had granted Hugo's father.

On March 6, 1025, Hugo exchanged lands with the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire-de-Poitiers in order to found monasteries for the salvation of his soul. The Duke obtained two documents from King Robert II of France that confirmed Hugo's founding of monasteries in Lusignan and Couhé. Hugo and Isembart, Bishop of Poitou , then wrote to Pope John XIX. in order to obtain exemption from all authorities for these monasteries except the monastery of Nouaillé . The exemption was granted.

In the monastery of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Junien in Lusignan, a monk wrote the Chronicle Conventum inter Guillelmum ducem Aquitaniae et Hugonem Chiliarchum , which praises Hugo's wars. According to this chronicle, Hugo died a year after his final agreement with the Duke, i.e. around 1026.

He left at least two sons: Hugo V of Lusignan , called " the Pious ", who became his successor, and Rorgo of Lusignan, who became a monk.

literature

• Sidney Painter: The Lords of Lusignan in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries , in: Speculum 32,1 (1957) 27-47.
• Robert Favreau and Jean Richard: Lusignan . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 17–20, here Sp. 17.

Web links

• Hugues (IV) "le Brun" de Lusignan at fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Hugo III	Lord of Lusignan 1012-1026	Hugo V.