Toulouse, 1042 - Tripoli, 1105.
Count of Rouergue and Toulouse. Son of Pons (1037-1060). Initially titled Count of Saint-Gilles, he successively inherited from his cousin Berthe (granddaughter of Raymond III of Rouergue) and from his older brother Guillaume IV of Toulouse (who disinherited his own daughter). His possessions are immense counties of Rouergue, Nîmes and Narbonne, marquisate of Gothia, seigneuries or principalities of Gévaudan, Agde, Béziers and Uzès, finally county of Toulouse proper. Raymond IV is thus the founder of what can be called the “great county of Toulouse”.
His life is rich in brilliant actions. After mounting an expedition against the Moors in Spain, Raymond responded among the first to the call of Urban II in favor of the crusade (1095). Then he wishes to leave the West forever. Leaving the administration of his fiefs to his son Bertrand and committing part of Rouergue to Richard de Milhau-Gévaudan (this is the origin of the county of Rodez), he embarked in Provence. Almost all his vassals and rear-vassals follow him. The southern army gains Constantinople through Dalmatia and Macedonia.
Unlike many of his companions, Raymond refuses the oath of allegiance demanded by Emperor Alexis f07. Her warlike ardor worked wonders at Nicea (1097), Dorylée (same year), Antioch (1098). A conflict with Bohemond of Taranto leads him to reconcile with the Emperor of the East. In 1098 and 1099, he multiplied the attacks against the emir of Tripoli. But the Crusaders grow impatient for the deliverance of Jerusalem. He must follow them and, after the capture of this city, sees himself preferring Godfrey of Bouillon for the defense of the Holy Sepulchre. Out of spite, he defeats the sieges of Ascalon and Arsouf. We find him at the head of a relief army, raised in Italy, which soon suffered a heavy defeat near Ancyra (1101). In the years that followed, he was able to seize two important places, Tortosa in 1102 and Gibelet in 1104, and found the county of Tripoli (he was called Raymond I of Tripoli). However, he dies without having been able to seize this city. His work will be completed by his eldest son Bertrand, head of the branch of the counts of Tripoli.