William IV (Aquitaine)

Wilhelm , called Eisenarm ( lat . Fera brachia , French . Fier-à-Bras ; † 995/996) was as Wilhelm IV. Duke of Aquitaine and Wilhelm II. Count of Poitou . He was a son of Duke Wilhelm III. Werghaupt from the Ramnulfiden family and his wife Gerloc- Adele from Normandy.

Life

Wilhelm was initially under the tutelage of his uncle, Bishop Ebalus of Limoges. After taking over the government, Wilhelm approached the Capetians under his brother-in-law Hugo Capet . As a result, however, his relationship with the Carolingian king Lothar deteriorated. The king sent his son, Ludwig the Lazy , to Aquitaine in 982 to rule there as sub-king, which put Wilhelm's own position in question. However, this conflict ended in 984 with the recall of Ludwig.

After the fall of the Carolingians in 987 and the election of Hugo Capet, Wilhelm refused to recognize the new king. The following year he defended Poitiers against Hugo Capet, whereupon he was reconciled with him and also recognized him as king. The change of dynasty on the French throne ushered in a new chapter in the further history of Aquitaine, since the new kingship has since shown hardly any presence in the area south of the Loire and was mainly limited to the territory of the old Francia . Robert II the Pious was the last king ever to set foot on Aquitanian soil for the next hundred years. For Wilhelm this meant achieving a de facto independent position. At the same time, during his reign, the ducal power was weakened by the increasing feudalization of Aquitaine. For example, Wilhelm's vice counts rose to the rank of counts in the Auvergne without his being able to do anything about it.

Wilhelm married Emma von Blois († December 27, 1003) around 968, a daughter of Count Theobald I Tricator von Blois . Both son was Wilhelm the Great . However, his marriage and rule were strained by numerous extramarital relationships that caused his wife to abandon him. He is then no longer mentioned in the chronicles, presumably because the monks refused to write about a marital unfaithful noble. After a temporary reconciliation with Emma, ​​he reappears in the documents and finally disappears for good.

At the end of his life, Wilhelm withdrew to the Abbey of Saint-Maixent , where he put on the monk's robe on his deathbed. He was also buried there. Since his reconciliation with his wife, Wilhelm was considered a generous supporter of religious institutions. In 989 he founded the Benedictine Abbey of Maillezais .

Web links

• Personal data on www.fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Wilhelm Werghaupt	Count of Poitou 963-995	William the Great
Wilhelm Werghaupt	Duke of Aquitaine 963–995	William the Great