Roger II (Foix)

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Roger II († 1124 ) was Count von Foix from 1064 until his death . He was the eldest son of Peter Bernard and his wife Letgarde.

Although Roger's father was still alive when his uncle Count Roger I of Foix died, it is unclear to whom his inheritance fell. But since little is known about Peter Bernard's reign, it is possible that Roger was already serving as count during his father’s lifetime - a division of power that was not unusual at that time.

After Peter Bernard died in 1071, Roger II was to unite both Foix and Couserans under his person.

The Carcassonne Succession

Right at the beginning of his work as Count of Foix, Roger II suffered a great loss of influence and power after his cousin Count Roger III in 1067 . of Carcassonne had died. After the decree of both great-grandfathers Roger the old , according to which the houses of Carcassonne and Foix should inherit each other as soon as a line in the male line dies, Roger II would have become his cousin's overall heir. But instead, Ermengarde , the dead man's sister, claimed the inheritance. And on September 6 of the same year she sold her claimed rights for eleven hundred gold ounces to Count Raimund Berengar I of Barcelona , whom she won as her protector against Roger and the Count of Toulouse . Roger was not militarily strong enough against the Count of Barcelona to fight for his right of inheritance, nor did he have any notable supporter who was ready to stand up for his rights.

In addition to the loss of power, Ermengarde's actions were to have lasting significance for Roger and his descendants, since the Counts of Foix now also came between the fronts of the Counts of Toulouse and Barcelona. These two poles of power were to determine political events in the Languedoc region for the entire 12th century, during which the Counts of Foix were forced to navigate between these two powers in order to maintain their own rule.

The Count and the First Crusade

After Pope Urban II made a fiery speech at the Synod of Clermont in autumn 1095, calling on the Knights of the West to embark on an armed pilgrimage to liberate the Muslim- occupied Holy Land , Roger II also decided to take the cross. In order to ensure the integrity of his county during his absence from the attacks of the neighboring nobility, Roger was ready to acknowledge the facts created by Ermengarde of Carcassonne in 1067. In an agreement between him and Ermengarde, Roger renounced his claims to Carcassonne and also pledged some castles like Mirepoix , Lordat and Dun to finance the crusade . Furthermore, he was even prepared to recognize Ermengarde's descendants, the Trencavel , as heirs in Foix, in case Roger should die without heirs.

On August 25, 1096, the army of the Occitan knights under the leadership of Count Raimund IV of Toulouse marched towards Levante. Only Roger II of Foix is ​​not mentioned among the crusaders, and his name does not appear in any tradition of any of the crusade chronists. Instead, his second marriage to Estefanía and his excommunication by Pope Urban II around the years 1096 to 1097 are reported. The ban on church should be confirmed a little later by Pope Paschal II . Obviously, Roger had failed to put his crusade oath into practice. Nevertheless, in 1106, a donation of relics of Saint Anthony of Egypt to the Abbey of Lézat-sur-Lèze by Roger II is reported, which he allegedly had brought home from the holy land. The Apamée castle he built near Frédélas is also said to commemorate his participation in the crusade; it is named after the Syrian city of Apamea .

It is therefore not clear whether Roger II went on a crusade to the Holy Land to obtain indulgence for his excommunication. In 1101 , several French nobles moved to Outremer to carry out broken crusade vows or to imitate the knights of the First Crusade. But Roger II von Foix is ​​not mentioned among them either.

The last few years

The castle of Foix with the "tour Pointue"

In the next few years Roger II was busy with the expansion and consolidation of his rule. In 1111 he entered into a paréage contract with the abbot of St. Antonin at Frédélas , which was supposed to regulate the co-rule of the count with the abbot over the city. This contract was later still for Roger's descendants, Count Roger Bernard III. matter.

Around the year 1120 the count built a castle near the village of Saverdun , which was supposed to stabilize his power on the northern border of his county. Above all, this castle was intended to protect him from attacks by the Counts of Toulouse, who, however, accepted the castle and the city that was flourishing at its foot as an occasion for a generation-long conflict with the House of Foix. The inferiority of the Count of Foix compared to the Toulousans should become clear in 1121, when he had to cede the Abbey of Lézat-sur-Lèze to them.

In 1123 the count reappeared as a promoter of the faith when he presented the abbey of Saint Volusien near Foix with relics of St. Volusianus, a former bishop of Tours . This abbey was subject to the rules of St. Augustine as early as 1104 .

Roger II was also active as the client. He expanded his ancestral castle by a second tower, the so-called tour Pointue (pointed tower) because of the small tapered corner tower at the northeast corner of the main tower (center).

Count Roger II died in 1124.

Marriages and offspring

Roger II's first marriage was to Sicarda, whose origin is unknown. They didn't have any children. In his second marriage, he married Estefanía, a daughter of William II Count von Besalú, around 1097 . Your children were:

  • Roger III († around 1147 to 1148), successor as Count of Foix
  • Bernard († before 1127)
  • Peter
  • Raimund Roger

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The name of this castle should soon be transferred to the town of Frédélas, which has been called Pamiers since then.
predecessor Office successor
Roger I. Count of Foix
1067-1124 		Roger III
personal data
SURNAME Roger ii
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Foix
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH 1124