Montpellier

Who he is

Name

William VIII (Guilhem VIII)

Title

Lord of Montpellier

Since

1172 or 1173

Born

1157; 42 on 1 January 1200

Family

Son of William VII and Matilda of Burgundy. First wife Eudokia Komnene, a Byzantine emperor's niece, whom he put away in 1187; their daughter Marie (born 1182) was widowed by Barral of Marseille at the end of 1192 and married Bernard IV of Comminges in December 1197. Second wife Agnes of Castile, a kinswoman of the queen of Aragon, married at Barcelona in 1187; Rome has not recognised the marriage. Their children: William (IX), Thomas called Tortosa, Raymond, Bernard William, Guy, Burgundio, Agnes and Adelais.

Confidence

high

French Wikipedia (Guilhem VIII). The campaign notes add that he wants Rome to legitimise his second family.

Overlord

The bishop of Maguelone, who is himself a vassal of the Holy See (campaign notes: the bishop is overlord of Montpellier). No great prince stands over him, hence the realm 'crown' (lord of the kingdom answering to no prince); his politics lean to Aragon.

What it holds

• The town of Montpellier (the bishop's quarter of Montpellieret is apart)
• Lattes, the port on the lagoon
• Aumelas and the lands west of the town
• Paulhan (left to his son Thomas in 1202)
• Castles about the town: Pignan, Cournonterral, Montarnaud and others (as usually stated)

How it was acquired

Inherited, 1172 or 1173.

Allies and rivals

Ally of the Church and of Aragon (through his wife Agnes). Son-in-law relationship with Comminges through Marie. Neighbour of Raymond VI's Melgueil. Rival claims within his own house between the two marriages.

How things stand that morning

Holds Montpellier firmly; his succession is unsettled in law.

Wealth

Montpellier's trade with Genoa, Pisa, Catalonia and the Levant through Lattes; money-changing; the medical school; verdigris and dyed cloth (as usually stated).

Military

His household and the townsmen; the castles around the town. No numbers.

Threats

• The succession quarrel between Marie and Agnes's sons
• A town that wants self-government
• Rome refusing legitimacy

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. 1201Marie's marriage to Bernard IV of Comminges is annulled (at her insistence or Peter II's, sources differ), reopening her claim to Montpellier.Depends on: Comminges's other wives and Aragonese interest in Marie. Stopped by: Marie staying in the marriage.
2. 1202Innocent III refuses to legitimise William's sons (Per venerabilem); William dies in November 1202, leaving Montpellier to William IX under guardians.Depends on: Rome's stance on the marriage; natural death. Stopped by: A papal change of mind; play.
3. 1203His daughter Agnes marries Raymond Roger Trencavel.Depends on: The alliance of Montpellier and Carcassonne. Stopped by: Another match.
4. 1204The townsmen drive out William IX; Marie marries Peter II of Aragon (15 June 1204); Montpellier gets its consulate.Depends on: William VIII's death and the succession quarrel. Stopped by: A settled succession.

Where the sources disagree

• French Wikipedia dates the Eudokia marriage to 1174; most accounts place it about 1179 to 1181 (Marie is born 1182).

Evidence: Montpellier's lords are well documented; Marie's renunciation of December 1197 and the invalid second marriage from English Wikipedia; the castle list is general.

On the map: Approximate; the bishop's Montpellieret and Villeneuve are on the Church map.

Primary sources for Held of the king

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.

• Chronicle of Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. Read online
• Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
• 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
• The Great Chronicle of Tours, Anonymous (a canon of Saint-Martin of Tours) (about 1227). The Loire valley's view of the Angevin succession. Read online
• Universal Chronicle of the Anonymous of Laon, Anonymous (an English-born canon of Laon) (about 1219). A Picard chronicle whose author had lived in England and keeps an eye on both kingdoms. Read online
• Deeds of Philip Augustus, Rigord (about 1186 to 1206, in stages). The French court's own chronicle for the year, from the monk of Saint-Denis who called himself the king's chronographer. Read online
• Deeds of Philip Augustus; The Philippide, William the Breton (Guillaume le Breton) (Gesta about 1214 to 1220; Philippide 1214 to 1224). William abridged Rigord for the years before 1207 and then continued him, so for 1200 the Gesta is a shortened Rigord with a few added touches: the Le Goulet settlement, Blanche's marriage, and the interdict. Read online
• History of the Counts of Guines, Lambert of Ardres (about 1196 to 1203, unfinished). A house history of the counts of Guines and lords of Ardres, written while Count Baldwin II and his son Arnold were alive and finishing in 1203. Read online

4 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.