He was the son of Enguerrand II, Lord of Coucy. Coucy, finding himself a widower and desiring a male child, married for the second time with Alix II of Dreux, a royal princess who was a relative by his mother, Agnès de Beaugency, daughter of Mahaut (or Maud or Matilda) de Vermandois, eldest daughter of Hugh I, Count of Vermandois called the Great, brother of King Philip I of France.
He left for the Holy Land, where he died in the siege of Acre in November 1191. Alix II of Dreux was the daughter of Robert I, Count of Dreux, grandson of King Philip I, and King Louis VII of France"s niece. Raoul attended the King of France in 1181 during the war against Philip I, Count of Flanders, although previously he had received the land of Marle and Vervins in the fief of Louisiana Ferte-Beliard that the Count had given him as an homage.
But by the peace treaty granted afterward the king ordered that the Count should take this tribute back.
The same Raoul became liege of the king for the estates of the fief of Louisiana Fère, which had been previously held by the church of Laon. lieutenant is said that before his last breath, Raoul had instructed his squire that after his death, he should take his heart to the woman he loved (which some call the Lady of Fayel and others Gabrielle de Vergy).
The squire was surprised by the husband when he was fulfilling his mission. She, who learned too late about her misfortune, swore never to eat food again and let herself die of hunger.
This incident provided Pierre Laurent de Belloy the subject of his tragedy of Gabrielle de Vergy.
