Narbonne

Who he is

Name

Aimery III (Aimeric de Lara)

Title

Viscount of Narbonne

Since

1194, when he received the title from his father (French Wikipedia gives 'from 1194 or 1202')

Born

Not pinned (a young man in 1200)

Family

Son of Pedro Manrique de Lara, a Castilian magnate who seized Narbonne in 1192 from his aunt, Viscountess Ermengarde, and of Sancha of Navarre. Unmarried on 1 January 1200: he marries Guillema de Castellvell in 1202, and later Margaret of Marly.

Confidence

medium

French Wikipedia (Aimery III de Narbonne). Whether his father, back in Castile, still shares power before his death in 1202 is not pinned.

Overlord

The count of Toulouse as duke of Narbonne: Aimery recognised Raymond V's suzerainty in 1194 (French Wikipedia).

What it holds

• Half of the city of Narbonne with the viscount's palace
• The Narbonnais: Coursan, Cuxac, Gruissan and the lagoon villages
• Salt pans of the Narbonne lagoons
• Vassal lords in the Corbieres and the Fenouilledes (overlordship contested with Foix and Aragon)

How it was acquired

Through his father's seizure of 1192 and the grant of 1194.

Allies and rivals

Rival and neighbour of Archbishop Berengar (Peter II's uncle), who holds the other half of Narbonne. Holds of Toulouse; in 1193 Aragon granted Foix overlordship over lands claimed by Narbonne in the Fenouilledes.

How things stand that morning

Held under Toulouse's suzerainty.

Wealth

Narbonne's port trade through the lagoons, salt, cloth, the Jewish community's scholarship and money (Narbonne's Jews are among the most famous in the West).

Military

The viscount's knights and the town militia. No numbers.

Threats

• The archbishop
• Foix and Aragon in the hills
• A Castilian dynasty without roots

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. 1202Aimery marries Guillema de Castellvell; his father Pedro de Lara dies.Depends on: Marriage politics; natural death. Stopped by: Another match.

Where the sources disagree

• French Wikipedia says Pedro de Lara drove Ermengarde out in 1192; most accounts say she abdicated in his favour (1192 or 1193) and died in Perpignan about 1196 or 1197.

Evidence: Succession dates from French Wikipedia; the city's division and trade are well known.

On the map: Shows the viscount's Narbonnais; his rights were shared with the archbishop throughout.

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.