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Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (c. 1150 – 25 December 1231) came from a Genoese merchant family who lived in Marseille. He is known as a trobadour, and then as a fiercely anti-
Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
bishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...
.


Troubadour

Initially famed as a troubadour, he began composing songs in the 1170s and was known to Raymond Geoffrey II of Marseille,
Richard Coeur de Lion Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
,
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 ...
, Raimond-Roger of Foix,
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 William VIII of Montpellier. He is known primarily for his love songs, which were lauded by Dante; there are 14 surviving cansos, one tenson, one lament, one invective, three crusading songs and possibly one religious song (although its authorship is disputed). Like many other troubadours, he was later credited by the ''
Biographies des Troubadours ''Vida'' () is the usual term for a brief prose biography, written in Old Occitan, of a troubadour or trobairitz. The word ''vida'' means "life" in Occitan languages; they are short prose biographies of the troubadours, and they are found in som ...
'' to have conducted love affairs with the various noblewomen about whom he sang (allegedly causing William VIII to divorce his wife, Eudocia Comnena), but all evidence suggests that Folquet's early life was considerably more prosaic and in keeping with his status as a wealthy citizen. A contemporary, John of Garlande, later described him as "renowned on account of his spouse, his progeny, and his home," all marks of bourgeois respectability.


Bishop

Folquet's life and career abruptly changed around 1195 when he experienced a profound religious conversion and decided to renounce his former life. He joined the strict
Cistercian Order The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...
, entering the monastery of Thoronet (Var, France), and appears to have placed his wife and two sons in monastic institutions as well. He soon rose in prominence and was elected abbot of Thoronet which allowed him to help found the sister house of Géménos to house women, quite possibly including his wife. He was elected
Bishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...
in 1205, after two Cistercian Papal legates had been sent to the region to reform it. Pope Innocent III was particularly concerned by the prevalence of both heresy and episcopal corruption in the Languedoc and used the Cistercians to combat both. The legates had deposed the previous Bishop, Raimon de Rabastens, and were probably instrumental in arranging Folquet's nomination for the position. As Bishop of Toulouse, Folquet (now traditionally referred to by his proper name, Foulques, Fulk, or Folc, instead of the diminutive Folquet) took a very active role in combatting heresy. Throughout his episcopal career he sought to create and encourage outlets for religious enthusiasm that were Catholic in an effort to woo believers away from preachers of heresy (primarily
Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
and Waldensian). In 1206 he created what would become the convent of
Prouille The Monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Prouille or Prouilhe (from Occitan: Prolha), is the "cradle of the Dominicans", where the first Dominican house, a monastery of nuns, was founded in late 1206 or early 1207. It is located in a hamlet in Languedoc, Fr ...
to offer women a religious community that would rival (and, where necessary, replace) those of the Cathars. He participated in the initial preaching mission of
Saint Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scien ...
that was led by Dominic's superior, Bishop
Diego of Osma Diego de Acebo (also known as ''Diaz de Osma'', ''Alphonsus Didacus'', ''Didacus Acebes'') was bishop of Osma (Castile, Spain) from 1201 to 1207. Life Diego de Acebo was prior of the cathedral chapter of the ''Catedral de Santa María de la Asun ...
. He continued to support this new form of preaching after Bishop Diego's death by backing Dominic and his followers, eventually allotting the nascent Dominicans property and a portion of the tithes of Toulouse to ensure their continued success.


Figure of the Albigensian Crusade

Bishop Foulques had tumultuous relations with his diocese, primarily on account of his support of the
Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...
, which was popularly perceived as a war of aggression against the region. Hated by many Toulousains and by Count Raymond VI of Toulouse he left Toulouse on 2 April 1211, after the crusaders laid siege to Lavaur. Soon afterwards he instructed all clerics to leave the city. He was present at the siege in April–May 1211; he then travelled north to France, where he preached the Crusade alongside Guy of les Vaux-de-Cernay (the abbot of the
Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey (french: Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay) was a Cistercian monastery in northern France ( Ile-de-France), situated in Cernay-la-Ville, in the Diocese of Versailles, Yvelines. History The abbey was founded in 1118
). He then returned to the south, participating in the Council of Pamiers in November 1212, in the Council of Lavaur in January 1213, in the meeting with Peter II of Aragon on 14 January 1213, at the
Battle of Muret The Battle of Muret (Occitan: Batalha de Murèth), fought on 12 September 1213 near Muret, 25 km south of Toulouse, was the last major battle of the Albigensian Crusade and one of the most notable pitched battles of the Middle Ages. Althoug ...
on 12 September 1213, and at the Council of Montpellier in January 1215. There he was instructed by the
Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholi ...
, Peter of Benevento, to take possession of the Château Narbonnais, the Count's residence, at Toulouse; thus he finally returned to the city in February 1215. In July 1215 Foulques issued a diocesan letter instituting Dominic's brotherhood of preachers (which eventually became the Dominican Order). In November 1215 he and Dominic, with Guy of Montfort, were in Rome at the Fourth Lateran Council. After the Toulousains revolted in August 1216 against their new ruler, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, and Foulques' negotiated settlement led to further violence, he tried to relinquish his position, claiming that it was impossible to manage the diocese, but his requests to the pope were refused. In October 1217, when Simon was besieging Toulouse once more, he sent a group of sympathisers to Paris to plead for the help of king
Philippe-Auguste Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...
. This group included Simon's wife, the countess
Alix de Montmorency Alix de Montmorency (died 24 February 1220/1221) was a French noblewoman. Her parents were Bouchard V de Montmorency and Laurette, daughter of Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut and Alice of Namur. Life In 1190 Alix married Simon de Montfort (c. 1175 – ...
, as well as Foulques. They began their journey clandestinely, "through the forest", to avoid attacks by '' faidits'' (exiled).''
Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise The ''Song of the Albigensian Crusade'' is an Old Occitan epic poem narrating events of the Albigensian Crusade from March 1208 to June 1219. Modelled on the Old French ''chanson de geste'', it was composed in two distinct parts: William of Tude ...
'' laisse 194.
Guillaume de Puylaurens Guillaume de Puylaurens (in Occitan, Guilhèm de Puèglaurenç; in Latin, Guillelmus de Podio Laurenti; in English, William of Puylaurens) is a 13th-century Latin chronicler, author of a history of Catharism and of the Albigensian Crusade. He was b ...
describes Foulques' meeting with Philippe-Auguste but does not date it ('' Chronica'' 32).
They returned more flamboyantly, in May 1218, bringing a party of new Crusaders including the dashing Amaury de Craon. Foulques spent much of the following decade outside his diocese, assisting the crusading army and the Church's attempts to bring order to the region. He was at the Council of Sens in 1223. After the Peace of Paris finally ended the crusade in 1229, Foulques returned to Toulouse and began to construct the institutions that were designed to combat heresy in the region. He helped to create the
University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...
and administered the newly created Episcopal Inquisition. He died in 1231 and was buried, beside the tomb of
William VII of Montpellier William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
, at the abbey of Grandselves, near Toulouse, where his sons, Ildefonsus and Petrus had been abbots.


Notes


Folquet's works

* Stanislaw Stronski, ''Le troubadour Folquet de Marseille''. Kraków: Académie des Sciences, 1910.
Texts of Folquet's poems (in Occitan)



Historical sources

* * * pp. 470–484. * (Reprinted: Toulouse: Le Pérégrinateur, 1996) *


References

*Stronski, S. (Ed.) ''Le troubadour Folquet de Marseille'' (Kraków, Académie des Sciences: 1910). *Patrice Cabau, 'LES ÉVÊQUES DE TOULOUSE (IIIe-XIVe SIÈCLES) ET LES LIEUX DE LEUR SÉPULTURE' in ''Mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Midi de la France'' vol. 59 (1999)

*N. M. Schulman, ''Where Troubadours were Bishops: The Occitania of Folc of Marseille (1150–1231)'', (Routledge, New York: 2001).

from the ''Here of a Sunday Morning'' radio show on WBAI 99.1 FM,
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.
Folquet de Marseilles
from the Encyclopædia Britannica. {{Authority control 1150s births 1231 deaths Troubadours from Marseille Bishops of Toulouse People of the Albigensian Crusade 13th-century French Roman Catholic bishops 12th-century troubadours 13th-century Latin writers Roman Catholic clergy from Marseille