Les Baux

Who he is

Name

Hugh III of Les Baux (Hugues des Baux, Uc del Bauç)

Title

Lord of Les Baux

Since

1181, on the death of his father Bertrand I

Born

not pinned

Family

Eldest son of Bertrand I of Les Baux and Tiburge of Orange; brother of William, prince of Orange. Married to Barrala, daughter and heiress of Barral, viscount of Marseille (d. 1192).

Confidence

medium

fr.wikipedia (Roncelin de Marseille; Guillaume Ier des Baux; Alphonse II). He died in 1240 (not checked here).

Overlord

The count of Provence for Les Baux, by the settlements that ended the Baussenque wars; the house also kept its own imperial grants

What it holds

• Les Baux: castle on its rock and the Alpilles villages
• A claim to part of the viscounty of Marseille through Barrala
• Kin holdings of the Baux at Berre, Marignane, Meyrargues and Puyricard (which kinsman held each in 1200 is not pinned)

How it was acquired

Inherited from his father Bertrand I (killed 1181). The Baux lands were an allodial bloc built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; the Baussenque wars forced the family to accept the Barcelona counts.

Allies and rivals

Allies in 1199: William IV of Forcalquier, his brother William of Orange, Roncelin. Rival: Alfonso II; uneasy partner of Roncelin in Marseille, where both claim the viscounty.

How things stand that morning

In arms against the count in 1199, not reconciled on record by 1 January 1200 (not pinned).

Wealth

Tolls and lands of the lower Rhone and the Alpilles, olive and grain country, saltworks around the Etang de Berre held by the Baux kin, and a share of Marseille's viscomtal dues if his claim prevails.

Military

Les Baux is among the strongest fortresses of Provence; the house can raise its own knights and those of its kin.

Threats

• The count of Provence
• Marseille's consuls, who prefer Roncelin
• Division of the Baux inheritance among cadets

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1200, season not pinnedThe coalition of 1199 (William IV of Forcalquier with Hugh III of Les Baux, William of Les Baux prince of Orange, Roncelin of Marseille and, by one account, Raymond VI of Toulouse) may take the field again after its failure before Aix. The next fighting on record is in 1202, when William IV allies with the Dauphin and Alfonso takes Sisteron; Peter II of Aragon then imposes a truce at Aigues-Mortes in 1203.Depends on: William IV's continued refusal to let the 1193 settlement run its course, and the barons' grievances against the count Stopped by: A settlement brokered by Peter II of Aragon or the Church, or William IV's death (he dies in 1209)

Places of note

• Castle of Les Baux: The family's rock fortress
• Berre: Baux kin lordship on the Etang de Berre
• Marignane: Baux kin lordship

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Hugh, his marriage and his part in the 1199 coalition are attested; the exact list of Baux lands on 1 January 1200 is not.

On the map: The terres baussenques were more numerous than drawn; only places of fair certainty are shown.

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.