Aliénor de Comminges

Aliénor de Comminges (* 1329 ; † February 1402 ) was a daughter of Bernard VIII, Count of Comminges , and Mathe de l'Isle-Jourdain. She was mistress of Meyrargues , wife of Guillaume III. Roger de Beaufort , Viscount de Turenne , nephew of Pope Clement VI. and brother of Pope Gregory XI. , Mother of Raymond de Turenne . See also: House Comminges and House Rogier de Beaufort

Life

Alíenor was the fourth of six daughters of Bernard VIII, Count of Comminges, and Mathé de l'Isle-Jourdain, who had married in 1316. But the count neglected his third wife. It was a personal intervention by Pope John XXII. required to remind him that it would be better to live with his wife if he wanted heirs (his first two marriages had already been childless). The papal council bore fruit. The couple's only son, Jean, was born in 1336 and died in 1339.

Marriage to a nephew of the Pope

As soon as Clemens VI. When he ascended the papal throne in 1342, he had a desire to bring his family up. One of the most prestigious vice counties in the Limousin , that of Turenne, seemed easy prey to him. Cécile de Comminges, the eldest daughter of Bernard and Mathé, was their father's heir. He sent Bertrand de Cosnac , the Bishop of Lombez , with the task of giving him the vice-county as part of the marriage of his nephew Guillaume III. Roger de Beaufort with Cecile's sister Aliénor. These transactions cost him the fortune of 140,000 florins .

The price and age of the wife were not important. A marriage contract was signed in Narbonne on December 15, 1349 , in which the age of the bride was estimated to be between 16 and 25. ( maior annis sexdecim minor tatem viginti quinque ut ex aspectum persone apparebat ).

At the beginning of January 1350, Clement VI wrote. his niece: "Hurry up, my daughter, to be on your way. Hurry up as soon as possible, because we want to see you, moved by fatherly affection". The wish was an order. Aliénor came accompanied by Gaudemar du Fay , Sénéchal de Beaucaire, the King Philip VI. had commissioned by France to protect them.

On February 7, 1350, the official wedding ceremony took place. Clement VI. made it his duty to put the Vicegate of Turenne on the young couple's gift basket. In addition, the Pope hired a young employee from Liège, the musician Johannes Ciconia, for the household of his new niece

Mother of five in Meyrargues Castle

In October 1351 Aliénor had a daughter, Jeanne, whose godfather was the new King of France, John II . Their second child was a boy who was born in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon in September 1352 , later Raymond de Turenne . The Viscountess then had three daughters, Aliénor, Marguerite and Cécile.

Until the mid-1380s we only know her income from her. What she was granted by her husband from the Velay and Provence , as well as what her brother-in-law Gregor XI. from the Comtat Venaissin .

So she lived in Meyrargues, her husband in Pertuis (Vaucluse) . His castle was one of the strongest and safest places in all of Provence. Aliénor had the authority to appoint the officials of their fiefs themselves. In addition to the ferry, the toll and the castle, she exercised the various jurisdictions from August 20, 1370. They also had a mill for their exclusive use and another five mill wheels. However, this lady, who had everything to lead a quiet and serene life, threw herself into a private war with which her son supported the Younger House of Anjou and the papacy of Avignon .

Aliénor takes on her son's quarrels

It all started during an armistice in the War of the Union d'Aix. The Dame de Meyrargues decided to send a large boat across the Durance to provide food to Aix-en-Provence , the opponent of Marie de Blois , Countess of Provence. With this action, the conflict between the two women escalated.

On March 9, 1387, Meyrargues was informed that the Countess's commanders-in-chief had just occupied the castle of Aureille , a fief of Les Baux, which belonged to Raymond de Turenne. The latter, who was staying with his mother, sent one of his écuyer to Apt to ask the regent why.

On March 21, Bosquet and Jean Drogoul, genz de messire Raymon de Turenne , were still negotiating with the Countess's Chancellor.

Orgon, the castle ruins above the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church (14th century)

These negotiations could have been concluded if the regent's troops had not supplied Aureille with food on April 3. The conversations were immediately interrupted and the Viscount de Turenne attacked Orgon, the citadel of the Counts of Provence and an important customs post on the road from Avignon to Aix.

Aliénor didn't want to owe anyone now. On April 8, she stopped a convoy of fish traders who were traveling with their catch under the banner of Louis II. D'Anjou as a pass for the Alps. At her command, her people tore the banner up, then Aliénor had them choke down the pieces and ordered those who hesitated to be beaten.

On September 7th, Aliénor returned to the scene. The Tarascon delegates were arrested by their soldiers on the way to Aix; they returned from Sisteron , where they had informed Marie de Blois that their officials wanted to pay homage to his son Louis II. The Countess of Provence had given her a mission to her colleagues in Aix and the heads of the Union d'Aix. They were captured and locked in the dungeons of Meyrargues Castle.

The Countess of Provence tried to negotiate. She sent two emissaries in quick succession to the mother of Raymond de Turenne in the person of Duke Ludwig II of Bourbon and his adviser, Raymond II of Agoult. Nothing helped. Aliénor's pride, coupled with a propensity for violence, prevented everyone from teasing the Dame de Meyrargues.

Submission to Marie de Blois

She refused to recognize the Younger House of Anjou and made this known with weapons. In a letter of January 17, 1388, addressed to Francesco Datini by her representative in Avignon , this is stated: "The Viscountess de Turenne is waging war in Provence with some of the troops she is holding in Meyrargues and Lespéra, and us do not go half a love around Avignon. ". On May 18, Meyrargues was besieged by twelve (!) Knights under the leadership of Jean Sévin, Bailli of Manosque . You couldn't be more diplomatic: Aliénor could give in and pay homage without losing face. Raymond de Turenne, who had made peace with Marie de Blois since January 28, intervened with his mother so that she laid down her arms and even took part in this symbolic siege. Aliénor accepted on May 23rd to pay homage to Louis II. D'Anjou and the regent Marie de Blois. But a month later the Viscountess still hadn't obeyed.

On June 15, Francesco Boninsegna, Datini's messenger, warned his master: “Above Pont-Saint-Esprit, over 300 spears want to go to Provence to help Messire Raymond de Turenne and his mother, because the mother is in the castle of Meyrargues besieged by the troops of the Seneschal of Provence who want to seize them. The Pope's people have sent a fleet and armed men to block their way if they can. "

It is assured that the mistress of Meyrargues paid homage in Aix-en-Provence. If you don't know the date, it's because she had to ask that this fidelity ceremony be kept confidential.

On October 9, 1391, Raymond de Turenne was able to demand the immediate return of Meyrargues to his mother. The regent even agreed to pay 14,000 francs for damage done to Meyrargues and other places Roger de Beaufort.

Your prisoner writes the Trésor de Vénerie

In 1394 Alienor had captured and imprisoned Captain Anjous in Meyrargues Hardouin de Fontaine-Guerin. To counter his boredom, he wrote his work Trésor de Vénerie , which he dedicated to Louis II. D'Anjou and which he - he wrote on - completed on December 10, 1394. His work, which is divided into two parts, describes the various scenes of deer hunting and lists the great hunters of his time, including Gaston Fébus († 1391) and Jean III. de Melun († 1382) He was released in 1399.

The stolen grain from Pertuis

That year, on November 11, 1394, around one o'clock in the afternoon, Aliénor arrived in Pertuis , a property of her husband. Before the officials and the Vice-Bailli des Comte de Beaufort, she forced a foreign merchant to surrender his stored wheat. Despite her protests, the Viscountess de Turenne had the wheat sacks removed to carry them out of town.

The Vice-Bailli protested to her with awe and respect. But she didn't want to hear anything and replied that he had no power over her. She then ordered her servants to carry on and the officers to open the locked gates of Pertuis. She was denied the latter. Furious, the mistress of Meyrargues grabbed an ax and tried to break the locks. The officials asked them, for the sake of the honor of the Lord of Beaufort and the city of Pertuis, not to continue. However, she continued to work on the locks with pliers, hammer and iron wedges. After the three locks had been blown up, the wheat was carried away despite all protests.

The Patis of the Viscountess de Turenne

In December 1395 Raymond VIII taught. De Turenne, while he was in his viscounty, in most of the Provence Patis (or Suffertes ) that forced the cities and villages, if they would not be attacked, to pay his captains a ransom .

His mother played an important role here with her garrison in Meyrargues. More than 33 villages were under his control, including Venelles , Peyrolles , Jouques , Rians , Puyloubier , Třešť , Fuveau , Allauch , Auriol , Ollioules , Six-Fours , Aubagne and its valley, as well as the entire area between Marseille and Toulon .

On February 20, 1396, the Seneschal of Provence, Georges de Marle, called a meeting to discuss peace with Aliénor. The only convincing result of this negotiation attempt was that the mistress of Meyrargues granted 15 days of additional armistice against Aix and his viguerie in November against the payment of 250 florins.

To put an end to this situation of "double power" in Provence, all the fortresses of the Viscount were attacked on April 27, 1397. The attack took place under the direction of Seneschal Georges de Marle. He took care of Pertuis, while the garrisons of Les Baux, Roquemartine, Roquefure and Vitrolles were besieged by the Vice Seneschal (Reforciat d'Agoult), who for good reason also moved up to Meyrargues.

This was likely not very effective as the Pertuis bailiffs were able to make many contacts with Aliénor on May 16 to investigate the conduct that was to be carried out.

Captured in Aix-en-Provence

To put an end to their constant revolt against Marie de Blois and her son Louis II, Marshal Boucicaut (who had been married to Aliénor's granddaughter for six years) captured Aliénor in December 1399 and jailed her in Aix. She was only released on April 2, 1401 under certain conditions: the Count of Provence demanded that she be under the supervision of Boucicaut and that she hand over her castle to him. In the same year, however, she returned to her castle in Meyrargues, where she was again besieged by Elzéar Autric, captain of the Viguerie Apt.

Buried in the Grands Carmes

Aliénor died before the end of February 1402. She was buried in the Carmelite Church in Aix. The inventory of their property was made by Merigot Bermond and Jehan Poderose on February 28, 1401. In their records they note "a register of the Patis von Pertuis, witnesses are Bertrandon de Sartigues, Jehan Simon, Martin du Villar, Père de Serviere, Johanet le Gastonet and Mouflet".

Remarks

1. ↑ A piece of parchment from this contract has been preserved in five shreds, which are kept in the National Archives (R2 39, Piece 23 ae)
2. ↑ Hâte-toi, ma fille, de te mettre en route. Hâte-toi le plus rapidement possible, car nous voulons te voir, mû par une affection paternelle
3. ↑ On Thursday, February 4th, 1350, a stranger wrote to the King of Aragon that the young lady de Comminges would be married to the Pope's nephew on Saturday, that is, on February 7th. The document kept in the archives of Barcelona is cited by R. Avezou in Bulletin Hispanique, 1927, p. 283.
4. ↑ This refers to the composer's father of the same name, born in 1335/40, whose life is also described in the article mentioned
5. ↑ cf. KH Schäfer, The issues of the Apostolic Chamber under Benedict XII, Clement VI and Innocent VI , (ann. 1351), Paderborn, 1914. There: Pro duodecim folraturis de popis pro domina de Turenna… 54 flor .
6. ↑ In the vice-county of Turenne, in the castle of Servières, Guillaume III. Roger de Beaufort sent her 50 livres from Bouzols and Fay de Bains near Le Puy-en-Velay on November 20, 1359 . On November 14, 1366 she received Meyrargues with all associated rights from her husband. On October 1, 1376, she received from Gregory XI. half of the income from Malaucène . The rights to the city in the Comtat were confirmed on March 17, 1379 by the treasury of the antipope Clement VII .
7. ^ The Union d'Aix , founded in 1382, was an association of Provencal cities; she supported the party of Charles Duras against that of Louis d'Anjou during the riots that followed the capture and death of Queen Joan I of Naples , Countess of Provence.
8. ^ Jean Le Fèvre, Chancellor of the House of Anjou, wrote in his diary on this day: Revinst maistre Jehan de Sains, d'Avignon, revinst Bosquet avec lui, lequel dict à Madame que messire Raymond de Turenne fortement se plaignoit de ce que Haussart estoit en Aureille, lequel dict être sien: dict lui fut que madame estoit merveillée, comment le dict messire Raymond avoit fait courir sus à ceux d'Aureille, depuis les bannières de Madame et du roy Loys mises et en avoient ses gens occis trois . See Journal de Jean Le Fèvre .
9. ↑ See Journal de Jean Le Fèvre ; Bosquet and Jean Drogoul, Écuyers Raymond de Turennes, had paid homage to Marie de Blois on January 15, 1386. Aureille was then sold by the regent to the city of Arles in September 1389, according to the departmental archives of Bouches-du-Rhône (101 E 3).
10. ↑ This message arrived in Apt on April 5, 1387. Jean Le Fevre notes in his journal that Monseigneur Raymond de Turenne overrun Orgone this week, killing and taking people with him ( avait fait courir sus, tuer et prendre gens cette semaine ).
11. ↑ Cf. C. Jacquème, Histoire de Cadenet depuis les temps géologiques jusqu'à la Révolution de 1789 , Marseille, 1922.
12. ↑ Cf. G. Xhayet, Partisans et adversaires de Louis d'Anjou pendant la guerre de l'Union d'Aix , Provence Historique, 40, Fasc. 162, 1990.
13. ^ The Duke of Bourbon met Aliénor on October 19, 1387, Raymond d'Agoult on October 31. Her only answer was that she was relying on the Duke's judgment. See Journal de Jean Le Fèvre .
14. ↑ La vicomtesse de Turenne fait la guerre à la Provence avec certaines troupes qu'elle tient à Meyrargues et Lespéra et on ne va pas à une demi-lieue autour d'Avignon , cf. R. Brun, Annales avignonnaises de 1382 à 1410 extraites from the Datini archives , Mémoire de l'Institut historique de Provence, 1935–1938.
15. ↑ Raymond de Turenne wrote in a letter to the Bailli of Grésivaudan in 1390, the happy outcome of the siege of Meyrargues himself. He explained: "And the said Messire Reymon had done so much that they [the mercenaries of Aliénor] turned away from her and besieged the said lady, his mother, until she agreed." - Et le dit messire Reymon fit tant qu ' ils [les mercenaires d'Aliénor] se virèrent de sa part et mist le siège devant ma dicte dame sa mère et fit tant qu'elle s'accorda . Regis Veydarier even emphasizes that he integrated his action into the general framework of the settlement of the war. Indeed, Raymond stated that at that time "a large part of the places occupied by Monseigneur Karle [Charles de Duras] surrendered to my Lady the Queen" ( une grande partie des lieux qui se tenoient pour monseigneur Karle [Charles de Duras] se virèrent de la partie de ma dicte dame la royne ). But he also apologized for his mother in the eyes of posterity and claimed that she did so because of the solidarity with the family: Madame de Torena faisait guerre pour la partie de monseigneur Karle car estoit son parent . Archives départementales de l'Isère, B. 3771.
16. ↑ Au-dessus de Pont-Saint-Esprit, plus de 300 lances veulent passer en Provence au secours de messire Raymond de Turenne et de sa mère, car la mère est assiégée au château de Meyrargues par les troupes du sénéchal de Provence qui veulent l 'avoir. Les gens du pape ont envoyé une flotte et des hommes d'armes pour leur barrer le passage s'ils le peuvent . See R. Brun
17. ↑ When an inventory was made in the castle of Les Baux in the 15th century, "the instrument that Madame offered the Beaufort to the Queen of Sicily in Aix" was found. This small knee bench, covered with tapestry, was kept as a precious relic by her granddaughter Alix des Baux . See L. Barthélemy, Inventaire du château des Baux , Revue des sociétés savantes, 8th series, volume 6, 1877.
18. ^ Marie de Blois gave Meyrargues back to the Viscountess de Turenne on December 5, 1391. This did not prevent Aliénor, on July 18, 1393, to order their soldiers to arrest people from Aix at the city gates of Puyricard who were tilling their fields there. They were only released again for an enormous ransom of 500 florins .
19. ↑ This poem of 1949 verses was written, the author confirms, "in the castle of Meyrargues in Provence, where we can see the Durance". The prisoner admits that he would prefer to be at home ( dedans Fontaine-Guérin estre ).
20. ↑ Iceux, pour l'honneur du seigneur de Pertuis et au nom du droit, avaient invité le vice-bayle à empêcher la dame Aliénor de se saisir du blé en sans avoir payer le prix. Icelui, pour être dans les règles du droit, demanda au notaire Bertrand Jean d'établir sur-le-champ un acte constatant la réquisition et la réponse faite . See JM Marsily, Pertuis. Miettes d'Histoire locale par le chanoine H. Trouillet , Marseille, 1951.
21. ↑ See the entry in the Encyclopédie méthodique : “Soufferte ou sufferte: C'est une espèce d'indemnité, ou de second lods ajouté au premier, qu'on doit au seigneur lorsqu'il“ souffre ”qu'un homme franc achète un héritage taillable. ou tout au contraire que l'homme taillable acquierre un héritage franc. ”-“ Souffed or suffused: This is a kind of compensation, or second 'lod', added to the first and owed to the Lord when he 'suffers', if a free man buys a taxable (see waist (tax) ) inheritance, or, on the contrary, the taxable man receives a free inheritance. ”In both cases, the Lord's income is diminished, which is to be avoided.
22. ↑ R. Veydarier analyzed this situation: L'appatisation produit donc bien ses effets perturbateurs. Elle disloque les solidarités et annihile toute velléité de résistance collective organisée. Elle met en place une structure parallèle qui ponctionne et qui réglemente les pans importants de l'activité des populations, en particulier en ce qui concerne les échanges. Elle installe, contre la légitimité de la puissance publique, un système de prédation pourvoyeur de désordre. Si le rançonnement individuel atteint durement les personnes et en précipite un grand nombre dans un endettement accru, il n'est pas cependant aussi dangereux à terme que l'appatisation pour la cohésion du Pays qui, elle, attaque directement le tissu des solidarités existantes . - “The 'Appatation' thus has a disruptive effect. It breaks solidarities and destroys any tendency towards organized collective resistance. It creates a parallel structure that taps into and regulates important areas of population activity, especially trade. It installs a system of robbery against the legitimacy of public power that creates disorder. If individual blackmail hits people hard and plunges a large number of them into increased debt, this is not as dangerous in the long term as the 'appatation' for the cohesion of the country, which directly attacks the existing solidarities. "
23. ↑ Archives Nationales, KK, 1213a, Folio 46 v ° and 19 r °.
24. ^ Archives communales de Marseille, BB 5, folio 217.
25. ↑ This agreement can be found in the Municipal Archives of Aix-en-Provence, Series CC 448, Folio 9 v °. It is quoted by Noël Coulet in his work on Aix-en-Provence. He was also able to find that the 250 guilders Aliénor claimed for a simple extension of an armistice accounted for 2.5% of the city's public spending for the year 1396/1397.
26. ↑ An examination of the reports by Hugues de Gap, treasurer of Pertuis, showed that the preparations for the war were made in a friendly atmosphere and led to "libations" - the thirstiest on site was the maître bombardier (rifle captain ) who often fell over himself complained of his thirst. (Archives communales de Pertuis, CC 68, Folio 45 v °).
27. ↑ The Marshal of France received for this weapon achievement from Marie de Blois Pertuis, St. Remy, Les Pennes and Pélissanne. See Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône , B 602 and B 1670. Between April and May 1400, the Viscountess de Turenne had to endure the intimidation of Merigot Bermond, the captain of Boulbon, in her cell in order to hand Meyrargues over to his superior Boucicaut
28. ↑ cf. JP Papon, L'histoire générale de la Provence , Preuves. Volumes 1-4 Paris, 1777-1786.
29. ↑ In 1359 the Carmelites of Aix-en-Provence left the old episcopal city (called Les Tours) to settle in the city near the palace of the Counts of Provence and in the immediate vicinity of the old church of Sainte-Magdelaine .
30. ↑ l'an mil IIIIc et un, le whoseier jour de fevrier l'an dessus dit ; 1401 needs to be corrected to 1402 because the new year started on April 1st.
31. ^ Archives Nationales, KK. 1213a, folio 42 ° BC.

literature

• Henri Moranvillé (ed.): Journal de Jean Le Fèvre, évêque de Chartres, chancelier des rois de Sicile Louis 1er et Louis II d'Anjou , Paris, 1887.
• Noël Coulet: Aix-en-Provence: Espace et relation d'une capitale (milieu XIVe - milieu XVe) , Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, 1988.
• Régis Veydarier: Raymond de Turenne, la deuxième maison d'Anjou et de Provence: étude d'une rébellion nobiliaire à la fin du Moyen Âge , thesis at the Université de Montréal (Québec) 1994.