Roger I (Carcassonne)

Roger I († 1012 ) called le Vieux (the old man) had been Count of Carcassonne , Couserans , part of Comminges and Lord of Foix since around 957 . Roger was the eldest son of Count Arnaud I of Comminges-Couserans and his wife, Countess Arsinde of Carcassonne-Razès .

As the main heir of his parents, Roger was one of the most powerful nobles in Septimania and the Pyrenees . His power allowed him to shake off his family's vassalage to the Counts of Toulouse . At times he called himself marchio (margrave) and from 1002 princeps Carcassonne , which implied a claim to rule over other feudal lords in the region.

His greatest competitor was Oliba Cabreta , Count of Cerdanya and Besalú , who also wanted to expand his power in the region of the Razès . Roger and his brother Odo von Razès had to cede the territories of Sault , Peyrepertuse , Donezan and Capcir to him. Only after Oliba's death in Italy around 990 was Roger able to assert himself against his sons.

Roger the old is considered to be the builder of a defense system on the "Roc de Foix" (Rock of Foix), at the confluence of the Arget and Ariège , which is first documented in documents from 987. The new castle was there opposite the Carolingian abbey of St. Volusien . Under Roger's descendants, who added three towers to the castle, it became the main residence of his family and the center of the county of the same name.

Count Roger the Elder died in 1012 and, like his wife, was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire near Limoux . This abbey, originally dedicated to Saint Saturnin of Toulouse , enjoyed many years of support from Roger the Elder. After the remains of Saint Hilary of Carcassonne were discovered in the monastery church through excavations initiated by the count , the abbey was dedicated to him and subject to the rules of Saint Benedict . The legend also took up the connection of the count to the holy first bishop of Carcassonne when Count Roger fought a battle against his rival Oliba Cabreta on the river Lauquet . When Roger was about to lose the fight, he is said to have prayed to St. Hilary for protection. The saint then appeared on the battlefield with an army, wrapped in a shining robe, and put Oliba to flight.

Family and Hereditary Control

Roger the Old was married to Adelais (Adelaides / Adélaïde), who was probably the widow of his uncle Count Roger I of Comminges . Your children were:

• Raimund I. Roger († before April 1011), his descendants were the Counts of Carcassonne
• Bernard Roger (* 981, † 1036/1038), successor as Count von Couserans and Lord von Foix
• Peter Roger († August 1, 1050), from 1010 to 1050 Bishop of Girona , from 1034 Count of a part of Carcassonne
• Arsinde († after 993), married to Vice Count Wilhelm II of Béziers
• Ermessenda († March 1, 1058), married since 993 to Count Raimund Borrell of Barcelona

According to Roger's will, his inheritance was divided between the two elder sons. The eldest, Raimund I. Roger, was to get the county of Carcassonne; but since he died before his father, the old grandsons Peter Raimund and Wilhelm Raimund followed . Roger's second son, Bernard Roger, got couserans and the castle and land around Foix .

Roger became the progenitor of two lines of his dynasty. What was special, however, was Roger's decree that one line should inherit the other if one of the two should become extinct in the male line. The right of inheritance of women, which was already common at that time, should be ignored. In this way Roger sought to preserve the outstanding power of his dynasty in the region.

Roger probably bequeathed his share in Comminges to his stepson Arnaud II von Comminges .

Web links

• "The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718-1050" by Archibald R. Lewis (English)
• History of the Castle of Foix (French)
• "Légends et Anecdotes" - Homepage of the Abbey of St. Hilaire (French)