Enguerrand II, Lord of Coucy

Who is Enguerrand II, Lord of Coucy?

Enguerrand II, Lord of Coucy, known as of La Fère or of Marle, was a French nobleman. He was also lord of Marle, La Fère, Crécy, Vervins, Pinon, Landouzy, Fontaine, and of several other places. Unlike his father, the brigand-lord Thomas de Marle, Enguerrand II peacefully administered his lands, building a chapel in his castle.

In 1131, he married Agnès de Beaugency, first cousin of king Louis VII of France, and daughter of Mahaut or Mathilde de Vermandois, herself a daughter of Hugh I of Vermandois, brother of king Philip I of France. Agnès gave him two sons, Raoul I, Lord of Coucy and Enguerrand.

His main leisure pursuit was hunting in the woods, where legend holds he met and killed a fierce lion or beast which had been terrorising the area, and founded the Order of the Lion to commemorate the event.