FULK OF NEUILLY, BL.

Preacher of the Fourth Crusade; d. March 2, 1201. Nothing is known of his early life, but from 1191 he was a priest in the church of Neuilly-sur-Marne near Paris. He was an eloquent speaker and served as a wandering missionary-preacher through Normandy, Picardy, and Burgundy. The historian Villehardouin stated that it was Fulk who had inspired Count Thibaut III of Champagne (d.1201) to urge Pope innocent iii to organize the Fourth Crusade (1202–04), which resulted in the capture of constantinople. Fulk then served as Innocent's chief recruiting agent in France, touring the country urging the people to follow their lords to the Holy War. He died, however, before the crusade got under way. Fulk was famed for his fearlessness before princes, and he reputedly ordered King richard i of England to abandon his pride, avarice, and lust. Reference to Fulk can be found in Villehardouin, Roger of Hoveden, Ralph of Coggeshall, and jacques de vitry. He was buried in Neuilly-sur-Marne.

Feast: March 2.

Bibliography: Raynald's continuation of Baronius (1646) 1198, nn. 38–42. innocent iii, Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217 v. (Paris 1878–90) 214:375–376. s. runciman, A History of the Crusades, 3 v. (Cambridge, Eng. 1951–54) 3:107–109. u. chevalier, Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen-âge. Biobibliographie, 2 v. (2d. ed. Paris 1905–07) 1:1553. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 1:461–462.

[v. l. bullough]