Rodez

Who he is

Name

Hugh II (Hugues II), with his son William (Guillaume) associated as count

Title

Count of Rodez, viscount of part of Carlat and of Creissels

Since

Between 1154 and 1162 (count with his brother Richard II at first); French Wikipedia gives 1159 to 1208

Born

About 1135; about 65 on 1 January 1200

Family

Of the house of Millau-Rodez. Wife Agnes, perhaps of the counts of Auvergne. Sons: Hugh III, associated as count, died 1196; William, associated in his place, dies 1208 before his father; Gilbert, Renaud, Bernard. Natural son Henry (born 1175), who succeeds in 1208. A daughter married Guigues-Meschin du Tournel in 1175.

Confidence

high

French Wikipedia (Hugues II de Rodez). The date of William's association after 1196 is not pinned.

Overlord

The count of Toulouse, who is count of Rouergue: the counts of Rodez hold the county of him. For Carlat, the king of Aragon (see Carlat).

What it holds

• The Bourg of Rodez with its market and the count's castle
• The comital lands of the Rouergue: Salles-Comtaux (Salles-la-Source), Marcillac, Montrozier, Bozouls and other castles (as usually stated)
• Creissels, facing Millau
• Part of the viscounty of Carlat (separate record)

How it was acquired

Inherited; the counts of Rodez descend from the viscounts of Millau, who took the title of count of Rodez in 1112.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours and rivals: the bishop of Rodez (the Cite); the Aragonese at Millau; the lords of Severac. Tie by marriage to the Tournel of the Gevaudan.

How things stand that morning

Held. The count's Bourg and the bishop's Cite are separate lordships within the one town.

Wealth

Rodez market and tolls; the Marcillac vineyards; the Rouergue's wool and livestock (as usually stated).

Military

Castles of the Rouergue; vassal knights. No numbers.

Threats

• The succession: Hugh is old, one heir is dead and the next (William) dies in 1208
• The bishop's lordship in the Cite

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. 1208Hugh II and his son William both die; the natural son Henry I succeeds.Depends on: Natural deaths. Stopped by: Play changing their circumstances.

Places of note

• Creissels: The count's castle across the Tarn from Millau.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Dates of the count and his sons from French Wikipedia; the castle list is general knowledge.

On the map: The count's lands are drawn as a block around Rodez; the true scatter of comital and vassal castles is not pinned.

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.