Roger IV (died 24 February 1265), son and successor of
Roger-Bernard II the Great, was the eighth
count of Foix from 1241 to his death. His reign began with the south again at war with the north in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and, though he was reluctant to join his father's old ally,
Raymond VII of Toulouse
Raymond VII (July 1197 – 27 September 1249) was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death.
Family and marriages
Raymond was born at the Château de Beaucaire, the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse ...
, in revolt and he did not aid the
king of England,
Henry III, in his
Saintonge War
The Saintonge War was a feudal dynastic conflict that occurred between 1242 and 1243. It opposed House of Capet, Capetian forces supportive of Louis IX of France, King Louis IX's brother Alphonse, Count of Poitiers and those of Hugh X of Lusigna ...
.
Roger IV was a vassal of both the
count of Toulouse
The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings,
the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundin ...
(for his
county of Foix
The County of Foix (french: Comté de Foix, ; oc, Comtat de Fois) was an independent medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern ''département'' of Ariè ...
) and the
king of France (for his
Carcassonne
Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Au ...
lands), then
Louis IX
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...
. His loyalty to the king, however, took precedence and war broke out with Raymond VII (October 1242). Although Raymond was forced to submit to the king on 30 November, the war with Roger continued until January 1243, when the king ended it. The count of Foix was now solely a vassal of the king and Raymond spent the rest of his life (until 1249) trying to retrieve Roger's homage, to no avail.
Like his father, Roger IV had troubles with the church and the
bishop of Urgel in particular and, in 1257, he successfully released the viscounty of
Castelbon from the bishop's jurisdiction. In February 1245, he gave many freedoms to his subjects and he signed ''
paréages'' with the abbots of
Mas-d'Azil (1246),
Boulbonne (1253), and
Combelongue (1255). In 1251, he built the church at Boulbonne, transferred his ancestors' remains there, and defended it against the exactions of numerous enemies. He persecuted
Catharism, the heresy of his mother, Ermesinda of Castlebon, in order not to be at odds with the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
. He died on 24 February 1265 and was interred in Boulbonne next to his father.
Marriage and children
Roger married Brunissenda of
Cardona, a daughter of
Ramon VIII, Viscount of Cardona. They had six children:
*
Roger-Bernard III of Foix
Roger-Bernard III (1243 – 3 March 1302) was the Count of Foix from 1265 to his death. He was the son of Roger IV of Foix and Brunissende of Cardona. He entered into conflicts with both Philip III of France and Peter III of Aragon, who held ...
(died 1302).
*Peter of Foix.
*Sybille of Foix. Married
Aimery IV, Viscount of Narbonne Aimeric or Aymeric or Aimery (from '' Haimirich'' or ''Amalric'') is a male given name:
* Aimeric de Belenoi (fl. 1215–1242), troubadour
* Prince Aymeric of Belgium (born 2005)
* Aymeric Jaubert de Barrault (died 1613), mayor of Bordeaux.
* A ...
.
*Ines of Foix. Married
Eschivat III, Count of Bigorre
*Philippa of Foix. Married
Arnauld, Count of Pailhars.
*
Esclaramunda of Foix. Married
James II of Majorca
James II ( ca, Jaume) (31 May 1243 – 29 May 1311) was King of Majorca and Lord of Montpellier from 1276 until his death. He was the second son of James I of Aragon and his wife, Violant, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary. In 1279, by the Tre ...
.
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
Histoire des comtes de Foix
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roger 04 Of Foix
1265 deaths
House of Foix
Counts of Foix
Occitan nobility
Year of birth unknown