The ''Liber instrumentorum memorialium'' is the surviving

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of the

Lords of Montpellier The following is a list of lords of Montpellier: * William I of Montpellier 26 November 986–1019 * William II of Montpellier 1019–1025 * William III of Montpellier 1025–1058 * William IV of Montpellier 1058–1068 * William V of Montpell ...

, the Guilhems (Guillems), and an important source for their history. It was compiled in the early thirteenth century, under the patronage of William VIII, whose lordship is extensively catalogued in it. Its earliest documents date to 1059; its latest to 1204. Its 570 instruments are organised by both type and geography. According to the cartulary's preface, the documents are of two main types: those dealing with the lord's possessions in the

Diocese of Maguelonne The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier (–Lodève–Béziers–Agde–Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Montis Pessulani (–Lotevensis–Biterrensis–Agathensis–Sancti Pontii Thomeriarum)'' ...

(which includes

papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

privileges, ''privilegia'') and those dealing with his possessions elsewhere. Of these 150 record oaths of various sorts, while only 30 are ''convenientia'' (conventions). The earliest documents record some agreements of

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 ...

involving the castles of Pouget and

Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens (; oc, Sant Ponç de Mauchins) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Geography A tiny village perched on a hill, St. Pons de Machines is a typical example of the ''circulade' ...

in 1059. The last few documents record the brief independent rule of William VIII's daughter

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

before her marriage (15 June 1204) to Peter the Catholic brought the lordship into the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

. On the exceptional completeness of the cartulary of the Guilhems, Archibald Ross Lewis wrote:

The Cartulary of the Guillems of Montpellier presents an unusually full record of the activities of a noble family of southern France between the last decades of the eleventh century and the earliest years of the thirteenth. Only the ''Cartulary of the Trencavels'' of Beziers, still unpublished, or the ''Liber feudorum'' of the Counts of Barcelona can be compared to it; and each of these is much less complete. The Cartulary is preserved primarily because after 1204 most of the heritage of the Guillems was taken over by the commune or town of Montpellier in a corporate sense. Since the town wished to exercise the rights that originally were those of its noble seigneurs, it was to the advantage of the townsmen to preserve intact the record of those rights and privileges which were contained in the Cartulary.

Some of the earliest provisions of the Coutumes de Montpellier, dating from 1190, can be found in the ''Liber''. The ''Liber'' also gives evidence of the weakness of the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

in the south of his realm during the twelfth century, when he figures only as a tool for dating documents; real authority lay with the

Popes The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. The twelfth-century population of

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

has been estimated based on the ''Liber'' at 6,000–7,500 for the city and 9,000 when its rural environs are included.K. L. Reyerson (1979), "Patterns of Population Attraction and Mobility: The Case of Montpellier, 1293–1348," ''Viator'', 10, 257 n2, citing Jean Baumel (1969), ''Histoire d'une seigneurie du Midi de France 1: Naissance de Montpellier (985–1213)'' (Montpellier), 224–30.

Editions

*''Liber instrumentorum memorialium ou cartulaire des Guillems de Montpellier'', 3 vols. A. Germaine and C. Chabanneau, edd. Montpellier: La Société Archéologique de Montpellier, 1884–86.
Third volume at GoogleBooks

References

{{reflist, 2 Montpellier Medieval charters and cartularies