Toulouse

Who holds it

Name

Raymond VI; the town is governed by its chapter of consuls

Title

Count of Toulouse, with the consuls

Since

1194

Confidence

high

Lord in 1200

Raymond VI, whose viguier holds his court and who keeps the Chateau Narbonnais at the south gate; in practice the consuls govern the city and the bourg. The bishop (Fulcrand, since 1179) holds rights in the Cite; the abbey of Saint-Sernin is lord of much of the Bourg.

How things stand that morning

The count is lord, but the consuls rule the town; relations are those of a negotiated partnership since the concessions of 1188-1192.

Charter

Privileges granted by Count Alfonso Jordan in 1147; Raymond V raised the chapter to twelve in 1171 (six for the Cite, six for the Bourg); amid the wars of the 1180s the capitouls negotiated an increase of their powers (1188); in 1192 the chapter was raised to 24 (French Wikipedia, Capitoul).

Council

The chapter (capitulum, capitol): 24 consuls since 1192, drawn from the Cite and the Bourg, with a common council of notables.

Communities

A Jewish community; many Cathar believers among the burgesses and a Cathar bishop of Toulouse beside the Catholic one (campaign notes); the canons of Saint-Sernin; the Hospitallers and Templars have houses.

Militia

The town host of the Cite and the Bourg. In the next years (from 1202, after the period studied here) the consuls lead it against neighbouring lords and towns to force free passage and trade privileges.

Walls and castle

The old walls of the Cite; the Bourg's own enclosure; the Chateau Narbonnais of the counts at the south gate.

Trade and crafts

Garonne river trade, grain and wine, cloth and leather; moneylenders; woad is grown in the region but its great trade is later.

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.

In 1200

1. 1200 or 1201Death of Bishop Fulcrand; a disputed succession leads to Raymond of Rabastens (1202 or 1203).Depends on: Natural death. Stopped by: Play.

Later, on the likely course

1. From 1202The consuls' wars against neighbouring lords and towns of the Toulousain.Depends on: Consular ambition and the count's weakness. Stopped by: A strong count or a peace.

Where the sources disagree

• The dates of the consular chapter (1147, 1171, 1188, 1192) follow French Wikipedia (Capitoul); John Mundy's account places the decisive concession to the consuls in 1189.

Evidence: The consulate's growth is well studied; the 1200 officers are not named in the sources read.

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.