Brunissende of Foix (died September 1324) was Countess of Périgord by marriage to Count Elias VII. According to several sources, Brunissende had influence in the politics of the newly formed Avignon Papacy due to her close relationship with Pope Clement V. This arrangement supposedly enabled Brunissende to ensure a clerical career for her son, Hélie, who would go on to have an influential career as a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Biography

Brunissende was the daughter of daughter of

Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix Roger-Bernard III (1243 – 3 March 1302) was the Count of Foix from 1265 to his death. He was the son of Roger IV of Foix and Brunissende of Cardona. He entered into conflicts with both Philip III of France and Peter III of Aragon, who hel ...

by his wife Margaret, Viscountess of Béarn.

Marriage

Brunissende married Elias in 1298. For the groom, this was his second marriage due to the death of his first wife, Philippa, in 1286. Brunissende's family provided her with a dowry of 6,000 livres. She and Elias had several children, Hélie, Archambaud, and Roger-Bernard. Amongst her daughters were Rosemburge and Agnes. Brunissende was rumoured to be the mistress of Clement V, yet Giovanni Villani confessed that stories he had heard of the relationship between her and the Pope were only hearsay. Zacour was certain that Brunissende had met the Pope when he had visited

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux i ...

and the Périgords were close allies of the French king, to whom the Pope was indebted to.

Widowhood and death

In 1311, Brunissende was widowed. Due to Archambaud being underage, she assumed the regency over the County of Périgord. During this period, her ties with the Avignon Papacy strengthened. The favours to Hélie did not stop when her husband died. On January 23, 1314, he was made canon in the Church of Cahors, with reservation of a prebend. This certainly implies some form of communication between the Pope and Brunissende, Zacour claimed that the favour was a result of Brunissende's request; as she was regent at the time, it seems logical to have come from her. Brunissende probably died at Montagnac d'Auberoche, where her last will and testament was drawn up on Sunday, September 30, 1324. Her funeral saw one of the many dramatic episodes in the long, futile struggle of the counts of Perigord with the independent townsmen of Perigueux. Her body was brought to Perigueux for burial in the convent of the Friars Minor, it was accompanied by her three sons, her daughters and a host of noble ladies, barons, and knights, all of whom lodged in the Franciscan convent.

References

Bibliography

*Ward, Jennifer, ''Women in Medieval Europe 1200-1500'' (London: Routledge, 2016) *{{cite journal , first=Norman P. , last=Zacour , title=Talleyrand: The Cardinal of Périgord (1301-1364) , journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , volume=50 , year=1960 , issue=7 , publisher=American Philosophical Society , doi=10.2307/1005798 , jstor=1005798 1324 deaths House of Talleyrand-Périgord House of Foix 13th-century French women 14th-century French women