A pilgrimage town and river port on the Petit-Rhone, around the abbey that keeps the tomb of Saint Giles, a stage on the road to Compostela and a port for the East.
Here the Hospitallers have the great priory of Saint-Gilles that heads their houses in the south. In 1196 the count's quarrel with the abbey over its revenues brought his excommunication, lifted in 1198.
Who holds it
- Name
- The abbot (name not pinned; Church map)
- Title
- Abbot of Saint-Gilles, with the count's rights
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The abbey of Saint-Gilles (Church map), with the count of Toulouse as advocate and rival; the counts take their old title from the town.
How things stand that morning
Abbey and count at peace since 1198 (not pinned how firmly).
Communities
The Hospitallers' priory and a Templar house; a Jewish community (as usually stated).
Walls and castle
The abbey church with its sculpted front.
Trade and crafts
Pilgrims, river and sea trade to the Levant (as usually stated).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The 1196-1198 quarrel from French Wikipedia; the rest general knowledge.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.