Bertrade was born around 1070 to
Simon I,
lord of
Montfort, and Agnes
of Évreux, daughter of
Richard, Count of Évreux and Godehildis. Her brother was
Amaury III. As a teenager, Bertrade was the
ward of her maternal uncle
William of Évreux. In 1089, the much-married Count
Fulk IV of Anjou demanded her hand from Duke
Robert Curthose of
Normandy in exchange for his assistance putting down rebel
Manceaux. Despite his reservations about the duke and about Fulk's
numerous ex-wives, William consented to the marriage in exchange for the restoration of lands previously held by his relative
Ralph the Asshead. According to the scandalized
English historian Orderic Vitalis, Fulk's embarrassment concerning his
bunions prompted him to develop the
pigache, a pointed-toe shoe that quickly became
fashionable across Western Europe despite repeated condemnations by the church. Shortly after their 1089 marriage, Bertrade bore Fulk's son and heir,
Fulk V. In early 1092, Bertrade either abandoned Fulk or was abductedaccounts varyand began living with
Philip I,
king of
France. Although she might not have yet been formally divorced from Fulk, she married Philip on 15 May 1092 and became his
queen consort. She seems to have quickly reconciled Fulk with the situation and Philip remained with her despite threats of
excommunication by the church. Finally excommunicated by
Pope Urban II in 1095, Philip was forbidden from joining the
First Crusade, which established the
Kingdom of Jerusalem that her first son Fulk eventually ruled. In
Orderic Vitalis's
Ecclesiastical History of the era, he claims Bertrade was anxious that one of her sons succeed Philip, claiming she sought to kill his first son
Louis through
sorcery and
poison and even wrote to
Henry I,
king of
England, asking him to
arrest her stepson. Upon Philip's death in 1108, Louis did succeed him and Bertrade became a
nun at
Fontevraud Abbey. She founded a
daughter house at Hautes-Bruyeres before 1112 and moved there as its
abbess before her death on 14 February 1117. ==Issue==