County of Provence

Who rules

Name

Alfonso II (Alfons, Alphonse II), of the house of Barcelona

Title

Count of Provence

Since

25 April 1196, on the death of his father Alfonso II of Aragon, who had named him count of Provence in 1185

Born

about 1180

Family

Second son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile; younger brother of Peter II of Aragon; his sister Constance is queen of Hungary.

Confidence

high

fr.wikipedia: count at about 15 in 1196 under the tutelage of his uncle Sancho, count of Roussillon; en.wikipedia dates the marriage to July 1193 at Aix.

Overlord

The emperor, as king of Arles; the German throne is disputed between Philip of Swabia and Otto IV, so the overlord is absent

The realm that morning

Alfonso holds Aix and his demesne; the coalition that failed before Aix in 1199 has not made peace on record. Whether a truce ran that winter is not pinned: the sources speak of war resuming in 1202.

Threats

• William IV of Forcalquier and his allies
• The Baux and Orange
• Marseille's independence
• Toulouse across the Rhone

Consort

Garsenda of Sabran (born 1180), granddaughter and heiress of William IV of Forcalquier, married at Aix in July 1193 under the treaties of Aix.

Heirs

Ramon Berenguer, born 1198, about a year old, heir to both Provence and, through his mother, Forcalquier. A daughter, Garsenda (later wife of William II of Montcada, viscount of Bearn), was born at a date not pinned.

Officers

Not pinned for 1200. The count's administration rests on bailes and his household; his uncle Sancho's tutelage, begun in 1196, has probably lapsed now that he is about 20 (not pinned). The office of judge-major appears only in 1207 with Gervase of Tilbury.

Court

Aix, in the comital palace; the counts left Arles for Aix around 1180.

Treaties marriages wars

• Treaties of Aix, July 1193, with William IV: the marriage with Garsenda, carrying Forcalquier, and a military alliance with castles pledged
• Peace with Raymond VI of Toulouse, 1195, renewing the treaty of Tarascon
• Submission of Nice, 1176; homage of Castellane, October 1189
• War with William IV's coalition, 1199 (no peace recorded before the truce of Aigues-Mortes in 1203)

Arles aix marseille

Aix is the count's capital. Arles is governed by its consuls under the archbishop Imbert of Eyguieres, the count keeping a share. Marseille is split between the viscounts (Roncelin and co-heirs), the bishop and the chapter, and is governed in practice by its consuls.

Rome and interdict

Provence is imperial ground and the French interdict does not apply. Rome's concerns here are Roncelin, a monk who left his abbey to be viscount, and heresy in the neighbouring Toulouse lands; the legates Rainier and Guy work in Languedoc.

The host

The cavalcade owed by vassals and towns, the count's castles, and help from Aragon.

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. 1200, season not pinnedThe coalition of 1199 may take the field again. The next fighting on record is in 1202.Depends on: William IV and his allies still refusing to accept the 1193 settlement Stopped by: Mediation by Peter II of Aragon or the Church
2. about 15 January 1200The interdict on Philip Augustus's lands is proclaimed from Vienne; Provence is not under it.Depends on: The legate's plan Stopped by: Philip yielding first
3. 1202-1203 (beyond 1200)William IV allies with the Dauphin; Alfonso takes Sisteron (1202); with Peter II's help he imposes a truce at Aigues-Mortes and both proclaim a peace of God (1203).Depends on: The quarrel continuing Stopped by: An earlier settlement

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes name Imbert d'Eyguieres (Arles, since 1191) and Gui de Fos (Aix, since 1186); nothing found contradicts them.

Evidence: The count, his marriage, his son and the wars are attested; his officers and coinage in 1200 are not.

Primary sources for this realm

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.