House of Toulouse

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House of Toulouse
Raimondines
House of Rouergue
House of Saint-Gilles
Arms of Languedoc.svg
Arms of the Count of Toulouse
Parent house House of Rouergue
CountryFlag of Occitania.svg County of Toulouse
Flag of Occitania.svg Marquisate of Provence
Banner of arms of the House of Toulouse-Tripoli.png County of Tripoli
Founded849
Founder Fredelo, Count of Toulouse
Final ruler Joan, Countess of Toulouse
Titles
Estate(s) Rouergue, Toulouse, Tripoli
Dissolution1271
Cadet branches House of Limoges
House of Tripoli

The House of Toulouse, sometimes called House of Saint-Gilles or Raimondines, is a family of Frankish origin established in Languedoc having owned the County of Toulouse. Its first representative was Fulcoald of Rouergue, who died after 837, whose sons Fredelo and Raymond I were the first hereditary counts of Toulouse from 849 to 863; the last holder of the county in the agnatic line was Raymond VII who died in 1249. This family therefore reigned over the county for four centuries. [1]

Contents

History

Creation of the County of Toulouse

The county of Toulouse is a former county in southern France, the holder of which was one of six primitive lay peers.

A count of Toulouse was appointed in 778 by Charlemagne in favor of a certain Torson, following the defeat of Roncesvalles, to coordinate the defense and the fight against the Basques, and integrated into the duchy of Aquitaine, when it was created three years later: William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, had the title of Count of Toulouse. From the death in 852 of Fredelo son of Fulcoald, count of Rouergue and Senegund of Toulouse, who was governor (custos civitas) of Toulouse, Pailhars, Rodez, and Limoges, the center of Aquitaine moves to Poitiers and Count of Rouergue, were also rulers of Toulouse.

Starting with Fulcoald of Rouergue, the County of Toulouse became hereditary. His son Fredelo becomes Count of Toulouse in 849. His brother Raymond I succeeded him in 852.

The House of Toulouse

From the ninth century, the House of Toulouse was established in its fief. The elder line of the House of Rouergue became Counts of Toulouse. The functions of the Marquis of Gothia and Duke of Narbonne, which they also possessed, became empty and meaningless titles which were transmitted to the younger branch of Rouergue. At the death of the Countess Bertha of Rouergue, these titles were inherited by a scion of the senior line, Raymond, Count of Saint-Gilles, which allowed him to be an early territorial power. Pons, Count of Toulouse, father of Raymond of Saint Gilles, bequeathed all his possessions to his eldest son William, on the condition that if William were to die without a son, the properties would then pass to Raymond. Hence, when William IV died, Raymond succeeded his brother as Raymond IV of Toulouse, although the succession was claimed by Philippa, William IV's daughter, who married William IX, Duke of Aquitaine. Raymond of Saint-Gilles managed to establish the principality as a power, which he gave to his son Bertrand, after departing for the First Crusade.

Bertrand, with his brother Alfonso Jordan, must fight against the Duke of Aquitaine, who seized Toulouse several times, but had to evacuate each time due to popular revolt. Then the counts of Toulouse fought against the Counts of Barcelona as they competed for expanding their influence in Languedoc and Provence. Peace was finally concluded in the second half of the 12th century. At that time, the city of Toulouse is one of the largest in Europe, and the House of Toulouse reigned over a rich and powerful territory. The counts of Toulouse, who played a significant part in the Crusades, also possessed the County of Tripoli in the Holy Land.

Fall

In the 12th century, a new heresy, Catharism, developed in the region, supported by many local lords. Count Raymond V demanded the aid of Cîteaux to fight against the Cathars, but in the early 13th century, their presence is such that Raymond VI cannot fight against them without alienating a large part of the population. The murder of the papal legate Pierre de Castelnau triggered the Albigensian Crusade. Launched in 1208 by Pope Innocent III, it aimed to crush heresy and to subdue the powerful lords of the south and their wealthy domains. In 1215, Simon de Montfort, who took the leadership of the Crusade, defeated the army of Toulouse and entered the city. He proclaimed himself Count of Toulouse but was killed in 1218 by the inhabitants. After this event, the counts of Toulouse sided with the people against the royal armies. But after a new offensive launched by King Louis VIII, Raymond VII gave in and signed the Treaty of Meaux in 1229.

The repression against the Cathars increased and the County of Toulouse gradually passed under the domination of royal power. Joan of Toulouse, daughter of Raymond VII, married Alphonse of Poitiers, brother of St. Louis. As Count of Toulouse, Alphonse administered the city from Paris. In 1271, the county of Toulouse merged into the crown as an inheritance of Philip III, King of France, nephew of Alphonse. [2]

Genealogy and descendants of the House of Toulouse

The Counts of Rouergue

From 852, the County of Toulouse is the possession of the counts of Rouergue, and transmitted hereditarily.

The Counts of Toulouse

The Counts of Rouergue settled their capital in Toulouse. The senior line became Counts of Toulouse while a cadet branch retained the County of Rouergue.

The Counts of Tripoli

During the Crusades, Raymond of Saint-Gilles established the county of Tripoli. It remained in the family until 1187, when it passed to the House of Antioch.

Toulouse-Bruniquel

The last agnatic descendant of the Counts of Toulouse, of the "Raymondine" branch, died on 13 August 1577 [3] in the person of Jean Antoine, Viscount of Montclar and Baron of Salvagnac. A Protestant captain, he was killed by Catholics in a skirmish in the countryside. [4] He belonged to a cadet branch descended from Bertrand of Toulouse, Viscount of Bruniquel and natural son of Raymond VI.

Toulouse-Lautrec

According to a genealogy established in the 17th century, this family is considered a branch of the House of Toulouse which they represented in their coat of arms. According to recent research, the Toulouse-Lautrec would agnatic descendants of the viscounts of Lautrec, a line which could be traced back to the end of the ninth century, which would also be the origin of the Trencavel [5]

The House of Limoges

Second son of Raymond I, Count of Toulouse, Foucher of Limoges founded the House of Limoges in 876 that ruled Limoges until 1139.

Arms

Arms of the House of Toulouse
Blason Languedoc.svg
Count of Toulouse: Gules a cross clechy pommety and voided or
Coat of arms of the House of Toulouse-Tripoli.png
Count of Tripoli: Gules a cross or
Armes Vicomtes Limoges.svg
Viscount of Limoges: Or three lions azure armed and langued gules

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso Jordan</span> Count of Toulouse, Rouergue and Tripoli, Margrave of Provence and Duke of Narbonne

Alfonso Jordan, also spelled Alfons Jordan or Alphonse Jourdain (1103–1148), was the Count of Tripoli (1105–09), Count of Rouergue (1109–48) and Count of Toulouse, Margrave of Provence and Duke of Narbonne (1112–48).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse</span> French noble (c. 1041–1105)

Raymond of Saint-Gilles, also called Raymond IV of Toulouse or Raymond I of Tripoli, was the count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and margrave of Provence from 1094, and one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 to 1099. He spent the last five years of his life establishing the County of Tripoli in the Near East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Tripoli</span> Crusader state in the Levant from 1102 to 1289

The County of Tripoli (1102–1289) was the last of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the modern-day region of Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria. When the Frankish Crusaders – mostly southern French forces – captured the region in 1109, Bertrand of Toulouse became the first count of Tripoli as a vassal of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. From that time, the rule of the county was decided not strictly by inheritance but by factors such as military force, favour and negotiation. In 1289 the County of Tripoli fell to Sultan Qalawun of the Muslim Mamluks of Cairo. The county was absorbed into Mamluk Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Toulouse</span> State in southern France (778–1271)

The County of Toulouse was a territory in southern France consisting of the city of Toulouse and its environs, ruled by the Count of Toulouse from the late 9th century until the late 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond II, Count of Tripoli</span> Count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152

Raymond II was count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152. He succeeded his father, Pons, Count of Tripoli, who was killed during a campaign that a commander from Damascus launched against Tripoli. Raymond accused the local Christians of betraying his father and invaded their villages in the Mount Lebanon area. He also had many of them tortured and executed. Raymond was captured during an invasion by Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, who gained the two important castles of Montferrand and Rafaniya in exchange for his release in the summer of 1137.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertrand, Count of Toulouse</span>

Bertrand of Toulouse was count of Toulouse, and was the first count of Tripoli to rule in Tripoli itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Count of Tripoli</span> Ruler of the County of Tripoli, 1102–1289

The count of Tripoli was the ruler of the County of Tripoli, a crusader state from 1102 through to 1289. Of the four major crusader states in the Levant, Tripoli was created last.

The count of Toulouse was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding county from the late 9th century until 1270. The counts and other family members were also at various times counts of Quercy, Rouergue, Albi, and Nîmes, and sometimes margraves of Septimania and Provence. Count Raymond IV founded the Crusader state of Tripoli, and his descendants were also counts there. They reached the zenith of their power during the 11th and 12th centuries, but after the Albigensian Crusade the county fell to the kingdom of France, nominally in 1229 and de facto in 1271.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse</span> Count of Toulouse

Raymond VI was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also Count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse</span> Count of Toulouse

Raymond VII was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramnulfids</span> French dynasty

The Ramnulfids, or the House of Poitiers, were a French dynasty of Frankish origin ruling the County of Poitou and Duchy of Aquitaine in the 9th through 12th centuries. Their power base shifted from Toulouse to Poitou. In the early 10th century, they contested the dominance of northern Aquitaine and the ducal title to the whole with the House of Auvergne. In 1032, they inherited the Duchy of Gascony, thus uniting it with Aquitaine. By the end of the 11th century, they were the dominant power in the southwestern third of France. The founder of the family was Ramnulf I, who became count in 835.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William III, Count of Toulouse</span>

William III Taillefer was the Count of Toulouse, Albi, and Quercy, as well as the Marquis of Gothie from 972 or 978 to his death. He was the first of the Toulousain branch of his family to bear the title marchio, which he inherited from Raymond II of Rouergue.

Raymond I was the Count of Limoges, Rouergue and Quercy, and Toulouse and Albi. He was the younger son of Fulcoald of Rouergue and Senegund, niece of William of Gellone through his sister Alda.

Bernard II, known as the Calf, was the count of Toulouse, Rouergue, Limoges, Nîmes, Carcassonne, Razès, and Albi. He was the son of Raymond I and Bertha. The dates of his reign are disputed: either 865–877 or 864–872.

The title Prince of Gothia or Prince of the Goths was a title of nobility, sometimes assumed by its holder as a sign of supremacy in the region of Gothia and sometimes bestowed by the sovereign of West Francia to the principal nobleman in the south of the realm, in the ninth and tenth centuries. Sometimes hereditary and sometimes not, the title has been rendered in English as Dukeof Septimania or Dukeof Gothia. A similar or the same "office" was often held with the title comes marcæ Hispanicæ: "Count of the Spanish March." The title was also a chronicler's device and, as presented in some chronicles, may never have been used in any official capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Narbonne</span>

The title Duke of Narbonne was a title employed at various times by the overlords of Narbonne, while the direct power in the city was held by the viscounts. The prestige of the title probable attached to the fact that Narbonne had been a capital of the ancient Roman administration of the eponymous province of Gallia Narbonensis.

The County of Rodez was a fief of the County of Toulouse formed out of part of the old County of Rouergue in what is today Aveyron, France. Its capital was Rodez. At its height, it was a centre of troubadour culture.

Constance of France was a French princess of the House of Capet, the only daughter of Louis VI of France and his wife Adélaide de Maurienne. Amongst her siblings was Louis VII, who succeeded their father in 1137.

The army of Raymond of Saint-Gilles was one of the first to be formed after Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade. Raymond formed a Provençal army and left his County of Toulouse in October 1096, traveling over the land route. He was the only leader of a major army that did not swear an oath of fealty to Byzantine emperor Alexius I Komnenos.

Raymond I of Turenne was the 7th Viscount of Turenne. He participated along with his vassals in the First Crusade as part of the Army of Raymond of Saint-Gilles.

References

  1. Guillemain, Bernard (1976). "Une « thèse » sur la société languedocienne du haut Moyen âge : Magnou-Nortier (Elisabeth), La société laïque et l'Église dans la province ecclésiastique de Narbonne (zone cispyrénéenne) de la fin du VIIIe à la fin du XIe siècle. (Publications de l'Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail, série A, tome 20), Toulouse, Association des Publications de l'Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail, 1974". Annales du Midi. 88 (129): 478–485.
  2. Le Roy Ladurie (Emmanuel), Histoire de France des régions, Seuil, 2001, p. 284.
  3. Journal de Faurin sur les guerres de Castres p. 13 dans le tome 2 des Pièces fugitives pour servir à l'histoire de France - Paris 1759
  4. J.Gaches - Mémoires de Jacques Gaches sur les guerres de religion à Castres et dans le Languedoc publiés par Charles Pradel -Paris 1879- pages 256 et 257
  5. Philippe Zalmen Ben-Nathan - Une généalogie inédite des vicomtes de Lautrec - Annales du midi ISSN 0003-4398, 2002, vol 114, p. 369 à 379.