Fulk IV, better known as Fulk le RĂ©chin, was the count of Anjou from around 1068 until his death. He was noted to be "a man with many reprehensible, even scandalous, habits" by Orderic Vitalis, who particularly objected to his many women and his influential footwear, claiming he popularized the pigaches that eventually became the poulaine, the medieval long-toed shoe.
Coins minted by Fulk
Fulk, King Philip, Bertha, and Bertrade, from the Chronicle of St Denis (14th cent.)
Pigaches in an 11th cent. illumination from an Aquitaine tonary
Counts and dukes of Anjou
The count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by Charles the Bald in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the title of count. The Robertians and the Capetian kings were distracted by wars with the Vikings and other concerns and were unable to recover the county until the reign of Philip II Augustus, more than 270 years later.
Image: Sceau de Foulques Nerra
Image: Foulque 5
Image: Geoffrey of Anjou Monument
Image: Henry II of England