The parentage of Milon [IV ] is not known.
There are three possibilities.
- Firstly, he could have been the same person as Milon [III ] shown above as father of Milon [V]. This is not an ideal fit. Milon [IV] does not name Milon and Guy among his “carissimorum filiorum” in his charter dated to [992/1005] (see below)[45]. The addition of “carissimorum” suggests that the three sons named in the document were his only children, as it is difficult to imagine how he could have had other children whom he did not consider “carissimorum”. One possibility is that Milon [V] and Guy would have been born after the date of the charter. However, the document strongly suggests that it was written with the donor’s death in mind as he requests that his own and his wife’s anniversaries be remembered, although it is of course not impossible that he recovered from the illness from which he was suffering and had more children.
- Secondly, Milon [IV] could have been an older son of Milon [II ] who succeeded his father in the county. The birth date ranges for Milon [IV] and for Guy, known son of Milon [II], allow for this possibility.
- Thirdly, he could have been the son of an otherwise unknown older son of Milon [II ] who succeeded his paternal grandfather in the county. The birth date ranges are not incompatible with this possibility either, assuming that Milon [II]’s son Guy was born early in the date range shown for him above, while Milon [IV] was born late in his birth date range. As can be seen, no factor points conclusively to one of these possibilities being correct. It is preferable therefore to avoid further speculation and show his parentage as unknown, although it should be emphasised that the suggested birth date ranges assigned to the various members of this family are speculative and that the conclusions could be different if they were incorrect.
