Ermengarde (Carcassonne)

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Ermengarde († around 1101) was the heiress of the counties of Carcassonne and Razès and the vice counties of Béziers and Agde since 1067 . She was a daughter of Count Peter Raimund and his wife Rangarde.

Marriage and offspring

Ermengarde was married to Raimund Bernard Trencavel , who as Vice Count of Albi and Nîmes was a vassal of the Counts of Toulouse . The only known child and heir to this marriage was Bernard Aton IV. Trencavel († 1129).

The Carcassonne Succession

After Ermengarde's brother Count Roger III in 1067 . had died, both cousins, Count Roger II von Foix, were considered the deceased's legitimate overall heir. This corresponded to the inheritance regulation of the founder of the Houses of Carcassonne and Foix, Count Roger I the Elder . He had decreed that both lines should inherit each other if one of the two should become extinct in the male line. The line of inheritance from women, which was common in the time of Roger the Elder, should be ignored.

However, contrary to the inheritance decree, Ermengarde appeared as the heiress of Carcassonnes and Razès . It is unclear where she got her claim from, whether her brother made her heir or whether Ermengarde raised him of his own accord. In any case, this act was to have far-reaching consequences for the political order of Languedoc in the 12th century. Because on September 6th of the same year Ermengarde sold her count's rights to Count Raimund Berengar I of Barcelona for the price of eleven hundred gold ounces. Obviously, she began this step to win the Catalan ruler as patron for herself. Because Ermengarde had to fear the interventions of Roger II of Foix as well as of Count Wilhelm IV of Toulouse , who was recognized by her brother as an overlord over Carcassonne. But now with this act began the work of the Counts of Barcelona, ​​who were to rise to kings of Aragon a little later , and thus their competition with the Counts of Toulouse in this region.

The rise of the Trencavel

The Counts of Barcelona now began to rule directly over Carcassonne and Razès, presumably due to the underage of Ermengarde's son Bernard Atton. However, after Count Raimund Berengar II was killed in a hunt in 1082, the nobility of Carcassès and Razès rose against his brother and alleged murderer Berengar Raimund II. Bernard Atton led this rebellion, who was able to take Carcassonne after a brief siege. This established the Trencavel's rule over this region for more than a hundred years , which was only to be ended by the Albigensian Crusade .

In 1095 Ermengarde and her son obtained provisional recognition from their cousin Roger II of Foix, who even pledged several of his positions such as Mirepoix , Lordat and Dun to them in order to be able to finance his participation in the First Crusade . Furthermore, the Trencavel was also offered the prospect of a successor in the County of Foix , if the count should die without heirs. This case was not to occur after Roger II of Foix returned from the Holy Land and fathered several children.

Ermengarde died around 1101 and their son assumed the title of Vice Count , which included recognizing the Counts of Barcelona as legal overlords for Carcassonne and Razès. In the area of ​​tension between Catalonia and Toulouse, Ermengarde's descendants were actually supposed to occupy a very powerful position in Occitania through skillful political maneuvering .

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Web links

"Short biography about Roger II of Foix" (French)

predecessor Office successor
Roger III Countess of Carcassonne and Razès
Vice Countess of Béziers and Agde
1167 		Barcelona county
personal data
SURNAME Ermengarde
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Countess of Carcassonne
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH around 1101