The County of Forcalquier was a large medieval county in the region of
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bo ...
in the
Kingdom of Arles
The Kingdom of Burgundy, known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles, also referred to in various context as Arelat, the Kingdom of Arles and Vienne, or Kingdom of Burgundy-Provence, was a realm established in 933 by the merger of the king ...
, then part of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. It was named after the fortress around which it grew,
Forcalquier
Forcalquier (; oc, Forcauquier, ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.
Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. D ...
.
The earliest mention of a castle at Forcalquier dates to 1044, when it was in the possession of Fulk Bertrand, joint
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 ...
. When Fulk died in 1051 his lands were shared between his sons
William Bertrand
William Bertrand (9 November 1881, Marennes, Charente-Maritime
Marennes () is a former commune in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Marennes-Hiers-Brouage.
and Geoffrey II, who inherited Forcalquier. Sometime in the 1060s Forcalquier was inherited by William's daughter Adelaide, who was the first person to be styled "Countess of Forcalquier". She married
Ermengol IV of Urgell
Ermengol (or Armengol) IV (1056–1092), called ''el de Gerb'' or ''Gerp'', was the Count of Urgell from 1066 to his death. He was the son of Ermengol III and Adelaide, whose family is not known, even if some scholars made her daughter of Guillem ...
and died in 1129, at a time when Provence was sharply disputed by the many persons who had inherited some title to it. The
counts of Toulouse
The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de 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 surroundin ...
claimed the title ''marchio'' as descendants of
Emma of Provence
Emma (estimate 975-1062) was Sovereign Count and Margrave of Provence from 1037 until 1062.
She was the daughter of Rotbold II of Provence and Ermengarde of Burgundy. She inherited the title from her elder brother William III, and married Willi ...
, while the
counts of Barcelona
The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality ...
laid claim to Provence as descendants of Douce I. In 1125 a formal division of Provence into a march and a county was effected, but in 1131 a new claimant, the
House of Baux
The House of Baux is a French noble family from the south of France. It was one of the richest and most powerful families of Medieval Provence, known as the 'Race d’Aiglon'. They were independent Lords as castellans of Les Baux and Arles and wi ...
, provoked a series of wars, the
Baussenque Wars
The Baussenque Wars (from French ''Guerres Baussenques'', meaning "wars of Baux") were a series of armed conflicts (1144–1162) between the House of Barcelona, then ruling in Provence, and the House of Baux. They are held up in Provence as ...
, fought over the rights to the county of Provence. Meanwhile, the county north of the
Durance
The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Embrun, had devolved to Adelaide's son by Ermengol, William III (the enumeration of counts of Forcalquier includes earlier counts of Provence). William III and his descendants, a cadet branch of the
counts of Urgell
This is a list of the counts of Urgell, a county of the Principality of Catalonia in the 10th through 13th centuries.
c. 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians
*798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya
*820–824 Aznar Galínde ...
, continued to rule Forcalquier until the end of the century, when the
Treaty of Aix
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
(1193), which gave in marriage the last count's granddaughter,
Garsenda of Sabran
Garsenda (french: Garsende; c. 1180 – c. 1242/1257) was the Countess of Provence as the wife of Alfonso II from 1193 and the Countess of Forcalquier in her own right from 1209 and subsequently united with Provence. She was also a patron of Oc ...
, to
Alfonso
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
, son of
Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II (1–25 March 1157Benito Vicente de Cuéllar (1995)«Los "condes-reyes" de Barcelona y la "adquisición" del reino de Aragón por la dinastía bellónida» p. 630-631; in ''Hidalguía''. XLIII (252) pp. 619–632."Alfonso II el Casto, hi ...
and heir of the county of Provence. Their marriage in July 1193, Alfonso's inheritance in 1196, and Garsenda's in 1209 united the two counties permanently.
List of counts
*1063/1067–1129
Adelaide of Forcalquier Adelaide of Forcalquier (11th-century - after 1129) was a suo jure reigning countess of Forcalquier from 1110 to 1129..Édouard Baratier, Histoire de la Provence, Toulouse, Editions Privat, 1990, 604 p. (ISBN 2-7089-1649-1)
She was the daughter ...
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...