Roger Bernard II (Foix)

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Roger Bernard II (* around 1195 - † May 26, 1241 ), known as the Great , was Count of Foix from 1223 until his death . He was the only son and successor to his father Count Raimund Roger and his wife Philippa de Montcada who were entitled to inheritance .

The time of his life and reign was determined by the warlike events of the Albigensian Crusade in which Roger Bernard and his father played an important role on the side of the princes of Occitania . With his father he fought in 1211 at Lavaur and Castelnaudary . In 1217 he defended Montgrenier Castle against the crusaders for six weeks and in 1218 took part in the defense of Toulouse , where the leader of the crusade Simon IV de Montfort was killed. He then took part in the battles against his son Amaury de Montfort and liberated several cities such as Limoux and Lavaur. He helped his father drive the crusaders out of the county of Foix, where Raimund Roger died after taking Mirepoix in spring 1223. After the young Vice Count Raimund II Trencavel moved into Carcassonne on January 14, 1224 , Amaury de Montfort gave up the fight, with which the papal crusade ended in failure.

Still, the struggle should go on. King Louis VIII of France successfully foiled the efforts of Pope Honorius III. to end the crusade against the Albigensians and called at a council in Bourges in 1225 to a new crusade enterprise on which the king wanted to lead personally. This time the Counts of Languedoc could not counter the new threat. On June 16, 1226 Carcassonne submitted to the king, whose death in Avignon a few months later could not stop the defeat. Roger Bernard was able to stay in Limoux until June 1227, but in the end he had to capitulate to the royal seneschal of Carcassonne, Humbert V. de Beaujeu , without significant support . Roger Bernard recognized the provisions of the Treaty of Meaux-Paris in 1229 and submitted himself and his county in St. Jean-de-Verges to the feudal sovereignty of the French crown. He had to accept the loss of Mirepoix and des Montségur , which was still held by the Cathars, to Guy de Lévis who was to receive this fief directly from the crown. However, he was able to keep important positions such as Montgaillard , Cher (Quié), Rabat and Saverdun . Furthermore, Roger Bernard had to let the Inquisition rule in his county, against which he conspired several times. However, he now renounced an anti-French policy and thus refused z. B. in autumn 1240 Raimund Trencavel's support in his attempt to recapture Carcassonne.

Instead, Roger Bernard took up the expansion policy of his ancestors, with the aim of expanding the county to the south of the Pyrenees . In the dispute over the rule over the valleys of the Caboet family, to which he was able to raise an inheritance claim through his first marriage, the Count got into a long-term conflict with the Bishop of Urgell , which in the long term should lead to the creation of the Principality of Andorra .

Roger Bernard of Foix died on May 26, 1241 at peace with the Catholic Church excommunicated him twice (1227 and 1239) and in 1240 in Durfort the absolution was granted. He was buried in Boulbonne Abbey.

Marriages and offspring

The count was married in his first marriage to Ermessende († 1229), who was the heir to the Vice Count Arnaud of Castelbon and his wife Arnalda de Caboet. The marriage was contractually agreed by the couple's fathers on January 10, 1202 in Tarascon and was intended to underpin the alliance between the two families, and the inheritance of the House of Foix in Castelbon was sealed. Like her father, discretionary was a devout Cathar woman. The couple had two children:

• Roger IV († February 24, 1265), successor as Count of Foix and Vice-Count of Castelbon, ∞ Brunissende de Cardona ( House Folch de Cardona )
• Esclarmonde, ∞ Vice Count Ramón Folch IX. of Cardona ( House Folch de Cardona )

In his second marriage, Roger Bernard married around 1232 Ermengarde, a daughter of Vice Count Aimery III. of Narbonne ( Manrique de Lara house ) and his wife Marguerite de Marly. With her he had a daughter:

• Cecile († 1270), ∞ Álvaro de Cabrera , Count of Urgell

predecessor	Office	successor
Raimund Roger	Count of Foix 1223-1241	Roger iv
Arnaud	Vice Count of Castelbon (de iure uxoris) 1226–1229	Roger iv