Enguerrand IV succeeded to the large fief established by his father,
Enguerrand the Great, due to his elder brother's death on crusade. Enguerrand IV's rule was notable for his crimes and cruelty. Setting an important medieval
legal precedent, King
Louis IX of France refused to allow him
trial by combat for the hanging of three Flemish squires found on his land, and imprisoned him instead in 1259 in the
Louvre. In the end, Enguerrand escaped with a fine, and through his wealth remained important to the King, lending him 15,000
livres in 1265 to purchase a piece of the
True Cross. He was married twice: his first wife was , and his second wife was Jeanne of Flanders, daughter of
Robert III, Count of Flanders. He had no children by either marriage and was succeeded in 1311 by the second son of his sister, Alix, who became
Enguerrand V. ==References==