Count of Provence

The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by several different cultures on different sides, the Provençals maintained a unity which was reinforced when the region was made a separate kingdom during the Carolingian decline of the later ninth century. Provence was eventually joined to the other Burgundian kingdom, but it remained ruled by its own powerful, and largely independent, counts.

In the eleventh century, Provence became disputed between the traditional line and the counts of Toulouse, who claimed the title of "Margrave of Provence". In the High Middle Ages, the title of Count of Provence belonged to local families of Frankish origin, to the House of Barcelona, to the House of Anjou and to a cadet branch of the House of Valois. After 1032, the county was part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was inherited by King Louis XI of France in 1481, and definitively incorporated into the French royal domain by his son Charles VIII in 1487.

Merovingian governors

During the period of the Merovingian dynasty in Gaul, Provence was a province ruled by '' duces'' (dukes), military leaders and district commanders who served as defenders of the frontiers of the kingdom and ruled over vast territories as opposed to the '' comites'' (counts), who ruled the cities and their environs. Provence was usually a part of the division of the Frankish realm known as the Kingdom of Burgundy, which was treated as its own kingdom. Their title sometimes appears as ''rector Provinciae''.

This is an incomplete list of the known Merovingian-appointed dukes of Provence.

* Liberius (until 534), Ostrogothic appointee
* Namatius (bef. 552), Frankish appointee
* Bodegisel (fl. c. 566)
* Adovarius (561–569)
*Lupus (569–570)
* Jovin (570–573)
* Albin (573–575)
* Dinamius (from 575)
* Gondulf (fl. c. 581)
* Leudegisel (fl. c. 585), of Burgundian Provence
*Nicetas (from 587)
*Babo (fl. c. 600)
* Aegyla (fl. c. 602)
* Bado (634–641)
* Willibad (641–643), of Burgundian Provence
* Hector (fl. c. 679)
* Nemfidius (fl. c. 700)
* Antenor (fl. c. 697)
* Metrannus (fl. c. 700)
* Maurontus (c. 720 – 739)
* Abbo (fl. c. 739)

Carolingian dukes

Provence was ruled by a poorly known series of dukes during the period of general Carolingian unity until the Treaty of Verdun (843).

* Leibulf (until c. 829)
* Guerin (c. 829 – 845)
* Fulcrad (845 – c. 860)

Carolingian kings

After the division of the Carolingian Empire by the Treaty of Verdun (843), the first of the fraternal rulers of the three kingdoms to die was Lothair I, who divided his middle kingdom in accordance with the custom of the Franks between his three sons. Out of this division came the Kingdom of Provence, given to Lothair's youngest son, Charles. A heritage of royal rule was thus inaugurated in Provence which, though it was often subsumed into one of its larger neighbouring kingdoms, was just as often proclaiming its own sovereigns.

The kingdom of Provence was also known as Lower Burgundy (or Cisjurane Burgundy). Its capital was first Vienne.

* Charles of Provence (855–863)
''On his death, Provence divided between surviving brothers, Lothair II and the Emperor Louis II. The bulk goes to Louis.''
* Louis II (863–875), also Holy Roman Emperor from 855
''On his death, as with his Kingdom of Italy, Louis's Provence goes to his uncle Charles the Bald .''
*Charles the Bald (875–877), also Holy Roman Emperor from 875
* Louis the Stammerer (877–879)
''With the death of Louis the Stammerer, Provence refused to elect his two sons and instead elected one of their own as king. Boso married Ermengard, daughter of Louis II, to strengthen his and his son's claim.''
* Boso (879–887)
* Louis the Blind (887–928), also Holy Roman Emperor from 901 to 905
''Louis's kingdom did not pass to his heirs, but instead to his brother-in-law, the husband of his sister, Hugh, who had acted as his regent since 905. Hugh never used the royal title in Provence.''
* Hugh (911–933)
''In 933, Provence ceases to be a separate kingdom as Hugh exchanged it with Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy for the Iron Crown of Lombardy, that is, rule of Italy.''

Counts and Margraves, within the Empire

In the aftermath of the death of Louis the Blind, Provence began to be ruled by local counts placed under the authority of a margrave. Firstly, Hugh of Arles served as duke and regent during Louis' long blindness. Secondly, Hugh gave the march of Vienne in a treaty of 933. Rudolf was never recognised by the nobles of the country and appointed Hugh, Duke of Burgundy as its first margrave.

At the time, the premier counts in the region were the counts of Arles and those of Avignon. Those who would first bear the title ''comes Provinciae'' or "count of Provence" descended from one Rotbold of Arles. William I and Rotbold I did not divide their father's domains and this indivisibility was maintained by their respective descendants. It is thus impossible to ascertain who succeeded whom in the county as various reigns overlap.

By his marriage to Emma of Provence, daughter of Rotbold II, William III, Count of Toulouse inherited lands and castles in Provence. Emma inherited the title Margrave of Provence upon her elder brother's death in 1037. Her son Pons by William III did not survive her, but her grandson did and claimed her title in opposition to the younger line of counts of Provence.

Bosonid dynasty

House of Gévaudan

Houses of

Barcelona (comital) and Toulouse (margravial)

With a lack of interest in the ''Reconquista'' on their southern frontier, the Catalans turned towards their origins, the Mediterranean littoral and northwards. They coveted the region between the Cévennes and the Rhône, then under the control of Toulouse. In 1112, the count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer III, married the heiress of Provence, Douce, who was the daughter of the Countess Gerberga of Provence, Gévaudan, Carladais, and part of Rodez. The marriage was probably taken at the urging of the church, which was then in conflict with the House of Toulouse. In 1076, Count Raymond IV was excommunicated, but he still lent his support to Aicard, the deposed archbishop of Arles (since 1080). With the count away on the First Crusade, the church took the opportunity to seize the balance of power in the region. This marriage effectively put Provence under Catalan control.

To accommodate the longstanding claims of the count of Toulouse, in 1125, Raymond's heir, Alfonso Jordan, signed a treaty whereby his family's traditional claim to the title of "Margrave of Provence" was recognised and the march of Provence was defined as the region north of the lower Durance

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases