Rotrou III. (Perche)

Rotrou III. († 6 (or 8) May 1144 before Rouen ) was the first Count of Le Perche from 1100 or 1101 , and from 1126 he was Lord of Bellême . He was the son of Geoffroy II, Count of Mortagne and Lord of Nogent-le-Rotrou , which he summarized in 1090 to form the County of Le Perche, and Beatrix of Roucy.

biography

Rotrou began his military career in the Iberian Peninsula fighting the Moors . He fought in the company of his uncle Ebles II , Count of Roucy and on the side of King Sancho I of Aragón (Sancho V of Navarre; † 1094). He later took part in the First Crusade in the entourage of Duke Robert II of Normandy , particularly the siege of Antioch and the siege of Jerusalem (1099) . His father died in mid-October 1100 while he was still in the Holy Land .

Shortly after his return, the conflict broke out between King Henry I of England and Duke Robert. Rotrou sided with Robert , while his enemy Robert II. De Bellême supported Heinrich. After losing to Bellême, Rotrou switched to the king's side and married one of his illegitimate daughters in 1103. The fight against Bellême continued, however, until the two adversaries were excommunicated ; Rotrou quickly paid an honorary penalty for lifting the excommunication.

In 1111 he fought on the side of King Henry against the King of France , again against the Seigneur de Bellême and this time also against the Count of Anjou . He was captured while Mortagne-au-Perche was burned down. After his release, he went to Spain again, where he fought for King Alfonso I of Aragon , but soon had to return home to defeat Guillaume III's. Gouët devastated Le Perche to defend. From 1115 to 1118 he was again in Spain, where he helped Alfonso I to recapture the rebellious Navarre.

After the death of King Henry in 1135 and the outbreak of the English Civil War , Rotrou initially sided with the new King Stephan and against the daughter of the late King, Matilda . In 1141, however, he organized a meeting of Norman barons, who were then joined by Matilda and her husband Gottfried Plantagenet . During the siege of Rouen, which Gottfried carried out in the course of the conquest of Normandy, Rotrou was fatally struck by an arrow on May 6, possibly also on May 8, 1144.

Marriages and offspring

Rotrou entered into a first marriage, but not even the name of the wife has been passed down. From her he had a daughter, Béatrice, who later married Renaud IV. De Château-Gontier , Seigneur de Château-Gontier .

In 1103 he married Mathilde (Mahaut), an illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England and his concubine Edith. From this marriage he had two daughters, Philippa, the future wife of Elias II (Hélie II) , Count of Maine , and Félicie. Mathilde was killed on November 25, 1120 when the White Ship sank off Barfleur .

Before 1126 closed Rotrou a third marriage, now with Hawise, daughter of Walter of Salisbury ( First House Salisbury ) and Sibylle de Chaource . With her he had three sons:

• Rotrou IV. , † July 27, 1191 at the siege of Acre , who succeeded him as Count of Le Perche in 1180
• Geoffroy, who is attested in 1144
• Étienne , who was Elect of Palermo and Chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily until 1168 and who later died in the Holy Land

After Rotrou's death, Hawise married Robert the Great , Count of Dreux and Le Perche, † October 11, 1188 ( list of the Capetians , House of France-Dreux ).

literature

• Detlev Schwennicke: European Family Tables Volume III.4, 1989 Plate 689

Web links

• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Counts of Le Perche

predecessor	Office	successor
Gottfried II.	Count of Le Perche 1101–1144	Rotrou IV.