Amaury IV of Évreux

Amaury IV(diedc.1213) was theCount of Évreuxin France from about 1191 until 1200 and thenEarl of Gloucesterin England from 1200 until his death. Although he was the fourth Count of Évreux named Amaury, he is sometimes numberedAmaury VI de Montfort,as the sixth of his lineage in theHouse of Montfort.

Seal of Amaury as Earl of Gloucester

Career

Amaury IV was the son of CountAmaury III of Évreuxand his wife, Mabel, eldest daughter and co-heiress of EarlWilliam of Gloucester.His father died on theThird Crusadebetween 1187 and 1193 and he inherited Évreux, including the honour ofGravenchon.In 1193–94, Évreux was briefly occupied by royal French troops.Amaury's mother died in 1198 and her portion of the earldom of Gloucester and a claim to the title passed to him. As of 29 September 1198, Amaury was still a minor.During his minority, Évreux may have been governed by officials of theDuke of Normandy,Amaury's feudal overlord. In 1195, Mabel paid a fee for the right to have custody of her son and his lands. Ducal officials may only have entered Évreux after her death. In 1198, a custodian, Richard d'Argences, was administering justice in the county and the revenues were going to theNorman exchequer.

Despite Mabel's status as the eldest daughter, the earldom of Gloucester was in the hands of CountJohn of Mortain,husband of the youngest co-heiress,Isabelle.In April 1199, John became king of England. That same month,Philip II of Franceinvaded Évreux. In theTreaty of Le Goulet(May 1200), John ceded Évreux to Philip and forced Amaury to quitclaim it.As compensation, Amaury received his mother's inheritance and the earldom of Gloucester, although he only gradually took control of the lands. Most of it was still in John's hands as late as 1204. The Gloucester lands included some small fiefs in Normandy:Sainte-Scolasse,ÉvrecyandThaon.All these, as well as Gravenchon, were lost to Philip of France by 1204–05.

A newAnglo-French war over Normandybroke out in 1202, and initially, Amaury joined his father-in-law on the side of King John. In May 1203, perhaps disgusted by John's murder ofArthur of Brittany,the two went into revolt. Amaury may have hoped to regain Évreux from King Philip. Whatever the motives, the rebellion was over in a few months and the principals suffered few consequences from King John.

Marriage

Amaury's wife was Melisende (Millicent), a daughter ofHugh III de Gournay.She brought himSotteville-sur-Merin Normandy andHoughton Regisin England as her dowry.Out of his Gloucester inheritance, Amaury made donations toMissenden Abbey,long patronised by the Gournays, and made a gift to a certain Richard Talbot, a relative of the Gournays.On his death, he left Melisende the manors ofPetersfieldandMapledurhamas a dower.By 1216, she had remarried toWilliam II de Cantilupe(died 1251),baron of Eaton Brayin Bedfordshire.In 1255 she became custodian of the fifteen-year-oldMargaret,daughter ofHenry III of Englandand queen ofAlexander III of Scotland.She died in 1260.

Letter

Some time between 1200 and his death in 1213, Amaury is thought to have written a letter to a wine merchant requesting to purchase 5tunsof wine for 20 s. each:

A., earl of Gloucester, to his beloved A., vintner of C., greetings and love. Since whatever we have owed you for wine bought on credit on many occasions we have always paid in full on your day, and nothing is in arrears, the more confidently in this present business we have turned to you, asking earnestly that you accommodate us with five tuns of wine, namely, two of Gascon and three of Angevin, at a price of 20s. each, until Palm Sunday. You will know that we shall pay your money on the day named without any argument or delay; therefore, may you act in such a manner that we shall be bound to you in gratitude. Farewell.

Sources

• Baldwin, John W. (1986).The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages.University of California Press.
• Carlin, Martha;Crouch, David(2013).Lost Letters of Medieval Life: English Society, 1200–1250.University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN978-0-8122-0756-9.
• Holden, B. W. (2004). "Cantilupe [Cantelupe], William de (d. 1251), baron and administrator".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4573.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
• Power, Daniel (2004).The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries.Cambridge University Press.
• Sanders, I. J. (1960).English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327.Oxford University Press.