Guigues IV, Count of Forez

Guigues IV or Guy IV (died 10 August or 29 October 1241) was the count of Forez, Auxerre and Tonnerre from 1203 and the count of Nevers from 1226. He was still a child when his father, Guigues III, died on the Fourth Crusade and he inherited Forez. His mother was Alix and his uncle, Renaud, archbishop of Lyon, acted as regent until he came of age in 1218. Guigues's first wife was Mahaut, daughter of Guy II of Dampierre. In 1223, Guigues granted a communal charter to the town of Montbrison. On 16 April 1224, he returned the places of Saint-Rambert, Bonson, Chambles, Saint-Cyprien and Saint-Just to the monastery of Île Barbe, declaring that they were allods held freely and that he and his predecessors had unjustly possessed them. In 1224, Guigues also founded a collegiate church of thirteen canons at Montbrison, dedicating it to the Virgin Mary. The foundation of Notre-Dame-d'Espérance was confirmed by Archbishop Renaud in October 1224. The charter of foundation mandated that the canons be in residence for at least six months of the year. In 1226, Guigues married Matilda, daughter of Peter II of Courtenay, countess of Nevers and widow of Hervé IV of Donzy. With the death of her son-in-law, Guy of Châtillon, at the siege of Avignon that same year, Guigues became count of Nevers. In 1235, Guigues joined the Barons' Crusade. He came from an illustrious crusading family. His father had gone on the Fourth Crusade and his ancestor Count William III had joined the First Crusade. Likewise, his wife's family had crusaders in every generation going back to the Crusade of 1101. Guigues IV's primary motivation for crusading was to remove the sentence of excommunication that had been placed him for the alleged spoliation of monasteries and sheltering heretics. Likewise, by taking the crusader vow Guigues received relief from interest payments on his large debts and extensions on repayment of principal.