Rodez

Who holds it

Name

Hugues de Rodez

Title

Bishop of Rodez

Since

1166

Confidence

high

Son of Count Hugh I of Rodez and brother of Count Hugh II; bishop from 1166 until 1211. Bishop and count are of one house, so the two halves of Rodez are ruled by brothers or close kin.

What it holds

• The Cité of Rodez: the bishop's walled town round the cathedral, with its own consuls
• Episcopal lands in the Rouergue (not detailed here)

How it was acquired

Not pinned here; the split of the hilltop between Cité and Bourg is old.

How things stand that morning

Held: the bishop rules the Cité; the count the Bourg.

Wealth

Dues and justice in the Cité, markets, and the bishop's lands in the Rouergue.

Threats

• The count's rival town next door

Advocates and rivals

The count of Rodez in the Bourg; the counts of Toulouse, overlords of the Rouergue.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Cité and Bourg division is well attested; the bishop's lands outside the town are not established here.

On the map: A small disc stands in for the walled Cité; its true outline is not traced.

Primary sources for Toulouse

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.

• Chronicles of Saint-Martial of Limoges, Bernard Itier and other monks of Saint-Martial; Geoffrey of Vigeois for the earlier chronicle (Geoffrey's chronicle to 1184; Bernard Itier's notes about 1195 to 1225). Bernard Itier, librarian of Saint-Martial, kept dated notes through 1200 of what reached Limoges: Richard's death at Chalus in 1199, the viscounts of Limoges and the lords of the Limousin, John's passage through Aquitaine in 1200 and the affairs of Angouleme and the Lusignans, and the abbey's own elections and prices. Read online
• 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.
• Documents of the French Royal Treasury of Charters, vol. 1 (755 to 1223) (755 to 1223; the archive was organised from the 1190s). The treaties and bonds the French crown kept in its own archive, printed in date order. Read online
• 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.