Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy
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Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy was the eldest son and successor of Raoul I, Lord of Coucy. He was born around 1182, and died in 1242. He succeeded as Lord of Coucy (sieur de Couci) in 1191, and held it until his death; he was also lord of Marle and Boves.
Enguerrand III was one of the most ambitious and powerful of all the French nobles, called by one historian as "the greatest baron in all Picardy",[1] and earning himself his epithet, Enguerrand le Grand, or Enguerrand "the Great".
Enguerrand had an illustrious military career, helping the King of the French Philip Augustus reduce the French territories of the King of the English. Enguerrand campaigned in Anjou in 1205, and in 1214 fought in the French victory over an Anglo-German alliance at the Battle of Bouvines. He was a notable member of the French force which invaded the Kingdom of England (1216-17) to depose King John. He also participated in the Albigensian Crusade.
After the death of Louis VIII of France, Enguerrand was chief among the nobles who resisted the regency of Blanche of Castile, although he eventually returned to the royal favour. Enguerrand made his mark on the Picardy landscape by constructing Coucy Castle, and he is said by tradition to have started the famous rhyme associated with his successors:
Roi ne suis, ne Prince ne Duc ne Comte aussi; Je suis le sire de Coucy! I am not a King, nor Prince nor Duke nor Count; I am the Lord of Coucy!
He was related to King Louis IX of France through both his mother Alice de Dreux. Enguerrand also married into the family of King Henry III of England, by taking as his second wife the latter king's cousin, the grand-daughter of Henry II of England. He in fact married three times. Firstly to a woman named Eustacia, secondly to Mahaut († 1211), the aforemention grand-daughter of Henry II, and thirdly to Marie de Montmirel. Enguerrand cemented his powerful connections by marrying his daughter Marie de Coucy to King Alexander II of Scotland.
Enguerrand died in 1242 by falling off of his horse onto his sword. He was succeeded by his eldest son Raoul II, Lord of Coucy.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Michael Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371, (Edinburgh, 2004), p. 141.
[edit] References
- Brown, Michael, The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371, (Edinburgh, 2004)
[edit] External links
- (English) A History of Coucy Castle
- (French) Enguerrand III on French Wiki
- (German) Enguerrand III on German Wiki
| Preceded by: Raoul I |
Lord of Coucy 1191-1241 |
Succeeded by: Raoul II |
