The viscount of Narbonne was the secular ruler of Narbonne in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Narbonne had been the capital of the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

province of

Septimania Septimania (french: Septimanie ; oc, Septimània ) is a historical region in modern-day Southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septima ...

, until the 8th century, after which it became the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

Viscounty of Narbonne. Narbonne was nominally subject to the Carolingian

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 ...

but was usually governed autonomously. The city was a major port on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. In the 12th century,

Ermengarde of Narbonne Ermengarde (Occitan: Ermengarda, Ainermada, or Ainemarda) (b. 1127 or 1129 – d. Perpignan, 14 October 1197), was a viscountess of Narbonne from 1134 to 1192. She was the daughter of Aimery II of Narbonne and his first wife, also named Ermengarde. ...

(reigned 1134 to 1192) presided over one of the cultural centers where the spirit of

courtly love Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...

was developed. In the 15th century Narbonne passed to the County of Foix and in 1507 to the

royal domain of France The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or (in French) ''domaine royal'' (from demesne) of France were the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France. While the term eventually came to refer to a territorial unit, ...

Other governors of Narbonne

Muslim governors

Umar ibn Umar Umar ibn Umar () was the Muslim Wali (''Governor'') of Septimania and the Upper March, administrative divisions in the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba. He hailed from the Hejaz region and belonged to the Arab Banu Khazraj tribe. He governed from ...

(747-?) * Abd ar-Rahman ibn Uqba (?-759)

Visigothic counts

*Gilbert (c. 750) *Milo (c. 752-753) *Unknown (753-759)

Carolingian counts

*Milo (restored, 759?-790? attested in 782) *Adhemar (c. 790-817) * Berà (817-820, also

count 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 of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

) *

Leibulf of Provence Leibulf, Leybulf, or Letibulf was the Count of Provence in the early ninth century. Along with Gaucelm, who ruled Septimania, and Bera, who ruled Catalonia, he was one of the three most important magnates in the south during the early reign of Louis ...

(c. 820-828) *

Bernard of Septimania Bernard (or Bernat) of Septimania (795–844), son of William of Gellone, was the Frankish Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 to his execution. He was also count of Carcassonne from 837. He was appointed t ...

(828-829, also count of Barcelona) *

Gaucelm Gaucelm (died 834) was a Frankish count and leading magnate in Gothia during the reign of Louis the Pious. He was initially the Count of Roussillon from about 800, but he received Empúries in 817 and was thenceforward the chief representative o ...

(829-830, also count of Roussillon) *Bernard of Septimania (restored, 830-832) * Berenguer the Wise (832-835, also count of Barcelona) *Bernard of Septimania (restored, 835-844) * Sunifred (844-848, also count of Barcelona) *

William of Septimania William of Septimania (29 November 826 – 850) was the son of Bernard and Dhuoda. He was the count of Toulouse from 844 and count of Barcelona from 848. The sources for his life are primarily the ''Annales Bertiniani'' and the '' Chronica Fo ...

(848-849, also count of Barcelona) *

Aleran Aleran was the count of Barcelona from 848 to 852 AD. He was also count of Empúries and Roussillon and margrave of Septimania together with Isembart from 849 or 850 to 852 AD. He was a Frankish nobleman loyal to King Charles the Bald of West F ...

(849-852, also count of Barcelona) * Odalric (852-857, also count of Barcelona) * Humfrid (857-865, also count of Barcelona) * Bernard of Gothia (865-878, also count of Barcelona) * Bernard Plantapilosa (878) After 830 the counts were gradually reduced to viscounts.

Carolingian ''vigerii''

*Magnari (c. 790-c. 800) *Esturmio (800-811) *Quixilà (811-817)

Viscounts of Narbonne

Independent viscounts

*Lindoi (876-878) *Maiol I (878-911) *Gauger or Gualquer (c. 911) *Francis II (c. 911-924) *Odo I (924-933) **Volverad (with Odo, c. 924-926) *Matfred I (933-966 or 969) *Raymond I (c. 969-1019/1023) *Béranger (1019/1023-c. 1066) *Raymond II (1066-1067) *Bernard (1066-c. 1077) * Aimery I (1077-1105) * Aimery II (1105-1134) *

Ermengarde Ermengarde or Ermengard or Ermingarde or Irmingard or Irmgard is a feminine given name of Germanic origin derived from the Germanic words "ermen/irmin," meaning "whole, universal" and "gard" meaning "enclosure, protection". Armgarð is a Faroese ver ...

(1134-1192) **

Alphonse I of Toulouse Alfonso Jordan, also spelled Alfons Jordan or Alphonse Jourdain (1103–1148), was the Count of Tripoli (1105–09), Count of Rouergue (1109–48) and Count of Toulouse, Margrave of Provence and Duke of Narbonne (1112–48). Life Alfonso was the ...

claimed the regency of Narbonne from 1134 to 1143 during Ermengarde's minority **

Aimerico Manrique de Lara Aimerico Manrique de Lara or Aimeric ( 1152 – 14 October 1177) was the co-ruler of the Viscounty of Narbonne from 1167 and self-styled Duke of Narbonne from 1172. He was the nephew and heir of the Viscountess Ermengarda. He appears briefly to hav ...

was the heir presumptive to his aunt, Ermengarde, from 1167 to his death in 1177

House of Lara

* Peter of Lara (1192-1202) * Aimery III (1202-1239) *Amalric I (1239-1270) * Aimery IV (1270-1298) *Amalric II (1298-1328) *Aimery V (1328-1336) *Amalric III (1336-1341) * Aimery VI (1341-1388) *William I (1388-1397) * William II (1397-1424)

House of Tinières

*Peter of Tinières (1424-1447, ruled as William III)

House of Foix

Gaston IV of Foix-Grailly Gaston IV (27 November 1422 – 25 or 28 July 1472) was the sovereign Viscount of Béarn and the Count of Foix and Bigorre in France from 1436 to 1472. He also held the viscounties of Marsan, Castelbon, Nébouzan, Villemeur and Lautrec and was, b ...

(1447-1468, also

count of Foix The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their court ...

) * John of Foix (1468-1500, also

count of Étampes Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

) * Gaston of Foix (1500-1507, also

duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was a possession of th ...

and count of Étampes) In 1507, Narbonne passed to

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

Sources

* Jacqueline Caille, "Ermengarde, vicomtesse de Narbonne (1127/29-1196/97). Une grande figure féminine du midi aristocratique", in ''La femme dans l'histoire et la société méridionales (IXe-XIXe siècles), Actes du 66e congrès de la Fédération Historique du Languedoc Méditerranéen et du Roussillon'' (Narbonne, October 15-16, 1994), Montpellier, 1995, pages 9-50. * Thierry Stasser, "La maison vicomtale de Narbonne aux Xe et XIe siècles", Annales du Midi, v. 204, 1993, p. 489-507. Narbonne