Bernard V (died 1172), son of

Raymond Pilet d’Alès Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund (disambiguation), Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic langu ...

and his wife Mabel, of an unknown family. Count of Meigueil, by right of his wife (

jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...

). Seigneur of

Alès Alès (; oc, Alès) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie regions of France, region in southern France. It is one of the Subprefectures in France, su ...

(as Bernard II d’Alès). Bernard became Count of Meigueil upon his marriage to Beatrix de Melgueil, in 1146. One source claims Bernard was in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

, but there is no evidence that this was the case. Beatrix (1130-1190), also known as Beatrice, was the only child of Bernard IV, Count of Melgueil (d. 1132), and Guillemette de Montpellier (daughter of William V, Lord of Montpellier). Bernard IV inherited the countship from his father Raymond II, representing a lineage of Counts of Melgueil dating to 930. Beatrix became Countess of Melgueil in 1130 upon her father’s death. Because of her young age,

William VI of Montpellier William VI or Guillem VI (died 1161) was the eldest son of William V and his wife Ermessende, daughter of Count . William succeeded his father in the lordship of Montpellier in 1121, while still a minor, under his mother's guardianship. He suppres ...

, the son of William V, was named regent of the county and remained so until Beatrix married her first husband Berengar Raymond, Count of Provence. Upon his death in 1144, Beatrix ruled the county. Beatrix then married Bernard II d’Alès, who became Bernard V, Count of Meigueil. Beatrix and Bernard had two children: * Bertrand Pilet (d. 1191 or after) * Ermessende of Pilet (d. 1176). This is where things become complicated in the ruling of the County of Meigueil. Bertrand was disinherited by his mother and unsuccessfully fought the arrangements made with the Counts of Toulouse by his sister. He swore homage to King Alfonso II of Aragon to help contest these arrangements to no avail. Bertrand married a woman named Bonafosse (d. 1205) of an unknown family and had one child Raymond (d. 1129). Raymond swore allegiance to his brother-in-law

Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse Raymond VI ( oc, Ramon; October 27, 1156 – August 2, 1222) was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also Count of Melgueil (as Raymond IV) from 1173 to 1190. Early life Raymond was born at Saint-Gilles, Gard, ...

, undoubtedly to help regain his inheritance. He married Sibylle d’Anduze, daughter of Bernard VII, Seigneur d’Anduze. Ermenssende of Pilet married first Pierre Bermond IV, Seigneur of Sauve and

Sommières Sommières (; oc, Someire) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France, located at the border with the Hérault department. It lies from Nîmes, from Montpellier. Geography Sommières is to the south of the garrigues and on th ...

. Her second marriage was to

, son of

Raymond V of Toulouse Raymond V ( oc, Ramon; c. 1134 – c. 1194) was Count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194. He was the son of Alphonse I of Toulouse and Faydida of Provence. Alphonse took his son with him on the Second Crusade in 1147. When Alpho ...

and Constance of France, daughter of

Louis VI of France Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (french: link=no, le Gros) or the Fighter (french: link=no, le Batailleur), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Louis was the first member ...

. The counts of Toulouse ruled Melgueil until 1211 when

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

enfeoffed it to Guillaume d'Autignac, Bishop of Maguelone.

Sources

* Devic, Claude, and Vaissète, Joseph, ''Histoire générale de Languedoc : Volume I, Toulouse'', édition Privat, 1872 * Emmerson, Richard K., ''Key Figures in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia,'' Routledge Publishing, New York, 2013 * Riley-Smith, Jonathan, The First Crusaders, 1095-1131, Cambridge University Press, London, 1997

References

{{Reflist Counts of Provence Occitan nobility