Marquisate of Provence

Who he is

Name

Raymond VI of Toulouse

Title

Marquis of Provence

Since

1194

Born

1156

Family

House of Toulouse

Confidence

high

The Marquisate is the Toulouse share of the old county of Provence under the partition of 1125 with Barcelona: the land north of the Durance (French Wikipedia, Comtat Venaissin).

Overlord

The Emperor, as king of Arles. Philip of Swabia and Otto IV both claim the empire on 1 January 1200; neither interferes here.

What it holds

• The Venaissin: the count's castles and rights at Pernes, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Malaucene, Mornas and Bollene (as usually stated)
• Overlordship of the bishops' towns of Carpentras, Cavaillon and Vaison
• Overlordship north of the Durance over lay lords up the Rhone valley (the Tricastin, the Valentinois and Diois houses hold of him by old right; the Southeast researcher has their records)
• His share of the lordship of Avignon (Southeast researcher)

How it was acquired

Partition of Provence in 1125 between Alfonso Jordan and Raymond Berengar III of Barcelona; confirmed in later settlements with the house of Barcelona (Jarnegues 1176, Tarascon 1195).

Allies and rivals

William IV of Forcalquier, whom Raymond backed about 1199 against Alfonso of Provence (French Wikipedia, Alphonse II de Provence); rival of Alfonso of Provence, Peter II's brother, though the house of Toulouse made peace with him on the basis of the treaty of Tarascon (1195).

How things stand that morning

Held. The coalition with Forcalquier of about 1199 failed to take Aix; whether war or truce stands with Provence on 1 January 1200 is not pinned (Southeast researcher holds the Provencal side).

Wealth

Rhone tolls, the fertile Sorgues plain, the Carpentras market (as usually stated).

Military

The count's castellans in the Venaissin; the service of the lords north of the Durance. No numbers.

Threats

• Alfonso of Provence across the Durance
• The bishops' claims in their towns

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The partition of 1125 and the count's title are certain; which castles were his own in 1200 is not listed in the sources read.

On the map: The Venaissin only. The wider Marquisate north to the Drome was overlordship over other lords and is not drawn.

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.