Marseille

Who holds it

Name

Rainier

Title

Bishop of Marseille

Since

1188

Confidence

medium

Bishop 1188-1214 (en.wikipedia list), between Fulco de Thorame (1170-1188) and Pierre de Montlaur (1214/1217-1229). Nothing more about him was found.

What it holds

• The upper town of Marseille (ville episcopale) with its strongholds, Chateau Babon, Roquebarbe and the bishop's palace
• Part of the harbour front north of the old port and the fishermen's quarter (Catholic Encyclopedia)

How it was acquired

Royal and imperial grants to the church of Marseille; the episcopal town was distinct by the twelfth century (Benjamin of Tudela, about 1165, describes the upper and lower towns).

How things stand that morning

Three-way division of the city stands; the lower town's merchants are growing in strength but the commune is not yet formed.

Wealth

Rents and dues of the upper town, a share of the port's life, the fishery.

Threats

• The rising commune of the lower town
• The viscounts' and Saint-Victor's rival jurisdictions

Advocates and rivals

The viscounts of Marseille in the lower town; the abbey of Saint-Victor; the count of Provence; the rising merchants of the port.

Places of note

• La Major: Cathedral at the heart of the bishop's upper town

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The three-part city is a commonplace of the encyclopedias (Catholic Encyclopedia; encyclopedia.com); the bishop of 1200 is little more than a name.

On the map: Drawn as a small disc on the upper town; the modern commune of Marseille is many times larger and was mostly not the bishop's.

Primary sources for Provence

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Deeds of the Counts of Barcelona, Anonymous (monks of Santa Maria de Ripoll) (first version 1162 to 1184; continued in the later 13th century; final version 1303 to 1314). The house chronicle of the counts of Barcelona.
• The Great Book of Fiefs, Various; compiled by Ramon de Caldes for Alfonso II of Aragon (compiled 1192 to 1194). The register of the count-king's feudal rights, finished a few years before 1200 and in use at Peter II's court: some 900 charters of homage, convention, oath, sale and marriage arranged by county and lineage, covering Catalonia, Roussillon, Cerdanya, Pallars, Urgell, the Carcassonne and Beziers lands of the Trencavels, Provence and Aragon.