Centule II (also ''Centulle'') (died 1129) was the

Count of Bigorre The County of Bigorre was a small feudatory of the Duchy of Gascony in the ninth through 15th centuries. Its capital was Tarbes. The county was constituted out of the dowry of Faquilène, an Aquitainian princess, for her husband Donatus Lupus I ...

from 1114 to his death. He broke

Bigorre Bigorre ({{IPA-fr, biɡɔʁ; Gascon: ''Bigòrra'') is a region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of t ...

's feudal connection with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and established bonds across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

with

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. He was also a major participant in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, fighting in the

army of Raymond of Saint-Gilles 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 o ...

, and the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

. He was the second son of

Centule V of Béarn Centule ( ca, Centoll; french: Centulle; la, italic=yes, Centullo, Centullus, or ''Centulus''; oc, Centolh; es, Céntulo) is a masculine given name common in southern France and northern Spain during the Middle Ages. * Centule I, Count of Astarac ...

by his second wife,

Beatrice I of Bigorre Beatrice I (French: ''Béatrix Ire de Bigorre''; c. 1064 – after 14 October 1095) was a sovereign Countess of Bigorre from 1080 until 1095. Life Her mother was called Étiennette, whilst her father was Bernard II of Bigorre. She also had a half ...

. He succeeded his elder brother Bernard III's daughter Beatrice II. His elder half-brother Gaston IV was the

viscount of Béarn A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

and the two maintained excellent fraternal relations, undertaking almost every military expedition jointly. Between 1095 and 1101, the two half-brothers were absent from the south of France on 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 ...

. While Gaston was one of the heroes of the Crusade and consequently finds mention in many chronicles, Centule had not yet succeeded his brother at that point and was a mere nobleman, without a fief. In 1113, Bernard died and his successor, the heiress Beatrice, followed him to the grave the next year. Centule, now armed with the forces of Bigorre behind him, joined Gaston in an alliance with

Alfonso the Battler Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pet ...

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

and

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, on the successful expedition against

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

in 1118. For his part in the victory, Centule received a section of the city in fief of the king and twenty four villages in the

Val d'Aran Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain, consisting of the Aran Valley, in ar ...

. He participated in the conquest of

Tudela Tudela may refer to: *Tudela, Navarre, a town and municipality in northern Spain ** Benjamin of Tudela Medieval Jewish traveller ** William of Tudela, Medieval troubadour who wrote the first part of the ''Song of the Albigensian Crusade'' ** Battl ...

in 1119 and in the great attack on

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

in 1125–1126. In May 1122, he rendered homage to Alfonso, breaking his theoretical tie of vassalage to the

Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

. Centule married Estefania, daughter of

Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer III ''the Great'' was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1086 (jointly with Berenguer Ramon II and solely from 1097), Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and count of Provence in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1112, a ...

, and Dolça de Gévaudaun. They had one daughter: * Beatrice II (or III) de Bigorre (d. after 7 February 1148) Centule died in 1129 and was succeeded by his daughter who was married to Pierre de Marsan. With this marriage she united the county of Bigorre and the

viscounty A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

Marsan Marsan (; oc, Marçan, link=no, ) is a commune in the Gers department, southwestern France. Geography Population There exists a Swedish vanilla sauce product called , the name inspired by a visit by the owner to Marsan, Gers in the 1920s. ...

Sources

Medieval Lands Project, Comtes de Bigorre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centule 02 Of Bigorre 1129 deaths Counts of Bigorre Christians of the First Crusade People of the Reconquista Year of birth unknown