Marseille

Who holds it

Name

The viscounts, the bishop and the chapter, with the townsmen's consuls

Title

Lord of the town

Confidence

medium

Lord in 1200

Three lordships: the viscounts (Roncelin with his co-heirs, among them Hugh III of Les Baux and Barrala) in the lower town and port; the bishop of Marseille in the upper town; the cathedral chapter in its own quarter. The abbey of Saint-Victor lies across the harbour. The count of Provence's overlordship is nominal.

How things stand that morning

Divided among three lords and governed in practice by its consuls; in the camp of William IV of Forcalquier against Alfonso through Roncelin.

Charter

No single charter; consuls govern the lower town by the late twelfth century (first date not pinned). The purchases of viscomtal rights and the confraternity of the Holy Spirit belong to 1211-1215.

Council

Consuls of the lower town; the bishop's officers in the upper town.

Communities

A Jewish community (Benjamin of Tudela, about 1165, found two congregations); Italian merchants.

Militia

Galleys and armed merchant ships; the townsmen backed Roncelin in 1193 and the coalition against Alfonso in 1199.

Walls and castle

Separate walled lower and upper towns; the bishop's castle in the upper town.

Trade and crafts

Levant trade through Acre and the crusader ports; shipping of crusaders and pilgrims (Richard I's fleet called here in 1190); salt, coral, wine, cloth.

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.