Ermengarde was a Princess of Anjou who was also successively Duchess of Aquitaine, Duchess of Brittany, and the patron of Fontevraud Abbey. She was born in Angers around 1067, the daughter of Fulk IV of Anjou and Hildegarde of Beaugency. Anjou is a former county (c. ... Capital Bordeaux Area 41,309 km² Regional President Alain Rousset ( PS) (since 1998) Population   - 2004 estimate   - 1999 census   - Density (Ranked 6th) 3,049,000 2,908,359 74/km² (2004) Arrondissements 18 Cantons 235 Communes 2,296 Départements Dordogne Gironde Landes Lot-et-Garonne Pyrénées-Atlantiques Aquitaine... Traditional coat of arms This article is about the historical duchy and French province, as well as the cultural area of Brittany. ... The Fontevraud Abbey (or Fontevrault Abbey) is located in the village of Fontevraud-lAbbaye, near Chinon, in Anjou, France. ... Location within France Angers is a city in France in the département of Maine-et-Loire, 191 miles south-west of Paris. ... Fulk IV of Anjou (1043-1109), also known as Fulk le Réchin, was count of Anjou from 1068 to 1109. ...

Having lost her mother at a young age, she received a good education and grew to be pious and concerned about religious reform, especially over the struggle against the secular appropriation of church property.

Her first wedding, in 1089, was to the young duke and poet William IX of Aquitaine, but he annuled the marriage three years later. William IX of Aquitaine (October 22, 1071 – February 10, 1126, also Guillaume or Guilhem dAquitaine), nicknamed the Troubador was Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitiers as William VII of Poitiers between 1086 and 1126. ...

In 1093, her father married her to the Duke of Brittany, Alan IV, probably to secure an alliance against Normandy, now controlled by William the Conqueror’s son. Her husband left for Palestine in 1096 to take part in the First Crusade and she assumed control of the Duchy from then until 1101. Alan IV of Cornwall (died 1119) was duke of Brittany, from 1084 to 1112. ... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... William I ( 1027 – September 9, 1087), was King of England from 1066 to 1087. ... ... The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. ...

She spent little time in Rennes or the west of Brittany, preferring Nantes and the Saumur region. Influenced by Robert of Arbrissel, she approved the expansion of the abbey at Fontevraud, to which she withdrew on two occasions. An admirer of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, she favoured the creation of Cistercian abbeys. Location within France The Parlement de Bretagne (Parliament of Brittany), the most famous building in Rennes, was rebuilt after a terrible fire in 1994. ... City motto: Favet Neptunus eunti. ... Saumur is a small city and commune in the Maine-et-Loire département of France on the Loire River, with an approximate population of 30,000 (in 2001). ... Fontevraud-lAbbaye is a commune of the Maine-et-Loire département, in France. ... Bernard of Clairvaux, in a medieval illuminated manuscript Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Fontaines, near Dijon, 1090 – August 21, 1153 in Clairvaux) was a French abbot and theologian who was the main voice of conservatism during the intellectual revival of Western Europe called the Renaissance of the 12th century. ... The Order of Cistercians (OCist) (Latin Cistercenses), otherwise Gimey or White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which is worn a black scapular or apron) are a Catholic order of monks. ...

After her husband’s death in 1095, she returned to Brittany to support the new duke, her young son Conan III. In 1117, at the age of 50, she accompanied her son on the Second Crusade. Conan III of Cornwall (1070-1148) was duke of Brittany, from 1112 to his death. ... The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe, called in 1145 in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year. ...

She returned to Palestine ten years later, and some historians believe her life ended in Jerusalem at the convent of Saint Anne. But obituary lists at the abbey of Saint-Saveur de Redon record a date of death in 1147 in Redon where her husband was buried. Jerusalem and the Old City. ... The Holy Family with Joachim and Anne, drawn by Hans Holbein the Younger Anna, also known as Saint Anne, is known by tradition as the mother of The Virgin Mary. ... A street in Redon Redon is a town and commune in Brittany, France. ...