William IV of Toulouse
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William IV of Toulouse (c. 1040-1094) was Count of Toulouse, Marquess of Provence, and Duke of Narbonne from 1061-1094. He succeeded his father Pons of Toulouse upon his death in 1061. His mother was Almodis de la Marche, but she was kidnapped by and subsequently married to Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona when William was a boy. He was married to Emma of Mortain (a niece of William of Normandy), who gave him one daughter, Philippa. He also had an illegitimate son, William-Jordan, with his half sister Adelaide.
He married twice, and produced two legitimate sons; neither, however, survived infancy, leaving only his daughter as his heiress (Toulouse had no laws barring succession by women, although inheritance by males was preferred). According to some historians, he married Philippa off to the King of Aragon, Sancho Ramirez, to prevent her from causing civil war by claiming Toulouse.[1] Others dismiss this claim, and are unable to account for William's motivations or intentions.
In 1088, William departed for the Holy Land, leaving his brother, Raymond of Saint-Gilles, to govern in his stead (and, it was later claimed, to take over when William died). Within five years, he was dead, and his brother in a perfect position to take power[2] - although, after Philippa married William IX of Aquitaine, they laid claim to Toulouse and fought, off and on, for years to try to reclaim it from Raymond and his children.
He was the great grandfather of Eleanor of Aquitaine, by his daughter's marriage to William IX of Aquitaine, and Eleanor's descendants would continue to lay nominal claim to Toulouse based on descent from William IV.
Meade, Marion, Eleanor of Aquitaine
| Preceded by: Pons of Toulouse |
Count of Toulouse | Succeeded by: Raymond IV |
- ^ Meade, Marion, Eleanor of Aquitaine
- ^ As noted, some historians claim that William married his daughter to Sancho Ramírez, King of Aragón and Navarre in order to disinherit her. However, it has recently been argued by Szabolcs de Vajay ("Ramire II le Moine, roi d'Aragon et Agnes de Poitou dans l'histoire et la légende", in Mélanges offerts à René Crozet, 2 vol, Poitiers, 1966, vol 2, p 727-750) that this marriage never took place, and hence the various motivations that have been read into it must be abandoned. Evidence of any motivation of William's part thus becomes even harder to trace.